Punishment in school sends boy to hospitalBoy says he was forced to do 500 squats by the head teachern Ashif Islam Shaon

A schoolboy was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday af-ter one of his teachers beat him up bad-ly and forced him to � nish 500 squats holding his ears.

On his way back home from school, the boy fainted on the road and was later rescued by his mother and taken to the hospital with severe pain on his legs and back.

The punishment was given to him by the teacher for a one-day-old “crime” – that too was nothing more than playing juvenile pranks with one of his classmates.

Doctors said the 13-year-old boy also went through psychological trauma.

Md Panir Hossain is a seventh grader at the Jurain Hajera High School in the capital’s Kodomtoli.

Panir told the Dhaka Tribune from his hospital bed: “Our friend Sha-hin does not like to take bath. He was smelling bad and some of us were mak-ing of him during the ti� n period on Saturday. Shahin took the fun seriously and informed his uncle.

“The next day, Shahin’s uncle, along with some friends who are former stu-dents of the school, came and com-plained against Panir and his friends Nahid and Arif.

“Around 2:20pm, during our Islam-ic Studies class, our head teacher Alfaj Hussain called us to his o� ce,” Panir said.

The head teacher beat them up bad-ly with bare hands and then, thinking that it was not enough, asked them to do 500 squats holding their ears.

Squats holding ears is a traditional form of mild punishment that teachers in many parts of the world make stu-dents do. But 500 squats easily quali-� es as way over what is normal.

“It was too hard for us. After doing around 80, I fell on the ground. Then sir [Alfaj] lashed on to me again and threatened that if I paused, he would make me start over,” Panir said.

After � nishing the squats, Panir started feeling unwell and decided to go home at Alambagh in Jurain, a 10-minute walk from school. On the way, he collapsed.

“I could not walk. My legs were cramped. I started seeing stars. Sud-denly, I fell on the road and lost sense” he said.

Panir used to go home every day to pick up his lunch during the 30-minute lunch break. Yesterday, she got anxious when the youngest of his four children did not come home.

“I thought he got busy playing with his friends. So, I decided to go to his school. But a little way ahead, I saw a crowd and soon saw Panir lying on the road, unconscious. With help of local people, I brought him home,” she said.

After Panir came around, he de-scribed what had happened. Panir’s father Abdul Barek, who is a vegeta-ble vendor in a local market, and their eldest son Polash Hossain went to the school to more.

When Barek asked why his son had been given such severe punishment, the head teacher replied: “Have your son died? Come to me if he dies.”

Barek said: “We came back home and saw that Panir could not move his legs. He was screaming in pain.With the help of a neighbour, we took him to the Dhaka Medical CollegeHospital.”

After examining him, doctors ap-plied muscle-relaxing medication on him. “Because of excessive pressure, his cu� muscles cramped. It will take time to heal. He has to take complete

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Firebrand orator arrested forinciting Faruqi murdern Mohammad Jamil Khan and

Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

The Detective Branch (DB) of Police yesterday said they had arrested the prime instigator behind the murder of religious television personality and ranking o� cial of Ahle Sunnat Wal Ja-maat, Shaikh Nurul Islam Faruqi.

“DB o� cials arrested Moza� or Bin Mohosin, 35, from the al-Amin mosque compound in the capital’s Mohammad-pur area on Saturday night,” Monirul Islam, DB joint commissioner, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Moza� or, a regular speaker at madra-sas and mosques with a following among militant minded listeners, is quoted as saying: “Faruqi is working against Shari-ah and I want punishment for this per-son, for the sake of Allah, someone do something about this person.”

Footage of the speech was uploaded to several websites a� liated with mil-itant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team, Monirul yesterday said at his o� ce in the capital’s Minto Road area.

Moza� or was one of the prime spiritual leaders of the Ansarullah Bangla Team and has become hugely popular in the militant community af-ter the arrest of previous Ansarullah chief Rahmani, joint commissioner Monirul said.

Monirul said Moza� or used to give speeches as a panel speaker of Peace TV. A native of Rajshahi district, Mo-za� or completed his post-graduation degree from Rajshahi University. He passed the Dakhil and Alim quali� ca-tions [equivalent to SSC and HSC], and then took a Fazil [equivalent to BA pass course] and Dawra Hadith, a two-year course specialising in the hadith.

“We suspected the involvement of an extremist group behind Faruqi’s murder and felt we had a breakthrough in the murder investigation after seeing the uploaded video of a speech by Mo-za� or,” Monirul said.

The joint commissioner said: “Dur-ing his interrogation, Moza� or denied direct involvement in the murder but said a number of people came to visit

his mosque and madrasa to hear his speech.”

“Besides the al-Madina madrasa of Mohammadpur, Moza� or visited ma-drasas and mosques in Rupganj and Narayanganj. He worked as an Ansarul-lah recruiter and encouraged madrasa students and members of his audience to support the group’s extremist agen-da, according to the DB joint commis-sioner.

“We have collected a number of vid-eo and audio recordings of speeches given by Moza� or which were upload-ed to websites of the Ansarullah com-munity and we are working to track down those who put them up, distrib-uted them and watched them,” said the DB joint commissioner.

Metropolitan Magistrate Moham-mad Tarique Moinul Islam Bhuiyan yes-terday passed an order placing Moza� ar on two days’ remand after DB police in-spector and investigation o� cer (IO) of the Faruqi murder case, Julhas Uddin Akand, produced him before the court.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

MARRIAGEAND THE MINISTER’S AGE

11 | OP-ED

GROWTH MAPS: LEARNING FROM HIGH-GROWTH ECONOMIES

7 | LONG FORM

3 | NewsBNP staged demonstration across the country peacefully except for Gazipur protesting the denial of holding rally at Suhrawardy Udyan to mark the National Revolution and Solidarity day.

4 | NewsAs part of their ongoing e� ort to clamp down on militants, detectives are trying to de-cipher encrypted messages that were used by militant out� ts to communicate with each other on secret websites.

5 | NewsThe Internet Service Provid-ers’ Association of Bangla-desh has sought two more years from the government to remove the overhead cables in the capital’s streets.

8 | WorldUS air strikes destroyed an Islamic State convoy near the Iraqi city of Mosul but US o� cials said it was unclear whether the group’s top com-mander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been in any of the 10 tar-geted vehicles.

12 | EntertainmentNadia won the title of ‘L ux Channel i Superstar 2014’ at the grand � nale of the com-petition held at Bangaband-hu International Conference Centre on Saturday.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com

Kartik 26, 1421Muharram 16, 1436Regd No DA 6238Vol 2, No 216

RMG FACTORIES’ GOING PUBLIC ACCELERATE

B1 | BUSINESS

20 pages | Price: Tk12

I N S I D E

IMRUL AIMS TO UTILISE CALL-UP

13 | SPORT

HC: Why 16th amendmentnot illegaln Tribune Report

A High Court bench yesterday issued a rule asking the government to explain in two weeks why the 16th amendment to the constitution that had empow-ered parliament to remove Supreme Court judges for incapacity or miscon-duct, would not be declared illegal, void and against the constitution.

The HC bench, comprising Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal, issued the rule after primary hearing on a writ petition � led by nine apex court lawyers challenging the legality of the 16th amendment.

Advocate Manzill Murshid, counsel for the petitioners, told the Dhaka Trib-une that secretaries of the president’s o� ce, prime minister’s o� ce, parlia-ment and the cabinet secretary had been made respondents.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Hizb-ut Tahrir coordinator surrenders n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A former assistant judge of Feni, Sheikh Omar Sharif who identi� ed himself as a coordinator of banned out� t Hizb-ut Tahrir, has been sent to jail after he sur-rendered.

The court of Additional Chief Met-ropolitan Magistrate Jannatul Ferdaous passed the order yesterday afternoon.

Advocate Ashok Kumar Dash, pros-ecutor of the court, said the court sent the former judge to jail rejecting his bail prayer.

The court ordered to place the Hiz-but leader’s passport before the court on the next hearing date.

The next hearing date was � xed for today (Monday), he said.

Police in a drive seized anti-state lea� ets, posters and some other docu-ments from the � at on the sixth � oor of one Abul Kashem on Jakir Hossain Society’s Road Number 10 of Dakshin Khulshi in Chittagong city in May 2010.

Omar Sharif used to reside on the � at and served as assistant judge in

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

DB arrests eight forgers in capital, recovers Tk1 crore fake currency n Mohammad Jamil Khan

At least 15 separate gangs, each com-prising around 30 members, have been forging currency and spreading fake notes around the country, detective police have found.

“Making a bundle of Tk1 lakh fake notes costs around Tk3,000 which can be sold at Tk12,000 in the black market fetching Tk9,000 pro� t. When demand is high, these forgers can make fake up to Tk5 crore fake notes everyday in some of their factories,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch (DB) of police told journalists in a brie� ng yesterday.

The brie� ng was organised to let media know about the arrest of eight members of a note forging gang and recovery of Tk1 crore fake currencythat DB had made yesterday in the Moddho Paikpara area in Mirpur in the capital.

The detectives have also recovered papers and note-forging instrument such as frame, laptop computers and printers from their possession.

“The drive to bust note-forgers has been going on since Eid-ul-Azha. DB has so far arrested 29 forgers,” DB boss Monirul told journalists.

He said acting on a tip o� that fake note business had been going on at house number 189/2/A of Falguni

Raod of Mirpur, detectives � rst arrest-ed one Based Ali in the early hoursyesterday.

Conducting a raid on the basis of information given by Based, later they arrested ring leader Ra� qul Islam and some other members of the gang in a seven-storey building in Ahmed Nagar in Mirpur, Monirul said.

Ra� qul told detectives that although he had been in the business for around six years, this was the � rst time that he had got arrested. Generally, he handed over the fake notes, made in his facto-ry, to the wholesalers, who distributed the notes to local traders.

Monirul claimed that the forgers arrested yesterday had disclosed the names and locations of some of these wholesalers.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s detec-tive chief Monirul also claimed that because of their strong vigilance, the forgers had not been able to make good pro� t during Eid. “Lastly, they were planning to spread the fake notes in the district towns and villages,” he said.

Monirul however could not say any-thing for certain about how these forg-ers would be punished. He said most of the cases, � led under the special power act over the last six years, have remained tied in red tapes because of the sloth in case disposal in various courts. l

When asked why such severe punishment,the teacher said: ‘Have your son died? Cometo me if he dies’

Security beefed up in the areas adjacent to the special court in capital’s Bakshi Bazar where BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia appeared for the deposition hearing in Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust corruption cases yesterday. The additional security force blocked a road leading to Bakshi Bazar from Dhaka University’s Jagannath Hall intersection causing much inconvenience to commuters MEHEDI HASAN

Kamararuzzaman to � le review petition n Tribune Report

Once again lawyers of death-row con-vict Kamaruzzaman said their client would not seek presidential mercy un-til the Supreme Court disposes of his review petition.

They will � le the petition with the apex court within 30 days after they re-ceive the certi� ed copy of the Supreme Court judgment.

“Kamaruzzaman will decide on the presidential mercy after the SC dispos-es of his review petition,” said Moham-mad Shishir Manir, one of the counsels of Kamaruzzaman, at a press confer-ence in the Supreme Court Bar Associa-tion yesterday afternoon.

On November 3, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Kamaruz-zaman, a key organiser of the infamous Al-Badr Bahini responsible for abduct-ing, torturing and killing freedom � ght-ers, intellectuals and pro-liberation people in 1971.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, the top law o� cer of the country, said Kamaruzzaman could be executed on

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

Father of Panir, a student of class VII, comforts his son at home. The boy had been admitted to hospital after being severely punished by his teacher RAJIB DHAR

Firebrand orator arrested for inciting Faruqi murder PAGE 1 COLUMN 5On August 27, unidenti� ed assailants slaughtered Faruqi, a religious TV per-sonality, businessman and imam of the Supreme Court mosque, at his home in Dhaka’s Purbo Rajabazar area. He was a presidium member and international a� airs secretary of Ahle Sunnat.

On September 4, a case was � led against six Islamic TV programme pre-senters on charges of killing Faruqi. Emran Husain Tushar, Dhaka city unit

general secretary of Islami Chhatra Sena, the student wing of the Bangla-desh Islami Front, � led the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka.

The accused are NTV Islamic pro-gramme presenter Tarek Munawar, ATN Bangla presenter Arakanullah Ha-runi and Kamaluddin Jafree, RTV and Radio Today presenter Khalid Saifullah Bakshi, Diganta TV and Peace TV an-chor Kazi Ibrahim, and Bangla Vision’s

Mokhtar Ahmed.Of the accused Tarek Munawar is a

cadre of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh while Kamaluddin Jafree is the for-mer ameer of the Narsingdi district Ja-maat-e-Islami.

Faruqi’s son Faisal � led a separate murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station against eight to nine un-named persons soon after the murder took place on August 27. l

Punishment in school sends boy PAGE 1 COLUMN 2bed rest,” said DMCH Resident Surgeon Dr Riaz Morshed.

“Actually, the boy has got mental shocked. He needs counseling,” the doctor said.

When contacted, the head teach-er however claimed that Panir and his friends had teased a female student.

“I was on duty in an examination hall when Panir, Nahid and Arif teased a girl verbally. Later I saw the girl’s brother and two of his friends looking for them so that they could beat them up,” he said.

He claimed that he had punished the boys to calm down the girl’s broth-er, whose name he said was Bashar.

“I called the students and asked them if they had teased the girl. They did not admit. Moreover, the boys were attending school without uniform. So, I asked them to do some squats hold-ing their ears. But believe me, I did not mentioned any number, neither did I

count how many they actually did,” he said.

“If I did not do that, Basher would have beaten them up,” head teacher Al-faj claimed while talking to this report-er over phone. He also requested the reporter to not ask anymore question.

Asked how could an outsider enter and classroom and beat a student of the school, Alfaj said: “Bashar and his friends are ex-students of the school. The teachers could not stop them.”

When asked about his head teach-er’s claims, Panir said he had been ly-ing. “Bashar is Shahin’s uncle,” the boy said.

He also said: “I know the girl. She Bashar’s sister. We did not tease her. That girl is also a seventh grader, but she belongs to the morning shift that starts at 7am and ends at 12 noon. Boys’ classes start at 12 noon,” he said.

“You can ask everyone in my class. We have not even met the girl on that day,” Panir said breaking into tears. l

Hizb-ut Tahrir coordinator PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Feni. Police also seized some copies of the book “Etai Amar Path” (This is My Path) written by the judge.

Police said Omar Sharif is one of the top organisers of the banned out� t Hizbut Tahrir in the port city of Chit-tagong.

According to Hizb-ut Tahrir sources and police, about 10,000 members of the organisation are working active-ly across the country where most of them are students of reputed school, colleges, medical, public and private

universities including Dhaka Universi-ty, Chittagong University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technol-ogy (BUET).

An Islamic Scholar Sheikh Muham-mad Takiuddin al-Nabani of Jerusalem formed Hizb-ut Tahrir in 1953 which has branches across 87 countries in-cluding Bangladesh.

The Home Ministry of Bangladesh banned the organisation on Sep-tember 24, 2009 as its objectives arecontradictory with the constitution of the country. l

HC: Why 16th amendmentnot illegal PAGE 1 COLUMN 1The HC bench � xed November 26 to pass further necessary orders regarding the writ petition.

The present 10th parliament passed the 16th amendment in September re-gaining its power to remove judges which was in the original constitution of 1972.

Manzill said he had submitted the grounds of challenging the 16th amendment. He said the 16th amend-ment came against the backdrop of cancellation of the Contempt of Court Act and amendment of the Anti-Cor-ruption Commission Act by the HC.

He said the HC had directed the ar-rest of RAB o� cials for their suspected role in the Narayanganj seven murders in April.

Manzill said against the backdrop of these recent orders, the administra-tion can intentionally attempt to curb the independence of the judiciary and the 16th amendment might have come from that point of view.

Asaduzzaman Siddiquee, Ekhalsud-din Bhuyian, Sarwar Ahad Chowdhury, Mahbubul Islam, Nurul Islam Babul, Shahin Ara Laily and Ripon Baroi are among the nine petitioners. l

Kamararuzzaman to � le review petition PAGE 1 COLUMN 6the basis of an order of the apex court unless anything is changed in its full verdict.

Law Minister Anisul Haque has al-ready asked the Dhaka central jail to prepare for the execution of Kamaru-zzaman. However, the confusion over whether Kamaruzzaman has the right to seek a review was still unclear.

Anisul Haque also said Kamaruz-zaman would get seven days time from the day he heard about the SC verdict to plead for presidential mercy. “Other-wise, he will be executed immediately.”

On his statement Kamaruzzaman’s lawyer Manir said the law minister’s comment on the time-frame was “ille-gal and confusing”.

“We urge the minister to refrain from making such comments,” he said.

“He (Kamaruzzaman) thinks that his review will be accepted by the Appel-late Division and he will get justice,” Manir added.

Kamaruzzaman’s defence counsel has alleged that it would be illegal to execute the Jamaat leader before the full verdict and hoped that the govern-ment would wait for the full verdict be-fore the execution.

Meanwhile, Mahbubey Alam yester-day said the tribunal would issue death warrant after the SC gives the verdict to the tribunal.

“Appellate division will decide whether it will send the full verdict or the short order. As I said before, I think a

short order will be enough for the tribu-nal to issue the death order,” he told the journalists while brie� ng at his o� ce.

“After the tribunal sends the death warrant, the jail authorities will inform him about it,” he said.

About the ongoing debate on review petition Mahbubey Alam said the SC released its full verdict of another war criminal Kader Molla, who � led a re-view petition after the SC had awarded him death sentence. The review was scrapped and he was hanged.

“All confusion will be over once ver-dict over the review petition of Qaud-er Molla is published,” he said, adding that lawyers describe a matter as they understand it but it is the court that gives the decision. l

Tofail: No possibility of dialogue, midterm electionsn Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Blaming BNP for murders and attempts to kill, Awami League stalwart and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yes-terday said there is no possibility of a dialogue with BNP nor any midterm elections in the country.

“Dialogue with BNP cannot be pos-sible as the party killed Ahsanullah Master and former AL � nance minister Kibria, and attempted to murder PM Sheikh Hasina by hurling grenades on August 21.

Besides, there is no scope for mid-term elections that will be held any

day before January 29 in 2019,” said the minister.

Tofail made the remarks as the chief guest while addressing a programme arranged on the occasion of 64th birthday of former AL MP Ahsanullah Master on the � eld of Sa� uddin Sarkar Academi School and College in Tongi.

Senior AL lawmaker Tofail said Ah-sanullah had been killed in the direc-tion of Hawa Bhaban because of his popularity. At present the country is known as democratic state, but it could have branded as militant state to the world arena unless Sheikh Hasina ap-peared as prime minister. l

6-yr-old rescued from abductors, four arrestedn Tribune Report

Members of Rapid Action Battalion 1 rescued a six-year-old boy named Md Yeasin yesterday from Tetulzora area in Savar, on the outskirts of the capital, four days after he was abducted from Babubazar area in Tongi, Gazipur.

The law enforcers also arrested four of his abductors – Khadakar Ja-mil Hossain, 26, and his wife Marufa Akhter, 23, from Tangail, Md MoktarHossain, 17, from Barisal and Md Hri-doy, 20, from Gazipur, said Lt Col Tu-hin Mohammad Masud, commanding o� cer of RAB 1.

“We started investigating when Yea-sin’s father Amanullah came to us and � led a complaint of his son missing,” the RAB o� cial said during a press brie� ng at RAB 1 o� ce in Uttara yester-day evening.

“During investigation, we learnt that Marufa is an acquaintance of Amanul-

lah, and using that familiarity she en-tered his house and abducted Yeasin,” he said.

After grabbing Yeasin, the abductors went to Bikrampur in Munshiganj, and from there they called Yeasin’s father to demand Tk5 lakh in ransom.

Then changed the location again and rented a house in Savar, where they stayed with Yeasin, the RAB o� -cial said.

Following their call to Amanullah, RAB laid a trap and led Jamil, Hridoy and Moktar to Tongi, where they went hoping to collect the ransom, and were arrested.

After interrogating the three arrest-ed, the RAB team raided the house in Savar they were staying in, rescuing Yeasin and arresting Marufa, the RAB 1 commanding o� cial said.

RAB 1 was preparing to take lawful action against the arrested when this report was � led. l

10-year-old raped in the capitaln Tribune Report

A 10-year-old child was raped in the capital’s Khilgaon area on Saturday, and police arrested one person in con-nection with the incident.

The victim, a class-III student at a lo-cal school, went missing around noon on Saturday and was found locked in the house of her neighbour Mohammad Khokon, 30, in the early hours yesterday, sexually assaulted, her mother claimed.

“My daughter went to a neighbour’s house to sell chicken around 12pm on Saturday. That is when Khokon invited her into his house. There, he raped her and then locked her in his house,” the victim’s mother told the Dhaka Tribune.

In the middle of the night, Khokon’s landlord Khorshed Mia found the child locked in Khokon’s house and took her to her home. She was then rushed to the One Stop Crisis Centre at Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 2am yesterday.

“We have run forensic tests on the victim and found evidence of rape. However, we will get the details after the report is � nished,” said Dr Bilkis Be-gum, coordinator at the One Stop Crisis Centre, to the Dhaka Tribune.

Police arrested Khokon on the same night for his alleged involvement and brought him to the police station, said Musta� zur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge of Khilgaon police station. l

Ashraf: AL only party that fought in ‘71n Our Correspondent, Joypurhat

Awami League is the only party that fought for the country’s independence in 1971, said its General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam.

“Many people could not take part in the 1971 Liberation War although they were young at the time. But now many of them work for Awami League, which is a pro-liberation force, and they are

lucky,” he said addressing the tri-an-nual convention of Joypurhat district Awami League at Joypurhat Stadium yesterday.

“Those who are with Awami League took the party to the masses because they feel very strongly about it. The list of Awami League’s achievements is much longer than reasons for getting frustrated at it, and that is why people still love the party,” said Ashraf.

In his address, Awami League pre-sidium member Mohammed Nasim

said the convention would not have been held if the January 5 election was not arranged.

“We also would have seen martial law in the country in that case. Awa-mi League invited BNP leaders to sit for talks in order to hold an inclusive election but they did not respond. In the name of resisting elections, they torched houses, killed police and at-tacked temples,” he said.

Nasim, also the health minister, said the tenth parliamentary election estab-lished democracy in the country.

“Our leader Sheikh Hasina risked her life to save the democracy. No elec-tion will be held in the country even a day before 2019,” he said.

The convention was also addressed by the party’s Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Dr Dipu Moni, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, International A� airs Secretary of the central commit-tee Lt Col (retd) Md Faruk Khan and Ra-jshahi City Corporation former mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton.

The � rst session of the convention was presided over by Joypurhat Sadar constit-uency lawmaker Shamsul Alam Dudu.

In the second session held at the district council auditorium, Dudu and district council administrator SM Solaiman Ali were re-elected as district Awami League president and general secretary respectively.

A slew of Awami League activists from the upazilas under the district at-tended the convention. l

Legal notice sent to 3 more ministersn Tribune Report

A Supreme Court lawyer yesterday sent a legal notice to a minister and two state ministers, asking them to resign as they have violated the constitution by engaging in the management of var-ious companies.

Lawyer ZI Khan Panna sent the notice to Housing and Public Works Minister

Mosharraf Hossain, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque and State Minister for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Shahdin Malik, who sent the notices on behalf of ZI Khan, told the Dha-ka Tribune: “According to news published in a national daily newspaper, they [the ministers] are involved in business and take part in the management of various companies, which is clearly a violation of

section 147 of the constitution. “There-fore, they are not eligible to hold the posi-tions in their respective ministries.”

Section 147 (3) says ministers, state ministers or deputy ministers cannot “hold any o� ce, post or position of prof-it or emolument or take any part what-soever in the management or conduct of any company, association or body hav-ing pro� t or gain as its object.” l

Currently on a visit to China, President Abdul Hamid holds a meeting with Myanmar President U Thein Sein at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing yesterday PID

‘The list of Awami League’s achievements is much longer than reasons for getting frustrated at it, and that is why people still love the party’

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

11 Myanmar nationals held in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Police yesterday morning detained 11 Myanmar nationals, including two women, from a passenger bus in Shah Amanat Third Karnaphuli Bridge area while on their way to Chittagong city from Cox’s Bazar.

Bakalia police station O� -cer-in-Charge Md Mohsin told the Dhaka Tribune the 11 were detained around 8am during scheduled checks at the point leading to the port city from Cox’s Bazar.

The arrestees - Mosammat Fatema, 22, Tayeba Begum, 40, Enayet Khan, 25, Samsul Alam, 27, Md Idris, 28, Nur Alam, 25, Md Shaker, 25, Md Anjur Alam, 18, Md Dildar, 20, Md Hasan Sharif, 28, and Nur Bashar, 20 – were sued in a case lodged with Bakalia po-lice station on charge of illegally enter-ing Bangladesh, he said.

“Of the 11, eight arrived in Cox’s Ba-zar crossing the Naf River on Saturday with the assistance of Enayet, Samsul and Idris, who have been living in Chit-tagong for a few years illegally. They came here to work at a garment factory in Patenga while the two women came to receive medical treatment at a pri-vate clinic,” said Mohsin.

A Chittagong Metropolitan Police o� cial said on condition of anonymi-ty around 100-150 Myanmar nationals illegally enter Chittagong city on an av-erage every day.

“They come here as they � nd it rel-atively easy to enter Bangladesh com-pared to other parts of the world.” l

Road crashes kill � ve, injure 15 n Tribune Report

Five people, including three police of-� cers, were killed and 15 others injured in road accidents in Khagrachari, Man-ikganj, Chittagong, Gazipur and Gai-bandha yesterday.

Our Khagrachari correspondent reports, police constable Bakar was killed on the spot and 15 others were injured as a police bus overturned and fell into a roadside ditch in Alutia area.

In Manikganj, a police constable was killed as a truck hit his motorcy-cle on Dhaka-Aricha highway, killing him on the spot around 8:00am, police said.

The deceased was Ka� l Uddin, 42, a constable of special branch (SB) of po-lice.

Our Chittagong correspondent re-ports, two people, including a police o� cer, were killed in road accidents in Mirsarai upazila of Chittagong and the city’s WASA area yesterday.

The deceased were Sub-inspector Mashudur Rahman, 40, of Mirsari Po-lice Station, and Md Nayon, 26, a rick-shaw puller, police said.

SI Mashud was killed on the spot as a truck hit him when he was on duty on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in Ni-zampur area of Mirsarai upazila around 3:30am, police said.

In another accident, a battery-run rickshaw puller, Nayon, was killed when a covered van hit his vehicle from behind in Chittagong city’s Wasa area around 7:30 pm on Saturday night.

Critically injured Nayon was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospi-tal where doctors declared him dead around 11:30 pm on that night, police said.

Meanwhile, a schoolboy was killed when a truck ran him over in Phashi-tala area in Gabindaganj upazila yester-day, reports our Gaibandha correspon-dent.

The deceased was Parvez, 7. Agitat-ed locals blocked the Rangpur-Dhaka highway for sometimes after the inci-dent.

Our Gazipur correspondent reports, a man was killed in a road accident on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway yes-terday.

The deceased is Giasuddin, a driver of a microbus.

The accident took place as a car rammed into the vehicle around 11:00am in Razendrapur area, police said. l

New secretaries named after fake freedom � ghters quitn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

New bosses have been named to head the Ministry of Health and Family Plan-ning and the Public Service Commis-sion following the resignation of two secretaries in the wake of the fake free-dom � ghter certi� cate scandal.

The ensuing civil administration reshu� e saw � ve high o� cials trans-ferred or given new postings. The Pub-lic Administration Ministry issued two orders yesterday in this regard.

Shipping Secretary Syed Monjurul Islam was appointed health secretary and Additional Secretary to the Public Administration Ministry Shahjahan Ali Mollah was appointed acting secretary of the Public Service Commission.

Additional secretary to the Roads and Highways Division Fariduddin Chowhdury was made acting Jute and Textiles secretary.

Bangladesh Civil Service Academy Rector (secretary) Sha� q Alam Mehdi replaced Monjurul as shipping secretary.

Additional secretary to the Minis-try of Education, Sohrab Hossain, was made the new rector (acting secretary) of the civil service academy.

On Thursday, former health secre-tary M Neazuddin Miah and ex-PSC secretary AKM Amir Hossain, who had gotten their jobs extended with fake freedom � ghter certi� cates, went into voluntary retirement.

They are among four senior bu-reaucrats whose freedom � ghter cer-ti� cates, now known to have been ob-

tained fraudulently, were cancelled on September 22.

Two other public o� cials who lost their freedom � ghter certi� cates are former secretary of the Liberation War A� airs Ministry, KH Masud Siddiqui, and joint secretary of the ministry, Abul Kashem Talukdar, currently o� -cers on special duty.

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) found the four o� cials and a former senior secretary to the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO) and existing chairman of the Privatisation Commis-sion, Molla Waheduzzaman, guilty of fraudulently obtaining freedom � ghter certi� cates.

