PAGE 3Three killed in RAB ‘gun� ght’ in Dhaka, Rangpur

PAGE 9Europe to restore funding for Greece after bailout vote

PAGE 4Recreational places in Dhaka ready for Eid

PAGE 7Stealing of newborn exposes sorry state of CMCH security

N O T I C E

FORKAN TO DIE FOR 1971 WAR CRIMES PAGE 3

WHERE HAVE ALL THE MISSING PEOPLE GONE? PAGE 32

SOUMYA RISES TO 15 OF ODI BATSMAN RANKING PAGE 25

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015 | Shraban 2, 1422, Ramadan 29, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 95 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend | Price: Tk10

The Dhaka Tribune wishes all itsreaders, advertisers, hawkers and

well-wishers a very happy Eid-ul-Fitr

All o� ces of the Dhaka Tribune will remain closed for three days from today for Eid. There-fore, there will be no issue of the daily on July 18, 19 and 20. If Eid vacation extends, Tribune will not come out on July 21 too. However, our online service will be on to keep readers updated.

Ashraf gets Public Administration Ministry Tribune Report

Just a week into his removal from the LGRD Ministry, Syed Ashraful Islam was made Public Administration Minister yesterday.

A gazette noti� cation was issued yesterday for the immediate e� ect of his appointment.

At present State Minister for the Public Adminis-tration Ministry Ismat Ara Sadek is looking after the ministry.

Ashraf was given the charge of the ministry a day

after he cancelled his trip to London at Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina’s request on Tuesday night.

Ashraf could not be reached over phone for com-ments.

However, his Personal Secretary Tofajjal Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that they were yet to receive any letter from the Cabinet Division.

Syed Ashraful Islam, the general secretary of the rul-ing Awami League, was scheduled to leave for London on Thursday to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with his family.

�� PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

While millions leave Dhaka to spend Eid with family and friends, these street kids neither have anywhere to go nor the means to happiness. But it does not take much to make them happy. Two college students Jony and Al Amin, not in the picture, have raised funds to arrange new clothes and good diet to light up the faces of these underprivileged children on the Jatiya Sangsad premises in Dhaka yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Eid-ul-Fitr tomorrow if Shawwal moon sighted today Tribune Desk

Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest religious festival of Muslims which also marks the end of Rama-dan fasting, will be celebrated in the country tomorrow if the moon of the month of Shaw-wal is sighted in Bangladesh sky today.

The National Moon Sighting Committee will meet today at 7:30pm to take decision in this regard after reviewing the information of the moon sighting. The meeting will be chaired by Religious A� airs Minister Matior Rahaman, who is also the president of the committee.

If the moon is not sighted today, Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on Sunday.

The Islamic Foundation has requested the people of the country to call the Moon Sight-ing Committee at 9559493, 9559643, 9555947, 9556407 or 9558337, or send a fax at 9563397 in case the new moon is sighted anywhere in the country tonight.

President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina have greeted the nation

�� PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Holidaymakers leave Dhaka at steady pace Mohammad Jamil Khan, Shohel Mamun

and Nure Alam Durjoy

With yesterday being the last working day before Eid, the rush of outbound people � nally started to gather pace at di� erent transport terminals of the capital.

The Sadarghat terminal experienced the greatest pressure as thousands chose launches to travel to their homes in southern districts. Trains were also a popular choice as most locomotives arrived and left on time this year. Buses saw reduced number of pas-

sengers in the morning, but the number increased as the day progressed.

The overall outbound transport situation steadily gained momentum throughout the day, and the rush is expected to be greater today as Eid-ul-Fitr will be observed tomorrow or on Sunday, based on the sight-ing of the Shawwal moon.

Risky journeys in jam-packed launchesDespite recent heavy rainfall and forecast of further

�� PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Country goes under security blanket Mohammad Jamil Khan

A multi-tier security blanket has been thrown over the country to ensure safety and security of people after and before Eid-ul-Fitr.

A large number of people visit their village homes leaving the cities almost empty during the Eid vacation when criminals � nd it easier to rob people of their belongings.

During this time, the three-tier security blan-ket will be in place to save people’s lives and property in cities, said police and RAB o� cials.

Sources in police said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Headquarters has already been given instructions to take all necessary steps.

As per the order, the DMP has instructed its eight crime divisions to ensure law and order in their areas. The DCs too have already issued letters to the OCs of 49 police stations.

8,000 police personnel along with RAB men will be on duty in eight crime divisions. 10 temporary camps have been set up in the capital to monitor security systems.

Along with this, some 3,000 community police personnels will remain on patrol in res-idential areas.

Powerful committee to vet new industrial gas connections Aminur Rahman Rasel

After a 6-year moratorium, the government has decided to approve new gas connections to in-dustrial consumers on a limited scale after Eid.

Around 2,300 applications have been pending with the four state-run gas utility companies since July 2009. Energy and Min-eral Resources Division Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique said that initially, 450 applications would be approved. “No new captive power plants would get gas connections,” he said.

The new connections will require an extra 120 mmcfd gas. The decision comes with Bibi-yana production set to increase by 300mmcfd. The government engaged intelligence agen-cies to look into applicants. A high-level com-mittee led by the PM’s adviser Taw� q-e-Elahi Chowdhury, will vet the applications.

Holidaymakers leave Dhaka at steady pacethunderstorms in the next couple of days, thousands have chosen the waterways as their preferred mode of travel this Eid.

The travellers also continue to gamble with their own lives as the launches – like every other year – are picking up passengers exceeding their capacity.

Around 6pm yesterday, the Dhaka Tribune found that the entire Sadarghat launch termi-nal and its surrounding areas were packed to the brink with people looking to secure a seat in launches bound for their homes.

Taking advantage of the high demand, most of the 60 launches that left the docks between noon and evening hours reportedly picked up passengers that numbered more than double their capacity.

Staying at the docks between these hours, the Dhaka Tribune found launch operators were � outing existing rules and ignoring the shipping minister’s recent directives.

Talking to reporters yesterday, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan reiterated that no launch would be allowed to leave the termi-nal with extra passengers.

Authorities at the terminal, however, blamed passengers for ignoring warnings about the risks of over� lled launches.

“The passengers are not listening to us. They just want to go home and we have al-most nothing to do about it,” said Mokhlesur Rahman, additional police superintendent of River Police.

Even though it was decided ahead of Eid that launches would leave the docks as soon as they were packed to capacity, the Dhaka Tribune found that the directive was being ignored by almost all the launches.

Asked about it, Joynal Abedin, joint direc-tor of tra� c and security at the BIWTA, de-nied the allegation. He instead blamed pas-sengers for hiring small boats to later climb into the launches. “We are doing our best to provide the best possible service to the homegoers,” added Joynal.

Passengers also claimed that the launch operators were charging them Tk100 to Tk150 extra for tickets.

However, Vashkar Chowdhury, secretary of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Au-thority (BIWTA), told the Dhaka Tribune that the rates charged during Eid festivals were the actual rates, while lowered rates were charged throughout the year to attract more passengers.

Meanwhile, our Munshiganj correspond-ent reports that two ferries were rescued after getting stuck in a hidden shoal on the Shim-ulia-Kewrakandi route yesterday.

Shimulia BIWTC Manager Abdul Alim said a ferry named Shah Paran was initially stuck in the shoal with over a thousand passengers and over 70 vehicles in the afternoon, while another ferry named Ruhul Amin – carrying 32 vehicles – also got stuck at the same site just hours later. The Ruhul Amin was rescued by two vessels at 4pm, while the former was rescued at 7pm.

Punctual rail serviceThe rail service, which has frequently been subject to harsh criticism for unpunctual schedules, has turned around to become a relatively reliable mode of travel this year.

Most of the trains departed Kamalapur Railway Station on time yesterday, with the exception of trains bound for Rangpur, Di-najpur, Lalmonirhat and Khulna – which saw delays of one to four hours.

However, some passengers at Kamalapur said this was only a short delay compared to their experiences in the previous years.

Yesterday, the scheduled Rangpur Express and Chittagong-bound Mohanogor Probhati were delayed more than an hour at Kamal-apur, said Station Master Nripen Chandra Saha.

The Dewanganj-bound Teesta Express also saw a delay of four hours, Khulna-bound Sundarban Express three hours, and Syl-het-bound Parabat Express saw a one hour delay.

The railway authorities were already ex-pecting schedule collapse for trains bound for the western zone, because most of the trains there are run with un� t locomotives.

Amzad Hossain, director general of Bang-

ladesh Railway, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have arranged two more reserved locomo-tives to carry passengers from Rangpur and Dinajpur station. That may remove su� erings during this Eid season.

“This problem will not persist next year as the government is going to get 150 locomo-tives from Indonesia and India,” he added.

Each day, an estimated 50,000 holiday-makers leave the capital from Kamalapur ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. Around 67 trains depart from Kamalapur Railway Station every day, among which 28 are inter-city trains.

Less crowded bus terminalsRoad transport has also su� ered fewer set-backs so far this year, while the passengers have also experienced less hassle at the ter-minals.

Visiting Gabtoli around 10am yesterday, the Dhaka Tribune found that there was no pressure of crowd, allowing the long-distance buses to operate without any di� culties.

However, a few buses – mostly bound for Manikganj, Tangail and Gazipur – were seen carrying extra passengers on the roof.

Nurul Basar, a supervisor of Dinajpur-bound bus of Nabil Paribahan, said: “Even though the pressure is comparatively low, there is a bit of tra� c jam on the highways.”

Md Habib, who was found waiting to leave the city for his Eid vacation, said: “The presence of passengers is not so high. Entire Gabtoli is not as crowded as I had seen before.”

However, as the day progressed, more and more people slowly started arriving at the ter-minal.

With the day progressing, bus terminals at Mohakhali and Sayedabad also saw increase of passengers.

While inspecting the Mohakhali terminal in the afternoon, Road Transport and Bridg-es Minister Obaidul Quader told journalists: “There are 506 BRTC buses on the road to ensure that people have a safe journey home. Fifty-� ve more BRTC buses will be added if necessary.

“The situation is better than before.”

AshrafHowever, he cancelled his London tour fol-lowing Hasina’s request.

The premier held a one-on-one meeting with Ashraf for around two hours at her of-� cial residence Gono Bhaban on Wednesday evening.

Before the publication of gazette noti� ca-tion yesterday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith met Syed Ashraf at his residence.

Ashraf was made a minister without port-folio on July 9 after he was removed from the LGRD Ministry. He had been serving the min-istry since the Awami League came to power in 2009.

After three days of rumours centring his removal, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain � nally replaced him.

Syed Ashraful Islam, son of Bangladesh’s � rst acting president Syed Nazrul Islam in 1971, was appointed as LGRD minister twice in 2009 and 2014.

Eid-ul-Fitr tomorrow if Shawwal moon sighted todayand the Muslims across the world on this oc-casion.

In separate messages, they wished peace, progress and prosperity for all.

Eid preparation in full swingThousands of people have already left the capital to celebrate the largest religious festi-val in the country with their families in dif-ferent parts of the country; many more are expected to leave today.

The three-day public holiday begins today, and it will be extended for a day if the Eid falls on Sunday.

All preparations have been completed across the country for smooth holding of Eid congregations.

The largest Eid congregation will be held at Sholakia Eidgah in Kishoreganj district at 10am, where hundreds of thousands of Mus-lims will o� er special prayers on the occasion.

In the capital, the main Eid congregation will be held at the National Eidgah near the High Court at 8:30am, which will be attended

by President Abdul Hamid.However, the venue of the main congre-

gation will be shifted to the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in case the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Besides, � ve congregations will be held at 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am and 10:45am at the Na-tional Mosque.

Arrangements will be there at the National Eidgah and the National Mosque for women to take part in the Eid prayers alongside their male counterparts.

Law enforcement agencies, including Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police, will ensure security in and around the main Eid congregation.

Dhaka North and Dhaka South city corpo-rations will arrange 379 more Eid congrega-tions between 7 am and 11 am in the city.

Two Eid congregations will be held at Dha-ka University Central Mosque and one at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban at 8am.

Divisional, district and upazila adminis-

trations and local government bodies have taken preparations in their respective areas to observe Eid-ul-Fitr.

The law enforcers have taken tight security measures across the country for the festival.

The government has chalked out elabo-rate programmes to celebrate Eid with due respect and in a smooth manner.

National � ags will be hoisted at govern-ment, autonomous and non-government of-� ces and other important establishments.

National � ags and � ags inscribed with “Eid Mubarak” will be installed at important tra� c islands and light posts in Dhaka city.

Besides, designated government o� ces and other establishments would be illuminat-ed on the night following the Eid day.

Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private television stations will air special programmes. Special meals will be served in hospitals, jails and orphanages.

The day will be observed in Bangladesh missions abroad in a be� tting manner as well.

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Forkan to die for 1971 war crimes Tribune Report

A war crimes tribunal yesterday sentenced Convention Muslim League activist Forkan Mallik to death for murder, rape and deporta-tion as crimes against humanity in Patuakhali during the 1971 Liberation War.

He was given capital punishment on two charges – gang rape and murder of Golapi Rani Saha in Subidkhali Bazar of Mirzaganj upazila, and killing of three civilians and rape upon Aleya Begum in Kakrabunia. Aleya her-self testi� ed at the tribunal.

“Her testimony depicts horri� c narration of killing her father and her forcible capture followed by untold and barbaric physical in-vasion caused to her for three days in captivi-ty,” the judges said in the verdict.

Forkan, 63, was sentenced to imprison-ment for life until death on another charge that involves rape of two women – Shova Rani and Sushama Rani, and forceful deportation of their family to India. They never returned.

This sentence will be merged with the death penalty, the judgement says.

“The nation today pays humble reverence to those women who laid highest sacri� ce for the cause of our independence. Golapi Rani, Shova Rani, Sushama Rani and Aleya Begum shall ever remain alive in the nation’s history as ‘bravest women,’” reads the verdict.

Forkan was a willing participant in all the brutal attacks that resulted in mass rape and murder of civilians as narrated in the charges, the judges said.

He was acquitted from two other charges – killing of four people at Subidkhali Bazar and forced conversion of three Hindus to Islam – as the prosecution could not prove his com-plicity with the incidents.

The three-member tribunal headed by its Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan delivered the verdict yesterday morning in presence of the convict. The other members are Justice

Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Shahinur Islam.

The tribunal said the prosecution failed to prove that Forkan had been a member of the local razakar force. But such failure does not make him a low-level o� ender. It says Forkan was a close and notorious associate of the local razakars and accompanied them in carrying out

the attacks despite knowing the consequence.In the verdict, the judges described

razakars – an auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation forces – as a “pack of beasts.”

Forkan was indicted on December 18 last year. Fourteen prosecution witnesses testi-� ed at the tribunal while four gave deposi-tions in favour of the accused. The case was

kept for verdict on June 14.He was arrested on June 25 last year from

Rupatali Bus Stand area in Barisal following a warrant issued against him by the tribunal.

According to the third charge, Forkan and his accomplices held Golapi Rani Saha, the unmarried daughter of Ram Krishna Saha, from their house at Subidkhali on August 17, 1971 and raped her at a place named Jugibari. The razakars then abandoned the woman in unconscious condition near her house. She died the following day.

Charge � ve says Forkan shot dead Hatem Ali at Kakarbunia and detained his daughter Aleya Begum on August 22. Mass rape was committed upon her at Patuakhali Circuit House. The convict along with his accom-plices and the Pakistani Army personnel also killed Sanad Kumar Halder and Elemuddin at the same village.

The tribunal sentenced Forkan to death on these two charges.

According to the fourth charge, in which the razakar leader was sentenced to impris-onment until date, Shova Rani and Sushama Rani were picked up around 10am on August 20, 1971 from the house of Lalit Karmakar at village Subidkhali Bazar under Mirzaganj.

They were taken to the razakar camp set up at old hospital building. After commit-ting recurrent rape upon them, they were left abandoned in front of their house. Afterwards they along with their family deported to In-dia, being feared.

The judges observed that rape or sexual vi-olence, either in war time or in peace time, is a “revolting act of robbery that takes the thing that cannot be given back. Mass rape is graver than murder.”

The goal of “committing such mass rape es-pecially on defenceless Hindu women was not to ravish extreme wealth of a woman and to kill her, but to cripple the socio-political order and cultural integrity,” the judgement says.

Three killed in RAB encounter Kamrul Hasan

Members of the police’s elite force, Rapid Ac-tion Battalion, killed three alleged criminals including two siblings during “gun� ghts” in the capital and Rangpur early yesterday.

RAB and police claimed that the victimshad been charged with murder and other of-fences, and that they opened � re in self-de-fence only.

However, family members of one of the vic-tims Yasin Sarker Rajon alleged that the RAB personnel had picked him up on July 12.

The two others are Manik, 32, and Sumon, 27, sons of Ameer Ali of Rangpur.

Rajon, 25, was injured in a gun� ght be-tween a patrol team of RAB 2 and some mug-gers in Taltola area of Agargaon around 2am. He succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medi-cal College Hospital around 4am.

In a statement, RAB con� rmed death of an unidenti� ed criminal during the gun� ght. They also claimed to have recovered two for-eign-made pistols and seven bullets from the spot.

The elite force has been criticised since its formation in 2004 for extrajudicial killings

and giving the same version before the media after every incident of the so-called gun� ght or cross� re.

Rajon’s family came to know about the murder from the media and his brothers-in-law Ujjal Miah and Panna Miah identi� ed him at the morgue yesterday afternoon.

They claimed that Rajon, a contractor by profession, had been picked up by RAB 2 members around 10pm on July 12. His seven month pregnant wife Shammi Akhter said Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police had � led two false cases against him recently.

Denying the forcer’s having any involve-ment in abducting Rajon, RAB 2 Commanding O� cer Lt Col SM Masud Rana said the area was not under their jurisdiction.

When contacted, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar po-lice chief GG Biswas said the deceased had four cases against him. Rajon was charged in one case recently.

In another incident, two brothers were killed in a gun� ght with the RAB members near Desh Hospital and the cantonment check post in Rangpur around 3am yesterday.

Some miscreants attacked a RAB 13 patrol team with sharp weapons when the elite force members challenged the brothers, Deputy Commander Maj Ashraf Ali said.

“The brothers were killed when the RAB members � red in self-defence,” he claimed adding that Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam and Lt Imran had su� ered injuries in� icted by sharp weapons.

Two pistols, bullets and sharp weapons were recovered from the spot, RAB says.

Kotwali police OC Abdul Kader Zilani said Manik and Sumon were accused in several criminal cases, including for the murder of Limon on July 12.

DB takes over Rajon murder probe Our Correspondent, Sylhet

The Detective Branch of police has started in-vestigating the murder of Rajon, the 13-year-old who was brutally beaten to death in Syl-het on July 8 by a group of men who falsely accused him of stealing a van.

DB Inspector Suranjit Talukdar, the new investigation o� cer in the case, collected the case documents from Jalalabad police yester-day, OC Akhtar Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune.

Meanwhile, a Sylhet court yesterday grant-ed a seven-day remand against two accused – Nur Mia, who recorded the video of the tor-ture and was later apprehended by locals on Wednesday night, and Dulal Hossain, one of the three brothers who have been accused of beating up Rajon.

Metropolitan Magistrate Anwarul Haque granted the remand after Inspector Suranjit placed the duo before the court.

The police, on the other hand, also seized the mobile phone that was used to record and upload the video.

Locals also continued demonstrations in the area demanding that the killers be given exemplary punishment.

War criminal Forkan Mallik being taken to the tribunal from Dhaka Central Jail yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

The elite force has been criticised since its formation in 2004 for extrajudicial killings and giving the same version before the media after every incident of theso-called gun� ght or cross� re

NEWS4DTFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Recreational places in Dhaka ready for Eid Abu Hayat Mahmud

The recreational facilities in the capital – amusement parks, museums, gardens and other places of interest – are ready to wel-come the holiday crowd as the city-dwellers celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr this year.

A huge chunk of Dhaka’s population is leaving the city to celebrate Eid with their families in di� erent parts of the country, but a good number of local residents will celebrate the festival by visiting the recreational places, like every year.

Keeping that in mind, the city authorities are taking additional preparations to accom-modate the holiday visitors, especially chil-dren – the parks and museums have been cleaned up, repaired and decorated, and secu-rity around the premises has been tightened.

O� cials at Dhaka South City Corporation told the Dhaka Tribune that the decoration of Shaheed Zia Shishu Park at Shahbagh is complete and it will remain open from 9am to 9pm on Eid day.

The Hatirjheel-Begunbari Lake area has also been cleaned for the occasion, and it is one of

the most attractive places in the capital, o� -cials of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha said.

Authorities of the National Zoo at Mirpur has taken extensive preparations to enter-tain children this Eid; they think the animals likely to attract children the most tigers, pea-cocks, hippopotamus and gira� e calves.

Fantasy Kingdom and Nandan Water Park, the two amusement parks in the capital, are ready for the holiday visitors as well.

Nandan Park is o� ering seven new attrac-tions on the occasion. Water Kingdom, of Fantasy Kingdom, is opening an aquarium

tunnel that connects Fantasy Kingdom and Water Kingdom. Water Kingdom authorities said the amusement park would be open from 9am to 9pm on Eid day, and special pro-grammes would be held throughout the day.

Other places such as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Planetarium, Shyamoli Shishu Mela, National Museum, Ahsan Manzil Museum, Lalbagh Fort and Baldha Garden, the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad, Chandrima Udyan, Suhrawardy Udyan, Dhanmondi Lake and Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake have also been prepared for the Eid crowd as well.

