SECOND EDITION

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015 | Jyoistha 28, 1422, Sha’ban 23, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 59 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

PAGE 32Four hospitals, organisations get tax exemption

PAGE 10Isolated Putin seeks sympathetic hearing in Italy

PAGE 9Egypt police foil Luxor attack

PAGE 3SC upholds stay on college admission rules

PAGE 611,483 Bangladeshis on umrah visa stay back

ZAFRULLAH GUILTY OF CONTEMPT PAGE 3

MP’S SON QUIZZED OVER DOUBLE MURDER PAGE 5

INDIAN OPENERS DOMINATE TOOTHLESS TIGERS PAGE 25

PM: $2bn Indian LoC carries no conditionsn BSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi-na yesterday ruled out that no condition was imposed on $2 billion Line of Credit (LoC) to be provided as loans to Bang-ladesh by India, saying that Bangladesh is accepting the money to use independently.

“There is no condition in ac-cepting $2 billion LoC from In-dia. We can spend the amount in the projects and sectors at

our will...we don’t receive any-thing on conditions,” she said. “We are an independent coun-try and we are accepting the money by maintaining friendly relations and keeping an op-portunity for working inde-pendently,” she added.

The Prime Minister made the comments while respond-ing to a supplementary from independent lawmaker Rustam Ali Farazi in the House during

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Lt Gen Sha� ul Huq newarmy chiefn Tribune Report

The government has appointed Lieutenant General Abu Belal Muhammad Sha� ul Huq, principal sta� o� cer (PSO) of the Armed Forc-es Division (AFD), as the new army chief.

According to a circular issued by the De-fence Ministry yesterday, Bangladesh Army’s BA 1738 Lt Gen Sha� ul will be promoted to General on June 25.

“On the same day, as per the Chiefs of Sta� of the Defence Services (Tenure of Appoint-ment) Order 1981, he will begin to hold the post of the chief of the armed forces for the next three years,” reads the circular signed by the Defence Ministry’s Joint Secretary Abu Bakkar Siddique as per the order of the president.

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Jihadists planned to hack e-banking systemsThey targeted banks with relatively weak online securityn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Members of Bangladesh Jihadi Group, a plat-form of banned militants organisations, not only planned bank robberies but also formed a research cell to take control of the electron-ic banking system of several banks.

Before being busted by law enforcers, they were developing a software to in� ltrate the e-banking systems and change information about the account holders, and have the mon-ey transferred to their accounts or withdrawn using fake debit and credit cards.

Detectives made with the � ndings after interrogating the nine members of the group arrested on Sunday and analysing the laptop recovered from their possession. Yesterday was the second day of their seven-day remand.

They also found a software in the lap-top that allows users to withdraw highest Tk25,000 from a credit card.

“We have got some alarming information by analysing the laptop. We found a 48-page research book that contains information on how to take control or hack the e-banking sys-tem. They made a list of banks having e-bank-ing system and were assessing those having relatively weak security measures,” Sanowar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of

DB police, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.Although the militants had been able to pre-

pare fake credit and debit cards, “we are yet to get any information about their success.”

These militants are experts on technology. “They encrypted all the information on the laptop for which we are facing di� culties to recover the data. We need the help of latest

techniques and technology mainly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to decode it.”

The militants were also collecting informa-tion on the activities of the local and interna-tional law enforcement agencies, he said.

From their Twitter account, followed by 152 people, the militants so far twitted605 times.

A senior o� cial of DB police, requesting not to be named, said former or current em-

ployees working in the IT departments of some banks might be involved with the jihadi group.

ADC Sanowar said they were investigating the matter seriously to get details about the group’s activities.

After the � rst day’s interrogation, detec-tives said the militants were ready to rob a private bank branch in Saidpur to operate their activities, and then wanted to kill popu-lar writer Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, Gono-jagoron Moncho Spokesperson Imran H Sark-er, and other noted citizens of the country.

Leaders of the platform were recruiting technologically-sound youths, Sanowar said.

Members of Harkat-ul Jihad Al Islami Bangladesh (HujiB), Ansarullah Bangla Team, Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Hizb ut-Tahrir are working under the plat-form.

“We are preparing a draft regarding secu-rity at the banks and militant activities, and will send it to Bangladesh Bank shortly,” he added.

Asked whether they got any information about the killing of secular writer Avijit Roy, he said: “We are yet to get concrete informa-tion in this regard. A three-member committee

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A high o� cial of DB said former or current employees working in IT department of some banks might be involved with the group

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Pakistan hangs man who was 15 when convictedn Reuters, Lahore

Pakistan on Wednesday executed a man who was 15 when he was sentenced to death for murder and whose lawyers say was tortured into confessing, in a case that has prompted concern among rights groups and the UN.

Aftab Bahadur was sentenced to death for killing three people in 1992 and human rights group Reprieve said two witnesses who im-plicated Bahadur had since recanted, saying they were tortured.

At the time, the death penalty could be passed on a 15 year old, but the minimum age was raised to 18 in 2000. Testimony obtained by torture is also inadmissible. l

Joy: AL government behind rapid economic progressn Tribune Report

The Awami League government’s hard work has allowed Bangladesh to move up 14 places in global economic ranking in the space of just two years, Sajeeb Wazed Joy has said.

Referring to recent reports by the World Bank and the IMF, the ICT adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina posted the comment in his Facebook page and twitter account on Tuesday night.

In reports published last April, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund found that Bangladesh had advanced 14 steps from the 58th position to 44th in the world economy in the last two years alone.

Pointing out that very few countries have been able to make such great leaps in such a short time, Joy, also the son of Awami League chief Hasina, said: “This has only been pos-sible because of the hard work of our Awami League Government.” l

Sheikh Hasina: Bangladesh to get 10,050 acres of land from India through LBAn BSS

Terming the implementation of much-awaited Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with India as a great political and diplomatic success, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said through this landmark deal, Bangladesh would get 10,050 acre more lands from its next-door neighbour.

“The Indian parliament has rati� ed the LBA by amending the constitution. Today’s implementation is the success of our initiatives and through the execution of the deal, the long-awaited expectation of the enclave people has been ful� lled,” she said.

The Leader of the House said this in reply to a question raised by treasury bench member SM Mostafa Rashidi Suja in the House during her question answer session.

The prime minister said the enclave people have been leading a very inhuman life for the last 68 years. They remain deprived of all civic amenities and out of touch of development as they have not been speci� ed as to which country they belong to.

Highlighting the background of execution of the LBA, the Leader of the House said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed the historic, prudent and farsighted deal with the then Indian Prime Minister Srimati Indira Gandhi on May 16 in 1974 in New Delhi by realising the importance and depth of the problems related to Bangladesh-India boundary.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh parliament rati� ed the LBA through the third amendment to the constitution. But after the assassination of Bangabandhu, no subsequent government took any e� ective initiative to implement the LBA, she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the land boundary problem with India would have been solved and Indian parliament would have rati� ed the LBA much earlier, had

Bangabandhu been alive.She said the subsequent governments

of Zia, Etshad, Khaleda and caretaker government had no courage to solve the problem.

In this connection, the Prime Minister said those who labeled the Mujib-Indira deal as a “deal of slavery” are now accepting and thanking the implementation of the LBA.

Such elements, she said, also criticised the Ganges water agreement and the landmark Chittagong Hill Tracts treaty in the same languages. “We had to listen various words from them after inking these deals and it’s a nature of Bangladesh’s politics that there will be opposition for the sake of opposition,”

she said.Sheikh Hasina said those who did not

accept Bangladesh’s independence under the leadership of Bangabandhu considered the LBA as the agreement of slavery. The prime minister said through the execution of the LBA, the enclave people would now get an address and their living standard would be developed. “The great achievement of the LBA is that all members of the Indian parliament irrespective of party and opinion gave vote unanimously on the single issue of Bangladesh,” she said.

In this connection, the Leader of the House thanked all concerned including the Indian president, prime minister, leader of the opposition, all lawmakers and political parties.

Referring to signing of agreements, MoUs and protocols with India, the prime minister said Bangladesh has achieved in every � eld.

In this regard, she said Bangladesh has got transit along with Nepal and Bhutan from India. Through it, the trade and commerce will be expanded, she said, adding, many things could be achieved by maintaining good relations.

The prime minister said a total of six deals, six protocols and 10 other MoUs were signed during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6-7.

She said Bangladesh-India friendly ties reached a new height and new avenues of mutual cooperation and development have been unveiled, while the connectivity at the political, government and common people’s levels has increased manifolds.

Sheikh Hasina said initiatives would be taken to solve other bilateral problems with India.

“It is expected that the existing friendly ties with the people of both the countries would be further deepened and strengthened through it,” she hoped. l

Lt Gen Sha� ul Huq new army chiefSha� ul will succeed General Iqbal Karim Bhu-iyan, the incumbent army chief.

According to a separate circular issued by the Defence Ministry, Bangladesh Army Chief BA 1466 General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan will retire from his position on June 25, and will receive all kinds of retirement facilities as per the law.

Iqbal was appointed the army chief on June 7, 2012, and took charge on June 25.

Before serving as the PSO of the AFD, Sha� ul served as the commandant of the De-fence Services Command and Sta� College in Dhaka.

Born in December 1958, Sha� ul was com-missioned in Armoured Corps on June 18, 1978, from Bangladesh Military Academy.

For his outstanding performance in the academy, he was adjudged the best all-round cadet in his batch and was awarded with the “Sword of Honour.”

Sha� ul obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Dhaka, Master’s degree in defence studies from National University and

another Master’s degree in philosophy from Bangladesh University of Professionals.

In his distinguished career spanning al-most 37 years, Sha� ul has held a variety of command, sta� and instructional appoint-ments. As a sta� , he served as the ADC to the president, brigade major of an infantry bri-gade and chief of sta� of an infantry division.

As an instructor, he served in Bangladesh Military Academy and also at Defence Servic-es Command and Sta� College.

He commanded two armour units, three brigades (one armour and two infantries) and two divisions.

Shaiful also served as the military secre-tary and adjutant general of the armed forces.

He was a member of the pioneer group of o� cers sent to the United Nations peacekeep-ing mission from Bangladesh. He was an ob-server in Uniimog (United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group) in Iraq in 1988-89 and the deputy force commander of Unmee (United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eri-trea) in Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2006-07. l

Jihadists planned to hackis interrogating the nine jihadists to glean infor-mation about the killing of Avijit and others.”

The militants told the detectives that they believed in taking action against the persons and organisations who worked against them and Islam. “For this reason, we think they may have link to the killings.”

Spiritual leader of the jihadi group Maula-na Nurullah Kashemi in his speech had men-tioned that Prof Zafar Iqbal and Imran H Sarker were enemies of Islam and it was the militants’ religious responsibility to kill the duo, one of the nine arrestees Kazi Iftekharul Khaled told the detectives. l

PM: $2bn Indian LoC carries no conditionsher question answer session.

Quoting from a Planning Ministry report that Bangladesh economy has secured the 44th position on global rating, jumping 14 steps ahead as per the current prices of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Leader of the House said the government would spend the money to further speed up this uplift.

The Planning Ministry prepared the report “Bangladesh is moving ahead, the latest po-sition of Bangladesh in the global economic

arena” based on the information of the World Development Indicators database, World Bank, April 2015 and the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO), April 2015.

“We would spend the money to achieve our GDP target, alleviate poverty and take the country to the path of rapid development. Keeping this in mind, Bangladesh would be upgraded to become a middle income coun-try by 2021 and a developed one by 2041,” Sheikh Hasina said. l

BSS

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Court � nds Zafrullah guilty of contemptn Tribune Report

A war crimes tribunal found Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury guilty of contempt of court and imprisoned him in the dock yesterday for his statement express-ing concern over the conviction of Bangla-desh-based UK journalist David Bergman.

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 led by Justice Obaidul Hassan ordered to hold him in the dock under police vigilance for one hour and also � ned Tk5,000. He will have to serve a month in prison in default.

Twenty-two signatories of the statement were exonerated but warned by the tribunal. It said they had committed contempt for the � rst time. “They were warned by the tribunal over any statement they make in the future,” prosecutor Tureen Afroze told reporters after the order.

This was Zafrullah’s contempt for the second time, the court said adding that he should have been given “signi� cant punish-ment” but was considered because of his age.

Zafarullah was warned by the tribunal last year for his comments on the trial of war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

After yesterday’s order, Zafrullah, a free-dom � ghter, said he would not pay the � ne and appeal with the higher court.

“I did not commit contempt of court,” he claimed adding that the tribunal had failed to prove contempt allegations against him. “I simply criticised the procedure of keeping someone standing while pronouncing the verdict,” he said.

Zafrullah is a winner of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, often regarded as Asia’s Nobel prize, for his contributions to im-

proving lives in Bangladesh, Those who were exonerated yesterday are

Masud Khan, Afsan Chowdhury, Ziaur Rah-man, Hana Shams Ahmed, Anu Muhammad, Anusheh Anadil, Muktasree Chakma Sathi, Lubna Marium, Farida Akhter, Shireen Huq, Ali Ahmed Ziauddin, Rahnuma Ahmed, Shah-dul Alam, CR Abrar, Bina D’Costa, Mahmud Rahman, Zarina Nahar Kabir, Leesa Gazi, Shabnam Nadiya, Nasrin Siraj Annie, Tibra Ali and Delwar Hussain.

Bergman, editor (special reports) of the daily New Age, was found guilty of contempt

on December 2 last year for two of his blog posts of January 2013 on the verdict of Abul Kalam Azad, also known as Bachchu Razakar. He was sentenced to imprisonment “till rising of the court” that day and � ned Tk5,000 for “creating confusion” about a sub-judice mat-ter through his “irresponsible” writings.

Reports on a statement issued “expressing concern” over the conviction by 50 citizens were published on newspapers, including the daily Prothom Alo on December 20.

The tribunal felt the news cast aspersion on Bangladesh’s judiciary and asked the dai-

ly to furnish the “full copy” of the statement. On December 18, the newspaper submitted to the court identity and contact details of Hana Shams Ahmed, who had mailed the state-ment on behalf of the 50 citizens.

Later twenty-six of the signatories apolo-gised unconditionally to the court and were acquitted from the contempt charges. Rights activist Khushi Kabir disowned being part of the statement.

On April 1, the tribunal issued a contempt rule against the remaining 23. After hearing their explanations on May 14, the court kept the verdict pending.

On February 23, the tribunal acquitted 14 citizens after they issued unconditional apol-ogies. They are lawyer Shahdeen Malik; SHU-JAN President M Ha� z Uddin Khan and Sec-retary Badiul Alam Majumdar; former adviser to a caretaker government Rashida K Chow-dhury; Dhaka University teachers Prof Asif Nazrul, Prof Imtiaz Ahmed and Prof Amena Mohsin; Shishu Bikash Kendra’s Dr Naila Zam-an Khan and Dr Shahnaz Huda; environmen-tal activist Syeda Rizwana Hasan; rights ac-tivist Zakir Hossain; singer Arup Rahi; writer Shahin Akhter and rights activist Ilora Dewan.

Ten others were cleared of contempt charges after they apologised unconditionally on March 3. They are Illinois State University teacher Ali Riaz; Parvin Hasan; Brac Univer-sity teachers Firdaus Azim and Samia Haque; publisher Mahiuddin Ahmed; rights activist Justine Pereira; Ain O Shalish Kendra Direc-tor Nur Khan Liton; Seuti Sabur; Tasnim Sara Shahabuddin; and writer Tahmina Anam.

Later, Dina M Siddiqui and rights activ-ist Rezaur Rahman were also cleared by the court as they apologised. l

Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury (centre), found guilty of contempt of court in his statement of concern for British citizen David Bergman, comes out of the International Crimes Tribunal yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Court rejects both bail and remand prayers for Rizvin Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday rejected both a bail petition and a remand prayer for BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, in con-nection with a vandalism and arson case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ha-sibul Haque passed the order when Md Masud Munsi, sub-inspector of Paltan police station and also the investigation o� cer of the case, produced Rizvi before the court seeking a fresh 10-day remand for interrogation.

After hearing, the court also told the au-thority concerned that the BNP leader, if needed, could be interrogated at the jail gate by the next three working days. Rizvis’ coun-sel Md Sanaullah Miah � led the bail and re-mand rejection prayers before the court.

On June 8, the Paltan police � led a remand prayer with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in a case accusing the BNP leader of in-stigating vandalism and arson attack on a bus.

On December 29 last year, some miscreants set a bus ablaze in the capital’s Paltan area during a countrywide non-stop blockade by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

On the same day, Paltan police SI Abdul Malek Hawlader � led a case accusing 35 al-liance leaders and activists including Rizvi. Law enforcers arrested the BNP leader from a house in Baridhara on January 31. l

Slain blogger Rajeeb’s cousin Galibul cross-examinedn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday recorded the cross-examination of one Kazi Galibul Islam in the case � led over the killing of blogger Ra-jeeb Haider. Galibul is Rajeeb’s cousin.

Judge Syeed Ahmed of Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal 3 recorded the cross-examination of the prosecution witness and � xed June 17 for recording depositions of other witnesses.

Defence counsels Mosharraf Hossain Kajal and Khairul Islam Liton cross examined the

witness. With this, two witnesses have given deposition in the murder case.

On May 21, the same court framed charg-es against Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani, chief of banned Islamist militant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team, and seven students of the North South University (NSU).

The NSU students are Redwanul Azad Rana, Md Faisal Bin Nayem alias Dweep, Mak-sudul Hasan alias Anik, Md Ehsan Reza alias Rumman, Nayem Sikdar alias Iraj, Na� s Imti-az and Sadman Yasir Mahmud.

Of them, Rana is on the run while the rest of the accused are now in jail.

On January 28, 2014, Nibaran Chandra Bar-man, inspector of police’s detective branch (DB), submitted a charge-sheet before court against the eight.

Ahmed Rajeeb Haider, an activist of the Shahbagh movement, was hacked to death in Pallabi area of the capital on Febru-ary 15, 2013. After the murder, his father Dr Nazimuddin � led the case with Pallabi police station. l

Supreme Court also allows three colleges to hold admission test to enrol HSC studentsn Tribune Report

The Supreme Court has upheld the High Court’s order that allows Notre Dame College, Holy Cross College and St Joseph College to hold admission tests in order to enrol stu-dents in their HSC programme.

The Appellate Division’s Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique heard the case yesterday but did not issue an order, which means the High Court order remains e� ective allowing the colleges to hold tests for admis-sion.

The High Court earlier stayed the Ministry of Education’s decision to admit students in Class XI – � rst year of the HSC programme – solely based on their SSC results; the ministry published a guideline in this regard on June 1.

However, the three colleges � led a writ petition with the High Court on Sunday chal-lenging six sections of the ministry’s HSC admission guideline; the High Court ruled in their favour on Monday which allowed the colleges to hold admission tests.

The High Court also issued a ruling asking why the six sections of the guideline would

not be declared “beyond legal authority.” The court asked the education secretary, chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka and college in-spector to respond to the ruling within four weeks.

The government then � led a petition with the chamber judge’s court challenging the High Court order.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stood for the state while Fida M Kamal and Barrister Tamim Hossain represented the colleges at yesterday’s hearing. l

NEWS4DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Poultry leaders urge removal of proposed tax in new budget n Tribune Report

Despite announcing the poultry industry as a tax-free sector in the budget for 2014-15 � scal year, the government in the proposed budget for FY 2015-16 imposed taxes to the disap-pointment of poultry farmers and entrepre-neurs.

At a meeting held yesterday at the o� ce of the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Coordi-nation Committee (BPICC) at Niketan in the capital, the leaders of the industry urged the � nance minister to reconsider the decision and uphold the tax-free facilities up to 2019, according to a press release.

Otherwise the consumers as well as the farmers and investors would su� er a lot due to the price hike of egg and chicken, the lead-ers opined.

Moshiur Rahman, convener of BPICC and president of the Feed Industries Association of Bangladesh (FIAB) said 30 years ago the poultry industry was completely reliant on import. “But now the industry is meeting hundred percent local demand of egg, chick-en and day-old chicks. Imposing tax will hin-der this growth.”

Secretary of the World’s Poultry Science Association-Bangladesh Branch (WPSA-BB), Shamsul Are� n Khaled Anjon, said 15% duty was imposed on the poultry income tax, which was zero in the last budget. Income tax on poultry feed, which was 3% was also raised to 15% in the proposed budget.

“The same rate has been imposed on poul-try hatchery. We want this sector to be tax-free at least up to 2019. We are requesting the government to withdraw the tax for the survival of this industry so that we can con-tinue to supply protein at a comparatively low cost,” said Anjon.

