n Mohammad Jamil Khan

A list of bailed and absconding operatives of banned militant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) is being drawn up by investigators in a bid to solve the murder of Faisal Are� n Dipan, publisher of slain blogger Avijit Roy.

A high o� cial of the Detective Branch, ask-ing not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that investigators were preparing a list of Ansarullah members who had earlier been arrested or located by law enforcers but had managed to give the authorities the slip.

“Investigators are trying to track them down with the aid of technology,” the o� cial said.

Detectives are trying to identify the au-thor of two Twitter posts, made in the name of an out� t calling itself Ansar al-Islam, that were issued shortly after the murder. Investi-gators say the tweets originated in Jatrabari and Wari in Dhaka’s old town.

The tweets, which claimed responsibility for the Dipan murder and another deadly at-tack on Saturday, were later removed.

Police yesterday said the two attacks were conducted by separate sleeper cells, but said the attacks had been masterminded and trained by the same group.

Tanvir Hassan Zoha, director of operations at Insight Bangladesh Foundation and focus person of the Cyber Nirapotta Programme under the Information and Communications

Technology Division, told the Dhaka Trib-une that his team had collected information about the Twitter account holder and sent the information over to detectives.

Monirul Islam, DB joint commissioner, said both of Saturday’s attacks were planned and masterminded by a single entity and added that the investigation would reveal more about

the identity of the killers and whether they are linked to other recent extremist attacks.

The DB chief did not comment further on the identity of the masterminds of the attacks, but a police source said the brains behind the bloodshed was the anti-liberation Jamaat-e-Islami party.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

SECOND EDITION

PAGE 19CU turns into battle� eld as BCL factions clash

PAGE 5Mirza Fakhrul asked to surrender today

PAGE 3New Ansarullah hit list targets expat bloggers

PAGE 32‘Hanif shouldbe removed’

PAGE 4Rajuk chairman skips ACC questioning

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015 | Kartik 19, 1422, Moharram 20, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 197 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

SQ CHY, MUJAHID’S REVIEW HEARING DEFERRED PAGE 5

REMITTANCE NOSEDIVES IN OCTOBER PAGE 15

MASTERMINDS MASTERS AT DODGING LAW PAGE 3

Publishers and booksellers wave black � ags at a human chain near the National Press Club yesterday demanding punishment for the killers and attackers of their colleagues MEHEDI HASAN

PM seeks help to � nd those behind secretive killingsn BSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought cooper-ation of the people who want peace and de-velopment and have faith in the spirit of War of Liberation, to trace out the persons and their masterminds behind the recent clan-destine killings saying it’s time to forge unity again to resist the evil forces.

She said perpetrators of bomb attacks and arsonists could not be successful in 2013 and 2015 as common people came forward in their resistance. Similarly common people have to come forward to � nd out the perpe-trators of the secret killings, she said.

Sheikh Hasina was addressing yesterday a huge public meeting at city’s Suhrawardy

Uddayan organized by Bangladesh Awami League marking the Jail Killing Day in com-memoration of the brutal killing of the coun-try’s four national leaders inside Dhaka Cen-tral Jail on November 3, 1975.

The prime minister said some of the as-sailants of the recent secret murders were caught and the rest of the killers would be traced out along with their masterminds and ‘big brothers’, to ensure their punishment.

Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bang-ladesh Awami League presided over the meeting while central leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Begum Matia Chowdhury, Moham-mad Nasim, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Syed Ashraful Islam and Jahangir Kabir Nanak

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Tutul: The attackers chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’n Kamrul Hasan

Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, owner of Shud-dhashar publishing house, only heard the chanting of Allahu Akbar and then what he did was all re� ex action to save his life.

Lying in his hospital bed he said yesterday afternoon that he had been talking to his wife Shamim Runa over phone before he was at-tacked.

“After that as I was just trying to get down to my regular work on my computer I heard someone chant Allahu Akbar and something sharp struck my head and my vision got blurred,” Tutul said.

Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim – Tu-tul’s friends – had come to his o� ce to draw

up a plan for publications for the next book fair. The meeting was totally unplanned and Ranadipam and Tareq became its victims, said Tutul.

“After the � rst hit on my head, I could not understand what was going on. I can only recall Tareq trying to save his head with his hands and Ranadipam kicking chairs to ob-struct the machete-wielding attackers.”

He said he could not recall the exact num-ber of attackers but he saw one with a pistol guarding the door.

Shamim Runa, wife of Tutul, said she had last sent an SMS to Tutul around 2pm. A lit-tle later she had made several calls to know if he would come home for lunch but Tutul

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Protests demanding justice for Dipan continueGonojagoron Moncho calls hartal from 6am until noon

n Tribune Report

Protests condemning the killing of publish-er Faisal Are� n Dipan continued yesterday, with human chains and processions being held across the country.

All publishers kept the doors to their shops closed for half a day, while some also burned books as a form of protest.

“We demand safety and security of the writers, readers and publishers. The govern-ment should immediately arrest the main culprits. They also need to ensure exemplary punishment for the culprits,” said Mostofa Selim, the managing director of Bangladesh Academic and Creative Publishers Associa-tion (BACPA).

He was addressing a human chain joint-ly organised by the BACPA and Bangladesh Publishers and Booksellers Association in front of National Press Club yesterday.

The BACPA also sent memorandums to all district commissioners, calling for security to

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Police widen net on Ansarullah men

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015News2DT

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Protests demanding justicebe ensured for all writers and publishers. The association said it would also submit a mem-orandum to the home minister today.

Speakers at the human chain criticised the police for failing to provide Dipan any security even though he noti� ed law enforcers about receiving death threats on four occasions.

They also slammed Awami League leader Mahbubul Alam Hanif for his comment that Dipan’s father supported the ideology of his son’s killers.

On Saturday, Dipan – who published books by slain writer-blogger Avijit Roy – was hacked to death inside his Jagriti Prokasho-ni o� ce at the capital’s Aziz Supermarket. Only hours earlier, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, another one of Avijit’s publishers, along with a blogger and a poet were also attacked by unidenti� ed assailants in Lalmatia.

Shop owners at Aziz Supermarket kept their doors closed yesterday and put up black � ags to mourn the death of Dipan.

Meanwhile, writers and publishers in My-mensingh, Dinajpur, Netrokona, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Sunamganj and Shah-jalal University of Science and Technology also formed human chains and staged rallies demanding the immediate arrest and pun-ishment of Dipan’s killers.

Protest at Dhaka UniversityStudents, teachers, publishers, writers, hu-man rights activists and leftist students bod-ies at Dhaka University yesterday blamed the government’s failure in stopping the killing of secular individuals.

A human chain was formed under the

banner of “Teachers, students, writers and citizens” in front of the DU Arts Building.

Addressing the programme, former Ja-hangirnagar University VC Prof Anwar Hos-sain criticised the government and law enforcement agencies for their failure in bringing the killers to justice.

“After every killing, statements are given by the government and law enforcement agen-cies. But they can neither arrest any killer nor complete the investigation,” Prof Anwar said.

Commenting on Mahbubul Alam Hanif’s remarks, DU history professor and war crimes trial campaigner Muntassir Mamoon said: “Such lenient statements from the gov-ernment are encouraging the killers”.

Ra� que Ullah Khan, a professor at Dhaka University’s Bangla department, said: “The police are able to do everything except arresting killers of bloggers and freethinkers.”

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Chhatra Union and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front also held a press conference at the Modhur Canteen, de-manding the resignation of the “failed” home minister.

Reading out a written statement on be-half of the two organisations, Chhatra Union President Lucky Akter also demanded the ar-rest of Faisal Are� n Dipan’s killers and justice for the victims of other communal attacks.

They also extended their support for today’s nationwide hartal called by Gono-jagoron Moncho from 6am to 12pm.

The activists of the Moncho, meanwhile, brought out a candlelight procession from Shahbagh in the evening in support of its hartal. l

Police widen net on Ansarullah menHe said their motive was to undermine and embarrass the government and to foil the war crimes trials.

“Jamaat may be providing support or backup, but the strategy and attacking style indicate these attacks are the work of An-sarullah sleeper cells,” the police o� cial said.

An intelligence agency high o� cial, ask-ing not to be named, told the Dhaka Tribune that war criminal Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mu-jahid was the chief of the wing of Jamaat in-volved in sabotage and violent acts.

“Because their leader is in trouble, they are using targeted killings carried out by An-sarullah to create disorder,” the o� cial said.