New Japanese ambassador presents credentials Tribune Report

Newly-appointed Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh Masato Watanabe yesterday pre-sented his credentials to President Abdul Ha-mid at Bangabhaban.

Ambassador Watanabe joined the Minis-try of Foreign A� airs of Japan in 1980 and most recently served as Consul-General of Japan in San Francisco. Prior to that assign-ment, he was the Vice-President of Japan In-ternational Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Watanabe, in a written statement, said it was a great pleasure and a badge of honour for him to serve as the ambassador to Bang-ladesh. He said Bangladesh had tremendous potential given its geographical advantage and cultural diversity.

He reiterated his intention to make an all-out e� ort to further develop the existing friendship between Japan and Bangladesh.

College teachers involved in HSC question paper leak Kamrul Hasan

Teachers at a Demra college were involved in leaking HSC ques-tion papers through Facebook, investigators have found interro-gating six members of a gang arrested on Wednesday night.

Members of the Detective Branch of police arrested Raihan Chowdhury alias Dan Brown, Rahul Miah, Raihan Miah, Are� n Rabbi, Ovi Abdullah and Abdul Majid.

Majid is a member of the managing committee of Golam Mo-stafa Model College in Demra and also an assistant director of the college’s board of directors.

They also recovered two CPUs, two tabs, two laptops, nine mobile phone sets and four diaries used as register notes for bKash accounts and Facebook accounts.

Police said Raihan � rst sent Facebook messages to HSC candi-dates o� ering question papers in exchange for money. The ring took Tk10,000 to Tk20,000 for each question paper.

Later, when the candidates did not receive the leaked question papers they contacted Raihan. This time Raihan said he would increase the candidates’ marks in the results. At this, the candi-dates became suspicious and informed the DB police about it.

DB spokesman Muntasirul Islam at a press brie� ng yesterday said their cyber crimes unit � rst arrested Raihan and then, based on his confession, arrested the others. He said they had proof that these people had received money from students.

He, however, did not clarify whether the arrested were in-volved in leaking of question papers from this year’s HSC exams, or that of the previous year. Some teachers of the college are un-der watch for their involvement in leaking the question papers.

Workers of Swan Garments hopelessly sit in front of the National Press Club yesterday. With only one day left before Eid-ul-Fitr, the workers gathered there demanding their due wages and Eid bonus MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

NEWS 5D

TFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Minister: Combating human tra� cking � rst priority Adil Sakhawat

Newly-appointed Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam yesterday said that combating human traf-� cking would be a challenge for him.

“As the minister, it is my � rst priority to stop illegal tra� cking. But it will not be possi-ble without everyone’s cooperation,” he told

reporters after exchanging views with the ministry o� cials on the � rst day at work.

The technocrat minister also warned the o� cials not to misguide him on any issue and ordered them to attend o� ce in time.

“If any o� cial or employee does not main-tain the o� cial timing responsibly, I personal-ly will mark their attendance with red colour. I have vast knowledge about this ministry,

so do not try to misguide me on any matter,”he said.

Nurul also said his ministry would take steps to send female workers to Saudi Arabia and increase manpower exports to Malaysia while giving importance to building skilled manpower and creating more overseas jobs.

The ministry o� cials informed the minis-ter about the visit of a Malaysian delegation

on July 29 for signing a memorandum of un-derstanding to take Bangladeshi labourers to Malaysia under Business to Business (B2B) method. Currently only the government can send labourers to Malaysia.

In response, Nurul said he would consider the matter with top priority after the Eid-ul-Fitr, Secretary Khandker Md Iftekhar Haider told the Dhaka Tribune.

NEWS6DTFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

No bridge on Haraboti River in 42 years Our Correspondent, Joypurhat

Despite repeated electoral pledges in the last 42 years from the local parliament members, a bridge on the Haraboti River of Pachbibi upazila of Joypurhat is yet to be materialised.

Thousands of people of the upazila are lit-erally cut o� from the rest of the country dur-ing the monsoon in the absence of a bridge. Local farmers also face di� culties to market their products.

Ha� zar Rahman, retired employee of the Wa-ter Development Board of the upazila, said peo-ple of the 12 villages of Kusumba and Aolai un-ion would be bene� ted a lot if the bridge is built.

According to locals, the bridge has been used as an electoral bet for the last 42 years. Many parliament members sought votes on the promise of constructing the bridge but af-ter being elected, they never did so.

Abdul Khalek, a businessman of Sirotti Bazar, said the BNP’s former minister Abdul Alim had been an MP of Joypurhat for a long time. “He was elected three times before he died. During every election he promised to build the bridge but in reality no initiative was taken,” he said.

He, however, added that the current MP from Awami League Shamsul Alam Dudu had been trying to manage fund for the bridge.

Sirotti Bazar area residents Gobinda Chan-dra, Habiba Begum and Anjali Rani said they had been facing immense su� erings during the monsoon.

People of Bashkhur, Kuwatpur, Boropuku-ria, Salaipur, Sonakul, Kusumba, Chikonma-tia, Kashra, Gobindapur, Bharahut, Gorna, Chatkhur and Haripur villages are literally stranded during the rainy season. Though a bamboo-bridge was made by the locals, it did not last long.

Moreover, farmers have to take a detour and count extra expense to take their prod-ucts to Sirotti Bazar.

Nur Alam, a farmer of Kashra-Gobindopur

village said: “We are having to spend extra to transport rice and potatoes to nearby bazar. If there was a bridge on the Haraboti River, it would have been easy for us.”

Acknowledging the need for the bridge, Aolai union parishad Chairman Ekramul Haq Chowdhury said it was not possible to build such a long bridge by the union parishad alone. Shamsul Alam Dudu, MP of Joypurhat and Pachbibi, said: “The previous MPs of BNP and Jatiya Party were not sincere to build the bridge. That is why this area has been neglect-ed for long. I am aware of the situation and the much needed bridge will be built within the tenure of this government.”

Husband kills wife for dowry Our Correspondent,

Naogaon

A housewife, also a mother of a child, was allegedly killed yesterday by her husband for dowry at Raninagar upazila in the district.

The deceased was identi-� ed as Jannatun Nayem, 22, wife of Alamgir Hossain ofChakadin village.

Abdulla-Al-Masud, o� cer-in-charge of Raninagar police station said Nayem, daughter of Taleb Ali had been mar-ried o� with Alamgir twoyears back.

After the marriage, Alamgir

used to torture Nayem for dowry.

The father of the deceased said that he had already given Tk1.5 lakh to Alamgir as dowry. But he demanded more money.

On the day, the couple got locked into altercation over the issue. At one stage, Alam-gir beat up Nayem mercilessly, leaving her to death.

Later, he hanged the body from a tree and declared that she had committed suicide.

On information, police went to the spot and recovered the body. Alamgir and his family members went into hide after the incident.

Companiganj UNO assaulted Our Correspondent,

Noakhali

Some local youths, supporters of ruling party, at Chaprashir Bazar assaulted the Upazila Nirbahi O� cer (UNO) of Com-paniganj in the district yester-day.

Sajidur Rahaman Sajid, of-� cer-in-charge of Compani-ganj police station, said UNO Md Ashraful Alam along with upazila food o� cer was going to Char Fakira Union Parish-ad O� ce around 11.45 am to

visit the distribution of VGF rice among the locals. During crossing the bazar area, they found that some construction workers of Hanif Sukani were making a building at the gov-ernment place.

Later, he stopped the work and broke the pillars.

Within a few minutes, a group of youths reached the spot and started to beat the UNO in favour of the building owner.

Locals rescued him and ad-mitted to Companiganj Hospi-tal in critical condition.

Youth stabbed to deathin Chittagong Tribune Report

A youth was stabbed to death in Chittagong city’s Mansura-bad area yesterday afternoon.

Sub-Inspector Jahirul Islam of Chittagong Medical College Hospital police outpost said deceased Md Solaiman, 27, son of Nasir Ahmed, hailing from Bhola, was the own-er of a tailor shop ‘ Sumaiya Tailors’ located at Miabari ofMansurabad area.

Police detained one Nur

Hossain in this connection, the SI added.

Solaiman’s younger brother Mahbub said an altercation had ensued between Nur Hossain and his brother as Solaiman slapped Nur’s son for pelting stone at his shop.

At one stage, Nur Hossain hit Solaiman’s chest with a scissor, leaving him critically injured, said Mahbub.

He was taken to the CMCH where on duty doctors declared him dead.

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:49PM SUN RISES 5:21AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

33.4ºC 24.2ºC

Satkhira Patuakhali

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 33 26

Chittagong 32 26

Rajshahi 31 26

Rangpur 30 25

Khulna 31 27

Barisal 33 27

Sylhet 28 24

Cox’s Bazar 31 27

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:56am

Sunrise 5:21amJumma 12:05am

Asr 4:46pmMagrib 6:49pm

Esha 8:14pm

WEATHER

FRIDAY, JULY 17

RAIN ORTHUNDERSHOWERS

8 die in road accidents Tribune Report

At least eight people were killed in road acci-dents in Brahmanbaria,Sirajganj and Gazipur districts yesterday.

Our Brahmanbaria correpondent reports: Three people were killed as a CNG-run au-to-rickshaw plunged into a canal after col-liding with a microbus at Narayanpur under Akhaura upazila. The identities of the de-ceased could not be known.

Akhaura police station O� cer-in-Charge Mo� z Uddin said: “The auto-rickshaw col-lided head-on with the microbus on Dha-ka-Agartala highway and plunged into the ca-nal at noon. Three of them died on the spot.”

He said three passengers of the auto-rick-shaw went missing in the incident.

In Sirajganj, three people of a family were killed as a bus rammed their motorcycle on the link road of Bangabandhu Bridge west side in Sadar upazila at afternoon.

Two of the deceased were identi� ed as Babul Hossain 40 and his wife Mahfuza,32.

Quoting locals, o� cer-in-charge of Bangab-andhu West police station Helal Uddin Locals said the Dhaka-bound bus of ‘Pabna Express’ hit the motorbike around 5:30 pm, leaving the three riders of the bike dead on the spot.

In Gazipur, two female workers were killed when a passenger bus run over them nearby Pandora Garments Factory in Sreepur upazila of the district.

Stealing of newborn exposes sorry state of CMCH security FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

A 14-day old newborn baby boy was stolen from Postnatal Ward of Chittagong Medical College Hospital on Wednesday, exposing the sorry state of security system of state-owned hospital.

Although the incident took place on Wednesday evening, it came to light yester-day morning after CMCH police and hospital authorities failed to rescue the missing infant after frantic e� orts.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion, how-ever, arrested a couple for their alleged in-volvement with the stealing.

Hospital sources said Jesmin Akhtar, 30, wife of Md Sa� ul, of Kadolpur of Raojan upazila in Chittagong got admitted to the hos-pital on July 2. Later, she gave birth to a baby boy. As Jesmin has some gynecological com-

plications, she was undergoing treatment at the hospital. The couple has another boy who is two and half years old.

On Wednesday, elder son of the couple walked out of the ward during the lunch hour.

The baby was stolen from the bed around 3:15 when Jesmin with her attendant went to bring back the child from the outside of the ward, said Sub-Inspector Jahirul Islam of the CMCH police outpost.

Sa� ul told the Dhaka Tribune that he was standing in the corridor of the ward during the incident, but saw nothing.

“Hearing my wife’s hue and cry I rushed to the bed and later informed police in this regard”, said he adding that to take the baby away from the ward within a minute is impos-sible without hospital’s workers’ assistance”.

The couple which was arrested identi� ed as Rina Dey, 30, and her husband Sujon Dut-

ta, 32, said Major Jahargir Alam, Camp Com-mander of RAB 7 Chandgaon Camp.

Sujon is a cleaner of the CMCH while Rina is an agent of private diagnostic centre, said the RAB o� cial.

“Seeing CCTV footage the duo were identi-� ed. Later, they were arrested from Chawak-bazar area in the evening”, he added.

During primary interrogation, Rina ac-knowledged that she was involved with the stealing incident. But she could not tell whereabouts of the baby. RAB personnel are trying to rescue the baby, he further added.

Hospital sources said CCTV of the Post-natal Ward has remained dysfunctional. The hospital has 57 cameras while most of them remain out of order, encouraging criminals to do criminal activities. Incident of newborn babies from government hospital becomes a common phenomenon.

Many Cox’s Bazar tra� ckers roaming scot-free Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

More than 50 human tra� ckers who have op-erated in di� erent areas of Cox’s Bazar are still at large, with local sources saying the crimi-nals have reached a compromise with police to avoid arrest.

Rezia Akhter Revi, one of the highly noto-rious tra� ckers in Ukhia, her husband Nurul Kabir, Syed Alam of Sonaichhari village, and Abul Kalam of Chhepatkhali village are among the tra� ckers who have not yet been arrested.

Their names appear on the list of tra� ck-ers drawn up by the Home Ministry.

The tra� ckers remained in hiding for long in di� erent areas but they are recently roam-ing around freely, causing worry among locals.

Locals claimed a secret deal was reached between the tra� ckers and police at a recent meeting, under which the criminals had been allowed to move freely without being arrest-ed until Eid-ul-Fitr in exchange for bribes amounting to Tk50,000-100,000.

They said the meeting was attended by Ukhia police station O� cer-in-Charge Zahirul Islam Khan, Inani police outpost in-charge Sub-Inspector Premananda, a former union parishad chairman, and three tra� ckers - Revi’s husband Nurul Kabir, Syed Alam and Rustam Ali.

But SI Premananda denied any such ren-dezvous, saying there can be no compromise with tra� ckers.

“We are regularly carrying out operations to detain tra� ckers. We will arrest anyone in-

volved in tra� cking if we are tipped o� ,” he said. OC Zahirul echoed SI Premananda, saying

the allegation of a secret compromise be-tween police and tra� ckers is a conspiracy.

He also said he was unaware of tra� ckers coming out of hiding.

The extent of human tra� cking was in the media spotlight after mass graves of tra� ck-ing victims were discovered in Thailand and Malaysia in April.

The police were then ordered to crack down on tra� ckers, mostly operating in Cox’s Bazar. Six tra� ckers, including Dhalu Hos-sain who was the top tra� cker in Cox’s Bazar, were killed in gun� ghts with police soon after the crackdown was initiated.

Some 300 tra� ckers went into hiding in the wake of the crackdown.

With the end of the last working day before Eid, the rush of people and vehicles crowd a street of Gulistan in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

NEWS 7D

T

WORLD8DTFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

On anniversary of MH17 downing, Putin calls tribunal counterproductive AFP, Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday told Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte that establishing an international tribunal to pros-ecute those behind the downing of Malaysia Airlines � ight MH17 over Ukraine would be counterproductive.

“Vladimir Putin in detail explained the Russian position regarding the premature and counterproductive nature of an initiative by a number of countries, including the Neth-erlands, to establish an international tribunal to criminally prosecute individuals responsi-ble for the destruction of the Malaysian air-liner,” the Kremlin said following a phone call between Putin and Rutte.

The Netherlands – whose citizens made up the majority of the 298 people killed when the plane was downed a year ago over rebel-held eastern Ukraine – is working with Malaysia,

Australia, Belgium, and Ukraine on setting up an international tribunal.

A draft UN resolution, obtained by AFP, calls for establishing the tribunal under Chap-ter 7 of the UN charter, which means that the court’s e� orts to prosecute those responsible could be enforced by sanctions.

Investigators from the Netherlands are leading an international probe into the down-ing of the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur � ight on July 17, 2014, and are expected to release a � -nal report in early October.

Ukraine and many in the West have ac-cused pro-Russian separatists of shoot-ing down the plane, saying they may have used a surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia.

Russia – which wields a UN veto – and the rebels deny any responsibility and have in-stead pointed the � nger at Ukraine’s military.

In his conversation with Rutte, Putin in-

sisted that all investigations into the disaster should be completed before any decision can be taken on how to try the culprits.

Putin also lashed out at reported leaks from the Dutch investigation as “clearly polit-icised,” after US channel CNN cited unnamed sources as saying that the � nal report found the rebels responsible.

On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the crash, Russian state media have criticised the West for alleging Russian involvement be-fore the investigation is complete.

The rebels in east Ukraine boast the heavy weaponry of a regular army but Russia denies that it supplies the hardware across the sepa-ratist-controlled border.

The West and Russia are locked in their worst stando� since the Cold War over the Ukraine con� ict, with the US and EU hit-ting Moscow with sanctions over its alleged meddling.

Police: Pachauri obstructing sex claims probe AFP, New Delhi

Indian police yesterday accused former UN climate panel head Rajendra Pachauri of obstructing their investigation into sexual harassment claims against him, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency and a law-yer said.

Police told the Delhi high court that Pachauri had been evasive during interroga-tions, and that it supported the alleged vic-tim’s application to have his bail cancelled.

Pachauri, a leading voice on the dangers of global warming, was forced to step down as the chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year after a female col-league said he harassed her.

Police last month questioned the 74-year-old based on the evidence provided by the 29-year-old woman, who accused him of sex-ually harassing her through repeated inappro-priate emails, text and WhatsApp messages.

Loyalists secure Aden for return of exiled regime AFP, Aden

Loyalist forces battled to oust Iran-backed rebels from their remaining positions in Yem-en’s second city Aden yesterday as exiled ministers prepared to return to assess the damage from four months of � ghting.

The planned visit by the three ministers would be the � rst since the Houthi rebels and their allies entered the southern port city in March forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in neigh-bouring Saudi Arabia.

With the rebels in retreat, the exiled gov-ernment announced plans late on Wednes-day for Interior Minister Abdo al-Houdaithi,

Transport Minister Badr Baslama, and depu-ty health minister Nasser Baoum to head to Aden.

Since the launch of Operation Golden Arrow on Tuesday, Hadi’s loyalists have re-captured Aden airport and much of the sur-rounding Khormaksar diplomatic district, as well as the provincial government headquar-ters, in their biggest countero� ensive so far.

Southern militiamen of the Popular Re-sistance, backed by reinforcements freshly trained and equipped in Saudi Arabia, have also gained ground in the Crater and Mualla districts of the city.

The rebels attempted to bring in reinforce-ments from the central province of Baida

overnight but they were bombed by a Sau-di-led coalition which has been waging an air campaign against them since March.

Coalition warplanes also bombed rebel po-sitions on Aden’s northern and eastern out-skirts and in other districts of the city, mili-tary sources and witnesses said.

The loyalists overwhelmed rebels who had been holed up in the Chinese consulate in Khormaksar and freed 22 of their comrades who had been held captive, Popular Resist-ance spokesman Ali al-Ahmadi told AFP.

The retreating rebels again pounded Aden oil re� nery, which has 1.2 million tonnes of crude in storage, with Katyusha rocket launchers, an oil o� cial said.

Ukraine takes � rst step toward giving rebels self-rule AFP, Kiev

Ukraine’s parliament took the � rst step yes-terday toward granting temporary self-rule to pro-Russian rebels under a change to the constitution the West hopes can end one of Europe’s deadliest wars in recent years.

The divisive issue came to the � oor on the day lawmakers also vote on belt-tightening measures needed for the quick release of a $5-billion (4.6-billion-euro) IMF payment that could spare cash-strapped Kiev from slipping into default.

The idea of granting autonomous status to rebel-run parts of Ukraine’s east for the com-ing three years has struck a note of disquiet among many lawmakers and much of the Kiev media.

But it was inscribed in a truce agreement that Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed o� on under strong pressure from the leaders of Germany and France in February.

The sudden � urry of activity led visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nu-land to call yesterday “yet another histor-ic day” in a war-torn country that has seen 6,500 people killed since the overthrow of its Russian-backed leadership in February 2014.

Nuland will meet Ukrainian President Pet-ro Poroshenko later yesterday to reassure him of Washington’s backing and continued focus on the government’s 15-month � ght against separatists in the shattered industrial east.

Lawmakers yesterday voted by a com-manding 288-57 majority to ask Ukraine’s constitutional court to rule whether such changes to the basic law were legal.

The court must weigh in on the issue be-fore any formal vote is held in the weeks or months to come.

Both Washington and its EU allies believe that partial self-rule could satisfy the insur-gents and remove any arguments Russia may have for arming and funding them – support Moscow � rmly denies ever giving.

George and Angela Dyczynski sit on a piece of wreckage of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 during their visit to the crash site near the village of Hrabove (Grabovo), in Donetsk region in this July 26, 2014 � le photo. MH17 was shot down on July 17, 2014 with 298 passengers on board REUTERS

WORLD 9D

TFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Japan lawmakers pass security bills despite public anger AFP, Tokyo

Controversial security bills that opponents say will undermine 70 years of paci� sm and could see Japanese troops � ghting abroad for the � rst time since World War II passed through the powerful lower house of parlia-ment yesterday.

The vote marks a victory for national-ist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other right-wingers, who have ignored popular anger in a bid to break what they see as the shackles of the US-imposed constitution.

They say restrictive clauses preventing Ja-pan from having a fully-� edged military serve as a straightjacket that stops Tokyo from do-ing what it must to protect its citizens, allies and friends.

Abe’s ruling coalition was left alone to vote after all main opposition parties walked out of the chamber in protest, a move intended to re� ect widespread public fury over the legis-lation.

“The security situation surrounding Japan is increasingly severe,” Abe told reporters af-ter the vote, in an apparent reference to the rise of China.