Saidur Rahman Babu, secretary of the Breeders’ Association of Bangladesh

(BAB) said the duty on some of the most essential ingredients of poultry feed – Soya meals and Oil cake – has been raised from zero to 5%. It would certainly cause price hike of poultry and � sh feed in the market, Babu added.

Dr MM Khan, secretary, Bangladesh Poul-try Industries Association (BPEA) said: “Ac-

cording to our assessment, around 4.26 crore pieces of egg and 3.5 thousand tonnes of chicken meat will be required daily to meet the local demand and for this investment worth Tk60,000 crore is needed.”

“In this circumstance if new taxes are im-posed the prices of egg and chicken will go up, the development of the poultry sector will

be hampered and the investment will slow down,” Khan added.

The poultry leaders, however, thanked the � nance minister for continuing the duty and tax-free import of raw materials and equip-ment and for adding a new item – locally pro-duced animal protein premix – in the tax free category. l

Career fair starts at BracUn Tribune Desk

A two-day career fair was launched by the Of-� ce of Career Services and Alumni Relations (OCSAR) and the School of Engineering and Computer Science (SECS) of Brac University yesterday.

Dr Syed Saad Andaleeb, vice chancellor of the university, inaugurated the department speci� c Engineering and Computer Science Career Fair 2015 (ECSCF’15) at the indoor au-ditorium of the university.

The � rst day of the fair, which is the � rst of its kind, was attended by many students.

Fayequa Shams, a fourth-year student of the electrical engineering department, told the Dhaka Tribune that the fair was very help-ful as she would be graduating soon.

“The job � eld for the engineering students is generally very narrow – unlike for the BBA students,” she said. “Here we can actually � nd something for ourselves. We don’t need to look for a needle in the haystack any more.”

The fair has on display a wide range of job opportunities in the � eld of technology, health, and development.

“We’ve realised that the students nowadays want to do something di� erent, something more,” said Osman Dhali, a recruiter for Teach for Bangladesh (TFB) that has a stall at the fair. “So, though the two-year programme at TFB may be a detour, the path they can follow af-terwards will be more relevant to their career.”

The career fair is hosting close to 27 com-panies including Accenture, Banglalion, Aug-medix BD, Brac IT Services Ltd, and Therap Services.

In addition, the fair is holding a round-ta-ble discussion on “The Need for Industry-Uni-versity Collaboration in the Field of Engineer-ing and Computer Science” today at 11am at the GDLN Centre of the university.

The VC of Brac University, along with Khan AN Murshid, director of OCSAR, will be mod-erating the session. The fair is open to all Brac University undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as its alumni.

Brac University Electronics and Engineer-ing Club, Brac IT Services Ltd, Banik Barta, Therap Services, Brac University Computer Club and the Dhaka Tribune are the partners of the event. l

New exec body of Nat’l Press Club suedn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A civil case has been � led against 13 people, including the president and general secretary of the newly formed National Press Club 2015-16 Committee, based on the allegation that the committee is illegal.

Syed Abdal Ahmed, claiming himself to be the legitimate general secretary of Press Club, � led the case with Dhaka Joint District and Sessions Court yesterday.

The plainti� also sought the court’s di-rective to stop any transactions at the Press Club’s bank accounts that are authorised by the new committee.

After hearing the case, First Joint and Sessions Judge Shadat Hossain issued a ruling seeking an explanation as to why the court should not order a temporary injunction on the activities of the newly formed committee.

The court also ordered the defendants to explain why the committee should not be de-clared illegal, and ordered them to respond within seven days. l

Mitford workers continue striken UNB

Medical services at Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital were hampered for the third day yesterday as its third- and fourth-class employees continued their one-hour work abstention to press home a three-point demand.

They are seeking rehabilitation of employ-ees who resided at the old building of the hospital before its demolition, and stopping transfer of the third- and fourth-class em-ployees as punishment.

Hospital sources said the workers abstained from work from 11am-12pm on the hospital premises, and also formed a human chain.

The sources said the government has tak-en a plan to construct a new building after de-molishing the old one.

Renu Miah, convener of Housing Crisis Implementation Committee and a sta� of the hospital, said they will withdraw their work abstention programme after getting as-surance from the government about meeting their demands. l

The � le photo shows a poultry farmer transporting chickens to the market in a caged vehicle SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

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TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

AL: BNP back to opposing Indian Abu Hayat Mahmud

The ruling Awami League alleged that the BNP has reverted to being an anti-Indian po-litical party as they again started opposing India just as the two-day Bangladesh visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended.

Failing to get Modi’s support for their party, BNP leadership is now trying to smear the suc-cessful bilateral agreements between Bangla-desh and India as controversial, the ruling party alleged at a press conference yesterday.

Awami League Publicity and Publication Sec-retary Dr Hasan Mahmud made the statements at the Awami League President Sheikh Hasina’s political o� ce in Dhanmondi in the capital.

On Tuesday, BNP spokesperson Asaduzzam-an Ripon told a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan o� ce: “We as a nation have become disappointed at not signing of the Teesta water sharing deal. It is the failure of the government.”

AL leader Hasan Mahmud said: “BNP Chair-person asked Modi to press the Awami League-led coalition government for an interim nation-al polls, but she failed to persuade him.”

“BNP’s negative statements mostly about the Teesta Agreement in its press conference held on Tuesday, made Modi’s Bangladesh visit controversial,” Awami League leader remarked.

Hasan Mahmud alleged the BNP is trying to send a wrong message to the countrymen about the successful 22 agreements including the LBA between the two governments. l

CUET inks MoU with UGMn CU Correspondent

To exchange world class education and re-search, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) has inked a Memo-randum of Understanding (MoU) with Univer-sity of Gadjah Mada (UGM) of Indonesia.

An o� cial press statement signed by CUET’s Public Relations Assistant Director Fazlur Rahman said CUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Jahangir Alam inked the MoU in Bali, Indonesia on June 3 during a visit.

During the programme, UGM Research and Development’s Director and Internation-al Forum on Strategic Technology Chairman Prof Dr CM Park, General Chair of IFOST 2015 Prof Dr Panut Mulyono, Mongolian Universi-ty of Science & Technology President Prof Dr Baatar Ochirbat, Harbin University of Science and Technology Director, China, Dr XI Zhao-hui were present, among others. l

Oil tanker catches � re in Chittagong n FM Mizanur Rahaman

MT Banglar Sourabh, a state-owned oil tanker, caught � re at the Chittagong Dry Dock yesterday.

No causality was reported in this connection.Fire Service sources said the � re originat-

ed during repair work at the engine room of oil tanker, owned by the Bangladesh Shipping Cor-poration, at the dry dock around 4pm.

Valuables worth Tk5000 were damaged in-side the room, said Mohammed Iyahia, assistant director of Chittagong Fire Service and Civil De-fense in Agrabad. A unit of � re-� ghting section of Chittagong Export Processing Zone tamed the � ames after a one-hour e� ort. l

Emajuddin for making deals signed with India publicn UNB

Prof Emajuddin Ahmed yesterday demanded the government through parliament make pub-lic the deals signed during Indian Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi’s recent Bangladesh tour.

“The Prime Minister should � rst place to the President all the deals and memoranda of understanding signed with India. Then, the President will make those public by present-ing those in parliament. This constitutional obligation as wheel as the nation’s demand,” he said.

Prof Emajuddin, a pro-BNP-professional came up with the remarks while addressing a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club arranged

by Jatiyatabadi Desh Bachao Manush Bachao Andolan.

He said the government should not take any crucial decision keeping the country’s people in the dark. “We hope the Prime Min-ister will follow the due process to inform people about the deals.”

Emajuddin, also an ex-Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University, said parliament will get a chance to elaborately discuss the deals with India if those are presented there and thus people will get clear idea about those.

He voiced his frustration as the Teesta and border killing issues were not discussed dur-ing the Indian Prime Minister’s visit.

Terming the current government unrepre-

sentative, the veteran political scientist said, “We want Bangladesh march forward under the leadership of government having public support.”

He alleged that the government was ‘ex-treme’ generous’ in giving India various fa-cilities, including the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports.

Evaluating Modi’s Bangladesh visit, Ema-juddin said, “It’s not right that Bangladesh didn’t get anything. But our government has failed to realise its due share for which we can’t blame Modi… That’s why a strong gov-ernment with public support is necessary to rule the country so that it can bargain with others and protect the country’s interests.” l

MP’s son interrogated over double murdern Kamrul Hasan

Police have begun questioning the son of an Awami League lawmaker over a shooting two months ago that left two people dead.

The accused, Bakhtiar Alam Roni, 42, was arrested on May 29. His mother, Pinu Khan, holds a women’s reserved seat in parliament and is the central committee general secre-tary of the Mahila Awami League.

Although a Dhaka court granted a four-day remand for Bakhtiar on June 1, the accused claimed to be ill and had himself admitted to hospital to avoid interrogation, Detective Branch (DB) o� cials said. He was taken into remand on Tuesday, said DB (South) Assis-tant Commissioner Hasan Arafat, the super-vising o� cer of the case.

According to sub-inspector Dipak Kumar Das, the investigating o� cer of the case, the ruling party lawmaker’s son was drunk when he opened � re on his victims on a busy thor-

oughfare.Bakhtiar’s chau� eur, Imran Fakir, also ar-

rested in the case, gave a confessional state-ment before the court saying Bakhtiar was drunk when the shooting took place, DB o� -cials said.

On the night of April 13, the driver of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw of the daily Janakantha and a rickshaw-puller were shot by an unidenti� ed shooter in the Dilu Road area of Moghbazar.

Rickshaw-puller Abdul Halim died on the spot. Auto-rickshaw driver Yakub Sikder died while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

A case � led with Ramna police station by Halim’s mother, Monawara Begum, was later shifted to the Detective Branch.

Investigators said around the time of the shooting there was a tra� c jam in the area.

Annoyed by the gridlock, Bakhtiar stepped out of his car and � red four to � ve bullets, hit-ting two people. The car then drove o� , Dipak

said quoting Imran’s confessional statement.Investigators said they had sent Bakhtiyar’s

licensed pistol for forensic testing to cross-match it with crime scene evidence.

The forensic report was not yet ready, they said. With the sole breadwinners in their fam-ilies gunned down, grief has been made worse by hardship, the victims’ family members said.

Auto-rickshaw driver Yakub’s wife Salma Begum said the death of her husband had ru-ined the family. She said the daily Janakantha had not given the family proper � nancial as-sistance.

Rickshaw-puller Imran supported his par-ents � nancially. But although his parents live in Modhubagh, he lived separately because there was not enough space for them to live together.

The victims’ families demanded severe punishment for the man responsible for their loved ones’ deaths, but feared it would be dif-� cult because the accused belongs to an in-� uential family. l

Several organisations form a human chain in the capital’s Shahbagh area calling for an end to child labour and ensuring quality education for them on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour 2015 to be observed tomorrow MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

NEWS6DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

RMG worker dead in Ctg road accidentn CU Correspondent

A readymade garment worker was killed and four others injured in a head-on collision between a covered van and a tempo (three wheeler) at No 2 Mailer Matha area in Chit-tagong yesterday morning.

The deceased was identi� ed as Jakir Hos-sain Farazi, 25, a RMG worker of CEPZ area and son of Moslem Farazi from Bhola, said Sub-Inspector (SI) Md Dulal Mian of Bandar police station.

Jakir died on the spot and the injured were sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital while police detained the driver along with the truck, said SI Dulal.

He said the CEPZ bound tempo carrying � ve to six passengers collided with the covered van coming from opposite direction when trying bypass a tra� c jam around 6am. l

US Ambassador in Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat hands over a bag of wheat to the World Health Programme o� cers at a function in Kanchipara Government Primary School to Gazipur yesterday. US Department of Agriculture provides the food grain to produce nutrition food items for the children DHAKA TRIBUNE

11,483 Bangladeshis on umrah visa stay backSaudi government witholds issuing umrah visa inde� nitelyn Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Some 11,483 pilgrims who went to Saudi Arab on umrah visa did not return to the country. The Saudi government has stopped issuing umrah visas to pilgrims from Bangladesh in-de� nitely and blacklisted 50 travel agents from Sylhet after primary investigation.

According to Religion Ministry sourc-es, 40,000 pilgrims went on the umrah hajj through the 50 travel agents from all over the country.

The Saudi government, in a letter sent by

Jeddah Hajj Councillor Md Asaduzzaman to the Religion Ministry, alleged that the 11,483 were tra� cked to the country. He also said Bangladeshis will not be given umrah visas until those who did not exit the country are brought back by Bangladesh.

This decision from the Saudi government came on March 22. As a result no Bangladeshis will be able to go for umrah hajj this year.

One blacklisted agency of Sylhet Alite Travels Managing Partner Md Modabbir Ho-sain Khan (Mansur) said: “The allegations are false. None of our pilgrims stayed back there

[Saudi Arab]. The Saudi government has not sent a written complaint in this regard either.” However, he failed to give an answer when asked about the Saudi government’s decision of not issuing umrah visas.

Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh President Monsur Ali Khan told the Dhaka Tribune that they came to know of the news of Saudi government blacklisting the 50 trav-el agents through various media. The Bang-ladeshi government or the Religion Ministry have not o� cially informed them of any such matter. l

Inde� nite bus strike begins in Sherpurn Tribune Report

Sherpur Bus Owners’ Association went on an inde� nite strike in the district yesterday morning demanding stopping extortion and action against the extortionists.

Saiful Islam Swapan, general secretary of Sherpur Bus Owners’ Association, alleged that Golam Mostafa Mastu, general secretary of Sherpur Road Transport Workers’ Union, along with his associates are involved in col-lecting extortion from the bus owners.

As the local administration has failed to bring an end to the crisis, the association of the bus owners called the strike as per the suggestion of Dhaka Division (North) Bus Owners’ Oikya Parishad, he said.

He also threatened to enforce an inde� nite transport strike in greater Mymensingh. l

Patient dies in ‘wrong’ treatment n Our Correspondent, Barisal

A Barisal court yesterday sent three youths who allegedly assaulted a nurse following the death of a patient at Sher-Bangla Medical Col-lege Hospital to jail on Tuesday.

They were sent to court after Dr Kamrul Hasan Selim, director of the SBMCH, lodged a general diary with Kotwali police station Tuesday afternoon.

Md Ali Hussain, chief metropolitan mag-istrate of Barisal, rejecting bail prayer of the arrestees gave order to send them to jail, court sources said.

Family members of the arrestees said Liton, a resident of KDC area of the city was brought to emergency ward of the hospital about 5pm on Tuesday after he fell ill.

Attending physicians of the hospital declared his death 40 minutes after he was

taken there. Following the death, his relatives becomes

furious and swooped on Musta� zur Rahman, senior sta� nurse, blaming him for delay in admission as well as treatment which caused death of Liton.

The attendants of the patient also clashed with other sta� s of the hospital.

They alleged that senior sta� nurse Musta� z demanded bribe to admit and give treatment to the patient.

Then, hospital sta� s stopped performing duty.

Later, police rushed to the spot and detain-ing the three youths brought the situation un-der control.

The hospital sta� s resumed duty about 6:30pm Tuesday after Dr Kamrul Hasan Selim assured them that he would take legal actions against the attackers. l

Youth killed in Jessore clashn Our Correspondent, Jessore

A man was killed in a clash between two groups of youth at Antaikhola village under Baghaipara upazila in the district yesterday.

The deceased was identi� ed as Shariful Is-lam, 25, son of Sahar Ali of the village.

Sources said two groups of youth got locked in an altercation in the evening in front of Shamsur Rahman’s tea stall over taking tea. At one stage, they attacked each other leaving Ariful and Shariful critically injured.

The injured were admitted to Jessore Med-ical College and Hospital where from the duo were referred to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH as their condition deteriorated.

Shariful died on the way while he was be-ing taken to the DMCH. Sahar Ali alleged that a group of youths killed his son in preplanned way of the village.

Bagharpara police station O� cer-in-Charge Kayum Ali Sikder said the police were trying to nab the culprits. l

Wall collapse kills one in Chittagongn Our correspondent, Chittagong

A van puller was killed and two others were injured as a wall of an under construction building collapsed on them in Dewanbazar area of Chittagong city yesterday.

The deceased was identi� ed as Md Faridul Islam, 50, son of Saheb Ali, hailing from Mu-radnagar of Comilla, said Assistant Sub-In-spector (ASI) Pankaj Barua of Chittagong Med-ical College Hospital (CMCH) police outpost.

The injured Md Rana, 8, a student and Ha-bibur Rahman, 22, was admitted to CMCH, the ASI said.

Quoting the injured, ASI Pankaj said a boundary wall of an under construction building collapsed on them while they were passing the building area beside the Afghan Masjid area of Dewanbazar under Bakalia po-lice station in the morning, leaving them crit-ically injured.

They were sent to the CMCH where the on duty doctors declared Farid dead, said the ASI. l

NEWS 7D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:46PM SUN RISES 5:10AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

37.2ºC 22.6ºC

Chuadanga Sylhet

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 32 28Chittagong 33 27Rajshahi 36 27Rangpur 30 25Khulna 36 26Barisal 33 27Sylhet 28 24Cox’s Bazar 30 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:44am

Sunrise 5:10amZohr 11:58am

Asr 4:39pmMagrib 6:46pm

Esha 8:13pm

WEATHER

THURSDAY, JUNE 11

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Speakers: Ensure children’s rights by ratifying UN protocoln Tribune Report

Advocates of children’s rights in the capital have urged the government to ratify the Op-tional Protocol 3 of the United Nations Com-mittee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to ensure children’s rights in the country.

Speaking at a discussion in the capital yes-terday, they said it was time for Bangladesh to come forward and ratify the protocol to pro-tect children’s rights.

The event, titled “Child Protection Status in Bangladesh: Importance of Rati� cation of Optional Protocol 3,” took place at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Paci� c (Cirdap) in the capital, organised by Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF) along with SOS Children’s

Villages International and Terre des Hommes Netherlands.

The event was attended by Nasima Be-gum, secretary at the Ministry of Women and Children A� airs, as chief guest while Ghulam Ahmed Ishaque, national director of SOS Chil-dren’s Villages International in Bangladesh, and Ehsanul Haque of Terre Des Hommes Netherlands were in attendance as special guests. BSAF Chairperson Emranul Huq Chowdhury chaired the event.

Discussing the importance of the Option-al Protocol 3 – or the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure – the speakers said although there is a children’s rights act in place in the country, it is not properly im-plemented and children’s rights are frequent-

ly violated, with little chances of appropriate remedies delivered to the victims.

In such circumstances, if Bangladesh rati� es the protocol, then a child, or his or her representative, will be able to � le a complaint directly to the UNCRC in case of a violation of their rights if – and only if – the country’s legal system fails to provide any justice, said keynote speaker and children’s rights activist Gawher Nayeem Wahra, In reply of a query.

Once the UNCRC receives the complaint, it will investigate the issue and take actions accordingly.

A total of 49 countries have rati� ed the protocol since it was introduced by the UN-CRC on February 28, 2012.

According to statistics, around 48% of the total population of the country are children. l

BCL man’s attack on student sparks protest at RUn Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Leaders and activists of di� erent cultural and left-leaning students’ organisations of Rajshahi University (RU) and city yesterday demanded immediate arrest of BCL leader Saddam Hossain Sajib who severely beat up cultural activist Basudev Roy on Tuesday.

On Tuesday evening, Basudev Roy, former president of RU Kendriya Sangskritik Jote, also a master’s student of psychology depart-ment was beaten by Sajib who is assistant sec-retary of RU unit BCL over trivial matter.

Sajib got hurt when Basudev opened win-dow pane of his Ganashilpi Sangstha o� ce. Get-ting furious, Sajib started beating Basudev leav-ing him critically injured. He is now undergoing treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

Protesting the attack, leaders and activ-ists of RU Kendrio Sangskritik Jote submit-ted a memorandum to Vice-Chancellor Prof Muhammad Mizanuddin with two-point de-mands, including immediate arrest and sus-pension of BCL leader Sajib from university and ensuring security for all students.

They also gave 24 hours ultimatum to the university authorities to arrest the culprit.

Earlier, they brought out a procession on the campus and observed a sit-in programme in front of university administrative building.

Progressive Students’ Alliance, a platform of four left-leaning students’ body, also demand-ed exemplary punishment to the BCL man.