He said that Ansarullah was being used because of its use of cut-out or sleeper cell tactics, making it di� cult to identify the planners and � nanciers of the attacks.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Ka-mal yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “No matter who the attackers are, whether they belong to Ansarullah Bangla Team, Hizb-ut Tahrir or Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangla-desh, the root of all this is none other than Jamaat-Shibir.”

Around 2:30pm on Saturday, one of Avi-jit Roy’s publishers, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, his friend blogger Ranadipam Basu and poet Tareq Rahim were attacked at Tutul’s Shud-dhashar publication o� ce in Lalmatia.

At almost exactly the same time, Jagriti Prokashoni publisher Faisal Are� n Dipan was killed in an attack in his o� ce in the capital’s Aziz Supermarket.

No one has yet been arrested in connec-tion with the two cases.

Shahbagh police station O� cer-in-Charge Abu Bakar Siddique con� rmed to the Dhaka Tribune that a case against unidenti� ed as-

sailants had been � led over the Dipan mur-der by his wife Dr Razia Rahman Jolly.

“Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, who came under attack at his Shuddhashar publication o� ce in Lalmatia, � led a case with Mohammad-pur police station,” Muntasirul Islam, deputy commissioner of DMP (Media), told the Dha-ka Tribune. Muntasirul said although the cases were � led

a day after the incidents, police began inves-tigating the attacks immediately. “We are try-ing to collect information about the attackers by speaking to the victims, eyewitnesses and other sources.”

Investigators are also analysing vid-eo footage collected from eight nearby closed-circuit television cameras installed at Aziz Super Market.

The footage is already in the hands of in-vestigators.

DB deputy commissioner Masruqure Rah-man Khaled told the Dhaka Tribune that the detective branch is conducting a shadow in-vestigation into the attacks. l

Tutul: The attackers chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’did not receive them. When she called for the third time Rasel, a Shuddhashar employ-ee, received the call and told her about the attack. She then called the police.

She said Tutul started his publication business in 2004. As there are o� ces of Ni-jera Kori and Computer Source opposite the building, they thought such attacks at such a crowded place were not possible.

Shamim Runa said they were consider-ing installing CCTV cameras but it was post-poned until next February due to � nancial constraints.

Ranadipam: We are writers, not bloggersWhile talking to the Dhaka Tribune in the DMCH cabin, Ranadipam Basu said the me-dia was making mistakes identifying him as a blogger.

A writer or a poet could not be a blogger. To them, blog is just a medium to express their creation.

He said he saw Tareq there. He went to the place as he submitted a research work to the publisher and wanted to share his views.

He said he could not recall what happened that day. “I felt a heavy blow on my head and I do not exactly recall what I did after that; but I could realise something was going on. I regained my consciousness at hospital.”

He said he did not see anybody and could not say how the attackers looked like. “All happened in the blink of an eye.”

Tareq yet to regain consciousnessDMCH authorities yesterday said the condi-tion of injured writer Tareq Rahim was still critical.

DMCH Director Brigadier General Mizanur Rahman said the three were improving day by day. “However, the condition of writer Tareq Rahim is still critical.”

He said Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, Rana-dipam Basu were improving fast and were mostly out of danger. Their bandages will be removed soon.

Ekramul Kabir, brother-in-law of Tareq, quoted doctors as saying that bullets were still inside Tareq’s body and it will take time to take them out. l

PM seeks helpand acting president of Dhaka City unit of the party M A Aziz and general secretary Mofaz-zal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, addressed, among others.

Holding the BNP and its cohorts responsi-ble for the recent incidents and secret killings she said BNP leader Khaleda Zia always pur-sued politics with the killers like her husband former military dictator Ziaur Rahman did. Still she is out to establish a reign of killings in the country, she said.

All the recent secret killings are linked to the conspiracy of BNP and Jamaat to foil the trial of the war criminals. They want to cre-ate disorder in the country to protect the war criminals and killers of 1971, the prime min-ister said.

Sheikh Hasina said BNP and Jamaat don’t believe in country’s independence and pros-perous future of the nation. They want to destroy the country and tarnish the image of Bangladesh and want to keep the people of Bangladesh under poverty, illiterate, unedu-cated and out of access to their basic rights.

The prime minister said Bangladesh was liberated at the costs of huge sacri� ce. Paki-stani forces could not suppress them in 1971. So, no conspiracy and secret killings could deter the economic progress of Bangladesh, she said.

Sheikh Hasina warned the people hatch-ing conspiracy with the fate of Bangladesh and said “people of Bangladesh are indomi-table and they would not bow down to any conspiracy. I only seek cooperation of the people to foil their design.”

Paying her rich tributes to Bangabandhu and the four national leaders, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said they led the War of Liber-ation on the ground and secured the nation’s independence.

“As if it was their o� ense for which the an-ti-liberation forces brutally killed the leaders following the assassination of Bangabandhu as part of execution of their conspiracy to de-stroy the spirit of the Liberation War.”

Politics of killings and conspiracy gained ground in Bangladesh through the killing of Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975, Sheikh Hasina said and added that Mustaque and Zia usurped power making Bangladesh a country of killers.

Zia didn’t try the killers, rather he reward-

ed them in various forms including giving service to foreign missions, she said, add-ing that Ziaur Rahman also freed thousands of war criminals from prison against whom Bangabandhu government had launched tri-al proceedings.

Ziaur Rahman annulled the trial proceed-ings against the war criminals through prom-ulgating martial law ordinance, scrapped Section 12 of the constitution to allow them in politics and returned their voting rights amending Section 38 partially, she said.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu and four national leaders were killed at a time when the people of Bangladesh started dreaming of a prosperous future after independence. The dream and aspirations of the people were shattered through the killing of Bang-abandhu and the people of Bangladesh had to su� er for 21 years, she added.

The premier said Bangladesh goes ahead when Awami League remains in power. Bang-ladesh achieved remarkable progress during 1996-2001 period when Awami League was in power, she added.

She said: “The country’s economic and so-cial progress su� ered a blow when BNP and Jamaat came to power in 2001. Militancy and terrorism sprouted in the country during the � ve-year rule of BNP-Jamaat, plunging the country into a complete disorder.”

Highlighting the success of her govern-ment to take forward the country’s socioeco-nomic development to a praiseworthy stage, the prime minister said BNP and Jamaat are now out to derail the country from its current development pace. In view of this, she said, BNP, Jamaat and anti-liberation forces are moving with their orchestrated plan.

The premier said Bangladesh is now a self-reliant country on the economic point of view and Bangladesh is one of the countries which has achieved high economic growth over the years. It was possible as the country could make its democracy sustainable in 2014 amidst multifarious conspiracies, she added.

Sheikh Hasina said the people of Bangla-desh want to continue their successes on var-ious fronts and they don’t want to earn any bad name or be reprimanded by global com-munity. “Our government is striving to build Bangladesh in this order.” l

He said that Ansarullah was being used because of its use of cut-out or sleeper cell tactics, making it di� cult to identify the planners and � nanciers of the attacks

Masterminds masters at dodging lawn Mohammad Jamil Khan

A total of seven bloggers and publishers have been killed in the last two and a half years – as many as � ve of them this year alone. Law enforcers have from time to time arrested some suspects but the masterminds have re-mained out of reach.

Police have so far managed to submit two charge sheets – in the Ahmed Rajeeb Haider and Oyasiqur Rahman murder cases – but tri-al has ended in none of these.

On August 7, unidenti� ed assailants en-tered the house of blogger Niladri Chatterjee alias Niloy Neel in broad daylight and hack him to death. Four members of the banned militant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team have so far been arrested in this connection.

One of those four – Sad Al Nahid – is a nephew of State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque and has been in prison in the past for attempting to murder blogger Ashif Mohiud-din in 2013.

Investigation sources said that the arres-tees admit that they support the killings but do not confess to taking part in the missions.

On May 12, blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was killed by unidenti� ed assailants in the mid-dle of a busy road in broad daylight in Sylhet. Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the agency looking into this murder, have so far arrested four people. Two of them have already given confessional statement but CID has yet to give charge sheet.

Mirza Abdullahel Baqui, special super of CID, said they have information on three more culprits but since they are still at large, they have not been able to press charges in the case.