“These bills are necessary to protect Japa-nese people’s lives and prevent a war before

it breaks out.”The vote came a day after as many as

60,000 people took part in a rally outside parliament, after the bills – which will give Ja-pan’s tightly-restricted military greater scope to act – were pushed through a key lower house panel.

There were scu� es as police pushed pro-testors back, and two men in their 60s were arrested on suspicion of assaulting o� cers, local media said.

Demonstrations in Japan are usually small and very orderly, but the issue has galvanised opposition across a wide swathe of the pop-ulation.

The bills – a hotchpotch of updates to ex-isting provisions that will allow, amongst other things, Japan’s military to take part in non-United Nations peacekeeping missions – now go to the upper chamber.

Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner have a majority in that house, but commentators say it is possible the chamber could reject, or amend the bills.

However, the lower house could overturn those changes with a two-thirds majority – well within the scope of what Abe controls. The legislation is expected to be enacted by the autumn.

The prime minister, a robust nationalist, wants what he calls a normalisation of Japan’s military posture, which has been constrained by a constitution written by US occupiers af-ter World War II.

Unable to muster support to amend claus-es enshrining paci� sm, Abe opted instead to re-interpret the document for the purpose of his bills, ignoring warnings from scholars and lawyers that his bills are unconstitutional.

While yesterday’s vote was a win for Abe, there are growing signs that the campaign has taken a political toll – opinion polls show the vast majority of the public is against the bills, and Abe’s once-sky-high approval rating is dropping.

Chief among the changes that the legisla-tion will enable is the option for the military to go into battle to protect allies – so called “collective defence” – even if there is no di-rect threat to Japan or its people, something successive governments have ruled out.

Protesters, which include a large number of middle-aged and elderly people, say that provision will mean Japan gets dragged into American wars in far-� ung parts of the globe.

But supporters say the bar for involvement in any con� ict will remain much higher than for many other nations.

Thwarted Indian couple in Taj Mahal ‘suicide pact’ AFP, Agra

An Indian couple forbidden to marry because of their di� erent backgrounds are in hospital after slitting their own throats in an apparent suicide pact at India’s famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal.

Police said the pair – named in the Times of India as Rajveer Singh and Shabnam Ali – were stable after they were discovered in a pool of blood in the grounds of the Taj Mahal on Wednesday afternoon.

“This couple, one of whom is a Hindu and the other a Muslim, tried to commit suicide at the Taj,” said police deputy superintendent Aseem Chaudhary. “The girl cut her throat � rst followed by the boy.”

Marriage outside caste or religion still at-tracts strong censure in parts of India and can even lead to so-called honour killings, carried out to protect what is seen as family pride.

“Both Shabnam and I tried hard to convince our parents that they should allow us to get married, but the boundaries of reli-gion remained the biggest hurdle,” the Times of India quoted Singh as saying.

The Taj – India’s top tourist attraction – was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth in 1631.

Europe moves to restore funding to Greece after bailout vote Reuters, Athens

Europe moved to re-open funding to Greece’s stricken economy yesterday, hours after a fractious Greek parliament approved a tough bailout programme in a vote that left the gov-ernment without a majority and looking to new elections within months.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won the backing of parliament in the early hours of yesterday for the stringent reform measures demanded by Greece’s creditors led by Ger-many, but was left weakened by a revolt in his left-wing Syriza party.

Tsipras won the vote thanks to the sup-port of the centre-right New Democracy, cen-tre-left Pasok and centrist To Potami opposi-tion parties.

His Interior Minister, Nikos Voutsis, said that a snap election could be held in Septem-ber or October, “depending on developments.”

However his position as head of govern-ment faces no serious internal challenge and he is expected to reshu� e his cabinet to re-move dissident leftists.

He has ruled out early elections and said this week the captain does not leave the ship in a storm.

The move by the Greek parliament was enough to persuade the European Central Bank to re-open vital funds for the Greek banking system under its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) programme, after euro zone � nance ministers signalled they would unlock 7 billion euros ($7.6 billion) in bridge loans.

ECB President Mario Draghi said the ECB

would increase ELA funding by 900 million euros. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble underlined the risks still sur-rounding the negotiations that will need to be conducted over the next few weeks, saying a temporary Greek “timeout” from the euro may still be a better option.

After a warning from the International

Monetary Fund this week that Greece’s mas-sive public debt could not be managed without a signi� cant writedown, Schaeuble said that a debt “haircut” was incompatible with euro membership and would mean Greece would have to leave the euro, at least temporarily.

Greek banks have been closed for a third week, with capital restrictions in place and

cash rationed from automatic teller ma-chines, and they will not be able to re-open until the ECB re-opens emergency funding.

European � nance ministers held a con-ference call yesterday morning to agree on a plan for the 7 billion euros in bridging funds to enable Greece to meet its immediate debt service needs and avoid defaulting on a re-payment to the ECB next Monday.

In a statement, they agreed “in principle” to start talks with Greece on a new, 3-year bailout and also called on Athens to adopt a second set of reforms by Wednesday, July 22.

All 28 EU countries are expected to con-tribute, despite the reluctance of non-eu-ro members such as Britain and the Czech Republic.

The Greek parliament comfortably ap-proved the agreement that Tsipras struck on Monday with the euro zone. But 32 of the 149 lawmakers from Tsipras’s radical left Syriza party voted against the plan while six e� ec-tively abstained and one was absent.

Among the dissenters were four members of the government, one of whom resigned. The dissidents also included the speaker of parliament and ex-� nance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who compared the Brussels deal with the 1919 Versailles Treaty that imposed unpayable reparations on a defeated Germa-ny after World War One.

Tsipras told lawmakers he had accepted a package he did not believe in and which would harm Greece, but the alternative was a disorderly bankruptcy that would be more catastrophic.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reacts during a parliamentary session in Athens, Greece yesterday. The Greek parliament passed a sweeping package of austerity measures demanded by European partners as the price for opening talks on a multi-billion euro bailout package needed to keep the near-bankrupt country in the euro zone REUTERS

11D

TEDITORIALFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

INSIDE

F or Muslims all around the world, Eid-ul-Fitr is the most auspicious occasion in the Islamic calendar.

The forthcoming holiday is a time to recall the lessons of Ramadan as people mark its passing with special prayers and

get-togethers.It is also a cultural landmark for all people in Bangladesh, as it is

the year’s biggest family holiday and brings out the best of people’s innate spirit of giving and generosity.

We hope all Bangladeshis will share in the spirit of community and solidarity that Eid-ul-Fitr represents.

As we celebrate with family and friends, it is important we take time out to think of the many people su� ering around the world. Ramadan teaches believers to practice self-restraint and recall the less fortunate for whom ful� lling basic needs of sustenance is always a daily struggle.

It is tragic, as the holy month asks people to remember the importance of charity, that over 27 people were killed last week in the stampede at Mymensingh during the handing out of Zakat donations.

This is a sad reminder of how far Bangladesh has to go before everybody in the nation can share in the bene� ts of a growing economy.

Everyone should resolve to strive better in the year ahead, to � nd more e� ective ways to improve social welfare, and help more people work their way out of poverty.

We hope everybody can bene� t from the welcome break in routine and take the opportunity to revitalise our energies for the year ahead.

May everyone in Bangladesh enjoy a safe and ful� lling holiday.We wish all our valued readers a heartfelt Eid Mubarak.

Everyone should resolve to strive better in the year ahead, to � nd more e� ective ways to improve social welfare, and help more people work their way out of poverty

Solidarity is not only for Eid

Pinocchio’s nose

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PAGE 12

PAGE 13

A man in fullSyed Humayun Kabir became one of those rare men who truly walked the walk. He did not just profess a commit-ment to social welfare and social justice, he embodied it

Is it a coincidence that immediately after India and Pakistan were invited to join SCO, Mr Modi visited Turkmenistan and gave his swift benediction to TAPI?

BIGSTOCK

PAGE 12

A time to stand shoulder to shoulderLet us remember the little boy during the festivities, and take a moment and look deep within ourselves, make an all-out search for the humanity that seems to have lost its way in the rat race of life and our demons of avarice

OPINION12DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Zafar Sobhan

W e have all heard of Prof Muham-mad Yunus and Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, and both these gentle-men deserve all the praise and

plaudits that they have received over the years.

But when the history of Bangladesh’s de-velopment is written, there is another name that deserves to be mentioned alongside theirs, and that is of Syed Humayun Kabir, who passed away on July 7 at the age of 83 after a long and distinguished career in busi-ness and philanthropy.

Mr Kabir’s contribution to social welfare and social justice in Bangladesh was every bit as remarkable as that of his better-known compatriots and brothers-in-arms, and will in the long-run, I am con� dent, be seen to be every bit as signi� cant.

In fact, it is in this � eld that Bangladesh can truly be said to lead the world and it is this sector that we should be most proud of

when we speak of this country. We inherited a war-torn, impoverished,

devastated country in December 1971, and it is nothing short of a miracle that in 44 short years we have come as far as we have in terms of human development.

In area after area, from infant mortality to life expectancy to poverty rates to immunisa-tion to education to empowerment of wom-en, the list of our achievements is a long one that can stand comparison with anywhere else on the planet.

Of course, there is much left to do and a long way to go, but we should never lose sight of what it is we have achieved so far, and how and why it is that we have been able to accomplish what we have done. And it is to men such as Syed Humayun Kabir and his vision and creativity that we owe where we have come to as a nation.

His story is an extraordinary one in that any one of his achievements would have been su� cient to earn him a place of respect on the list of notable Bangladeshis of his era, but that he was able to � t so many accom-plishments into one lifetime almost beggars belief.

Let us start by lauding him as a business-man, who was widely respected by his peers, both inside the country and outside, as the chairman and managing director of P� zer Ltd in Bangladesh for over two decades and then of Renata, its successor.

His probity and integrity as a businessman are legendary, as was his acumen and ability. His business career alone provided a model for how business could be conducted in this country, and his integrity has served as a bea-con to two generations of business leaders and executives in Bangladesh.

It was in recognition of his moral and intellectual authority that he was elevated by his peers to the presidency of the MCCI and FICCI, among a host of other leadership positions in industry, to say nothing of his many other board directorships, both of businesses as well as non-pro� ts. His peers in the business community saw him as the obvious choice of leader and spokesman for the sector, a role he � lled with aplomb.

In a country where business is seen by many as a by-word for corruption and crim-inality, he stood out as a shining example of what a businessman could be and what the sector could do for the country.

It was this reputation for probity and ability, combined with his commitment to the common good, which led to his invitation to join the board of BRAC, which he subse-quently chaired for over two decades.

His long association with BRAC alone would itself serve as a mark of his commit-ment to social welfare and social justice. Sir Abed would be the � rst to point to his seminal contribution as chairman of the board in helping to bring BRAC to its current eminence.

But it was in the � nal chapter of his career that Mr Kabir came into his own and left a legacy behind that will serve as a lesson and an inspiration for all of us who want to make a di� erence and to contribute to the common good.

His achievements as a business leader or as the chairman of BRAC alone (or indeed as a founding member of Transparency International Bangladesh) would have been su� cient to cement his legacy, but he did not stop there.

And it was with the founding of the SAJIDA Foundation in 1993, a 25th wedding anniversary gift to his wife, Sajida Humayun Kabir, that he not only created his most en-during legacy, but also laid down a template for philanthropy for the future, which com-bined his commitment with his creativity in a unique way.

Mr Kabir had always held that business should and could be a force for the common good and ran his businesses with this philos-ophy in mind. But what was so remarkable about the founding of SAJIDA Foundation in 1993, which was funded by a majority share-holding in Renata, was the explicit joining of a private enterprise (Renata) to a public purpose (the funding of the work of SAJIDA).

In doing so, Syed Humayun Kabir became one of those rare men who truly walked the walk. He did not just profess a commit-ment to social welfare and social justice, he

embodied it. That alone should be enough to elevate him to the pantheon of great Bangla-deshis.

But equally important, in the tradition of Yunus and Abed, he has created a template that others who wish to devote themselves to the common good may follow.

It is his creativity as much as his com-mitment that makes his contribution so noteworthy and serves as an example of the genius we have for innovative ways in which to serve our fellow men and women, in which Bangladesh truly leads the world.

We have lost a true inspiration, but we can be proud that one such as he lived among us. It is to men such as Syed Humayun Kabir that we owe it to build this country into a better place for all.

Zafar Sobhan is the Editor, Dhaka Tribune.

A man in full

Syed Humayun Kabir became one of those rare men who truly walked the walk. He did not just profess a commitment to social welfare and social justice, he embodied it

Like Yunus and Abed, Kabir created a template for others to follow

OPINION12DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Zafar Sobhan

W e have all heard of Prof Muham-mad Yunus and Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, and both these gentle-men deserve all the praise and

plaudits that they have received over the years.

But when the history of Bangladesh’s de-velopment is written, there is another name that deserves to be mentioned alongside theirs, and that is of Syed Humayun Kabir, who passed away on July 7 at the age of 83 after a long and distinguished career in busi-ness and philanthropy.

Mr Kabir’s contribution to social welfare and social justice in Bangladesh was every bit as remarkable as that of his better-known compatriots and brothers-in-arms, and will in the long-run, I am con� dent, be seen to be every bit as signi� cant.

In fact, it is in this � eld that Bangladesh can truly be said to lead the world and it is this sector that we should be most proud of

when we speak of this country. We inherited a war-torn, impoverished,

devastated country in December 1971, and it is nothing short of a miracle that in 44 short years we have come as far as we have in terms of human development.

In area after area, from infant mortality to life expectancy to poverty rates to immunisa-tion to education to empowerment of wom-en, the list of our achievements is a long one that can stand comparison with anywhere else on the planet.

Of course, there is much left to do and a long way to go, but we should never lose sight of what it is we have achieved so far, and how and why it is that we have been able to accomplish what we have done. And it is to men such as Syed Humayun Kabir and his vision and creativity that we owe where we have come to as a nation.

His story is an extraordinary one in that any one of his achievements would have been su� cient to earn him a place of respect on the list of notable Bangladeshis of his era, but that he was able to � t so many accom-plishments into one lifetime almost beggars belief.

Let us start by lauding him as a business-man, who was widely respected by his peers, both inside the country and outside, as the chairman and managing director of P� zer Ltd in Bangladesh for over two decades and then of Renata, its successor.

His probity and integrity as a businessman are legendary, as was his acumen and ability. His business career alone provided a model for how business could be conducted in this country, and his integrity has served as a bea-con to two generations of business leaders and executives in Bangladesh.

It was in recognition of his moral and intellectual authority that he was elevated by his peers to the presidency of the MCCI and FICCI, among a host of other leadership positions in industry, to say nothing of his many other board directorships, both of businesses as well as non-pro� ts. His peers in the business community saw him as the obvious choice of leader and spokesman for the sector, a role he � lled with aplomb.

In a country where business is seen by many as a by-word for corruption and crim-inality, he stood out as a shining example of what a businessman could be and what the sector could do for the country.

It was this reputation for probity and ability, combined with his commitment to the common good, which led to his invitation to join the board of BRAC, which he subse-quently chaired for over two decades.

His long association with BRAC alone would itself serve as a mark of his commit-ment to social welfare and social justice. Sir Abed would be the � rst to point to his seminal contribution as chairman of the board in helping to bring BRAC to its current eminence.

But it was in the � nal chapter of his career that Mr Kabir came into his own and left a legacy behind that will serve as a lesson and an inspiration for all of us who want to make a di� erence and to contribute to the common good.

His achievements as a business leader or as the chairman of BRAC alone (or indeed as a founding member of Transparency International Bangladesh) would have been su� cient to cement his legacy, but he did not stop there.

And it was with the founding of the SAJIDA Foundation in 1993, a 25th wedding anniversary gift to his wife, Sajida Humayun Kabir, that he not only created his most en-during legacy, but also laid down a template for philanthropy for the future, which com-bined his commitment with his creativity in a unique way.

Mr Kabir had always held that business should and could be a force for the common good and ran his businesses with this philos-ophy in mind. But what was so remarkable about the founding of SAJIDA Foundation in 1993, which was funded by a majority share-holding in Renata, was the explicit joining of a private enterprise (Renata) to a public purpose (the funding of the work of SAJIDA).

In doing so, Syed Humayun Kabir became one of those rare men who truly walked the walk. He did not just profess a commit-ment to social welfare and social justice, he

embodied it. That alone should be enough to elevate him to the pantheon of great Bangla-deshis.

But equally important, in the tradition of Yunus and Abed, he has created a template that others who wish to devote themselves to the common good may follow.

It is his creativity as much as his com-mitment that makes his contribution so noteworthy and serves as an example of the genius we have for innovative ways in which to serve our fellow men and women, in which Bangladesh truly leads the world.

We have lost a true inspiration, but we can be proud that one such as he lived among us. It is to men such as Syed Humayun Kabir that we owe it to build this country into a better place for all.

Zafar Sobhan is the Editor, Dhaka Tribune.

A man in full

Syed Humayun Kabir became one of those rare men who truly walked the walk. He did not just profess a commitment to social welfare and social justice, he embodied it

Like Yunus and Abed, Kabir created a template for others to follow

OPINION 13D

T

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

FS Aijazuddin

T he Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pa-kistan-India pipeline (TAPI) is like Pinocchio’s nose. The more partici-pating governments lie about it, the

longer its implementation schedule grows.TAPI has been under consideration for

over 20 years. No pipeline in the history of hydro-carbon transmission has taken so long to reach a terminal of indecision.

As pipeline projects go, TAPI is not the longest. Its 1,650km length is eclipsed by the Rockies Express (1,680km), which runs from Colorado to Eastern Ohio. It is dwarfed by the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline system (4,100km) crossing from Russia, over Belarus and Po-land, and into Germany.

And it shrinks into insigni� cance com-pared to the Chinese West-East Gas Pipeline Project (WEPP), whose � rst two phases -- WEPP I (4,000km) and WEPP II (8,700km) -- are already functioning. Two more phases are being planned -- WEPP III (7,300km) and WEPP IV.

All these gas pipelines travel unimpeded over natural obstacles such as mountains, rivers and deserts, and across internation-al boundaries. On paper, the TAPI project seems simple enough. It envisages trans-porting 28 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Daulatabad in Turkmenistan, through Afghanistan, across Pakistan, to Fazilka in Indian Punjab.

It too has to overcome formidable obsta-cles, except that in TAPI’s case, they are all man-made. Friction between its sponsor nations has ensured that if the project ever does leave the drawing board, it will go from somewhere to nowhere.

It has already been 13 years since Turk-menistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan signed a deal to establish TAPI, 10 years since the Asian Development Bank (ADB) prepared its

feasibility report on TAPI, � ve years since the Intergovernmental Agreement on Imple-menting the Gas Pipeline was signed by the participating states, four years since the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements were signed in New Delhi, and two years since each coun-try identi� ed its executing agency.

During all this time, while the sponsoring nations dithered, TAPI’s cost (according to the ADB) has escalated from its original $7.6bn to $10bn, recoverable from consumers.

It is to be expected that international busy-bodies would have a proprietary inter-est in such a show-piece project. The ADB,

appointed as transaction advisor in 2013, sees through cataracts that TAPI will become “a tangible sign of transformational co-opera-tion among the parties that presages the en-hanced energy security, business prospects, and overall peace and stability in the region promised by the pipeline.”

Canadian troops stationed in Afghanistan fret about their security, as TAPI will pass through areas where they are deployed. The Israelis welcome India’s participation as its presence will ensure that “Central Asia will not become subject to some form of Sino-Russian hegemony.” NATO would like to train the security personnel needed to patrol

the length of the pipeline.Lawyers will haggle over issues like the

energy charter, security of TAPI’s assets, tran-sit rights, environmental hazards, supply/o� -take enforceability, and the bane of Indo-Pak relations -- dispute resolution.

International contractors salivate at the prospect of $10bn worth of business. After US giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil pulled out, the French company TOTAL threw its beret into the ring. Current expectations are that TOTAL, jointly with the Turkmenistan government, will be responsible for upstream operations, while the Russian company ROSTEC and the China National Petroleum Company will be part of a consortium led by TOTAL to construct the pipeline. (Member countries have yet to approve this con� gura-tion.)

The only countries that have a real stake in TAPI are Turkmenistan, which owns the gas, and its customers -- Afghanistan (3 billion cu-bic metres), and Pakistan and India, who pro-pose to take 12.5 billion cubic metres each. And yet, these are the very countries that are acting like marionettes, responding to strings being jerked by practised puppeteers.

Is it a coincidence that immediately after India and Pakistan were invited to join SCO,

Mr Modi visited Turkmenistan and gave his swift benediction to TAPI?

Could Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping be reprising the avuncular roles Kosygin played in Tash-kent in 1965 and Zhou Enlai in 1971?

If there is a pressure anywhere, it is not in Turkmenistan’s Daulatabad gas � eld. It is from the millions of underfed gas consumers in India and Pakistan. They need a depend-able supply of hydro-carbons, freeing India from its reliance on coal, and Pakistan from Sui gas and imported substitutes.

And yet, it is precisely these domestic constituencies that are not being taken into con� dence by either government, or told the truth about TAPI.

We have been arguing over Jammu & Kashmir for almost 70 years. We have been squabbling over the Indus Waters Treaty for 50 years. We have been sniping over Siachen. We have been hurling legal barbs at each oth-er over Mumbai. It is time to be honest: TAPI is not a Pinocchio puppet for bored govern-ments to play with, and then put away.