RU Vice-Chancellor Prof Muhammad Miz-anuddin said he would consider the demands of the students after investigating the inci-dent. l

Ashraful: People polluting water, destroying waterbodiesn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

People across the country are facing an acute water crisis because they themselves pollute water and are destroying waterbodies indis-criminately, said the local government, rural development and cooperatives minister yes-terday.

Syed Ashraful Islam said the waste of wa-ter should be stopped as this could lead to serious troubles.

“If water continues to be polluted at this rate, most of the water collected from nat-ural sources as well as surface water cannot be used without puri� cation,” he said while addressing a programme arranged for laying foundation stones for Madunaghat Water Re-� nery in Chittagong’s Engineers Institute.

“Also, if the destruction of waterbodies continues, the government cannot set up more water re� neries as a huge amount of money is needed for such projects,” Ashraful said.

Chittagong Wasa Managing Director AKM Fazlullah presided over the programme while

other o� cials of the organisation were also present.

The Tk1,078 crore facility is part of World Bank’s Chittagong Water Supply Improve-ment and Sanitation project and was ap-proved by Executive Committee of National Economic Council in January 2011.

Stating that water re� neries are costlier than oil re� neries to set up, the minister said: “Only implementing such costly projects is not enough to overcome water crisis. We have to preserve our existing waterbodies, including ponds, canals, lakes and rivers, properly.”

Housing and Public Works Minister Engi-neer Mosharraf Hossain suggested making long-term plans to meet the increasing de-mand for water. “Otherwise, there will be ter-rible consequences in the future.”

State Minister for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury expressed his content with the water re� nery project, saying that such pro-jects should have been implemented a dec-ade ago but many challenges, including polit-ical problems, got in the way. l

Safe farming solution for companies launchedn Tribune Report

Direct Fresh Limited, with a grant from global donor Katalyst, launched a new business model - “Bespoke Farming Solution” - for companies and the farmers by eliminating the conventional method of supply and distribution.

The announcement came at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital yesterday.

With the grant from Katalyst, the company would also provide training to some thousand farmers in Manikganj to ensure safe, healthy and organic produce for its customers.

“Direct Fresh allows no middleman in the supply chain process and handles all produce from the farm directly to the end customer,” said Markus Ehmann, general manager of Katalyst Bangladesh.

He said Katalyst was committed to facilitating private companies to establish e� cient procurement and distribution channels that provide su� cient incentives for farmers and relevant stakeholders to adopt good cultivation and trading practices and thereby ensure safe agricultural products.

“Most importantly, we guarantee that our products are 100% free from formalin, carbide and other industrial carcinogens,” said Mishal Karim, managing director of Direct Fresh Limited.

“We take care of your food from its source to your doorstep with the latest cold-chain and smart-logistics technology. Our business model o� ers complete transparency allowing the client to see the complete process – from production to distribution,” he added.

SI Khan, head of farming, said: “the Katalyst grant will help us train farmers and assist with generating awareness. We seek support from everyone to ensure a sustainable supply chain management system.”

The press conference also revealed that the � rst major institution to switch to the Direct Fresh Safe Farming model was Apollo Hospital, which would gradually procure all produce from Direct Fresh farms. l

The Hill Women’s Federation holds a press conference in the National Press Club yesterday with a call to publish report on Kalpana Chakma abduction investigation and ensure punishment of alleged kidnapper Lieutenant Ferdous. Kalpana was allegedly picked up by soldiers from her house in Baghaichhari upazila of Rangamati on June 12, 2006 and never came back SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

WORLD8DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Britain in European court for killing Brazilian mistaken bombern AFP, Strasbourg

The European Court of Human Rights began hearing a case yesterday against the British government over the police killing of a Brazil-ian man mistaken for a suicide bomber soon after the deadly July 2005 bombings.

Nearly a decade after the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, his family are still � ghting to see someone prosecuted for the 27-year-old’s killing.

De Menezes, an electrician, was shot seven times in the head by police o� cers in a Lon-don underground station two weeks after the July 7 attacks in which four suicide bombers killed 52 people.

Police mistook him for failed bomber Hus-sain Osman, who had attempted to place ex-plosives at another train station the day be-fore the shooting, and who lived in the same block of � ats as de Menezes.

“This is a case in which an entirely inno-cent man was deliberately shot by the agents of the state,” Hugh Southey, lawyer for the family, told the court yesterday.

“When the society is to tolerate the use of that power (to kill), there must be account-ability. O� cers are given extreme powers – they must know they will be held responsible when they fail to comply with the law,” he added.

The killing of de Menezes provoked a se-ries of inquiries that were heavily critical of police tactics, supervision and individual decisions.

But British prosecutors repeatedly decided not to bring a case against any individual of-� cer, arguing it would be too di� cult to prove that they did not fear for their lives.

In May 2007, the police disciplinary board said it would not sanction any of the o� cers

on similar grounds. “They thought he was a suicide bomber,”

Clare Montgomery, lawyer for the British gov-ernment, told the European court.

“For that reason they decided that they had to kill him as quickly as possible.”

It has been seven years since the family � led a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, in which they argue that the government has failed in its duty to ensure accountability and punishment of those re-sponsible for de Menezes’s death.

The case has been led by de Menezes’s cousin, Armani Da Silva, after other members of the family decided to draw a line under the incident several years ago.

Da Silva’s lawyers argue that police o� cers ought to prove they had not only an honest belief they were in danger, but also that their fear was “reasonable.”

They will also argue that British prosecu-tors were overly cautious in refusing to start a trial against the police o� cers, and that the threshold for launching a trial is too high.

Although the family has failed to implicate individual o� cers, they did succeed in prose-cuting the police force as a whole for breach-ing health and safety regulations, receiving £175,000 (240,000 euros, $270,000) in com-pensation.

They received further damages in 2009 through a civil action. The amount was kept con� dential.

Further inquests into the death have backed the initial investigations, though the police have repeatedly apologised for their fatal mistake.

“(De Menezes) was a totally innocent vic-tim and in no way to blame for his untimely death,” the police said at the time of the com-pensation deal in 2009. l

India police break up stolen baby adoption racketn AFP, New Delhi

Police in the Indian capital said yesterday they have broken up an illegal adoption rack-et in which newborn babies were stolen from hospitals and sold to couples.

Police have arrested three members of a group operating a fake charity in New Del-hi that allegedly sold two dozen babies and toddlers to couples for up to 550,000 rupees ($8,600) each.

“The children were either stolen at birth, (or later) kidnapped or bought from poor par-ents,” Dependra Pathak, joint commissioner for southwest Delhi, told AFP.

“It was a sophisticated racket and so far they have confessed to selling 24 babies,”

Pathak told AFP. Two children were rescued at the fake

charity’s o� ces during a raid on Monday. Kidnapping and tra� cking children in

India has long been a major problem, with many sold to unscrupulous employers for use as cheap labour.

The racket in Delhi involved prospective adoptive mothers being admitted to private clinics where they were given a false record of having delivered a baby as well as a birth certi� cate for their “newborns,” Pathak said.

The illegal adoption market is thriving, with babies and children abandoned by their fami-lies given straight to prospective parents. Des-perately poor parents also sell their children. India has an estimated 30 million orphans. l

EU urges members to act on migrant issuen AFP, Brussels

The European Union yesterday called on member states to “act now” to accommodate tens of thousands of asylum seekers rather than wait until September.

European sources said Tuesday that EU member states were unlikely to agree on a programme to take in 40,000 asylum seekers this month, meaning a decision is not expect-ed before September.

The European Commission, the EU execu-tive arm, proposed the scheme last month to ease the burden on Italy and Greece, which are battling to cope with unprecedented numbers of migrants.

Interior ministers are set to meet Monday and Tuesday and the migration issue will be on the agenda but “there will be no decision,” said Janis Berzins, spokesman for Latvia’s ro-tating presidency of the EU.

EU leaders will continue the discussions at a summit in Brussels on June 25-26 but the migration programme “will be hard to sell,” a European source said.

No further meetings are expected over the summer, meaning that European o� cials will not discuss the issue again until September, sources said.

Bertaud recalled that Commission Pres-ident Jean-Claude Juncker was concerned that in a few months time that the asylum topic would become “unfashionable.” l

Tunisia rescues 356 migrantsn AFP, Tunis

Tunisia’s navy yesterday rescued 356 mi-grants including a two-month-old baby girl o� the country’s southeastern coast near Ben Guerdane, the Red Crescent said.

Red Crescent o� cial Ammar Lamloum told AFP that the group of migrants, mainly Afri-cans, had been trying to reach the Italian is-land of Lampedusa when they were rescued.

Tunisian and Italian authorities have been at the forefront of rescue e� orts for a � ood of mainly African migrants � eeing Libya and bound for Europe on unseaworthy boats that run into trouble.

Four of the rescued migrants including a pregnant woman were being treated in hos-pital, Lamloum said, adding 38 women and seven children had been on the boat.

He said the migrants, who as well as sub-Saharan Africans included some Syri-ans, Moroccans and Egyptians, had left Libya aboard the makeshift vessel but it had broken down o� the Tunisian coast. l

This picture taken on June 2, 2015 shows migrants from Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka arriving in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara province, after they were intercepted en route to New Zealand by the Australian navy. The captain and crew of a boat carrying 65 asylum-seekers say Australian authorities paid them thousands of dollars to turn around and return to Indonesian waters, police said AFP

Source: MissingMigrants.iom.int

More than 2,500 migrant deaths so far this year

Southern Africa

Central America

EastAsia

Europe

1,86552 Caribbean

Total: 2,552

S.EastAsia

US-Mexicoborder

Horn of Africa

Bay of Bengal

Mediterranean

WORLD 9D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Egypt police foil Luxor attack n AFP, Cairo, Egypt

Police said they foiled an attempted suicide bombing yesterday on one of Egypt’s most popular ancient attractions in Luxor, in a rare assault on the country’s vital tourism sector.

Egypt has been shaken by a tide of attacks claimed by jihadists since the army toppled the democratically elected government two years ago.

Although tourists have avoided most of the carnage, there are fears further unrest could scare o� the visitors who are crucial to the economy, where tourism accounts for more than a tenth of GDP.

Police said two attackers were killed and another wounded in a morning shootout close to the Karnak temple in Luxor, a popu-lar site close to the famed Valley of the Kings.

No tourists were hurt, and visitors at the site were kept inside Karnak’s ruins during the incident, a senior antiquities ministry of-� cial told AFP.

The incident unfolded afer a car carrying three men attempted to enter the temple parking lot and was stopped by a suspicious policeman, Tourism Minister Khaled Ramy said in a statement.

“One of the assailants ran out of the car and detonated a suicide device, killing him-self instantly,” he said.

“The police then surrounded the vehicle, killed one additional assailant inside the ve-hicle and wounded another.”

Health ministry o� cial Nahed Mohamed told AFP the wounded assailant had been shot in the head and was in serious condition.

She also said two civilians and two police-

men were wounded in the shootout, but not seriously.

Karnak in central Luxor was built on the ruins of Thebes, the capital of ancient Egypt.

The huge temple dedicated to the god Amon lies in the heart of a vast complex in the city, 700 kilometres south of Cairo.

Tourism in Egypt has faltered since early 2011, when a popular uprising toppled long-time strongman Hosni Mubarak after three decades in power.

Luxor has had to deal with numerous blows, including a deadly hot air balloon crash in 2013 that killed 19 tourists.

The town took several years to recover from a 1997 massacre when Islamist gunmen open � re on tourists at an ancient temple complex, killing 58 foreigners and their four Egyptian guards. l

IS blows up Damascus gas pipelinen AFP, Beirut

Jihadists from the Islamic State group blew up a pipeline feeding natural gas from eastern Syria to the suburbs of the capital Damascus early yesterday morning, a monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS blew up the pipeline near the T-4 mil-itary airport in the east of central Homs prov-ince shortly after midnight.

IS has seized a number of oil and gas � elds in Homs province, most recently during its of-fensive on the ancient city of Palmyra.

These � elds were key to Syria’s embattled regime. “Any hit to the regime’s gas supply is important, because its resources are very low,” Abdel Rahman told AFP.

While IS has made use of oil � elds it has captured to generate income, processing nat-ural gas is much trickier, according to Yezid Sayigh, an analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut.

Blowing up gas pipelines demonstrates that “the name of its game for now is denial of key resources to the regime,” Sayigh wrote. l

Italian nurse cured of Ebolan AFP, Rome

An Italian nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone with med-ical charity Emergency has been cured and left hospital yesterday, the health ministry announced.

Stefano Marongiu, a male nurse from Sardinia, has spent the last month receiv-ing treatment at the Spallanzani infec-tious diseases clinic in Rome.

He was the second Italian to contract the disease after Fabrizio Pulvirenti, a Sicilian doctor who had also worked for Emergency in Sierra Leone.

The doctor, who left hospital in Janu-ary, was treated at the same clinic with a combination of experimental drugs and the blood plasma of an Ebola survivor.

The health ministry said Marongiu had been treated with drugs sourced overseas.

Ebola has killed at least 11,000 people since its latest outbreak in West Africa started in December 2013. l

26 African nations ink common market dealn AFP, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

Leaders from 26 African countries signed a potentially historic free trade deal in Egypt yesterday to create a common mar-ket spanning half the continent.

The deal integrates three existing trade blocs whose countries have a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than $1 trillion (885 billion euros) and eases the movement of goods in an area home to 625 million people.

The pact on the Tripartite Free Trade Area was signed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia and Mohamed Bilal, vice president of Tan-zania, at a summit in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. l

Missouri executes man, despite daughter’s clemency plean AFP, Washington

The US state of Missouri executed a convicted double-murderer Tuesday, despite a last-min-ute clemency appeal from his daughter.

Richard Strong, 48, was declared dead by lethal injection at 6:58 pm (2358 GMT) in the city of Bonne Terre, prisons spokesman Mike O’Connell said.

Strong had admitted to stabbing his girl-friend and her two-year-old daughter to death in an apartment in a St Louis suburb in October 2000.

The three-month-old daughter of Strong and the slain woman was found unharmed in the bloody crime scene.

The girl, Alyshia Strong, now 14, had writ-ten to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon to ask for her father’s life to be spared.

“It is wrong for me to have another loss. I understand that my father needs to face con-sequences and to pay for what he did but I do not think it is right for me to lose my father as

part of the punishment,” she wrote.Richard Strong’s lawyers had also appealed

to the US Supreme Court, saying he had suf-fered mental problems for years.

“Mr Strong was mentally ill at the time he was sentenced to death,” lawyers wrote, re-ferring to the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, which proscribes cruel and un-usual punishment.

They also wanted the top court to halt the execution pending a review of whether death by lethal injection is cruel and unusual.

But � ve of the court’s nine judges ruled against Strong, backing the position of Mis-souri Attorney General Chris Koster.

Koster told the court: “There is no signi� -cant possibility this court will ultimately � nd a method of execution that has been routine-ly and uniformly rapid and painless is never-theless cruel and unusual.”

Strong was the 16th inmate to be executed this year in the United States and the fourth in Missouri. l

Sex abuse cover up Bishops to face Church judgementn AFP, Vatican City

Pope Francis has approved proposals for bishops to be judged by a Church tribunal if they cover up sex abuse by priests, the Vatican said yesterday.

The reform involves the creation of a crime of “abuse of episcopal o� ce” in canon law.

It follows a recommendation from the Vatican’s child protection panel, a body which includes victims of paedophile priests and was set up last year with a brief to root out sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

The unit will be headed by a senior of-� cial appointed personally by the pope.

It will be responsible for assessing complaints received about the conduct of bishops and deciding what, if any, sanc-tions are appropriate. l

A � le picture taken on December 21, 2013, shows the Temple of Karnak in the historic town of Luxor in Upper Egypt. Egyptian police yesterday said they foiled an attack near the ancient site, reporting two assailants killed in the operation AFP

WORLD10DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

WHO team urges S Korea to reopen schools as more close in MERS crisisn Reuters, Seoul

A joint South Korean-World Health Organisation mission study-ing an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) recommended yesterday that schools be reopened, as they were unlikely to spread the disease, just as school boards recommend-ed more be shut.

South Korea’s Health Ministry said yesterday two more people had died from MERS and announced 13 new cases, lifting the to-tal number of patients to 108 and prompting President Park Ge-un-hye to postpone a visit to the United States.

Park had been due to leave for the United States, her country’s closest ally, on Sunday. Her o� ce said the coming week would be a “watershed” for the country’s response to the disease.

The outbreak, the largest outside Saudi Arabia, has fuelled public anxiety and hit spending, with thousands in quarantine and the number of schools closing rising to 2,474, including 22 universities. Many people on the streets are wearing face masks, public transport is being disinfected and attendance at movie theatres and baseball games has tumbled.

But the joint mission, which began its work on Tuesday, urged the government to consider reopening schools.

“Schools have not been linked to transmission of (the virus) in the Republic of Korea or elsewhere,” the mission said.

The recommendation came as the school boards of Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi announced the extension of existing school closures through Friday and recommended more to shut.

Some countries around the region have issued advisories against travel to South Korea or stepped up screening of inbound passengers, dealing a setback to a tourism sector that had been a bright spot for the � agging South Korean economy.

South Korea’s infections have all been traced to a man who developed MERS after returning from a trip to the Middle East in early May. l

Isolated Putin seeks sympathetic hearing in Italyn AFP, Milan

Vladimir Putin visited World Expo yesterday at the start of a high-pro� le visit to Italy and the Vatican just two days after the G7 threat-ened tougher sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.

The Russian president was greeted by around 200 well-wishers waving Russian � ags as he arrived, almost an hour late, for a tour of his country’s pavilion at the world fair.

A smiling Putin was welcomed by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, with whom he will have bilateral talks followed by a joint press conference.

He then travels on to Rome where an au-dience with Pope Francis is expected to fo-cus on Ukraine amid fears a fragile cease� re agreed in February is falling apart.

Renzi was one of the G7 leaders who signed up to Monday’s warning that the major pow-ers “stand ready to take further restrictive measures to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require.”

The statement re� ected concern about a recent � are-up in � ghting in eastern Ukraine, where the West accuses Russia of providing game-changing military support to pro-Mos-

cow rebels who control parts of two Rus-sian-speaking regions.

Ukraine this week said Russian aid allowed separatist forces in the east to establish a 42,500-strong � ghting force.

Putin says any Russians � ghting alongside the rebels are volunteers “answering a call of the heart.”

30-billion-euro trade tiesItaly is Russia’s third-biggest trading partner after China and Germany with deals between the two countries worth just over 30 billion euros ($33.9 billion) last year.

Renzi has said he will not be lecturing the Russian leader, while stressing that Italy stands fully behind international demands that Moscow ensure the respect of a second cease� re between Kiev and the rebels that was agreed in Minsk in February.

“I have nothing to explain to him that he does not know already: the compass, the guiding star is the Minsk agreement,” Renzi said at the end of the G7, striking a notably di� erent tone to Barack Obama.

The US president said Putin was wrong-headedly trying to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire. l

Dozens arrested in European cyber crime sweepn Reuters, Amsterdam

Police have arrested 49 suspected members of a cyber crime syndicate in Spain, Poland and Italy who are suspected of stealing million of euros from European bank accounts, Europol said yesterday.

Police raided 58 locations as part of the in-vestigation into online “phishing” scams used to transfer money from bank accounts across Europe, the Hague-based European police agency said in a statement.

O� cials in Belgium and the United King-dom assisted the investigation and operation, which was conducted on Tuesday.

“The parallel investigations revealed inter-national fraud totalling 6 million euro (4.38 million pounds) accumulated within a very short time,” the statement said.

The suspects, mainly from Nigeria and Cameroon, transferred the illicit pro� ts out-side of the European Union through a sophis-ticated network of money laundering transac-tions. l

11D

TEDITORIALTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

INSIDE

It is wholly unacceptable that Bt brinjal crops have been released into the marketplace without proper labels to inform consumers.

Consumers have a right to have foods sourced from genetically modi� ed organisms adequately labeled so they can make an informed choice before

purchasing them.We have no objection in principle to GMO food production in Bangladesh.

Scienti� c innovation can help the development of more bene� cial and resilient crops and be good for society.

However, it remains important that the grave concerns about GM crops expressed by environmental experts in many countries around the world are not ignored. Reasonable precautions must be in place to guard against the potential biological and health risks.

Prior to approving Bt brinjal production, the government gave assurances it would undertake measures to evaluate, track and respond to any concerns relating to the safety and desirability of GM foods. This included agreeing to the recommendation by the National Committee on Bio-safety to oblige producers and retailers to properly label foods containing GMOs.

This obligation has unfortunately been blatantly breached and much of the 350 tonnes of Bt brinjal produced since November has already been brought or placed in the market unlabeled.