On September 22, the ministry can-celled the freedom � ghter certi� cates of the four government high o� cials in a gazetted noti� cation. It also withheld the certi� cate of Privatisation Commis-sion Chairman Molla Waheduzzaman.

The o� cials were served show cause notices on October 13 and asked to reply within 10 working days of re-ceiving the notices.

October 25 was � xed as the last date of submission because the accused of-� cials received their notices on October 15.

On October 27, three of the four se-nior o� cials of the civil administration had replied to the show cause notices issued by the Public Administration Ministry regarding the acquisition of freedom � ghter certi� cates from the Liberation War A� airs Ministry using false information. l

Khaleda graft cases adjourned till Nov 24n Ashif Islam Shaon

A court in Dhaka, which is hearing Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphan-age Trust graft cases � led against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and others, said yesterday it would receive deposi-tion of the witnesses on November 24.

Judge Basudev Roy of the Special Judge Court 3 adjourned the proceed-ings in response to two petitions � led by the defence counsel. The counsel in the petitions pleaded for more time, stating that two petitions for leave to appeal in the cases were awaiting hear-ing at the High Court.

Anti-Corruption Commission Dep-uty Director Harun-ur-Rashid, the plainti� in the cases, was present in the court set up on Alia Madrasa ground in

the capital city’s Bakshi Bazar. Earlier in the day, Khaleda arrived at the make-shift court at 11am.

In a ruling on October 26, the judge made it mandatory for Khaleda to be present in court yesterday after she had refused to attend hearing on three previous dates on grounds of security. September 17 was the last time when she attended hearing.

The BNP chairperson set out from her Gulshan residence around 10:00am and left the court around 12 at noon.

After the hearing, Khaleda’s lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said: “We informed the court that Khaleda might fail to appear in court on November 24 as a BNP rally had been scheduled for November 26. The court replied that it would be dealt with at the time.”

ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajol said the defence was making the trial lengthy by petitioning for extension of time repeatedly.

“Lower court can conduct the trial as the Supreme Court has not stayed the proceedings,” he said.

Carrying banners and placards, BNP activists gathered near the court prem-ises before she arrived and called for cancellation of trial proceedings.

Security was tight in the area and commoners saw restriction on move-ment because of the BNP chief’s ar-rival. Police blocked several adjacent roads leading to Bakshi Bazar, causing troubles for locals as well as passers-by.

On May 12, Khaleda � led a writ pe-tition challenging legality of appoint-ment of the judge, who indicted her

and six others. On June 19, the High Court’s single bench of Justice Kazi Razaul Huq rejected the petition.

On July 7, the BNP chief � led two petitions with the Appellate Division challenging the rejection. She also sought stay order on trial proceedings.

Earlier on August 8, 2011, the ACC � led Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon police station accusing four people, including Khaleda, for abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.

The commission � led Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on July 3, 2008, against Khaleda, her elder son Tarique Rahman and four others for misappropriating over Tk2.10 crore.

The money came in grants from a foreign bank for orphans. l

Tarique faces legal notice for comment on Bangabandhun Tribune Report

A Supreme Court lawyer yesterday sent a legal notice to BNP Senior Vice-Chair-man Tarique Rahman for his derogato-ry and disparaging remarks on Bangab-andhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Advocate Momtaz Uddin Ahmed in his legal notice said Tarique at a meet-ing in London termed Sheikh Mujib “Pakbandhu” (friend of Pakistan) and called him a killer of freedom-loving people of Bangladesh.

Tarique at the meeting organised by London BNP unit said Sheikh Mujib

came as a Pakistani citizen and took oath as the president of Bangladesh and which is why a case should be � led against him as to how a Pakistani citizen could take the oath as the president of independent Bangladesh.

According to the notice, a case will be � led against Tarique if he does not withdraw his remarks and make an unconditional public apology for his remarks within seven days.

Momtaz described Tarique as talk-ative, foolish and immature, who lacks political culture. He knows very little about the history of Liberation War. l

Witness: Jabbar ordered the killing of 25 in Mathbaria n Tribune Desk

A prosecution witness against alleged war criminal Mohammad Abdul Jab-bar yesterday described the killing of 25 people, and the arson or looting of at least 150 households, following Jab-bar’s orders.

Md Bachchu Akon, 62, a businessman and a commander of the Mathbaria unit of the Muktijoddha Shangshad, gave his deposition as the 20th witness before the � rst International Crimes Tribunal.

Jabbar is facing � ve charges for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War. Bachchu, who was a student then, said under Jabbar’s or-ders and conspiracy, the razakar com-mittee that he had formed in Mathbaria in Pirojpur district, carried out mur-ders, looting, arson and religious con-versions, along with other crimes.

“On May 16, Jabbar ordered Iskander Mridha, a close relative who he had made a Razakar commander, to shoot and kill freedom � ghter Abdur Razzaq Biswas and Motaled Sharif. Under his orders, Iskander attacked our village and shot them. Motaleb died on the spot and severely injured Abdur Raz-zak died three days later,” Bachchu told the court. “On the same day, following his orders, razakars attacked Kulpara and Nathpara, looting and setting � re to 100-150 households.”

The following day, 30-35 Pakistani soldiers, and 40-45 razakars attacked their village, and shot dead Sharda Kanto Pai under Jabbar’s commands, Bachchu said.

“The Pakistani soliders and razakars also looted and set � re to 360 houses in the village following Jabbar’s com-mands,” he said.

Bachchu, who witnessed all these this from where he was hiding, � ed to a freedom � ghters’ camp in the Sunder-bans. In October, he heard from sourc-es that Jabbar, along with Iskander and other collaborators, were planning to attack in� uential Hindu families in An-gul Kata and Mathbaria villages.

“I saw razakars, led by Iskander, going towards the Angul Kata village around 11 o’clock one night. I followed them from a distance and saw them at-tack the Mitra household and capture 19 people after looting their home,” Bachchu told the court.

“They then took them to Mathbar-ia, attacking other houses on their way and capturing individuals as they went – totaling in 37 Hindu victims, whom they beat up and kept in the � eld of what is today a municipality o� ce.”

Among others, the Kirtaniya, Hal-dar, Bala, Majhi and Hawladar house-holds also came under attack.

“After discussing for a long time with the razakars, Iskander released seven and took the other 30 towards the Mathbaria police station. They led them to the Shurjomoni Wapda road, where they made them stand on an embankment and shot them. Then they left,” Bachchu said.

After that, the razakars and Iskander left. When Bachchu, along with some local freedom � ghters, went there, they saw 22 of them dead and eight others severely injured. l

30 injured in BNP-police clash in Gazipurn Tribune Report

BNP staged demonstration across the country peacefully except for Gazipur protesting the denial of holding rally at Suhrawardy Udyan to mark the Nation-al Revolution and Solidarity day.

Dhaka city unit BNP, however, through a press release claimed that they staged demonstrations almost ev-ery wards.

BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, however, at a press brief-ing at party’s Naya Paltan o� ce con-demned police attack on “peaceful demonstration” and claimed many were arrested but did not mention any � gure.

In Gazipur, BNP leaders were locked in clashes with police while law enforcers barred them from bringing out protest procession in the city leading to chase and counter-chase.

The clash left around 30 people in-jured including Gazipur City Corpora-tion Mayor MA Mannan and some po-lice o� cials.

Witnesses said around 12pm, city Mayor Mannan brought out a proces-sion and police obstructed it leading to the eruption of violence injuring 30 including 17 police o� cials.

Police detained four persons from the spot.

Gazipur district BNP leader Shahi-duzzaman said around 12.15pm police attacked their peaceful rally all on a sudden and shot � re on the procession leaving more than 50 injured.

Witnesses said the chase and count-er-chase between police and BNP lead-ers and activists continued for half an hour.

Khandakar Rezaul Karim, O� -cer-in-Charge of Gazipur police station, said: “Protesters blockaded Rajbari Road and vehicle movement came to a halt. Moreover they threw brick at policemen and vandalised some vehi-cles.”

Karim also said at least 17 police o� -cials were injured during the violence.

He also said police � red 20 rounds of rubber bullets and three rounds of tear gas shells to bring the situation under control and four were detained from the spot.

Abdus Salam Sarkar, on-duty doctor of Gazipur Sadar Hospital, said injured Ward Councillor Sirin Chakladar and � ve others received splinter injuries and they were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

Our Barisal correspondent said, po-lice prevented Barisal city and district units of BNP from bringing out proces-sion.

BNP activists from di� erent corners of the city chanting slogans assembled in front of the party o� ce on Ashwini Kumar Hall premises about 11am yes-terday.

Mojibor Rahman Sarwar, city presi-dent and central Organising Secretary Ebaidul Huq Chan, district president and other leaders of the BNP addressed the rally.

After the rally when BNP leaders and activists tried to bring out proces-sion police obstructed them.

Sub-Inspector Mohiuddin of Kotwa-li police station from the spot denied the allegation of police atrocities.

Police requested BNP leaders and activists not to block tra� c movement on city roads but as they did not pay heed they had to force them to leave the place, he said. l

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia waves hand to her supporters after reaching a special court in capital’s Bakshi Bazar yesterday in connection with the Zia Charitable and Zia Orphanage corruption cases MEHEDI HASAN

President Abdul Hamid’s wife Rashida Khanam poses with � rst lady of China Prof Peng Liyuan and Chinese artistes at the Capital Museum in Beijing yesterday PID

The clash left around 30 people injured including Gazipur City Corporation Mayor MA Mannan and some police o� cials

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

Schoolgirl drowns in pond near JUn JU Correspondent

A minor girl drowned in a pond in the Kalabagan area near Jahangirnagar Univer-sity (JU) in Savar yesterday.

The girl, Jannatul Fer-dous, 13, was the daughter of Liakat Hossain, a clean-er of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall in JU.

Jannatul was a class-six student of the Jahangir-nagar University School and College.

Around 11am, Jannat-ul fell into the pond while playing with her friends by the edge of the pond.

Locals rescued her in a critical condition and took to the JU Medical Centre where the duty doctors declared her dead around 12:15pm.

Dr Birendra Kumar Biswas of the JU Medical Centre said the victim was dead wben she was brought to the centre at noon. l

36th death anniversary of Shahid Uddin Eskander today n Tribune Report

Today is the 36th death anniversary of Shahid Uddin Eskander (Kochi), founder president of Noakhali Press Club and for-mer president of Noakhali district

Awami League. He was also the organ-iser of Liberation War member Consti-tutional Assembly.

His family members and Noakh-ali Press Club have arranged doa mah� l today in remembrance of the departed. l

BNP: Change to happen through democratic movement n Mohammad Al-masum Molla

The BNP yesterday said it would not kick-start a revolution for a meaningful election involving all the political parties.

People of the country are frustrated and perturbed by misdeeds and misrules of the Awami League-led government.

“We have to bring about a change through a democratic movement not

through any revolution,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, said at a discussion.

The discussion was organised at the National Press Club to mark the Nation-al Revolution and Solidarity Day that brought party founder Ziaur Rahman into the centre-stage of power.

Fakhrul said people had already been frustrated and they now want a change and for the change to happen all have to be united.

The BNP leader alleged that the gov-ernment was killing opposition leaders and activists like that of the 1972-75 government.

“The opposition parties are barred from holding rallies and procession. In 1972-75 Awami League killed thirty thousand opposition leaders and activ-ists.”

Condemning the police “attack” on BNP demonstrations, Fakhrul said: “Though Awami league talked about

democracy they do not believe in it. In Gazipur police attacked our peaceful rally and many were injured. It is the latest example of government’s fas-cism.”

Pointing his � nger to the party chairperson Khaleda Zia’s graft case trials, the spokesperson of the party said: “The government’s autocratic mentality has reached such a level that they brought the court to a madrasa ground.” l

DB deciphering militants’ encrypted messages Acting chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team and three spiritual leaders identi� ed n Mohammad Jamil Khan

As part of their ongoing e� ort to clamp down on militants, detectives are try-ing to decipher encrypted messages that were used by militant out� ts to communicate with each other on se-cret websites.

“We have come to know that mil-itant leaders were using secret IP ad-dresses and encrypted messages to issue commands to sleeper cells,” a senior o� cial of the Detective Branch told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The o� cial said 11 people who op-erated those sites have already been traced, adding that the information was extracted from Ansarullah Bangla Team media wing chief Morshed Alam alias Masum alias Tractor, who is now under a six-day police remand.

AKM Mahbubur Rahman, assistant commissioner of DB, said they were also trying to locate militant sleeper cells by analysing some of the websites used by the militant out� ts.

DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that in-ternet was now the birthplace of mili-tants, as militants relied on the web to share messages and organise.

Analysing the websites, the police have already identi� ed the acting chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team as well as identifying four other spiritual leaders of the out� t, he added.

The acting chief was named Tamim Al-Adnani, Monirul said, adding that e� orts were on to trace his location.

“We have came to know about his

activities after visiting their websites where a number of video and audio messages of Tamim had been uploaded for the supporters of Ansarullah Bangla Team,” said the DB boss.

Moza� or Bin Mohosin, one of the four spiritual leaders identi� ed by the DB, was arrested on Saturday from Mo-hammadpur, while the police were now looking for the other three leaders who toured to di� erent madrasas across the country to inspire and recruit new mil-itants, said Monirul.

Asked whether Jamaat or Indian separatist group Ulfa had any links to funding militancy in Bangladesh, the DB joint commissioner said there was only some scattered information about funding links of these groups. A de� nitive answer could be given only after further analysing information, he added.

Meanwhile, asked about the recent arrest by Indian police in connection with the Bardhaman blast, Monir-ul said militants often used di� erent aliases to evade arrest. The police were still clueless about the arrest – which they found out through media – of JMB commander Sajid as they did not knew any JMB leader with such name, Mon-irul said.

“We would only able to say clearly after getting detailed information or picture from the Indian police regard-ing the matter,” the DB boss added.

So far this year, the DB has arrested around 40 members of di� erent mili-tant out� ts by carrying out raids at var-ious locations. l

Faction of lighter vessel workers postpone strike n Tribune Report

A faction of the lighter vessel workers, who initiated inde� nite strike on Satur-day, postponed their strike yesterday night.

However, loading and unloading activities at Chittagong port remained suspended partially as many workers had not join their work.

The lighter vessel workers enforced the inde� nite strike around 11:00am on Saturday following a robbery in a lighter vessel named Karnaphuli-5 in Laksmipur.

Since then, they have not taken part in any activities of loading and unload-ing of goods at the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port and other water routes across the country.

Shahadat Hossain, general secretary of a faction of the Lighterage Shramik Union, said they had postponed the strike until 18 November following as-surance to implement their demands at meeting with the Deputy Inspector General of Police Sha� qul Islam.

However, Shah Alam, act-ing president of the Naw-jan Shramik Federation, said: “The meeting will put no impact on the strike and it will be continued till ful-� llment of our demand to ensure secu-rity on the river route,”

“Because, actual representatives of the lighter vessel workers are not pres-ent at the meeting,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shipping Minister Shahajahan Khan at a programme at the Chittagong port said the police and Coast Guard would continue patrolling the country’s river routes to ensure security of the vessels and the crewmen.

According sources at the Water Transport Cell, 100 lighter vessels have remained stranded at 16 private jetties with goods in Chittagong, and 500 oth-er vessels in di� erent routes across the country.

Sources at the Chittagong Port said 21 foreign vessels were waiting at the outer anchorage of the port with goods due to the strike of the workers. l

Next Digital World expo in February n Tribune Report

The fourth edition of Digital World, the country’s biggest ICT exposition, will take place in the capital on February 9 next year.

Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) and Bangladesh Association Of Soft-ware And Information Service (BASIS) will jointly arrange the 4-day long pro-gramme. To this end, Ashraful Islam, executive director of BCC and Russell T Ahmed, acting president of BASIS signed an MoU at BCC o� ce yesterday. l

Combined initiative to prevent road crashes recommendedn Tribune Report

The parliamentary standing committee on home ministry has recommended taking a combined initiative in prevent-ing road accidents in the country.

The initiative should be taken along with all departments and o� ces related to tra� c movements on roads and high-ways, the committee said at its meeting yesterday, according to a press release.

It also discussed police’s impera-tives in preventing road crashes and

increasing the number of the law en-forcing agency’s members.

The committee recommended post-ing more police members in Rangpur di-vision, citing the shortage of police com-pared to the number of people there.

It also put emphasis on creating public awareness in curbing narcotics.

Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home A� airs Md Mozammel Haque Khan, among others, was present at the meeting with the standing committee’s chief Tipu Munshi in the chair. l

Muhith: BUPSS should die n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Union Parishad Secretary Samity (BUPSS) should no longer exist as it failed to pay its members, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said yesterday.

He said the BUPSS should pay union parishad secretaries their full salaries but it is only paying 25% at present.

“This is not support, this is contribu-tion,” said Muhith while talking to re-porters after holding a meeting with BU-PSS leaders and members at his o� ce.

The government currently pays 75%

of the remunerations of union parish-ad secretaries from its exchequer and the remaining 25% comes from income generated by union parishads.

The key source of earning for a union parishad is haats (markets) with-in its territory that are leased to traders.

“Union parishad secretaries de-manded that 100% of their salaries be given from the government exchequer. While I do not support the demand, I assured them of considering the pro-posal,” he said. Muhith also termed the demand illegitimate.

“We have already received a propos-

al from the Local Government Division for paying the union parishad secretar-ies in full from the government’s fund. We are mulling it over,” he said.

BUPSS Chairman Sohelur Rahman said the members were facing � nan-cial hardships because of the shortage of salaries, claiming that they are not receiving 25% of the pay supposed to come from union parishads.

“Secretaries of 25 union parishads, including Chittagong Hill Tracts, have long been deprived of the 25% of their income as none of the union parishads earn from leasing haats,” he added. l

Police foil Communist Party’s siege to DSCCn Abu Hayat Mahmud

Police foiled the Communist Party of Bangladesh’s (CPB) bid to lay a siege to Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) yesterday.

The law enforcers put a barricade at Kadam Foara Intersection when lead-ers and activists of the party’s Dhaka city unit tried lay a seize to the DSCC to press home a 10-point demand around 12:00pm.

Later, the CPB leaders led by its Dha-ka City unit president Abdul Kader sub-mitted a memorandum to the DSCC Ad-ministrator Md Ibraheem Hosein Khan seeking realisation of their demands, said Dr Sajedul Haque Rubel, general secretary of CPB Dhaka unit.

Earlier, speaking at a rally before the National Press Club, Abdul Kader said they would lay siege to the Nagar Bhaban (DSCC secretariat) to press home their demands, including ensur-ing the control of the city’s house rents, eliminating tra� c jams, and ensuring a clean and green Dhaka.

“We will also submit a memoran-dum citing the demands to the admin-istrator to ensure the citizen services,” he said. There should have a coordina-tion in providing the utility services of

the DSCC, the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Dhaka Wasa), Dha-ka Power Power Distribution Company (DPDC) and the Titas Gas, he added.

Dhaka is now the third unlivable city in the world because of poor condition of the city’s roads, drainage system, waste management, mosquito control and tra� c system, said Dr Sajedul.

The successive governments make various development plans only for en-suring bene� t to the rich, not for the middle class and poor, he said.

“Only 17%people of total two crore population in the capital have their own house,” he said adding: “The rest 83 percent people have been su� ering due to additional charge by house owners.”

The subsequent governments have not taken any initiative to solve the problem, he said.

“We urge the city corporation au-thority to implement the house rent controlling law 1991 immediately in ev-ery ward in the city,” Dr Sajedul added.

The CPB leaders also threatened to hold the same programme before the the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).

Tougher movements would be launched if the authorities concerned do not ensure citizen services for the city dwellers, they said. l

Enayetullah Khan’s ninth death anniversary today n Tribune Report

Today is the ninth death anniversa-ry of Enayetullah Khan, founding editor of the daily New Age and edi-tor-in-chief of the weekly Holiday.

The titan of Bangladeshi journalism passed away in Toronto, Canada, at the age of 66, suf-fering from cancer of the pancreas.

Beginning his career as a reporter for the Pakistan Observer in 1959, Enayet-ullah went on to found the weekly Hol-iday in 1965.

He founded the daily New Age in 2003 and was the editor of the Bangladesh Times between 1975 and 1977.

Khan was awarded with the Ekushey Padak for excellence in journalism for more than four decades.

He also served as a minister and an ambassador to China, North Korea, Cambodia and Myanmar.

Known for his democratic activism, Enayetullah Khan was at the forefront of the Buddhijibi Nidhan Tathyanu-sandhan Committee instituted to in-vestigate murders of intellectuals by al-Badr and al-Shams.

Enayetullah has served as the presi-dent of the National Press Club and the Dhaka Club.

Born on May 25, 1939 in Mymens-ingh, Enayetullah Khan was the third son of late Justice Abdul Jabbar Khan, a former speaker of the Pakistan Nation-al Assembly. l

A hijra applies henna to a child at the capital’s Chandrima Udyan as part of the Hijra Pride 2014 festivities observed in Dhaka yesterday RAJIB DHAR

WEATHER

LIGHT RAIN

PRAYER TIMES Fajr 4:53am Sunrise 6:09am Zohr 11:42am Asr 3:38pm Magrib 5:15pm Esha 6:32 pm

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:15PM SUN RISES 6:11AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW34.4ºC 18.3ºCKhulna Dinajpur

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 31 24Chittagong 33 24Rajshahi 34 19Rangpur 33 19Khulna 31 21Barisal 34 22Sylhet 33 20Cox’s Bazar 33 24

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

Two years needed to remove overhead cablesISPs says they will not be able to remove overhead wires by November 10n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The Internet Service Providers’ Associ-ation of Bangladesh (ISPAB) has sought two more years from the government to remove the overhead cables in the capital’s streets.

“It is not possible to remove the cables, which have been in use for 16 years, and replace them with under-ground cables by November 10,” said Md Emdadul Hoque, secretary general of the ISPAB, at a press conference in a city hotel yesterday.

“We will remove the overhead ca-bles within two years, after construct-ing local distribution points – in every alley or in front of every building, if necessary – to maintain the quality of service,” he said.

He also urged the government to create pressure on the companies re-sponsible for the Nationwide Telecom-munications Transmission Network (NTTN) to establish local distribution points.

In a bid to beautify the city, the gov-ernment recently set a deadline, which ends today, for the capital’s ISPs and cable TV operators to remove their overhead cables in capital.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid warned the ISPs and cable TV opera-tors on October 30, saying if they did not take immediate steps to remove the overhead cables, the Dhaka Pow-er Distribution Company Limited and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limit-ed would step in.

A ministry o� cial told the Dhaka Tribune that the overhead internet and TV cables not only created trouble for pedestrians, but in many cases caused fatal accidents.

At the press conference, ISPAB Pres-ident Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman Manzu said they had already complet-ed work in 300km of the capital’s main streets, and were trying to � nish the remaining work.

“Without distribution points, re-moving the overhead cables would be impractical,” he said.

ISPAB Vice-President Syed Sadat Al-mas Kabir requested the government to reconsider cutting the overhead lines. “Thousands of internet userswill be a� ected if the lines are cut,” he said.

“We also urge the government to build a common underground duct, like the one between Jahangir Gate and Bijoy Sarani, all over the city so that in-stalling underground cable can be done at a minimal cost,” he said.

The press conference was also at-tended by ISPAB’s Joint Secretary Gen-eral Syed Md Tariqul Islam and Director Nackshab Omar Rabbani.

According to the ISPAB, there are 200 ISPs across the country.

In 2009, two private entities, Fibre@Home and Summit Communications Limited, were awarded NTTN licences to build, operate and maintain such networks.

It was in December 2010 the govern-ment � rst instructed them to remove the overhead cables in Dhaka. l

Government to charge fees on corrections, issuances of ID card from next yearn Abu Bakar Siddique

The government plans to charge fees on the corrections and re-issuance of National Identi� cation Cards (NIC) from next year.

The National Identity Registration Wing last month submitted a proposal, signed by its Director General Sultanuz-zaman Md Salehuddin, in this regard to the Election Commission, sources at the commission said yesterday.

According to the proposal, a person will have to pay Tk200 for correcting his or her personal information on his card while the charge will be Tk300 for the second time. Accordingly, the fee would remain the same in case of the � rst and second re-issuance in case of

loss of an NIC.For the third time, it will be Tk400

and this fee will be same for as many times as a person applies for a correc-tion, but in case of loss the charge will be Tk500.

The Election Commission discussed the proposal at a meeting on November 5 but have not yet reached a decision.

When Election Commissioner Md Shah Nawaz was asked about the plan, he told the Dhaka Tribune that he was not aware of this.

The Election Commission has so far issued identity cards to 9.2crore people across the country while 46 lakh peo-ple will receive the cards on comple-tion of the ongoing voter identity card update. l

Transport strike in Sylhet from tomorrown Our Correspondent, Habiganj

A road transport committee in Hab-iganj district has called for inde� nite strike in Sylhet division from Tuesday demanding realisation of their sev-en-point demand.

Habiganj district road transport owner-labour combined committee announced the programme in a press conference held at the district press club on Sunday afternoon.

The demands include – reducing the registration number of all sort of hu-man haulers, minimising domination of the police, punishment of the police who � red bullets on Sylhet’s trans-ports’ owners and labours, recruiting the suspended workers in the Lafarge Surma Factory, including bus-minibus owners in regional committee etc.

Member secretary, Sha� qur Rahman Chowdhury in his written statement said: “On October 27, we gave an ultimatum to the divisional commissioner of Sylhet to ful� ll our demands by November 5.”

As the administration did nothing, the committee announced the indef-inite strike programme from 6am on Tuesday, he added.

He said the transport unions and organisations of every district under Sylhet division will continue the pro-gramme until their demands are met.

Habiganj road transport committee president Fazlur Rahman Chowdhury, road transport labour union general sec-retary Sajib Ali and Agradut Paribahan owner Fazlur Rahman Lebu were, among others, present in the conference. l

Three held with contraband n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Police in separate drives, nabbed three people along with 3kg of hemp and 125 bottles of beer from the port city yes-terday and the day before.

Bakalia police station OC Mohammad Mohsin said police nabbed one Abdullah Al Noman, 23, employee of a resort at St. Martin’s island, with 125 bottles of beer from the Shah Amanat Third Karnaphuli Bridge area around 3:15pm.

Earlier, a DB team arrested two peo-ple, Md Sagar and Md Babul, with 3 kg of hemp from the city’s Kotwali area around 11:30pm on Saturday, says a media release.

The arrestees were later handed over to Kotwali police station and two cases were � led against them. l

37 BCL men sent to jail in Biyanibazar explosive case n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

A Sylhet court yesterday sent 37 Bang-ladesh Chaatra League (BCL) leaders and activists to jail yesterday rejecting their bail plea in a case � led under the explosives act.

Judicial Magistrate Jerin Sultana passed the order when the accused sur-rendered before the court and sought bail in the case.

The accused include Abul Kasem Pollob, former joint secretary of BCL Beanibazar upazila unit.

Advocate Rezaul Karim, the defence counsel, � led bail petitions for the ac-cused, which was denied by the court.

On September 15, two factions of BCL led by its Joint convenor Jamal Ahmed locked into clashes, leaving 10 injured including o� cer-in-charge of the Biyanibazar police station.

Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman lodged a case against 52 BCL men un-der explosives act. l

Fear of insecurity haunts BAU studentsn BAU Correspondent

Fear of insecurity haunts the common students of the Bangladesh Agricultur-al University (BAU) with the rise in out-sider movement on the campus.

Students alleged that outsiders had long been committing crimes on the campus taking advantage of lax mon-itoring attitude by the university ad-ministration.

Police sources, National Security Intelligence, and general students said outsiders were staying in almost all the male dormitories of the university.

Outsiders are involved in various anti-social activities, including the trading of illegal drugs and arms and

trespassing on the campus, said sourc-es who preferred to be unnamed.

Students said they often found strangers gathered at the Jobber inter-section, KR market, on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra River, the university � rst gate and many other areas on the campus.

Student leaders belong to the Bang-ladesh Chhatra League (BCL) are seen accompanying the outsiders, they said.

Unwilling to be named, some female students alleged that they frequently fell victim to teasing by outsiders and BCL activists while moving about the campus.

“Although we face harassment by the outsiders, we cannot protest as

political leaders support them, said a female student. BCL President of BAU unit Md Mursheduzzaman Khan Babu denied the allegation of backing out-siders. He said “BCL is not involved in backing any outsiders on the campus.”

When contacted, Convener of BAU Provost Council Prof Dr Abdul Momen Miah refuted the allegation.

He said: “We never allow any non-student to stay in the halls,” said Dr Momen Miah.”

He, however, confessed to this cor-respondent that they had heard of out-siders staying in the dormitories.

“If we get solid information about outsiders residing illegally in the dor-mitories, The university administra-

tion will take necessary action against the o� enders.”

Meanwhile, some unidenti� ed mis-creants � red at least � ve round bul-lets in front of the Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Hall in the early hours of yesterday. They also tried to enter the hall by breaking the main gate, but to no avail as campus patrolling police reached the spot, said eyewitnesses.