FS Aijazuddin lives in Lahore and is a columnist for Dawn, Pakistan’s main English-language newspaper. This article was � rst published in Dawn.

Pinocchio’s nose

Is it a coincidence that immediately after India and Pakistan were invited to join SCO, Mr Modi visited Turkmenistan and gave his swift benediction to TAPI?

The TAPI pipeline still has a long, arduous road ahead of it REUTERS

OPINION14DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

SM Shahrukh

T he monsters of Sylhet still haunt us -- the crying, pleading, dying face of Rajon is all over social media. Talk shows are already decrying the

tattered moral fabric of the country. For once, such an incident, which is not very rare in Bangladesh, has not been swept under the rug. Life is cheap in this country of teeming millions, and the lives of the poor, cheaper still.

Even though corporal punishment in schools had been declared illegal by the Honourable High Court in 2011, where the court observed that “such punishment is a clear violation of children’s fundamental rights to life and liberty,” it has not gone totally out of practice, especially in madrasas and orphanages.

Medieval practices of torture are still quite rampant in these institutions. A video of two little girls being abused is now circulating in social media. The incident happened in an orphanage in Barisal -- the girls were not even 10 years old.

In the meantime, our political culture continues in the same vein with allegations and counter-allegations, verbal thrusts and parries continue, even during the rather solemn occasions of an iftar party. Iftar parties, in the month of Ramadan, have become the dais for political rhetoric up until the azaan sounds, and then you’ll � nd some participants take a break to gorge themselves.

Ramadan is also the month when the rich of the society donate a part of their wealth (the size of the donation dictated by religion) to the poor. And we have had disasters in that area too. 27 poverty-stricken people (23 women and four children) died in a stampede as Zakat clothes were being distributed in Mymensingh.

“Why did these people of a lower mid-dle-income country become so desperate for some cheap saris and lungis?” has been asked. Well, it is true that the country has come a long way from the dire poverty of the 70s and the 80s and the country is now wealthier than before; people have more purchasing power and the villagers also have better standards of living. But the number of poor is still substantial, and they are not yet able to say: “We don’t want any donations.”

After a month surviving the rigours of fasting, a big portion of city-dwellers are headed home, availing any mode of trans-portation on o� er. People living in cities still refer to the remote village from whence they hail from as “home” and will do so forever. This homeward journey is fraught with many hassles and tribulations and one is always on tenterhooks as to possible road accidents or riverine disasters, leading to more untimely deaths.

With such a huge population on the move and with transportation systems unable to accommodate and cope, such fears are not unfounded.

However, we can only hope that a disaster like the Pinak 6 capsize last year, and the subsequent loss of lives, would somehow be averted this time. I wait and scan the papers with trepidation.

Eid after the month of Ramadan is the biggest festival for Muslims. It is a time for fanfare, a time to be close to ones near and dear, a time for catching up since the last Eid. People stand shoulder to shoulder in the early morning of the day in prayer and hug each other at the end. People try to eat “better” on the day, but many poor people have to depend on hand-outs from the well-o� for a good meal.

Children in colourful clothes in the streets, children holding their parents’ hands or hold-ing on to friends, � ying balloons, enjoying ice-cream sticks with a skip in their steps, are a joy to watch. The day’s festivities belong

mostly to them.Not for Rajon though. He fell into the grips

of some beasts and his constant cries for help fell on deaf ears, and all he heard was the laughter of hyenas. Let us remember the little boy during the festivities, and take a moment and look deep within ourselves, make an all-out search for the humanity that seems to have lost its way in the rat race of life and our demons of avarice.

We have to deal with these demons in our minds, and as Carl Jung put it: “Our heart glows, and secret unrest gnaws at the root of our being. Dealing with the unconscious has become a question of life for us.”

Have a happy Eid everyone -- Eid Mubarak!

SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

A time to stand shoulder to shoulder

Let us remember the little boy during the festivities, and take a moment and look deep within ourselves, make an all-out search for the humanity that seems to have lost its way in the rat race of life and our demons of avarice

As we approach Eid and celebrate, we shouldn’t forget the problems that still plague us

NA

SHIR

UL

ISLA

M

OPINION14DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

SM Shahrukh

T he monsters of Sylhet still haunt us -- the crying, pleading, dying face of Rajon is all over social media. Talk shows are already decrying the

tattered moral fabric of the country. For once, such an incident, which is not very rare in Bangladesh, has not been swept under the rug. Life is cheap in this country of teeming millions, and the lives of the poor, cheaper still.

Even though corporal punishment in schools had been declared illegal by the Honourable High Court in 2011, where the court observed that “such punishment is a clear violation of children’s fundamental rights to life and liberty,” it has not gone totally out of practice, especially in madrasas and orphanages.

Medieval practices of torture are still quite rampant in these institutions. A video of two little girls being abused is now circulating in social media. The incident happened in an orphanage in Barisal -- the girls were not even 10 years old.

In the meantime, our political culture continues in the same vein with allegations and counter-allegations, verbal thrusts and parries continue, even during the rather solemn occasions of an iftar party. Iftar parties, in the month of Ramadan, have become the dais for political rhetoric up until the azaan sounds, and then you’ll � nd some participants take a break to gorge themselves.

Ramadan is also the month when the rich of the society donate a part of their wealth (the size of the donation dictated by religion) to the poor. And we have had disasters in that area too. 27 poverty-stricken people (23 women and four children) died in a stampede as Zakat clothes were being distributed in Mymensingh.

“Why did these people of a lower mid-dle-income country become so desperate for some cheap saris and lungis?” has been asked. Well, it is true that the country has come a long way from the dire poverty of the 70s and the 80s and the country is now wealthier than before; people have more purchasing power and the villagers also have better standards of living. But the number of poor is still substantial, and they are not yet able to say: “We don’t want any donations.”

After a month surviving the rigours of fasting, a big portion of city-dwellers are headed home, availing any mode of trans-portation on o� er. People living in cities still refer to the remote village from whence they hail from as “home” and will do so forever. This homeward journey is fraught with many hassles and tribulations and one is always on tenterhooks as to possible road accidents or riverine disasters, leading to more untimely deaths.

With such a huge population on the move and with transportation systems unable to accommodate and cope, such fears are not unfounded.

However, we can only hope that a disaster like the Pinak 6 capsize last year, and the subsequent loss of lives, would somehow be averted this time. I wait and scan the papers with trepidation.

Eid after the month of Ramadan is the biggest festival for Muslims. It is a time for fanfare, a time to be close to ones near and dear, a time for catching up since the last Eid. People stand shoulder to shoulder in the early morning of the day in prayer and hug each other at the end. People try to eat “better” on the day, but many poor people have to depend on hand-outs from the well-o� for a good meal.

Children in colourful clothes in the streets, children holding their parents’ hands or hold-ing on to friends, � ying balloons, enjoying ice-cream sticks with a skip in their steps, are a joy to watch. The day’s festivities belong

mostly to them.Not for Rajon though. He fell into the grips

of some beasts and his constant cries for help fell on deaf ears, and all he heard was the laughter of hyenas. Let us remember the little boy during the festivities, and take a moment and look deep within ourselves, make an all-out search for the humanity that seems to have lost its way in the rat race of life and our demons of avarice.

We have to deal with these demons in our minds, and as Carl Jung put it: “Our heart glows, and secret unrest gnaws at the root of our being. Dealing with the unconscious has become a question of life for us.”

Have a happy Eid everyone -- Eid Mubarak!

SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

A time to stand shoulder to shoulder

Let us remember the little boy during the festivities, and take a moment and look deep within ourselves, make an all-out search for the humanity that seems to have lost its way in the rat race of life and our demons of avarice

As we approach Eid and celebrate, we shouldn’t forget the problems that still plague us

NA

SHIR

UL

ISLA

M

15D

TBusiness FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Asia Inc looks to post-sanctions Iran for demand spurt

17Multinational, power stocks shine past week just before Eid

19In shadow of Chinese rout, India � ghts illegal ‘dabba’ market

16Bangladesh brightens South Asia’s growth forecast for 2015

20

GUIDELINE Number of Licensee - 2 Auction base price would be Tk3 crore BTRC to get 5.5% share of revenue after 1 year Performance bank guaranty Tk3 crore Yearly licence fee Tk 50 lakh, Licence application form fee Tk1 lakh, Tenure of licence 15 years

Guideline for Tower Sharing Licence awaits PMO nod Ishtiaq Husain

The guideline for Tower Sharing Licence, which has already been drafted by Bangla-desh Telecommunication Regulatory Com-mission (BTRC), now waits for the consent from the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO).

Soon after the consent from the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO), the regulatory body will go for an auction without any delay, said an o� cial of BTRC.

A committee has made the draft guideline of the Tower Sharing Licence.

Meanwhile, BTRC sent the draft to the PMO for approval.

The government is going to introduce the Tower Sharing Licence as part of its plan to carry out the maintenance of mobile phone base stations (BTS) through two of separate companies.

But, opposing the government’s decision, some mobile phone operators said, “Around

2,500 engineers will lose their jobs if the plan is implemented and the move also goes against the 3G licencing regulations.”

According to article 2 of the drafted guide-line, only tower operators will get the tower sharing licenses while auction base price would be Tk3 crore as per article 12 of the guideline.

Applicants have to pay Tk3 crore as perfor-mance bank guarantee while yearly license fee would be Tk50 lakh.

License application form fee would be

� xed at Tk1 lakh and the tenure of the license would be 15 years while the BTRC will get the revenue share of 5.5% after a year.

According to the guideline under article 19, the tenure of all the roll out obligations will be � ve yearsfor setting up towers across the coun-try while the towers at the Upazilla level would be completed in the last year.

As of now,the six mobile op-erators have around 3,000 en-gineers. Of them, some 700 en-gineers are working for GP, 600 for Banglalink, 500 for Robi and 1,000 for Teletalk, Citycell and Airtel, according to sources.

“If BTRC � nally implement its plan, we will probably lose our jobs and we are spending our time now amid uncertain-ty,” said an engineer of a lead-ing mobile phone operator on condition of anonymity.

Since 2010, around 7,500 towers were set up by six operators across the country, of which 5,500 have already been shared.

According to article 5.1 of the guideline, pro-prietorship, partnership, and companies regis-tered under the companies act, 1994 are eligible to apply for the Tower Sharing License.

VAT cut for small � ats unlikely to help buyers Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The Value Added Tax (VAT) reduction on small-size � ats is unlikely to help mid-income people, who prefer to buy small- and medi-um-size � ats, particularly the small ones, in-dustry insiders said.

They said the government has halved the VAT rate by 50% for � ats below 1,100 square feet, but most realtors do not construct such small � ats, and so these will not help the buy-ers, nor the people in the sector.

With the budget for � scal year 2015-16, the government has introduced three slabs of VAT on apartment purchase instead of previous � at rate of 3% irrespective of sizes. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Monday published an o� cial order to e� ect the new rates as � nal-ised in the budget for the current � scal.

According to the new order, people willing to buy � ats up to 1,100 square feet will have to pay 1.5% VAT on the purchased value while the rate will be 2.5% for � ats sized between 1101-1600 square feet and 4.5% above 1600 square feet.

The NBR charges the VAT at source on the total amount of purchase value or the transfer value from sales of any apartment.

The building construction � rm collects the VAT and deposits it to the national exchequer.

Although many buyers willing to buy small � ats earlier consider it a good news, but the sce-nario is unlikely to match their assumptions.

The sector people said the budgetary measures will only help the buyers of mid-size apartment, not others.

Eid sales slump this year Tribune Report

Retail sales registered a 20-30% decline in sales ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr when traders usual-ly witness brisk business during the month of Ramadan, retailers said yesterday.

The city’s shopping centers are usually packed two weeks before Eid-ul-Fitr, the big-gest religious festival for the Muslims, but this year they might have seen far less foot tra� c.

However, according to city shopkeepers, the sale was not as usual this year as rising prices of some commodities, particularity non-food items in the last one year, which cut spending capacity of the people.

Though annual food in� ation fell slightly, but non-food in� ation spiked in the just con-cluded � scal year both in urban and rural ar-eas. Non-food in� ation rose to 5.99% in FY15 from 5.55% in FY14, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data showed.

“Every year, we have a steady in� ow of customers ... both men and women come to us to shop for clothes on the occasion. This is the only period when we can raise the prices of our goods marginally knowing that customers will shop, not giving a second thought,” Rezaul Kabir Kishore, a retailer at city’s Malibag area, said.

“But this year, our business has gone down by almost 20%, in spite of us giving discounts on our clothing.”

Mamun Hossain, a salesman at a Zhumak shop at the Jamuna Future Park, said people have probably started giving more impor-tance to their basic necessities rather than splurging on Eid shopping, which they used

to until this year. Aslam Parvez, head of salesman at East West,

a clothing retailer shop at the new market area, said: “I used to get more than 100 customers daily during these days but now it has dropped to 75-80, which shows the lack of interest.”

“Garments worth Tk2.7m I bought for Eid season. But I have sold only of Tk1.5m so far,” he said. Sajid Khoshru, a tailor, was not busy this occasion as he usually remains during the Eid festivals. “I have received fewer orders to stitch new clothes for Eid. I used to close book-ing on the 12th of Ramadan due to so many or-

ders, but this year I closed it on the 18th. I got at least 30% lesser bookings,” he said.

“Sales were very slow,” said Shoeib Rah-man, a salesman at a shop named Richman at a city shopping mall.

“You see huge rush of buyers but it does not re� ect a true picture of the sales as they are more window shoppers,” he said.

Abdul Samad, a store manager at an elec-tronic outlet, said: “Usually two weeks before the Eid, market remains open till late night, but this year we shut our shops by 11pm be-cause of security reasons.”

Traders report lacklustre sale during this Eid shopping season as some blame increased non-food in� ation boosted consumer spending, limiting their purchase capacity RAJIB DHAR

BUSINESS16DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

In shadow of Chinese rout, India � ghts illegal ‘dabba’ market Reuters, Mumbai

A crack team of regulators and specially trained police are spearheading India’s e� orts to stamp out the country’s “shadow” market in shares and commodities, turning up the heat on backstreet traders who threaten the broader � nancial system.

So-called “dabba” trading has been a head-ache for regulators for years, but a government push to crack down on the black economy and clean up the Indian market for retail investors has given a fresh boost to e� orts to stamp out the multi-billion-dollar parallel system, which bypasses market rules and taxes.

Though brushing o� comparisons, regu-lators and brokers acknowledge China’s dra-matic stock market rout of recent weeks has also served as a stark reminder of the risks -- even if troubles across the border were ex-acerbated by China’s far higher proportion of retail investment and margin lending.

“Dabba trading and any other unlawful trading practices do present a risk in the mar-ket and need to be curbed,” said Nirmal Jain, chairman of domestic brokerage and � nancial services � rm IIFL. “It’s not good for anybody.”

There is no reliable estimate of the size of India’s dabba markets, but the practice is widespread and brokers estimate share vol-umes are likely to add up to at least several hundred million dollars daily, compared to an average of 175.25bn rupees ($2.76bn) on for-mal exchanges.

In commodity markets, estimates put trade at multiples of legitimate business. A senior o� cial at leading commodity bourse MCX said earlier this year that the dabba mar-ket could be eight to 10 times the regulated derivatives market.

Commodity derivatives worth $265.54bn were traded on India’s exchanges in the � rst six months of the year, less than a third of the volumes two years ago before a new transac-

tion tax was introduced. Market participants and traders estimate a bulk of the those trades has moved to the dabba markets.

O� cials at the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) say they are worried about contagion if markets turn volatile, particularly if dabba traders are using both on-market and o� -market trades to hedge their exposures.

Though there is rarely proof, brokers say they sometimes see instances of dabba caus-ing unusual market moves. In early 2013, bro-kers attributed a sell-o� in mid and small-cap stocks over several days in part to a major Cal-cutta investor liquidating actual sharehold-ings after losing heavily in the dabba market.

“There is a signi� cant risk of spillover in the � nancial system,” said a senior regulator at SEBI.

SEBI, which will be overseeing com-modities after a planned merger with the Forward Markets Commission, has set up a three-member team to revise its dabba policy, SEBI o� cials said.

Fed sees growth across US economy: Beige Book AFP, Washington

The US economy grew during May and June, keeping up momentum after the � rst quar-ter’s stall, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book survey said Wednesday.

All 12 of the central bank’s districts indi-cated that economic activity expanded, with growth characterized as “modest” or “moder-ate,” according to the report, which will serve as a framework for the Fed’s monetary policy meeting at the end of July.

Consumer spending, the driver that ac-counts for about two-thirds of US economic

activity, revealed a mixed picture. For some districts, low energy prices had

helped boost spending. But in districts such as Minneapolis and Dallas, bordering Canada and Mexico, respectively, weaker spending was tied to the rising dollar, the report said.

Automobile sales increased in almost all districts, as did tourism, except for a further slowdown in New York, especially in New York City.

In the generally upbeat survey, people in Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Kansas City and Dallas were “optimistic about future growth.”

The report signaled some weaknesses, such as the stronger dollar that was curbing US exports.

The manufacturing sector had “uneven” activity in part due to the strong dollar and the slowdown in the oil and gas industry.

Employment increased or held steady in most sectors and wage pressures were de-scribed as “modest” in most districts.

At a Capitol Hill hearing on Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicated the central bank saw the economy was strong enough to raise interest rates for the � rst time since 2006 later this year.

Clients stand in long queues to do transaction at Sonali Bank head o� ce in the city’s Motijheel on the last working day before Eid-ul-� tr RAJIB DHAR

BGMEA says all but two factories have paid due wages Tribune Report

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association yesterday said all its member factories except two had paid wages for the month of June while all but six paid festival bonus.

But the union leaders disagreed with the number and said over 30 factories were yet to pay any bonus before Eid-ul-� tr. Howev-er, they are satis� ed with the progress being made in wage payment culture in the coun-try’s biggest industry.

BGMEA president Atiqul Islam addressed a press conference in Dhaka yesterday updat-ing wage and bonus payment situation of the member factories.

There was a close monitoring by the top RMG sector body over factories, especially small and medium ones, to see wage and bo-nus payment situation before Eid-ul-� tr.

BGMEA had brought 1,489 small and me-dium size factories under monitoring on the basis of intelligence report as they were in the risk of missing wage and bonus payments to workers before Eid.

Atiqul Islam said: “After monitoring we have found that 1,487 or 99% of the factories have paid wages for the month of June, while 95% or 1,483 paid festival allowance.”

He said the remaining two factories were in the process of paying the dues. Islam added another 315 factories paid wage of 7-10 days of the current month in addition to that of June.

While BGMEA chief presented a very good picture of wage and bonus payments, indus-trial police disclosed that around 40 factories across the country paid neither wage nor bo-nus though only two days are to go before Eid.

About 30 factories that didn’t pay bonus yet, Sirajul Islam Rony, president of Bang-ladesh National Garment Workers Employ-ees League, told Dhaka Tribune that they had received such complains from 30 facto-ries located in Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, and Narayanganj.

He said the factories “are very small and work on contract basis.”

“We are satis� ed with the initiatives taken by government and BGMEA this year. Almost all owners have paid due wages and bonus,” Rony said.

Nazma Akter, president of Bangladesh Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation said: “As of Wednesday I know in the capital only a factory has not paid wages and bonus. But I am not agreed with the BGMEA number for whole country.”

About wage payment in Swan Garments Limited, Atiqul Islam said it was a di� erent issue and the ministry of labour was looking into the matter.

“We have talked to workers leaders and owners. It is a pending case and to be setlled in court,” he said.

The workers of the factory fell into uncer-tainty following the death of the factory own-er Ming Yuen Hon (Toby) in April.

Earlier On July 2 State Minister for Labour and Employment Md Mujibul Haque Chunnu asked the RMG manufacturers to pay wages for the month of June by July 10 and festival bonus by July 14.

BUSINESS 17D

TFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Asia Inc looks to post-sanctions Iran for demand spurt Reuters, Seoul

From steelmakers to construction � rms, in-dustrial companies in Asia hope an end to sanctions in Iran can provide a new source of sorely-needed demand.

South Korean steelmaker POSCO has been in touch with Iranian � rms seeking to do busi-ness with it once sanctions are lifted, and Indi-an industrial conglomerate Larsen & Toubro is eyeing opportunities in oil and gas extraction projects following Tuesday’s nuclear deal.

Lifting sanctions could keep a check on oil prices, to the bene� t of big Asian energy im-porters China, Japan, India and South Korea, while a stronger Iranian economy, with a pop-ulation of some 80 million, would provide a new engine of demand for Asian-made goods - from smartphones and TVs to cars.

For South Korean builders such as GS En-gineering & Construction Corp, a deal would give a lift for a sector bu� eted by sluggish de-mand in the Middle East, the industry’s big-gest market.

Shares in GS E&C, which walked away from a $1.2bn project in Iran � ve years ago as sanc-tions escalated, gained nearly 5% on Wednes-day, and South Korea’s construction index ended nearly 3% higher on hopes the Iran deal will generate new business.

“When the Iranian nuclear agreement is reached and sanctions are lifted, we plan to actively re-enter Iran’s construction market,” said Huh Tai-youll, a GS E&C spokesman.

Even though companies such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have contin-ued to sell products in Iran, South Korean ex-ports to the country fell to $4.16bn last year from $6.26bn in 2012, according to the Korea International Trade Association.