The government must step up to protect the public interest by ensuring that these foods are properly labeled so consumers can decide for themselves whether or not to buy the Bt brinjals.

Consumer choice must be paramount to allow the market to function properly.Such action would also be in the interest of GMO producers and farmers. If GM

food producing businesses want to build public trust, they should support proper labeling to help them demonstrate GMOs can be safely produced and consumed.

Consumer choice must be paramount to let the market to function properly

Defend consumer choice on GM foods

The buck should not stop here

How Bangladesh outpaces India on human development indicators‘India can learn from the support that the government in Bangladesh has given to NGOs,’ said Ms Bhattacharjee

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207

Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com

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PAGE 12

PAGE 13

PAGE 14

Mere weight gain no sign of healthIt is not too late to start shutting down smaller o� enders among the loss-mak-ing SOEs

It is the rigidity of exchange control procedures which support corrupt o� -cials and encourage informal and illegal channels

OPINION12DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

n K Anis Ahmed

All our governments like to portray the passing of a “big” budget itself as an accomplishment. There was a time in our culture when we would

say a person’s health has improved if they gained any weight. People know better now, and that goes for the budget too: We need to see if the weight gain is coming from muscle (productive sector) or from fat (unproductive sectors).

This year’s national budget shows both tendencies. Namely:

1. In the past one and a half decades, the government’s budget has increased almost seven folds and so too has the tax revenue. By comparison, the number of tax-payers has barely doubled. This disproportionate rise in tax revenue to tax base is a clear sign that more is being extracted from the few who do pay taxes already. And with this budget, things may be reaching a breaking point.

2. In addition to higher taxes, the private sector will also be hit hard by a ripple e� ect in loans: Bigger revenue means heavier government borrowing from banks, and thus higher interest rates for everyone. This will hurt not only those looking to set up industries and do business, but also consum-ers who wish to use credit, that is the biggest spenders.

3. The pressure on tax and credit are stemming from the government’s intention to spend more … way more. Let us see where the expenditures will be. This time, commu-nication and power sectors dwarf others, and

that is actually � ne. Infrastructure is key to future and sustained growth and competi-tiveness.

Also, there is a big pay hike for govern-ment employees. This too is logical as we can never rein in corruption or attract better talents to public service without decent pay. Finally, there is a notable rise in defense spending.

While it is customary for our chatterati to carp about that, I personally think modern-ising our military is crucial. Taken separately all these expenses appear � ne. The problem is that all these spending spikes are coming in the same year! They could and should have been sequenced more smartly over, say, the next three years.

4. It is also disappointing to see that the government is making no e� ort to cut back on wasteful expenses -- namely loss-making SOEs and excessive subsidies. Enterprises like Biman, the national airlines, are a relic of

70s era national egotism.The national banks with their unending

recapitalisations are not only a disgrace, but bordering on criminal. Just as risible are many sectors -- from jute to sugar mills -- where the government basically sustains corrupt cliques at public expense. One can argue for national control of strategically important assets like mines or railway, but

why indulge the rest?To increase expenditure in non-produc-

tive sectors by placing tax burden on the productive sectors is sadly regressive. We understand that bureaucrats have a big say, especially when it comes to the � ne print, in devising our laws and our budget. But it is the politician’s job to keep the wily public servants in check.

Instead, this year the government has granted the civil servants a blank check, while extracting more from the tax-payers to fund the indulgence.

It may be too late, given the reality of how budgets are passed in our parliament, to do much or anything about the pay hikes or simultaneous increase in infrastructure and defense spending. But it is not too late at all to remove the most unfair taxes introduced in this budget, such as the 10% VAT on pri-vate education at all levels.

It is also not too late to start shutting down smaller o� enders among the loss-making SOEs, even if we are not ready yet to move on big ones like Biman and the banks.

There was a time, not too long ago, when many of us, especially in the investing community, shouted ourselves hoarse with mantras like “roads, ports and power.” We are delighted to see the government make such infrastructure development a real priority, among many other progressive initiatives. But it was crucial that the development be smartly funded.

Similarly, it is � ne to pay more to the civil servants we need. But we must at the same time end subsidies for SOEs whose cumula-tive losses could have built several Padma Bridges.

Make no mistake: A budget that taxes productive sectors at punishing rates, in part to indulge unproductive ones, is quite unlikely to deliver on the very growth it promises. l

K Anis Ahmed is the publisher of the Dhaka Tribune and Bangla Tribune. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Daily Beast, Scroll.In and Anandabazar Patrika, among other publications at home and abroad.

Mere weight gain no sign of health

It is also not too late to start shutting down smaller o� enders among the loss-making SOEs, even if we are not ready yet to move on big ones like Biman and the banks

We need to separate muscle from fat in our budget BIGSTOCK

OPINION 13D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

n Joanna Sugden

India is richer, in terms of per-capita eco-nomic output, than its smaller neighbour Bangladesh, and a greater proportion of Indians are connected to the Internet

and have cellphones.But if you look more closely at other meas-

ures of development such as life expectancy, child survival, and the proportion of girls to boys in secondary education, Bangladesh comes out ahead.

The two countries spend the same propor-tion (1%) of their gross domestic product on healthcare, but India devotes more of its GDP (3%) to education than Bangladesh (2%).

Still, 20 years of targeted � nancial support in Bangladesh to get girls to go to high school rather than, for example, get married, has helped dramatically shift the needle on hu-man-development indicators there.

“Gender equality is good for economic growth and good for human development. That is really part of what explains the quite remarkable achievements in Bangladesh,” said Christine Hunter, country representative for UN Women in Bangladesh.

In pursuit of the 2015 Millennium Devel-opment Goal to redress the lopsided gender imbalance in high schools, Bangladesh began the secondary-school subsidy program for

girls in 1993.Funded by the government, the Asian

Development Bank, the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation and the Euro-pean Union, the education-payment program contributed to a tripling of participation rates of girls in secondary school between 1991 and 2005, according to a World Bank analysis. Bangladesh met the goal ahead of time.

Some 88% of women are literate in Bangladesh, compared to 68% of women in India. Though the overall adult literacy rate is lower in Bangladesh (59%) than in India (63%).

“The moment that there was education equality, there was power of the mind, then

there was � nancial power,” said Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, research fellow on Bangladesh from Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank. “That is really help-ing Bangladesh to change.”

The gains in female education have, along with the booming garment industry, helped boost female participation in the paid labour force.

Around 36% of women were in paid jobs in Bangladesh in 2010, up from just 14% in 1990, according to the International Labour Organisation.

By comparison, in India, female employ-ment has gone backwards in recent years -- from 37% in 2004-05 to 29% in 2009,

according to the ILO.Empowering women � nancially and

establishing a thriving micro-credit system for female-led small businesses, has also meant women have more say over � nancial decisions in the family.

“They try to prioritise health and educa-tion across everyone in their family,” said Ms Hunter of the UN.

From roughly the same base as India, Bangladesh has brought its life expectancy for both men and women up from 47 years to 70 years since 1970. Indians, on average, live to 66, according to UN data.

Child mortality rates too have come down, from 144 deaths per 1,000 under-� ves in 1990 in Bangladesh, to 41 in 2013.

In that time, India has moved the dial on child mortality from 126 deaths per 1,000 children aged under � ve years old to 53 per 1,000.

India ranks 13 places below Bangladesh in child mortality globally.

“India can learn from the support that the government in Bangladesh has given to NGOs,” said Ms Bhattacharjee. “It is trying to learn from the microcredit system.” l

Joanna Sugden is the Editor of India Real Time, The Wall Street Journal’s online journal about India. This article was � rst published on India Real Time.

How Bangladesh outpaces India on human development indicators

‘India can learn from the support that the government in Bangladesh has given to NGOs,’ said Ms Bhattacharjee.‘It is trying to learn from the microcredit system’

Gender equality is good for growth DHAKA TRIBUNE

OPINION14DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

n Mamun Rashid

When I returned from an assign-ment in India in 1988, I was posted at the wage earner’s branch of the what was then

called ANZ Grindlays Bank, working as its branch operations o� cer as a stop-gap before my transfer to Grindlays’ country treasury division.

I remember Mr Allah Malik Kazemi of Bangladesh Bank telling me: “When you are receiving foreign exchange, don’t worry at all. When you are remitting outside, be care-ful and ensure compliance to all guidelines.”

Since then, Bangladesh’s economy has advanced much farther and has grown much faster, becoming worth nearly $200bn. Our export has crossed $30bn, inward remittance is at $15bn, and more importantly, our foreign exchange reserve is almost worth $24bn.

Yet, there are stringent controls in place on foreign exchange in� ow and out� ow. One can’t bring in more than $5,000 in cash with-out making a declaration at the airport. Our individual travel quota has been increased from $5,000 to $7,000 recently, along with a few other relaxations in the foreign exchange regime.

Though I am aware of Bangladesh being a “money laundering risk” country, and most of the monetary transactions are carried out in cash only, my friends could not � gure out why, with this high foreign exchange reserve, a steady growth in foreign exchange receipts, and the central bank being quite watchful (read laundering money), what exactly is the problem with a returning passenger bringing in $10,000 with them and depositing it in their NFCD or RFCD accounts?

Banks in return can support the vibrant entrepreneurs with foreign currency loans at attractive rates. The client himself or herself can enjoy a lot of incentives with his/her possession of the foreign currency.

There will be less individuals going to banks or the central bank for outward remit-tance approvals.

Similarly, our overseas travels have increased manifold, with regional tra� c almost reaching the limit. I don’t see much of a problem in increasing the travel quota too, up to $10,000 or $15,000.

Yes, Bangladesh Bank seniors and o� cials as a whole are very helpful, and at times very prompt.

But what do they do when their table is full with tiny little outward remittance requests? Even with a positive mindset, they can’t do much, because of the constraints be-ing put in their way through the 1947 Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.

Prudential guidelines issued at frequent intervals cannot keep pace with our business growth and diversity warrants. Bangladesh foreign exchange regime is still quite controlled.

These controls are mostly based on an East India Company mindset, which seeks to limit the � ow of foreign currency abroad by bureaucratic � at. Businesses and individuals have to endure unfairly restrictive hurdles to transfer funds abroad.

The di� culties imposed on Bangladeshi companies wishing to seek to invest and

compete internationally places our econo-my at a major disadvantage to competing nations, especially those marked under Goldman Sachs’s Next 11 list.

One could guess how, far from doing good, the current laws create incentives for corruption in bypassing the law and facilitate the growth of illegal and un-taxed money channels. It is the rigidity of exchange control

procedures which support corrupt o� cials and encourage informal and illegal channels, undermining the aim and spirit of anti-money laundering laws.

Given the success of export industries and expatiates, remitting money has helped build up record foreign currency reserves, but cap-ital controls are actively stopping these � ows from being put to the most productive use. Consumers also su� er as the policy prevents them from taking advantage of lower global market prices on many products.

The best way to get out of this trap is to lift currency controls so that there is not much incentive for people to hide their capital and income. The government should not see it as its job to restrict people sending legitimately-earned money abroad for legitimate reasons.

Our economy can only bene� t from this. Removing controls would, with one stroke, both curb illegality and increase opportunities to attract and make new investments.

Bangladesh Bank has been contemplating going for further deregulation in the foreign exchange regime for a long while. Develop-ment partners were seen keen to help them out to update the 1947 foreign exchange reg-ulation, but the pace is very low. Blemishes are being added to the Law Ministry or even the Finance Ministry.

We are lagging behind our peers in liberal-ising markets. Our potential growth is being hampered, and entrepreneurs and remitters are being actively discouraged.

Do we want this? Absolutely not. We need to move now. l

Mamun Rashid is a business professor and � nancial sector entrepreneur.

The buck should not stop here

Far from doing good, the current laws create incentives for corruption in bypassing the law and facilitate the growth of illegal and un-taxed money channels. It is the rigidity of exchange control procedures which support corrupt o� cials and encourage informal and illegal channels

Don’t restrict the � ow of legitimate money BIGSTOCK

15D

TBusiness THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Falling yen raises spectre of ‘currency war’ in Asia

17 Stocks rebound after two-day fall19

Germany to be fourth-biggest shareholder in AIIB

16Safe farming solution for companies launched

20

RMG EXPORT GROWTHTO US MARKET (%)

Bangladesh 7.03India 9.82Myanmer 123Vietnam 13.14Cambodia 6.44 Pakistan 1.61

In� ation eases after 3-month rise

n Tribune Report

In� ation dropped to 6.19% in May following rise in three consecutive months with contri-butions from low oil prices and restored sup-ply chain of essentials.

The in� ation fell 0.13% percentage points from 6.32% in April, showed the latest data released by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics yesterday.

The May data indicated the sharpest fall since November last year.

It is also marginally below from the gov-ernment’s target to trim annual in� ation to 6.5% in the outgoing � scal year.

Analysts say decline in in� ation is mostly the result of falling petroleum product prices and restoration of supply chain.

Month-to-month food in� ation dropped to 6.23% in May from 6.48% in April.

In contrast, non-food in� ation moved up 6.14% from 6.08% in the previous month.

Prices of goods, mostly produced in the rural areas, increased because of the supply chain disruption at that time.

“Plunge in prices of petroleum products in the international market and domestic market as well helped to pull back in� ation,” Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told journalists.

He was releasing the monthly consumer price index at the National Economic Council Conference room yesterday.

Replying to a question, he said there is no crisis of food and non-food items ahead of Ramadan and the month of budget announce-ment (June) where prices of the essentials are mostly stable across the country.

Besides, he said the rate of exchange in the

country is almost stable for the last � ve to six years, contributing to the fall of in� ation, he added. In urban areas, the May in� ation rate was 6.87%, which was 6.88% in April and in rural areas, it was down 5.84% from 6.03%.

In urban areas, food in� ation slipped 7.54% from 7.62% and in rural areas, it declined to 5.66% from 5.99% during the period.

In the case of non-food in� ation, it rose in both urban and rural areas. Planning minister hoped the rate would remain well below the government’s annual in� ation target.

On rising non-food in� a-tion, o� cials said the mar-ket rate of laundry, cleaning, clothes and recreation facili-ties � uctuates. It has triggered slight rise in the prices of non-food items.

O� cials said decline in global oil prices and restored supply chain of essentials also helped lower the rate.

According to them, the trend remains in line with the government’s target of keep-ing in� ation below 6.5%. l

Bangladeshi RMG facing sti� competition in US market n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Bangladeshi RMG producers are now facing sti� competition to penetrate into the market of the United States in the wake of the pro-duction cost hike and losing competiveness.

Yet, export of Bangladeshi RMG products to the US market has grown by 7% in April 2015, to US$1.8bn, a good rise from 2.3% de-cline in 2014, according to data recently re-leased by OTEXA.

Besides, overall export to the US market also seen a 7.24% gain to $1.9bn.

RMG manufacturers attributed production, political unrest and safety inspection launched by the global retailers’ platforms the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and Al-liance for Bangladesh Worker Safety.

Myanmar, the emerging exporter of the RMG products to US market has posted a 123% growth to more than $8m in the � rst four months of this year.

RMG export to the US market from Viet-nam also increased by 16.5% to $799m while India’s export growth grew by 9.82% to $1.4bn.

Meanwhile, China, the global leader of apparel manufacturing, lost its share in the

US market, which was captured by Vietnam, Bangladesh and India in recent times.

China’s export to the US market rose by over 1%, which is a positive sign for Bangla-desh as it was expected that this share would be shifted to Bangladesh from Chaina.

“As the fate of Bangladesh RMG industry is hanging in the balance, our competitors are taking the advantage of it,” BGMEA President MdAtiqul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune.

Islam noted that productivity of Bang-ladeshi workers was lower than that of the competitors and devaluation of euros against dollars and political unrest also worked as catalysts to lower the growth.

“On the other hand, compliance has in-creased production cost, which lead us to lose competitiveness in the global market,” said Islam.

For gaining competitiveness and to over-come the existing hurdles, the BGMEA chief urged the government to provide policy sup-port including lowering tax at source.

“Apart from political unrest, compliance issue including installation of � re safety equipment and carry out the remediation cast shadow on the production cost leading challenging in competitiveness and the most

challenge for the sector is to lose competitive-ness,’’Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Exporters Association (EAB), told the Dhaka Tribune.

Though production cost has risen but the product price has not increased, which also makes the sector less competitive and lose market share, he said.

“We are introducing production engineer-ing and automation to reduce production cost and enhance productivity to tackle the situ-ation.”

He also urged the government to provide policy support to reduce production cost. l

Jan Feb Mar Apr May

6.0

4

6.14

6.27

6.32

6.19

INFLATION TREND 2015 IN %

Transgender, ethnics entitled to get SME loans n Tribune Report

Transgender, physically challenged and eth-nic communities including Rakhine will be entitled to get bank loans under Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SME) sector.

Bangladesh Bank took the decision, aiming to bring the underprivileged people in � nan-cial inclusion through involving them with SME activities, said a circular the authority issued yesterday.

The move to encourage the underprivi-leged people for Small and Medium Enter-prises (SME) comes a year after the Bangla-desh government recognised the transgender population (Hijra) as third gender.

People belonging to ethnic groups, includ-ing the Rakhine, physical retardation and ‘un-derprivileged women entrepreneurs’ will also come under SME activities, the notice said.

Previously, there was no legal framework in this regard. l

Zakat fair begins tomorrow in Dhaka n Tribune Report

A two-day Zakat Fair is set to begin tomorrow in Dhaka, aimed at encouraging well-o� Muslims in the city to pay their Zakat institutionally.

The theme of third event of its kind in Dha-ka is “Making a di� erence with Zakat.”

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will inaugurate the fair as chief guest at the Na-tional Shooting Sports Federation Complex.

Khondoker Zakaria Ahmed, general man-ager of Center for Zakat and member secre-tary of the Zakat fair organising committee, made the announcement at a press confer-ence at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday.

The Zakat Fair 2015 will be open from 10am to 8pm for all till Saturday.

The event is jointly be organised by Center for Zakat Management, Muslim Aid Bang-ladesh, Islamic Relief Bangladesh and Exim Bank. l

BUSINESS16DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Germany to be fourth-biggest shareholder in AIIBn Reuters, Berlin

Germany plans to take a 4.1% stake in the new China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), making it the fourth-biggest member, according to a � nance ministry draft document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

A total of 57 countries, including Britain, France and Iran, have joined the AIIB, which is seen as a rival to the Western-dominated World Bank and a major plank in spreading China’s “soft power”.

It was launched in Beijing last year to sup-port investment in Asia in transport, energy, telecommunications and other infrastruc-ture. The articles of agreement are expected

to be ready for signing at the end of June.Germany will be the fourth-biggest share-

holder in the $100bn lender after China, In-dia and Russia. It plans to contribute around $900m in the period 2016-2019 and take on $3.6bn in guarantees from 2016, according to the document.

The German cabinet is due to vote on the AIIB foundation documents on Wednesday.

Other countries such as Turkey and South Korea have also said they would join. Brazil, China’s top trading partner, said on Friday it would sign up and that there were no condi-tions set. “Brazil is very interested in partic-ipating in this initiative,” the o� ce of Presi-dent Dilma Rousse� said in a statement.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, speaking on Saturday at a forum in Boao on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, said the country plans to join the AIIB, according to the o� cial Xinhua news agency.

Speaking at the same forum, Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the country was planning to apply to become a founding member, according to Xinhua, while later on Saturday the news agency con-� rmed that Georgia had also applied.

The Netherlands also plans to join, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on his o� cial Facebook page after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. l

Asian gold buyers retreat as prices trapped in tight range n Reuters, Singapore

Expectations of a further drop in gold prices and better returns from surging equities in China have tamed demand for the precious metal in Asia despite recent price declines.

Gold slid to its lowest since March on Fri-day but failed to draw strong buying interest in the world’s two top buyers - equities-ob-sessed China and India, where concerns over a poor monsoon and lack of wedding demand are keeping purchases tight.

Gold has struggled to break out of a $1,170-$1,230 an ounce range since mid-March. The price fell to an 11-week low of $1,162.35 on Fri-day, but has since traded back above $1,170.

Lack of robust buying in Asia could add more pressure on global prices, already hurt by uncertainty over a US rate hike.

Recent demand indicators have not been encouraging. Premiums in other major trad-ing centres across Asia have barely moved in the past few weeks. The Perth Mint’s sales of gold and silver products tumbled to three-year lows in May.