Blogger Oyasiqur Rahman was killed –

once again in broad daylight – in Begunbari of the Tejgaon Industrial Area in the capital. Three young men took direct part in the kill-ing mission, of whom two were caught on the spot and handed over to police by a group of trans-genders.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)’s De-tective Branch (DB) is investigating this case and its chief Joint Commissioner Monirul Is-lam said: “We have already submitted charge sheet in this case, mentioning the names of � ve people. The matter is now waiting for the court’s acceptable.

“Among the charge sheeted accused, three have already been arrested and we are trying to arrest the remaining two whose informa-tion we got from those in custody,” he said.

On February 26, science writer and blog-ger couple Avijit Roy-Ra� da Ahmed Bonya came under armed attack – also in the middle of a very busy place near the Ekushey book fair premises on the Dhaka University cam-pus. Avijit, whose father is a retired teacher of the university, died in the attack and Bon-ya survived serious injuries.

As both of them were Bangladeshi-born

naturalised US citizens, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) joined DB in the inves-tigation. However, none of the assailants has yet been arrested.

Monirul said: “We have sent 11 pieces of evidence to the FBI’s lab. But we have not yet got the report. The identities of some of the suspects have been found and we are trying to round them up.”

The � rst blogger to have been killed in militant attack was Ahmed Rajeeb Haider on February 15, 2013. This murder, however, did not happen in broad daylight, rather the killers picked up a deserted street in Dhaka’s Pallabi area.

DB boss Monirul said they had already pressed charges and seven of the eight ac-cused are already in jail.

Ashraful Alam, student of a private uni-versity Da� odil University, was killed on the campus of the Jahangirnagar University on September 30, 2014.

Although he is not known as a blogger, his name comes in this list because just like all the other murders, banned Islamist militant groups Ansarullah Bangla Team, alias Ansar Al Islam 1, 2,3, or 4, claimedresponsibility.

DB, the investigating agency, has not managed to arrest anyone as yet in connec-tion with this murder.

Last year, this group has also claimed re-sponsibility for the murder of Rajshahi Uni-versity Professor AKM Sha� ul Islam, who was not a blogger but had a reputation as a secular and progressive educationist and a cultural researcher.

Asked about these, Home Minister Asa-duzzaman Khan Kamal said none of those responsible will be spared. l

News 3D

TTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

A protester pins a black badge on the shirt of another protester as students, teachers, writers and citizens gather at Dhaka University yesterday to protest publisher Dipan's murder and the attack on three others. The photo was taken in front of Aparajeyo Bangla SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Khaleda: Lady Hitler running the countryn Tribune Report

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had estab-lished a monarchic rule in the country.

She said a national consensus was now a must to overthrow the Awami League gov-ernment.

The former premier also blamed the gov-ernment and its law enforcement agencies for the recent killings of two foreigners and attacks on secular publishers.

“Monarchy has been established in Bangla-desh and a lady Hitler is heading the monarchy. Everything is going on at her will,” she said at a gathering in London's Riverbank Park Hotel.

The BNP chief has been in London for nearly a month. She went there for medical check-up and to meet her exiled son Tarique Rahman, who is accused in a number of cor-ruption cases back home.

The local unit of Awami League staged a demonstration against Khaleda Zia in London.

They branded Khaleda as the mastermind of killings and arson attacks in Bangladesh.

Claiming that there is no democracy in the country, Khaleda said Bangladesh’s law and order situation is the worst now.

“That is why incidents of such horrendous murders are taking place one after another and the BNP was blamed for all those inci-dents,” she said.

Alleging that the Awami League does pol-itics of revenge, Khaleda called upon the rul-ing party to shun the practice.

Khaleda alleged that the Awami League government is responsible for the rise of mil-itancy in the country.

“Hasina said if the BNP goes to power, mil-itancy will raise its head, but see how mili-tancy is pervading the entire society during Awami League’s tenure,” she said.

The BNP chief claimed that at least 1,200 people had been abducted and 1,012 killed in cross� re over the last seven and a half years.

She alleged that the government is plot-ting to split the BNP. “They have tried a lot but failed. It is not possible to split the BNP.”

Calling upon people from all sections of life, Khaleda said a national consensus should have to be formed to oust the Awami League from o� ce.

“I have to go back to the country. I have to complete the un� nished works. They [family members] are barring me from going home now. But I have to go.” l

New Ansarullah hit list targets expat bloggersn Mohammad Jamil Khan

A Facebook page claiming to be run by banned militant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team has posted a list of targets that includes the names of 14 bloggers and secular writers.

A Facebook page, which was opened on Sunday under the name “Ansarullah Bang-la Team,” posted a status at 9:21am Sunday

mentioning the names of the 14 individu-als including several who are now staying abroad after being forced to seek asylum.

Although the page administrators claimed that it was the new o� cial Facebook page for Ansarullah, the authenticity of the claim could not be veri� ed.

The new list included the names of Tasli-ma Nasrin (USA), Omar Faruk Lux (Germa-ny), Farjana Kabir Khan Snigdha (Germany), Arifur Rahman (UK), Asif Mohiuddin (Ger-many), Sannasy Ratan alias Samaddar Ratan (Norway), Subrata Shuvo (Norway), Julius Ceaser, Abdul Mamun, Susuptu Pathak, Nir-jhar Majumder (Sweden), Santanu Adib (UK), Kadar Ali and Ajam Khan.

Many of the names mentioned in the list were also included in previous lists pub-lished by the militants.

Claiming that atheists would be killed one by one in Bangladesh, the Facebook post added that anyone involved with the pub-lishing of books by atheists would be target-ed, while anyone making anti-Islam � lms or videos would also face action from the mili-tant group.

Asked about the development, DB Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said they would have to assess the credibility of the threat.

Monirul, also the spokesperson for the DMP, said it was not possible to analyse all threats posted on the internet, adding that the police had to rely on its own intelligence to decide which information to act on. l

Even though the page claimed to be the new o� cial Facebook page for Ansarullah, the authenticity of the claim could not be veri� ed

Rajuk chairman skips ACC questioningn Tribune Report

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) Chairman GM Jainal Abedin Bhuiya yesterday skipped an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) interrogation on an inquiry into the illegal handover of a government land worth Tk300 crore in Gulshan by corrupt Rajuk o� cials.

But three o� cials of United Group - Chair-man Hasan Mahmud Raja, Vice-chairman Abul Kalam Azad and Director (estate) Naz-mus Sadat Selim - and Rajuk member (estate) Abdul Hai faced the interrogation.

ACC inquiry o� cial and Deputy Director SM Ra� qul Islam questioned them for one and a half hours at the commission’s head-quarters in the capital’s Segun Bagicha.

Requesting anonymity, an ACC o� cial told the Dhaka Tribune that the United Group o� cials and the Rajuk o� cial submitted doc-uments claiming that they were not involved in the handover of the land to 27 fake heirs.

He said the commission would take the next steps after assessing the documents.

According to the complaint submitted to the ACC, some corrupt Rajuk o� cials did the mutation of the land in Gulshan in the name of a dead person without any valid documents. The mutation was done for Tk10 crore only.

Proceedings of 12 cases � led in this regard are now underway and the High Court has also announced a stay order.

Before the disposal of the cases, a person named Abul Kalam Azad, who identi� ed him-self as a United Group o� cial, attempted to do the mutation of the land in the names of 27 persons showing them as legal heirs of the property.

ACC’s Gulshan Anwar yesterday also questioned eight Prime Bank o� cials in a case � led over embezzlement of around Tk4 crore from the bank.

The commission’s Public Relations O� cer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya said the eight bank o� cials are Deputy Managing Director Habibur Rahman, former deputy managing director SM Anisul Kabir, Vice-president Mojahid Kabir, Executive Vice-president Moshiur Rahman, Assistant Vice-president Gias Uddin Ahmed, Senior Executive O� cer Fazlur Rahman Patwary, Executive O� cer Lutfun Nahar and Senior O� cer Abdus Sabur.

The case was lodged on March 9 this year against the bank’s former senior executive o� cers Mir Saiful Islam and Shahjahan Ali Sarker, and former employees Salman F Rah-man and Jul� kar Ali. They were accused of cheating and tampering with vouchers to misappropriate Tk39,219,014.

The case, which was � led with Motijheel police station, was later transferred to the ACC.

ACC’s Pranab Kumar said the commission had already collected all documents of the investigation carried out by police. l

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015News4DT

Another coal plant for Matarbarin Aminur Rahman Rasel

State-owned Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited (CPGCBL) will sign a mem-orandum of understanding (MoU) with Singa-porean company Sembcorp to build a 700MW power plant at Matarbari in Cox’s Bazar.