Kwon Oh-joon, CEO of POSCO, which has been battered by sluggish global demand,

said Iran was once a signi� cant market for its steel products.

“A few steel companies in Iran already contacted us if we can provide steel produc-tion technology,” he said after the company reported quarterly results on Wednesday. “We are looking for ways to improve POSCO’s � nancial structure while playing a role in re-viving the Iranian steel industry.”

Power, port projects India’s Tata Power and Adani Enterprises, respectively eyeing a power project and a port project, sent o� cials to Iran last month to meet with industrialists and o� cials, said a senior Indian embassy o� cial in Tehran.

Adani declined comment and Tata Power did not respond to requests for comment.

Shares in India’s Aban O� shore, which earns a third of its revenue from Iran, jumped more than 16% on Tuesday and another 2% on Wednesday, while National Aluminium Co gained 2% on Wednesday after media reports said it planned a $3bn smelter complex in Iran.

Mumbai-based Larsen & Toubro set up a task force ahead of the expected lifting of sanctions to scout for opportunities. The group will visit Iran and report back, Chief Fi-nancial O� cer R Shankar Raman told Reuters.

He said there were still geopolitical risks to getting involved in Iran. “It’s not going to be an easy decision.”

Oil sinks on outlook for more Iran crude exports AFP, New York

Oil prices sank yesterday as traders priced in the impact on global oversupply from Iran’s historic nuclear deal with major powers.

The market was also pushed lower by the rebounding dollar, given a boost by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s remarks indi-cating the US central bank’s � rst interest rate hike since 2006 was still seen this year.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August tumbled $1.63 to $51.41 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August, the global benchmark, dropped to $56.86 a bar-rel, down $1.65 from Tuesday’s settlement.

“The world is still trying to grips with what the nuclear deal with Iran means, and when the crude will come in the market,” said James Williams of WTRG Economics. “The re-ality of this is setting in. “

On Tuesday, Iran and six major world pow-ers reached a deal to monitor Tehran’s nuclear program that will lead to a lifting of sanctions which have restricted the country’s oil exports.

According to energy data provider Platts, Iran is exporting about 1 million barrels per day of crude, down from 2.2-2.3 million bar-rels a day before the sanctions were imposed in mid-2012.

“Further assessment of the Iranian nuclear deal... is quickly reaching a fairly strong con-sensus that the added supply will increase and prolong the current surplus, even though the recovery in Iranian production may be slower and less dramatic than had been widely appre-ciated,” said Tim Evans of Citi Futures.

Meanwhile, Fawad Razaqzada at trading site Forex.com noted that crude prices were “held back by a rallying US dollar after Janet Yellen’s hawkish remarks increased the possi-bility of a 2015 hike.”

A stronger US unit makes dollar-priced crude more expensive for buyers using weak-er currencies.

An Iranian man � lls up his car in Tehran REUTERS

Greeks spend their locked-away euros AFP, Athens

Use it or lose it: that’s the plan for many Greeks, who have been going on a credit card-fuelled spending spree as the economy has tanked out of fears their cash could be con� s-cated or devalued.

Wary of the experience in fellow eurozone member Cyprus two years ago, when deposits were seized to recapitalise banks, Greeks are opting to drain their accounts by electroni-cally paying taxes and bills - or buying luxury goods.

“Up to last weekend, people bought a lot of things to protect their money,” con� rmed Andreas Triantaphylidis, vice president of the Association of Athens Merchants.

Between June 27, when Prime Minister Alex-is Tsipras announced a referendum that made his eurozone creditors boil, and July 10, when speculation peaked that Greece could crash out of the euro in a so-called “Grexit”, luxury prod-ucts have been � ying o� the shelves.

Sales of expensive goods such as watch-es and jewellery and electronic items like smartphones and computers leapt 30 percent

compared to the same period last year, Trian-taphylidis said.

The unexpected wave of spending was spurred by the rationing of cash from ATMs - withdrawals have been limited to 60 euros ($67) per day for over two weeks - spurring the much wider use of credit cards and electronic cash transfers than ever before in Greece. Some 500,000 credit cards were delivered in the past few days, helping push card transac-tions up 130 percent, according to the Associ-ation of Greek Banks.

“Last week, we had a lot of clients. They wanted to buy all they could, for fear of losing half of their savings,” said Stephanie, a sales-woman in a family-owned jewellery store in the capital’s upmarket Kolonaki neighbour-hood.

Jewellery made of gold, a traditional safe-haven metal, and luxury watches, some of which cost up to 6,000 euros, were snatched up by “not especially rich” customers aged 30 to 50, said the 28-year-old employee.

“Greeks: I don’t understand them. Me, I’d never spend my money in these times,” Stephanie added.

Rumours quashed Since Athens struck a deal with its eurozone partners on Monday that assuaged the im-mediate prospect of a “Grexit” or a “bail-in”, where bank deposits are seized, the Greek customers have been replaced by the usual tourist clientele.

And the rush of “protective spending”, cover-ing high-margin expense items, hasn’t turned around Greece’s economic fortunes.

According to the National Confederation of Greek Business, retail sales fell 70% between June 27 and July 10, compared to the same pe-riod a year earlier. Only purchases of fuel and food increased, seen as proof the country is well and truly in crisis.

The government on Tuesday went out of its way to quash speculation and rumours

that fuelled public panic, saying the bailout agreement “guaranteed deposits” and avert-ed any need for a bail-in.

It added that parliament had until next week to transpose an EU directive into law, adopted after Cyprus’s 2013 crisis, that guar-anteed deposits up to 100,000 euros.

The calming words came after another un-expected side-e� ect of Greek’s fears their sav-ings could be seized: people are paying their taxes.

Some one billion euros � owed into state co� ers between June 27 and July 10 as citi-zens looked to settle what they owed before any deposit “haircut” - nearly as much as the tax system usually receives in a month.

The payments, made despite the decision by tax authorities to push back the deadline for income tax payments to the end of July, ironically come after Athens pledged to crack down on Greece’s rampant tax evasion under its new reform plan.

“For the � rst time in my life, I’m on time with my taxes,” said Giorgos, a 35-year-old running a small family-owned publishing � rm. “I owe nothing to the government.”

‘Last week, we had a lot of clients. They wanted to buy all they could, for fear of losing half of their savings’

BUSINESS18DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

SectorDSE CSE Total

Million Taka % change Million Taka % change Million Taka % changeBank 547.83 3.49 30.26 2.41 578.09 3.41NBFI 463.90 2.96 40.08 3.20 503.98 2.98Investment 263.32 1.68 11.94 0.95 275.26 1.62Engineering 2236.36 14.26 226.27 18.06 2462.64 14.54Food & Allied 383.16 2.44 17.83 1.42 400.99 2.37Fuel & Power 2569.70 16.38 217.47 17.35 2787.18 16.45Jute 8.66 0.06 0.00 0.00 8.66 0.05Textile 956.61 6.10 80.86 6.45 1037.47 6.12Pharma & Chemical 4336.37 27.64 226.30 18.06 4562.67 26.93Paper & Packaging 55.45 0.35 9.03 0.72 64.48 0.38Service 237.23 1.51 19.83 1.58 257.06 1.52Leather 38.97 0.25 2.45 0.20 41.42 0.24Ceramic 346.52 2.21 17.67 1.41 364.19 2.15Cement 988.58 6.30 123.50 9.86 1112.08 6.56Information Technology 84.48 0.54 10.90 0.87 95.37 0.56General Insurance 58.65 0.37 2.71 0.22 61.36 0.36Life Insurance 163.88 1.04 8.21 0.66 172.10 1.02Telecom 728.15 4.64 63.09 5.04 791.25 4.67Travel & Leisure 408.23 2.60 58.23 4.65 466.46 2.75Miscellaneous 809.89 5.16 86.43 6.90 896.32 5.29Debenture 1.47 0.01 0.03 0.00 1.50 0.01

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

News, analysis and recent disclosuresAGM/DividendMEGHNALIFE: The Board of Directors has recommended 13% cash dividend and 20% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 27.08.2015, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Muktijoddha Smrity Auditorium, Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh 160/A, Kakrail VIP Road, Dhaka. Record Date: 30.07.2015.Audited/unaudited Financial Reports:ACI: (H/Y Un-audited): Consoli-dated Pro� t after tax (excluding non controlling interest) from Jan’15-June’15 was Tk. 2,398.78 m. with Consolidated basic EPS (total) of Tk. 60.28 as against Tk. 158.31 m. and Tk. 4.01 respec-tively for the same period of the previous year. Moreover basic EPS without one-o� gain for the same period is of Tk. 7.04 and Tk. 4.01 respectively. Whereas Consolidated Pro� t after tax (ex-cluding non controlling interest) from April’15-June’15 was Tk. 2,319.96 m. with Consolidated basic EPS (total) of Tk. 58.30 as against Tk. 113.03 m. and Tk. 2.86 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Moreover basic EPS without one-o� gain for the same period is of Tk. 5.06 and Tk. 2.86 respectively.MBL1STMF: (Q1 Un-audited): Net Pro� t/(loss) from April’15 to June’15 was Tk. 126.92 million with earnings per unit of Tk. 1.27 as against Tk. (8.79) million and Tk. (0.09) respectively for the same period of the previous year.SUMITPOWER: (H/Y Un-au-dited): Consolidated Pro� t after tax (excluding non controlling

interest) from Jan’15-June’15 was Tk. 1,563.43 m. with Consolidat-ed EPS of Tk. 2.02 as against Tk. 1,203.95 m. and Tk. 1.67 respec-tively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Consoli-dated Pro� t after tax (excluding non controlling interest) from April’15-June’15 was Tk. 868.87 m. with Consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.12 as against Tk. 696.99 m. and Tk. 0.97 respectively for the same period of the previous year.SPPCL: (H/Y Un-audited): Pro� t after tax from Jan’15-June’15 was Tk. 430.17 million with EPS of Tk. 2.83 as against Tk. 344.23 million and Tk. 2.26 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Pro� t after tax from April’15-June’15 was Tk. 203.18 million with EPS of Tk. 1.34 as against Tk. 183.90 million and Tk. 1.21 respectively for the same period of the previous year.BSRMLTD: (H/Y Un-audited): Net Pro� t after tax from Jan’15-June’15 was Tk. 185.19 million with EPS of Tk. 1.08 as against Tk. 31.87 million and Tk. 0.20 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Net Pro� t/(Loss) after tax from April’15-June’15 was Tk. 155.73 million with EPS of Tk. 0.88 as against Tk. (8.70) million and Tk. (0.05) respectively for the same period of the previous year.BSRMSTEEL: (H/Y Un-audited): Consolidated Net Pro� t after tax (excluding non controlling inter-est) from Jan’15-June’15 was Tk. 1,054.43 m. with Consolidated EPS of Tk. 3.09 as against Tk. 817.53 m. and Tk. 2.39 respec-tively for the same period of the previous year.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

MBL 1st M. F.-A 23.08 24.29 4.81 4.80 5.00 4.20 0.823 5.08 0.9Popular Life 1st M.F.-A 17.39 17.94 5.39 5.40 5.50 4.60 0.901 0.63 8.6AramitCementA 17.20 20.43 37.73 36.80 39.50 34.50 18.974 0.72 52.4Shahjibazar Power-N 16.35 15.98 170.08 171.50 174.00 147.50 11.850 8.44 20.2Saiham Cotton-A 15.71 14.35 21.76 22.10 22.80 19.50 6.007 1.43 15.2AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A 11.36 14.22 5.06 4.90 5.20 4.80 0.870 4.76 1.1NLI 1st M F-A 10.59 9.53 9.31 9.40 9.40 9.00 0.326 1.83 5.1Bangladesh Welding -B 10.05 15.96 22.89 21.90 23.90 19.50 10.341 -0.40 -veAziz PipesZ 9.47 9.68 20.84 20.80 20.90 20.80 0.005 -2.64 -veBGIC -A 9.21 7.73 16.30 16.60 16.70 15.20 0.619 3.48 4.7

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

MBL 1st M. F.-A 20.00 21.88 4.79 4.80 5.10 4.00 21.975 5.08 0.9EXIM Bank 1 MF-A 17.31 18.08 6.14 6.10 6.20 5.70 0.263 0.56 11.0AramitCementA 16.24 21.31 38.08 36.50 41.50 34.50 52.561 0.72 52.9Shahjibazar Power-N 16.06 16.25 168.65 169.80 173.50 147.00 199.892 8.44 20.0Saiham Cotton-A 15.10 14.48 21.90 22.10 22.80 19.50 126.175 1.43 15.3EBL NRB M.F.-A 13.95 12.79 4.85 4.90 5.00 4.40 0.227 0.61 8.0Popular Life 1st M.F.-A 12.77 11.25 5.24 5.30 5.40 4.70 22.945 0.63 8.3AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A 11.36 15.10 5.03 4.90 5.30 4.80 15.392 4.76 1.1ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A 11.11 10.00 7.92 8.00 8.00 7.40 14.357 0.87 9.1Bangladesh Welding -B 10.55 14.17 22.80 22.00 23.70 18.50 83.576 -0.40 -ve

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Midas Financing-Z -15.11 -15.41 11.75 11.80 13.00 11.70 0.059 -1.55 -veSamata LeatheR -Z -14.29 -12.96 27.34 27.00 34.20 27.00 0.069 -0.05 -veGolden Harvest Agro-N -10.94 -9.99 28.84 28.50 32.00 28.30 2.377 1.32 21.8Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A -10.46 -9.93 13.70 13.70 14.70 13.60 18.689 2.92 4.7Paramount Insur-A -9.93 -10.19 12.69 12.70 13.00 12.60 0.035 1.32 9.6Rupali Life Insur.-B -9.58 -6.69 33.22 32.10 34.30 31.20 1.674 5.33 6.2PragatiLife Insu. -Z -9.49 -7.10 74.40 72.50 75.00 72.50 0.049 2.38 31.3Prime Insur -A -9.03 -11.37 13.10 13.10 13.10 13.10 0.001 1.12 11.7ACI Formulations-A -8.65 -9.42 211.62 211.10 230.00 206.50 25.347 6.80 31.1Standard Ceramic -A -8.55 -8.17 42.16 41.70 47.50 41.50 0.419 0.49 86.0

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Golden Harvest Agro-N -12.11 -10.86 28.72 28.30 32.50 27.80 83.616 1.32 21.8BD Fixed Income MF-A -11.84 -13.14 6.61 6.70 8.00 6.50 0.762 0.51 13.0Rupali Life Insur.-B -10.58 -10.55 32.13 32.10 33.00 31.00 6.709 5.33 6.0Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A -10.46 -9.94 13.68 13.70 14.40 13.60 126.663 2.92 4.7Jute SpinnersA -10.10 -7.43 48.00 46.30 48.00 46.00 0.017 -31.68 -veSamata LeatheR -Z -10.09 -8.72 30.35 30.30 33.50 30.00 2.023 -0.05 -veStandard Ceramic -A -9.29 -10.17 42.50 42.00 47.50 41.50 9.179 0.49 86.7Hakkani P& Paper -B -9.07 -8.28 48.77 48.10 53.70 47.40 18.845 0.29 168.2Olympic Accessories -N -8.69 -9.26 57.21 57.80 65.80 55.00 371.242 1.41 40.6ACI Formulations-A -8.48 -9.59 210.99 211.60 226.90 205.10 398.232 6.80 31.0

DSE key features July 12-14, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

15,687.41

Turnover (Volume)

358,171,755

Number of Contract

329,330

Traded Issues 325

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

184

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

137

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,646.36

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.08

CSE key features July 12-14, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

1,253.11

Turnover (Volume)

33,484,752

Number of Contract

47,667

Traded Issues 273

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

156

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

110

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,553.09

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.95

BUSINESS 19D

TFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Multinational, power stocks shine past week just before Eid vacation Tribune Report

Stock markets performed well in the past week that ended after three sessions of trading as the bourses went into week long Eid vacation.

Multinational and power companies dominated the trading throughout the past week ahead of their corpo-rate decelerations.

During the week that ended Tuesday, the bench-mark index DSEX rose over 56 points or 27% to settle at almost 4,656.

The blue-chip comprising index DS30 was up over 25 points or 1.5% to 1,820. The DSE Shariah Index gained 13 points or 1.2% to end at 1,147.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Catego-ries Index, CSCX, surged 87 points or 1% to end at 8,713.

In the past week, inves-tors concentrated on phar-maceuticals, fuel and pow-er and engineering sectors, accounting for 27.6%, 16.4% and 14.3% respectively of the week’s total turnover.

The daily average turn-over at the DSE in the week was Tk520 crore, up more than 11% compared to the previous week despite short trading session.

Turnover heavily cen-

tered on ACI Limited that made up 11.6%, Lafarge Sur-ma Cement 4.1%, following the former’s impressive half yearly corporate decelera-tions and the latter’s com-pletion of global merger with Holcim.

All the major sectors gained in the past week. The major gaining sectors were fuel and power that soared 4.48%, followed by ceramic 3.3%, mutual fund 2.4% and bank 2%.

The losing sectors were tannery that was down al-most 1%, followed by IT 0.2%.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the market remained buoyant in the past week backed by the multi-nation-al � rms and power stocks.

IDLC Investments said the market passed a positive week extending the pre-eid gaining streak.

It said the gaining mo-mentum was powered by multiple factors, notably ex-pectations on corporate dec-larations of the companies with accounting year ending in June, scrip-wise stories, ease in political frontier and expected macro-economic turnaround.

The stock exchanges will resume trading on July 21 af-ter a six-day Eid vacation.

The market passed a positive week extending the pre-eid gaining streak

ANALYST

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4656.13859 (+) 1.22% sDSE - 30 Index : 1820.88044 (+) 1.43% sCSE All Share Index: 14312.7650 (+) 0.98% sCSE - 30 Index : 11728.0361 (+) 1.23% sCSE Selected Index : 8713.7224 (+) 1.01% s

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

LafargeS Cement-A 858,310 97.11 7.75 114.40 0.09 114.30 116.00 110.20 114.57Olympic Accessories -N 1,156,263 68.89 5.50 58.20 -8.06 63.30 65.00 55.20 57.56ACI Limited- A 108,958 68.08 5.43 583.90 -2.89 601.30 679.00 572.70 586.82Khulna Power-A 750,851 58.00 4.63 78.20 6.39 73.50 79.50 73.90 79.04BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 1,653,364 56.67 4.52 34.00 0.00 34.00 35.00 33.60 33.95UNITED AIR-A 4,829,774 52.24 4.17 10.70 -3.60 11.10 11.30 10.50 10.69United Power-N 316,333 49.86 3.98 161.70 3.19 156.70 163.90 152.00 161.45BSRM Ltd. -N 666,047 49.66 3.96 77.20 7.52 71.80 77.20 69.60 75.67Grameenphone-A 141,844 48.76 3.89 342.40 0.94 339.20 349.50 338.90 343.91Beximco Pharma -A 469,457 31.40 2.51 66.60 2.46 65.00 68.00 65.00 66.68Summit Power -A 628,317 25.82 2.06 41.40 3.76 39.90 41.90 40.00 41.49ACI Formulations-A 116,186 25.35 2.02 211.10 -8.65 231.10 230.00 206.50 211.62Square Pharma -A 86,016 22.24 1.77 258.20 -0.42 259.30 261.00 257.50 258.42Appollo Ispat CL -N 937,032 19.79 1.58 21.10 -1.40 21.40 21.80 20.80 21.05MJL BD Ltd.-A 181,719 19.73 1.57 109.90 2.33 107.40 112.00 106.00 110.19

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

ACI Limited- A 2,946,239 1826.22 11.64 581.40 -2.68 597.40 665.00 574.50 585.37Grameenphone-A 1,885,106 649.40 4.14 342.20 0.88 339.20 349.80 338.10 343.81LafargeS Cement-A 5,704,369 642.04 4.09 114.50 0.17 114.30 117.00 110.10 114.25Khulna Power-A 7,030,833 536.40 3.42 77.90 5.70 73.70 79.10 73.80 77.84Beximco Pharma -A 7,617,100 508.49 3.24 66.50 2.78 64.70 68.00 65.00 66.78BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 12,568,681 431.68 2.75 34.00 0.00 34.00 35.10 33.70 33.97ACI Formulations-A 1,845,752 398.23 2.54 211.60 -8.48 231.20 226.90 205.10 210.99Ifad Autos -N 3,832,438 388.62 2.48 104.80 3.56 101.20 106.20 97.70 103.60Olympic Accessories -N 6,215,193 371.24 2.37 57.80 -8.69 63.30 65.80 55.00 57.21UNITED AIR-A 31,712,328 343.35 2.19 10.80 -2.70 11.10 11.40 10.50 10.67Active Fine Chem.-A 5,191,925 319.93 2.04 62.80 6.08 59.20 63.50 59.40 62.58United Power-N 2,020,936 319.81 2.04 161.90 3.92 155.80 164.00 151.90 161.65RAK Ceramics-A 4,046,891 310.32 1.98 76.40 3.66 73.70 78.60 73.70 76.84Square Pharma -A 1,151,076 297.44 1.90 258.20 -0.23 258.80 261.00 257.20 258.26AFC AgroBiotech-A 4,122,431 271.17 1.73 66.10 -0.45 66.40 67.30 65.00 65.88Ifad Autos -N 5,696,805 669.83 1.79 114.30 1.06 113.10 124.50 110.10 116.84

BUSINESS20DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

National VAT Week concludes amid festivity Tribune Report

The week-long National VAT Week organised for the � fth consecutive year by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) ended up yesterday amid festivity across the country.