“Since the � rst quarter, for us demand has gone extremely quiet,” said Ron Currie, sales and marketing director at the Perth Mint. “When (the price) is set in a very nar-row range, there is no attraction for people to invest.” l

China to have ‘veto power’ over infrastructure bank n AFP, Beijing

China will ultimately have “veto power” over major decisions of the new Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The AIIB, which will be based in the Chi-nese capital, has 57 prospective members, but the United States and Japan - the world’s larg-est and third-largest economies, respectively - notably have declined to join.

The Journal quoted people close to the bank as saying its voting structure will give China the “upper hand” as the largest share-

holder, e� ectively granting it veto power. According to the bank’s articles of incorpo-

ration, China is providing nearly $30bn of the institution’s $100bn capital base, giving Bei-jing between 25 to 30% of total votes, it said.

The bank’s lean structure will be overseen by an unpaid, non-resident board of direc-tors, the newspaper said. The AIIB, which is expected to be operational later this year, has been viewed by some as a rival to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

But there are concerns over transparency of the lender, which will fund infrastructure in Asia, as well as worries that Beijing will use

it to push its own geopolitical and economic interests as a rising power.

Last week former Federal Reserve chair-man Ben Bernanke rebuked US lawmakers for allowing China to steal a march with the new bank, which threatens to upend Washington’s oversight of the world economic order.

He said lawmakers were to blame because they refused to agree 2010 reforms that would have given greater clout to China and other emerging powers in the International Mone-tary Fund. Under President Xi Jinping, China is pushing to build on the ancient Silk Road trade routes on land and sea, through its “One

Belt, One Road” initiative expected to be part-ly funded by the AIIB.

But supporters say fears over undue Chi-nese in� uence are overblown, and that the participation by more than 50 countries, in-cluding ones as diverse as Britain and Iran, will dilute Beijing’s power.

The United States led a high-pro� le, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to dissuade allies from taking part in the bank.

At least 35 countries will join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) by the deadline of March 31, the bank’s inter-im chief, Jin Liqun, said. l

AZM Saleh promoted as DMD of NCC Bankn Tribune Business Desk

Abu Zafore Md Saleh has re-cently been pro-moted as depu-ty managing director of NCC Bank Ltd. Prior to the post; he was serving the bank as its sen-ior executive vice president and head of cor-

porate & business banking division. Saleh, a post graduate in Economics under the Uni-versity of Dhaka, started his banking career in February, 1986. l

BUSINESS 17D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Falling yen raises spectre of ‘currency war’ in Asian Reuters, Singapore

From South Korea to Indonesia and India, monetary authorities are preparing to let their currencies weaken as a falling Japanese yen makes their economies uncompetitive, and drags them into what some policymakers are calling a “currency war”.

The Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ring-git, Thai baht and other currencies had been sliding gradually against a broadly strong US dollar this year.

They hit fresh lows this week, their sudden declines coming after the yen dropped to a 13-year low on Friday. The region’s normally in-terventionist authorities, however, kept their feet o� the brakes.

An adviser to India’s � nance minister said the country’s export growth was � ailing not just because of weak global demand but also as a result of the currency-weakening mone-tary stimulus policies pursued in major econ-omies such as Japan and the euro zone.

“Call it competitive devaluation, currency war or something else, the fact is such policies are having and will have implications for trading partners,” the adviser said. “We cannot a� ord to let our currency become less competitive.”

India’s rupee INR=IN has been an out-performer as most other currencies ceded ground to a dollar that has been pushed up by expectations that US interest rates will rise at some point this year.

While the yen has lost 16% in 9 months and the euro has fallen 18% since early May 2014, Asian currencies have depreciated far less, making their exports less cheap in interna-tional markets.

Theoretically Asian currencies ought to be weaker as, in general, in� ation levels in the re-gion are higher than those of major trading part-ners, most of which are dicing with de� ation.

Yet, data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) shows China’s yuan was 30% higher in April in trade and in� ation-adjusted terms than in 2010. Korea’s won was 15% more expensive than in 2010, while the yen was 28% weaker. Korea’s exports have fallen every month this year while Chinese exporters have seen both their sales and pro� ts fall.

“There is a risk of currency war where the dollar tends to strengthen, so other countries

will be a� ected,” Indonesian central bank Governor Agus Martowardojo told reporters on Monday.

Not as brutal as 1997There are parallels with 1997 when an ex-tremely weak yen, highly uncompetitive ex-change rates and current account de� cits cul-minated in the Asian currency crisis.

“I don’t think it is going to get as brutal as that,” said Gaurav Saroliya, a macro strategist at London-based Lombard Street Research, listing crucial di� erences.

In� ation is less of a problem than it was

then, making it easier for Asia to cope with weaker currencies. Asian central banks pos-sess far bigger currency reserves. Moreover, the regions’ markets are more � exible and foreign investment � ows are less volatile than they were in 1997.

Without going anywhere near as far as the massive quantitative easing policies em-ployed in Japan and Europe, authorities in Asia have been subtly nudging their curren-cies lower.

India’s central bank e� ectively capped the rupee by mopping up investment in� ows and building currency reserves.

Thailand eased controls on domestic in-vestors moving cash abroad, while Indonesia loosened its tight grip on rupiah trading.

South Korea is particularly sensitive to the yen’s faster depreciation as its exporters com-pete with Japanese � rms in the same markets for cars and electronic goods.

O� cials in Seoul told Reuters, however, that they lack the tools to push the won KRW= down to the same extent as the yen.

Whereas Asian currencies have undergone a creeping depreciation since 2014, the yen’s fall last week could prove to be a trigger for Asia’s currencies to weaken further.

“A lot of these countries are facing a double whammy of poor exports because of a very uncompetitive exchange rate, thanks to Ja-pan and years of portfolio in� ows during the QE environment, and also poor household de-mand,” said Saroliya.

“It is overall a major headwind. So they will be forced into choosing a weaker ex-change rate through monetary easing or non standard measures.” l

Passers-by are re� ected in a signboard of a currency exchange service outside a bank in Tokyo REUTERS

HSBC to shed 50,000 jobs in quest for higher payouts n Reuters, London

HSBC pledged a new era of higher dividends on Tuesday, laying out plans to slash near-ly one in � ve jobs and shrink its investment bank by a third to combat sluggish growth across its sprawling empire.

Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver has made it his mission to boost pro� ts since taking the helm of Europe’s largest bank by assets in 2011 but his e� orts have so far been foiled by high compliance costs, � nes and low interest rates.

In the bank’s second big overhaul since the � nancial crisis, it will speed up a cull of unpro� table units and countries by cutting almost 50,000 jobs - half of them from selling businesses in Brazil and Turkey.

The bank also planned to increase its busi-ness in Asia, particularl y in China.

HSBC will cut its assets by a quarter, or $290bn on a risk adjusted basis (RWA), by 2017, and slice $140bn from its investment bank, which will subsequently make up less than a third of HSBC’s balance sheet from 40% now.

Gulliver also pledged higher payouts for in-vestors. “I believe that we are in the foothills of another prolonged period of dividend growth for the � rm,” he said. The bank’s dividend had grown for 17 years from 1991 to 2008.

But investors were cautious about how HSBC would translate job cuts into meaningful savings given the higher cost of doing business in a tougher post-crisis business environment marked by new rules on risk and compliance.

“Slaughtering the sta� is not necessarily

the solution unless management makes the bank considerably less complex,” said James Antos, analyst at Mizuho Securities Asia.

HSBC shares dipped 1.1% by midday, pres-sured also by disappointment after the bank cut its target for return on equity to greater than 10% by 2017, down from a previous target of 12-15% by 2016. European rivals including Barclays, RBS, UBS and Deutsche Bank have axed thousands of jobs, but many are facing fresh calls for more radical cuts in investment banking given tough operating conditions.

Some investors and analysts reckon HSBC should consider breaking up, on the grounds that extra compliance and regulatory costs outweigh the bene� ts of scale.

But Gulliver defended the bank’s global footprint and universal strategy.

“The answer isn’t the network should be broken up, the issue is there are four or � ve countries that are a major problem,” Gulliver told investors and analysts during a � ve-hour presentation. He cited Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, the United States and Britain as countries where weak performance or high conduct costs and � nes had destroyed value.

He estimated the bank achieved $34bn of revenue bene� ts from its size and diversity, including $22bn of client revenue stemming from its international network.

No sacred cows Jobs will be cut by introducing more automa-tion and consolidating IT and back o� ce op-erations, and the bank said it would close 12%

of branches in its seven biggest markets. It has 5,800 branches globally.

Gulliver said about 7,000-8,000 job cuts would be in Britain, or one in six UK sta� . The UK retail banking business would also be re-branded to meet new rules designed to ring-fence customer deposits from riskier invest-ment banking operations.

Gulliver said it was too early to say whether the group would keep the ring-fenced bank, which will be headquartered in the English city of Birmingham and account for about two thirds of UK revenues, or $11bn.

The bank also set out 11 criteria for helping it decide whether to move its headquarters from London to Asia, likely Hong Kong, in-cluding factors such as economic growth, tax systems and long-term stability.

HSBC said it would complete the review of the possible move by the end of the year, and its strategy update clearly marked a greater shift to Asia, where it plans to redeploy assets cut in Europe and the Americas.

In particular, it plans to increase the size of its insurance business and its presence in China’s Pearl River Delta, a region in south-ern Guangdong province into which Beijing wants to integrate Hong Kong and which al-ready represents a major economic hub.

“The cuts provide signi� cant headroom for the group to

fund asset growth in Asia and absorb RWA in� ation, whilst protecting its ability to pay a progressive dividend,” said Gurpreet Singh Sahi, analyst at Goldman Sachs. l

Gulf expat workers send home $100bn n AFP, Kuwait City

Foreigners working in the energy-rich Arab states of the Gulf sent more than $100bn in remittances to their home countries last year, an economic report showed Tuesday.

The � gure was twice as high as remittanc-es in 2010, an indication of strong growth, the head of economic research at Kuwait Finan-cial Center (Markaz), Raghu Mandagoathur, said in the report.

Around 25 million expats live in the Gulf Cooperation Council states - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - equal to the native popula-tion.

The remittances are estimated at 6.2% of the combined GDP of the six GCC states of $1.6tn, the report said, citing IMF and World Bank � gures.

In comparison, foreigners in the United States and Britain sent home just 0.7% and 0.8% of GDP, respectively, it said.

Saudi Arabia topped the list with its esti-mated 10 million expats sending home $44bn, followed by UAE with 29 billion.

Remittances from Kuwait and Qatar were $12bn and $9.5bn , respectively, while smaller transfers were made out of Oman and Bah-rain, the report said.

The majority of Gulf expatriates originate from India, Egypt, the Philippines, Bangla-desh and Pakistan, as well as Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Yemen. l

BUSINESS18DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 487.33 9.34 20.91 4.62 508.24 8.96NBFI 92.74 1.78 8.94 1.98 101.68 1.79Investment 67.29 1.29 4.08 0.90 71.38 1.26Engineering 466.77 8.94 44.40 9.81 511.17 9.01Food & Allied 82.14 1.57 4.21 0.93 86.34 1.52Fuel & Power 980.44 18.79 89.97 19.88 1070.40 18.87Jute 0.59 0.01 0.00 0.59 0.01Textile 583.41 11.18 74.70 16.51 658.11 11.60Pharma & Chemical 802.46 15.38 51.62 11.41 854.07 15.06Paper & Packaging 8.83 0.17 0.57 0.13 9.40 0.17Service 152.47 2.92 8.97 1.98 161.45 2.85Leather 24.05 0.46 0.20 0.04 24.25 0.43Ceramic 75.35 1.44 5.66 1.25 81.01 1.43Cement 311.43 5.97 32.31 7.14 343.74 6.06Information Technology 57.52 1.10 5.91 1.31 63.42 1.12General Insurance 30.08 0.58 0.42 0.09 30.50 0.54Life Insurance 40.35 0.77 4.31 0.95 44.65 0.79Telecom 347.50 6.66 17.30 3.82 364.80 6.43Travel & Leisure 342.60 6.56 46.38 10.25 388.97 6.86Miscellaneous 265.45 5.09 31.64 6.99 297.09 5.24Debenture 0.02 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.04 0.00

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

News, analysis and recent disclousresLAFSURCEML: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on June 10, 2015 at 4:00 PM to consider, among others, un-audited � nancial statements of the Company for the period ended on May 31, 2015.PRIMEBANK: The Company has informed that BSEC vide their letter dated 09.06.2015 forwarded a Letter of Intent (LOI) for onward issuance of a Security Custodian Registration Certi� cate favoring Prime Bank Limited.

Dividend/AGMDELTALIFE: 20% cash divi-dend, AGM: 21.06.2015, Record Date: 02.06.2015.FAMILYTEX: 10% stock divi-dend,EGM & AGM: 07.08.2015, Record Date: 09.07.2015.KPCL: 40% cash, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 31.05.2015.BDWELDING: 5% stock divi-dend AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 09.06.2015.NBL: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 14.09.2015, Record date: 30.08.2015.ORIONPHARM: 15% cash divi-dend, AGM: 28.06.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015.ISNLTD: No dividend, AGM: 28.06.2015, Record date: 16.06.2015.PURABIGEN: 15% stock divi-dend, AGM: 30.07.2015, Record date: 07.06.2015. JANATAINS: 10% stock divi-dend, AGM: 25.07.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015.

AMBEEPHA: 28% cash divi-dend, AGM: 14.06.2015, Record Date: 25.05.2015. ISLAMIINS: 5% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 19.05.2015.NCCBANK: 10% stock divi-dend, AGM: 24.06.2015, Record Date: 18.05.2015.PEOPLESINS: 13% cash dividend, AGM: 09.06.2015, Record Date: 18.05.2015.LEGACYFOOT: 5% stock, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015. UNIQUEHRL: 20% cash divi-dend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 24.05.2015. WATACHEM: 5% cash and 25% stock dividend, AGM: 20.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015. ARAMITCEM: 10% cash divi-dend, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 13.05.2015. GOLDENSON: 12.50% cash dividend, AGM: 27.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015. GQBALLPEN: 10% cash divi-dend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015. SUMITPOWER: 10% cash and 5% stock dividend, AGM: 28.06.2014, Record Date: 17.05.2015. SPPCL: 25% cash dividend, AGM: 28.06.2015. Record Date: 17.05.2015. TAKAFULINS: 12% stock divi-dend, AGM: 25.07.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015. PRAGATIINS: 10% cash divi-dend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 20.05.2015. PLFSL: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 17.05.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Anlima Yarn -A 9.82 7.52 17.87 17.90 17.90 17.70 0.107 0.83 21.5 Trust Bank-A 9.76 8.50 22.33 22.50 22.50 20.80 1.972 4.24 5.3Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 9.63 4.15 14.31 14.80 14.80 13.40 27.836 3.28 4.4Aziz PipesZ 9.58 6.33 18.30 18.30 18.30 18.30 0.002 -2.64 -veGQ Ball PenA 9.43 9.62 70.98 70.80 71.00 70.80 0.122 2.41 29.5G Next Fashions-A 9.01 5.36 11.79 12.10 12.20 11.10 9.397 1.34 8.8AMCL (Pran) -A 8.75 8.77 201.30 201.30 201.30 201.30 0.000 6.19 32.5Asia Insur. Ltd.-A 8.65 9.33 20.15 20.10 20.30 18.60 0.165 2.17 9.3Trust Bank 1st MF-A 8.51 5.45 5.03 5.10 5.10 4.80 0.530 0.69 7.3ICB Emp. PMF-A 8.33 8.82 5.18 5.20 5.20 5.00 0.258 0.61 8.5

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

G Next Fashions-A 9.91 6.27 11.86 12.20 12.20 11.20 45.394 1.34 8.9Al-Haj Textile -A 9.89 4.48 84.71 87.80 87.80 79.60 51.910 1.07 79.2ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A 9.68 9.28 20.37 20.40 20.40 20.20 0.387 2.61 7.8Asia Insur. Ltd.-A 9.68 9.82 20.35 20.40 20.40 19.10 7.121 2.17 9.4Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 9.63 2.78 14.03 14.80 14.80 13.30 164.542 3.28 4.3Trust Bank 1st MF-A 8.33 6.50 5.08 5.20 5.20 4.80 9.781 0.69 7.4 Trust Bank-A 8.21 7.79 22.28 22.40 22.70 21.00 126.254 4.24 5.3ICB Emp. PMF-A 8.16 7.41 5.22 5.30 5.30 4.90 6.406 0.61 8.62nd ICB M F -A 8.02 8.02 281.40 281.40 281.40 281.40 0.014 34.88 8.1AsianTigerSandhani GF-A 7.58 6.03 7.03 7.10 7.10 6.80 0.789 0.60 11.7

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Libra Infusions-A -24.81 -24.81 291.00 291.00 291.00 291.00 0.004 3.38 86.1National Life I -A -6.95 -6.95 186.10 186.10 186.10 186.10 0.011 12.46 14.9Hakkani P& Paper -B -6.05 -6.10 20.18 20.20 20.20 20.10 0.010 0.29 69.6Bangladesh Welding -Z -5.82 -4.85 18.06 17.80 18.50 17.70 0.316 -0.40 -veRupali Life Insur.-B -5.51 -1.44 37.53 36.00 38.00 36.00 1.497 5.33 7.0Union Capital -A -5.33 -2.47 14.22 14.20 14.30 14.20 0.070 0.60 23.7Khulna Power-A -5.20 -1.08 75.29 72.90 79.30 72.00 25.093 9.20 8.2Global Heavy Chemicals-N -4.82 -0.35 40.35 39.50 43.00 39.00 0.389 2.08 19.4Imam Button -Z -4.40 -2.75 8.84 8.70 9.20 8.50 0.080 -1.21 -veIFIC 1st MF-A -4.17 -3.56 4.60 4.60 4.60 4.60 0.008 0.73 6.3

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Bangladesh Welding -Z -6.35 -5.61 18.01 17.70 18.80 17.50 2.810 -0.40 -veIfad Autos -N -5.58 2.19 101.79 98.10 106.60 97.10 52.019 2.60 39.2Shampur Sugar -Z -4.84 -4.84 5.90 5.90 5.90 5.90 0.006 -69.41 -veKhulna Power-A -4.44 -1.09 75.42 73.20 78.90 72.50 229.741 9.20 8.2Hakkani P& Paper -B -4.27 -3.77 20.69 20.20 21.30 20.10 0.722 0.29 71.3Pioneer Insur -A -3.80 -4.64 33.71 32.90 35.50 32.50 4.830 5.44 6.2Global Heavy Chemicals-N -3.69 -2.75 39.91 39.20 41.90 38.60 3.183 2.08 19.2UNITED AIR-A -3.57 1.28 11.08 10.80 11.60 10.60 304.186 0.86 12.9GBB Power Ltd-A -3.47 -2.02 19.85 19.50 20.60 19.30 18.381 1.36 14.6GeminiSeaFood-B -3.40 -3.88 224.52 224.20 235.00 221.60 0.467 9.58 23.4

DSE key features June 10, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

5,218.81

Turnover (Volume)

155,201,397

Number of Contract

117,561

Traded Issues 314

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

201

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

111

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

2

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,545.03

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.85

CSE key features June 10, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

452.50

Turnover (Volume)

17,315,040

Number of Contract

18,438

Traded Issues 240

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

148

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

85

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,464.83

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.88

BUSINESS 19D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Stocks rebound after two-day falln Tribune Report

Stocks rebounded yesterday after two-day pro� t booking slump with the help of rally of mainly multi-national com-panies.

The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, gained almost 43 points or 1% to 4,556.

The Shariah index, DSES, rose 11 points or 1% to 1,106. The blue chip comprising index DS30 ended at 1,759, rising 21 points or 1.3% to 1,759.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange prime index, CSCX, moved up 40 points to settle at 8,499.

Trading activities improved signi� cantly at the DSE with turnover standing at Tk520 crore, up 12% over the previous session’s value.

After witnessing heavy losses over the last two sessions, ce-ment sector rose sharply more than 3%, driven by Heidelberg Cement that rallied 6.9% and Lafarge Surma Cement 2.8%.

Food and allied increased 2.5%, led by BATBC 2.9%. However, fall in another multinational companies, RAK ce-

ramic that slipped 2.2% led by ceramics sector to drop over 2%.Textile also gained 2.9%, pharmaceuticals 1.5% and

banks 1%. Telecommunications ended the session margin-ally higher while non-banking � nancial institutions, IT and power sectors declined.

LankaBangla Securities said the market reverted to green zone after two days of correction as buying spree of the in-vestors became active where multi-national companies and other large cap stocks were on the buying spree of investors.