BAU Proctor Prof Dr Md Harun-ur Rashid said, “We are trying to ensure security of the common students on the campus.”

He also suggested that students should not maintain links with outsid-ers for the sake of the overall security of the campus. l

Speakers at a seminar on prospects of animation in Bangladeshi � lm industry, organised by the Dhaka University Film Society at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban, DU yesterday. Story on Entertainment Page NASHIRUL ISLAM

This damaged road directional sign post on the Khilgaon � yover is no more of a use to guide the vehicle drivers SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Woman found dead in Chittagongn Tribune Report

Police found the body of an unidenti� ed woman from Dhoniala Para in the port city’s Double Mooring area yesterday.

Sub-inspector of Double Mooring police station Champak Barua said lo-cals spotted the body of a woman, aged 40 years, at Altaf Baburchi Lane of the area in the morning and informed the police.

The police found the legs bound, and several burn injuries on the chest of the body, which was later sent to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy. l

Two BCL activists suspended for attacking student at CU n CU Correspondent

Chittagong University authorities sus-pended two activists of the university unit Bangladesh Chhatra League for di� erent periods on charge of attacking a student on the campus yesterday.

CU Proctor Siraj Ud Dowla said they suspended Shariar Shuvo, a student of English department, and Jubayer, of Management department in the after-noon. Both were the activists of Varsity Express (VX) group, a shuttle train based BCL faction of CU, said campus sources.

Earlier at noon, some members of the group beat up Mithun Chowdhury, a � nal year student of Computer Sci-ence and Engineering (CSE) depart-ment, also an activist of CU unit BCL,

in presence of police over establishing supremacy.

The victim maintained the former joint secretary Sumon Mamun group which followers halted the shuttle train for three hours protesting the incident.

On the other hand, several members from Mamun group forced to stop an-other campus-bound at Fateyabad sta-tion by igniting tyres on railway tracks.

Around 6pm, they moved away from the spot after being informed of the sus-pension. Mentionable that both groups are belonged to City Awami League President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury.

The academic activities of CU re-sumed yesterday after a 42-day vaca-tion in the occasion of Eid, Durga Puja and admission test. l

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

Indian national sent to jail for intrusionn Our Correspondent,

Netrakona

An Indian national was sent to jail yesterday in Netrako-na district as he tried to en-ter Bangladesh illegally.

Bangladesh Border Guard sources said the BGB members arrested Asio Na-dip,35, the Indian national in Kanthalbri area while he was trying to Bangladesh illegally. The law enforcers also recovered a knife in possessing of the man. l

Farmers are seen weighing tomatoes in Rajabari area of Rajshahi yesterday. Growers have started harvest of high-yield variety of tomatoes last week. One maund tomato being sold from Tk1,100 to Tk1,300 in the district AZAHAR UDDIN

4 teachers jailed for helping examinees in cheatingn Our Correspondent, Kushtia

A mobile court sentenced four teachers with two years of imprisonment for helping ex-aminees in cheating during Junior School Certi� cate examination in Khoksha upazila of Kushtia yesterday.

The convicts are Sarwar Hossain, Bhudeb

Kumar Ghoshal and A� l Uddin, all teach-ers of Shomoshopur Secondary School and Bishwanath Das, teacher of Amlabari Sec-ondary School.

Executive Magistrate Rebeka Khan has handed down the sentence around 12:30 pm yesterday. Members of law enforcement agencies were also present during the drive.l

87 Jamaat-Shibir men indicted for vandalismn Our Correspondent, Feni

Jamaat-Shibir men stroke terror in Feni by vandalising and torching vehicles on Thursday, the last day of the 48-hour countrywide shutdown enforced by the Jamaat-e-Islami.

A case had been � led against 87 ac-tivists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its stu-dent wing Islami Chhatra Shibir in this

regard. He said during the hartal on Thursday night the Jamaat-Shibir men set � re to a private car and vandalised four other vehicles on Shaheed Shahid-ullah Kaiser Road in the city.

Police have already arrested 12 in this connection including Jamaat-e-Is-lami Feni unit Finance Secretary Pro-fessor Ra� qul Islam, and Shibir activists – Iqbal Hossain and Sameer Mamun. l

Female UP member hacked dead in Manikganjn Our Correspondent, Manikganj

Police recovered the body of a female union parishad (UP) member, who was chopped to death, at Jamalpur village in Singair upazila of the district yester-day morning.

Police and family sources said Mon-oara Begum, 45, wife of Nurul Islam

and mother of two children, was

on way home from her niece’s in-laws’ house at Joymontop village around 9pm.

On Sunday morning, locals spot-ting her body lying beside a road at Ja-malpur village in Bayra union informed police.

Sub-inspector Sahidul Islam of Sin-gair police station said Monoara was chopped to death by some miscreants over a land-related dispute. l

Hindu family alleges land grabbingAgri farm � les ‘false’ cases against � ve ‘to evict’ themn Our Correspondent, Mymensingh

A Hindu family alleged that the man-agement of an agriculture farm had � led a case against them in a bid to harass them and thus grab their land at Bhaluka upazila in Mymensingh.

Priyonath Chandra, 82, a resident of Dhamshur village, � led a general diary with the local police seeking protection from any kind of harassment by the farm authority.

He said he owned eight acres and 23 decimals of land as per records of rights and government khas land settlement policy and had been the owner for around 60 years. He recently sold two acres of land to Shahjalal Agro Limited.

On September 22, the Shahjalal Agro Limited management � led a case against Priyonath Chandra, his two sons Jagadish Chandra, 37, Raghunath Chandra, 21, and his daughter’s hus-band Kajol, 24, on charges of robbing them of Tk20 lakh and demanding Tk50 lakh as extortion.

On October 8, the accused appeared before court in the case. They were then arrested and sent to jail. After be-ing behind bars for 10 days, they came

out on bail on October 17. Octogenarian Priyonath Chandra

told the Dhaka Tribune that the farm authority had � led this case against him and his family only to grab his land because they were not satis� ed with what they had already bought from him.

He said Shahjalal Agro Limited own-er Shahjalal Majumder had also once tried to assault him at his o� ce, adding that they were now making threats in various ways to “evict my family.”

His son-in-law [daughter’s husband] Kajol said this agriculture farm had al-ready grabbed forest land, worth Tk 2-3 crore. As locals protested such actions, the farm authority � led two false cases against them.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Habir-bari Forest Beat O� cer Saiful Islam echoed him and said they had � led a case against the agriculture farm own-er on charges of erecting structures ille-gally on government land.

The court however issued an or-der in favour of the farm owner and then they again appealed to the court against it, he said.

Farm owner Shahjalal Majumder told the Dhaka Tribune that he has be-come the owner of 12 acres and 73 dec-imals of land after having bought the land from seven to eight locals, adding that a court had also given an order in favour of him after the forest depart-ment objected to his land ownership.

Mentioning names of several in� u-ential local Awami League leaders, he said they all were aware of it. l

The court however issued an order in favour of the farm owner and then they again appealed to the court against it

Railway land lease makes Gaibandha main road’s expansion work di� cultn Our Correspondent,

Gaibandha

The railway authorities concerned have made great hurdle to the ex-pansion works of main road of the district by giving a lease without taking any opinion from the regard-ing sides.

Sources said Lalmonirhat engi-neering department of the railway gave the lease of 84-sft land, on which the room of DB road number 1 gate-man is situated, to one Lutfur

Rahman for Tk4,536 annually.Gaibandha Railways Station Mas-

ter Md Abul Kasem said the lease ap-peal was approved without informing him while the place is being used for o� cials tasks as well as accommoda-tion for three employees of the gate.

He appealed the authorities con-cerned to reconsider the lease.

Gaibandha Municipality Mayor Md Shamsul Alam said the DB road is lone passage to enter the town from seven upazilas of the district. The 24-foot road in width has remained

just 18-foot at number 1 rail gate ow-ing to unavailability of space, result-ing a severe tra� c jam seen there.

The mayor went on that the sit-uation would be severe if shops are erected on the lease land.

Gaibandha Brahmaputra Sar-ak and Rail Setu Bastobaion cen-tral committee president advocate Ashraf Ali said the government has been considering to run ferry ser-vice on Balasighat from December and that is why expansion works of the Polasibari-Gaibandha-Balasighat

road was going on full swing.“In this situation, some corrupt

railway o� cials have made the task di� cult by approving the lease ap-peal of a piece of 84sft land near the rail gate,” the president continued.

When asked, Ahsan Jabir, divi-sional engineer of Lalmonirhat Rail-ways, said the lease had been given through due process.

Local DC Md Ehsane Elahi said he was unaware of the lease. If it is true, a severe tailback would erupt in the district town. l

Locals lay siege to SP o� ce demanding arrest of college student Ifti killers Locals laid a seized to the o� ce of Netrakona Superintendent of Police yesterday demanding arrest of the killers of college student Aziz Aman Ifti soon. Ifti, a class XI student of Netrakona Government College, was killed by some of his classmates on the campus on August 9. Around 11:00am, a protest procession was brought out from the college campus. Marching the main roads of Natrakona town, the procession ended before the police superintendent’s o� ce. – Our Correspondent, Netrakona

Attack on journos protestedin NarshigndiLocal journalists in Narshindi yesterday formed a human chain before Raipura Press Club protesting the attacks on journalists by ruling party men on November 5. Members of Raipura Press Club and Raipura unit of Jatiya Sangbadik Sangstha took part the programme around 11:00am. Three journalists and two Ansar members were injured when by a gang of miscreants led by leaders of the ruling party Awami League’s associate bodies swooped on a mobile court while it was conducting a drive against illegal gas connections in Bhatpara area in Narshingdi November 5. The local

hoodlums also vandalised camaras of journalists as they were taking footage of the drive. The injured journalists are Kawsar Ahmed, cameraman of Shomoy Television, and Lakshman Barman, cameraman of Channel 24 and Aiub Khan Sarkar, reporter of Channel 9.– Our Correspondent, Narshigndi

Fire guts around valuablesworth Tk3 lakhA � re gutted valuables worth around Tk3 lakh at a house in Tongabari area under of Ashulia in Savar yesterday. The � re was originated from an electric short circuit in a room of the house of one Asgor Ali around 11:00am, said Ashulia DEPZ Fire Station O� cer Abdul Hamin. Two units of � re � ghters from Ashulia DEPZ Fire Station doused the � ame after about forty minutes of e� ort. – Our Correspondent, Savar

Arrest of youth’s killers demanded in BrahmanbariaLocals yesterday formed a human chain before Brahmanbaria demanding arrest of killers of Richal Pathan who was killed by miscreants on November 1. Several hundred people took part in the human chain stretching from Kumarshil Intersection to Kawtali around 11:00am. Richal Pathan, son of Yeasin Pathan of Kandipara area in Brahmanbaria, was beaten to

death by some miscreants in Khalpar Hwakers Market area. Later, a case was � led against 17 people, including Brahmanbaria city unit General Secretary Ra� qul Islam. – Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria

Two houses robbedin ChuadangaA gang of robbers took away valuables from two houses in Notipota village in Tamurhuda upazila in Chuadanga early yesterday. Police said a gang of 8-9 robbers attacked the house of farmers and Mangal Malitha and Ruhul Amin around 12:00am. In the face of � re arms, the gang robbed Tk 7,000 from Malitha’s house, while Tk 40,000, a gold chain and other valuables from Ruhul’s house. Sensing the presence of police, the robbers blasted four bombs. – Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

Kurigram transport workerson inde� nite strike Transport workers in Kurigram have observed an inde� nite strike to press home their � ve point demands, including payment of their arrears. No goods laden truck, tank-lorry and covered van have plied on the road in the district since 6:00am yesterday due to the strike called by the Kurgram District Truck, Tank-Lorry and Covered Van Workers’. – Our Correspondent, Kurigram

NEWS IN BRIEF

7Long Form Monday, November 10, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

Growth maps: Learning from high-growth economies

n Sajid H Amit

Before WWII, sustained GDP growth of 7% a year was virtually unheard of. However, since then, 13 economies have grown at an

average rate of at least 7% for 25 years or longer: Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Japan, China, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia, Botswana, Oman and Malta. At that pace, an econ-omy doubles in size every 10 years.

Interestingly, after WWII, when Japan grew at such rates, commenta-tors considered it an exception ren-dered possible by post-war recovery. Next, when the “Asian Tigers” (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea) achieved such growth rates, commen-tators said it was only possible because they were small.

More recently, when China sur-passed 7% growth rates, they said it was because China was so big. Each time, they called it a “miracle.” But miracles they are not, because unlike miracles, they have been explained and repeated.

There is of course no one-size-� ts-all strategy to growth, but it is possible to tease out policy strategies from the above 13 that merit closer attention: n Outward turn: Using the global

economy as the essential re-source

n Understanding human capital: Workforce development

n Orientation toward the future: Higher savings and investment rates

n Stable governments

An “outward turn” was more feasible post-World War II as the international economy became more open, allow-ing growing economies to import ideas, technologies and knowledge. Rarely did the fast-growing econo-mies produce original technology and knowledge, but they absorbed it at a considerable pace, aided by prioritisa-tion of research by policymakers. The fast learning countries became the fast growing economies.

Exports became the focal point for macroeconomic policy. While the role of exports was nowhere disputed – that of export promotion was. To prioritise exports, countries promoted speci� c sectors through tax breaks, subsidies, import tari� exemptions, cheap credit, dedicated infrastructure, or bundled them via dedicated export zones.

Some also actively intervened to keep the currency competitive, regulating by the amount and type of capital � owing across their borders while accumulating substantial foreign reserves in the central bank. The trade-o� of keeping the currency competi-tive and more export-sector-friendly is that it can limit the amount of capital a country imports, and raise the cost of capital, which in turns reduces investments.

However, in the early stages of high growth, management of exchange rates can be helpful as long as it is done to slightly tip the balance in favour of exports (to overcome informational asymmetries and other potential fric-tions) and secondly, to prevent a sud-den surge of capital in� ows (which can disrupt the growth of export sectors).

Foreign education at large and for-eign higher education in particular has proven to be an important channel for knowledge transfer as evidenced by almost all the 13 high-growth econo-mies.

During the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government pursued an active policy to attract their diaspora back to Japan. More recently, China has done the same to invite Chinese students and professionals trained in western universities to return to China and help develop market-oriented policies and institutions.

China has also actively encouraged Chinese students to continue to pur-sue studies overseas. The Singaporean government has scholarship schemes that send bright students to acquire learning from western universities

with the condition to return and contribute. In addition to knowledge transfer, the returning diaspora bring back with them a wealth of interna-tional networks that can be bene� cial.

However, is an outward turn the only road to growth? Some economists have looked inward as well towards consumption, to bolster the home work and make it more competitive for imports.

There are advantages to inward looking strategies as well: they eschew the risks and dislocations that emerge from opening up a country to foreign competition too abruptly. However, growth strategies that rely exclusively or mostly on domestic demand even-tually hit a plateau: economies then lose the space to specialise in whatever it is best at producing.

At this point, it is worth considering the importance of macroeconomic sta-bility, of which Bangladesh has been a poster child. Bangladesh has mustered around 6% growth for 11 years, and the standard deviation thereof is the least among other developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Macroeconomic stability is the foundation for higher growth and Bangladesh deserves the attention it’s getting for sustaining its growth rate. However, having macroeconomic stability will not spur on higher growth rates unless the government invests in infrastructure and human capital, and sets policies to encourage a mindset of “saving for the future.”

Low in� ation is a fantastic achieve-ment but it does not compensate for poor education or rickety infrastruc-ture. That will never attract or drive investment required to quickly lift masses of people out of poverty and post the high growth rates seen else-where in Asia.

In the more populous high-growth countries, in the beginning, jobs were hard to come by, wages were low and many people were self-employed out of necessity. The solution to this al-most began with gainful employment in export industries for people other-wise underemployed in the traditional or informal sectors, until the economy creates better jobs, worthy of better educated workers.

As the export sector deepens and enriches, workers � nd more options and sectors to move back and forth between. Of course, workers � nd it easier to pick up new skills and enter new trades if they are literate and educated. This creates the scope for government and private sector inter-ventions to expand existing education-al and training opportunities and thus increase labour mobility.

In any period of fast growth, labour like other forms of capital will move rapidly from sector to sector, and governments ought not to temper the market forces that pull people into urban areas or destroy some jobs, because new ones will be created.

Yes, there will be haphazard urbanisation, but it will pave the way for greater planning and foresight. No country has achieved sustained rapid growth without initiating and main-taining high rates of public investment in education, training, and workforce development. The good news for Bangladesh is that an abundant labour supply is a boon for catch-up growth.

Now, turning to infrastructure, un-like other forms of government invest-ment, in infrastructure in particular does not crowd out private invest-ment, but crowds it in – it enables new industries to emerge and raises the return to private ventures that bene� t from healthy, educated workers, pass-able roads and reliable electricity.

Unfortunately, infrastructure spending is not given its due and it’s often not measured (as tends to happen with statistics: what gets valued gets measured, and what does not get measured gets ignored). In fast-growing Asia, public investment in infrastructure accounted for 7% of GDP with higher percentages in China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Telecommunications infrastruc-ture and the pricing of services are of particular importance as well. Even-tually, telecommunications promotes widespread access to � nancial services and hence savings; raises productivity by disseminating price information to farmers and other producers; drives literacy and vocational learning; ena-bles transparency initiatives; and facil-itates delivery of government services. It is also the basis for globalisation of the information technology industry – a rapidly growing area of commerce for Bangladesh.

But of course, for investments in infrastructure and education to grow, there has to be a commensurate sav-ings pool to � nance the investments. Bangladesh’s savings rate is actually lower than most countries in Asia.

And there is a case for strategic pol-icy intervention here. Perhaps we as a people have not been future-oriented enough and it is high time we under-stood how to create better futures for successive generations.

All the 13 economies mentioned earlier were signi� cantly future-ori-ented at the beginning stages of their growth: foregoing consumption for a higher standard of living in the future. Rapid investment growth is just not possible without the availability of savings: a national saving rate of 25% is not unusual and much higher saving rates have been required to sustain high investment growth.

China’s savings rate, which was already very high, increased from an average of 36% in 1980–89 to 46% in 2000–2008. The low level of female labour force participation also contrib-utes to low household and private sav-ing rates. Households in which more women work tend to save beyond the additional income e� ect. Education levels are, not surprisingly, also closely related to savings rates.

Policy options can be grouped in two categories: demand-side policies to inform household saving decisions; and supply-side policies to improve regulatory, institutional, and other conditions in which saving decisions are made.

On the demand side, if implement-

ed e� ectively, a national � nancial literacy strategy is likely to promote � nancial literacy nationwide and have a signi� cant impact on savings rate, as was evidenced in Turkey. On the sup-ply side, policy options included devel-oping � nancial intermediation in three ways: (i) better use of existing products (such as private pensions and corpo-rate bonds), including, but not limited to, taxation of di� erent instruments; (ii) more investment in new products and better regulatory framework; and (iii) special saving schemes.

In Bangladesh, further developing the corporate bond market is one policy option. Nonbank � nancial institutions (NBFI) are widely regarded as being critical for bond market development given their long–term investment strategies. If bond markets are under-

developed, both pension funds and insurance companies are forced to hold short-term securities, which do not cor-respond to the liability side of their bal-ance sheet and therefore expose them to maturity mismatches. Therefore, developing the bond market has the impact of developing the pension funds industry and the insurance industry.

Private pension schemes have recently gotten some attention in Bangladesh but they have the potential to expand. Besides raising the aware-ness of households about planning for retirement, making the private pension scheme attractive could help the sector grow and generate long-term savings.

Malaysia and Thailand both have highly developed � nancial markets, deepening bond markets and high saving rates; their experiences may be relevant for Bangladesh. Some coun-tries like Singapore have employed more direct measures to enforce thrift, eg, the establishment of the Central Provident Fund, a mandatory savings scheme, in 1955.

So what role is the government to play in all this? Successful growth his-tories have vindicated the importance of having an increasingly capable, committed and stable government. Since high growth requires high savings, it requires strong political leadership to � rst dedicate itself to a growth strategy, then communicate to the public that the rewards for future generations after generations are well worth the e� ort, thrift and near-term economic upheaval as it were.

In all examples of countries with high growth, not only were there con-sistent and strong political leadership but also communication with the people to ensure that they understood the value of future-orientation.

It has to be remembered that pol-icy-making in a developing economy is not easy. Economists know how a market economy will respond to prescriptions where there are mature institutional foundations that de� ne property rights, enforce contracts, and convey prices that bridge information-al gaps between buyers and sellers.

This is harder to do for a high-grow-ing, developing country. A high-growth economy is a moving target in that bad policies are often good poli-cies applied for too long. But the good news is that market and regulatory institutions tend to co-evolve with the economy, as has happened elsewhere. A stable and e� ective government is critical in the long run that maintains price stability and � scal responsibility.

GDP growth is of course not an end in itself. But no poor country has lifted itself out of poverty without exhibiting high rates of GDP Growth. Moreover, social welfare goals such as health care, education and the other Millennium Development Goals are not achievable without growth. Growth therefore while not su� cient, is a necessary condition to lift masses out of poverty and drudgery and enable individual, familial and national well-being. l

Sajid H Amit is Director Training & Consulting at the Growth Institute.

But of course, for investments in infrastructure and education to grow, there has to be a commensurate savings pool to � nance the investments

A high-growth economy is a moving target in the sense that bad policies are often good policies applied for too long

The good news is that an abundant labour supply is a boon for catch-up growth RAJIB DHAR

Investment in infrastructure enables new industries to emerge and raises the return to private ventures that bene� t from healthy, educated workers, passable roads and reliable electricity NASHIRUL ISLAM

Monday, November 10, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World8

The Albanian gambler who robbed the national vaultn Reuters, Tirana

In the end, it wasn’t the security camer-as or the audit inspections in the vault of Albania’s central bank that brought down Ardian Bitraj.

It was the high blood pressure and lack of sleep, the burden of a multi-mil-lion-dollar secret.

Sitting down with his boss this July, Bitraj confessed his deception: over a four-year period he had stolen the equiv-alent of $6.5 million from the vault, cov-ering his tracks by stu� ng the empty cash boxes with books and balls of string.

The revelation brought down the central bank governor, led to the arrest of 18 employees and tarnished the rep-utation of an institution once lauded for its professionalism. And all for the sake of a gambling habit that led to massive losses, culminating in a series of fatal bets on the soccer World Cup.

The full story of the Balkan bank heist is only just emerging, gleaned by Reu-ters in interviews with bankers, inves-tigators and others involved, and from legal documents including a transcript of Bitraj’s confession.

It started in May 2010, when Bitraj, who had risen to become head of the cash processing department at the bank, � rst opened the metal and plastic clasps to the wooden boxes that hold its cash reserves in the cryptically named X Building on the outskirts of the capital Tirana.

Bitraj, 45, had a penchant for placing bets on soccer matches, so roughly once a month he would wait for his co-work-ers to leave the room and swipe up to 2 million leks, roughly $18,000, according to the confession.

Skewed camerasChoosing carefully how he returned the boxes, Bitraj would make sure those he had tampered with were not in line for

delivery to Albania’s commercial banks, nor likely to be picked on in the regular random audit of the vault.

As the thefts mounted, he would stu� the boxes with packaging, balls of string and books to replace the weight of the cash.

All three keys needed to access the vault were kept in his personal safe. In statements to police, bank employees said they had not received any directive on how or where to store the keys.

Bitraj says auditors checked only 2% of the cash boxes in the vault. Fired governor Ardian Fullani says it was 5%, maintaining that checks in the former communist country were comparable with other central banks in Europe.

Witness testimony has since revealed that the bank’s plumber and electrician both made up the numbers for the re-quired seven-member audit team in 2012 and 2013.

Oddly enough, according to Bitraj’s confession, the security cameras in the cash processing section were not trained on the cash boxes, but on an o� ce and

an annex to the cash room.Bitraj would stu� the money in a black

plastic bag and place it in his o� ce safe, investigators said. Then before leaving work, he would duck into the lavatory and strap the wads of bills to his body. His nephew would drive him home.

“The bank had no system to detect if anyone was carrying banknotes out, and some of the cameras were at an angle at which one could not see everything,” an investigator, who spoke on condition of

anonymity, told Reuters.

Penalty shootoutThe theft reached its peak during the World Cup in Brazil in June and July; at one point, Bitraj smuggled out 10 million leks, or roughly $90,000, in a single day.

Newspapers reported that he bet through Tirana bookmakers on dozens of matches throughout the tournament, losing 20 million leks ($180,000) on a single game when he backed Brazil to beat Chile in regular time but they only won through on penalties.

The strain on him was mounting.

His wife, in written testimony, said he was su� ering from high blood pressure. Investigators told Reuters he was not eating properly, could not sleep and had stopped washing himself.

“I wonder why the guy didn’t skip the country,” said a veteran insider at the central bank.

His confession sent shockwaves through the bank: 18 employees have been arrested, mainly on suspicion of negligence. Fullani, who had won praise

from the likes of the International Mon-etary Fund for his handling of monetary policy during 10 years in charge, is under house arrest pending trial on charges of abuse of o� ce.

Bitraj himself has been charged with bank theft and faces up to 20 years in jail. The trial is expected to begin with-in weeks and a verdict could come early next year.

His tale is a cautionary one for banks the world over.

“It seems they worked on the basis of trust. And there should be zero trust in a bank,” the central bank insider said. l

Catalonia holds non-binding vote on independencen Agencies

The people of Catalonia in north-east-ern Spain are voting in a disputed and non-binding poll on independence.

The Spanish judiciary has ruled the vote unconstitutional but Catalan leader Artur Mas warned against any attempt to disrupt it.

Spain’s constitutional court sus-pended earlier plans for a referendum on secession. Spain Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the vote would have no e� ect and urged the region to return to “sanity.”

As of 13:00 local time (11:00am GMT), 1.1 million people had voted. l

Gorbachev: World is on brink of new Cold Warn Reuters, Berlin

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gor-bachev warned in a speech in Berlin on Saturday that East-West tensions over the Ukraine crisis were threatening to push the world into a new Cold War, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some say that it has already begun,” said Gorbachev, who is feted in Germany for his pivotal role in help-ing create the conditions for the Berlin Wall’s peaceful opening on Nov. 9, 1989, heralding the end of the Cold War.

“And yet, while the situation is dra-matic, we do not see the main interna-tional body, the UN Security Council, playing any role or taking any concrete action.” l

French opposition in turmoil amid ‘plot’ over Sarkozyn AFP, Paris

France’s former prime minister Fran-cois Fillon Sunday complained of a “plot” against him, amid media re-ports he sought to interfere in legal procedures against Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival in the right-wing opposition.

Leading daily Le Monde claimed that Fillon had in June urged Presi-dent Francois Hollande’s chief of sta� to push along the several legal com-plaints against Sarkozy.

“Hit him quickly, hit him quickly ... you know if you don’t hit him quickly, you’ll see him come back, so do it,” Fil-lon is alleged to have told Jean-Pierre Jouyet, Hollande’s right-hand man at the Elysee Palace.

Both Fillon and Jouyet have de-nied this and the former prime minis-ter under Sarkozy’s presidency, who hopes to run as the candidate of the right-wing UMP in the 2017 presiden-tial election, hit out in the Journal de Dimanche weekly.

“I can only see in these incredible attacks an attempt at destabilisation and a plot,” he complained.

He has said he will sue for defama-tion against two Le Monde reporters, who made the claims in a book, as well as the daily itself.

Fillon, Sarkozy and former PM Alain Juppe are the three main UMP candi-dates likely to run against the embat-tled Hollande and the high-� ying far-right candidate Marine Le Pen at the next presidential election in 2017.

The three men used to work closely together. During Sarkozy’s presidency,

Fillon was prime minister and Juppe was foreign minister.

Sarkozy, who announced his come-back to frontline French politics amid much fanfare in September, is mired in a host of legal woes, notably over the � nancing of his 2012 presidential campaign.

The energetic 59-year-old has criss-crossed France in a bid to drum up support for his bid to win the UMP presidency – which he intends to use as a springboard for the 2017 election – but polls show he has failed to inspire voters.

The turmoil in the French opposi-tion has also failed to bene� t Hollande, who is the most unpopular president in French history, according to polls.

High unemployment, stagnant growth and unseemly political in� ght-ing is playing into the hands of Le Pen, who would likely win through to a sec-ond round of a presidential election if it were held now, surveys show.

And this latest “a� air” may not leave Hollande unscathed, as his chief of sta� is implicated in the story. l

Iran, US, EU hold nuclear talks in Omann Reuters, Muscat

With only two weeks to a deadline for a breakthrough deal, senior envoys of Iran, the United States and European Union met in Oman on Sunday to try to advance e� orts to defuse a stando� over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Western countries and close US ally Israel suspect Iran has covertly sought to develop the means to build nuclear weapons, and a decade-long confronta-tion over the issue has raised the risk of a wider war in the volatile Middle East.

The discussions, between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU envoy Catherine Ashton, aim to put veri� able limits on Iran’s ura-

nium enrichment work in return for a gradual lifting of sanctions.