This is the company’s second coal-� red power project in Matarbari.

“CPGCBL wants to generate electricity based mainly but not solely on coal as fuel. We will sign an MoU with Sembcorp for this plant, under a joint venture, in the last week of this month,” CPGCBL Managing Director Md Abul Kasem told the Dhaka Tribune yes-

terday.The company’s proposed 2 X 600MW

coal-� red power plant project in the Matar-bari and Dhalghata unions of Maheshkhali upazila includes the construction of the pow-er plants, the construction of a jetty for coal imports, coal storage facilities, the develop-ment of a township, rural electri� cation and transmission facilities and roadways.

On August 5, the Cabinet Purchase Commit-tee approved a separate unsolicited Sembcorp o� er to set up a 400MW dual-fuel power plant on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, under a joint venture with state-owned North-West Power Generation Company Ltd (NWPGCL). l

Tangail 4 by-polls deferred until Jan 31n Ashif Islam Shaon

The Supreme Court yesterday ordered to defer the Tangail 4 by-polls until January 31 next year, saying that the High Court’s ruling on Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique’s nomination was to be resolved � rst.

On October 27, the Supreme Court cham-ber judge stayed the election until yesterday.

But a four-member bench of the Appel-late Division headed by Chief Justice Suren-dra Kumar Sinha ordered the deferral while disposing of a petition � led by the Election Commission (EC) challenging a High Court order that on October 21 asked the EC to ac-cept Kader Siddique’s nomination.

The High Court, following a writ petition � led by Kader Siddique, also issued a ruling, and asked the EC and the government to explain why cancellation of his nomination on loan de-fault charges would not be declared illegal.

The EC, chief election commissioner, Tan-gail’s returning o� cer and two others were asked to come up with an explanation re-garding the matter.

“Now the Supreme Court has asked the High Court bench led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam to hear and dispose of the ruling by January 31. Until then, all procedures to hold the election will be stopped,” said Kader Sid-dique’s counsel AJ Mohammad Ali.

The parliamentary seat for Tangail 4 fell vacant on September 1 after sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique, also the elder brother of Kader Siddique, resigned from the House.

On October 11, Kader Siddique and three leaders of his party submitted their nomi-nations to contest the by-election slated for November 10.

But the EC on October 13 rejected the nominations of Kader Siddique and his wife Nasrin Siddique on loan default charges.

On October 18, a � ve-member panel headed by Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibud-din Ahmad also dismissed the appeals the duo � led against the commission’s decision.

Kader Siddique then moved to the High Court on October 20 and the court asked the EC to accept his nomination. The court also stayed the cancellation of his nomination an-nounced by the chief election commissioner and the returning o� cer.

Following the court order, the returning o� cer assigned Kader Siddique an election symbol on October 22.

But the EC � led a plea with Supreme Court’s chamber judge to stay the High Court order. The matter was forwarded to the Ap-pellate Division, which heard it yesterday. l

Protesting Amnesty International’s claim that liberation forces committed war crimes, Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015News 5

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K A

TODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:18PM SUN RISES 6:06AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

31.5ºC 19.6ºC

Faridpur and Bogra Rangamati

WEATHER

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 30 22Chittagong 29 22Rajshahi 30 20Rangpur 29 19Khulna 30 20Barisal 30 20Sylhet 30 18Cox’s Bazar 29 22 SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Fajr : 4:47amZohr : 11:42am

Asr : 3:42pmMagrib : 5:18pm

Esha : 6:48pm

PRAYER TIMES

SQ Chy, Mujahid’s review hearing deferred until Nov 17n Ashif Islam Shaon

The Supreme Court has deferred until No-vember 17 the hearing on the petitions � led by Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and BNP leader Salauddin Quad-er Chowdhury seeking review of its order that upheld death penalties for their crimes against humanity in 1971.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Di-vision led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha yesterday set the new date after the death row convicts’ lawyer Khandaker Mah-bub Hossain moved a petition seeking time.

In the petition, the lawyer said they need-ed time for making preparations to place ar-guments on the review petitions.

The court also scrapped SQ Chowdhury’s plea seeking SC order to summon eight de-fence witnesses, including � ve Pakistani na-tionals, to record their statements.

The petition claimed that SQ Chowdhury was not in the country from March 29, 1971 to April 1974, and those eight people want to give depositions in favour of the claim.

Later, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters that the court had comment-ed that the prosecution placed irrefutable argument and evidence over the fact that SQ

Chowdhury was in the country during the Liberation War.

The court awarded the sentence accepting the evidences; so, there was no scope to ac-cept the defence plea.

The apex court also said that in 1971, newspapers reported that SQ Chowdhury sustained injuries in an attack by Freedom Fighters. Four cases were � led against him after independence accusing him of war crimes.

“The Apex court has scrapped the petition considering the facts,” he said.

The attorney general also said that the de-fense had been claiming that Salauddin was studying at the Panjab University in 1971. But they failed to show any certi� cates from the university of the degree he reportedly achieved there. They placed a paper signed by a professor which is not acceptable.

The defense counsels also claimed that the death-row war criminal went to London to study law but they also failed to produce any valid document of certi� cation.

On October 20, the SC � xed November 2 following two petitions � led by the Attorney General’s O� ce for hearing expeditiously.

On October 14, Mujahid and Salauddin sought review of the SC verdict that upheld

their capital punishment in June and July af-ter hearing their appeals challenging the war crimes tribunals’ verdicts.

The International Crimes Tribunal issued execution warrants for them on October 1, a day after the SC released the full verdicts.

In July 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal handed down death sentence to 67-year-old Jamaat leader Muhajid and also jailed him for life and sentenced him to � ve years in prison in � ve separate charges for war crimes.

The tribunal on October 1, 2013, sentenced 66-year-old Salahuddin to capital punish-ment for the murder of Natun Chandra Sinha, Awami League leader Moza� ar Ahmed and his son; and two acts of genocide in Sultan-pur Banikpara and Unasattarpara villages in Raozan where 74 villagers were massacred.

The SC also upheld his 20 years’ jail sen-tence on two charges: acts of genocide at Maddhya Gohira Hindupara and at Jagot-mallopara in Raozan. At least 37 people were killed in the two villages.

On June 16, 2015, the Appellate Division delivered its judgement, upholding death for the Jamaat secretary general. Salauddin’s maximum punishment too was on July 29, 2015. l

Constitutional legality of war crimes trial challengedn Ashif Islam Shaon

Death-row war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury has � led a writ petition with the High Court challenging the constitutional provision that allows the trial of individuals for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

She challenged the legality of the provi-sion of the 15th amendment to the Consti-tution. Earlier, the constitution allowed trial of only groups of individuals for committing such crimes.

She also challenged the legality of the appointment of the � rst three judges of the International Crimes Tribunal – Justice Md Nizamul Huq, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir and former district judge AKM Zaheer Ahmed.

They were involved with the trial proceed-ings of her husband. She prayed to declare their appointments and also the constitu-tional provision illegal and unconstitutional.

The government appointed them by issu-ing a gazette noti� cation on March 25, 2010.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said that he had received a copy of the writ petition from Salauddin’s lawyer. The AG claimed that the is-sue raised in the writ petition has already been settled by the tribunal and the High Court.

The petition will be moved for hearing next week, said SQ Chowdhury’s lawyer Huz-zatul Islam. l

A Dhaka North City Corporation sta� looks through the ID cards and documents found with a dead body recovered by police in the capital’s Khilkhet area yesterday afternoon. Police said the deceased was identi� ed as Sarkar Rana, and according to the documents, he was a migrant worker in Singapore and came home via Biman Bangladesh Airlines on Thursday RAJIB DHAR

Mirza Fakhrul asked to surrender todayn Tribune Report

The Supreme Court has ordered BNP’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alam-gir to surrender before a trial court by today in three cases of instigating violence.

The court also ordered to dispose a High Court ruling over the senior BNP leader’s bail within two weeks.

The four-member bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Surendra Ku-mar Sinha, issued the order yesterday after rejecting three petitions � led by Fakhrul seeking extension of his bail in the cases � led with Paltan and Motijheel police stations last year and this year.

“He will have to surrender before a lower court following the Supreme Court’s order,” one of his counsels, Sagir Hossain Leon, told reporters.

Additional Attorney General Murad Reza, who argued for the state at yesterday’s hear-ing, said the BNP leader had sought more time to surrender on the grounds of illness.