It said pro� t booking on some stocks rallied in last few weeks also appeared noticeable in last trading hours.

IDLC Investments said after two sessions of steep correc-tion, the market took a natural reverse turn.

It said while the sustainability of the reversal is too early to be con� rmed, it was assisted largely by portfolio realloca-tion to safer assets.

It said trades motivated by tax rebate incentive as � scal year end also approached.

The trend was strongly evident by investors’ speci� c fo-cus on large caps, speci� cally multi-national companies, majority of which appreciated. l

Market reverted to green zone after two days of correction as buying spree of the investors became active where multi-national companies and other large cap stocks were on the buying spree of investors

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 11130.47060 (+) 0.95% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1759.60090 (+) 1.21% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 14023.10990 (+) 0.55% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11130.47060 (+) 0.61% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 8501.44050 (+) 0.41% ▲

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

UNITED AIR-A 4,080,982 45.07 9.96 10.70 -3.60 11.10 11.60 10.60 11.04BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 771,041 27.88 6.16 35.60 1.14 35.20 36.90 35.30 36.16Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 1,945,459 27.84 6.15 14.80 9.63 13.50 14.80 13.40 14.31LafargeS Cement-Z 200,877 25.30 5.59 126.00 2.02 123.50 128.60 124.80 125.96Khulna Power-A 333,290 25.09 5.55 72.90 -5.20 76.90 79.30 72.00 75.29United Power-N 104,742 17.79 3.93 166.10 0.30 165.60 173.70 165.00 169.81Summit Power -A 352,778 15.00 3.32 41.70 -2.34 42.70 43.60 41.20 42.52Moza� ar H.Spinning-A 355,000 12.10 2.67 34.80 1.75 34.20 35.00 33.90 34.08BD Submarine Cable-A 77,198 11.16 2.47 142.70 0.00 142.70 147.80 142.10 144.51MJL BD Ltd.-A 89,693 9.70 2.14 106.80 -1.66 108.60 110.00 106.10 108.10FAR Chemical-N 208,091 9.58 2.12 44.90 -2.60 46.10 48.00 44.50 46.03Appollo Ispat CL -N 473,628 9.48 2.09 19.80 2.06 19.40 20.40 19.50 20.01G Next Fashions-A 797,231 9.40 2.08 12.10 9.01 11.10 12.20 11.10 11.79WesternMarine -N 185,132 8.47 1.87 45.40 0.22 45.30 47.00 45.30 45.74BSRM Ltd. -N 114,072 8.10 1.79 69.90 0.87 69.30 72.50 69.50 71.01

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

UNITED AIR-A 27,450,047 304.19 5.83 10.80 -3.57 11.20 11.60 10.60 11.08Grameenphone-A 875,065 283.56 5.43 323.90 0.31 322.90 327.60 321.60 324.05BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 6,500,187 234.92 4.50 35.50 1.14 35.10 36.90 35.20 36.14Khulna Power-A 3,046,175 229.74 4.40 73.20 -4.44 76.60 78.90 72.50 75.42HeidelbergCement -A 328,286 181.14 3.47 556.70 6.87 520.90 559.90 522.20 551.77Brac Bank -A 4,792,127 176.82 3.39 37.20 2.20 36.40 37.40 36.40 36.90Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 11,730,945 164.54 3.15 14.80 9.63 13.50 14.80 13.30 14.03Summit Power -A 3,634,879 154.57 2.96 41.90 -1.18 42.40 43.60 41.50 42.52United Power-N 890,640 151.24 2.90 166.30 0.24 165.90 174.80 165.00 169.81ACI Formulations-A 607,824 144.00 2.76 238.60 5.72 225.70 239.90 228.90 236.91Trust Bank-A 5,665,821 126.25 2.42 22.40 8.21 20.70 22.70 21.00 22.28Beximco Pharma -A 2,043,114 121.73 2.33 58.60 0.34 58.40 60.90 58.00 59.58LafargeS Cement-Z 922,875 117.01 2.24 127.00 2.83 123.50 128.50 124.50 126.78Square Pharma -A 460,059 112.88 2.16 246.00 1.03 243.50 248.40 243.90 245.35Alltex Industries -Z 3,869,422 112.67 2.16 29.10 4.30 27.90 30.00 28.20 29.12

BUSINESS20DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Banking hours in Ramadan n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank has reset the o� ce timing and transactions hours for the banks during the holy month of Ramadan.

All banks, including the central bank, will remain open from 9 am to 3.30 pm. Transac-tions will be carried out from 9 am to 2 pm, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.

There would be a 15-minute break for prayers from 1.15 pm to 1.30 pm. l

Safe farming solution for companies launchedn Tribune Report

Direct Fresh Limited, with a grant from glob-al donor Katalyst, launched a new business model - “Bespoke Farming Solution” - for companies and the farmers by eliminating the conventional method of supply and dis-tribution.

The announcement came at a press con-ference at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital yesterday.

With the grant from Katalyst, the company would also provide training to some thousand farmers in Manikganj to ensure safe, healthy and organic produce for its customers.

“Direct Fresh allows no middleman in the

supply chain process and handles all produce from the farm directly to the end customer,” said Markus Ehmann, general manager of Katalyst Bangladesh.

He said Katalyst was committed to facili-tating private companies to establish e� cient procurement and distribution channels that provide su� cient incentives for farmers and relevant stakeholders to adopt good cultiva-tion and trading practices and thereby ensure safe agricultural products.

“Most importantly, we guarantee that our products are 100% free from formalin, car-bide and other industrial carcinogens,” said Mishal Karim, managing director of Direct Fresh Limited.

“We take care of your food from its source to your doorstep with the latest cold-chain and smart-logistics technology. Our business model o� ers complete transparency allowing the client to see the complete process – from production to distribution,” he added.

SI Khan, head of farming, said: “the Kata-lyst grant will help us train farmers and assist with generating awareness. We seek support from everyone to ensure a sustainable supply chain management system.”

The press conference also revealed that the � rst major institution to switch to the Direct Fresh Safe Farming model was Apollo Hos-pital, which would gradually procure all pro-duce from Direct Fresh farms. l

Government to introduce annual performance target of the government employees n Tribune Report

The government is going to introduce a new work plan to achieve the annual performance target of the government employees to imple-ment Vision-2021.

The issue of introducing new work plan was discussed at a meeting between Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO) and Bangladesh Ex-port Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) on Annual Performance Agreement (APA) held in the city, said a BEPZA statement.

Md. Abul Kalam Azad, principal secretary of PMO presided over the meeting while Ma-jor General Mohd Habibur Rahman Khan, executive chairman of BEPZA attended the meeting, among others.

“The government is going to introduce a new concept of Annual Performance to imple-ment Vision-2021,” said the statement.

According to the statement, the govern-ment has taken initiatives to ensure institu-tional accountability, transparency, proper use of public resources, uphold the organiza-tional success in a quantitative way and to im-prove the e� ciency in public sector as a tool of performance managements.

As part of the initiative, the vision, mis-sion, objectives and activities of the organ-izations have been reviewed in detail in the meeting, it added. l

Women entrepreneurs awardedn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) awarded women en-trepreneurs in recognition of their signi� cant achievement in business.

The award-giving ceremony titled “BWC-CI-GP Progressive Ward-2014” was organised by BWCCI in the capital yesterday.

A total of seven women entrepreneurs from seven divisions across the country were awarded this year.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed handed over the awards to the winners presenting as the chief guest while Abdul Matlub Ahmad, newly elected president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and In-dustry (FBCCI), was also present.

Selima Ahmad, president of BWCCI, urged the government to give discount on stall allocation

in Dhaka International Trade Fair for the women entrepreneurs while chairing the function.

Tofail Ahmed assured them of taking measure in this regard.

He said the government kept a block allo-cation for women entrepreneurs in the pro-posed budget for the next � scal year, plus the central bank is also working for them.

The minister suggested BWCCI to train the women entrepreneurs on ICT as the govern-ment has prioritised the sector to achieve the export target of $70bn by 20121.

Before delivering his speech, Tofail launched a web portal for women entrepreneurs.

The award winners are Maksuda Khatun from Barisal Division, Nurun Nahar from Chittagong, Shahida Parvin from Dhaka, Kanij Sultana from Khulna, Asma-Ul-Husna from Rangpur, Hasna Begum from Rajshahi and Reshma Sharmin from Sylhet Division. l

Direct Fresh Ltd holds a press conference on ‘Switching to the safe farming solution’ at the National Press Club in Dhaka yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Winners of BWCCI-Grameenphone Progressive Award 2014 pose with guests at the city’s Krishibid Institution auditorium yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

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ION

22Feature

Enlightening the little dreamers

23Feature

Butthan and its impact on youth empowerment

24Ticket

Foveros

INSIDEnews

Photo: Bigstock

Faster, stronger, safer

Opening of IUB-Saima HallTo provide the nation builders of tomorrow an opportunity to acquire higher education, the Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) has opened a fully funded female students’ dormitory namely, IUB-Saima Hall, for meritorious female students from outside Dhaka with generous support of the Shaheed Khalek and Major Salek Bir Uttam Trust. The opening ceremony of the Hall was held on June 9, 2015

at Baridhara Block J, Dhaka. Renowned social worker and Magsaysay Laureate Tahrunnesa Abdullah inaugurated the ceremony as the chief guest. Among others, A Matin Chowdhury, chairman, IUB Founding Trust, Rashed Chowdhury, chairman, Board of Trustees, IUB and Prof M Omar Rahman, vice chancellor, IUB, also attended the programme.

Shaheed Khalek and Major Salek Bir Uttam

Trust has been set up in memory of Shaheed Khalek, a student abducted by the Pakistani Army on December 10, 1971 and never returned and Major Salek Bir Uttam was a commander of K Force, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Aside from the dormitory facility of free board and lodging provided by the Trust, the qualifying students will also be receiving full tuition scholarship from IUB. l

FeatureTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

T-JUNCTION22DT

n Tanisa Tasmim Sinthia

There is a saying that when a seed of dream or education is implanted in a child’s mind in their tender age, it remains an in� uential thought and demeanour forever and it just grows over time with ever rami� cation like a full grown tree. Just to take advantage of that, our team of “Peace, Prosperity & Civic Education” of South Asia’s largest youth change maker platform “South Asian Youth Society (SAYS),” undertook a noble initiative to conduct workshops to impart education to the kids who are not familiar with opulent lifestyle, but from underprivileged background, whose parents’ main concern is managing and ful� lling their basic needs.

In Japan, the kids are taught of etiquette, ethics and moral percepts, public duty, basic life skills, practical learning, etc from very early age and consequently, they are imbued to implement these lessons in their everyday life re� exively from the core of their heart. However, in Bangladesh, our education system is too academic and textbook based. The kids who come from � nancially solvent families go to coaching centres for “extra learning” that awards them with admittance in top ranking schools or good grades. On the other hand, the underprivileged kids barely get any education and when they do get it someday, they somehow end up disappearing like a � eeting star in the prospect of poverty. Hence, our team decided to enlighten the underprivileged children with some basic life skills and civic responsibilities such as knowledge on � rst aid, tra� c rules and regulation, etiquette, health and cleanliness, leadership and public speaking.

The � rst workshop was conducted on March 21, 2015, at Tejgaon Farm Govt Primary School, where the students from class three to � ve took part in interactive sessions. At � rst, they were taught how to help themselves and others whenever an accident such as a small cut, injury, burn or fracture occured, by the knowledge of � rst aid. It was all practically demonstrated along with the ebullient participation of the students, by Dr Tasnuva Nuhat Sha� n.

Citizens of our country are not well equipped with the knowledge of tra� c signs and signals. They are also obstinate and reluctant to use the safer medium of road crossing. This causes regular accidents including adults and children losing their valuable life or becoming physically handicapped. So the students were introduced to the di� erent types of tra� c signs and signals, their identi� cation and application, tra� c rules and regulation, the reasons behind road accidents and how to avoid those to ensure

safety, by Tahrima H Moon. Then, they were taught about cleanliness, the necessity of personal hygiene and a brief discussion about the importance of checking the MGF and EXP date while using packaged products. There was an interactive session, engaging the students, teachers and the parents on etiquette, decorum and moral ethics, in the hope of shaping the students’ character from an early age, and how to amplify teacher-parents relationship and the surrounding’s role on that.

The last session was to enliven the students to be more vocal through the practice of public speaking. Through this practice the students will have the courage and con� dence to articulate their ideas and vision. The students were encouraged to share their opinions, dreams and open up about themselves. Despite inhabiting the grim reality, each of them voiced their very own dream, that may seem ambiguous for now, but given the opportunity and their dedication, they will surely do well for themselves. A student of class four even said, “I want to be a Software Engineer!”

Later on, a survey was done as a follow up session to determine the impact of the workshop on the students. During the survey, they remembered the � rst aid knowledge, could identify tra� c signs and signals, knew about cleanliness, exhibited good manners and courage and were fearless to speak publicly. After the successful completion of the � rst life skill workshop, our team conducted the second workshop on May 6, 2015 at Aminuddin Govt Primary School with students from KG to class � ve. The interactive workshop on a range of key skills was designed to help the students cope with the rapidly changing world of today. There was a poignant incident during the workshop; we were in an emotional moment when a boy who couldn’t speak tried to communicate with us because he too wanted to voice his opinion like others.

We, the team members, from varied backgrounds but united under one platform, were part of this incredible experience which sparked and invigorated our interests to embark on more initiatives like this and keep continuing them in the future. As active citizens, it is our devoir to help and let the other shine, and bring peace and prosperity. l

Enlightening the little dreamers

Author: Tanisa Tasmim Sinthia is amember of “South Asian Youth Society” (SAYS), undergraduate student of Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET)

Feature T-JUNCTION 23D

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THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Galaxy J1 and Galaxy Core Prime at new prices

Seminar on Higher Study Opportunity in U.S. held at Eastern University

Butthan and its impact on youth empowerment

news

In association with Edward M Kennedy Center (EMK Center), a half daylong seminar on “Higher Study Opportunity in US held at Eastern University (EU) on June 9, 2015 at EU Seminar Hall. Sausan Rahmatullah, education USA advisor, EMK Center, Maggie E Espino, English language fellow of Eastern University come from The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Abu Hena Md Rasel, head of Career Services and International O� ce (CSIO) jointly conducted the seminar. Including

faculties and other o� cials more than a hundred EU registered students attended in this seminar.

This seminar provided a clear picture and presentation on the issues of US admission process, tips on applications, tests, scholarships and funding opportunity through an interactive session by resource person Sausan Rahmatullah. It was an immensely informative session for those students who are interested in learning more about studying in the United States. l

Samsung Mobile Bangladesh has o� ered exciting new prices for two of their innovative devices Samsung Galaxy J1 and Galaxy Core Prime.

With the latest price o� er, Samsung Galaxy J1 will now be available at Tk 10,990 only, previously priced at Tk 11,900 and Galaxy Core Prime will to be priced at Tk 12,990, previously priced at Tk 13,900.

Both Samsung Galaxy J1 and Galaxy Core Prime o� er sleek, attractive designs, powerful features and long-lasting battery to its consumers which will help them stay connected 24X7, share memorable moments and ful� l their desire to stand out.

Commenting on the new price, Hasan Mehdi, head of mobile, Samsung Bangladesh said, “While the number of Internet users is growing by the day, we want to ensure that every consumer has access to the exciting world of smartphones. Hence we are delighted to make these devices more a� ordable for our consumers.”

Both the 3G enabled handsets have already received adulation from the

smartphone lovers. The Galaxy J1 comes with a 4.3-inch WVGA PLS display screen and Galaxy Core Prime has a 4.5-inch display. Both phones feature a 5 MP rear camera with LED � ash and a 2 MP front camera. Their cameras also have innovative sel� e features and advanced camera modes.

Samsung Galaxy J1 is now available in the Bangladesh market at Tk 10,990 only, in black, blue and white. And Galaxy Core Prime is now available in grey and white colours at Tk 12,990 only.

To know more details about their price, customers can call at 09612-300-300 or visit the nearest Samsung stores. l

The Dhaka-based Bangladesh Butthan Federation (BBUF) organised a seminar and a demonstration on Butthan, a Bangladesh martial art-form on Wednesday at Hotel Purbani International. Butthan was founded by Grandmaster Dr Mak Yuree Vajramuni who has many years of training in 40 different arts and forms.

The event, the first of its kind (that’s what they all say), was organised to channel positive energy towards the youth of today and empower them for tomorrow through the sport of Butthan.

The event started off with a seminar which was followed by the inauguration ceremony of Dr Yuree’s new book “100

Wisdom To Change Your Life.” There was a live demonstration afterwards on the techniques and skills employed in Butthan.

Advocate Shri Biren Sikder, state minister, Ministry of Youth and Sports was the chief

guest. Md Harun-ur-Rashid, chairman, Asian TV, and Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president, FBCCI were the special guests at the event.

Prof KM Mohsin, VC, Dhaka International University, Prof Dr Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, Dhaka University, Brigadier General Nazib Hasan, former DG, BKSP and former ambassador Syed Shahed Reza, president, Bangladesh Butthan Federation and secretary general, Bangladesh Olympic Association graced the event as speakers for the seminar.

Mr Reza in his speech outlined the growth of BBUF ever since its inception in 1981. He reminded the crowd how since the early days, Butthan in Bangladesh has come a long way. He added how Butthan was not only practiced in schools and colleges but also in law enforcement agencies as part of their training regime.

BBUF in partnership with Bangladesh Ansar and VDP Academy organised training programmes for around 12,000 trainees in all 64 districts. BBUF and Dr Yuree have received their fair share of international recognition as well. They were featured on the Combat Magazine cover back in 2010 and more recently, the international combat sports journal Martial Arts Illustrated featured them on their cover page in 2015. The magazine read, “Grand Master Dr Yuree Vajramuni Superhuman is world’s most unique martial artists, a foremost authority in the � eld of mind training, meditation, motivational speaking and art of self-defence.” l

TicketT-JUNCTION24 DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

FoverosFoveros is a brand new online store that has people raving about their funky, compact sized notebooks. Priced at Tk250, their new line comes in several different colours and designs - with the creative team behind the brand paying

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TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

CAN BANGLADESH LIVE THE DREAM?26 2827

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique, who led the Catalan giants to

the treble in his � rst campaign in charge, has agreed to extend his

contract with the Spanish side until June 2017

EXTENSION

Sport‘ELA BUCCHI, ELA BUCCHI’

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN: ALFAZ

India opener Shikhar Dhawan’s heart is in his mouth as he spoons a catch towards the short mid-wicket region o� Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam (unseen) during the � rst day of the lone Test at Fatullah yesterday. Shuvataga Hom, however, grassed the opportunity as Dhawan went on to score an unbeaten 150

SCORECARD, DAY 1INDIA 1ST INNINGS R BM. Vijay not out 89 178S. Dhawan not out 150 158Extras: 0Total (for no wicket, 56 overs) 239

BowlingShahid 12-2-52-0, Sarkar 2-0-7-0, Shuvagata 13-0-47-0, Shakib 9-1-34-0, Taijul 12-0-55-0, Jubair 7-0-41-0, Imrul 1-0-3-0.

TALKING POINTS BANvIND, DAY 1

The playing XIBangladesh once again got their playing XI horri-bly wrong. No matter how much coach Chandika Hathurusingha said they will play for a win, opting to play the Test match with just one seamer sug-gested otherwise. Granted, the pitch will assist the spinners but leaving Rubel Hossain out and going in with four spinners was a foolish decision. Playing eight batsmen only suggests they are eying a draw, a wrong mentality to start with.

Plan B still invisibleThe Bangladesh think-tank must have had a plan behind selecting the playing XI. However, a back-up plan, needed when things go wrong, was once again missing. The absence of a Plan B once again resulted in huge favour to the opposition team.

Oh Hom, why Hom!To start with, Bangladesh should have played Na-sir Hossain in place of Shuvagata Hom who plays a bits-and-pieces role at No 8. Shuvagata’s bowling was ine� ective and he also spilled the only chance given on the day. He dived low on the looping half-hearted punch from Shikhar Dhawan on 73, got both hands only to see the ball pop out.

The partnershipDhawan stepped on the gas right from the beginning and creamed the home side’s bowl-ers to all parts of the ground. His aggressive approach allowed Murali Vijay to take the time and get in. Once set, despite the rain break, the two batted in the same tempo as India ended up with 239 on the � rst day.