Iran denies any secret nuclear weap-ons agenda, saying it wants peaceful nuclear energy only, but has refused to curb enrichment capacity and has been hit by damaging US, EU and UN Security Council sanctions as a result.

The thorniest unresolved issues are the size of Iran’s enrichment pro-gramme, the length of any long-term agreement and the pace at which in-ternational sanctions would be phased out, according to Western diplomats involved in the negotiations.

As Kerry arrived in Oman, a senior US o� cial said the three-way talks would be “an important meeting,” with the focus on making progress in

order to meet the deadline.US o� cials say major gaps still re-

main in negotiating positions. Kerry said last week that the United States and its partners were not contemplating an extension of the Nov. 24 deadline, al-though he held out the possibility that negotiations could go beyond that date if major issues were resolved and there were only technical details to wrap up.

Speaking to Iranian state television on his arrival in the Omani capital Mus-cat on Saturday night, Zarif reiterated that sanctions imposed on Iran had brought “no result” for the West.

Iran’s relations with the West have thawed since relative moderate Hassan Rouhani was elected president last year seeking to end Iran’s isolation. l

Palestinians remind world of their own walln Agencies

Palestinian youth have dug a hole in Israel’s separation wall with the Pales-tinian territories, as a symbolic gesture to mark 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Armed with hammers, a group of Palestinian activists on Saturday cre-ated a cavity in the wall that crosses through the West Bank village of Bir Nabala, between Jerusalem and Ra-mallah, braving tight Israeli security measures.

“It doesn’t matter how high the bar-riers will be, they will fall. Like the Ber-lin Wall fell - The Palestinian wall will fall,” the Palestinian activists who or-ganised the event wrote in a statement according to the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall a

quarter century ago is a key event in the breakdown of communism and the preface to Germany’s reuni� cation in 1990.

During its 28-year existence, the Wall served as a symbol for communist oppression.

Palestinians refer to the current wall separating the West Bank from Is-rael as the “apartheid wall.”

Israel began work on the sprawl-ing barrier in 2002 and has defended its construction as a crucial protec-tive measure, pointing to a drop in attacks inside Israel as a proof of its success.

But the Palestinians say the wall is a land grab. Large tracts of Palestin-ian land have been con� scated by the Israeli government to build it. When complete, 85% of it will have been built inside the West Bank. l

US air strikes target IS convoy in Iraqn Reuters, Baghdad/Washington

US air strikes destroyed an Islamic State convoy near the Iraqi city of Mosul but US officials said on Sat-urday it was unclear whether the group’s top commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been in any of the 10 targeted vehicles.

Colonel Patrick Ryder, a Central Command spokesman, said the US military had reason to believe that the convoy was carrying leaders of Islamic State, an al Qaeda o� shoot which con-trols large chunks of Iraq and Syria.

The convoy consisted of 10 Islamic State armed trucks.

“I can con� rm that coalition aircraft did conduct a series of air strikes yes-terday evening in Iraq against what was assessed to be a gathering of ISIL leaders near Mosul,” said Ryder, using another name for Islamic State.

“We cannot con� rm if ISIL lead-er Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was among those present.”

Islamic State had been changing its strategy since the air strikes began, switching to lower pro� le vehicles to avoid being targeted, according to resi-dents of towns the group holds.

A Mosul morgue o� cial said 50 bodies of Islamic State militants were brought to the facility after the air strike.

Mosul, northern Iraq’s biggest city, was overrun on June 10 in an o� ensive that saw vast parts of Iraq’s Sunni re-gions fall to the Islamic State and allied groups.

A month later a video posted on-

line purported to show the reclusive Baghdadi preaching at Mosul’s grand mosque.

Earlier on Saturday, Al-Hadath tele-vision channel said US-led air strikes targeted a gathering of Islamic State leaders in a town near the Syrian bor-der, possibly including Baghdadi.

Iraqi security o� cials were not im-mediately available for comment on the report from the station, part of Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television, but two witnesses told Reuters an air strike targeted a house where senior Islamic State o� cers were meeting, near the western Iraqi border town of al-Qaim.

Al-Hadath said dozens of people were killed and wounded in the strike in al-Qaim, and that Baghdadi’s fate was unclear.

Mahmoud Khalaf, a member of Anbar’s Provincial Council, also said there were air strikes in al-Qaim. He gave no details.

The US-led coalition carried out air strikes near al-Qaim overnight, de-stroying an Islamic State armoured ve-hicle and two checkpoints run by the group, Ryder said.

BOMBINGSThe hardline Sunni Islamic State’s

drive to form a caliphate has helped return sectarian violence in Iraq to the dark days of 2006-2007, the peak of its civil war.

It has also created a cross-border sanctuary for Arab militants, as well as foreign � ghters whose passports could allow them to evade detection in West-ern airports. l

US and Russia’s common ground on Ukrainen Agencies

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has welcomed US involvement in resolv-ing the Ukraine crisis, saying it would be a “step in the right direction,” in com-ments that appear to re� ect a toning down in bilateral tension that has been at its worst since the end of the Cold War.

Lavrov’s remarks came after a meeting in Beijing with John Kerry, his US counterpart, and precede high-lev-el meetings scheduled to take place between President Vladimir Putin and world leaders at an Asia-Paci� c Eco-nomic Co-operation (APEC) summit in China, and a Group of 20 summit in A ustralia, next week.

“Our positions on what is happen-ing in Ukraine do not correspond with the United States, but if Washington is

interested in contributing to the recon-ciliation of the situation and creating dialogue between Kiev and the rebel leadership... I think that would be a step in the right direction,” the Rus-sian foreign minister said in comments shown on state television.

Kerry said his country had agreed with Moscow on exchanging informa-tion about the situation on the Rus-sia-Ukraine border.

Ukraine’s military accused Russia on Friday of sending a column of 32 tanks and truckloads of troops into the country’s east to support pro-Russian separatists � ghting government forces.

Moscow rejects claims by Ukraine and the West that it is arming the pro-Krem-lin separatists, who are seeking seces-sion from the former Soviet country.

Kerry’s comment to reporters in

Beijing on Saturday seemed to suggest new Western sanctions against Russia are not imminent.

“The choices Russia makes will decide what happens with respect to sanctions in the long run here,” Kerry said, adding he hoped a cease� re agree-ment in Ukraine would remain viable.

Asked whether Moscow was send-ing tanks and troops to help the sep-aratists, Lavrov gave no clear answer, noting that the US government on Friday said that it was aware of the reports, but could not independently con� rm them.

No talks are scheduled at the APEC summit between Putin and US Presi-dent Barack Obama though Washing-ton and the Kremlin have not ruled out an informal conversation on the sum-mit sidelines. l

Snapshot from an exclusive video of Bitraj from A1 Report INTERNET INTERNET

(Left): People crowd the17th June avenue during an open air street party in front of Brandenburg gate organized by German governement to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall yesterday in Berlin. (Right): Communist Naydencho Naydenov holds a � ag to set a sign against European policy during the commemorations to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall at the Berlin Wall Memorial in the Bernauer Strasse in Berlin, yesterday AFP

‘Hit him quickly, hit him quickly ... you know if you don’t hit him quickly, you’ll see him come back, so do it’

Monday, November 10, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World 9

As Obama visits Asia, old alliances face new strainsn Reuters, Washington/Jakarta

In November 2011, with the Arab Spring uprisings in full tilt and Eu-rope rocked by a debt crisis, President Barack Obama � ew to Asia to promote a shift of America’s military, diplomat-ic and business assets to the region. His then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, declared in the same year that the 21st century would be “America’s Paci� c century.”

Fast-forward to today: as Obama � ies to Asia on Sunday, Washington’s “pivot” to the region is becoming more visible. It includes deployment of American Marines in Darwin, Aus-tralia, stepped up US naval visits to the Philippines and many more joint drills with that nation’s armed forces, as well as the lifting of a ban on lethal weap-ons sales to Vietnam.

But just as Washington seeks to expand American interests in Asia as a counterpoint to China’s growing in-� uence, some US partners have shown less willingness to challenge Beijing. That may mean China will have a freer hand to assert its authority in the re-source-rich South China Sea, where its territorial claims overlap those of Tai-wan and four Southeast Asian coun-tries.

The drubbing Obama’s Democrats took in this week’s mid-term elections, defeats that were blamed by many on his leadership, will hardly strengthen his position in discussions with Chi-na or with allies in the region. Obama will have less room for maneuver on foreign policy now he has a Repub-lican-controlled Senate to deal with, and the political focus in Washington

is already starting to turn to the 2016 presidential election.

Although several countries, no-tably the Philippines and Vietnam, have sought closer US ties as a defense against what they see as China’s ag-gression in pursuit of its claims in the South China Sea, other long-estab-lished alliances have become less ro-bust.

Beijing’s increasing economic in-� uence is a major reason. Southeast Asia’s trade with China is up four-fold over the past decade to $350 billion last year and is forecast to reach $1 tril-lion by 2020.

Indonesia, traditionally a leading voice and strong US ally in Southeast Asia, has signaled a foreign policy shift away from international activism fol-lowing this year’s election of a popu-list President Joko Widodo, who said in his election campaign that his focus would be on domestic a� airs.

Rizal Sukma, a foreign policy advis-er to Widodo, told Reuters there would be a shift in priorities from high-pro� le diplomacy, though Indonesia would continue to play a role in the South China Sea and support freedom of nav-igation and trade.

On the South China Sea, Widodo is unlikely to act without a crisis, said Greg Fealy, an Indonesia expert at the Australian National University. “The US may well � nd it much more di� cult to get any leverage,” he said.

In Thailand, a military coup in May has shaken up its relationship with the United States. Since the coup, Wash-ington has scaled back diplomatic contacts and reduced joint military exercises. l

21 new ministers join Narendra Modi’s cabinet

n Agencies

In the � rst cabinet expansion exercise after assuming power, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted 21 ministers into his council on Sunday in a move that strikes regional balance at the Centre and is expected to bring tech-nocratic expertise into the government.

The much-awaited expansion is also expected to give a big push to Bi-har and Uttar Pradesh – with an eye on elections – and rewarded Maharashtra and Haryana for delivering decisive

victories for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent assembly polls.

Portfolios of the ministers who took the oath of o� ce at Rashtrapati Bha-van on Sunday, however, were not an-nounced till the � ling of the report.

The newly sworn in cabinet min-isters are: former Goa chief minister Manohar Parikkar, who is tipped to get the defence ministry; BJP vice-presi-dent JP Nadda, a leader from Himachal Pradesh who has long experience in organisational politics; and Birendra Singh, who had joined the BJP from

the Congress ahead of the Haryana as-sembly elections.

The fourth in the list is Shiv Sena’s Suresh Prabhu. There were reports that the Sena was not keen on his can-didature. But Prabhu is known to enjoy Modi’s con� dence.

Even though Sena’s pick, Anil Desai, decided to skip the event - apparently over di� erences with the BJP in minis-terial berth allocation in Maharashtra, that did not hurt Prabhu’s prospects. Some reports said he joined the BJP hours before the ceremony.

Prabhu has the reputation of being an e� cient minister in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) govern-ment under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He has also worked closely with Modi during the Lok Sabha election cam-paign, and is the PM’s Sherpa for the upcoming G20- summit in Australia.

There were reports in Maharash-tra political circles that Modi wanted him at the Centre despite the logjam in ties between the two former allies – the Sena and the BJP – ahead of last month’s assembly. l

Two Americans freed by North Korea return to USn Reuters, Tacoma

Two Americans freed from secretive North Korea stepped o� a plane into the welcoming arms of family on Sat-urday after the surprise involvement of the top-ranking US intelligence of-� cial who traveled to Pyongyang to bring them home.

Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, who had been doing hard labor for months in North Korea, were ac-companied on their journey home by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, a senior US o� cial said. Their release comes less than three weeks after another American was freed by Pyongyang.

The two men arrived at Joint Base

Lewis-McChord near Tacoma in Wash-ington state on a Boeing C-40 Clipper aircraft bearing the words “United States of America.”

A smiling Bae exited the aircraft and in an emotional reunion on the tarmac greeted his mother, sister, brother-in-law and two young nieces. Miller fol-lowed minutes later and also hugged family members. Both men had close-cropped hair.

Bae, 46, a Korean-American mis-sionary from Lynnwood north of Seat-tle, was arrested in North Korea in No-vember 2012 and sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor for crimes against the state. Miller, in his mid-20s, was reportedly convicted on an espionage charge and in custody since April, serving a six-

year hard labor sentence.Bae thanked President Barack

Obama and the North Korean govern-ment for his freedom and said he ap-preciated the thoughts and prayers of people who supported him.

“It’s been an amazing two years, I learned a lot, I grew a lot, lost a lot of weight - in a good way - but I’m stand-ing strong because of you and thank you for being there in such time as this,” Bae said at a news conference.

When asked about his health, Bae said he was still recovering. His family had expressed concern about his well-being during his detention, saying he had diabetes, an enlarged heart, dete-riorating vision and back and leg pains. Miller did not speak to reporters. l

India test-� res nuclear capable strategic ballistic missileThe missile has a range of over 2,000km

n Agencies

India test-� red on Sunday a nucle-ar-capable strategic ballistic missile, Agni-II, the Times of Inida (TOI) re-ported.

According to the Indian publication, the missile has a range of over 2,000 kilometres and has been inducted into

the Indian army’s strategic forces arse-nal for nuclear deterrence.

TOI says the medium-range missile is equipped with an advanced high-ac-curacy navigation system and guided by a state-of-the-art command and control system which is powered by a solid rocket propellant system.

The two-stage surface-to-surface

missile’s range could be increased to 3,000 kilometres by reducing its pay-load, the report said, adding that the missile could be � red from both rail and road mobile launchers.

The Agni-II ballistic missile would take only 15 minutes to be readied for � ring. India has � rst successfully test-� red Agni-II prototype in 1999. l

Uddhav may pull out of Modi govtn HT, New Delhi

The simmering tension between Shiv Sena and BJP came to a boil on Sunday as Sena MP Anil Desai failed to take oath as Union minister amid talk that Uddhav Thackeray will pull the party out of the government at the Centre and play opposition in Maharashtra.

Desai, who was rushed to the na-tional capital to reach in time for the swearing-in, went back from the Delhi airport itself, apparently due to failure of BJP to address Sena’s demands for ministerial berths in Maharashtra.

Sena sources said that the party chief has convened a meeting in Mumbai this evening which could decide to play the role of opposition in Maharashtra and that he could direct Anant Geete, par-ty’s lone representative in the Narendra Modi cabinet, to resign. l

Musharraf’s Kashmir e� orts were frustrated by Delhin Agencies, Srinagar

Advocating former president Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula for Kashmir, former BJP legislator and em-inent lawyer Ram Jethmalani said on Saturday the document should be the basis for a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue and that Mr Musharraf’s e� orts were “frustrated” by India.

“Mr Musharraf came to India with a � rm and honest intention. His propos-al is a fantastic solution to the Kashmir problem. It is a wonderful document which should be the basis for a per-manent solution of Kashmir. I have no di� culty in confessing that his ef-forts were frustrated by India and not Pakistan,” the 91-year-old leader told reporters here.

Mr Jethmalani, who is chairman of the Kashmir Committee, also claimed he had made some changes to Mr Musharraf’s proposals. “I have been working for Kashmir for a long time and Musharraf knew. He sent his pro-posal to me through a common friend. I made some changes to the document as part of the proposals on behalf of the Kashmir Committee which Musharraf accepted. The whole purpose of the document is that there should be a sec-ular democracy on both sides,” he said.

The former union minister, who was expelled from the BJP earlier this year, said a formal body comprising statesmen and recognised by both In-dia and Pakistan should be set up to see to it that people were not exploited by the two governments. The head of the Kashmir Committee said he was in constant touch with the Kashmiri lead-ers and not all of them were “Pakistani agents.” l

China to establish $40bn Silk Road infrastructure fundn Reuters, Beijing

China will contribute $40 billion to set up a Silk Road infrastructure fund to boost connectivity across Asia, Pres-ident Xi Jinping announced on Sat-urday, the latest Chinese project to spread the largesse of its own econom-ic growth.

China has dangled � nancial and trade incentives before, mostly to Cen-tral Asia but also to countries in South Asia, backing e� orts to resurrect the old Silk Road trading route that once carried treasures between China and the Mediterranean.

The fund will be for investing in infrastructure, resources and indus-trial and � nancial cooperation, among other projects, Xi said, according to Xinhua.

The goal of the fund is to “break the connectivity bottleneck” in Asia, state media quoted Xi as say-ing during a meeting in Beijing with leaders from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

The Silk Road Fund will be “open” and welcome investors from Asia and beyond to “actively” take part in the project, Xi was cited as saying, ahead of a separate summit of the Asia Pa-ci� c Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping, also being held in the Chi-nese capital.

It was not immediately clear pre-cisely how the fund would work, when it would start operations or where it would be based, though in all likeli-hood it would be China.

But Xinhua said it would focus on China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and

the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, which aim to build roads, railways, ports and airports across Central Asia and South Asia.

“Such a framework accommodates the needs of various countries and cov-ers both land and sea-related projects,” Xi said, adding China is ready to wel-come its neighbours “to get on board the train of China’s development.”

China will also provide neighboring countries with 20,000 places for train-ing “connectivity professionals” over the next � ve years, Xi said.

China has sought to address fears in the region - and globally - that its bounding economic growth will in-evitably bring about a more assertive, muscular diplomatic and military ap-proach to issues such as territorial dis-putes.

One of the ways it has done this is to o� er large loans to places like South-east Asia and Africa, to show that Chi-na is a benign growing power only interested in helping others escape poverty in the way it has itself over the past three decades.

Last month, Xi unveiled the $50 billion China-backed Asian Infra-structure Investment Bank, seen as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, both multi-lateral lenders that count Washington and its allies as their biggest � nancial backers.

China has sought to allay concerns that its new bank aims to undermine the World Bank and Asian Develop-ment Bank, saying it wants to learn from their experience and that there are more than enough projects around for all the lenders to fund. l

Hong Kong: China won’t change mind on democracyn Reuters, Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s � rst leader after its return to Chinese rule says Communist Par-ty leaders in Beijing will not give in to students’ demands for democracy, a newspaper said on Sunday, an appar-ent response to their suggestion he could act as intermediary.

A leader of Hong Kong’s protests, which have blocked city streets for weeks, on Thursday called for a re-spected go-between, such as former leader Tung Chee-hwa, to help arrange a trip to Beijing.

“Mr Tung points out the central government understands the di� erent views in Hong Kong,” his spokesman told the South China Morning Post. “The decision of the National People’s

Congress (NPC) Standing Committee on August 31 will not change.”

China has ruled the former Brit-ish colony since 1997 through a “one country, two systems” formula which allows wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland and speci� es universal su� rage as an eventual goal.

But the NPC said in August it would screen candidates who want to run for the city’s election for a chief executive in 2017, which democracy activists said rendered the notion of universal su� rage meaningless.

The protesters, led by a restive gen-eration of students, are frustrated with the city government’s inability to ne-gotiate and are hoping to send a dele-gation to Beijing. l

The Agni-II ballistic missile would take only 15 minutes to be readied for � ring REUTERS

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee (C/L) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C/R) pose with new cabinet ministers after a swearing-in ceremony at The Presidential Palace in New Delhi on November 9 AFP

Expel campus criminals

University authorities and law enforcers need to act swiftly on their promises of stern action to curb muggings and robberies in and around the Dhaka University campus.

A rising number of people, including students, sta� , and ordinary members of the public have been robbed and attacked in mugging incidents around the university, which are carried out by small groups of students.

Law enforcers and others say most of the perpetrators belong to Bangladesh Chhatra League, the ruling party’s student wing.

In a number of cases, police o� cers report they have had to let arrested suspects go, despite catching them red-handed, as they were not always free to take action against university students who claim political backings.

This is an outrageous state of a� airs, but comes as little surprise because di� erent political parties tolerate and indulge criminal behaviour in their ranks. The widespread prevalence of lawlessness among student activists points to a belief that they can act with impunity.

As the party in whose name some BCL members claim special protection, the AL has a particular responsibility to take � rm action against criminals in its ranks. As the government, its prime responsibility is to protect the public and maintain rule of law.

It must clearly support authorities and law enforcers in bringing all those responsible for crimes before the law.

The government and all political parties should act together to disown any of their activists who act lawlessly and support university authorities if they choose to expel students found guilty in criminal cases.

Make connectivity countWe welcome the statement by Chinese President Xi Jinping

that China and Bangladesh should work together to push ahead with the building of an economic corridor linking

Bangladesh, China, India, and Myanmar.Taken together with the other trade and bilateral issues being

discussed by President Abdul Hamid on his trip to Beijing, it represents a further positive move ahead in our countries’ friendly relations.

Bangladesh is going to host the second Joint Study Group Meeting of the BCIM-EC, which hopes to further progress on establishing direct road, rail, and air connectivity between the four BCIM states.

The potential economic boost, that would be provided by a corridor linking Kunming and Chittagong in particular, would bring many mutual bene� ts for all the countries involved.

By improving connectivity, BCIM can bring tremendous bene� ts in enhancing economic integration and improving regional co-operation and development.

This would be of enormous practical bene� t to Bangladesh and would make best use of our geographical location at the crossroads of South and South-east Asia.

It would also help invigorate BIG-B, Bimstec, Saarc, and SAFTA in their e� orts to improve regional collaboration.

This week’s trip by the heads of the diplomatic missions of Bhutan, India, and Nepal in Dhaka, to travel together from Dhaka to their respective nations by land from Bangladesh, to look at ways of improving trade and cross-border infrastructure is a good example of the type of dialogue which needs to be promoted.

Connectivity is the most crucial and visible element that can and needs to be improved across our region.

2 Bangladeshis shot by BSFOctober 28

Srabon Hossain “BGB has sent a letter to the BSF members to hold a � ag meeting in this connection, said the o� cial.”

These two lives are gone. Then what do we do with a � ag meeting? What does it matter?

Ra� qul Islam Yes, these are only two lives, but how many others have disappeared without a trace that were not publicised, and we know nothing of??

The � nal lessonOctober 26

Farah Faiz SijaGood write up, informative as well. We also hope that the people will learn the value of integrity and stop being led by their emotions.

Virtuous economic growth requires virtuous policiesOctober 27

Momoaswan And virtuous politicians, if there are any.

Ashwini pineapples poisoned for quick salesOctober 28AnonJust in case you were thinking of buying them, think again!

Editorial10 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

ACROSS1 Serpent (3)3 Autocrat (6)8 Prophet (4)9 Period of time (3)10 Waver (6)11 Commences (6)14 Ostentatious display (5)17 Capsize (5)20 Steal livestock (6)24 Trade by exchange (6)26 Greek letter (3)27 Incites (4)28 Rest (6)29 Firmament (3)

DOWN1 Employer (4)2 Continent (4)3 Dexterous (4)4 E� ace (5)5 Corolla leaf (5)6 Metal-bearing rock (3)7 Fortune telling card (5)12 Spinning toy (3)13 Cereal (3)15 Long-leaved lettuce (3)16 A� ict (3)17 Dark dusky brown (5)18 Fragment (5)19 Woody plants (5)21 Advise strongly (4)22 Throw (4)23 Whirlpool (4)25 Consumed (3)

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 10 represents V so � ll V every time the � gure 10 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

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com

Send us your Op-Ed articles:opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Kamal: Latif to be arrested on returnOctober 28

Akm BariI am not a supporter of Latif Siddiqui, but I am ba� ed hearing Latif should be arrested for his utterance against Islam and Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Question is, does Bangladesh have any provisions in the law which guarantees freedom of speech?

Living in USA, I routinely hear utterances against Islam and the Prophet by many people, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Here it falls under “freedom of speech,” accorded by the Constitution of the United States. Furthermore, I understand that Bangladesh has a law to punish people who utter such words which hurt the sentiments of people. But does it apply to a Bangladeshi person who utters such words in the United States while visiting or living in that nation?

Dr Kamal Husain is a prominent jurist who should know the limits of such a law when it comes to freedom of speech. If the Bangladeshi government or the people muzzle any person who speaks against any ideology, religion, or any matter which causes discomfort to others, than why should anyone be able to speak against horri� c terrorist organisations such as ISIS in the Middle East, and not be arrested and prosecuted?

Prof M HoqueLatif Siddiqui did not say anything prejudicial or against the state. His views on “a religion or a religious practice” are his personal views, and that also did not go too far to be underlined as a “direct” insult to Islam. Yes, the Hajj is a very costly undertaking for most Muslims living far away from Mecca; many of them do sell their lands to collect money for the voyage. It seems to me that PM Hasina’s AL-led government has been cowed down by Jamaati extremists.

Let me add one more comment: Recently, my niece’s husband went for Hajj. He died there – breathing di� culty was the cause, though he was fairly young. He should not have gone for Hajj in the � rst place. The environment there (at the time of Hajj) has never been good for most people, especially for the old, feeble, or those with breathing di� culties. I visited Mecca and Medina several times, and enjoyed the trips, but never during Hajj. A “ceremonial” visit to Mecca and Medina did not appeal to me much,

to say the truth. Is “Hajj” (personal visit) relevant (compulsory) to Muslims of the world in this age and time? Those hungry children, dying on the streets of Dhaka, could have bene� tted with the money spent on a Hajj!

KMAKProf M Hoque: Here’s the thing. Latif Siddique does not have the right to represent us when he doesn’t share the values of the vast majority of Bangladeshis. Islam is the state religion of Bangladesh. Sheikh Hasina and her late father, on numerous occasions, have said that no law which goes against Islam will be tolerated. As shown by a recent PEW survey, the vast majority of Bangladeshis do take religion seriously, as if we needed a survey to tell us that! It is in this context that Latif Siddique’s comments should be evaluated. I certainly don’t want my tax money to support an individual who is against what I stand for.

Let me also address your comments about “Hajj”:“Is ‘Hajj’ (personal visit) relevant (compulsory)

to Muslims of the world in this age and time? Those hungry children, dying on the streets of Dhaka, could have bene� tted with the money spent on a Hajj!

I don’t know if you are being tongue-in-cheek, but if you aren’t, then your comment is just another example of how irreligious, secular fundamentalists fail to understand the power of religion in people’s lives. Sure, the money one accumulates for Hajj could be donated to hungry children dying on Dhaka’s streets.

In fact, instead of buying a new car, a person could donate that money to the poor. Instead of taking out a mortgage, a person could invest his savings on the poor. Instead of going to the restaurant, a person could donate the money to the hungry. Instead of having a family and adding to the excessive population, a person could hold back from having kids and donate the money he would have otherwise spent on his own children to the poor. Instead of building a new power plant, the government could distribute the money to slum dwellers. It’s a nice slippery slope you have set up.

Let me also add that as far as “direct insult” to Islam is concerned, Latif Siddique said Muhammad (SAW) made up Hajj so that Arabs wouldn’t have to rob people for a living.

Improving connectivity would be of enormous practical bene� t to Bangladesh

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 ZAll political parties should disown activists who act lawlessly

Ready for dataOctober 28LisaMost of the people in Bangladesh do have access to more information than before. However, they need to be guided in the right way to learn how to use this to their bene� t.

Move away, � ag-stand cars are comingOctober 28Zero-AgendaIt’s infuriating beyond belief whenever a � agged-up car thinks it’s okay to override the right of way of every other vehicle on the street. What’s worse is that it often feels like they deliberately take their sweet time to drive away!

Environmental disasterOctober 28

Mohdud Ul Huq “A garbage land� ll in Buriganga River has grown

so thick that it is being used as a parking space for scores of rickshaws in the capital’s Islambagh area.”

Where are our environmental ethics for Sonar Bangladesh?

11Op-Ed Monday, November 10, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Taslima Nasrin

A few days ago, I wrote on Twitter that my boyfriend was 20 years younger than me. The media went crazy over this piece of informa-

tion. Previously, I had posted so many other things on Twitter – about receiv-ing awards and an honorary doctorate, giving a keynote speech, and receiving a standing ovation. The media is not interested in such news at all. The me-dia has always been extremely eager to learn more about my boyfriend or husband.

I was feeling a kind of joy after post-ing the news of my 20-years-younger-than-me boyfriend on Twitter. Acting like men does not suit girls. So, I wanted to see what society said if I act-ed like a man, if I chose a companion who was younger than me. As usual, people got furious. On the other hand, beating me, the 67-year-old railway minister got married in a grand way to a girl who is almost 40 years younger than him.

Imagine the di� erence between 20 and 40 years! The younger guy is just my boyfriend. And the railway minis-ter married the girl in a grand way by arranging a “gaye holud” ceremony, dressing up the bride with ornaments and a red Banarasi saree. He himself wore a turban.

Can a 67-year-old woman ever marry a 29-year-old guy in such a way? Will anyone celebrate the marriage of an almost 70-year-old lady with a guy in his 20s the way men and

women celebrated the wedding of the minister?