Through di� erent activities and cam-paigns, the tax authority was able to draw a huge response from VAT payers, mostly from the district levels, o� cials said.

The week-long programme has created awareness among people and businesses about paying VAT.

“We have made people aware of the neces-sity of paying VAT and they responded very positively,” NBR member (VAT implementa-tion and IT) Enayet Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune.

The � eld-level o� cials went door to door to make people aware of the new VAT law and taxpayers have visited the commissionerate concerned to know about the process which is very positive, he said.

The government is set to implement the new Vat and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 from July 1, 2016 that will have no provisions for package VAT or truncated value-based VAT system.

With the introduction of the law, all level of business have to pay a unique and a single

VAT rate at 15%.“The signi� cant progress of the event is

that leading chambers, including the Feder-ation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry has shown their keen interest to be partner of these week-long event,” the NBR member added.

As part of the week-long programme, the NBR organised a central discussion and award giving ceremony in Dhaka while separate functions were organised in seven divisional headquarters – Chittagong, Sylhet, Comilla, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna and Jessore.

Currently, only 60,000 business � rms sub-mit their VAT returns although the number of eligible companies is at least 3-6 lakh, accord-ing to NBR.

To make VAT payers more compliant, NBR observed National VAT Day on June 10 and National VAT Week from July 10 to 16.

As part of the programme, A total of 119 companies across the country were awarded for their contribution to the government ex-chequer in � nancial year 2013-14 .

Nine companies received awards at nation-al level and 110 at district levels in three cate-gories– production, service and business.

The NBR is assigned to collect Tk176,370 crore revenue in the current � scal including the highest Tk64,262 crore from Vat.

Shipbuilders demand more cash incentives Tribune report

Local Shipbuilders have demanded 15% cash incentive, a long-term re-� nancing scheme of Tk2,000 crore, plus a single digit bank credit for the development of the country’s ship-building sector.

Leaders of Association of Export-Oriented Shipbuilding Industries of Bangladesh (AEO-SIB) made the demands at a meeting with Fi-nance Minister AMA Muhith at his secretariat yesterday.

General Secretary of AEOSIB Md Sakhawat Hossain led a four-member team that attend-ed the meeting.

Muhith said: “We will think about the in-crease of cash incentive and the long-term re-� nancing scheme, but the government will not take any decision on the bank interest which is determined by the market forces.

AEOSIB general secretary said the politi-cal turmoil a� ected the ship builders while several ship export orders had been canceled over the last two years.

In his address, he asked the government to increase cash incentives to 15% from existing 5% and keep the provision for the next � ve years.

“Ship building is an expensive task,” he said, adding that a ship building cost ranges between Tk20crore and 25crore.

BJMC gets Tk100cr to procure raw jute Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has provided Tk100 crore as loan to Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation to disburse among its 26 jute mills for raw jute pro-curement from cultivators across the country.

The corporation, however, sought Tk700 crore to buy the golden � bre during the Ju-ly-August peak season.

Finance Division has promised to disburse another Tk100 crore from the government ex-chequer after Eid-ul-� tr holidays, according to o� cial sources.

Textiles and jute ministry o� cials said the biggest problem the state-owned companies had been facing for years was that it could not buy raw jute in time.

The peak season to buy raw jute is July-Au-gust and purchase after the season sees a 50% rise in price.

Finance Division o� cials said the jute ministry had sought fund just two days before Eid holidays began for immediate use like payment of workers’ wages to avert agitation.

Earlier, BJMC chairman Humayun Khaled said the state-owned jute mills would not be able to procure any of raw jute from market due to fund shortage whereas the private mills were piling it on.

“We are running our mills at half of their 700 tonnes-a-day capacity for want of raw jute,” he said.

Bangladesh brightens South Asia’s growth forecast for 2015 Tribune Report

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has slightly raised its 2015 economic growth forecast for South Asia, driven by Bangladesh’s stronger than expected growth.

South Asia will grow by 7.3% in 2015, as a strong out-turn in

Bangladesh outweighs a disaster-induced slowdown in Nepal, and by 7.6% in 2016, the bank said in its 2015 outlook supplement re-leased yesterday.

The latest o� cial estimates for economic growth in Bangladesh in FY2015 see growth coming in at 6.5% for the year, outperforming the 6.1% recorded in FY2014, it said.

“These developments in Bangladesh come on the back of stronger performance by in-dustries serving the domestic market, sup-ported in turn by healthy remittance in� ows. Investment growth also contributed, with public investment rising strongly.”

In March this year, ADB in its forecast had said the GDP (gross domestic product) growth for FY2015 would be 6.1%, which is lower than the growth of o� cial estimation.

For other countries in the region, the ADB’s supplement said developments in oth-er South Asian economies have been mixed.

India’s growth forecasts remain at 7.8% for this � scal year and 8.2% for next, supported by a healthy monsoon and new investment – and assuming concrete progress on reform, it said.

Forecasts for Afghanistan, Bhutan, Paki-stan, and Sri Lanka

are retained as each economy stays its course, the bank said.

In Nepal, it said, the catastrophic earth-quake in April caused widespread destruction in the capital and to other infrastructure, se-verely disrupting economic activity and sub-stantially hobbling growth prospects.

The bank said in� ationary pressures in

South Asia, including Bangladesh, remain subdued as economic slack and low glob-al food and commodity prices contain price pressures except in Nepal, where disrupted economic output and goods supply force up in� ation forecasts.

In India, in� ation remains low, suggesting that the recent uptick in activity has not yet been enough to take up the slack persisting in the Indian economy for many years, the sup-

plement said. It said muted hikes in rural wages and min-

imum support prices and a healthy monsoon would help rein in food in� ation, while low crude oil prices globally bode well for fuel in-� ation as diesel and gasoline prices have both been deregulated.

Growth projections for developing Asia are revised down from those published in Asian Development Outlook 2015 in March, as slower-than-expected recovery in the United States and moderating growth in China, the bank said.

It said developing Asia is now expected to grow 6.1% and 6.2% this year and in 2016 against the ADB’s March forecast of 6.3% for both years.

By sub-region, growth projections are revised down for East and Southeast Asia for both years, unchanged for Central Asia and the Paci� c for 2015 but for 2016, slightly downgraded for Central Asia and upgraded for the Paci� c, the bank said.

Growth in East Asia is still seen as subdued with lower-than-forecast output across the region. China’s growth is seen moderating to 7% this year and 6.8% in 2016 compared to March estimates of 7.2% and 7%, it said.

The growth outlook in Southeast Asia is trimmed to 4.6% in 2015 because outcomes in the � rst half of the year in Indonesia, Sin-gapore, and Thailand disappointed expecta-tions. Sub-regional growth will likely acceler-ate next year to 5.1%, the ADB said.

Customers are seen buying essentials at a super store in Dhaka yesterday. While ADB makes brighter growth forecast for Bangladesh, industries serving domestic market are also making signi� cant contribution to the steady economic expansion RAJIB DHAR

22preview 8 iftar o� ers that deserve to be revisited

24listology Eid Junkies

event Capturing the vanishing box

INSIDE

21D

TFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015T-JU

NC

TION

Let the festivities beginPhoto: Courtesy

22The month in reviewWe take another go around the city and revisit the best iftar o� ers.

TantaliseT-JUNCTION22DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 201522

8 iftar o� ers that deserve to be revisitedA quick recap into the iftar o� ers that made it

review

N Anita Amreen

IzumiIzumi tops our list for being that restaurant that really gives you the � nest dining experience, at least as far as quality and price is concerned. There’s something about their bento boxes that leave you feeling like you’ve just had a meal that was � lling, delicious and totally worth it, despite the Tk1,500 price tag. Although their bento box’s are subject to weekly menu changes, Izumi’s iftar o� er attracts a regular line of customers. Priced at Tk1,500 the bento box includes six assorted sushis/maki, assorted

fried items (mixed seafood), a salad, a mini main such as chicken teriyaki, one � sh item, miso soup, lemonade and mineral water. Each item on the bento box can be considered a standalone, especially the melt-in-your-mouth stewed snow� sh and the delectable chicken teriyaki. Even their salads are so surprisingly delicious, you’ll be left wondering why you never gave salads a thought before. We may be spoilt for choice when it comes to iftar dining options, but if you want to go for one that you know will never be able to disappoint, Izumi is the way to go.

The WestinA staple in the dining world, Westin’s iftar turn dinner cannot help but make it to the list. They’ve undoubtedly hit the jackpot with some of their tried and tested items. Take, for instance, their all-you-can-eat sushi deal. Or their o� ering of exquisite Italian dishes with lasagna and beautifully � avoured spaghetti, being all part of the lineup. Then there’s the Indian station with mouthwatering kebabs, a Chinese station with dumplings and momos, a live BBQ station where you can choose your choice of meat and BBQ sauce. There’s

barely anything that they don’t have. There are soups, sushi, salads, Indian, Chinese, Italian and a dessert station that makes everything else on their menu seem undesirable. From bakhlava’s to Tiramisu, they’ve got it all and more. Priced at Tk5,000(net), they are certainly on the more expensive end of the price spectrum. However, if you manage to avail their buy one get one free o� er through di� erent bank associations or a GP platinum subscription, it’s easier on both the wallet and your stomachs.

Le MeridianDespite being in business for barely over a couple of months, Le Meridian’s iftar bu� et has been cooking up quite a storm lately. Priced at an astronomical Tk3,600++ (for weekdays) and Tk4,400++ (for weekends), they o� er everything from an assorted bread roll section, extensive salad bar (tuna and green bean salad, sweet corn salad, mango salad, cajun chicken salad, etc) roasted rib eye, lamb BBQ, live BBQ station, Arabic sweets, assorted canapes, Thai style squid, selection of cold cut meat, selection of cheese, assorted kababs, biryani, multiple fried items, butter � sh, Irish stew and a dessert section to die for. The menu is endless, the wait hours are long and they’re usually sold out on most days. Don’t let the Tk3,600 tag put you o� from trying out their bu� et because it seems like they’ve really made an e� ort to make sure they can justify

their pricing as far as possible. American Express users can even avail a buy one get one free o� er. However, despite the rave reviews there have been complaints that they are more about o� ering a variety rather than focusing on quality.

Tantalise T-JUNCTION 23D

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FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Hakka DhakaThere’s no other eatery that serves you top-notch Hakka Chinese as well as Hakka Dhaka. They’ve sneakily made it to our list, without all the customary fanfare that comes with other eateries. Theirs is a no-nonsense platter of true blue Hakka Chinese. The Hakka chicken wings will have you smacking

your lips in satisfaction, while the dry chilli beef will have you question all your other beef choices you’ve ever made. Add to that the wrapped prawns and you’ve got a recipe for satisfaction. This place isn’t about the ambience, it’s all about feel good food that is delicious to the last bite.

Coentro/CilantroBoth Coentro and Cilantro have continued to impress ever since they’ve introduced their mixed platter for two priced at Tk1,495. For Ramadan this includes a delicate Peruvian chicken, a well cut grilled sirloin steak, grilled chicken skewers, batter fried � sh � llet, sauteed vegetables, herb rice, Spanish rice and a pitcher of lemonade or iced lemon tea. The beauty of this platter is that almost everything on the platter tastes great, especially the � sh � llet and the Peruvian chicken. The seafood platter for Tk995 is another killer o� er that includes fried � sh skewers, batter fried prawn skewers, calamari frittos, chicken wings, thick cut fries, garlic mayo, house sauce and a pitcher of lemonade or iced lemon tea.

The fried goodies are perfectly cooked and come in brilliant portions, making it an easy target for groups of two, if not three. All these come with complimentary dessert and starters such as chola, dates, halim, jilapi and beguni. Before you sco� at that last bit of info, let us just tell you that these items will

leave you pleasantly surprised. After all, you’d imagine they wouldn’t really care about their less interesting starters when they’ve got such a perfect spread in their platters. You couldn’t be more wrong. Everything that leaves their kitchen has been paid careful attention to and that is probably one reason why their food is always consistent. From their halim to the Peruvian chicken to the Spanish rice, everything is delightfully brilliant.

Wallet-friendly winnersWhen you come to low-budget options that are quick to satisfy, Rice and Noodle clearly makes it to the top of the list. There extensive menu includes soups, Korean wings, fries, pasta salad, maki rolls, Thai fried rice, veg chowmein, chicken in garlic sauce, beef in oyster sauce, � sh black pepper and a deliciously moist shahi tukra and jilapi. Priced at Tk700+ it is a safe, easily chosen option for those of us who want the most bang for buck.

Other eateries that deserve special mention include Sbarro for beating the all

you can eat pizza competition, Thai

Emerald for giving Thai enthusiasts

a quality deal, Food Republic for their affordable

iftar package and Firehouse for keeping things simple by offering 20% off their entire regular menu. Mad Chef too, had our attention, while Indian favourites included Tarka, Handi and Lucknow.

Tokyo ExpressA not so surprising addition to our best Ramadan o� ers list, Tokyo Express really hit the ball out of the park with their all-inclusive bento box. Anyone who has tried Tokyo, can’t stop raving about their chicken nanban or their perfectly fried jumbo prawn tempura. Their bento box combines the delicious goodness of some Tokyo Express favourites. There’s two pieces of the to-die-

for chicken nanban that you can mop up with the sticky rice. For those of you who need your fried food � x, there’s four pieces of tempura (two prawn and two vegetable). If that doesn’t � oat your boat, you’ve got an assortment of sushi and maki rolls along with beef teriyaki, Osaka spicy chicken and carrot salad. All priced at a fair Tk890. This deal is one that is hard to miss.

NewsT-JUNCTION24DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

listology

news

event

Capturing the vanishing box

KFC brings back Tom Yum… A taste of Thailand!

Tribune Desk

Art has travelled over time and adapted to various technologies in the past decades. Photography, although so readily available today as a hobby, passion or form of art to so many, did not use to be this easy or simple. And it is in this celebration of what is becoming obsolete – box photography – that Longitude Latitude 6 is exhibiting the works of box photographer Safder, at their exhibition: “Safder: The Man Behind The Box Camera.”

Photographs taken by Safder, who specialises in box camera photography – from an era that predates even � lm photography – span over six decades. Safder has been taking photos since 1952 with his grand old box camera, using paper negatives.

“Safder has been working from 1952 and has seen the transition of many generations and technologies, but he stuck to his craft: paper negatives,” Shehzad Chowdhury, curator of the event, told the Dhaka Tribune, adding that Safder has photographed migrants and refugees who were � eeing or moving following the 1947 partition.

“This kind of box camera is becoming obsolete – no one uses it anymore,” said Shehzad. “But the quality of his photographs are hauntingly beautiful. The negatives have a ghostly feel to them.”

Given that this form of art is soon going to be obsolete, Shehzad and his team decided it is important for the work to be featured.

“This a celebration of the medium itself. It is before � lm, before digital,” he added.

The exhibition features Safder’s work – mainly portraits, as well as a limited edition of his Still Life Studies that were made especially for the Longitude Latitude 6 customers. These are signed by him.

The exhibition will also include sessions where participants can come and have their photographs taken on the box camera by Safder.

The event is taking place at Bay’s Bellavista, Plot 96, Road 11, Block C, Banani and is open daily from 2pm to 9pm. The Dhaka Tribune is a media partner at the event.

Adila Haque

For most of us, Eid is a blessed occasion. Decked out in new clothes, binge-eating to the best of our abilities, and a sudden leap of monetary income all coupled with the fact that it comes after the tough month of Ramadan are only a few delights to the occasion.

However, there are a few types of people we encounter during this time that almost make us wish it didn’t exist in the � rst place. For those of you who know what we’re talking about, you know for a fact this isn’t an exaggeration.

The ‘Kolakoli’ BroIn every family there’s that one person who just can’t resist the bro-hug. He’ll hug everyone he meets starting from the time after morning prayer, and his excitement is through the roof. Come on bro, not everyone likes hugs.

Salami SnatchersWe’ve all been there. Touching the elders’ feet to ask for a handful of notes – that’s understandable. However, if the snatchers are little children who think it’s okay to use their cute little eyes and toothy smiles to persuade their older cousins – no, that isn’t very nice!

The Gossip GirlShe wakes up early in the morning to make her family only the creamiest payesh. She slaves away in the kitchen for hours making

all kinds of dishes for her near and dear ones. She doesn’t have a single moment to relax and take a break – until late afternoon, when she’s going to visit her cousins or friends to talk about X’s cheating husband and Y’s V-neck dress that apparently leaves very little to her colorful imagination. Boys and girls, the Gossip Girl no longer hides behind a screen.

Droopy EyesEid is supposed to be a happy celebration – one that brings us closer to our family and friends. Nevertheless, because of the shopping craze going on in the country and everywhere else in the world in this time, many of us lose sight of that. You’ve

all known someone who chose not to participate in the Eid hype just because their dresses weren’t nice, or their shoes weren’t new. Pucker up, there are 364 better days in the year to sit around and complain.

Warm WelcomeThis is a social event. We usually visit our close relatives and friends’ places, and for once, it’s not just for the food. Everywhere we’ll � nd aunties stu� ng our mouth with food. “Ma, have some more. I spent so much time with it; you must try it!” It’s di� cult to say no to them when they’re such amazing hosts and have worked hours to make delicious meals for us guests. But come on, our stomachs are not THAT elastic. Gag yourself and puke before your next dawat.

Eid JunkiesThe festivities bring out the best in us...but sometimes also the worst

Longitude Latitude 6 features the work of photographer Safder, who continued his work in box photography despite changes in the trend

KFC is a globally renowned international restaurant chain run by the franchisee Transcom Foods Limited in Bangladesh. KFC has been making continuous e� orts to bring the best quality food with added value to serve the customers better since their journey. Variety and variation in the menu to keep their customers coming back has also been extremely important.

This Eid, KFC brings back the taste of Thailand for valued customers. The Tom Yum � avor is back by popular demand at the stores for a limited time. The hot, lemony and spicy Tom Yum � avor will be available

in both fried chicken and in burgers.This 16th July, the hot and spicy crunch of

Tom Yum was re-launched in the presence of the familiar faces, the renowned celebrities Bonnya Mirza, Sharmin Lucky, Munmun, Topu and Tushti. Mr. Akku Chowdhury (Managing Director and CEO) and Asna Haque (Manager-Marketing) of Transcom Foods Ltd made the announcement of the re-launch to the media present at an event at the Gulshan KFC.

The Tom Yum � avor will be now available at all KFC stores in Dhaka, Sylhet and Cox’s Bazaar.

25

DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

ROBINHO JOINS SCOLARI AT CHINA CLUB GUANGZHOU

EXPAT FOOTBALLERS TO UNDERGO TRIALS

26 2827

Manchester United will sell goalkeeper Victor Valdes after the

Spaniard refused to play in the reserves, manager Louis van Gaal

said on Wednesday

FOR SALE! Sport5 REASONS WHY TRIUMPH OVER SA IS MORE SPECIAL

Tigers rise in ODI players’ rankings Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh’s brilliant run recently not only cemented their place in the 2017 ICC Cham-pions Trophy but also closed down their gap with sixth-placed England. The 2-1 series success against South Africa took the sev-enth-ranked Tigers’ rating points tally to 96, two less than England.

Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his side are now eight points ahead of both the West In-dies and Pakistan, who are ranked eighth and ninth respectively.

The historic series triumph over the Pro-teas also saw an improvement in the Bang-ladesh players’ rankings. Opener Soumya

Sarkar, who registered impressive scores of 27, 88 not out and 90 in the just-conclud-ed three ODIs against the South Africans, rose to as high as 15th in the International Cricket Council’s batsmen’s rankings with 671 rating points. The elegant southpaw from Satkhira was 50th prior to his exploits against the Proteas.

Champion all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, who scalped three dismissals in the third ODI against South Africa to become the second Bangladeshi after Abdur Razzak to join the 200-wicket club, jumped to seventh place in the bowlers’ rankings with 690 rating points. Shakib is now just three points behind Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson,

who is sixth.ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mashrafe,

who also joined Razzak and Shakib in the 200-club during the third match against South Africa, improved his ranking by two places.

The “Narail Express” is now 26th in the bowlers’ rankings while Rubel Hossain also saw an improvement in his ranking. Rubel jumped from 55th place to 40th position.

Young tearaway Musta� zur Rahman, who continued to exhibit brilliant displays with the leather, jumped to 69th place from his previous position of 88th after taking � ve wickets in the three South Africa ODIs.

TOP 5 BOWLERS IN ODIsPos +/- Rat Name7 +1 690 Shakib al Hasan26 +2 560 Mashrafe bin Mortaza39 - 513 Abdur Razzak40 +15 511 Rubel Hossain57 - 474 Arafat Sunny

TOP 5 BATSMEN IN ODIsPos +/- Rat Name 15 +35 671 Soumya Sarkar21 - 649 Mush� qur Rahim29 -1 610 Tamim Iqbal31 - 606 Shakib al Hasan37 +1 570 Nasir Hossain

Amid the backdrop of the MA Aziz Stadium, majestic Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar relaxes at the rooftop of their team hotel in Chittagong yesterday. Besides the series win against South Africa, Soumya had double cause for joy as he jumped 35 places from 50th to 15th in the International Cricket Council’s rankings for ODI batsmen MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

NewsT-JUNCTION24DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

listology

news

event

Capturing the vanishing box

KFC brings back Tom Yum… A taste of Thailand!