–REAZUR RAHMAN ROHAN

Indian openers dominate toothless Tigersn Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh might have begun the solitary Test against India yesterday with ample amounts of con� dence derived from their recent run of form but it mattered little as the

visitors are on the verge of a huge total fol-lowing the conclusion of the � rst day’s play at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan scripted a bril-liant comeback in the Test arena, smashing his third hundred, while his partner Murali Vijay is slowly but surely inching towards his sixth as India ended the rain-marred � rst day on 239 without loss.

The Bangladesh think-tank gave birth to yet another controversy, having decided to

opt for only one seamer in Mohammad Sha-hid in the playing XI, and the decision back-� red horribly. A lack of a second specialist seamer enabled the Indian openers to play freely and accumulate their runs at a brisk rate of 4.26 per over. Only 56 overs among the regulation 90 was possible due to persistent rain but Dhawan and Vijay paid no heed to that as the former remained unbeaten on 150 while the latter was undefeated on 89.

Liton Kumar Das, who became the 77th Bangladesh cricketer to feature in Test cricket, made his international bow but all the attention was on local boy Shahid, who hails from Narayanganj. The right-arm paceman did make an impressive start, creating some half-chances early on, but was unable to sustain his rhythm as the Indian openers punished anything sloppy from the Tigers bowlers.

Dhawan can count himself lucky as it was because of Lokesh Rahul’s illness that the southpaw was able to play the Fatullah Test. And, Dhawan grabbed the opportunity with both hands, reaching his � fty o� just 47 balls. Dhawan however, enjoyed the rub o� the green as he was dropped on 73 by Shuvaga-ta Hom at short mid-wicket o� Taijul Islam. He ensured there would be no more hiccups as he was well en route to his century before lunch. Only four cricketers have previous-ly hammered a hundred before lunch. Rain though denied Dhawan and played spoil-sport as play was halted right until 3:30pm. Intervention from the rain-gods hardly aided Bangladesh’s cause as Dhawan soon reached his century.

The 29-year old smote 21 boundaries and was not out after facing 158 balls while Vijay’s 178-ball knock featured eight fours and a six.

Skipper Mush� qur Rahim looked helpless as he had to make do with just one seamer and four spinners – Taijul, Jubair Hossain, Shuvagata and Shakib al Hasan – and the slow bowlers were unable to create any sort of dif-� culties in the face of some controlled batting by the opposition openers. l

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sport26DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

‘Ela Bucchi, Ela Bucchi’It was only the second ever Test match played at the ground while it was the � rst Test for both sets of Bangladesh and India players at Fatullah. But, more than anyone else, the occasion was special for local lad Mohammad Shahid, for whom playing with the red leather was a new thing even � ve years back.

Becoming a fast bowler is tough, especial-ly in Bangladesh. Apart from the unfriend-ly conditions, an individual needs strong character and will-power. Shahid was a very popular player in the taped-tennis circuit in Narayanganj and that is where former Bang-ladesh pacer Mohammad Sharif spotted him and introduced him to the bigger world. Little did Shahid know that Sharif’s instinct was going to change his life forever.

Speaking to Minhaz Uddin Khan yester-day, Sharif, who played 10 Tests and nine one-day internationals for Bangladesh, rolled back to 2011 when he took Shahid to Dhaka division’s trial – a place where it all started.

The introduction“I had taken two or may be three

payers for trial that day and Shahid was one of them and he did pretty well in the nets with the ball,” said

Sharif.It was the � rst time

the 26-year-old celebrity in taped-tennis tournaments was

going to handle a red leather.“He never had any good idea as to how

to deal with a cricket ball. Of course he had seen a ball before but I remember him telling

me that he was worried as he is not used to playing with a red leather,” said Sharif.

Having played both alongside and as op-ponents in various taped-tennis tournaments in Narayanganj, Sharif’s instinct said Shahid could be the next big cricketer from his region.

“I pushed the team management to in-clude him in the team. My main aim there was to lift a cricketer from Narayanganj as it had been a long time that a cricketer came up after me and Rajib (national pacer Shaha-

dat Hossain). So, I thought of giving a play-er the opportunity to play in the national league and see if he can take it from there.”

Breakthrough“He was in big trouble in his � rst National League game (against Rangpur Division). He did not have the endurance to bowl so many overs and had no idea whatsoever how to bowl in the right areas. I still remember me and Rubel (discarded national spinner Mosharraf Hossain) consulting him before every over.”

Sharif continues, “The funniest part I re-member was that we were telling him to de-liver bouncers but he was ending up deliv-

ering either in front of the batsman or short balls. I got a little angry and told him to pitch it at the umpire’s leg (laughs) and surprising-ly he bowled a good bouncer.

“I asked him, ‘Do you understood now?’ and he answered ‘Ela bucchi, ela buc-chi’ (meaning ‘now I understand’ in local Narayanganj dialect),” revealed Sharif while laughing out loud.

“But he has worked hard since then. I think it has been a tough journey for him compared to other cricketers because he doesn’t have a sound education background, there were even big issues with his attitude problem. I think he has got the result of working hard, he is playing Test matches for his country.”

Shahid made his Test debut for Bangla-desh in the last home series against Paki-stan. He played two matches and took � ve wickets. In the � rst-class arena he has 65 wickets from 28 matches with a best of 5-57 in an innings and 9-103 in a match.

Shahid’s effectSharif, one of the senior pacers in the country, explained, “One cannot expect Shahid to be as quick as Rubel [Hossain], Taskin [Ahmed]. He is a young, promising moderate pacer bowling at around 130 km/h and a sense of good line and length can take him a long way.

“I hope he will mature himself into a cun-ning bowler as he gathers experience. And I have a strong belief that Bangladesh can get some good service from him but one will have to milk it out. He has a di� cult action compared to other Bangladesh bowlers, a lit-tle like the West Indies bowlers. So, he might get bene� t from that at least until the oppo-nents read him well.”l

Hathurusingha defends playing combination n Minhaz Uddin Khan

The rain-hit � rst day of the one-o� Test against India was uneventful for hosts Bang-ladesh. Only 56 overs were bowled in which the two Indian openers scored 239 runs.

The Bangladesh desolation was easy to pre-dict as they opted to � eld only one seamer in Mohammad Shahid, playing his third Test, and packed the playing XI with batsmen and spin-ners. The decision on the combination sug-gested that they went all-in without a Plan B.

Tigers head coach Chandika Hathurusing-ha had a con� dent start to his explanation of selections in the post-day press conference. “I don’t agree with you” was what he had re-plied in the � rst question when queried if the team could have been better.

“Rubel [Hossain] is coming after an injury. He was not 100%. We thought if Rubel bowled in this wicket, there could be a re-occurrence of his injury because he didn’t get the chance to prove his � tness in a match.

“The reason to pick the spinners is because of the condition. The other thing is having the variety of the o� -spinner. The Indian team’s history for last few series saw o� -spinners be-ing successful against them,” Chandika added.

Then why not play the third pacer in the squad, Abul Hasan, who is just warming the benches? The query went unexplained.

“This is actually the best bowling attack at this stage for us on this kind of a wicket. To be honest, this is probably the most � at-test wicket I have seen so far, close to the one we played in Khulna (against Pakistan). That was pretty similar to this. There (Khulna), we at least got a little more help, but you never know. This could be a di� erent wicket at the end of day � ve,” said the 46-year-old.

Bangladesh was once a side that sought a re-spectable defeat and draw as a result was con-sidered almost as a win. Times have changed as Bangladesh are a team to watch out for in the limited version. In the Tests, however, the action and preparation does not match.

The team management expresses the de-sire the win, but they have always gotten the combination wrong. “We still want to win. We are still playing to win that’s what I can tell you. I don’t see anything di� erent in the body language. Only thing is the scoreboard said 230-0. Until both sides � nish at least one innings I can’t come into conclusion whether we have done the right or wrong thing. I didn’t see anything wrong with the body language.”l

He doesn’t have a sound education background, there were even big issues with his attitude problem. I think he has got the result of working hard, he is playing Test matches for his country

We can enforce a result, says Ashwinn Mazhar Uddin

Visitors India are o� to a great start to their one-o� Test match against Bangladesh at Fat-ullah. Despite rain allowing only 56 overs to be bowled on the � rst day, the Indian openers scored at a pretty decent run-rate to post 239 without any wicket as their o� -spinner Ravi-chandran Ashwin is hopeful of a positive re-sult in the match.

The hosts picked four spinners in the match complemented by only one seamer. However, the visitors had a more balanced playing XI in contrast to their opponents as they named three fast bowlers and two spin-ners in their line-up. Ashwin believes the pitch has a lot in it for the faster bowlers and it will be very helpful to their side.

“We can’t really control the weather, it’s out of our reach. But as you said, we put our best foot forward, we played � ve bowl-ers and we are looking at the best possible result in the game. If the time is there, and if we bowl really well – with a little bit of help and a little bit of luck – we can enforce a re-sult,” Ashwin said during the post-day con-ference yesterday.

“I think it’s an individual perception.

They probably saw the wicket in the way they wanted to see it and we are seeing it in a di� erent way. We’ve got bowlers that we think can exploit this track with 140 and 140-plus speeds, and if there is some reverse swing later on in the game. That’s the idea behind that. It’s also about how the bowlers are bowling and our bowlers have been pretty good,” he added.

Alongside Ashwin, the other spinner in the Indian side in Harbhajan Singh who is making a comeback for the national team after almost two years. Both the o� es will play a crucial role against the Bangladeshi batting unit that is boosted by left-handers. Their primary tar-get may be the same, but Ashwin revealed they will play di� erent roles in the journey.

“I’ll bowl the ball there, as simple as that. You can’t really complicate things, and as I see it there is nothing to complicate. We are di� erent kinds of o� -spinners to be honest. He’s going to add a lot of value. He’s come in with a lot of experience and that’s going to bring a di� erent dimension to the whole team and the set-up. But having said that, I go about my game very simply. I just bowl the ball there and try and do what I can do best,” he said.l

Sport 27D

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THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Barca board setps downThe Barcelona board resigned Tuesday as expected to stand for relection by the Spanish giants’ members after a season in which the team won the treble despite a series of legal woes. “I present my resignation to allow fresh elections to take place. Members must chose the model that they want for the club for the next six years,” Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu told a news conference.

–AFP

FIFA suspends 2026 World Cup biddingFIFA announced on Wednesday it had suspend-ed the bidding process to host the 2026 World Cup amid the furore surrounding corruption probes at the organisation. “It was decided to place the administrative process on hold for the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding due to the current situation,” a FIFA statement said. “Fur-ther decisions regarding the 2026 FIFA World Cup bidding process will be discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee at a later date.”

–AFP

Gender storm as Philippines call for sex testA gender row hit the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Tuesday after the Philippines demanded that organisers carry out tests on a women’s volleyball player from Indonesia. A team o� cial con� rmed reports that the Phil-ippines had asked for a gender test on Aprilia Santini Manganang of Indonesia, 23, ahead of their game on Wednesday.

–AFP

McClaren expected to replace Carver at NewcastleFormer England head coach Steve McClaren is favourite to be named as Newcastle United’s new manager after the club con� rmed on Wednesday that interim boss John Carver and his assistant Steve Stone had left the club. The 54-year-old McClaren, is expected to be con� rmed in the role later on Wednesday, according to local media.

–Reuters

Mexican club Queretaro, Ronaldinho to splitMexican club Queretaro and Ronaldinho are going to part ways, the team manager said Tuesday after a tumultuous year for the Brazilian football great. Ronaldinho arrived with great fanfare last year, but he started o� with a missed penalty in his � rst game and was benched after storming out of the stadium during a semi-� nal game last month.

–AFP

Senegal, Mali, Serbia, US advance to U20 QFs Goalkeepers became heroes as the United States beat Colombia 1-0 and Senegal beat Ukraine 3-1 on penalties in a dramatic opening to the knockout rounds of the Under-20 World Cup on Wednesday. Ibrahima Sy saved three penalties as Senegal, in their � rst-ever appearance at the U20s, beat Ukraine in a penalty shootout after they were 1-1 at the end of extra time.

–AP

QUICK BYTES Anything can happen, says AlfazBangladesh will kick o� their 2018 Fifa World Cup second round quali� cation campaign today when they face Kyrgyzstan at Bangab-andhu National Stadium at 5pm. On June 16 at the same venue, Bangladesh will host their next quali� er against Tajikistan.

On the eve of the quali� ers that will also double up as the quali� cation process of the 2019 Asian Cup, Shishir Hoque of Dhaka Tribune talked with four former players. The quartet have represented the national side with distinction at di� erent times in the last few decades and nearly all of them were in agreement that home advantage would come in handy against both Kyrgyzstan and Tajik-istan, ranked 177th and 139th respectively.

Golam Sarwar Tipu (1964-79)Having watched the two friendly matches re-cently, I think Bangladesh have not improved that much in the last three-four years. And thus, I expect nothing much from the quali-� ers. The players seem to lose concentration with the game rolling towards the end. And this is happening because of their lack of en-ergy level. The strike-force is o� -colour as well. I desperately want Bangladesh to win but the reality is Tajikistan are better than us and it will be tough to hold them. Kyrgyzstan are also a good side but if we utilise home ad-vantage, there is a chance against them.

Amalesh Sen (1972-78)Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are better than us. They are physically more � t, taller and the

way we performed against Afghanistan and Singapore in the two warm-up matches, I do not expect much. If we play attacking foot-ball, score goals and maintain the lead then it is possible. We will have home advantage. The crowd and the weather will also be in fa-vour of us and if we exude spirit on the pitch, I think we should win.

Abu Yousuf (1974-86)Hope is always there but our recent perfor-mances are not that satisfactory and I did not see anything that would make me hope-ful. They should at least perform well as the matches will be played at our home ground but I notice a lack of con� dence in them. It is important to be mentally strong and come out

of the tendency of losing a game before it even kicks o� . We must have the commitment, put up a � ghting mentality and utilise the weath-er, soil as well as home advantage in order to achieve something positive from the matches.

Alfaz Ahmed (1995-2008)This team is playing together for quite a while and have also taken part in international matches regularly. In the past, we used to get only � ve or six matches a year. The players should give their total commitment. They should remain serious and try their best. Any-thing can happen. The opponents are not that threatening and we are playing at home so I am hopeful if we give our hundred percent, we will have a chance. l

BANGLADESH IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERTotal Appearance 9 times (including 2018), Played 40, Win 9, Draw 4, Loss 27

First Appearance World Cup 1986 quali� ers

First Match Against Indonesia on 18 March, 1985 in Jakarta

First Home Match Against India on 30 March, 1985 in Army Stadium, Dhaka

First Goal Ashrafuddin Chunnu against India on 30 March, 1985 in Army Stadium, Dhaka

First Win Against Indonesia (2-1) on 2 April, 1985 in Army Stadium, Dhaka

Highest Scorers 3 Alfaz, Mamun Joarder, 2 Kaiser Hamid, Sabbir, Rumi Rizvi, Jewel Rana, Sujan

Biggest Home Win 3-0 against Pakistan (2011)

Biggest Away Win 3-0 against Sri Lanka (1993) in UAE, 3-0 against Mongolia (2001) in Saudi Arabia

Biggest Home Defeat 0-2 against China at BNS (1989), 0-2 against Tajikistan at SBNS (2003)Biggest Away Defeat 0-8 against Japan in Tokyo (1993)

‘No processed foods’ the secret of Messi’s current formn Agencies

Alterations Lionel Messi made to his diet were behind the Argentina star’s form resurgence that led Barcelona to the treble-clinching treble, claims his doctor and nutritionist Gi-uliano Poser.

Messi returned to Poser, who he � rst visited in 2008, after his form slumped following Ar-gentina’s World Cup � nal defeat by Germany.

And after a tough start to the season the four-time Ballon d’Or winner is being reward-ed for his discipline with � tness and phenom-enal form along with the La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League titles.

“After the World Cup maybe something changed,” Poser told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Messi has probably realised that he could change something.

“Leo is a humble guy. He won everything but he still wants to continue to excel for many years. He understood that to do so he had to change something. Leo had the humil-ity to try to do something di� erent in his pro-fessional life.”

Barcelona were considered a club in crisis for the � rst half of the season, o� the top of La Liga and with Messi at the centre of dramas behind the scenes with new manager Luis Enrique.

But a substantial turnaround leaves Barca with the treble and Messi in sensational form with a goal tally of 58 from 60 matches, and is the red-hot favourite to reclaim the World Player of the Year title lost for the last two years to Cristiano Ronaldo.l

** Bangladesh Standard Time ** Since all the matches will kick off aer midnight in Bangladesh, the dates have been revised to the next date.

The Copa America 2015Group A Group B Group C

Mexico - Bolivia

Ecuador - Bolivia

Chile - Mexico

Mexico - Ecuador

Chile - Bolivia

Uruguay - Jamaica

Argen�na - Paraguay

Paraguay - Jamaica

Argen�na - Uruguay

Uruguay - Paraguay

Argen�na - Jamaica

Colombia - Venezuela

Brazil - Peru

Brazil - Colombia

Peru - Venezuela

Colombia - Peru

Brazil - Venezuela

QUARTER - FINALS

SEMI-FINALS

FINAL

1st Group AB3 or C3

June 25 (5:30AM)

San�ago

June 30 (5:30AM) San�ago

July 5 (5:30AM)

San�ago

July 1 (5:30AM)

Concepcion

July 4 (5:30AM)

Concepcion

Temuco Vina del Mar Concepcion

2nd A2nd C

June 26 (5:30AM)

1st B A3 or C3

June 27 (5:30AM)

1st C 2nd B

June 28 (3:30AM)

June 12 (5:30AM)

June 13 (5:30AM)

June 16 (3:00AM)

June 16 (5:30AM)

June 20 (3:00AM)

June 20 (5:30AM)

June 14 (1:00AM)

June 14 (3:30AM)

June 17 (3:00AM)

June 17 (5:30AM)

June 21 (1:00AM)

June 21 (3:30AM)

June 15 (1:00AM)

June 15 (3:30AM)

June 18 (6:00AM)

June 19 (5:30AM)

June 22 (1:00AM)

June 22 (3:30AM)

Chile - Ecuador

THIRD PLACE

Sport28DT

Veteran Bangladesh forward Jahid

Hasan Ameli tries to control the ball during training at the Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club

ground yesterday ahead of their maiden

2018 Fifa World Cup second round

quali� er against Kyrgyzstan today

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Bangladesh v Kyrgyzstan Today at 5:00pm

Bangabandhu National Stadium

HEAD-TO-HEADDate Result CompetitionAug 24, 2007 Ban 0-3 Kyr Nehru CupMay 9, 2008 Kyr 2-1 Ban 1 International

FIFA RANKINGBangladesh – 166 Kyrgyzstan - 177

BANGLADESH IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

1986M W D L GF GA GD Pts6 2 0 4 5 10 −5 4

Position: 4th in Group 4, Zone 1, (with Indonesia, India and Thailand)Format: Home and Away (double-leg)Scorers: 2 Ashrafuddin Chunnu, 1 Kaiser Hamid, Elias Hossein, Ashis BhadraBiggest Win: 2-1 against Indonesia in Army Stadium, DhakaBiggest Defeat: 0-3 against Thailand in Bangkok

1990M W D L GF GA GD Pts6 1 0 5 4 9 −5 2

Position: 3rd in Group 5 (with China, Iran, Thailand)Format: Home-and-away (double-leg)Scorers: 1 Mohammed Aslam, Wasim Iqbal, Sabbir, Badal DasBiggest Win: 3-1 against Thailand in Dhaka (BNS)Biggest Defeat: 0-2 against China in Guangzhou

1994M W D L GF GA GD Pts8 2 0 6 7 28 -21 4

Position: 4th in Group F, First Round (with China, Iran and Thailand)Format: hosted by Japan and UAE (double-leg)Scorers: 3 Mamun Joarder, 2 Rumi Rizvi, 1 Sabbir, Kaiser HamidBiggest Win: 3-0 against Sri Lanka in Dubai, UAEBiggest Defeat: 0-8 against Japan in Tokyo, Japan

1998M W D L GF GA GD Pts6 1 0 5 4 14 –10 3

Position: 4th in Group 1, First Round (with Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei)Format: In Malaysia, Saudi Arabia (double-leg)Scorers: 2 Jewel Rana, 1 Ahmed Imtiaz Nakib, Alfaz AhmedBiggest Win: 2-1 against Chinese Taipei in Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaBiggest Defeat: 1-4 against Saudi Arabia in Selangor, Malaysia

2002M W D L GF GA GD Pts6 1 2 3 5 15 −10 5

Position: 3rd in Group 10 (with Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Mongolia)Format: hosted by Saudi Arabia (double-leg)Scorers: 2 Sujan, Alfaz Ahmed, 1 KanchanBiggest Win: 3-0 against Mongolia in DammamBiggest Defeat: 0-6 against S Arabia in, Malaysia

2006M W D L GF GA2 0 0 2 0 4

Position: Lost in playo� s against Tajikistan Format: Home and Away (knockout)Results: Home (0-2), Away (0-2)

2010M W D L GF GA2 0 1 1 1 6

Position: Lost in playo� s against Tajikistan Format: Home and Away (knockout)Results: Home (1-1), Away (0-5)Scorer: 1 Zumratul Hossain Mithu

2014M W D L GF GA4 2 1 1 5 4

Position: Lost in 2nd-rd playo� s against Lebanon Format: Home and Away (knockout)Results: First Round: Home (3-0), Away (0-0) against Pakistan; Second Round: Home (2-0), Away (0-4) against LebanonScorer: 2 Jahid Hasan Ameli, 1 Zahid Hossain, Rezaul Karim, Mithun Chowdhury

Bangladesh captain Mamunul IslamAfter the friendly matches, we enjoyed our training sessions and worked on the mistakes to make sure we do not repeat them tomorrow (today). We will play to win and according to our target it is very important to earn three points against Kyrgyzstan.