Many will say that if a guy is rich and powerful, then it is possible for him to marry a much younger girl. My question is: Is it possible for a rich and powerful woman in Bangladesh to marry a much younger guy? It is not only impossible, but people would swear at her and call her a man-eating witch. They will isolate her. You never know, they might even slaughter her.

Love doesn’t care about age. We know that an adult of any age can fall in love. Then, why does the man have to be the older one in a romantic relation-ship? If love is the main basis of the relationship, then producing children might not be very important. Many people live together or get married on the condition that they won’t have children.

Recently, this agreement is becom-ing more and more popular. In that case, there is no scope for anyone to object to the love or marriage between a 67-year-old woman and a 29-year-

old man. But, people do object to it. When a 67-year-old man gets married, he is applauded. When a 67-year-old woman does it, she is hated by society. This is a minor example of the appall-ing discrimination between men and women.

Islam has gradually taken away the independence women had in pre-Is-lamic Arabia. 1,400 years ago, 40-year-old widowed Khadija, mother of many children, chose a 25-year-old man to

marry – the Prophet. In the present Arabia, modern Khadijas don’t have the same opportunity or the courage to do so.

After her death, the Prophet got married almost a dozen times. He even married a girl who was 50 years younger than him. The disciples of the Prophet are following this incidence of him marrying someone younger at an older age. The Prophet also married a widower who was 15 years older than him. No “true” Muslim has an interest in following that.

I guess the railway minister will de-

pend much on sildena� l citrate or Via-gra. There is a limit to taking Viagra. Viagra does not work on everybody. It is prohibited for people with heart, kidney, and liver problems. Our rail-way minister will play with the body of a young lady. He will play, even though he might not be an expert, because he is a man. He has the right to play with whoever he wants. The entire world is a playground for men.

The girl will su� er. She will su� er from extreme depression. But she will be forced to stay captive in the man’s cage known as marriage. It is because she is a toy, a sex toy – a decoration piece.

She will probably be forced to act like she is happy, even though she is not. Most girls have to do this. They are not happy, but they pretend that they are. Or, they think that sadness, regret, and oppression are happiness, achievement, and independence. They have learned to think like that from childhood.

It is probably not possible anymore for most of them to learn something new, something that is completely op-posite to what they have been taught. What men have learned from their childhood is that they are the masters – the superiors. They know better and understand better. The society and the entire world exist for them. They will rule. They will consume. Most men refuse to learn anything that contra-dicts this. l

Taslima Nasrin is a feminist writer and columnist currently in exile in India.

Marriage and the minister’s age

When a 67-year-old man gets married, he is applauded. When a 67-year-old woman does it, she is hated by society

n Khawaza Main Uddin

The Internet has been established as an information regime which, some believe, makes it easy

to violate people’s rights or allows corruption. For critics, however, it’s hard to imagine how the World Wide Web would guarantee transparency unless individual acts and their collective will are re� ected in the functioning of institutions.

Every day, we receive phone calls from organised group members who try to exploit people � nancially and otherwise. Where are the law enforcement personnel to deal with those cheats?

Many serious allegations, to the extent of extortion and killing for ransom, are there against the protectors, and an increasing number of such cases are being exposed nowadays.

Last week, mastaans sought “monetary help” from an expatriate Bangladeshi at the Cox’s Bazar sea beach. Identifying themselves as powerful local boys, they even hurled abusive words at the older sister of the gentleman who came all the way from Canada.

During the recent Eid holidays, drivers were forced to pay Tk50 for each car near the Daulatdia ferry terminal and the “toll collectors” were not o� cials, but musclemen.

When commoners love to avoid law enforcers, it is the ruling party-backed Chhatra League or Jubo League men who play a dominant role, again, in tormenting the masses.

They are active in tender manipulation, the transfer and posting of doctors and engineers, campus violence, illegal businesses at the jail gates, smuggling, and illicit trade, among a variety of “voluntary services” to plunder national resources.

Lately, a curious housewife aboard a car saw a police constable clearing the road for the vehicle of what he termed a “League leader,” stopping all others on the street. We have no knowledge if the government introduced any protocols for the so-called student leaders, like the one o� ered to the prime minister, at the cost of tra� c congestion.

It warrants investigation into how only the leaders of the governing party and their accomplices gain so much wealth – cash, � ats, land, luxury cars, and business establishments – in such a short span of time, and that too so magically, without having any formal sources of income. The unwillingness of ministers and lawmakers to make wealth statements, in violation of their electoral pledge, indicates how honest they are.

As many look resigned to the system of corruption, opportunists argue that the people have accepted the � awed elections of January 5. The obvious question then is: How much corruption is acceptable, and how long will it be sustainable for the nation?

Even after a series of scams in the banking sector, there is no end to embezzlement of public money. Culprits of the share market manipulation have gone unpunished. Land-grabbing by members of

parliament and leakage of public examination question papers are not considered crimes anymore. Who cares, as long as the people remain silent spectators?

In fact, the agents of Digital Bangladesh have taught the citizens how to become tolerant of corruption and overlook misuse of power. It’s a great achievement for this government – anti-corruption campaign as a political issue has now become a foregone conclusion. A journalist friend tilted to the ruling camp said: “Who should we bring to book when all are our brothers and sisters?”

So generous! But that is not the case for ordinary citizens and political rivals. Youths are being subjected to detention simply for satirical remarks about national leaders. So, users of social media networking sites don’t dare to share news items that appear to be damaging for the corrupt clique, should the former want to live in the latter’s kingdom.

Moreover, corruption charges are being used as excuses to harass those who have dissenting views. For example, the graft cases against the BNP leaders, no matter whether the charges are right or wrong, are inherently perceived as politically-motivated, not aimed at upholding the rule of law.

Only the discarded members of the AL regime were summoned to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Still, no one believes the measure to be anything more than eyewash.

The names of AL stalwarts were removed from quite a number of corruption cases earlier, and the ACC declared some leaders innocent in cases like the Padma Bridge corruption scandal.

Tyrannical regimes usually shun the path of speaking loudly over issues of rights and good governance, rather than concentrating on development and security matters to justify their stay in power. But the current administration in Dhaka, despite its legitimacy crisis, is consistently showing its arrogance of power, apparently to dispel its stigma of corruption.

This attitude means corruption is a matter of right for the ruling party men. Therefore, their countrymen have to live with this system of misgovernance, or else they shall have to revolt against the tormentors to change the system. l

Khawaza Main Uddin is Executive Editor at ICE Business Times.

Business as usual?

How much corruption is acceptable, and how long will it be sustainable for the nation?

n Towheed Feroze

A quarter of a century is a long time. In fact, it’s so long that for many, the fall of the Berlin

Wall on November 9, 1989 is like a faded memory. In Bangladesh, that time holds special position because, in 1988, almost all of Dhaka city was sub-merged under � ood water. Of course, the Berlin Wall resonated with us on the social side, but the priority was to survive with three-fourths of the city under water.

As 25 years of the tearing down of the barrier in Germany is commemo-rated, we feel compelled to resurrect images which may be a revelation for the current day young.

When I say Dhaka went under water, I mean the city literally was like a scene from the � lm Water-world. At that time, there were no side con-structions at the entrance of Gulshan. Roads in front of the Shooting Club were submerged under water, and sev-eral country boats were usually tied to long bamboo poles. These vessels transported people from the entry point to di� erent areas inside Gulshan.

Vegetable vendors also went

around in hired boats. Large individ-ual houses with gardens – symbols of a� uence – were fully � ooded, and a staggering variety of � sh � oated in from the Turag river. Those who wanted to enjoy the bright side of this sudden � ood decided to bring out their � shing rods. Green Road, Farmgate, Indira Road plus almost all other places were under at least four to � ve feet of muddy water.

In Germany, the fall of the Ber-lin Wall announced the demise of communism and the Iron Curtain, from which many democracy-seeking student leaders in Bangladesh took strength. Despite exhortations from the Romanian communist hardlin-er Ceausescu, Mikhail Gorbachev refused to send in troops to encounter the revolution of the public, united to tear down the wall of separation.

While the breaking down of the wall captured the imagination of the young, the � ood, on the other hand, played a profound role in upending social dynamics. Many residents of Gulshan and Banani left their opulent homes to go and stay with relatives who lived in areas with modest middle-class tags.

For some odd reason, Elephant Road, Dhanmondi, and Azimpur remained dry since these areas are on higher lands.

Today, the celebration of the dem-olition of the tangible divide between capitalism and communism seems somewhat marred by the fear that Russia and the West are once again taking two starkly opposing sides over Ukraine.

I have also heard of reports that in recent times, there’s been a revival of Russian nationalism among the young with the rejection of Western consum-er goods. Interestingly, back in 1988, when the wall was coming down, for many East German residents, the main motivation came from the lure of common capitalist products like Coke, jeans, Walkmans, burgers, and so on.

To talk of East Germany within the Bangladesh context, around that time, a rumour swirled around Dhaka city that with the support of the then East German envoy, a government o� cial in Bangladesh was secretly sending out archaeological artifacts abroad.

Despite the � ood water engul� ng the capital, local leftists remained staunchly supportive of the wall.

Thinking back in retrospect, I feel that they could sense the end of the reign of the hammer and sickle.

In March that year, Jatiya Party, belonging to the then President HM Er-shad, won the elections with a 68.44% majority. Curiously, only two years later, he resigned in the face of a mass public uprising. In December, Bangla-desh was hit by the worst cyclone in 20 years. The whole country su� ered.

As the winds of change swept across Europe, Bangladesh was seeing shifts in the attitudes of the gener-al people. Irrespective of political ideology, the unanimous call was for the government to step down. Come to think of it, many words used at that time – Soviet Union, Cold War, Perestroika, Glasnost “Shoirachar” (autocrat), East-West ideological divide – are somewhat lost today. Or maybe, these words will re-emerge in a new form, and there will be a divi-sion once more.

With Russia now � rmly taking assertive nationalistic stances in almost every issue, the rise of the Cold War period seems imminent. Can’t say if there will be a wall constructed, but a divide, even if it’s in the mind,

appears almost certain. When the Berlin Wall was being

constructed in 1961, an East German border guard named Conrad Schu-mann responded to what he believed to be the call of liberty from the West and jumped over the fence, a scene captured in camera to be used as propaganda for decades.

In the end, Schumann, living in freedom in West Germany,

committed suicide. This makes one re� ect deeply on the invisible divisions that are always in place. In the commemoration of 25 years of the breaking down of the wall, we � nd resonance to our own social revolution which eventually brought down a regime in 1990. l

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

S E R P E N T I N E D E N

All those years ago

Happily ever after? BIGSTOCK

25 years since breaking the divide REUTERS

SHABNAM FARIA to be directed by SHAON

n Entertainment Desk

Model and actor Shabnam Faria has recently � nished shooting for a one-hour TV drama directed by Meher Afroz Shaon, titled “Onischit Meghder Jatra.” The drama is Shaon’s tribute to her late husband Humayun Ahmed on the occasion of his 66th birth anniversary.

In the drama, Faria plays the role of Anju, whose mari-tal journey is the focus of the story. The TV play has been � lmed in Munshiganj.

The play will be aired on Channel i on Humayun’s birthday, on November 13. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE Entertainment Monday, November 10, 201412

Mirror MirrorHBO, 5:20pm

An exiled princess tries to win her kingdom back from the evil queen. After a beloved King vanishes, his ruthless wife seizes control of the kingdom.

Hemingway & GellhornHBO De� ned, 6:05pm

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen star in this drama recounting the tumul-tuous relationship between Ernest Hemingway and war correspon-dent Martha Gellhorn.

10,000 BCMovies Now, 9:30pm

D’Leh, a mammoth hunter, fall in love with the beautiful Evolet. A band of mysterious horse-riders raid their camp and kidnap Evolet.

NADIA wins Lux Channel i Superstar titlen Entertainment Desk

Nadia won the title of “L ux Channel i Superstar 2014” at the grand � nale of the competition held at Bangabandhu Interna-tional Conference Centre in the capital on Saturday. She also won the coveted title of “Beautiful Smile” in the competition.

As the winner of the title, she received a prize money of Tk10 lakh and a car. The � rst runner-up, Nazifa Anjum, and second runner-up, Nilangona Nila, received Tk5 lakh and Tk3 lakh, respectively. The other two � nalists were Shupriya Shabnam and Fahmida Tasneem.

The grand � nale’s judge panel comprised Aly Zaker, Shaki-la Zafar, Aupee Karim, Nobel and Tahsan. The highlights of the event was James, the rock icon of the country, who graced the stage and performed his hit numbers before the result. Besides, a dazzling dance number was performed by Shokh, Mehjabin and Nusrat Faria. l

KH

AN

HA

SAN

MD

RA

FI

Mim to celebrate birthday at home n Entertainment Desk

Model and actor Bidya Sinha Mim will be celebrating her birthday today at her home, as she believes this is the only day she can take a break from her schedule to stay home and relax.

“It has been quite a long time since I took time o� for myself. I prefer to comfort myself by relaxing at home. Moreover, I appreciate all the blessings and love from my friends and fans,” Mim told the Dhaka Tribune.

Mim has been busy working in a � lm titled “Sweetheart,” pairing up with Bappy. She will also be seen in Tania Ahmed’s upcoming � ick “Good Morning London.” Starting on November 20, Mim will be working in Anjan Dutt’s “Mon Baksh.” This year has been one of the most successful one’s for Mim, with Khalid Mahmud Mithu’s “Jonakir Alo” and Mostofa Kamal Raj’s “Tarkaata,” her back-to-back hits. l

Harry Belafonte handed honorary Oscar

n Entertainment Desk

Octogenarian actor and singer Harry Belafonte, accepting a top Hollywood human rights award, asked fellow artists and the entertainment industry to use their powerful platform to show the better side of humanity.

Before a star-studded audience and next to a long-time friend, actor Sidney Poitier, the 87-year-old Belafonte re-ceived the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his lifelong � ght for civil rights and humanitarian causes.

Honorary Oscars were also bestowed upon three proli� c

artists and creators who deeply in� uenced Hollywood: Irish actress Maureen O’Hara, who appeared on stage at 94, Japa-nese animator Hayao Miyazaki, 73, and French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, 83.

The Academy’s Governors Awards gala has become the kick-o� to the � lm awards season, bringing some of the most powerful people in Hollywood under the same roof, gather-ing stars from a dozen � lms with potential to win Oscars in February.

“To be rewarded by my peers for my work, human rights, civil rights, peace, let me put it this way: It powerfully mutes the enemy’s thunder,” said Belafonte.

He called artists “the relevant voice of civilisation” and hoped they would help the world “see the better side of who and what we are as a species”.

The Harlem-born Belafonte started out his speech re-membering how Hollywood � lms like “Tarzan” and “Song of the South” fostered the racial divide in America and gave him an “early stimulus to the beginning of my rebellion.”

“Today’s cultural harvest yields a sweeter fruit,” he noted, pointing to � lms like the gay love story “Brokeback Mountain” and Oscar best picture “12 Years a Slave.”

“All of this is happening at the dawning of technological creations that will give artists boundless regions of possibil-ities to give us deeper insights into the human existence,” Belafonte added.

Belafonte worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr in the civil rights movement, fought against AIDS in Africa, volun-teered as a United Nations goodwill ambassador for decades and now works on gang violence in American cities. l

Jacqueline Fernandes to learn Bharatanatyam

n Entertainment Desk

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez, who cur-rently has four � lms in her kitty, is reportedly set to learn Bharatanatyam for a new � lm, which is believed to be directed by Remo D’Souza.

Apparently, the actor is set to sign the � lm in the next two weeks. “Jacqueline and Remo will meet soon, but the o� cial announcement is planned for December. She has already been briefed about her character and the � lm, and has shown interest in be-ing a part of the project. Tiger Shro� will be her co-star,” adds the source.

Jacqueline is currently in Canada, shooting for an international � lm. “Once she’s back, she will begin classes with a dance teacher from the south. They will practise at her house. Remo wants her to perfect her skills before the shooting. Jacqueline, who already knows Kathak, wants to give this her best shot, since Tiger is a good dancer,” says a source close to her.

Jacqueline admits that she will be taking classes, but she won’t reveal which movie it’s for. “Yes, I’ll be training in Bharatanatyam for a movie that I can’t talk about at the moment. Learning Bharatanatyam is a whole new ball game. I look forward to it,” she says. l

Patronage demanded for animation industry

n Entertainment Desk

Speakers at a seminar yesterday urged the govern-ment to patronise and provide aid for the animation industry in order to produce world-class animated movies and dramas.

Hailing the recent progress of animated movies, they called on animators and � lm industry stake-holder to concentrate more on animated movies and dramas.

The call came at a seminar styled “Prospects of Animation in Bangladeshi Film Industry” was organ-ised by Dhaka University Film Society at the universi-ty’s Senate Building yesterday.

Addressing the seminar, Rezaul Karim, former di-

rector of BTV’s design section and the country’s � rst animator, said animated movies have a large audi-ence around the world nowadays.

“Hollywood is gradually thriving on animation movies but we still lag behind in this category. Prop-er supervision and patronage from the government could play a pivotal role in the advancement of the animation industry,” he said.

Underscoring the importance of animated works in creating mass awareness, prominent cartoonist Ahasan Habib said animation movies can not only be the source of entertainment but can also spread knowledge and awareness.

He expressed dissatisfaction over the present state of animation movies in the country and stressed ef-fective measures for its development.

Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu said an-imation can provide similar pictures of substantial facts which cannot be captured in � lms.

He directed the Department of Television and Film Industry at Dhaka University to include courses on animation technologies to help students gain good knowledge of animation movies, dramas and arts.

He also assured of allocating adequate budget from his ministry for the advancement of the anima-tion industry.

Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr AAMS Are� n Siddique also emphasised on animation products to obliterate social ignorance and obstacles.

Among others, professor of DU Graphic Design De-partment Anupom Huda, Dr Sha� ul Alam Bhuyaan, chairperson of Television and Film Studies Depart-ment, Nadia Sadmani, director of Golden Harvest Agro Industries Limited, animators, � lmmakers, the president and secretary general of the DUFS attended the seminar.

An award giving ceremony was also held at the end of the seminar where several children were given prizes.

The DUFS have been arranging festivals of ani-mated � lms since 2005. At this year’s festival from November 3 to 7, at least 20 world famous animated movies were screened. l

Naseeruddin Shah might write a book for young actors

n Entertainment Desk

Naseeruddin Shah says he might write a handbook for training young actors.

The “Finding Fanny” star, who attended an event to celebrate the success of his book “And Then One Day - A Memoir,” said training given to amateur actors in India is wrong and harmful.

“I have wanted to write a hand-book for training of actors... I am not good at writing � ction. So, I probably stick to non-� ction. My book will be on how to train yourself as an actor.

“Because most of the training given to actors in India I think is quite wrong and some of it is very harmful. I have seen a lot of acting schools in Delhi and Mumbai, and the way they con-duct their classes. I don’t agree with that way of training actors,” he said.

Asked if he is also planning to write the second part of his autobi-ography, the 64-year-old actor said, “I don’t think I will write the second part because the most interesting part of my life I had already written. I don’t think the remaining days are so interesting to write about.” l

13DHAKA TRIBUNEMonday, November 10, 2014

Sport 1514 Tense win gives Australia home T20 series

Newcastle into top half, Spurs beaten

15 Ton-up Shehzad � ays New Zealand

Did you know?Mahela Jayawardene

has become the � fth player to score

12,000 ODI runs (after Tendulkar,

Ponting, Jayasuriya and Sangakkara)

Bangladesh openers Imrul Kayes (L) and Anamul Haque (2R) are engaged in a conversation while paceman Shahadat Hossain (2L) is going through the paces alongside fast bowling coach Heath Streak during training in Chittagong yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Imrul aims to utilise call-upn Tribune Desk

Imrul Kayes eyes to make the most out of his call-up in the Test squad as the home side are targeting a clean sweep in the three-match series against Zim-babwe. The Bangladeshi top-order batsman replaced Shamsur Rahman for the third Test in Chittagong who lost his place after scoring only 33 runs across four innings.

The 27-year-old was a playing mem-ber in Bangladesh’s tour of West Indies in September before he su� ered from skin disease and returned home af-ter playing the ODI series and the � rst match of the two-Test series.

“There is only one option – I have to play good cricket and if I don’t I can’t stay here. I have to utilise the opportunity as I think this is the best possible chance for me,” Imrul said after � nishing their practice session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.

He admitted the frustration of go-ing in and out of the national side and also said it is di� cult for a cricketer to make a comeback as � erce competition makes it very tough for them.

Another opening batsman Anam-ul Haque was included in the Tigers

squad in the second Test but was kept away from any action. Both Imrul and Anamul were part of the BCB XI that re-cently played in an invitational tourna-ment in India and it will be interesting to see who the Tigers think tank opts for beside Tamim Iqbal.

“I last played Test cricket at St Vin-cent after that I got sick. I scored some runs and a century in India (playing for BCB XI in SK Acharya Memorial) but then again it was limited overs cricket which won’t do me any good here. I have been in and out of the squad and I have to adjust that,” said the left-hand-ed batsman who also informed of being comfortable batting in any position.

He continued by saying that there is nothing more important for a batsman than scoring heavily to have a secure place in team. “One person can’t stay at one place for a long time. I think if someone plays well here he should be able to continue that. I think the only way one can establish their spot is if they continue playing well here.”

Win in both the Tests in Dhaka and Khulna ensured Bangladesh a Test se-ries victory since 2009 and the � rst at home since 2005. Imrul believes the side is boosted with the performance and they will de� nitely go for the kill. l

Jacko wants to improve boxers’ plightn Raihan Mahmood

Two-time world lightweight kick-box-ing champion Ali Jacko wholeheartedly wants to promote boxing and craves for full assistance from the government and the boxing federation in order to realise his aspiration.

Although he was born in East End, London, the 1996 and 2000 world champion has his roots at Chatak in Sylhet and speaks Bengali in his native Sylheti accent.

He has been trying to contribute to the game for a long time but is still exploring ways as to how he can stamp his mark on the sport. The two-time world champion met the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Arif Khan Joy yesterday and expressed his desire.

“I want to contribute in the boxing arena. I have went through the top lev-el of the game and my heart beats to-ward contributing in boxing. I just want support from the government and oth-er concerned authorities,” said Jacko whose original name is Abdul Ali.

Ali directly approached the gener-al secretary of the boxing federation,

MA Quddus Khan. “My dear, you have the SA Games ahead of you and I as-sure you that the games-bound boxers will get advanced training ahead of the games. All you have to do is send them to England. I hope you will take the necessary steps,” said Ali who men-

tioned that he paved the way for Indi-an boxer Vijender Singh to advanced training.

Jacko, however, looked frustrated with the complexities of the system. “Everything seems to be a critical one. I want it simple and straightforward. I

am willing to help, I am not willing to face complexities,” said the boxer who also expressed his interest of meeting the president of the Bangladesh Olym-pic Association.

The world champion though stated his unhappiness with the training facil-ities of the Bangladesh boxers. “In fact, the boxing gymnasium is a bit di� erent from the normal gym. I will send the Focus Mitts, the Speed Bag, the Dou-ble End Bag. It will help the boxers to develop their skills,” he said. Jacko also prescribed some changes to the feder-ation and told them to build a drawer under the ring to keep the kits of the boxers there.

Jacko went on to say the current standard of the local boxers is disap-pointing. “This is not unrealistic. The boxers hardly get international expo-sure and the training facilities are not up to the international level. How can you expect the boxers to perform at the top level? Boxing requires systematic and scienti� c approaches,” he said be-fore adding, “I love this country. I want to help boxing. I hope to see some Ban-gladesh boxers bringing laurels for the country in the future.” l

Women vow to reach Sa� � naln Shishir Hoque

Bangladesh women’s football team vowed to give their best in the third edition of the Sa� Women’s Champion-ship 2014, scheduled to begin tomor-row in Islamabad.

A 29-member Bangladesh women’s football contingent including 20 play-ers will leave here for Pakistan today to take part in the nine-day event. A phys-iotherapist, however, is missing from the 29-strong member list.

Although the tournament will get underway tomorrow, � xtures and groupings have not been drawn up yet. The organisers are hopeful of holding the draw ceremony today.

Bangladesh began their preparation for the regional women’s football com-petition under Japanese coach Norio Tsukitate on October 4. Following one month and � ve days of training, the Japanese coach was con� dent of ex-hibiting their full potential. This is the � rst time the national women’s football team will be guided by a foreign coach in a tournament.

“I tried my best in training. Our job is to try and do our best on the pitch. I don’t want to lose and I want to � nish as cham-pions,” said the Japanese coach in a press conference at the BFF House yesterday.

Skipper Suinu pru Marma said they are targeting reaching the � nal.

“Our � rst target is to reach the � nal. This time we had the best preparation camp. Fitness and practise was also better than before. We prepared our-selves in order to get success in Paki-stan,” said Marma before adding, “We had problems in � nishing before. Now we have improved a lot. This team are better than the one in the previous Sa� Championship in Sri Lanka and better in every department.”

Out of the 20 footballers, six young-sters have been drafted from the na-tional Under-16 squad that participated in the AFC U-16 2015 Women’s Cham-pionship Quali� ers and put in some impressive displays despite narrowly failing to make it to the � nal round.

Norio will be accompanied by three more coaches in the tour – assistant coach Golam Robbani Choton, goal-keeping coach Mahbubur Rahman Litu and Sukur Mohammad Totam while Aysha Zaman is the team manager. l

Siddikur � nishes Panasonic India Open in joint � fthn Tribune Desk

Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman ended his Panasonic India Open cam-paign in joint � fth place following the conclusion of the � nal round at Delhi Golf Club yesterday.

Siddikur hit a par score of 72 in round four to post an overall score of 10-under-par 278, trailing eventual champion SSP Chowrasia of India by two shots.

Another Bangladeshi golfer, Zamal Hossain, � nished in joint 25th, tied with two other golfers.

Siddikur struck four birdies against the same number of bogeys while Zamal smashed four birdies, � ve bo-geys and a double bogey in the 9th hole ensured the latter did not � nish on a much higher position.

Chowrasia claimed the $300,000 championship after blasting a re-markable six-under-par 66 in the � nal round. Chowrasia pocketed $54,000 af-ter his title win. Siddikur, meanwhile, earned $10,280 while Zamal received $2820. l

Ermin Siljak yearns to coach bootersn Shishir Hoque

Former Slovenian international footbal-ler Ermin Siljak showed interest in taking up the place of head coach of the Bangla-desh national football team, the position which is currently vacant after the de-parture of Lodewijk de Kruif in October.

The 41-year-old Slovenian coach, along with three o� cials of Slovenian Embassy of Bangladesh, visited Bangla-desh Football Federation (BFF) yester-day and talked to the federation presi-dent Kazi Salahuddin. He also provided his CV (curriculum vitae) to the BFF chief and expressed his interest to become the new head coach of Bangladesh.

“They know that Bangladesh is a growing football nation and they showed their interest to work with Bangladesh football and consequently they came here to see if there is any job possibility,” said Salahuddin yesterday. “The CV seems all right to me. We have time to think about it. This time we will be more careful before appointing a new coach,” he added.

Ermin is a Uefa pro-license holder and has coached only one Slovenian premier league club named Olimpija in 2012.l

BHF mulls SAARC School Hockey n Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh Hockey Federation looks for-ward to host the SAARC School Hockey next year in Dhaka, revealed federation general secretary Khwaja Rahmatullah.

Rahmatullah shared the interest with his sub-continental counterparts during the Congress of International Hockey Federation in Morocco and said they all responded “positively though he was not able to talk to Narinder Batra, the president of Hockey India as his son died in a tragic incident during the Congress.”

“I talked with the CEO and the re-sponse was positive, we want to provide the school level players an international exposure and we want to host the tour-nament next year though we are yet to decide the date,” said Rahmatullah.

Reacting to the appointment of the foreign coach Rahmatullah said at the moment they are still waiting for Ajay Kumar Bansal for a short stint while “We have asked Leandre Negre, the president of FIH for providing a coach We have also written to Norman Hughes, the development manager of European Hockey Federation.”

Rahmatullah said they are willing to pay a purse of $2000 per month along with accommodation, transport and food for a foreign coach. l

(L-R) National women footballers Sabina Khatun and captain Suinu pru Marma, Bangladesh Football Federation women’s wing president Mahfuza Akter Kiron and Japanese head coach Norio Tsukitate briefed the media in a press conference in Arambagh yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Chelsea FC Supporters Club Bangladesh (CFCSCB) arranged a get-together and live screening of the English Premier League clash between Chelsea and Liverpool at a city restaurant on Saturday. The Banglablues dedicated Chelsea’s 2-1 win to Shahriar Azad Orvin, one of the founding members of Chelsea Supporters Club Bangladesh, who passed away on October 17, 2014, in a tragic accident COURTESY

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE14 Monday, November 10, 2014

Real Madrid’s French forward Karim Benzema (L) celebrates his side’s fourth goal with Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo during their Spanish league match against Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on Saturday AFP

Bale on target as Real remain topn AFP, Madrid

Gareth Bale scored on his return to the Real Madrid starting line-up for the � rst time in a month as the European champions beat Rayo Vallecano 5-1 on

Saturday.Barcelona remain just two points be-

hind the league leaders thanks to two as-sists from Luis Suarez as they came from behind to snap a two-game losing streak in La Liga with a 2-1 win at Almeria.