“But we argued that he [Fakhrul] is in the country and is active in politics. There should be no obstacle on his part to surrender.”

BNP: PM’s statement will hamper proben Tribune Report

The BNP yesterday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s statement that BNP and Ja-maat-e-Islami members had begun carrying out secret killings after the failure of � re-bomb and arson attacks could hamper the proper investigation into the recent murders.

“This sort of statement may be an obstacle to a fair probe,” BNP spokesperson Asaduz-zaman Ripon told a press brie� ng at the par-ty’s Nayapaltan o� ce.

“The BNP always does democratic poli-tics. We do not believe in killing and the pol-itics of killing. What the prime minister said about the BNP is a complete lie.”

Criticising Awami League leader Mah-bubul Alam Hanif, he said: “Hanif’s state-ment has stunned the whole nation. The statement is not only out of political norms but is also against social norms.”

The BNP leader said he was hopeful that the government would be willing to conduct a proper investigation into the killings.

“The ruling party is trying to hurt the BNP. If its leaders do not abandon such conspira-cies, the real killers cannot be captured.” l

DRY WEATHER

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015News6DT

22 holidays for 2016n Tribune Report

The cabinet has approved the o� cial calender for the year 2016 with a total of 22 public holi-days. The approval came at the weekly cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat yesterday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

A � ve-day holiday was proposed for cel-ebrating Eid-ul-Fitr but the cabinet did not approve it.

Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Sha� ul Alam said the cabinet had approved 14 public holidays for the upcoming year.

“But there will be another eight holidays, which will be observed upon the govern-ment’s executive order,” he said.

Sha� ul said another three days of optional leave were approved for the members of di� er-ent religious communities to allow them to ob-serve their own festivals. “Government employ-ees of ethnic origin in Chittagong Hill Tracts will be allowed two days of additional leave along with the Bangla new year holiday.” l

CEC: Rohingyas to be watched to prevent inclusion in voter list n Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday said election o� cials in Chittagong were asked to keep an eye on the Rohingyas so that their names could not be included in the voter list.

“But of course any Bangladeshi citizen can have his or her name included in the voter list. Special committees were formed in Chittagong Hill Tracts in this respect,” he said while talking to reporters after a meeting with Chittagong City Corporation councillors and other high o� cials at the Circuit House auditorium in the port city.

The meeting was attended by Election Commissioner Abdul Mobarak, Chittagong City Corporation Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, Chittagong Divisional Commissioner

Mohammad Abdullah, Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Mesbah Uddin, Chittagong Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner AKM Shahidur Rahman and Election Commission Secretary Sirajul Islam among others.

“Today’s meeting had two purposes. First of all, we would like to extend our cooperation to women voters regarding registration. The other purpose is to struck o� the names of the dead from the voter list. The mayor has assured us of complete cooperation in this regard,” the CEC said.

He said excluding the names of the deceased from the voter list was part of an ongoing process.

“But the necessary corrections as per the requirement are not being made. We are working so that none in the port city is

excluded from the voter list. Updating the list is a continuous process.”

Rakibuddin said anyone who was wrongly excluded from the voter list should contact the EC. “Our door is always open for such people. We would like to present smart cards free from any fault.”

Speaking about local body polls under party banner, the CEC said: “It is the duty of the parliament to enact laws while the Local Government Ministry enacts laws that deal with local elections. We are supposed to act in accordance with the constitution and the laws of the country.”

“We have taken initiatives to hold municipal elections in December and they will be held on schedule and as per laws that will be in e� ect on the day when we announce the schedules,” he added. l

INSIDE

7D

TWorld

Uncertain future for Turkey under emboldened AKPTurkey’s long dominant Justice and Develop-ment Party (AKP) scored a stunning election success at the weekend with a vote that returned it to single-party rule after months of political uncertainty. PAGE 8

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Palestinian refugee camps breed new generation of protestersThe sprawling refugee camps are populated with the Palestinians and their descendants uprooted when Israel was created in 1948. The increasing futility of their hopes of returning to their homes as more and more Israeli settlements are built on occupied land, has made the camps the kindling that ignites Palestinian unrest. PAGE 10

Iran may quit Syria talks, in worsening spat with rival SaudiIran said on Monday it would quit Syria peace talks if it found them unconstructive, citing the “negative role” of Saudi Arabia, in the latest twist in a spat between the re-gional rivals that bodes ill for e� orts to ease turmoil across the Middle East. PAGE 9

FACTBOX

Why Nepalis are angry towards India?The ‘uno� cial blockade’ imposed by India against Nepal expressing its discontent over the newly adopted constitution in Nepal has sparked a fresh wave of anti- India sentiments in Nepal. What is it about India’s behaviour that Nepalis dislike?

Big-brother attitude Many Nepalese people feel that India holds a “big-brother” attitude towards Nepal and interferes in its internal a� airs. Time and again, India is accused of utilising diplomatic power for its vested-interests.

“Unfair” treaties There exists a long list of treaties which are con-

sidered unfair by the Nepali side. This list includes 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, Koshi and Mahakali water treaties, among others. Nepalese people feel that they are not provided with their fair share of water.

No respect for sovereignty Nepalese people are angry about India’s unwar-ranted objection over its new constitution which was endorsed by more than 90% of people’s rep-resentatives elected to the Constituent Assembly.

Encroachment of border areas Complaints of encroachment of Nepali territory

often create tension between these two coun-tries. For instance, the Nepali side accuses India of encroaching key strategic areas like Kalapani and Lipulekh (also bordering China) .

Influence of China on Nepal People feel that India keeps unnecessary con-cerns about “China’s increasing proximity” with Nepal. People are unhappy about India’s inabil-ity to understand the di� cult situation faced by Nepal even when it tries to maintain balance be-tween the two big countries which surround it. l

Source: KATHMANDU POST

Indo-Nepal relatiosnip su� ers new blow as Nepal police � re kills Indiann Tribune Desk

Nepal police on Monday � red into a crowd of protesters trying to block a key border checkpoint and killed an Indian civilian as anger over a new constitution boiled over.

The violence came hours after police forci-bly broke up the blockade that began on Sep-tember 24 in the southern town of Birgunj on the border with India that has led to crippling fuel shortages and cut o� access to other vital supplies in the landlocked Himalayan nation.

“An Indian national was wounded and died after being taken to hospital,” AFP re-ported quoting Nepal police spokesman Ka-mal Singh Bam. Four police were injured in clashes at the checkpoint in Birgunj. News agency Reuters reported that at least 15 peo-ple were injured during the melee.

Hindustan Times reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called his Nepalese counterpart KP Oli after the de-velopment on Monday and urged him to launch an investigation into the incident. India also summoned Nepal ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyaya over the incident, Indian TV channels reported. Upadhyaya told ANI news agency that a peace dialogue between the protesters and the Nepal gov-ernment was being held.

Earlier in the day in Birgunj, police used

batons to disperse ethnic minority protest-ers angered by Nepal’s new constitution, which they say will leave them politically marginalised.

The protesters, from Nepal’s Madhesi ethnic minority, want the government to change the constitution because they say a new federal structure it lays out will mean they are under-represented in parliament.

More than 40 people have been killed in clashes between police and people protest-ing against the constitution since September.

Ties with India sourIndia, which has repeatedly urged dialogue, said it was “deeply concerned” by Monday’s violence.

“Issues facing Nepal are political in na-ture and cannot be resolved by force,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Causes underlying the present state of confrontation need to addressed by the Gov-ernment of Nepal credibly and e� ectively.”

The fuel crisis has soured ties between Nepal and its powerful neighbour, with au-thorities in Kathmandu accusing New Delhi of imposing an “uno� cial blockade” to show its dissatisfaction with the new constitution.

The disruption prompted Nepal to sign its � rst-ever fuel supply agreement with China last week, ending a decades-long mo-nopoly by India.