Tribune Desk

Art has travelled over time and adapted to various technologies in the past decades. Photography, although so readily available today as a hobby, passion or form of art to so many, did not use to be this easy or simple. And it is in this celebration of what is becoming obsolete – box photography – that Longitude Latitude 6 is exhibiting the works of box photographer Safder, at their exhibition: “Safder: The Man Behind The Box Camera.”

Photographs taken by Safder, who specialises in box camera photography – from an era that predates even � lm photography – span over six decades. Safder has been taking photos since 1952 with his grand old box camera, using paper negatives.

“Safder has been working from 1952 and has seen the transition of many generations and technologies, but he stuck to his craft: paper negatives,” Shehzad Chowdhury, curator of the event, told the Dhaka Tribune, adding that Safder has photographed migrants and refugees who were � eeing or moving following the 1947 partition.

“This kind of box camera is becoming obsolete – no one uses it anymore,” said Shehzad. “But the quality of his photographs are hauntingly beautiful. The negatives have a ghostly feel to them.”

Given that this form of art is soon going to be obsolete, Shehzad and his team decided it is important for the work to be featured.

“This a celebration of the medium itself. It is before � lm, before digital,” he added.

The exhibition features Safder’s work – mainly portraits, as well as a limited edition of his Still Life Studies that were made especially for the Longitude Latitude 6 customers. These are signed by him.

The exhibition will also include sessions where participants can come and have their photographs taken on the box camera by Safder.

The event is taking place at Bay’s Bellavista, Plot 96, Road 11, Block C, Banani and is open daily from 2pm to 9pm. The Dhaka Tribune is a media partner at the event.

Adila Haque

For most of us, Eid is a blessed occasion. Decked out in new clothes, binge-eating to the best of our abilities, and a sudden leap of monetary income all coupled with the fact that it comes after the tough month of Ramadan are only a few delights to the occasion.

However, there are a few types of people we encounter during this time that almost make us wish it didn’t exist in the � rst place. For those of you who know what we’re talking about, you know for a fact this isn’t an exaggeration.

The ‘Kolakoli’ BroIn every family there’s that one person who just can’t resist the bro-hug. He’ll hug everyone he meets starting from the time after morning prayer, and his excitement is through the roof. Come on bro, not everyone likes hugs.

Salami SnatchersWe’ve all been there. Touching the elders’ feet to ask for a handful of notes – that’s understandable. However, if the snatchers are little children who think it’s okay to use their cute little eyes and toothy smiles to persuade their older cousins – no, that isn’t very nice!

The Gossip GirlShe wakes up early in the morning to make her family only the creamiest payesh. She slaves away in the kitchen for hours making

all kinds of dishes for her near and dear ones. She doesn’t have a single moment to relax and take a break – until late afternoon, when she’s going to visit her cousins or friends to talk about X’s cheating husband and Y’s V-neck dress that apparently leaves very little to her colorful imagination. Boys and girls, the Gossip Girl no longer hides behind a screen.

Droopy EyesEid is supposed to be a happy celebration – one that brings us closer to our family and friends. Nevertheless, because of the shopping craze going on in the country and everywhere else in the world in this time, many of us lose sight of that. You’ve

all known someone who chose not to participate in the Eid hype just because their dresses weren’t nice, or their shoes weren’t new. Pucker up, there are 364 better days in the year to sit around and complain.

Warm WelcomeThis is a social event. We usually visit our close relatives and friends’ places, and for once, it’s not just for the food. Everywhere we’ll � nd aunties stu� ng our mouth with food. “Ma, have some more. I spent so much time with it; you must try it!” It’s di� cult to say no to them when they’re such amazing hosts and have worked hours to make delicious meals for us guests. But come on, our stomachs are not THAT elastic. Gag yourself and puke before your next dawat.

Eid JunkiesThe festivities bring out the best in us...but sometimes also the worst

Longitude Latitude 6 features the work of photographer Safder, who continued his work in box photography despite changes in the trend

KFC is a globally renowned international restaurant chain run by the franchisee Transcom Foods Limited in Bangladesh. KFC has been making continuous e� orts to bring the best quality food with added value to serve the customers better since their journey. Variety and variation in the menu to keep their customers coming back has also been extremely important.

This Eid, KFC brings back the taste of Thailand for valued customers. The Tom Yum � avor is back by popular demand at the stores for a limited time. The hot, lemony and spicy Tom Yum � avor will be available

in both fried chicken and in burgers.This 16th July, the hot and spicy crunch of

Tom Yum was re-launched in the presence of the familiar faces, the renowned celebrities Bonnya Mirza, Sharmin Lucky, Munmun, Topu and Tushti. Mr. Akku Chowdhury (Managing Director and CEO) and Asna Haque (Manager-Marketing) of Transcom Foods Ltd made the announcement of the re-launch to the media present at an event at the Gulshan KFC.

The Tom Yum � avor will be now available at all KFC stores in Dhaka, Sylhet and Cox’s Bazaar.

25D

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FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

ROBINHO JOINS SCOLARI AT CHINA CLUB GUANGZHOU

EXPAT FOOTBALLERS TO UNDERGO TRIALS

26 2827

Manchester United will sell goalkeeper Victor Valdes after the

Spaniard refused to play in the reserves, manager Louis van Gaal

said on Wednesday

FOR SALE! Sport5 REASONS WHY TRIUMPH OVER SA IS MORE SPECIAL

Tigers rise in ODI players’ rankings Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh’s brilliant run recently not only cemented their place in the 2017 ICC Cham-pions Trophy but also closed down their gap with sixth-placed England. The 2-1 series success against South Africa took the sev-enth-ranked Tigers’ rating points tally to 96, two less than England.

Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his side are now eight points ahead of both the West In-dies and Pakistan, who are ranked eighth and ninth respectively.

The historic series triumph over the Pro-teas also saw an improvement in the Bang-ladesh players’ rankings. Opener Soumya

Sarkar, who registered impressive scores of 27, 88 not out and 90 in the just-conclud-ed three ODIs against the South Africans, rose to as high as 15th in the International Cricket Council’s batsmen’s rankings with 671 rating points. The elegant southpaw from Satkhira was 50th prior to his exploits against the Proteas.

Champion all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, who scalped three dismissals in the third ODI against South Africa to become the second Bangladeshi after Abdur Razzak to join the 200-wicket club, jumped to seventh place in the bowlers’ rankings with 690 rating points. Shakib is now just three points behind Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson,

who is sixth.ODI and Twenty20 skipper Mashrafe,

who also joined Razzak and Shakib in the 200-club during the third match against South Africa, improved his ranking by two places.

The “Narail Express” is now 26th in the bowlers’ rankings while Rubel Hossain also saw an improvement in his ranking. Rubel jumped from 55th place to 40th position.

Young tearaway Musta� zur Rahman, who continued to exhibit brilliant displays with the leather, jumped to 69th place from his previous position of 88th after taking � ve wickets in the three South Africa ODIs.

TOP 5 BOWLERS IN ODIsPos +/- Rat Name7 +1 690 Shakib al Hasan26 +2 560 Mashrafe bin Mortaza39 - 513 Abdur Razzak40 +15 511 Rubel Hossain57 - 474 Arafat Sunny

TOP 5 BATSMEN IN ODIsPos +/- Rat Name 15 +35 671 Soumya Sarkar21 - 649 Mush� qur Rahim29 -1 610 Tamim Iqbal31 - 606 Shakib al Hasan37 +1 570 Nasir Hossain

Amid the backdrop of the MA Aziz Stadium, majestic Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarkar relaxes at the rooftop of their team hotel in Chittagong yesterday. Besides the series win against South Africa, Soumya had double cause for joy as he jumped 35 places from 50th to 15th in the International Cricket Council’s rankings for ODI batsmen MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Sport26DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Fall once, get up twice as harderBangladesh had beaten India 2-1 and Paki-stan 3-0, but the South Africans were rated higher as an opponent in terms of strength. The way the visitors began the tour – with comprehensive wins in the two T20Is and the � rst one-dayer – was just an acknowl-edgment of the sentiment, it seemed. The series against India and Pakistan were sealed inside the � rst two games, but the Tigers were facing a di� erent situation here. At least several Asian cricket pundits like In-dian Aakash Chopra and Pakistani Rameez Raja were looking forward to seeing the Ti-gers wall crack open while, if not the world, millions of Tigers fan across the globe were eager to see their favourite team respond. The fans won as the Tigers got back strong-er and made an incredible comeback to win the next two matches by eight and nine wickets respectively to seal their fourth suc-cessive home ODI series.

Elites Mashrafe, Shakib in deserving placesPrior to the series, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his deputy Shakib al Hasan were three and two wickets

away from reaching 200 ODI wickets. World No 1 all-rounder in all three formats, Shakib remained wicket-less in the � rst two games as Mashrafe reduced his target by two. Their milestones were reached in Chit-tagong and it was truly a pleasant moment to see the two frontman of Bangladesh cricket embracing the moment. Mashrafe and Shakib’s service to the Bangladesh team cannot be justi� ed with just 200 wickets be-side their names.

Troll him as much as you want, but Tamim is irreplaceableNo matter how much Tamim Iqbal is trolled across social media for his inconsistency, in the back of your mind you know he will rise to the occasion. His bat was silent in the 2015 ICC World Cup, but don’t forget his 100-ball 95 in the win against Scotland where Bangladesh were chasing 319 to win in Nelson, New Zealand. He answered the critics through the Pakistan series with scores of 132, 116* and 64 and made 60 in the � rst game against India. He went silent again with scores of 13, 5, 0 and 5 in the next four outings. On Wednesday, his 61* was the

37th � fty of his career, most by any Bangla-deshi. Tamim and Soumya’s 154-run stand at the top, their third in 10 innings, ensured Bangladesh’s series triumph.

The southpaw’s contribution to some extent is under-rated and if Tamim’s sta-tistics is compared to New Zealand captain and enterprising opening batsman Brendon McCullum, I personally will keep the Bang-ladeshi ahead. ODIs Runs HS AVG 100s 50sTamim 150 4581 154 31.37 6 31McCullum 254 5909 166 30.30 5 31

Tigers sustain pressure of back-to-back big series’Bangladesh have never played so much cricket in a year. Starting from the World Cup in February, the Tigers have played 15 ODIs and that too against some big names of the cricketing world. There were huge doubts as to whether Bangladesh would be able to cope up with the pressure of play-ing continuously. After each triumph, the doubts reshaped over whether Bangladesh can hold on to the successful momentum. Bangladesh faced Afghanistan, Sri Lanka,

Scotland, England, New Zealand and India (the game against Australia was washed out) in the World Cup before hosting bi-lateral series’ against Pakistan, India and South Africa. Yep, Bangladesh sustained the pressure or rather they enjoyed the game. On Wednesday, after securing their series success over the Proteas, Mashrafe right-fully said, “We used to dream of beating big teams. Now we are beating them.”

Soumya excels and so does his ‘Periscope shot’The left-handed opening batsman is a part of the new era of Bangladesh cricket. The fearless 22-year old brings aggression and agility to the Tigers’ batting to complement his safe pair of hands in the � eld. Often been compared to the Prince of Kolkata – former India captain Sourav Ganguly – for similar batting styles, Soumya’s dominance over the opponents is increasing by each game. Soumya expressed dissatisfaction and wor-ries over not being able to continue the good starts with the bat, but in the last two ODIs it was his progress that made the wins easi-er than expected. The unbeaten 88 in Dhaka in the second ODI injected a big amount of assurance in him as he batted more freely and made the shots in his 90-run knock look e� ortless. Soumya is � nding his feet and so is his signature the ‘periscope shot’. It can be compared to the popular MS Dhoni’s ‘helicopter shot’ and Tillakaratne Dilshan’s ‘Dilscoop’ as Soumya’s innovation was even acknowledged by the ICC in its o� cial face-book page.

Reazur Rahman Rohan

Wednesday marked another sad day for a visiting cricket team in Bangladesh. Follow-ing Asian heavyweights Pakistan and India, South Africa were probably left to ponder what went wrong. The 2-1 series win over the Proteas is a priceless gift to the nation from the Tigers. Beating the world’s No 4 ranked South Africa brought unparalleled joy to this cricket-mad nation. Here are � ve reasons, among plenty, that makes the result so special.

FIVE REASONS WHY BANGLADESH’S TRIUMPH OVER SOUTH AFRICA IS MORE SPECIAL

(L-R) Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mohammad Shahid, Mahmudullah, Liton Kumar Das and Nasir Hossain enjoy some football during training in Chittagong yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sport 27D

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FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Cuba reaches quarters, Trinidad draws MexicoCuba de� ed the odds and booked a berth in the Gold Cup quarter-� nals against regional powerhouse United States with a 1-0 win over Guatemala in their � nal game of group stage on Wednesday. In a thrilling night match, Yohance Marshall scored in the � nal seconds of injury time as Trinidad and Tobago rallied from a pair of second-half de� cits to earn a 4-4 draw with Mexico in one of the wildest matches in tournament history.

–AFP

McCarthy not for sale, says Everton’s MartinezEverton manager Roberto Martinez has insisted that James McCarthy is not for sale fol-lowing reports that Manchester City were pre-paring to make a bid for the Republic of Ireland international mid� elder. McCarthy was linked with the former Premier League champions after their failure to sign Aston Villa’s Fabian Delph. However Martinez, who worked with the player at Wigan Athletic before they both joined Everton two years ago, is determined to hold on to the young talent in his squad.

–AFP

Middlesbrough agree to sign Uruguay hitman StuaniEnglish second tier out� t Middlesbrough have agreed a deal in principle to sign Uruguay inter-national striker Christian Stuani from Spanish side Espanyol. The north-east club have agreed to pay the La Liga side around 4 million euros (£2.8m; $4.4m dollars) for the 29-year-old, who has 17 caps for Uruguay.

–AFP

Southampton sign Clasie as Schneiderlin replacementSouthampton have completed a deal for Feyenoord mid� elder Jordy Clasie after moving quickly to � ll the void left by Morgan Schneid-erlin’s departure to Manchester United. Clasie, who has 11 caps for the Netherlands, has signed a � ve-year contract, the Premier League club said on Wednesday. British media reports indicated the fee was in the region of 7 million pounds.

–Reuters

Sunderland sign Dutch Lens on 4-year dealSunderland have bolstered their attacking ranks by signing Netherlands forward Jeremain Lens from Dynamo Kiev on a four-year deal, the Premier League club said on Wednesday. The 27-year-old, who has worked with Sunderland coach Dick Advocaat at his previous clubs PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar, has signed for an undisclosed fee, which media reports have esti-mated to be in the region of 8 million pounds.

–Reuters

Younis won’t retire before winning in Australia, EngPakistan veteran Younis Khan has vowed to hold o� retiring until he has guided his team to Test series victories in England and Australia to cap o� a remarkable career.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

Expat footballers to undergo trials Shishir Hoque

Two expatriate footballers, who ply their trade with Welsh football club Dinas Powys FC, showed their interest to play for Bangla-desh and are likely to visit their motherland soon for trial.

Rizwan Ahmed and Mohammad Ali Ak-mal, both 19, are full-backs but play on oppo-site � anks. Rizwan, a left-back, mentioned in his curriculum vitae, “My father used to play football in Bangladesh before moving to the UK. I would like the opportunity to represent Bangladesh as it would be an honour to be a part of something my father has supported for so long.”

Akmal is a right-back and plays for Dinas Powys seniors, the side that strut their stu� in the Welsh Football League Division Two based in south Wales.

Local agent Zul� kar Haider is bridging the link between the players and the Bangla-desh Football Federation. The Welsh duo will travel to Bangladesh once Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif returns to the capital.

South Africa’s Test arrival Dale Steyn bowls in the nets in Chittagong yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

DAY 1, AT TEAAustralia 191 for 1 (Rodgers 81*, Smith 62* M Ali 1-35)

Rogers gets Australia going in second Ashes Test AFP, London

Chris Rogers rode his luck as Australia made an excellent start in the second Ashes Test against England at Lord’s on Thursday.

Australia were 191 for one at Tea on the � rst day, with David Warner the only batsman dis-missed, as they looked to level the � ve-match series at 1-1 after their 169-run defeat in the � rst Test in Cardi� last week.

Rogers was 81 not out, on a ground he knows well from his time with Lord’s-based county side Middlesex, and Steven Smith 62 not out.

Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat � rst on what looked another typically good pitch at the ‘home of cricket’.

Initially overcast skies o� ered a hint of swing movement.

The � rst over saw Rogers fortunate to sur-vive when he edged an intended drive o� James Anderson just over the top of the slip cordon for four.

Warner is known as the more aggressive of Australia’s two left-handed openers.

But it took him 25 balls to score his � rst four on Thursday, pulling � rst-change Mark Wood.

Rogers did not look secure and repeatedly played and missed

By contrast, Warner started to � nd his touch with � ve fours, all o� fast bowler Wood, in 13 balls.

England captain Alastair Cook brought on Moeen Ali after drinks.

Abahani thrash Sk Russel, Brothers go fourth Shishir Hoque

Abahani bid its head coach George Kottan a joyful farewell by thrashing Sheikh Russel 5-0 in the Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. The Sky Blues continued their winning streak to move to second in the standings with 30 points from 15 outings and trail defending champions Sheikh Jamal by six points. Sheikh Russel on the other hand dropped down a place to third with 29 points from 14 matches.

Abahani’s Nigerian striker Sunday Chizoba led the way with a � ne hattrick while national defender Nasirul Islam Nasir and mid� eld-er Shahedul Alam Shahed were also on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile in the day’s other match, Muk-tijoddha continued their travails in the sec-ond phase as Brothers Union twice came from behind to eke out a dramatic 3-2 win.

Muktis are yet to record a win ever since the second phase of the top � ight got under-way and are now sixth in the standings with

21 points from 15 matches. Brothers on the other hand jumped to fourth with 28 points from 15 matches.

Senegalese striker Camara Sarba netted twice in the opening half for the All Reds but his exploits were overshadowed by Kester Akon, who also bagged a brace and assisted the Oranges’ winner.

It took Muktis only 13 minutes to break the deadlock as Sarba headed home.

The delight however, did not last long. Brothers captain Akon cancelled out the lead just � ve minutes later, � icking over goalkeep-er Anisur Rahman.

Muktijoddha took the lead again in the 34th minute as Sarba notched his second.

Akon though stunned Muktis by bring-ing parity in the 83rd minute. The Brothers skipper � red home the rebound after Anisur saved Sha� qul Islam’s shot.

And in the � nal moments of the game, the Brothers fans were jumping for joy when sub-stitute forward Mohammad Roni sealed the three points from an Akon cross.

Sport28DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

‘Strugling’ Di Maria’s Man United future still uncertain Reuters

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has done little to dampen speculation that Argentine winger Angel Di Maria could leave the club, a year after moving to Old Tra� ord for a British record transfer fee.

British media have reported that Di Maria, who joined United for 59.7 million pounds ($93.35 million) last year, is a target for French club Paris Saint Germain and that his wife is unhappy living in the northwest of England.

Van Gaal, while keen to keep the 27-year-old, was unsure if he would stay.

“We shall see,” the Dutchman told reporters in Seattle when asked whether he expected Di Maria to be with the club for the next English Premier League season.

“In football it’s a process and I have said that many times. It’s not clear in one day. It’s a process for Di Maria, for United and we shall see.

“For now he’s still a member of United and he has told me he shall come on 25 July.”

Di Maria played for Argentina in the recent-ly completed Copa America and was given permission to join the club’s pre-season tour of North America later this month.

Earn your place, van Gaal warns United new boys AFP, Seattle

Louis van Gaal on Wednesday warned his raft of new signings they would have to � ght for their Manchester United places as the Pre-mier League giants prepared to kick-o� their pre-season tour of the United States.

United arrived in Seattle in buoyant mood after bolstering their squad with a slew of high-calibre new arrivals led by Bayern Mu-nich mid� elder Bastian Schweinsteiger and France international Morgan Schneiderlin.

With highly rated Dutch international Memphis Depay and Italy defender Matteo Darmian also joining in the close season, van

Gaal is con� dent he can build a team to re-es-tablish United as title challengers.

But the veteran Dutchman warned that all of the new signings would need to prove they deserved a place in United’s starting line-up.

“I have to say to the players, you have to � ght for your position,” van Gaal said.

“Never is it secure in top sport -- even my position is not secure. But also the players, the players have to � ght. Morgan Schneider-lin has to � ght with Schweinsteiger, Michael Carrick, Daley Blind -- these are the players who can play in the centre of mid� eld.

“Darmian has to � ght with (Antonio) Valencia, he knows that but Valencia knows that also.”

Real top Forbes’ most valuable teams list Reuters

Spanish soccer club Real Madrid retained top spot on a list of the world’s 50 most valuable sports teams, according to a Forbes poll re-leased on Wednesday that was made up most-ly of National Football League franchises.

The value of the 10-times European cham-pions fell � ve percent from last year to $3.26 billion due to a drop in the euro versus the U.S. dollar, but revenue of $746 million, the highest of any team, kept them top, Forbes said in a statement.

The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, up three spots from last year, and Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees, up from fourth place in 2014, were tied for second with a value of $3.20 billion.

Global soccer powers Barcelona ($3.16 bil-lion) and Manchester United ($3.10) rounded out the top � ve.

The NFL led all sports with 20 franchises in the top-50, followed by MLB (12), the National Basketball Association (10) and soccer (7).