Bale took just nine minutes to make his mark as he slid in to turn home Toni Kroos’s low cross before Sergio Ra-mos’s fortunate looping e� ort doubled Madrid’s lead.

An awful attempted backpass from James Rodriguez gave Rayo hope just before half-time as Alberto Bueno re-duced the arrears, but Kroos restored the hosts’ two-goal advantage with his � rst goal for the club.

Karim Benzema added a dubious fourth despite being clearly in an o� -side position before Cristiano Ronaldo registered his 23rd goal of the season thanks to some generous goalkeeping from Cristian Alvarez.

Real boss Carlo Ancelotti reserved spe-cial praise for the impact Kroos is having in his � rst season in the Spanish capital.

“Kroos was the best player on the pitch. He scored for the � rst time and he has surprised me for how consistent-ly he is performing at a very high level.”

A pelvic muscle injury had kept Bale on the sidelines for � ve games prior to his return as a second-half substitute against Liverpool in midweek, and there were positive signs for Welsh boss Chris Coleman as he looked back to his best ahead of his country’s Euro 2016 quali� ers against Belgium and Israel.

Bale was on hand to prod home the opener from close range after a neat one-two between Kroos and Ronaldo.

Ronaldo then uncharacteristically blazed over from inside the area and Alvarez did well to turn a curling e� ort from Rodriguez wide.

However, from the resulting corner Ramos made it 2-0 when the ball fortu-nately ricocheted o� his thigh into the top corner.

Rayo were gifted a reward for their neat possession football two minutes before the break, though, as Rodriguez passed the ball straight to Leo Bap-tistao and the on-loan Atletico Madrid striker squared for Bueno to slot into an empty net.

Baptistao thought he had brought Rayo level 10 minutes into the second period, but the goal was ruled out for a marginal o� side call and within sec-onds Madrid had put the game to bed.

Ronaldo cut the ball back for Kro-os 25 yards from goal and the German

World Cup winner bent home his � rst goal for the club with a low precise � n-ish.

Four minutes later it was 4-1 as Ben-zema turned home Ronaldo’s miscued shot and this time the goal did stand despite the Frenchman being clearly in an o� side position.

Bale was denied a sensational sec-ond of the night when Alvarez turned his thunderous volley onto the bar, but the ‘keeper undid his good work when he allowed Ronaldo’s weak e� ort through his body to round o� a 13th consecutive victory in all competitions for Madrid.

Barca were bailed out by a superb second-half performance by Suarez af-ter he and Neymar had been left on the bench by boss Luis Enrique as he made � ve changes from the side that defeat-ed Ajax 2-0 in midweek. l

7-star Juve thrash Parman Reuters, Milan

Carlos Tevez scored a solo goal with a run which started inside his own half to cap a em-phatic 7-0 win for Serie A leaders Juventus over

hapless Parma on Sunday.Tevez, Fernando Llorente and Alva-

ro Morata all scored twice and Stephan Lichtsteiner was also on target as Juve won their 24th successive home league match.

Juve, who enjoyed their biggest Se-rie A win since they beat Ascoli by the same score 29 years ago, were already 3-0 ahead when Tevez produced his masterpiece just after the break.

The Argentine, recently recalled by his country after a three-year absence, collected the ball, turned and surged away from Andrea Costa, then evaded two more challenges before side-foot-ing past Antonio Mirante after a 70-me-tre sprint.

Juventus lead the standings with 28 points from 11 games while Roberto Donadoni’s Parma are bottom with six points after their heaviest-ever Serie A defeat.

Palermo were awarded two penal-

ties, the � rst converted by Paulo Dy-bala and the second missed by Franco Vazquez, in a 1-1 draw at home to Udi-nese, who took an early lead through Cyril Thereau.

Chievo beat Cesena 2-1 to give coach Rolando Maran his � rst win and lowly Empoli surprised Lazio 2-1. l

Hodgson backs Rooney to break Shilton recordn AFP, London

England manager Roy Hodgson has tipped Wayne Rooney to surpass Peter Shilton as his country’s most capped footballer ahead of the striker’s 100th international appearance against Slo-venia next weekend.

The Manchester United forward will become the ninth player to reach the milestone after Shilton, David Beck-ham, Steven Gerrard, Bobby Moore, Ashley Cole, Bobby Charlton, Frank Lampard and Billy Wright. Rooney will then require a further 26 caps to over-take goalkeeping great Shilton, but with the former Everton player having only turned 29 last month, Hodgson feels it is only a matter of time before he does so.

“If we are generous and give him another � ve years, which is not beyond the bounds of possibility, he should beat Peter’s record,” Hodgson told jour-nalists during a brie� ng at a London hotel this week.l

Jeers turn to tears for Sagnol’s Bordeauxn AFP, Paris

In a week he faced claims of racism, Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol was moved to tears in Ligue 1 on Saturday when African striker Cheick Diabate hugged him after sealing a 2-1 win at Lens.

The victory lifts Bordeaux to third position, level on 24 points with sec-ond-placed Paris Saint-Germain but trailing on goal di� erence, while PSG host Ligue 1 leaders Marseille on Sunday.

Sagnol had been forced to apologise this week after appearing to suggest Af-rican players may be lacking in “disci-pline” and “intelligence” in a newspa-per interview.

The former French international was also mercilessly whistled by home fans as he walked onto the Lens pitch.

So when 26-year-old Malian striker Diabate scored Bordeaux’s second goal just before half-time and ran over to hug Sagnol, the gesture left the coach

wiping tears from his eyes.Wahbi Khazri opened Bordeaux’s ac-

count with a powerful shot on 24 min-utes before Diabate rounded the ‘keep-er to double the tally on 41 minutes.

A Yoann Touzghar penalty gave Lens hope and brought the score back to 2-1 with 15 minutes to play, setting up a nervy closing spell.l

Unbeaten Boateng claims new German league recordn AFP, Berlin

Germany defender Jerome Boateng set a new Bundesliga record on Saturday in Bayern Munich’s 4-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt to go 50 German league matches unbeaten.

The 26-year-old centre-back eclipsed Bayern team-mate Franck Ribery, who had the previous record of 49, and his last league defeat came in Munich’s 2-1 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in October 2012.

Boateng’s Germany team-mate Thomas Mueller claimed a hat-trick in Bayern’s romp in Frankfurt which left the defending champions seven-points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table.

Boateng has missed only three matches this season in all competi-tions and was rested for last season’s Bundesliga defeats, when Bayern did the league and cup double, at Augsburg and at home to Borussia Dortmund. l

Moyes to take over Sociedad: reportsn AFP, Madrid

Former Manchester United manager David Moyes is set to make a return to football with La Liga strugglers Real So-ciedad, various Spanish media sources reported on Sunday.

Moyes was sacked in April after less than a season in charge of United as they failed to qualify for the Champi-ons League for the � rst time since 1995.

The Basques have been looking for a new boss since Jagoba Arrasate was sacked last weekend after just one win in their opening 10 league games.

Reports suggest that an o� cial an-nouncement will not be made until af-ter Sociedad’s clash at home to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

Sociedad have a history of appointing British managers as John Toshack enjoyed three spells as boss in San Sebastian, whilst current Wales manager Chris Coleman had an ill-fated six months in charge in the 2007-08 season. l

Newcastle into top half, Spurs beatenn AFP, London

Newcastle United’s im-pressive revival contin-ued as they climbed into seventh place in the En-

glish Premier League table with a 2-0 win away to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.

Goals from Ayoze Perez and Fabricio Coloccini at The Hawthorns saw north-east side Newcastle, who struggled at the start of the season, extend their unbeaten league run to � ve straight games -- a sequence that now includes four successive victories.

Perez put Newcastle ahead on the stroke of half-time when, from 12 yards out, he skilfully backheeled in Daryl Janmaat’s cross.

Janmaat was again the provider as Newcastle doubled their lead in the 62nd minute.

The full-back’s cross was not prop-erly cleared and Newcastle captain Co-loccini found space in the box to head home as manager Alan Pardew’s men tightened their grip on the game.

Elsewhere, Stoke City also moved up into the top half of the table with a 2-1 victory away to Tottenham Hotspur that

ended the north London club’s run of three straight wins in all competitions.

Former Barcelona star Bojan Krkic scored his � rst Premier League goal in � ne style to give Stoke a sixth-minute lead at White Hart Lane when he cut inside from the left wing and ran at the retreating Spurs back four before unleashing a hard, low shot into the corner. 

Stoke were 2-0 up in the 33rd minute when, after a poor clearance by Spurs’s Danny Rose, Mame Diouf burst into the area and squared the ball to Jonathan Walters, who � nished with his left foot.

Tottenham pulled a goal back in the 77th minute when Nacer Chadli met Rose’s cross wih a powerful � nish.

But hopes Mauricio Pochettino’s side might manage a draw were dent-ed when they had to play the � nal � ve minutes down to 10 men after defender Kyle Naughton was sent o� for a crude foul on Victor Moses.

Sunday’s other early kick-o� match in the English top � ight saw Sunder-land and Everton share the points in a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Free-kick specialist Seb Larsson broke the deadlock in the 67th min-ute, although the Swede bent his shot

past Tim Howard through a huge gap in Everton’s defensive wall. But Everton were level in under 10 minutes when Seamus Coleman was brought down in box by Connor Wickham. 

Leighton Baines missed his � rst penalty in the top � ight at Old Tra� ord

last month and was lucky not to be de-nied on this occasion when Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon dived over his scu� ed spot-kick down the middle. 

Everton’s pleasure in gaining a draw would have been tempered by the sight of mid� elder Gareth Barry being car-ried o� on a stretcher with what ap-

peared to be an ankle injury.Arsenal will go into the top four if

they avoid defeat away to Swansea in Sunday’s late kick-o� match.

Sergio Aguero spared Manchester City another embarrassing defeat as the Argentine striker's late equaliser salvaged a 2-2 draw against QPR on Sat-urday.

Aguero netted his second goal of a dramatic encounter with just three minutes left at rain-lashed Loftus Road, but this was another alarmingly sloppy display from the struggling Pre-mier League champions.

Manuel Pellegrini's team were well below their best again just three days after su� ering a shock home defeat against CSKA Moscow that left them in danger of elimination from the Cham-pions League.

Charlie Austin had given QPR a de-served early lead and it needed an Ague-ro equaliser tinged with controversy to level the score before half-time.

A Martin Demichelis own goal in the closing stages put second bottom QPR back in front, but Aguero remains the one bright spot in a di� cult campaign for City and he came to their rescue in the � nal moments. l

RESULTSGetafe 0-0 Elche

Real Madrid 5-1 Rayo VallecanoBale 9, Ramos 40, Bueno 44Kroos 55, Benzema 59, Ronaldo 83

Malaga 2-1 EibarJuanmi 52, Amrabat 89 Arruabarrena 42

Celta Vigo 0-0 Granada

RESULTSLens 1-2 BordeauxTouzghar 74-P Khazri 24, Diabate 41

Caen 1-2 NantesDuhamel 23 Vizcarrondo 40, Veretout 60

Evian 1-0 NiceWass 76

Toulouse 3-0 MetzSirieix 3, Pesic 71,Ben Yedder 61

Bastia 2-0 MontpellierTallo 21, 45+1

Everton defender Leighton Baines shoots to score from the spot during their English Premier League match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, northeast England yesterday AFP

RESULTSSunderland 1-1 EvertonLarsson 67 Baines 76-P

Tottenham 1-2 StokeChadli 77 Bojan 6, Walters 33

West Brom 0-2 Newcastle Perez 45, Coloccini 62

On Saturday

QPR 2-2 Man CityAustin 21, Aguero 32, 83Demichelis 76-og

RESULTSCagliari 1-1 GenoaFarias 16 Rossettini 53-og

Chievo 2-1 CesenaPellissier 48, 90 Djuric 88

Empoli 2-1 LazioBarba 52, Djordjevic 66Maccarone 55

Juventus 7-0 ParmaLlorente 23, 36, Lichsteiner 29, Tevez 49, 58, Morata 76, 88

Palermo 1-1 UdineseDybala 42-P Thereau 5

On Saturday

Sassuolo 0-0 Atalanta

Sampdoria 2-2 AC MilanOkaka 45+1, El Shaarawy 9, Eder 51 Menez 65

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE 15Monday, November 10, 2014

Ten Cricket12:00PMPakistan v New Zealand 1st Test, Day 2Sony Six4:30PMWorld Kabaddi League

DAY’S WATCH

Arambagh clinch Max Group U-10-12 Football titleArambagh Football Academy emerged as the champions of the Max Group Under-10-12 Football Festival 2014 after beating Bangladesh Sporting Club 1-0 in the � nal at the BFF arti� cial turf yesterday. Rahim of Arambagh netted the all-important goal and was adjudged the most valuable player of the match. Arambagh earlier defeated Tota Sporting Club 2-1 in the quarter� -nal and then edged past Asaduzzaman Football Academy 1-0 in the last four while Bangladesh SC outplayed Farhad Srmity Football Academy 5-3 in the other semi� nal. Deputy Minister for Sports and Youth Arif Khan Joy distrib-uted the prizes among the winners as the chief guest.

–Tribune Desk

Bayern lack real rivals in Germany: HeynckesJupp Heynckes, who steered Bayern Munich to the 2013 Champions League title, says Pep Guardiola’s unbeaten Bavarian giants have no real competi-tion for this season’s Bundesliga title. The 69-year-old Heynckes coached Bayern to their � fth European title in May 2013 when they enjoyed a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley and went on to become the � rst Ger-man team to win the treble of league, cup and Champions League titles. Guardiola took over from Heynckes for the start of the 2013/14 season, winning the Bundesliga title with a re-cord seven matches remaining. Before Sunday’s matches, Bayern opened a seven-point lead at the top of the table with a 4-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Heynckes says the Bavari-ans are peerless in Germany as nearest rivals Borussia Moenchengladbach and Wolfsburg lack the experience to launch a serious challenge.

–AFP

Morocco rejects Cup hosting over EbolaMorocco has refused to host January’s African Nations Cup soccer � nals amid fears over the spread of the Ebola virus, throwing the 2015 tournament into jeop-ardy on Saturday. The country, which had already said it wanted the 16-team event postponed, rejected an ultimatum set by the Confederation of African Football to con� rm the hosting of the continental championship due to take place Jan. 17-Feb. 8. A statement from Morocco’s sports ministry said: “The decision is dictated by health reasons because of the serious threat of Ebola and the risk of its spreading.” A decision on the tournament will now be made next week when CAF has an executive committee meeting in Cairo but Morocco will almost certainly be stripped as hosts.

–Reuters

Trabzonspor sack coach Halilhodzic Turkish side Trabzonspor have � red coach Vahid Halilhodzic after a string of disappointing results, the club an-nounced. The 61-year-old Bosnian had taken charge in July after signing a two year contract -- worth 3.3 million euros ($4.5 million). This was his second spell at the club as he had coached Trabzon-spor in 2005-2006. The Black Sea club said in a statement on its website on Saturday that Halilhodzic’s “contract was terminated by mutual agreement” without giving further details. “We thank Vahid Halilhodzic for his ser-vices, understanding and devotion and wish him well for the future,” it said. 

–AFP

Two-touch Hart gets lucky let-o� at QPRManchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart received an unusual let-o� when a little-known rule denied Queens Park Rangers a goal in the teams’ Premier League clash on Saturday. With the score 0-0 in the game at Loftus Road, City were awarded a free-kick inside their own penalty area after QPR striker Charlie Austin had seen a header ruled out for o� side. Hart slipped on the greasy pitch as he took the free-kick, nudging the ball forward with his stand-ing foot and then toeing it straight to Austin, who gobbled up the invitation by slamming a low shot into the net.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

Australia celebrate their three-match Twenty20 international series win over South Africa at ANZ Stadium in Sydney yesterday. The Aussies won the third T20I to take the series 2-1 AFP

Tense win gives Australia home T20 seriesn AFP, Sydney

Australia won a thrilling � nal Twen-ty20 international against South Africa by two wickets with one ball to spare to take the series in Sydney on Sunday.

Cameron White steered the Austra-lians home with an unbeaten 41 o� 31 balls to pip the Proteas in a tense decid-er at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.

The Australians had restricted the South Africans to 145 for six o� their 20 overs after winning the toss, but need-ed 19.5 overs to get the winning run o� White.

Australia took the series 2-1 after losing the opening game in Adelaide by

seven wickets then claiming the next in Melbourne by seven wickets and win-ning in Sydney.

White’s composed knock got the Aus-tralians over the line after South Africa’s � ve bowlers had threatened to pull o� a gritty victory as wickets tumbled.

“Credit to our bowlers again, chas-ing 140-odd on that wicket you would be pretty comfortable most times so I’m just glad we got over the line at the end,” said man-of-the-match White.

“I thought we bowled well at the back end of their innings and it’s nice to be making runs so that’s my job and keep doing it hopefully.” 

Giant all-rounder David Wiese cap-

tured three for 21 and spinner Robin Peterson took three for 28 to lead the South African attack.

The Australians began briskly, with skipper Aaron Finch clubbing two sixes in his 33 o� 25 balls and Glenn Maxwell hitting a typical improvised 23 o� 15 balls.

But the wickets kept falling and giv-ing the South Africans a sni� of victory.

The Australians needed 41 runs o� the last 36 balls as White masterfully shepherded the strike to keep the scor-ing rate ticking over.

Proteas skipper J.P. Duminy de-clined to bowl his o� -spinners and relied on his contingent of � ve main bowlers, but paceman Wayne Parnell

proved particularly expensive and went wicketless for 43 runs from his four overs.

Kyle Abbott claimed the wicket of Sean Abbott leg before wicket with the third-last ball and incoming batsman Cameron Boyce almost ran out White when he scampered for a single o� his � rst ball.

Peterson’s throw from backward square leg narrowly missed the stumps with White well out of his ground.

White then chopped away Abbott’s next delivery to go through for the win-ning run.

Australia’s bowlers earlier fought back to restrict South Africa to 145 for

six after winning the toss and sending the Proteas into bat.

South Africa were well placed at 75 without loss after 8.3 overs with open-ers Reeza Hendricks (49 o� 48) and Quinton de Kock (48 o� 27 balls) breez-ing along.

However, Australia clawed their way back. James Faulkner (3-28) was e� ective in the closing overs, smashing through the South African middle order.

Faulkner subsequently was named man of the series.

David Miller remained unbeaten on 34 o� 26 balls and was the only Proteas batsman to make an impact in the clos-ing overs. l

South AfricaQ. De Kock   c Dunk b Cummins     48R. Hendricks   b Bollinger         49R. Rossouw   c Abbott b Boyce       4D. Miller      not out             34 F. Behardien c Abbott b Faulkner    1 J.P. Duminy  c Maxwell b Faulkner   2D. Wiese  c Dunk b Faulkner         0R. Peterson  not out                4Extras (b1, lb1, w1)                3Total (6 wickets, 20 overs)       145

Fall of wickets1-75, 2-88, 3-117, 4-122, 5-133, 6-134  BowlingBollinger 4-0-28-1, Maxwell 4-0-24-0, Faulkner 4-0-28-3, Abbott 1-0-14-0, Boyce 3-0-26-1, Cummins 4-0-23-1   AustraliaA. Finch c de Lange b Wiese         33B. Dunk   c and b Peterson          14 S. Watson  c Miller b Peterson       5N. Maddinson  b Wiese                4G. Maxwell c Hendricks b Peterson   23C. White   not out                  41J. Faulkner  c Miller b De Lange     9P. Cummins  c and b Wiese            3S. Abbott   lbw b Abbott             5C. Boyce   not out                   1Extras (w8)                          8Total (8 wickets; 19.5 overs)      146

Fall of wickets1-40, 2-53, 3-61, 4-62, 5-100, 6-125, 7-135, 8-144BowlingAbbott 3.5-0-20-1, De Lange 4-0-34-1 (1w), Parnell 4-0-43-0 (1w), Wiese 4-0-21-3 (2w), Peterson 4-0-28-3 (1w)

Australia won by 2 wicketsand take series 2-1

AUS v SA, 3RD T20I

Kvitova leads Czechs to brink of Fed Cup titlen Reuters, Prague

Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova put the Czech Republic on the brink of the Fed Cup title with victories on the opening day of the � nal against Germa-ny on Saturday.

The hosts roared into a 2-0 lead, leaving them requiring just one more victory on Sunday to seal their coun-try’s third victory in the Fed Cup, the premier team tournament in women’s tennis, in the last four seasons.

Playing in front of a capacity 13,000 crowd at the O2 Arena in Prague, the home favourites were given a � ying start when inspired Wimbledon cham-pion Kvitova, who led the Czechs to the title in 2011 and 2012, defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-2 6-4.

Safarova then downed Angelique Kerber 6-4 6-4, prevailing after a see-saw match against the Germany’s top-ranked player. It left Germany facing an uphill task to win the Cup for the � rst time since

Ste� Graf led them to the 1992 title.Kvitova set the tone swiftly, gain-

ing an early break against Petkovic and taking the � rst three games en route to winning the opening set.

Petkovic, though, showed � ght, breaking Kvitova at the start of the sec-ond set before surrendering the advan-tage in the next game.

Causing Kvitova problems through-out the set, Petkovic levelled the score at 3-3 but the Czech hit a pair of deft drop shots to keep herself ahead.

A double fault from Petkovic set up match point for Kvitova, who quickly closed out the match.

Kvitova and Safarova both said they battled nerves as they went into their � rst � nals matches on home soil since the Czechs won the trophy in 2012.

Safarova subdued Kerber on her third match point with a forehand passing shot to seal her third break of the set after the German had squan-dered leads of 2-0 and 4-2.l

Marquez claims record 13th win n AFP, Valencia

MotoGP world champion Marc Mar-quez claimed a record 13th win of the season at the Valencia Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Valentino Rossi and teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Marquez’s victory lifted him past the previous record mark held by Aus-tralian rider Mick Doohan of 12 victo-ries in 17 races in 1997.

Victory for the 21-year-old in the 18th and � nal race of the season also ensured he and Pedrosa delivered back-to-back constructors titles for Honda.

Rossi’s second place ensured he � n-ished second overall in the champion-ship standings with Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who retired from the race with � ve laps remaining, back in third.

It was a special Sunday all round for the Marquez family as Alex Mar-quez followed in his older brother’s footsteps earlier in the day by becom-ing Moto3 world champion to ensure a clean sweep of world titles for Spanish riders in 2014.l

India clinch ODI series despite Mahela tonn Cricinfo

A batting Powerplay that cost Sri Lan-ka three wickets for 16 runs sucked the oxygen out of an already imperiled in-nings, and set the visitors on course for

a third hiding on the trot. Sri Lanka’s six-wicket loss in Hyderabad surren-dered the series to India, who have not only been untested in the three match-es so far, but have also discovered po-tential gems among their second-string players.

Akshar Patel is perhaps chief among them, removing three batsmen through the middle overs, while Umesh Yadav struck at either end of the innings to earn a career-best haul of 4 for 53.

Sri Lanka had recalled Nuwan Ku-lasekara for this match, but he could � nd little swing early on, and India’s batsmen quickly settled into a now fa-miliar routine. They laid low for the � rst few overs, waited for the seam to grow soft, then began to play their strokes. Ajinkya Rahane fell to Thisara Perera’s prolonged short-ball attack, but Dha-wan and Rayudu picked up the pace quickly after that, ensuring 62 for 1 was as weak as India’s chase would look.

Dhawan looked set for a second ton in the series until he got a bad decision on 91, when a Kulasekara short ball took a de� ection o� his helmet, rather than his bat. Kohli though, breezed ahead at a run-a-ball raising his 31st ODI � fty and his 6000th run with the same stroke. l

Ton-up Shehzad � ays New Zealandn AFP, Abu Dhabi

Opener Ahmed Shehzad hit a brilliant hundred to steer Pakistan to 269-1 at close on the opening day of the � rst Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. 

Shehzad was 126 not out for his third Test hundred - all made this year - but fellow opener Mohammad Hafeez missed his by four runs as New Zea-land’s pace-cum spin attack toiled hard on an unresponsive pitch.

Azhar Ali was unbeaten on 46, hav-ing added 91 for the unbroken second wicket stand with Shehzad.

It was another batting domination by Pakistan after Brendon McCullum called wrongly at the toss and his coun-terpart Misbah-ul Haq took no time in opting to bat, as he did in the 356-run mauling of Australia in the second Test at the same venue last week.

Shehzad ensured he did not miss the three-� gure mark, taking a single o� seamer Jimmy Neesham to reach his hundred o� 221 balls with 12 boundaries.

In all Shehzad hit 14 boundaries during his 290-ball stay and even a sec-

ond new ball after 80 overs did not wa-ver his concentration.

Hafeez and Shehzad put on Pakistan’s best stand of 178 against New Zealand in all Tests, beating the 172-run partner-ship between Ramiz Raja and Shoaib Mohammad in the Karachi Test in 1990.

Shehzad hit � ve boundaries o� leg-spinner Ish Sodhi in the second ses-sion while Hafeez entered his nineties with three fours. l

Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad celebrates his ton against the Kiwis during the � rst day of the � rst Test in Abu Dhabi yesterday AFP

India’s Partika Saha is seen practising at Rajshahi Tennis Complex yesterday ahead of the ITF International Junior Tennis Championship 2014 that will begin today comprising players from 22 nations. The six-day event will conclude on November 16 AZAHAR UDDIN

Pakistan Ist inningsHafeez c and b Anderson        96Ahmed Shehzad not out                  126Azhar Ali not out                       46Extras: (nb1)                            1Total: (for one wkt; 90 overs)        269

Fall of wickets1-178 (Hafeez)BowlingBoult 16-4-38-0, Southee 15-2-47-0 (1nb), Craig 17-1-59-0, Sodhi 23-5-68-0, Anderson 7-1-31-1, Neesham 7-0-20-0, McCullum 5-1-6-0

SCORECARD, DAY 1

India245 for 4 (Dhawan 91, Kohli 53; Dilshan 1-10) Sri Lanka242 (Jayawardene 118, Dilshan 53, Yadav 4-53, Akshar 3-40) India won by six wickets, lead series 3-0

BRIEF SCORE

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

L E T T H E I R B E ( D I G I T A L ) L I G H T

As part of a new Dhaka Metropolitan Police project, tra� c sta� have been advised to follow the timers set above signal lights at di� erent points in the city. Clockwise from left, the photo shows one such timer running in the capital’s Shahbagh intersection yesterday. The second photo shows that a few minutes later, the timer in the � rst photo has gone out of operation. In the third photo, a sergeant literally runs, arms � ailing, to stop vehicles on another road in Shahbagh in the absence of a timer MEHEDI HASAN

Why is there something rather than nothing?n BBC

People have wrestled with the mystery of why the universe exists for thou-sands of years. Pretty much every an-cient culture came up with its own cre-ation story - most of them leaving the matter in the hands of the gods – and philosophers have written reams on the subject. But science has had little to say about this ultimate question.

However, in recent years a few phys-icists and cosmologists have started to tackle it. They point out that we now have an understanding of the history of the universe, and of the physical laws that describe how it works. That infor-mation, they say, should give us a clue about how and why the cosmos exists.

Their admittedly controversial an-swer is that the entire universe, from the � reball of the Big Bang to the star-studded cosmos we now inhabit, popped into existence from nothing at all. It had to happen, they say, because “nothing” is inherently unstable.

This idea may sound bizarre, or just another fanciful creation story. But the physicists argue that it follows natural-ly from science’s two most powerful and successful theories: quantum me-chanics and general relativity.

Here, then, is how everything could have come from nothing.

Particles from empty spaceFirst we have to take a look at the realm of quantum mechanics. This is the branch of physics that deals with very small things: atoms and even tinier particles. It is an immensely successful theory, and it underpins most modern electronic gadgets.

Quantum mechanics tells us that there is no such thing as empty space. Even the most perfect vacuum is ac-tually � lled by a roiling cloud of parti-cles and antiparticles, which � are into existence and almost instantaneously fade back into nothingness.

These so-called virtual particles don’t last long enough to be observed directly, but we know they exist by their e� ects.

Space-time, from no space and no timeFrom tiny things like atoms, to really big

things like galaxies. Our best theory for describing such large-scale structures is general relativity, Albert Einstein’s crowning achievement, which sets out how space, time and gravity work.

Relativity is very di� erent from quantum mechanics, and so far no-body has been able to combine the two seamlessly. However, some theorists have been able to bring the two theories to bear on particular problems by using carefully chosen approximations. For instance, this approach was used by Stephen Hawking at the University of Cambridge to describe black holes.

One thing they have found is that, when quantum theory is applied to space at the smallest possible scale, space itself becomes unstable. Rather than remaining perfectly smooth and continuous, space and time destabi-lize, churning and frothing into a foam of space-time bubbles.