Beijing also agreed to donate 1.3m litres of petrol to Nepal to try to ease shortages. l

Nepalese police walk protesters throwing rocks during clashes near the Nepal-India border at Birgunj, some 90km south of Kathmandu, on Monday AFP

Nepalese petrol tankers heading to the Chinese border of Kerung are pictured on a road on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Monday REUTERS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015World8DT

SOUTH ASIA UN chief hits out at Myanmar election ‘hate speech’UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hit out Monday at “extreme elements” in Myanmar who are sowing hate speech and bigotry towards religious minorities, days before the country votes in landmark elections. In a statement put out by his o� ce, Ban Ki-moon said he had “deep concern” about “the continuous resort to hate speech, the incitement of communal animosities and the abuse of religion for political purposes resorted to by extreme elements among the majority community in Myanmar.” -AFP

ASIA PACIFICAustralia ditches knight and dame titlesAustralia has removed knights and dames from the national honours system, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Monday, dismissing the ancient titles as “not ap-propriate” in the modern age. Knights and dames were unexpectedly revived last year by then prime minister and ardent monar-chist Tony Abbott -- prompting accusations he was in a “time warp” and out of touch with voters. -AFP

MIDDLE EASTIraq PM declares emergency in areas hit by heavy rainIraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared an emergency in areas overwhelmed by heavy rain that has caused widespread � ooding and multiple deaths, his o� ce said Sunday. Iraq was hit by multiple days of heavy rain that, caused major � ooding in Baghdad and other areas that resulted in deaths and health problems. -AFP

INDIAHSBC whistleblower: Illicit funds worth millions � owing out of India Claiming that millions of crores worth illicit funds are � owing out of India, HSBC whis-tleblower Herve Falciani on Monday said he is willing to “cooperate” with the Indian investigative agencies in their black money probe but would need “protection.” Falciani is facing charges in Switzerland of leaking details of bank account holders in Geneva branch of HSBC -- a list which later reached French government that shared with India the information relating to Indian clients of the bank. Falciani claimed that millions of crores worth illicit funds are � owing out of India. -HINDUSTAN TIMES

CHINAChina’s premier: Growth of 6.5% expected through 2020 China’s government expects to achieve annual economic growth of “at least 6.5%” through 2020, the top economic o� cial said, in the � rst indication of a growth target since a high-level planning meeting last week. “We propose to achieve the goal of creating a ‘moderately prosperous society’ by 2020, which requires annual economic growth of at least 6.5% over the next � ve years,” said Premier Li Keqiang in a speech Sunday in Seoul. -AP

Modi hits back at ‘intolerance’ criticismn Reuters, New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bat-tling to win power in the big heartland state of Bihar and push his stalled economic re-forms, hit back at his critics on Monday for trying to paint a picture of intolerance in the country.

Rivals say the ruling Bharatiya Jana-ta Party is whipping up religious tensions to win the election in Bihar, the country’s third most populous state and critical to Modi’s plans to improve his party’s strength in the upper house of parliament.

Modi’s administration has faced a rising tide of criticism for failing to rein in hard-line Hindu groups that are campaigning for issues such as cow worship in a multi-faith country.

But Modi, addressing a political rally in Purnea, sidestepped the criticism and ac-cused his long-time foe, the Congress party, of playing partisan politics.

Re-opening a sensitive chapter in recent history, Modi said that hundreds of Sikhs were massacred in Delhi by supporters of

the Congress soon after the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in November 1984.

“Should the Congress be giving lessons in tolerance?” he said to thunderous ap-plause from supporters wearing sa� ron headbands. “Sikh families in Delhi are still grieving. Have you tried to wipe their tears?”

Modi himself has faced allegations that he looked the other way or was complicit in attacks on Muslims in Gujarat state that he governed after a mob set a train carrying Hindu pilgrims on � re. He has denied the charges and a Supreme Court ordered- inves-tigation absolved him of any wrongdoing.

Since the BJP swept to power, Hindu groups have stepped up a campaign against intermarriage with Muslims as “love jihad,” begun rewriting school textbooks to re� ect a nationalist view and are demanding a ban on cow slaughter.

Last month a Muslim man was beaten to death by a mob for eating beef and another was murdered for espousing atheism, stok-ing fears for India’s tradition of tolerance. l

Russian plane not struck from outsiden Reuters, Cairo

The Russian plane that crashed in Egypt was not struck from the outside and the pilot did not make a distress call before it disappeared from radar, a source in the committee analys-ing the � ight recorders said on Monday.

The source declined to give more details but based his comments on the preliminary examination of the black boxes recovered from the Airbus A321 which crashed in the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday killing all 224 people on board.

A civil aviation source said only that Egyptian investigators aided by Russian and French experts had not yet � nished examin-ing the black boxes.

Russian o� cials have said the plane, car-rying holidaymakers from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg, likely broke up in mid-air but said it was too early to say what caused it to crash.

The � rst bodies recovered from the wreck-age arrived on board a Russian government plane at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, where grieving Russians left piles of � owers.

Russian news agencies said the plane car-ried 144 bodies and a second government plane was due to leave Cairo on Monday evening. l

WHO SAYS WHAT

Uncertain future for Turkey under emboldened AKPTurkey’s long dominant Justice and Development Party (AKP) scored a stunning election success at the weekend with a vote that returned it to sin-gle-party rule after months of political uncertainty.

The result is likely to bolster strongman Presi-dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he seeks to expand his powers, but analysts warn it could further ex-acerbate deep rifts in Turkish society.

A divided TurkeyÜ “We are now faced with a society divided into

two camps of which Erdogan sits right in the middle,” said Can Dundar, columnist with the leading opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper. “Those who are ready to die for Erdogan and those who cannot stand him anymore have been torn apart, forever.”

Ü Finansbank chief economist Inan Demir said the result raised “uncomfortable questions” about Turkey’s future. “On the one hand, the AKP and Erdogan, now secure in their ruling posts, may adopt a unifying and inclusive stance. “This could involve re-initiating the Kurdish peace talks, allowing freer rein to AKP moderates... and in the process, a return to prudent macro(economic) policies, all of which would undoubtedly be market friendly.

Consolidating Erdogan’s power?Ü Natalie Martin, an expert on Turkish politics at

Nottingham Trent University in Britain, said Erdo-gan has “moved a step closer to transferring in� u-ence from the parliament to the presidential pal-ace -- and consolidating his power once and for all.” “Whilst the AKP does not have the so-called ‘supermajority’ which would have enabled it to push these measures straight through, it is much

closer than it had thought it would be. Erdogan has turned defeat to victory in a few months. I’m sure a handful of votes won’t stop him now.

The Kurdish conflictÜ Dogu Ergil, an expert on Kurdish a� airs at Istan-

bul’s Fatih University, said he did not think the government would renew peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after the collapse of a 2013 cease� re. The party thinks the rebels “stabbed it in the back by attacking at the very � rst opportunity,” he said, referring to a deadly attack on Turkish policemen to avenge a bombing

on Kurdish activists in July that killed 34 people and set o� a wave of tit-for-tat violence.”Instead, I expect the government to talk directly with repre-sentatives of other Kurdish movements, including the HDP,” the Peoples’ Democracy Party which won over 10% in Sunday’s vote. “If not, the Kurd-ish problem will become gangrenous. But I don’t expect them to kickstart talks very soon or give big concessions to the Kurds. “The government will � rst try to sort out its own problems, so the Kurdish problem will stay in limbo for a while. l

Source: AFP

Legislative elections in TurkeySeats won in parliament

Sources: NTV, CNN-Turk

550

131

134258

317

8059 79 402

seats

AKP - Justice and Development Party (conservative, Islamic-rooted)

MHP - Nationalist Movement Party (right-wing nationalist)Independents

CHP - Republican People’s Party (centre-le�, secular)HDP - People’s Democratic Party (pro-Kurdish, le�-wing)

Outgoing assembly

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015World 9

DT

USAGOP White House hopefuls seek to set TV debate termsRepresentatives of Republican White House hopefuls have met to set demands for de-bates in a bid to exert more control over the in� uential televised events, reports said. The closed-door gathering late Sunday came amid criticism of how broadcaster CNBC handled the most recent GOP primary debate, which was held in Colorado last week. Candidates with lower poll numbers have also expressed anger about being sidelined to lesser watched, second-tier debates before their higher poll-ing competitors take the stage. -AFP

THE AMERICASReport: 1 cosmetic surgery every 2 mins for Brazil menOnce taboo, cosmetic surgery for Brazilian men is advancing at a rapid pace, with one male go-ing under the knife every two minutes, experts said in an article Sunday. Plastic surgery quad-rupled among men from 72,000 to 276,000 op-erations annually from 2009 to 2014, a study by the Brazilian Society of Plastic Surgery (SBCP) said. The main reason for the change is cultural, with a lowering of bias against men undergoing these procedures, SP Luiz Henrique Ishida, director of SBCP, said. -AFP