Formula One’s Ferrari (1.35 billion) were ranked 32nd while the Toronto Maple Leafs ($1.3 billion), tied in 37th, were the only Na-tional Hockey League team on the list.

According to Forbes, which began valuing sports franchises in 1998, the world’s 50 most valuable teams are worth an average $1.75 bil-lion, up 31 percent from 2014.

Forbes also said the minimum valuation to make the cut rose to $1.15 billion, up from $856 million a year ago, due largely to the soaring worth of NBA and MLB teams.

Robinho joins Scolari at China club Guangzhou Reuters

Brazil forward Robinho has joined former Selecao coach Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande on a six-month deal, the club said on Thursday.

The former Real Madrid, Manchester City and AC Milan attacker, known for his elabo-rate stepovers, was also heavily linked with Abu Dhabi club Al Jazira after the 31-year-old ended his third spell at Santos recently.

Robinho was part of the Brazil side that ex-ited the recent Copa America tournament fol-lowing a quarter-� nal penalty shootout defeat by Paraguay. He will join the four-times reign-ing Chinese champions, who appointed 2002 World Cup winning coach Scolari last month.

Kaka (L) of Orlando City SC and James Morrison (C) of West Bromwich Albion vie for the ball during an International friendly at the Orlando Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday. Orlando won the match 3-1 AFP

THE 10 MOST VALUABLE TEAMS (IN BILLIONS)

1. Real Madrid (Soccer) $3.26

2. Dallas Cowboys (NFL) $3.20

2. New York Yankees (Baseball) $3.20

4. Barcelona (Soccer) $3.16

5. Manchester United (Soccer) $3.10

6. Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) $2.60

6. New England Patriots (NFL) $2.60

8. New York Knicks (NBA) $2.50

9. Los Angeles Dodgers (Baseball) $2.40

9. Washington Redskins (NFL) $2.40

Manchester United introduces three new signings: Morgan Schneiderlin (L-R), Bastian Schweinsteiger , and Matteo Darmian, at a news conference in Bellevue, Washington on Wednesday REUTERS

Sport 29D

TFRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

FRIDAY

Star Sports 14:00PM Australia Tour of England 2nd Test, Day 2

Star Sports 4ICC World T20 Quali� er 2015 2:30PM Nepal v Papua New Guinea 6:45PM Ireland v Hong Kong

Ten Action8:00PM Tour de France: Day 13

Ten Cricket5:00PM India Tour of Zimbabwe 1st T20

SATURDAY

Star Sports 14:00PM Australia Tour of England 2nd Test, Day 3 12:00AM Natwest T20 Blast 2015Essex v Middlesex

Star Sports 209:30AM Chinese Taipei Open GPSemi� nal 3:00PM International Champions Cup Real Madrid v AS Roma

Star Sports 49:00AM International Champions Cup Club America v Man Utd 2:30PM ICC World T20 Quali� er Nepal v Jersey 6:45PM Papua New Guinea v Namibia

Ten Action1:00PM Manchester City v Melbourne City 3:00PM

Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 3rd ODI 7:30PM Tour de France: Day 14

Sony Six6:00AM Caribbean Premier League T20 Guyana Amazon Warriors v St Lucia Zouks

SUNDAY

Star Sports 14:00PM Australia Tour of England 2nd Test, Day 4

7:35PM Tour de France: Day 15

Star Sports 209:30AM Chinese Taipei Open: Final

Star Sports 46:30AM International Champions CupsPSG v Ben� ca ICC World T20 Quali� er 2:30PM Ireland v Jersey 6:45PM Papua New Guinea v USA

Ten Cricket5:00PM India Tour of Zimbabwe; 2nd T20

Sony Six2:00AM Caribbean Premier League Guyana Warriors v Barbados Tridents

MONDAY

Star Sports 14:00PM Australia Tour of England 2nd Test, Day 5

Star Sports 411:30PM Eni FIM Superbike World Championship Sony Six2:00AM Caribbean Premier League T&T Red Steel v Jamaica Tallawahs

DAY’S WATCH

Armstrong embarks on controversial Tour stage AFP, Muret

For the � rst time since he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong on Thursday rode a stage of the famous race for charity.

Armstrong was riding a 198-kilometre (123-mile) stage of the race a day ahead of the competing riders for a leukaemia charity but

cycling o� cials have branded the exercise “disrespectful”.

The 43-year-old American, who himself is a cancer survivor, stressed he was riding for a “great cause” and it was something he was com-mitted to “regardless of what people think”.

The charity, the brainchild of former Eng-land football international Geo� Thomas who beat leukaemia, aims to raise “around £1 mil-lion” (1.4 million euros, $1.5million) mainly via sponsorship garnered by the 10 other am-ateur cyclists riding the route.

Armstrong was surrounded by reporters but no members of the public were out on the course to welcome him as he set o� .

The trip has sparked further controversy on a Tour de France that has been marred by a doping-related scandal surrounding the tainted Astana team of Tour de France cham-pion Vincenzo Nibali and questions over the performance of race leader Chris Froome.

But Armstrong batted o� the accusation that his presence was a distraction.

“It’s one thing if I said, ‘Oh, I’m going to go to the race and I want to stand around at the start.’ I’m not asking that, you know. I understand there is sensitivity around that, but here helping a group of people in a great cause, I’m going to do that forever,” insisted the former champion. The participation of Armstrong, who admitted in a stunning TV interview in 2013 that he had doped his way through the Tour de France throughout his career, has already sparked controversy.

However, Armstrong declined to be drawn on Froome and the numerous questions about doping levelled at him.

Lance Armstrong rides as he joins former England footballer Geo� Thomas and his team for two stages of the ‘Le Tour-One Day Ahead’ in Le Muret, south-eastern France on Thursday AP

Retired Czech and American tennis player Martina Navratilova (L), Indian tennis player Sania Mirza (2R) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Asia-Paci� c Vice President Melissa Pine (L) coach students during a WTC Future Stars clinic at the Sania Mirza Tennis Academy in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The event is part of a broader WTA Asia-Paci� c programme of tennis masterclasses AFP

SHOWTIME30DT

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

Akasher ThikanayNTV8:10pm, 2nd Day of Eid While conventional TV drama depictions can make your eyes sore, this exclusive drama’s nature oriented presentation could bring a soothing treatment for your viewing

Cine CelebsGTV10:30pm, 2 nd and 3 rd day of EidThis time � lm stars will have a great time together on screen with leading anchor Samia Afrin.

In these two special episodes of Cine Celebs, leading � lm stars including Ananta Jalil, Borsa, Bappi Chowdhury and Mahiya Mahi will grace the show. Produced by HAM Rajon, the programme will feature some popular songs, mostly selected by the presented guests.

Celebrity Cricket FestivalGTV3:00pm, Eid day to Day 3rdThis Eid will not just be about dramas and � lms for entertainment. Celebrated actors and actresses, models and directors will play along with current and ex-national team players for the � rst time in the Celebrity Cricket Festival. Thanks

Eid releases Proticchobi by MilesThis is the latest project of the popular band, deciding to release their album as digital media rather than a physical CD. Grameenphone’s latest initiative GP Music holds the digital release. Launched on July 7, the album includes eight tracks, � ve of which are brand new. The songs are written by Sha� n Ahmed, Latiful Islam Shibli, Sha� q Tuhin, Topu, and Torun Munshi while Sha� n Ahmed, Manam Ahmed, Hamin Ahmed and Jewel have composed the music for the tracks.

Majhrate Chad by Obscure After a long sabbatical, the popular 90s

band delivered an album release this Eid. The title song of this album, “Majhrate Chad” has been making waves. 10 songs have made it into the album. The band’s current line up has Tipu on vocals, Raju on bass, Shanto and Rubaiyat on guitars, Shaown on keys and Rinku on percussions.This album has been dedicated to the guitarist Sumon.

Silver Screen EidThis Eid will see only three releases on the big screens: Agnee-2, Padma Patar Jol and Love Marriage.

Padma Patar JolThe sizzling Bidya Sinha Mim’s sixth big screen venture Padma Patar Jol. This is a historical romantic drama, written by Latiful Islam and directed by Tanmoy Tansen.

Emon, the rising star, will play the lead role, alongside Mim as co-stars. The plot has

pleasure. Written and directed by Jakaria Showkhin, the drama entirely was shot in Bandarban’s wild landscape.

Here Tisha has donned a character of depression-drowned lonely girl who survived in this state for quite some time and thanks to a strange individual, played by Afran Nisho, she � nally lets go of her boring life and � nds a new vivid world around her.

Abar o DevdasSATV3:00pm, 5 th Day of EidThis is a TV adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s most illustrious romantic work. Set in a contemporary milieu, the tele� lm’s three major characters’ name, Devdas, Parvati and Chandramukhi, have changed to Dip,

Parul and Chandni respectively, seems to do justice to a contemporary adaptation.

Directed by Imraul Rafat, the cast includes Afran Nisho, Mithila and Jannatul Ferdous Peya as leads. The director has changed a few things in the original story, catering to the contemporary audience.

Cry Baby CryBanglavision 8:00pm, 5th Day of EidJon Kabir and Mithila paired up again to appear in a Television drama titled Cry Baby Cry just one year after the duo shared screen space for the � rst time.

Written and directed by Mabrur Rashid Bannah, the drama depicts Jon, the former front man of the alternative rock band Black and currently a member of Indalo, as a melodramatic man who is friends with

Mithila’s character. Ishika Khan, model and actress, was also cast in a vital role for the drama. Made under the banner of Underground Creative Factory (UCF), the production is currently in progress.

Rag Kore RangamatiChannel I,6:10pm, Day before Eid to 7thChildrens writer, Faridur Reza Sagar’s popular series Chotokaku has been dramatised to Raag Kore Rangamati. It is a series of 8 episodes. This has been adapted for the screen by Afzal Hussain. It stars Afzal Hussain, Simanto, Orsha, Probal, Binoya, and Samiya along with few others.

GirlfriendSATV, 8:50pm, on Eid dayA single episode TV drama, Girlfriend has been adapted for the screen. Written and directed by Sakal Ahmed, starring Iresh Zaker and Tisha in leads.

Drama

Tvprograme

Mus

ic

to The Braver Celebrity Cricket Festival Powered by Banglalink, the alternative sports show will air during the seven days of the Eid holiday.

Viking live concertDesh TV 9:45pm, Eid DayRTV 12:00am, 2nd day of EidRadio Shadhin 11:00pm, 3rd day Channeli 2:00am, 4th dayDhaka FM 11:00pm, 5th dayThe popular rock act from the 90s will appear in several live TV and Radio shows on Eid. For the � rst time in the band’s history, they will be performing live on air.

Special Tritiyo MattraChannel i1:00am, Eid day to 7th day Presented and directed by Zillur Rahaman, in these special episodes of a popular talkshow, there will be few distinguished guests including former secretary Mohammad Asafudoullah, LGRD state minister Md Moshiur Rahman Ranga, Chairman of Summit Group Muhammad Aziz Khan, the Chief Editor of Daily Manabjamin, and Editor Mahbuba Chowdhury.

In addition, former law-maker Md Golam Maola Rony, sports commentator Chowdhury Jafarullah Sharafat, actress Anjana and former cricketer Javed Omar Belim will be present in another episode.

been centred around the love story between a landlord and a courtesan from a hundred years ago. In this � lm, Mim takes on the role of Fulesshori, who is a court-dancer and Emon plays the role of the Jamidar. The entire � lm was shot on location on a hill at Bandarban.

Agnee 2The second installment of Mahiya Mahi’s action � ick, Agnee 2, creates much anticipation with its Eid release. Jazz Multimedia plans to reach a wider audience by exclusively releasing in at least eight countries after the Eid release.

Although the � lm was originally scripted keeping the previous cast in mind, the � lm stalled for a while as the lead actor Ari� n Shuvo pulled out of the � lm due to professional di� erences and scheduling issues. Apparently, Mahi is the only actor from the previous franchise to carry her legacy, while Raja Goswami Om and Ashish Vidyarthi will be playing pivotal roles this time around.

Two other � lms, Nodijon and Ami O Ice-creamwala, produced by Impress Ttele� lms Ltd, will see alternative premières on Channel i screen parallel to their screening at the Blockbuster Cinemas.

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FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

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In a press conference, prior to the staging of Hamlet by Shakespeare’s Globe in Dhaka, Tom Lawrence, one of the actors of the company said, “Text and performance by the actors is core acting that Globe is trying to transmit all over the world.”

Tom, the only cast member of Globe has also appeared in both the 2011 and 2012 tours of this production, playing seven di� erent roles, went on to say, “I think Globe’s philosophy as theatre is very much the play as it is. They don’t use huge sets, lights or sound e� ects. It’s a live experience and live music. Taking all the traditions of Elizabethan theatre, we are actually continuing it.”

Only four members of the company, Tom Lawrence, Phoebe Fildes, Ladi Emeruwa and Keith Bartlett, came before the journalists to take part in a short but lively Q&A session.

Phoebe Fildes sometimes dons the role of Ophelia or Horatio in Hamlet, but the company skipped her in Dhaka and placed Amanda Wilkin in Ophelia’s role. Phoebe admits that she is really excited to be in a country which took part in the London Olympics 2012’s theatre festival with a subtle production of The Tempest.

It seems Shakespeare’s Globe has adopted a policy of selecting an ethnically diverse cast in the world tour and ground behind the action re� ects on Ladi Emeruwa’s

words. “It is our intention to select coloured actors for the play. When a young actor from Bangladesh sees that Hamlet looks similar to him, this could inspire him to aspire to that role.” Ladi shares his own story, “When I � rst saw a Nigerian Romeo at Globe my mind came to this conclusion that I am able to be part of this thing.”

Currently in a world tour with Shakespeare’s most powerful and

in� uential tragedy in English literature, the troupe performed Hamlet in Dhaka as the 120th country, and by April 23, 2016 it will complete the world tour marking Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary.

Shakespeare’s Globe visited Singapore before staging a performance in Dhaka on July 15 and the following day, headed back home to take a short sabbatical from this two-years-long journey.

Mahmood Hossain

Zoya Akhtar has become one of the best directors in the industry. Which really isn’t a surprise, she comes from a very talented family. Her second exotic project, which she co-wrote, Dil Dhadakne Do is another example of her genius.

As expected, it’s aesthetically stunning. From the actors to the on-location shoots, this � lm has a similar blueprint that

of Zoya’s 2011 � lm, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. She’s developed a knack for those colourful, lush scenes without sacri� cing the many shades of her actors. It’s a brilliant relationship she’s developed with her cinematography department. Apart from the pretty parade, she’s given us a smart family � lm for a mature audience. No matter, if some critics have labelled this as a soap opera on celluloid.

The � lm revolves around the Mehra

family, speci� cally the siblings, Ayesha and Kabir. Both Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra) and Kabir (Ranveer Singh) join their parents on a lavish cruise to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. While on this short trip, both siblings are dealt with the familial impact on their romantic lives. The chemistry between Ranveer and Priyanka as siblings is wonderful, much more convincing than their failed romantic a� air on Gunday. These two put on a fantastic performance, only to be enhanced by Anil Kapoor (who plays their father). And let’s just say Mr Kapoor put on a � ne performance, keeping himself a step ahead from the rest.

While the brief showing of Anushka Sharma (Farah Ali), Farhan Akhtar (Sunny Gill) and Rahul Bose (Manav, Ayesha’s husband) neither helped nor harmed the � lm, the surprise voice of Aamir Khan as Pluto (the family dog) was pleasantly embraced by the audience. The narration was to the “t”. It would have been nicer to see a bit more involvement from Anushka and Farhan. However, it’s understandable who the focus characters were in the story.

Final verdict: Will it go down as a classic? Not really. Is it worth watching more than once? You bet. Ultimately, it’s an entertainer, which won’t leave too many people disappointed. The same would go for its soundtrack. There are some head bopping numbers, but nothing so annoying to get stuck in your head for months to come.

All aboard

Hamlet around the Globe

Kick-Ass 2Star Movies 7:00 pmThe costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to � ght crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will a� ect everyone Kick-Ass knows.Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse Chloë Grace Moretz, Jim Carrey, Clark Duke, Augustus Prew

Step Up 2:The StreetsHBO 5:20 pmRomantic sparks occur between two dance students from di� erent backgrounds at the Maryland School of the Arts.Cast: Briana Evigan, Robert Ho� man, Adam G. Sevani, Cassie Ventura, Will Kemp

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingWB 8:00pmGandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron’s army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.Cast: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen

WHAT TO WATCH

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FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015

FIVE REASONS WHY THE WIN OVER SA IS SPECIAL PAGE 26

HAMLET AROUND THE GLOBE PAGE 31

EID SALES SLUMP THIS YEAR PAGE 15

Where have all the missing people gone?

Abid Azad back from Cox’s Bazar

On one night nearly three years ago, Yusuf went to the Dargar Chhora ghat in the Bay with his elder brother Yunus, who was about to embark a ship headed for Malaysia seeking migration illegally.

Yusuf, who could see the risks, did not quite support his brother but could not stop him ei-ther because he was the younger of the two.

“It was around 3am when he [Yunus] boarded a small � shing boat and set o� on an uncertain journey. I had no idea that it was going to be the last time I was seeing my brother. We have not heard from him since, nor do we know his whereabouts,” Yusuf said while talking to this correspondent recently.

“He hugged me and told me to take care of our parents and not to worry. I begged him not to go, but he did not listen to me,” Yusuf recol-

lected the last memories with his brother.A resident of Lengur Beel village of Sadar

union in Teknaf upazila, Yunus left behind his wife and two daughters. He was not the only one from the locality to have embarked on that perilous journey.

This reporter has found that at least 57 others from the area set o� for Malaysia on that night; and nobody knows anything about any of them.

Yusuf, the only witness, said: “There were three brokers – Mahmud Ali from Mitha Panir Chhora, Jiabul from Dargah Chhora, and Eza-har Mia from Jaliya Para. They passed on my brother and other to three other people whom I did not know.”

Talking to the families of some of those missing victims, this reporter came to know about a person named Moulavi Nazir, who was said to be the local ring leader of human smugglers.

Mahmud, Jiabul and Ezahar used to work for Nazir who lived in Jaliya Para but in now in Malaysia.

The unusual thing about all these people

going missing is that none of their families have ever got any call for ransom.

Yusuf said: “We learned from sources that the smugglers will ask for ransom when the mi-grants reach Thailand. So, we arranged a large amount of money. We are still waiting but no-body has called in these two and a half years.”

Nurul Haq, father of a 14-year-old missing victim named Abdullah, told this correspond-ent that he had paid broker Jiabul Tk68,000.

“Jiabul � rst asked for Tk68,000 and said he would take my son to Malaysia if I gave him the money. I gave him the amount. A few days later, he demanded another Tk70,000. I could not pay that. Around 20-25 days later, he went to Malaysia and never came back. The two other brokers also do not live in this area any-more,” Nurul said.

The families of some of the victims � led two cases with the Moheshkhali police station in May this year. Police arrested three people in connection with the cases but there is still no news of the people who went missing on that night.

Tra� c constables beat up commuter in Dhaka Adil Shakhawat and Kamrul Hasan

A group of tra� c policemen beat up a rick-shaw passenger in the capital’s Panthapath yesterday afternoon.

The passenger is called Md Mahiful Islam, 21, originally a resident of Jamalpur who works at a carpet shop in Dhaka’s New Ele-phant Road.

Around 2:15pm, Mahiful was on his way to the Farmgate area to deliver carpets to some clients.

After remaining static for a long time at the tra� c signal at the Panthapath intersection near the Basundhara shopping mall, he re-quested an on-duty tra� c constable named Kalam to let his rickshaw go.

But in reply, the constable started calling him names. When Mahiful protested, the constable pulled him down from the rickshaw and started beating him severely.

Three other constables on-duty in the same area soon came to the scene, took Ma-hiful inside the nearby police box and joined in the beating.

At one point, around a hundred pedestri-ans protested the incident, rescued Mahiful and took him to the Green Life Hospital on Green Road where he was given � rst aid.

The angry mob also tried to vandalise the police box. But Dhanmondi police station Of-� cer-in-Charge (OC) Iqbal and Sub-Inspector (SI) Atik came to the spot after hearing about the skirmish and tried to calmed the situa-tion.

The OC requested the mob to calm down but when they refused to go away, he also lost temper and order his troops to charge batons on the crowd. Some 10-12 people including Md Motahar, chef of the Health and Hope Hospital, was injured in the police beating.

In the meantime, Mahiful was brought back to the police box and he alleged that he had lost his purse and cash money when he was being beaten by the police constable.

He was then taken to the Kalabagan po-lice station. However, when Dhaka Tribune contacted them, they said Mahiful had been released.

Dhanmondi OC Iqbal told reporters that he had ordered for the baton charge because the unruly crowd was creating a nuisance.

Police Sergeant Liakat, who was on duty during the incident, said that Mahiful had at-tacked one of the constables.

This is not the � rst time that policemen have beaten up a civilian in this area. A few days ago, three tra� c constables beat up the driver of a CNG-run autorickshaw. After that incident too, police said the autorickshaw driver had attacked one of the constables.

When contacted, DMP Joint Commission-er Banaj Kumar said that they had identi� ed the o� enders and the process of taking action against them was under way.

Eid is just a couple of days away but this is not a scene from a busy shopping mall. In fact, this is the rooftop of a crowded commercial ferry travelling along the Buriganga River. Scores die during the Eid rush almost every year when one or more of these overloaded ferries capsize MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

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