In other words, little bubbles of space and time can form spontaneously. “If space and time are quantized, they can � uctuate,” says Lawrence Krauss at Ar-izona State University in Tempe. “So you can create virtual space-times just as you can create virtual particles.”

What’s more, if it’s possible for these bubbles to form, you can guarantee that they will. “In quantum physics, if something is not forbidden, it necessar-ily happens with some non-zero proba-bility,” says Alexander Vilenkin of Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.

A universe from a bubbleSo it’s not just particles and antiparti-cles that can snap in and out of noth-ingness: bubbles of space-time can do the same. Still, it seems like a big leap from an in� nitesimal space-time bub-ble to a massive universe that hosts 100 billion galaxies. Surely, even if a bubble formed, it would be doomed to disap-pear again in the blink of an eye?

Actually, it is possible for the bubble to survive. But for that we need anoth-er trick: cosmic in� ation.

Most physicists now think that the universe began with the Big Bang. At � rst all the matter and energy in the universe was crammed together in one unimaginably small dot, and this exploded. This follows from the dis-

covery, in the early 20th century, that the universe is expanding. If all the gal-axies are � ying apart, they must once have been close together.

In� ation theory proposes that in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang, the universe expanded much faster than it did later. This seemingly outlandish notion was put forward in the 1980s by Alan Guth at the Massachusetts Insti-tute of Technology, and re� ned by An-drei Linde, now at Stanford University.

The idea is that, a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, the quantum-sized bubble of space expanded stupendous-ly fast. In an incredibly brief moment, it went from being smaller than the nu-cleus of an atom to the size of a grain of sand. When the expansion � nally slowed, the force � eld that had powered

it was transformed into the matter and energy that � ll the universe today. Guth calls in� ation “the ultimate free lunch.”

As weird as it seems, in� ation � ts the facts rather well. In particular, it neatly explains why the cosmic micro-wave background, the faint remnant of radiation left over from the Big Bang, is almost perfectly uniform across the sky. If the universe had not expanded so rapidly, we would expect the radia-tion to be patchier than it is.

The universe is flat and why that’s importantIn� ation also gave cosmologists the measuring tool they needed to deter-mine the underlying geometry of the universe. It turns out this is also cru-cial for understanding how the cosmos came from nothing.

Einstein’s theory of general relativ-ity tells us that the space-time we live in could take three di� erent forms. It could be as � at as a table top. It could

curve back on itself like the surface of a sphere, in which case if you travel far enough in the same direction you would end up back where you started. Alternatively, space-time could curve outward like a saddle. So which is it?

There is a way to tell. You might remember from maths class that the three angles of a triangle add up to ex-actly 180 degrees. Actually your teach-ers left out a crucial point: this is only true on a � at surface. If you draw a triangle on the surface of a balloon, its three angles will add up to more than 180 degrees. Alternatively, if you draw a triangle on a surface that curves out-ward like a saddle, its angles will add up to less than 180 degrees.

So to � nd out if the universe is � at, we need to measure the angles of a really big triangle. That’s where in� ation comes in. It determined the average size of the warmer and cooler patches in the cosmic microwave background. Those patches were measured in 2003, and that gave astronomers a selection of triangles. As a result, we know that on the largest ob-servable scale our universe is � at.

It turns out that a � at universe is cru-cial. That’s because only a � at universe is likely to have come from nothing.

Everything that exists, from stars and galaxies to the light we see them by, must have sprung from some-where. We already know that particles spring into existence at the quantum level, so we might expect the universe to contain a few odds and ends. But it takes a huge amount of energy to make all those stars and planets.

Where did the universe get all this energy? Bizarrely, it may not have had to get any. That’s because every object in the universe creates gravity, pulling other objects toward it. This balances the energy needed to create the matter in the � rst place.

It’s a bit like an old-fashioned meas-uring scale. You can put a heavy weight on one side, so long as it is balanced by an equal weight on the other. In the case of the universe, the matter goes on one side of the scale, and has to be bal-anced by gravity.

Physicists have calculated that in a � at universe the energy of matter is exactly balanced by the energy of the

gravity the mass creates. But this is only true in a � at universe. If the uni-verse had been curved, the two sums would not cancel out.

Universe or multiverse?At this point, making a universe looks almost easy. Quantum mechanics tells us that “nothing” is inherently unstable, so the initial leap from nothing to some-thing may have been inevitable. Then the resulting tiny bubble of space-time could have burgeoned into a massive, busy universe, thanks to in� ation. As Krauss puts it, “The laws of physics as we understand them make it eminently plausible that our universe arose from nothing - no space, no time, no parti-cles, nothing that we now know of.”

So why did it only happen once? If one space-time bubble popped into existence and in� ated to form our uni-verse, what kept other bubbles from doing the same?

Linde o� ers a simple but mind-bend-ing answer. He thinks universes have al-ways been springing into existence, and that this process will continue forever.

When a new universe stops in� at-ing, says Linde, it is still surrounded by space that is continuing to in� ate. That in� ating space can spawn more uni-verses, with yet more in� ating space around them. So once in� ation starts it should make an endless cascade of universes, which Linde calls eternal in� ation. Our universe may be just one grain of sand on an endless beach.

Those universes might be profound-ly di� erent to ours. The universe next door might have � ve dimensions of space rather than the three – length, breadth and height – that ours does. Gravity might be ten times stronger or a thousand times weaker, or not exist at all. Matter might be built out of utterly di� erent particles.

So there could be a mind-boggling smorgasbord of universes. Linde says eternal in� ation is not just the ultimate free lunch: it is the only one at which all possible dishes are available.

As yet we don’t have hard evidence that other universes exist. But either way, these ideas give a whole new meaning to the phrase “Thanks for nothing.” l

Digital Centre Entrepreneur Conference tomorrown Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The government is all set to hold the Digital Centre Entrepreneur Confer-ence 2014 with the entrepreneurs of the Union Digital Centres set up across the country to provide information and technological assistance to people, par-ticularly the rural ones.

Marking fourth year into the foun-dation of these digital centres, the event will be held at the National Pa-rade Ground tomorrow with participa-tion of more than 11,000 entrepreneurs from union, upazila and city corpora-tion levels.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the event along with her ICT Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy in presence of ministers, state ministers, ambassadors and diplomats from di� erent countries and representatives of the partner insti-tutions of the digital centres.

Yesterday in a press conference or-ganised by the government’s a2i (Ac-cess to Information) programme, State Minister for Information and Commu-nication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said: “We have come more than half the way towards building digital Bangladesh with the signi� cant roles played by the Union Digital Centres.”

On November 11, 2010, Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a Union Information Centre through a video conference at a char named KukriM-ukri in Bhola with former President of New Zealand and United Nations De-velopment Programme’s Administrator Helen Clark.

After launching 4,547 information centres across the country, the gov-ernment established digital centres in 321 upazilas and digital centres in 407 wards under 11 city corporations, said the press conference.

All these digital centres have so far earned around Tk140 crore by provid-ing 400 kinds of services to people.

Palak said after launching the digital centres, the dominance of the bureau-cratic red tape had reduced signi� cant-ly. Now service were available at the door steps of people. l

If one space-time bubble popped into existence and in� ated to form our universe, what kept other bubbles from doingthe same?

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

www.dhakatribune.com/business MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2014

B3 IMF reforms threatened by Republican electoral sweep

B4 China president says risks to economy “not that scary”

Irresistible Shahjibazar Power again under BSEC lensn Tribune Report

The securities regulator has started probing into unusual rise in share prices of Shahjibazar Power Com-pany Limited once again after a pause of more than three months.

“Bangladesh Securities and Ex-change Commission (BSEC) has formed an enquiry committee to investigate into the unusual price hike of shares of Shahjibazar Pow-er Company Limited in the stock exchanges,” said the regulator in a statement yesterday.

The two-member committee was asked to submit the probe re-port by next 15 working days.

Since its debut on July 15, share prices of the company never fell and rather rose more than 858% to close at Tk239.7 a share on its o� er value of Tk25 a share as of yesterday.

Back in July 31 this year, BSEC had formed a two-member probe

panel after the company’s share price climbed 61% in just nine trad-ing sessions from its debut.

Following formation of the probe panel, Dhaka Stock Ex-change on August 11 suspended share trading of Shahjibazar for an inde� nite period, owing to its unu-sual price hike.

After investigation, the BSEC probe team found that the com-pany in� ated its net pro� t to Tk28.6 crore from its original prof-it of Tk16.9 crore in its � nancial statement for nine months (July 2013-March 2014).

For the o� ence, the regulator � ned the company’s � ve directors and managing director Tk55 lakh. It also � ned collectively United Power Generation and Distribution Company, its issue manager and an auditor Tk5 lakh on the same ground.

Following completion of probe,

Shahjibazar was allowed to resume share trading on October 20 and since then rally of its share prices knew no bound despite its trade suspension and a downward revi-sion of the net pro� t.

According to dealers, share pric-es of Shahjibazar continued to rise despite many odds on the basis of rumour that the price of the scrip would increase further.

Lower free � oat ratio of the

company’s shares could be a major factor behind the continuous rise in prices, even after the regulatory probe, according to them.

Lower free � oat ratio refers to lesser quantity of tradable shares in the market.

Only 1.26 crore of the 12.68 crore Shahjibazar Power shares are free � oating or tradable.

Located in Habiganj, Shah-jibazar Power raised Tk31.7 crore through initial public o� ering, which was approved by the BSEC in January. The company � oated 1.26 crore ordinary shares of Tk10 each at an o� er price of Tk25, in-cluding Tk15 as premium.

The company produces electric-ity from natural gas and supplies to the Bangladesh Power Develop-ment Board.

The company started commer-cial production with its 86mw power plants in February 2009. l

3-day housing fair kicks o� in port city Thursday n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A three-day housing fair will begin in the port city on Thursday.

Bangladesh Real Estate Directory (BD-RED) is organising the fair titled “12th BD-RED Abashon Mela” at the Engineers’ Institute auditorium.

Chittagong City Corporation Mayor M Monjur Alam is expected to inaugu-rate the event as chief guest, said BD-RED at a press conference yesterday.

About 40 real estate and construc-tion material companies are set to par-ticipate in the housing fair.

The fair will continue till Saturday and remain open for all from 10:00am to 10:00pm. Entrance will be free of charge.

BD-RED Chief Executive Md Yasin Khan read out a written statement at the press conference.

He said the event is being organised as part of e� orts to boost housing busi-ness in the country as it has continued to su� er a recession-like situation. l

RMG factories’ going public accelerate

n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Apparel factory owners are increasing-ly becoming dependent on the coun-try’s stock market for raising low-cost funds to expand their business thanks to higher interest rates of the commer-cial bank loans.

According to Dhaka stock Exchange (DSE), a total of six RMG-related com-pany raised funds of over Tk381 crore while three others got approval from the regulator to collect an amount of Tk232 crore in the � rst 10 months of this year.

Meanwhile, over 15 apparel factory owners submitted their Initial Public O� ering (IPO) prospectus to Bangla-desh Securities and Exchange Com-mission (BSEC) for getting approval to collect fund through issuance of shares to the public.

As per the initial public o� ering pro-spectus of some companies, most of the prospectus aimed at fund raising for paying-o� bank term loans, capital investment, expanding of the existing plants, working capital purpose, pur-chasing new machinery, constructing new factory buildings, purchasing of land and land development.

“Entrepreneurs want to be enlisted with the stock market as it reduces cost of � nancing for business expansion,” Envoy Textile (listed with Dhaka Stock Exchange) Managing Director Abdus Salam Murshedy told the Dhaka Trib-une.

On the other hand, getting funds from outside the banking system would help reduce debt and increases brand values with a further scope for

indirect advertisements for the compa-ny, he added.

“As a company has to count high interest for bank loans and thus lion share of the pro� ts are being paid as bank’s interest, we are preferring stock market for raising low-cost fund,” said MS Zaman, company secretary of Far-east Knitting and Dyeing Limited.

“It’s a positive sign that the RMG businessmen are showing interest to collect fund from the stock market,” said AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former ad-viser to the caretaker government.

Expressing concern over the appropriate use of the funds, Azizul

Islam has, however, warned the regulator of keeping strong monitoring system, so that the money could not be siphoned o� .

“Banks o� er loans with high in-terest rates while foreign lenders are o� ering us lower rate and now the capital market has become another source of � nancing without any inter-est,” BGMEA vice-president Reaz Bin Mahmood said.

Currently, 36 textile companies are enlisted with the Dhaka Stock Ex-changes and the sector represent 3.5% of total market capitalisation in the market.

According to a recent report, the global apparel market will cross the US$2 trillion mark by 2025 from the current value of $1.1 trillion.

According to Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters BKMEA, the EU and USA are the two largest im-porters of Bangladeshi RMG products and 86% of the total exports are serv-ing to these giant, which are only 6% of total demands.

According to EPB, in FY13-14, the RMG sector accounted for 81.13% of to-tal export, earning over $24.49bn and contributing around 20% of the coun-try’s GDP. l

IT, ITES � rms to take part in B2B events in Europen Tribune Business Desk

International Trade Centre (ITC) is go-ing to organise three Business-to-Busi-ness (B2B) events in Europe this month and December under Netherlands Trust Fund-III Bangladesh project, re-ports BSS.

The events, focusing on information technology (IT) and ITES (IT enabled service) industry, will be held in London tomorrow, in Copenhagen on November 19 and in Amsterdam on December 3.

A total of 38 Bangladeshi IT and ITES companies will take part in the events to meet with European buyers for exploring outsourcing business op-portunities to Bangladesh, said a BASIS press release. Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Dhaka Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (DCCI) are cooper-ating to organise the event.

“Building on the work done under the previous NTF-II project, the NTF-III Bangladesh project will also organ-

ise B2B events in Europe and Bang-ladesh throughout the project until mid-2017,” said M Mahfuzul Quader, National Project Coordinator, NTF-III Bangladesh Project.

The B2B event would help to increase Bangladesh’s IT and ITES exports and of-fer business development opportunities to Bangladeshi companies, that would pave the way of more employments for young people, especially women.

“The Bangladeshi companies partici-pating in the B2B events could be able to reap full bene� ts and make progress to-wards achieving One Bangladesh target,” said BASIS president Shameem Ahsan.

ITC also plans to organise similar B2B events mobilising trade delega-tions from the UK, Denmark and the Netherlands to Digital World 2015 in early next year.

NTF-III Bangladesh Project is fund-ed by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign A� airs through the CBI (Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries). l

Time to think big on Asia-Paci� c traden Tribune Business Desk

As Asia-Paci� c leaders gather in Beijing in the coming days for the annual sum-mit under the region’s premier eco-nomic cooperation framework, hopes are running high that they will inject fresh vigour into regional economic in-tegration, reports BSS.

Particularly, all eyes are on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Paci� c (FTAAP), an all-encompassing free trade vision for which the 21-member Asia-Paci� c Economic Conference (APEC) forum is expected to hatch out a roadmap.

It is undeniable that to craft a free trade zone out of a region as vast and diverse as the Asia-Paci� c is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming, yet the current trend of fragmentation and incoordination has turned the region’s trading system into a spaghetti bowl.

The recent decade has witnessed a mushrooming of small and medi-um-sized FTAs in the Asia-Paci� c.

From the Trans-Paci� c Partnership (TPP) to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), it is ev-ident that Asia-Paci� c economies are

truly eager to open up to each other for the sake of mutual bene� t and com-mon development.

However, due to a lack of informa-tion-sharing and transparency, such a multitude of varying and overlapping free trade mechanisms might eventu-ally generate a myriad of complex or

even contradictory rules governing re-gional trade, thus creating even larger barriers for traders and investors.

Thus it is high time that serious at-tention was paid to the FTAAP idea, which has been around for almost a decade. The overarching arrangement is intended to be open, inclusive and � exible, so as to accommodate all econ-

omies in the region and bridge trade deals both in being and in the making.

A high-quality FTAAP, studies show, could increase the size of global econo-my by a whopping $2.4tn by 2025.

As such a grand vision draws closer to reality, it is only natural for suspi-cions and noises to kick in.

Some Western media have rushed to hype up a “China-US rivalry” for lead-ership in the region’s mounting free trade drive.

Allegations of this sort are ground-less and betray their advocates’ obses-sion with confrontation or sensation.

The FTAAP is by no means a “solo show” of China. Rather, it is the shared aspiration of all APEC members that will bring them a wealth of bene� ts.

In addition, the FTAAP is not aimed at forcing out other free trade arrange-ments in the region, but at integrating them and making regional movement of goods and services more e� cient.

With the world economy de� ned by globalisation and Asia-Paci� c econo-mies subjected to mounting interde-pendence, the time is now ripe to treat the dynamic region as a whole. l

Hi-tech park may get goingBangladesh-India joint venture will develop two blocks initially n Asif Showkat Kallol and

Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The government is close to sign an agreement with a contractor to devel-op two blocks of the proposed hi-tech park in Gazipur under the Public-Pri-vate Partnership initiative.

The deal would be signed with an India-based international developer � rm SIMCL-INFINITY subject to ap-proval by the cabinet committee on economic a� airs, o� cials said.

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is scheduled to place the proposal at a meeting of the committee scheduled tomorrow.

Already delayed by 16 years due to bureaucratic tangles, the deal for the development of two blocks (2 and 5) would be signed for 40 years. The park will have a total of � ve blocks.

“At long last, we are going to select one � rm for beginning the develop-ment works,” Project Director ANM Sha� qul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. “Now, a proposal will be sent to the cabinet committee for approval.”

He said: “Initially the contract will be signed for 40 years, which might be extended further if both parties agree.”

According to the proposal, the two blocks will be developed under Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Own and Trans-fer (DBFOOT) basis under PPP initiative.

The areas of two blocks are 62 acres and 29 acres respectively in the total coverage of 132.8 hectares of land.

Sources said local company Summit Communications Limited owns 75% of the consortium and 25% goes to the In-dian partner, In� nity.

The proposal also revealed SIM-CL-INFINITY will invest $114.56 mil-

lion for developing the block 2 and $93.33 million for block 5 in next 10 years. The contract with SIMCL-INFIN-ITY might be extended for another 20 years based on their performance.

The government will get 11% from the two blocks as rent for the build-up spaces, 22% from block 2 and 23% from block 5 as the earnings on the leased land, while utility and other charges will be 8% for the initial 40 years, ac-cording to the proposal.

A senior o� cial of the project said there is a clause recently introduced in the proposed contract that the award-ed company would be allowed to mort-gage the land to commercial banks subject to signing agreement with the government.

There is a little option to impose penalty if the company fails to com-plete the project work within the stipu-lated time of 10 years, he added.Sources in ICT Ministry also said de-velopment of block 3 and 4 are also going to be awarded to another local � rm Fiber@home while block 1 will be awarded for Fiber@home and Summit Communications Limited jointly.

The development of the project had seen little progress in last 15 years, with o� cials concerned blaming the sluggish pace on frequent shifts in government decisions and interference from the World Bank, which was providing Tk200 crore for the project taken in 1999.

In 1999, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi-na decided to establish the park on 232 acres of land at the Kaliakoir Surface Satellite Station. However, the then BNP-led government did not carry on with the project, while its Science and ICT Ministry initiated a new project at Kaliakoir in 2004, where they did noth-ing other than acquiring land. l

TEXTILE COMPANIES LISTINGYear Number of

companies Fund raisedin Tk crore

2010 1 100

2011 1 50

2012 3 214

2013 3 223

2014 (till October) 9 613

Garment workers are seen busy performing their jobs at a factory SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The recent decade has witnessed a mushrooming of small and medium-sized FTAs in the Asia-Paci� c

B2 Stock Monday, November 10, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

News, analysis and recent disclosersSAMORITA: The Board of Directors has recommended 20% cash dividend and 10% stock dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 07.01.2015, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: MH Samorita Hospital & Medical College, 117 Tejgaon, Love Road, Dhaka-1208. Record Date: 19.11.2014. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 3.01, NAV per share of Tk. 60.44 and NOCFPS of Tk. 4.74 for the year ended on June 30, 2014.NPOLYMAR: The Board of Directors has recommended 18% stock dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 18.12.2014, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Fakruddin & Sons Community Center, Board Bazar, Gazipur. Record Date: 19.11.2014. The Company has also reported NAV of Tk. 439.93 Million, EPS of Tk. 3.09 and NOCFPS of Tk. 12.84 for the year ended on June 30, 2014.MICEMENT:(Q1): As per un-audited quar-terly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 30th September 2014 (July'14 to Sep'14), the Company has reported net pro� t after tax of Tk. 167.65 million with EPS of Tk. 1.13 as against Tk. 165.97 million and Tk. 1.12 respectively for the same period of the previous year.MATINSPINN: The Company has in-formed that the Board of Directors of the

Company has decided to further expansion of production capacity by 7 ton (per day) synthetic yarn in addition to the existing capacity of 25 ton of Carded and Combed yarn and 10 ton (per day) mélange yarn project (under implementation with IPO proceeds ) at a projected cost of Tk. 101.40 crore out of which 66.78 crore will be availed as Loan from The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) Bangladesh and the rest amount of Tk. 34.62 crore will be � nanced from Company's own source.UNITEDAIR: (Emphasis of Matter): "Atik Khaled & Co", Auditor of the company has given the following 'Emphasis of Matter' paragraph in the audit report of the com-pany for the year ended on 30 June 2014: "The deferred tax liabilities of the company remaining balance stood Tk. 334,971,012 up to 30.06.2012 against the said liabilities a sum of Tk. 34,971,012 has been adjusted with the retained earnings during the year under audit. As per board of director's de-cision, the balance amount of deferred tax liabilities amounting of Tk. 300,000,000 will be adjusted in the upcoming consecu-tive years."RENWICKJA: (Quali� ed Opinion): "A. Wa-hab & Co", Auditor of the company has given the following quali� ed opinion in the audit

report of the company for the year ended on 30 June 2014: " i) Bangladesh Accounting Standards (BAS) 36 requires impairment test of Property, Plant and Equipment and necessary disclosure in this regard. The com-pany has no laid down policy and procedure with regard to impairment test and no such test was carried out. ii) As disclosed in note # 1.04 (h) to the � nancial statements the gratuity scheme operated by the company is unfunded and provision is made as per company policy. But no actuarial valuation has been done as per BAS 19."MIDASFIN: The Company has informed that it has credited the Rights shares to the respective shareholders' BO Account on November 06, 2014.ORIONINFU: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Di-rectors will be held on November 13, 2014 at 5:00 PM to consider, among others, au-dited � nancial statements of the Company for the year ended on June 30, 2014.KOHINOOR: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Di-rectors will be held on November 13, 2014 at 4:00 PM to consider, among others, au-dited � nancial statements of the Company for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

DSEX falls below 5,000-mark after seven weeks n Tribune Report

Stocks su� ered big losses yesterday with the benchmark index DSEX falling below 5,000-mark after sev-en weeks.

The market opened red and con-tinued to shed points on selling spree till the trade closed.

Dhaka Stock Exchange bench-mark index, DSEX, closed at 4,938, tumbling more than 86 points or 1.8% --the worst single-day fall of the index in last several months.

Also, the index marked the lowest since September 22 this year.

With the fall, the DSEX extend-ed losses for the � fth consecutive session and lost 395 points or 7.41% from 5,334, the year’s highest peak recorded on October 12.

The Shariah DSES index declined 22 points or 2% to 1,157. The DS30 in-dex comprising blue chip issues was also down 51 points or 2.8% to 1,815.

Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, closed at 9,329, dropping 243 points.

Strong selling pressure resulted

in robust trading activities with the DSE turnover in value standing at Tk857 crore, which is 40% higher over the previous session and high-est in three weeks.

All the large cap sectors closed in the red except for textile, and food and allied that ended � at.

Telecommunication posted the highest loss of 2.4%, followed by power that lost 1.9%, banks 1.6%, non-banking � nancial institutions 1.5% and pharmaceuticals 1.4%.

The debutant Western Marine Shipyard continued to gain for the fourth trading day, as it added near-ly 11% to its last three days’ gain of 100%. The shipyard closed at over Tk92 a share on its o� er value.

It was also the most traded stocks with shares worth Tk63 crore chang-ing hands.

Losers took a lead over the gain-ers as out of 306 issues traded, 112 advanced, 156 declined and 38 re-mained unchanged.

IDLC Investments said preceding the week’s waning tone extended further as the market slumped amid buoyant turnover.

Investors remained most active in engineering, fuel and power and pharmaceuticals sectors, it said.

Besides shipyard sector, other top turnover leaders include Keya Cosmetics, Appollo Ispat Complex, Desco, Lafarge Surma Cement, RSRM Steel and Saif Powertech.

RSRM Steel was the biggest loser with a loss of more than 12% while National Polymer gained highest 32%. l

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Ratanpur Steel -N -11.62 -10.38 70.25 70.00 72.60 69.00 13.768 2.37 29.6LafargeS Cement-Z -8.66 -7.56 116.06 113.90 123.00 113.00 24.895 2.43 47.8FarEast Knitting -N -8.28 -9.47 29.46 29.90 31.00 29.00 3.406 2.28 12.9Titas Gas TDCLA -6.70 -5.68 82.74 82.10 84.00 82.00 2.818 10.38 8.0Barakatullah E. D.-A -6.17 -5.05 34.76 35.00 35.00 30.20 4.220 1.62 21.5B I F C -A -5.88 -2.66 16.48 16.00 17.00 15.90 0.066 1.41 11.7Prime Finance-A -5.22 -3.57 22.17 21.80 23.30 21.30 1.504 1.12 19.8Eastern Bank - A -4.75 -4.68 28.09 28.10 28.60 28.00 0.202 2.80 10.0BSRM Steels-A -4.64 -3.95 97.86 96.70 99.50 100.00 5.773 3.88 25.2ACI Formulations-A -4.62 -5.41 135.39 134.10 138.50 133.00 2.396 3.27 41.4

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Ratanpur Steel -N -12.16 -11.15 69.98 70.10 73.10 68.30 218.478 2.37 29.5FarEast Knitting -N -10.06 -9.79 29.38 29.50 29.70 28.50 24.775 2.28 12.9Midas Financing-Z -8.23 -8.71 14.57 14.50 14.70 14.30 0.204 -6.16 -veLafargeS Cement-Z -8.12 -7.04 116.66 114.30 124.10 113.00 221.647 2.43 48.0Progressive Life-A -7.20 -7.63 95.43 95.40 96.10 95.10 0.334 2.30 41.5GeminiSeaFood-Z -6.84 -7.30 138.33 138.90 149.90 134.30 0.083 -1.80 -veB I F C -A -6.55 -5.04 16.02 15.70 16.90 15.50 9.679 1.41 11.4Prime Islami Life -A -6.18 -2.16 90.70 86.60 92.00 86.10 1.433 4.95 18.3Barakatullah E. D.-A -6.13 -6.68 34.94 35.20 35.20 30.00 163.259 1.62 21.6Titas Gas TDCLA -5.92 -4.98 83.46 82.70 86.90 80.00 171.991 10.38 8.0

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

WesternMarine -N 1,129,600 99.55 14.94 91.50 11.86 81.80 94.00 81.70 88.13The Peninsula CTG.-N 976,800 32.66 4.90 34.50 9.87 31.40 34.50 31.50 33.44Appollo Ispat CL -N 1,223,210 29.58 4.44 24.80 9.25 22.70 24.90 22.70 24.19SAIF Powertec-N 266,600 25.87 3.88 96.30 1.58 94.80 99.00 89.90 97.04LafargeS Cement-Z 214,500 24.89 3.74 113.90 -8.66 124.70 123.00 113.00 116.06Khulna Printing-N 667,500 24.07 3.61 36.30 8.36 33.50 36.80 33.90 36.05Keya Cosmetics -A 486,340 15.16 2.27 31.50 9.00 28.90 31.60 29.60 31.16BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 394,576 14.81 2.22 37.30 -3.12 38.50 38.80 37.10 37.55GBB Power Ltd-A 535,836 14.12 2.12 26.50 3.92 25.50 27.10 25.20 26.36Ratanpur Steel -N 196,000 13.77 2.07 70.00 -11.62 79.20 72.60 69.00 70.25MJL BD Ltd.-A 100,285 12.90 1.94 126.60 -2.91 130.40 131.90 124.00 128.61Shurwid Ind. -N 207,000 11.27 1.69 53.20 -2.39 54.50 57.50 51.50 54.43Beach Hatchery -A 386,794 10.97 1.65 29.00 7.01 27.10 29.10 26.00 28.37Grameenphone-A 31,400 10.86 1.63 343.30 -2.91 353.60 352.10 340.60 345.85SummitAlliancePort.-A 138,027 10.30 1.55 73.10 -0.95 73.80 78.00 71.60 74.63