UKUS, UK to test � nancial cyber-security in NovThe US and Britain will test later this month how its regulators would respond if their � nancial sectors su� ered a major cyber-attack or broader IT problems, a British o� cial said on Monday. The test, for which no date has yet been set, will focus on how regulators for the world’s two biggest � nancial centres in New York and London communicate in an emer-gency, a spokesman for British government cyber-security body CERT-UK said. -REUTERS

EUROPECleric, laywoman arrested in Vatileaks scandalTwo members of a commission Pope Francis set up to study reforms, including a high-ranking Holy See o� cial, have been arrested on suspicion of leaking con� dential documents, the Vatican said on Monday. Spanish Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, number two at the Vatican’s Prefecture for Economic A� airs, and Italian laywoman Francesca Chaouqui, a public relations expert, were arrested over the weekend, a Vatican statement said. Both were members of a commission that Francis set up shortly after his election to advise him on economic and bureaucratic reforms in the Curia. -REUTERS

AFRICA14 aid workers kidnapped in DR CongoFourteen aid workers were kidnapped Sunday in the troubled east of the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo, their employer said. “Twelve researchers and two drivers returning from a fact-� nding mission on the nutritional situation” in the Rutshuru area were kidnapped in the town of Katwiguru, the head of the Rural Development Centre, Paul Muhasa, said. The development agency trains farmers in a partnership with the UN World Food Programme in Rutshuru. -AFP

China rolls in homegrown passenger aircraft n AFP, Shanghai

China’s � rst big passenger plane rolled o� the assembly line on Monday as the Asian giant seeks the prestige of having its own aviation sector, and to challenge foreign giants Airbus and Boeing for market share.

Workers spent over a year putting to-gether the C919, a narrow-body jet which can seat 168 passengers, at the Commer-cial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) facili-ty in Shanghai.

For China, the plane represents at least seven years of e� orts in a state-mandated drive to reduce dependence on European consortium Airbus and Boeing of the US, and even compete against them.

The aircraft, which has a range of up to 5,555km, will make its � rst test � ight in 2016, he said -- meaning that it will miss the original deadline of this year.

The China Daily newspaper has report-ed the maiden voyage could even be put back to 2017.

Although the C919 is made in Chi-na, foreign � rms are playing key roles by supplying systems as well as the engines, which are made by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric (GE) of the US and France’s Safran.

More than 500 ordersSpending on the C919 has not been re-vealed. Last month, the Export-Import Bank of China said it would provide state-owned COMAC with $7.9bn in � nance for its aircraft projects.

The company already has orders for 517 of its C919 planes, according to a COMAC

statement, almost all of them from do-mestic buyers. Among foreign customers, Thailand’s City Airways has ordered 10, ac-cording to an announcement last month.

But it will take years for the C919 to be delivered to customers, with the plane ex-pected to enter service in 2019 at the earli-est, industry o� cials said.

COMAC has already developed a small-er regional jet, the ARJ, in a project which is years behind schedule.

The 78-90 seat ARJ is still undergoing test � ights and lacks the crucial certi� ca-tion by the US Federal Aviation Admin-istration that would enable it to � y in US skies.

The Chinese company also plans a wide

body plane, the C929, in cooperation with Russia’s United Aircraft Corp, and specu-lation is mounting China will create a new aero-engine entity to try to produce the powerful jets needed for large civil air-craft.

China is expected to add 6,330 new air-craft worth $950bn to its commercial � eet by 2034, Boeing estimates.

The single-aisle C919 targets the lucra-tive segment dominated by Boeing’s 737 and the Airbus A320.

“Research and manufacturing of a big plane is complex,” said China’s Vice Pre-mier Ma Kai, the highest government lead-er attending the ceremony. “There is still a long way to go to commercial operation.” l

Source: COMAC/China Daily

First large domestic passenger plane

C919168Passenger seating:Length:

Range:

Expected maiden voyage:Expected service: Flight control

Wheels and brakesAuxiliary power unitsNavigation

Commercial Aircra� Corporationof China, Ltd. (COMAC)

Photo: model revealedZhuhai 2012

CFM International (GE, United States/

Safran, France) (United States)Honeywell Aerospace

EnginesOrders: 517Mostly domestic buyers

China homegrown jet

5,555 km

39 m

20162019

Iran may quit Syria talks, in worsening spat with rival Saudin Reuters, Dubai

Iran said on Monday it would quit Syria peace talks if it found them unconstructive, citing the “negative role” of Saudi Arabia, in the latest twist in a spat between the re-gional rivals that bodes ill for e� orts to ease turmoil across the Middle East.

Increasingly bad-tempered exchang-es between the conservative Sunni-ruled kingdom and the revolutionary Shi’ite the-ocracy have dampened hopes of improved ties after the adversaries sat down for their � rst meeting to discuss the Syria war last week.

“In the � rst round of talks, some coun-tries, especially Saudi Arabia, played a neg-ative and unconstructive role. Iran will not participate if the talks are not fruitful,” ISNA cited deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying.

Delivering unusually personal criticism, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appeared to reprimand Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, who, on Saturday, lashed out at Tehran for what he termed its interference in regional countries.

“An inexperienced young man in a re-gional country will not reach anywhere

by rudeness in front of elders,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by state news agen-cy IRNA on Monday. He did not name the ‘young man’ but Jubeir was assumed to be his target.

Proxy struggleJubeir, in his mid-50s, took up his job on the death this year of veteran predecessor Prince Saud al-Faisal at age 75.

World and regional powers including Iran and Saudi Arabia met in Vienna on Fri-day to discuss a political solution to Syria’s civil war but failed, as expected, to reach a consensus on the future of President Bashar al-Assad. Iran backs Assad in the war while Saudi Arabia supports rebels seeking to oust him.

It was the � rst time Tehran and Riyadh were at the same table to tackle a war that has evolved into a wider proxy struggle for regional dominance between Rus-sia and Iran on Assad’s side and Turkey, US-allied Gulf Arab states and Western powers who support rebels to various degrees.

Saudi Arabia wants Assad gone, and has provided support to Syria’s moderate oppo-sition forces, while Iran has sent in � ghters

and material support to bolster Assad.Less than 24 hours after the Vienna talks,

Jubeir used a high-pro� le regional securi-ty conference in the Gulf Arab kingdom of Bahrain, which Iran’s government did not attend, to attack Iranian policies.

‘Negativity’Jubeir accused Iran of attempting to smug-gle weapons to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as well as meddling in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen, something he said was “driving the negativity” in Iran-Saudi relationship.

“We have extended our hand in friend-ship to Iran,” said the soft-spoken Jubeir, adding that Riyadh had made the point “time and time again” that it sought good relations with Tehran.

“It is up to the Iranians whether they want to have relations with us based on good neighbourliness ... or if they want to have relations that are � lled with tension.

“That is on Iran.”Tehran reacted with ire.Speaking to Iranian media, Abdollahian

warned Jubeir “not to test our patience”. He did not elaborate. l

World10DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

INSIGHT

Palestinian refugee camps breed new generation of protestersn AFP, Bethlehem

Nearly 30 years ago Hisham and his brothers -- natives of the Dheisheh Palestinian refugee camp south of Bethlehem -- lobbed stones at soldiers in the � rst uprising against Israel’s oc-cupation.

Now the 51-year-old sees his sons doing the same.“How can I tell them not to go there?” he asked of the clashes

that take place regularly at the foot of the Israeli-built wall en-circling Bethlehem.

As Israel and the Palestinians grapple with another wave of deadly violence -- and fears it heralds a third Palestinian upris-ing, or intifada -- camps like Dheisheh are feeding the unrest.

The sprawling refugee camps are populated with the Pales-tinians and their descendants uprooted when Israel was created in 1948.

The increasing futility of their hopes of returning to their homes as more and more Israeli settlements are built on occu-pied land, has made the camps the kindling that ignites Pales-tinian unrest.

This time is no di� erent, and many of the stone-throwing youths who have clashed with Israeli police in recent weeks, and those who launch knife attacks on Israelis, come from the camps.

“The struggle is always born in the camps, in Jordan, in Leb-anon, in Syria and Palestine,” Mahmoud Fannoun, leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said from the Dheisheh camp.

“Because it is the refugees who carry the Palestinian cause in their � esh,” he added.

Many of the 70 Palestinians killed in the recent violence were shot in such protests. Others were shot dead while carrying out knife attacks. Nine Israelis have been killed.

‘Nothing to lose’The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) esti-mates that of some 5m Palestinian refugees, a third live in 58 o� cial camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

These temporary homes have turned into seething, pover-ty-stricken cities.