We did study about them. They are physically stronger and play power football like the English does. If they play using long balls, we should keep the ball on the ground. We are ready for the challenge.

Bangladesh coach Lodewijk de KruifWe did everything possible in our capability to prepare this team. We su� ered a little bit of trouble with injury. We have trouble with Zahid

Hossain (stomach bug) and Reasat Khaton (muscle pull). In general, we gave them everything. The answer will come out tomorrow (today). Very important game.

They (Kyrgyzstan) have experience of playing in higher level. Most of their players play in foreign league. They have a good team and good players as well.

Kyrgyzstan captain Azamat BaymatovIn 2010 we played here and the weather condition was quite similar. I don’t think it’s a key factor. We respect Bangladesh team and how they play. We have our own goals to achieve. I’m happy that the quali� ers campaign is kicking o� and I’m looking forward to the � rst game against Bangladesh and want to play with full motivation.

Kyrgyzstan coach Aleksandr KrestininThey are the home team and will play at their own stadium which is why they will have a bit of extra motiva-tion. We realise tomorrow (today) will be a tough game but we will see.

If the pitch will be like the Afghan-istan game then it will be di� cult for both the teams. It will be better if the pitch is in good condition.l

FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 AND ASIAN CUP 2019 QUALIFIERS

Can Bangladesh live the dream?n Shishir Hoque

The Bangladesh football team will be eying nothing short of full three points as the joint quali� cation of the Fifa World Cup 2018 and Asian Cup 2019 Quali� ers gets underway to-day with their match against Kyrgyzstan.

Bangladesh played the Kirghiz only twice before and lost on both occasions, but the stage is di� erent now as the men in red and green will be playing at home.

The match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today at 5pm is a very important one for the home side as their prime target is to qualify for the Asian Cup and nothing beats a winning start. The overall performance has developed in the last two years under the tu-telage of Dutch coach Lodewijk de Kruif but all e� orts will go in vain if they do not per-form at the big stage.

It has been around a month that the boot-ers started practising together before playing Singapore and Afghanistan to put the � n-ishing touch to their preparation while Kyr-gyzstan trained in the United Arab Emirates

for a week before arriving in Bangladesh. However, not playing a single international match in 11 months saw the Kirghiz sink 11 places below Bangladesh in the Fifa rankings.

“It’s only statistics (ranking),” said De Kruif yesterday. “I don’t care about it. The only thing that is important for me is getting three points tomorrow (today).” Kyrgyzstan head coach Aleksandr Krestinin also echoed his counterpart, saying, “At the moment we are not concerned about ranking as it doesn’t

a� ect our team. Now, we are looking forward to the o� cial tournament.”

De Kruif however, has a major headache with regards to the � tness of some of his play-ers as winger Zahid Hossain is yet to recover from his stomach bug while expatriate foot-baller Reasat Khaton is out with muscle injury. Wahed Ahmed is also not in the squad. “When players are injured from the probable starting 11 we have to replace them from a category of players who don’t play regularly, don’t play on high level. It’s a bit of a concern,” De Kruif said.

Apart from the physical di� erence, Bang-ladesh will enjoy the home advantage. De-spite been very hot and humid in the past several days, forecasts suggest a little bit of rain and the temperature is also likely to be down to the 20s.

All eyes will be on forwards Jahid Hasan Ameli and Enamul Haque but the whole team needs to play as a unit and hold on to the rhythm right till the � nal whistle. Kyrgyzstan comprises of seven players who play in the European leagues in Germany, Russia, Po-land, Serbia and Ukraine.l

WHAT THEY SAID

Sport 29D

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Gazi TV, Star Sports 110:00AM India Tour of Bangladesh 1st Test, Day 2 Channel 95:00PMFifa World Cup Quali� erBangladesh v KyrgyzstanTen Cricket9:00PM Australia Tour of West Indies 2nd Test Day 1Star Sports 411:30PM Natwest T20 Blast 2015Northamptonshire v Derbyshire

DAY’S WATCH

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

RECORD-BREAKING ENGLAND

England’s 210-run winning margin was the biggest they have recorded in ODIs, beating the 202-run win over India in June 1975.

England’s 408-9 is the highest ODI total by England (and 10th highest of all time) and the highest ODI total by any side in England.

Jos Buttler’s 129 was the highest ODI score by a number six batsman for England.

Buttler and Adil Rashid scored the highest seventh-wicket partnership in ODI history.

Buttler’s 100 is the second-fastest in England ODI history, with Joe Root’s the fourth-fastest.

England’s 14 sixes was the most they have scored in an ODI innings.

MARTA’S INDIVIDUAL HONOURS

Brazil women’s football team top goalscorer Fifa World Player of the Year winner (5 times) Fifa Women’s World Cup Golden Ball winner US Women’s Professional Soccer MVP (2 times) US Women’s Professional Soccer Golden Ball

winner (three times)

Shah Rukh Khan buys CPL teamn Agencies

Bollywood royalty is now set to rub shoulders with Hollywood glamour, following the pur-chase of the Trinidad & Tobago franchise in the Caribbean Premier League by star actor and Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan.

Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Gerard Butler already own CPL franchises. Wahlberg owns reigning champions Barbados Tridents, led by Kieron Pollard, while Butler owns Ja-maica Tallawahs, captained by Chris Gayle.

Khan’s company Red Chillies Entertain-ment Pvt Ltd -along with KKR co-owners Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta -has in-vested in the T&T franchise. The next edition of the tournament is scheduled to run from June 20 to July 26.

Khan is the � rst owner of an Indian Pre-mier League team to own an overseas cricket franchise. He told TOI: “This is in line with our vision to expand globally . We are thrilled to become part of the cricketing tradition of Trinidad & Tobago.”

“The passion for franchise cricket in the Car-ibbean is evident with the success of CPL and we hope to bring all the best practices of KKR to the T&T franchise,” Khan told TOI on Tuesday .

KKR, IPL champions in 2012 and 2014, have been ranked the most valuable IPL team with a brand value of $86 million.

KKR’s chief executive Venky Mysore, add-ed, “Experience has encouraged us to expand globally .The idea is to replicate our success in the CPL, keeping the growing interest in this (T20) format in mind.”l

Brazil’s Marta (L) is chased by South Korea’s Shim Seoyeon during their Group E match at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Montreal on Tuesday AFP

From startled rabbits, England roar like lionsn Reuters, London

England’s transformation from “startled rab-bits” at this year’s World Cup to record-break-ers against New Zealand on Tuesday has left fans and pundits shaking their heads in dis-belief.

The 408 for nine a rampant England amassed in 50 overs at Birmingham was their highest ODI total and set up their biggest ever margin of victory in the 50-over format, a 210-run rout.

Captain Eoin Morgan, who su� ered a mis-erable time at the World Cup where England were eliminated in the group phase having played passive, old school cricket, described the display at Edgbaston as “close to perfect”.

Former skipper Michael Vaughan, who labelled England startled rabbits after the World Cup, said on Twitter: “Still can’t be-lieve what we saw in Birmingham yesterday...

Remarkable mindset turnaround from what we saw at the World Cup.”

Joe Root and Jos Buttler hit centuries, in 71 and 66 balls respectively, while Buttler and Adil Rashid put on 177 for the seventh wicket as England’s decision to release the shackles on their young guns paid handsome dividends.

Thrashed by New Zealand in February as the World Cup campaign petered out, Eng-land promised a change of approach and were as good as their word, blazing away with al-most reckless abandon despite losing opener Jason Roy from the � rst ball of the match.

They responded with a blaze of aggressive strokeplay which included 14 sixes, two more than their ODI record set against South Africa in 2009. l

BRIEF SCOREEngland408-9, 50 overs (J Buttler 129, J Root 104, A Rashid 69, E Morgan 50; T Boult 4-55)New Zealand198, 31.1 overs (R Taylor 57; S Finn 4-35, A Rashid 4-55)

England won by 210 runs

Marta breaks World Cup scoring recordn Agencies

Brazil’s Marta became the all-time leading goalscorer in Women’s World Cup history yes-terday as she netted her 15th � nals goal in a 2-0 win over South Korea.

The 29-year-old forward’s second-half penalty took her clear of former Germany striker Birgit Prinz.

Marta’s team-mate Formiga opened the scoring to become, at 37, the oldest goalscorer in the tournament’s history. Brazil’s victory took them top of Group E after the � rst round of � xtures, as Spain and Costa Rica drew 1-1.

Formiga, playing at a record-equalling sixth World Cup, took advantage of an error by Korean defender Kim Doyeon to give the 2007 runners-up the lead.

And, making her 137th international ap-pearance, she was then felled in the penalty area by Cho Soh-yun to present Marta with the chance to make history.

Nearly 12 years on from her � rst interna-tional goal, the � ve-time world player of the year coolly netted her 92nd goal in 93 inter-national appearances. Marta, who plays her club football for FC Rosengard in Sweden, re-vealed she considered quitting the sport after becoming a professional because of the criti-cism she received.

“I would start thinking I would never � nd somewhere to play but, thanks to God, I never gave up.” l

DOWNTIME30DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

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

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 18 represents G so � ll G every time the � gure 18 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Undermined (6)5 Lacking discipline (3)7 Waterway (5)8 Public speaker (6)10 Perform (3)12 Cypher (4)13 Choler (3)14 Colour (4)16 Fashion (4)17 Vegetable (3)18 Shut heavily and noisily (4)20 Play on words (3)23 Social outcast (6)24 Sea nymph (5)25 Ten decibels (3)26 Discussion (6)

DOWN1 Put away (4)2 Calm (6)3 Wear away (5)4 Dreadful (4)5 Meadow (3)6 Curve (3)9 Lacerated (4)11 Digit (3)14 Carry (4)15 Thin plate (6)16 Cleaning implement (3)17 Carpentry tool (5)18 Hurried (4)19 Footwear (4)21 Employ (3)22 No score (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

WHAT TO WATCH

Transporter 3HBO 3:43pm Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukranian government o� cial, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina’s safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective. Cast: Jason Statham, François Berléand, Robert Knepper

Batman BeginsMovies Now 6:45pmAfter training with his mentor, Batman begins his war on crime to free the crime-ridden Gotham City from corruption that the Scarecrow and the League of Shadows have cast upon it.Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson

The Exorcism of Emily RoseWB 9:31pmA lawyer takes on a negligent homicide case involving a priest who performed an exorcism on a young girl.Cast: Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Jennifer Carpenter

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

Muhammad Ali @MuhammadAli “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” #MuhammadAli

Kiran Bedi@thekiranbedi These days its become Dirty Delhi, Disturbed Delhi, Desperate Delhi, Distracted Delhi---Not Developing Delhi..!!

Double show for Kohe Birangana

n Bushra Humaira Sadaf

One of the biggest events of North South University, the 19th Annual Cultural Event (ACE) was held on June 9 and 10, 2015 after more than two years of anticipation.

The programme was held along with the inauguration of NSU’s Auditorium by Benajir Ahmed, the chairman of NSU. Amin U Sarker the NSU vice chancellor, graced the event as a special guest along with Mr MA Kashem, a founder life member on the board of trustees.

The event started with stellar dance performances by NSUSS members. The programme proceeded on with a play with dancing and singing in-between. The performers and member of NSUSS, exhibited exquisite performances with professionalism and humour. This year, as with their previous events, ACE came with a powerful underlying message: our indi� erence towards corruption and how the most helpless and the poorest get blamed for everything.

The play also paid tribute to the cleaners and security guards of NSU, whose immense contributions to the students’ daily lives usually go unnoticed.

Abrar Jahin, � nal year student said: “Two and a half years was worth the wait. The 19th ACE was simply outstanding. I think

it’s one of those events which will make any NSU-er proud. I’m feeling really lucky to be a part of this extravagant event. I’m mesmerised by the immense talent displayed by the participants, the ideas executed by the organisers. SS did their job � awlessly. All in all, I loved every second of it.”

Prof Amin U Sarkar said: “These four years of undergrad life are not just for studying, but to experience and cultivate the sense of culture and grow with it. NSU provides this with its capacity to accommodate student’s cultural needs.”

19th Annual Cultural Event at North South University

North South University has recently opened up a playing � eld, and will soon open a gymnasium and a volleyball court. The event was organised by NSUSS, Shangskritik Shongothon, the cultural club of North South University.

The event ended with a keynote speech by Md Shahjahan, member of the board of trustees, who emphasised on bringing a better learning experience and quality education to every student, and the promise of taking NSU to a greater heights in the future. l

Marc Jacobs@themarcjacobs More team spirit! @marcjacobs

n Showtime Desk

Manipuri Theatre will stage Kohe Birangana, one of its acclaimed productions at the Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on June 12 and 13.

Written and directed by Shuvashis Sinha, the play is an adaptation of Michael Madhusudan Dutt’s Birangana Kavya and the staging will mark the 49th and 50th show of the production.

Since it is di� cult to translate Michael’s Bengali idiom to Manipuri, the original Bengali verses are used with Manipuri dance forms in the four parts set to be staged. Each part speaks about the valour of the woman in question-- her passion, her anger, her love and � nally her insurmountable pain after she loses her most loved possession. It speaks of Shakuntala, Draupadi, Dusshala and Jona. The play articulates only four verses out of 11 from the original text.

Jyoti Sinha has played all the four characters and apart from her, the play also have four other dancers on stage.

Setting a goal to popularise the Manipuri performing arts and culture across the country, the troupe

basically perform in a language called Bishnupriya Manipuri. Beyond the linguistic communication, the troupe’s plays come alive with voice modulation and physical drama. l

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THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

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Four hospitals, organisations get tax exemptionn Tribune Report

The revenue authority has conditionally ex-empted four hospitals and organisations from paying income taxes incurred on services.

In this connection, four separate gazettes, signed by National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Nojibur Rahman, were published on Monday.

The institutions are Chattagram Maa O Shishu Hospital, the Kidney Foundation Hos-pital and Reseacrh Institute, the Probin Kaly-an Sangstha, and the Society for Assistance to Hearing Impaired Children (SAHIC).

All these organsiations will have to attach income audit reports along with their tax re-turns to avail the bene� t, the gazettes read.

Chattagram Maa O Shishu Hospital and Kidney Foundation will gets tax exemption on the money they earn by providing medical services. To avail the bene� t, the Chittagong hospital will have to keep 20% of its seats re-served for poor patients. They will also have to maintain separate records for the Chatta-gram Maa O Shishu Hospital and Chattgram Maa-O Shishu Hospital Medical College.

The Kidney Foundation will have to pro-vide all medical facilities free of cost to 30% poor patients. The facilities include admis-sion, residence, outdoor consultation, patho-logical tests and surgery. They will also have to � le a three monthly reports to the deputy tax commissioner concerned for availing the tax exemption.

An another order has allowed tax exemption on donations to Probin Kalyan Sangstha under the relevant provision of the income tax ordinance. This provision gives tax break on donations to only government approved philanthropic and educational institutions.

The condition for the Society for Assis-tance to Hearing Impaired Children (SAHIC) is that it will have to � le audit report along with income tax return.

SAHIC is a voluntary non-government or-ganisation (NGO) that works for the preven-tion, early detection and rehabilitation of hearing impaired children. SAHIC provides treatment for the ear, nose, throat and diseas-es of the head and neck that may cause hear-ing impairment. l

Rain brings a sigh of relief to Dhaka residents n Abu Bakar Siddique

Following a couple of weeks of scorching heat, Dhaka residents along with those living in the central region of the country breathed a sigh of relief with sporadic spells of mild rain-fall yesterday.

The southwest monsoon has been moving towards the central parts of Bangladesh and it would take a couple more days to be spread across the country, said Bangladesh Meteor-ological Department sources, adding that the rainfall in Dhaka was part of this advance-ment.

“It will take two or three more days for monsoon to arrive in full swing in the central parts of Bangladesh, while it will take � ve or six more days for the whole country,” said Arif Hossain, a meteorologist working at the Met o� ce.

A mild to moderate heat wave was still sweeping over Rajshahi and Khulna divisions and the regions of Dhaka, Madaripur, Chan-dpur, Sayedpur, Barisal and Patuakhali, said the o� cial.

The Met O� ce recorded 13mm of rainfall

in Sylhet, 53mm of rain in Cox’s Bazar, 1mm in Sandwip and 1mm of rain in Chittagong yesterday.

The amount of rainfall yesterday in Dhaka city was not tracked by the Met O� ce; how-ever, locals from di� erent areas said the mild rainfall brought them a much needed respite from the heatwave that have continued for the past few weeks.

The country’s maximum temperature yes-terday was recorded at 39.4 degree Celsius in Jessore, while the maximum temperature in Dhaka was 36.0 degree Celsius.

“Trough of low lies over Northwest Bay. Southwest monsoon has advanced up to Chittagong and Sylhet divisions. Monsoon is weak over Northeast Bay,” the Met O� ce fore-cast read yesterday.

The weather bulletin also said rain and thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at a few places over Chittagong and Sylhet divisions and at one or two places over Barisal and Dhaka di-visions and weather may remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky elsewhere over the country. l

Fate of 2,500 engineers hangs in balance Plans on to appoint separate operators for mobile phone base stations n Ishtiaq Husain

The government plans to carry out the main-tenance of mobile phone base stations (BTS) through a couple of separate companies that might cost as many as 2,500 engineers their jobs in the industry. The move goes against the 3G licencing regulations.

In accordance with the regulation, only the operators shall be responsible for establish-ing, building, managing and maintaining the towers.

However, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) plans to in-troduce new companies for the tower man-agement.

The regulatory authority has planned to award licence to at least two companies to manage around 29,000 BTS.

At present more than 2,500 employees, mostly from engineering background, are working for BTS maintenance.

If the BTRC imposes the tower manage-ment guidelines, the engineers would risk losing their jobs, an industry insider said.

He also called into question the ability of new companies to be tasked with providing the maintenance services.

According to an o� cial of the telecom watchdog, if the tower management guide-lines get the go-ahead from the Ministry of Telecommunications, licencing companies

will start working by the end of the year.Now, all the mobile operators are

maintaining their towers separately on their own.

Operator sources said as of now six mobile operators have around 3,000 engineers. Of them, some 700 engineers are working for GP,

600 for Banglalink, 500 for Robi and 1,000 for Teletalk, Citycell and Airtel.

“If BTRC � nally gets the approval, we will probably lose our jobs. We are observing the situation very closely, and passing time amid uncertainty,” an engineer of a leading mobile operator said, requesting anonymity.

Another engineer of a large mobile indus-try told the Dhaka Tribune that they have already talked about the tower management guidelines with their senior o� cials who as-sured them of not being worried about it.

Asked about it, a top o� cial of a mobile op-erator said, seeking anonymity, if the guide-lines are approved, all mobile operators will lose their control over tower.

“In that case, we will try to � nd out a way out to keep them still employed in the organi-sation at any cost.”

Meantime, Robi launched a separate com-pany named edotco to manage BTS, but it has already been shut following a directive from the BTRC last March.

The directive says any company shall not involve in tower sharing business.

If found involved, the regulatory authority will impose a � ne of Tk300 crore as violation of the directive, according to the notice.

On the other hand, operators had already been sharing their towers among themselves under the network sharing guidelines intro-duced in 2010.

Since 2010, around 7,500 towers were set up by six operators, of which 5,500 have al-ready been shared.

BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose and Sec-retary Sarwar Alam were not available for comments as both are currently staying out of the country. l

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