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

WesternMarine -N 7,144,400 630.85 7.35 91.30 11.21 82.10 94.00 82.10 88.30Keya Cosmetics -A 10,028,571 312.50 3.64 31.50 9.38 28.80 31.60 26.00 31.16Appollo Ispat CL -N 11,396,550 272.99 3.18 24.60 8.37 22.70 24.80 22.70 23.95Grameenphone-A 756,400 261.64 3.05 344.90 -2.38 353.30 352.90 342.30 345.90DESCO Ltd. -A 3,257,941 244.68 2.85 74.20 0.00 74.20 76.50 67.00 75.10LafargeS Cement-Z 1,900,000 221.65 2.58 114.30 -8.12 124.40 124.10 113.00 116.66Ratanpur Steel -N 3,122,000 218.48 2.55 70.10 -12.16 79.80 73.10 68.30 69.98SAIF Powertec-N 2,154,000 208.05 2.43 96.60 0.84 95.80 100.00 92.70 96.59Khulna Printing-N 5,661,500 204.71 2.39 36.30 8.68 33.40 36.70 33.90 36.16Shahjibazar Power-N 835,400 200.23 2.33 239.70 8.66 220.60 239.90 230.00 239.68BD Building Systems -A 3,212,720 183.44 2.14 57.70 2.49 56.30 58.30 52.00 57.10Titas Gas TDCLA 2,060,875 171.99 2.01 82.70 -5.92 87.90 86.90 80.00 83.46MJL BD Ltd.-A 1,344,620 170.15 1.98 126.80 -2.08 129.50 131.90 117.00 126.54The Peninsula CTG.-N 4,987,400 166.95 1.95 34.60 9.84 31.50 34.60 31.40 33.47Barakatullah E. D.-A 4,672,495 163.26 1.90 35.20 -6.13 37.50 35.20 30.00 34.94

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 331.61 3.87 21.13 2.78 352.73 3.78NBFI 287.23 3.35 15.85 2.09 303.08 3.25Investment 47.13 0.55 5.50 0.72 52.64 0.56Engineering 2127.13 24.80 202.77 26.68 2329.90 24.95Food & Allied 443.17 5.17 41.89 5.51 485.05 5.19Fuel & Power 1676.40 19.54 83.15 10.94 1759.54 18.84Jute 3.04 0.04 0.00 3.04 0.03Textile 455.91 5.32 59.75 7.86 515.66 5.52Pharma & Chemical 1129.17 13.16 67.90 8.93 1197.07 12.82Paper & Packaging 206.66 44.26 5.82 250.92 2.69Service 421.94 4.92 37.38 4.92 459.32 4.92Leather 45.12 0.53 28.38 3.73 73.51 0.79Ceramic 108.27 1.26 8.40 1.11 116.67 1.25Cement 309.38 3.61 32.39 4.26 341.77 3.66Information Technology 134.49 1.57 32.60 4.29 167.09 1.79General Insurance 38.33 0.45 1.75 0.23 40.08 0.43Life Insurance 108.18 1.26 2.72 0.36 110.89 1.19Telecom 303.08 3.53 18.32 2.41 321.39 3.44Travel & Leisure 207.29 2.42 37.72 4.96 245.01 2.62Miscellaneous 193.97 2.26 18.12 2.38 212.10 2.27Debenture 0.07 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.07 0.00

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4938.65397 (-) 1.72% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1815.36132 (-) 2.77% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 15257.25830 (-) 1.57% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 12425.90410 (-) 2.07% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 9329.09840 (-) 1.20% ▼

DSE key features November 9, 2014Turnover (Million Taka)

8,577.56

Turnover (Volume)

192,425,948

Number of Contract 168,186

Traded Issues 307

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

92

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

213

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

2

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,640.89

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.01

CSE key features November 9, 2014Turnover (Million Taka) 676.32

Turnover (Volume) 17,086,434

Number of Contract 23,896

Traded Issues 225

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

79

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

143

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,533.70

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.71

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

Preceding the week’s waning tone extended further as the market slumped amid buoyant turnover

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

National Polymer -A 30.50 18.29 68.11 75.30 79.50 62.00 5.192 3.09 22.0WesternMarine -N 11.86 13.48 88.13 91.50 94.00 81.70 99.549 1.84 47.9Sinobangla Indu.-A 9.97 7.35 33.75 34.20 34.20 32.50 1.468 1.21 27.9Anwar Galvanizing-B 9.89 9.89 38.89 38.90 38.90 38.80 1.206 0.50 77.8Legacy Footwear -A 9.89 8.21 29.39 30.00 30.00 27.00 7.748 0.28 105.0The Peninsula CTG.-N 9.87 5.82 33.44 34.50 34.50 31.50 32.661 2.70 12.4Appollo Ispat CL -N 9.25 6.38 24.19 24.80 24.90 22.70 29.583 1.84 13.1Keya Cosmetics -A 9.00 7.23 31.16 31.50 31.60 29.60 15.155 1.93 16.1Khulna Printing-N 8.36 10.11 36.05 36.30 36.80 33.90 24.067 2.13 16.9Tung Hai Knitting -N 8.33 5.50 19.00 19.50 19.70 17.80 5.557 1.19 16.0

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

National Polymer -A 32.12 16.77 66.65 76.10 78.50 53.50 117.207 3.09 21.6WesternMarine -N 11.21 13.82 88.30 91.30 94.00 82.10 630.846 1.84 48.0Legacy Footwear -A 9.93 9.13 29.40 29.90 29.90 26.00 19.368 0.28 105.0Alltex Industries -Z 9.90 0.05 19.21 21.10 21.10 17.30 38.875 2.56 7.5The Peninsula CTG.-N 9.84 5.45 33.47 34.60 34.60 31.40 166.948 2.70 12.4Sinobangla Indu.-A 9.68 7.61 33.50 34.00 34.10 32.60 52.633 1.21 27.7Anwar Galvanizing-B 9.65 11.90 39.88 40.90 41.00 37.20 15.791 0.50 79.8Keya Cosmetics -A 9.38 6.93 31.16 31.50 31.60 26.00 312.503 1.93 16.1Aziz PipesZ 9.09 5.39 16.22 16.80 16.80 15.40 0.399 -0.37 -veKhulna Printing-N 8.68 10.82 36.16 36.30 36.70 33.90 204.710 2.13 17.0

ANALYST

Investors remained most active in engineering, fuel and power and pharmaceuticals sectors

B3BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

BSRM Group has recently partnered with Volunteer Service Oversees Bangladesh (VSOB) to initiate a crab cultivation project in Bagerhat, Khulna. An agreement was signed on this regard at the presence of BSRM Group Chairperson Alihussain Akberali FCA and VSO Country Director Shahana Hayat among other high o� cials of both the companies

Executive committee of Standard Bank Limited has recently helpd its 119th board meeting. The committee’s chairperson, Al- haj Mohammed Shamsul Alam presided over the meeting

Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Limited has recently opened its 85th branch in Pabna. The bank’s managing director and CEO, Dr Mohammed Haider Ali Miah inaugurated the branch as chief guest

Jamuna Bank Limited has recently held its 252nd board meeting. The bank’s chairperson, Shaheen Mahmud presided over the meeting

Bank Asia has recently opened its regional head offi ce in Chittagong. The bank’s chairperson, A Rouf Chowdhury inaugurated the o� ce

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently held its 325th meeting at the bank’s corporate o� ce. The bank’s chairperson Major (retd) Dr Md Rezaul Haque presided over the meeting

IMF reforms threatened by Republican electoral sweep

n AFP, Washington

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde might need to get to work perfecting her belly-dance.

The normally reserved head of the global crisis lender promised in Oc-tober to perform for the US Congress if that would get it to endorse crucial, much-delayed reforms for the Fund.

“I will do belly-dancing if that’s what it takes to get the US to ratify,” she said.

But now the Republican victory in Tuesday’s US elections has likely placed rati� cation further away - and she will have to work harder to con-vince the IMF’s largest shareholder.

“The change in the US political land-

scape is not a good omen for progress on IMF reforms,” said Eswar Prasad, a former IMF o� cial.

Since 2012, the Obama administra-tion has sought to convince Republi-cans in Congress to formally endorse the reform - decided in 2010 with US support - that doubles its � nancial re-sources and increases slightly the vot-ing power in the IMF of emerging econ-omies like China, Russia and Brazil.

As the largest shareholder, the US endorsement is necessary to imple-ment the reforms. All other major economies have rati� ed them already.

But the White House has repeatedly failed to get the rati� cation through Congress, against opposition from

Republicans. Some Republicans have said speci� cally they do not want to in-crease the in� uence of China and Rus-sia in the Fund - even though the US would remain the dominant IMF power after the reforms.

That leaves the emerging econo-mies increasingly impatient. China, the world’s second largest economy, only holds 4% of the voting rights, barely more than Italy, whose economy is one-� fth the size.

In reaction, in July Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa joined hands to create their own monetary fund for emergency needs.

They could take the opportunity at the coming G20 summit in Australia

this month to pound the table over the issue, according to the Russian repre-sentative Svetlana Lukash.

“The most important thing for us is the reform of the IMF, a problem which has not yet been solved within the framework of the G20,” she said Friday.

Plan BThe IMF, which declined to talk about the issue, is itself anxious. Already un-der attack over its legitimacy, it has to work with more limited resources as it awaits US action.

“The lack of approval will result in the weakening of the IMF as the main anchor of the international monetary system,” said Domenico Lombardi, for-mer advisor to the IMF board.

If the reform is not adopted by the end of this year, the Fund is to present a “Plan B” to its board, the speci� cs of which remain vague. That then would require new negotiations among its 188 member-states.

Some experts say the Fund should press for US rati� cation by the end of this year, while the current Congress remains in o� ce and before the new one sits in January.

“The advantage is that it’s not a new issue,” said Ted Truman, former Trea-sury o� cial.

“The current Republican represen-tatives are now better informed about the IMF legislation. I’m not saying that they’re perfectly informed, but they’re better informed.”

Douglas Rediker, a former US repre-sentative to the IMF board, said the op-position in Congress has mainly been part of “internal domestic political ma-neuvers that have little to nothing to do with the IMF reform itself”.

“It’s going to take a collaborative e� ort between the White House, the Senate, and the House to actually work together to understand how important this is.”

To make that happen, Lagarde could very well have to gear up her belly dance. l

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde promised in October to perform a belly-dance for the US Congress if that would get it to endorse crucial, much-delayed reforms for the Fund REUTERS

Asia chief: Wal-Mart to focus on food safety in China n Reuters, Beijing

Wal-Mart Stores Inc is focusing on food safety as the world’s largest retailer aims to boost pro� tability of its more than 400 stores in China, Wal-Mart Asia chief executive Scott Price told Reuters.

Food safety is a highly emotive issue in China where there have been nu-merous scandals from photos of food oil being scooped from drains to tales of phoney eggs and melamine-tainted milk powder.

“We play an important role in Chi-na delivering food safety and quality products to our customers,” Price said on the sidelines of the Asia Paci� c Eco-nomic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Sum-mit, which begins on Sunday. “It’s a di� erentiator.”

Wal-Mart came under � re in Chinese media earlier in the year after a suppli-er’s donkey meat product was found to contain fox meat.

In 2011 Chinese authorities accused Wal-Mart of selling expired duck meat, and it was forced to shut down stores in Chongqing after they were accused of labelling non-organic pork as organic and selling it at a higher price.

Price was named on Tuesday the head of the retailer’s Asia Paci� c busi-ness, in a move aimed at reviving Wal-Mart’s slowing growth amid sti� com-petition in the region.

In Japan, the company said in Octo-ber it would close 30 underperforming stores to scale back.

In India, Wal-Mart last year ended a six-year partnership with Bharti En-terprises Pvt and started to run whole-sale stores instead of its common retail ones.

In China, Price said Wal-Mart has experienced “a few bumps along the road”. China was the only market of Wal-Mart’s � ve largest ones that saw falling same-store sales in the second quarter, down 1.6% from the year-ear-

lier period. In Wal-Mart’s global markets, Wal-

Mart reported for the six months ended July 31, pre-tax income outside the U.S. down three percent to $11.83bn from a year-earlier, according to the com-pany’s � lings.

In October, Wal-Mart lowered its earnings forecast for this � scal year, blaming a tough economy for the com-pany’s low-income customers. The retailer said to expect annual sales to grow in the range of two to three per-cent, two percentage points down from its earlier guidance.

Price said the company would “con-tinue to invest very aggressively” with a focus on food quality and safety to push up tra� c to Wal-Mart’s Chinese stores.

Wal-Mart said in June it would in-crease its spending on food safety in China to 300m yuan ($49m) in 2013, 2014 and 2015, up from a previously-announced 100m yuan. l

Kuroda sprang easing surprise to head o� damaging in� ation forecastn Reuters, Tokyo

The Bank of Japan Governor not only surprised the markets with his latest splurge of monetary easing. He sprang it on his own board members just two days earlier, jolted into action to stop them making a low-ball forecast that might have sunk his � agship in� ation target.

To achieve maximum e� ect for the shock decision, Haruhiko Kuroda and right-hand man Masayoshi Amamiya kept only a handful of elite central bank bureaucrats in the loop as they laid the ground for the expansion of their quantitative and qualitative eas-ing (QQE) programme.

They didn’t even give the usual fore-warning to senior bureaucrats at the Ministry of Finance, according to inter-views with nearly a dozen insiders and government sources with knowledge of the bank’s deliberations.

No leaks reached the media, and the announcement at the Oct 31 policy meeting pushed the Nikkei stock aver-age to seven-year highs and the yen to seven-year lows against the dollar.

The market reaction will have been welcome news to Kuroda, but the im-pact he wanted above all was to alter in� ation expectations in a country that has struggled with crippling de� ation for two decades.

Timing was critical - and not of his choosing. At the policy meeting the board would also issue a new consum-er in� ation forecast for the next � scal year, based on the median estimate from the nine members. But two days before publication, the preliminary es-timate was only around 1.5%, three of the sources said.

That was well below the 1.9% fore-cast made in July, and if published could have been fatal to his key goal of hitting 2% from April next year. Since price expectations play a key role in the consumer behaviours that ultimately determine prices, doubts about the tar-get could be self-ful� lling.

There were other triggers for action, including October’s plunge in oil prices and the fact that an easing burst would have more market impact in the week the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to turn its own liquidity taps o� .

But it was the in� ation forecast that convinced Kuroda and his aides to go for another burst of stimulus, three sources said. Board members would then have to revisit their estimates in light of the new action. It worked. They

revised their forecasts to take account of the QQE injection, bringing the � g-ure up to 1.7%, enough to keep Ku-roda’s target within sight and perhaps drain the growing pool of doubters.

Annual core consumer in� ation was down at only 1% in September, prompt-ing many to charge Kuroda with un-founded optimism. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast only 1.1% for the year to come.

Genie on the loose Though Kuroda won the vote, which will boost the BOJ’s government debt purchases by $260bn a year and triple its buying of risky assets, he also paid a price for the manner and haste of the decision: a board split almost down the middle.

Because policy board members are barred from discussing policy without a quorum in a formal meeting, Kuroda sent BOJ bureaucrats as his emissaries to corral a majority for his easing plan, sources said.

He knew he had the votes of his two deputies, and that there was no hope of winning over the board’s two market economists who have long expressed public doubts about QQE, especially Takahide Kiuchi, who wants the pro-gramme terminated in two years.

So � erce lobbying focused on the board’s two former businessmen, Koji Ishida and Yoshihisa Morimoto.

Despite frantic e� orts, he failed to win them over. Worse, though they had rarely voiced open doubts about QQE before, their opposition would now be-come public.

The sources said the swing voter was the hard-to-predict former academic Ryuzo Miyao, who took a long time to convince. One suggested Kuroda had let a genie of dissent out of the bottle, which could make future easing deci-sions more di� cult to achieve.

“Those who dissented this time may be inclined to dissent again if the BOJ were to ease further,” said the source.

Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute and one of just four of the 19 economists who had correctly forecast the Halloween surprise in a Reuters poll, expects the bank will want to ease again in mid-2015.

If so, Kuroda, whose determination to stay the course is un� agging, could well need Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to stack the BOJ board with reliable re-� ationists when Miyao’s term ends in March and Morimoto’s in June. l

Volvo Cars says begins XC60 production in Chinan Reuters, Stockholm

Geely-owned Volvo Car Group said yes-terday it had begun production of its best-selling XC60 crossover at its plant in Chengdu, taking a further step to-ward supplying locally-produced cars in China as well as opening the door to overseas exports.

Volvo said in a statement the start of XC60 production would add 500 new manufacturing jobs at its plant in Chengdu, in central China, where it al-ready makes another model, the S60L. The XC60 is Volvo’s best-selling car.

“The start of XC60 production in Chengdu is the latest milestone in Vol-vo Cars’ transformation,” Volvo Cars Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement.

“It will be instrumental in boosting Volvo’s overall growth in what is now our largest market.” l

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a conference of central bankers hosted by the Bank of France in Paris REUTERS

B4 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 10, 2014

DILBERT

China president says risks to economy 'not that scary'n Reuters, Beijing

The risks faced by China’s economy are not that scary and the government is con� dent it can head o� the dangers, President Xi Jinping told global busi-ness leaders on Sunday to dispel wor-ries about the world’s second-largest economy.

In a speech to chief executives at the Asia Paci� c Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, Xi said even if China’s economy were to grow 7%, that would still rank it at the forefront of the world’s economies.

China’s economy, the world’s sec-ond-largest, has had a rocky year. Growth slid to a low not seen since the 2008/09 global � nancial crisis in the third quarter dragged by a hous-ing slowdown, softening domestic de-mand and unsteady exports.

“Some people worry that China’s economic growth will fall further, can it climb over the ridge?” Xi said. “There are indeed risks, but it’s not so scary.

“Even at growth of around 7%, re-gardless of speed or volume, (we) are among the best in the world,” he said, noting that China’s economy remained “stable”.

The remarks from Xi came a day after data showed annual growth in Chinese exports and imports cooled in October, in another sign of fragility in the economy that could prompt policy-makers to take further action to stoke growth.

To shore up activity, policymakers have loosened monetary and � scal poli-cies since April to ensure that the econ-omy can grow by around 7.5% this year.

Regional governments have acceler-ated spending on some infrastructure projects and abolished limits on the number of homes that Chinese can buy. The central bank has also injected short-term loans into banks to increase credit supply, and cut mortgage rates

for some home buyers. Yet the results yielded have not

been as good as some had hoped, fuel-ling speculation that China may have to cut interest rates or the reduce the amount of deposits that banks set aside as reserves - moves Beijing has denied are on the cards.

Xi, who would sign o� on any in-terest rate cut in China alongside the country’s elite decision-making Polit-buro, did not comment on the policy outlook, but stressed that his govern-ment was focused on reforms and that China was open for business.

Underlining the country’s growing clout as an exporter of capital, he said

China’s overseas direct investment was expected to hit $1.2tn in the next decade.

After three decades of almost unin-terrupted double-digit growth, China’s economy has lifted several hundred millions of Chinese from abject pov-erty, but also polluted the country’s air, land and waterways.

The destruction of China’s environ-ment and a yawning income gap has led Chinese authorities to promise to enact sweeping social, � nancial and econom-ic reforms in the country that would be the most ambitious in three decades.

“These reforms are gradually being put into e� ect project by project,” Xi said. “Once the bow is drawn, the ar-

row cannot be put back in the quiver; we will resolutely deepen reform.”

Xi also sought to address concerns that China’s growing economic and diplomatic prowess could constitute a threat beyond its borders, saying that China is willing to have friendly rela-tions with its neighbours.

China has territorial disputes with many of its neighbours and has been much more aggressive in enforcing its claims in recent years.

“China’s development brings enor-mous opportunities and bene� ts to the Asia Paci� c and the world, and the business opportunities are lasting and limitless,” he said. l

China's President Xi Jinping speaks at the Dialogue On Strengthening Connectivity Partnership at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing REUTERS

Azevedo: Customs impasse is WTO’s ‘most serious crisis’ n AFP

An impasse over a global pact to streamline customs procedures poses “the most serious crisis the WTO has faced” and has paralysed all negotia-tions in the trade body, its chief Rober-to Azevedo said Saturday.

A draft of the so-called Trade Fa-cilitation Agreement was hammered out last December during tough nego-tiations at a World Trade Organization conference in Bali - the WTO’s � rst global accord since its 1995 founding.

But the WTO’s 160 members failed in July to reach a � nal agreement on the deal, which Azevedo himself has said is crucial to ensuring the WTO’s relevance.

“The impasse has e� ectively para-lysed the multilateral negotiations in the organization,” Azevedo told report-ers in Beijing.

“Substantial discussions on all the measures in the Bali package pro-gramme have come to a halt.

“I have described this impasse to members as the most serious crisis the WTO has faced,” he said on the sidelines of the 21-member Asia-Paci� c Econom-ic Cooperation (APEC) forum’s annual gathering, hosted this year by China.

Members of the Geneva-based WTO set trade rules among themselves in an attempt to ensure a level playing � eld, and spur growth by opening markets and removing trade barriers including subsidies, excessive taxes and regula-tions.

The Bali negotiations were seen as make-or-break for its mission of achieving a worldwide trade agree-ment fair to both rich and poor nations, which Azevedo has said is under threat from proliferating bilateral and region-al trade deals often skewed in favour of richer countries.

Bali was the WTO’s � rst ever global agreement and signalled the � rst con-crete progress on the Doha Round of

trade liberalisation talks. Those discussions, launched in

2001, aim to underpin development in poorer nations, but agreement has been elusive amid protectionist re� exes.

Negotiators instead extracted parts of the Doha package for the far less ambitious Bali customs accord, in the hope of creating momentum towards the wider agreement.

But the trade facilitation deal has been put on ice by post-Bali sparring between WTO members, notably over demands from India that the group ap-proves the developing power’s stock-piling of food.

It took nearly a decade to conclude the customs talks, which began in 2004, and Azevedo warned that the patience of many WTO members is “fast running out”.

India and its developing-world sup-porters say food stockpiling is essential to ensure poor farmers and consumers survive in the cut-throat world of busi-ness.

Western countries, led by the United States, have raised concerns that such stocks could leak onto global markets, skewing trade.

Azevedo said US Trade Representa-tive Michael Froman had told him talks between Washington and New Delhi on the issue had resumed.

“It seems, however that we still don’t have a breakthrough in these bi-lateral talks,” said Azevedo.

He plans to stress the severity of the situation again next week when he at-tends a summit of the Group of 20 big-gest economies, hosted by Australia. l

Dollar dips after mixed US jobs report n AFP

The dollar weakened against other ma-jor currencies Friday after a mixed US jobs report did little to change expec-tations of a change in the Federal Re-serve’s interest rate outlook.

The Labor Department reported the economy added 214,000 jobs last month, weaker than the 235,000 con-sensus analyst estimate. But the previ-ous two months’ job gains were revised upward by a total of 31,000, and the de-partment said the unemployment rate slipped a tenth of a percentage point to

5.8 percent, a six-year low. Analysts said although the report

marked the ninth straight month of job growth above 200,000, it was not strong enough to prod the Federal Re-serve to shift from its plan to keep in-terest rates low well into 2015.

“The data did not stoke up fears of the Fed being in a rush to hike the fed funds rate,” Brie� ng.com said in a mar-ket note. Vassili Serebriakov, of French bank BNP Paribas in New York, said the report should keep the Fed on track to hike interest rates “as expected, around mid-2015.” l

Euro zone considers several bailout exit options for Greecen Reuters, Brussels

Euro zone � nance ministers will con-sider several options on Thursday for what happens after Greece exits its bailout at the end of the year, seeking to balance the need to reassure inves-tors with the demands of domestic Greek politics.

The Greek government has staked its survival on exiting the bailout a year early, a move that will please voters hammered by austerity measures im-posed by the EU and the IMF, but which has already rattled markets, pushing up Greek bond yields.

Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis told Reuters on Wednesday he hoped for an interim period of up to a year after exiting the bailout during which Greece will still get a � nancial safety net but would no longer be “micro-managed” by lenders.

After two international bailouts to-talling 240bn euros since 2010, when private investors refused to lend to Athens any more, Greece wants to switch back to market � nancing from the start of next year.

Markets reacted nervously to the plan, worried that Athens would have no longer have any � nancial back-up. Greek benchmark 10-year bond yields rose to 8.9% in late October from 5.6% in early September.

Greece and euro zone � nance minis-ters will therefore discuss on Thursday ways to provide Athens with fall-back � nancing to boost investor con� dence, while addressing domestic political sensitivities.

“Greece needs us to continue to sup-port it, not in the same way as now, not with the same mechanism,” France’s Fi-nance Minister Michel Sapin told report-ers as he arrived for the meeting with euro zone counterparts. “France is ready for Europe to continue its support.”

All the options to be discussed in-clude a � nancial cushion, using 11bn euros already granted to recapitalise Greek banks, but which turned out not to be needed, euro zone o� cials said.

New credit lineIn the � rst option, the recapitalisation money, now in European Financial Sta-bility Facility bonds, would be returned to the EFSF and Greece would instead apply for and get an Enhanced Condi-tions Credit Line (ECCL) from the Euro-pean Stability Mechanism - the succes-sor of the EFSF.

This would allow Greece to say it is

not longer under a programme, make it possible for euro zone ministers to in-crease the size of the credit line above the 11bn if necessary and set clear con-ditions for the availability of the mon-ey, even if it is not drawn upon.

But obtaining an ECCL would mean Greece has to sign a new “memoran-dum of understanding”, politically sensitive in Greece where the previous MOU detailed austerity reforms de-manded by lenders, resented by Greeks as a loss of sovereignty by Athens.

This option is also relatively lengthy - it would take a minimum of � ve weeks to complete - and tougher on conditions because the ECCL could be

cancelled if Greece fails to meet reform targets and Athens would then have to apply for new, fully-� edged bailout.

The second option would take less time - around three weeks.

Under this scenario, the availability of the 11bn euros for bank recapitalisa-tion would be extended beyond 2014 and documents would be changed to allow the funds to be used for Greek debt servicing, rather than just bank capital.

The money would then become a � -nancial bu� er that Greece could draw on, but a bu� er limited to the 11bn eu-ros. The EFSF could buy back its bonds for cash if Athens meets agreed reform criteria, but there would be no need for a formal memorandum of understanding.

If Greece did not meet the targets, it would not get the money, but the cush-ion would remain in place, ready for when the goals are met.

The European Commission would

monitor reform progress under EU rules and the role of the European Cen-tral Bank and the International Mon-etary Fund would have to be de� ned. The IMF would have observer status at best, which several euro zone countries see as insu� cient.

The ECB would have to decide if such an arrangement was enough to make Greece eligible for its emergency bond buying programme OMT.

Extend the bailout The third option is to extend the cur-rent bailout by six to 15 months and it would take about 2-3 weeks to get ap-proved.

That would give Greece more time to meet the criteria for the release of the last, 1.8bn euro, tranche of the existing programme, which will be lost unless it is disbursed before the end of the year.

Euro zone � nance ministers would then agree that the 11bn euros in un-used bank recapitalisation funds could be reused for other purposes after they are returned to the EFSF at the end of the year under a one-year extension of the bailout.

Because the money would return to the EFSF, it would immediately lower Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio.

The role and involvement of the IMF would have to be decided, but there would be a way to avoid referring to a memorandum of understanding through the use of the term “letter of intent”.

But this option would still carry the political stigma of Greece still being un-der a bailout programme. l

HSBC Brazil slashes 1,000 jobs in single week n AFP

Layo� s by HSBC bank in Brazil will likely top 1,000 this week, the workers’ union said Saturday, after employees staged angry protests against job cuts by the London-based � rm.

HSBC slashed 4.5% of its workforce across the South American giant, ac-cording the Contraf-CUT bank workers’ union. Employees protested the layo� s Friday in the southern city of Curitaba,

where 130 workers were dismissed, ac-cording to the workers’ union.

Talks between Contraf-CUT and HSBC have reached a stalemate in Bra-zil’s capital, Sao Paulo. Representatives of the company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

HSBC is Brazil’s fourth largest bank in Brazil, according to o� cial � gures.

The British � rm reported a seven percent rise in its net pro� t in the third quarter. l

Indian FM vows to push land purchase reformn Reuters, New Delhi

India will push ahead with reform to a land purchase law blamed by business for slowing industrial projects, even if there is resistance to loosening the rules, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said yesterday.

Jaitley said changes to the law were needed to ful� l Prime Minister Modi’s vision of building 100 new “smart” cit-ies across India.

“Some changes will be necessary, we will � rst attempt to reach a consensus, if that’s not possible we will go ahead and take the decision,” Jaitley said, speaking at a seminar in New Delhi.

The law was passed last year with support of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Par-ty when it was in opposition, and seeks to set fair compensation for loss of live-lihood for farmers who sell their land to industrial or infrastructure projects.

But its complex procedures have made it very hard for large-scale in-dustrial projects to acquire the land they need. The BJP would need parlia-mentary approval to change the law, and might struggle in the upper house where it does not have a majority.

Jaitley also said he hoped to begin a delayed programme to sell stakes in gov-ernment owned companies “in the next couple of days”. He said the government was aiming to bring down its equity in public sector banks to about 52%. l

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley speaks during the India Economic Summit 2014 at the World Economic Forum in New Delhi REUTERS All the options to be discussed include a � nancial cushion, using 11bn euros already granted to recapitalise Greek banks, but which turned out not to be needed

The impasse has e� ectively paralysed the multilateral negotiations in the organization