Several of the camps have gained notoriety, such as Sabra and Shatila in Beirut where hundreds of Palestinians were mas-sacred by the Israeli-backed Christian Phalangist militia in 1982.

The � rst intifada erupted in 1987 in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

The Jenin camp in the West Bank meanwhile provided many suicide bombers in the second intifada, which broke out in 2000. Two years later Israeli forces entered the camp, bulldoz-ing and bombing it in a 12-day siege that left dozens dead.

‘Do they look like us?’The fate of the refugees is one of the trickiest issues in e� orts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian con� ict.

For Israelis, giving refugees the right to return to their homes would pose an existential question to their state, as Jewish fam-ilies have now moved in.

The peace process, stalled as it currently is, tends to focus instead on 1967, when Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Many refugees are bitter, not just with the Israelis but with their own leaders, over concessions which ignore their losses in 1948 -- celebrated in Israel as the year of independence but mourned by the Palestinians as the Nakba, or Catastrophe.

The divisive agreement created the Palestinian Authority to oversee day-to-day a� airs in Palestinian territories, but did not touch on core issues like the fate of refugees.

Hisham in the Dheisheh camp and his � ve brothers have all spent several stints in Israeli jails. His anger is clear, not only with Israel but with the Palestinian leadership over unful� lled promises and failed e� orts.

“Those people who talk about peace, look at them. They wear fancy suits and nice ties, do you think they look like us?” l

INSIDE

With an IMF delegation due to visit this week, it is important for the government to review the country’s macroeconomic stability as the exchequer prepares to foot a near doubling of the pay scale for state employees.

This pay increase will see the proportion of the national budget taken by salaries rising from 17.7% last year to over 20.1%. Finance Ministry o� cials have expressed concerns that this increase, combined with weak performance in � rst quarter tax collection, may leave the government with no choice but to take loans to foot the pay increase.

We have no objection in principle to the goal of raising pay for public employees. However, in practice, it is vital to remember that proper budgetary management requires current salaries to be paid for by current tax revenues. If salaries are now being raised to the point where this is no longer possible, this is a strong indication that the government needs to trim expenditure.

Paying for current expenses like salaries with borrowing is evidence of short-term mismanagement which has to be controlled if we are to avoid going down the path of the long term bankruptcy which has a� icted Greece.

There is nothing wrong with taking loans to pay for important development work which will improve the economy’s competitiveness and productivity. Bangladesh needs investment in infrastructure, and can bene� t from loans which yield economic and � nancial returns, by allowing the nation to build new energy generation capacity, bridges, ports and transport links.

Hence, while we believe some increases in public borrowing are justi� ed, this does not absolve the government of its duty to take a more rational approach to managing its resources.

Salaries of government o� cers and employees should not be � nanced by taking on new debt. New salary increases should be paid for by closing loss-making state owned enterprises and reducing costly and environmentally illogical subsidies on electricity and fossil fuels.

Prudent budgetary management that focuses government borrowing on productive long term investment, not immediate expenses, is essential to build con� dence in the economy and support the sustainable growth in tax revenues needed to pay for future salary increases.

Cutting wasteful subsidies, and divesting chronically loss-making state enterprises, and bringing in new taxes on fossil fuel emissions would all go a long way to freeing up resources and reducing pressure on tax-payers.

Debt should only be used for long term investment that aids competitiveness and productivity, not to pay salaries

Futile devices

An apology, not an apologistTruth and reason are dead in this subterranean dystopia, but we are the ones who did not � ght hard enough for them. We are the ones who killed them

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com

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

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PAGE 12

PAGE 13

PAGE 14

What if Annisul Huq was right?Where does this leave Annisul Huq? At a tea-stall in a village once, I talked with a group of eight to 10 men and asked them about what sort of MP they preferred. They might prefer their parliamentarian to be incorrupt and clean, but acknowledged that in the ultimate analysis, ability to be e� ective is more important

The battle, it seems, is already lost. So, is it high time we accepted the dawn of this new era, and gave in to the forces of destruction? The answer, even though not a resounding yes, not yet anyway, is a depressing ‘maybe’

Limit borrowing to productive investment

11D

TEditorialTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

BIGSTOCK

Opinion12DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

n SN Rasul

I have no words.Or, perhaps, that is all I have. Not to

repeat myself, having written almost exactly about this issue last week, but I

think the time for fear is nigh. As I write this, not much information has been revealed about the publisher and two bloggers who were hacked in Lalmatia. They are, as of yet, in critical condition in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, one of the victims, who ran Shuddaswar Prokashani, was the publisher for Avijit Roy. The other two writers and bloggers, Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim, are also active in Bangaldesh’s secularist movement scene.

A few hours later, another publisher of Avijit’s, Faisal Are� n Dipan, who ran the publishing house Jagriti Prakashani, was “slaughtered” at one of his own o� ces, on the second � oor of Aziz Supermarket.

And yesterday, another publisher received a death threat from some other militant organisation going by the name of Al-Ahrar, from the UK. Who knows where his fate lies?

What can we do now but stare in wonder at the state we � nd our country in, our head in our hands, our hearts numbed by the inevitability of such a tragedy? Who out of us did not see this coming? As this culture of intolerance continues, this inability to even, for the minutest second, take into account why, in God’s name, anyone would dare to disagree with the faith this country wields, my tone turns accusatory, my patience, spent.

The “we” and the “us” disintegrate into segregations, sects. It is evident that we have clearly, distinctly, furthered an environment of hatred and violent acceptance. But this -- this is unacceptable. We have continued to di� erentiate and stare silently at the blood that has stained our walls, pretending that the ones that the blood belongs to are to blame.

It is you, the moderate Muslim, who has forgotten the secularist ways of Bangladesh’s past, with your apologist narrative, that is part of the problem. We have moved far beyond the blame game; all we are left with is whispering in the dark.

Your friends who are Shia or Hindu or Christian, or non-believers, or, to be as speci� c as possible in this era of discriminatory hacking, a non-Muslim, you tell them to stay silent, to not make too much of a hullabaloo about their own faiths, or lack thereof, because you know your brothers are waiting, not in the dark anymore, but in the light, waiting to put a knife to their throats the moment they get the chance.

Last week, there was hope in the air; there was a sense of a “maybe,” a wish that things could change for the better. But the attacks that are being carried out against these secularist writers are not the result of mere spontaneity on the part of uneducated youths.

Uneducated and young they may be, but behind them, the hand that pulls the strings knows exactly what it is doing.

There is little doubt that this was a result of Islamic extremism, carried out by some extremist group or the other. As of now, al-Qaeda in the Indian sub-continent, aka Ansar Al Islam, have taken responsibility for the attack.

They have even published a list of the kind of people they will target, aptly titled “Who’s next?” And the majority public, about whom we seem to, somehow, continue the delusion of moderate Islam, are only part of the problem.

Our government has continued to evade its responsibilities, has persistently avoided its duty of upholding the rights of its citizens: The right to not be murdered in cold blood by

violent lunatics with an agenda. And then, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has the audacity to claim that these attacks are “isolated incidents.”

The attacks on these four people, connected by Avijit Roy, bound together by secular publications, hacked on the same day, in similar style, by people who claim to uphold religious law, were isolated incidents?

If the government is so naive as to think that the public is unable to connect the dots, that these attacks, as Kamal continued, “also happen in other countries,” then what else can we do but stare in apparent disbelief at the utter ignorance portrayed?

Not that I have much faith in you, the

public, who continue to boast a similar level of ignorance when it comes to critiquing the holy tenets of Islam. The right to life is a far more important and substantial tenet that we must, at one point, have adhered to. But little of that sentiment remains, very few of you are willing to uphold that law, despite your religious a� liations.

To be able to criticise and disagree is crucial in the democratic process. And you can’t even put up a Facebook status slightly critical of the government. And if elections are rigged, and politicians are corrupt, why not our ability to empathise with others, why not our moral compass?

But this is deja vu in its cruelest form, as we powerlessly watch our nation get hijacked by partisan politics and terrorism. For I have been in this exact place, sat in this exact seat, and said these exact words. But words are futile devices, unless they irk a thirsty butcher with a sharp knife, and then my blood, too, will pool on the � oor.

The battle, it seems, is already lost. So, is it high time we accepted the dawn of this new era, and gave in to the forces of destruction? The answer, even though not a resounding yes -- not yet anyway -- is a depressing “maybe.” l

SN Rasul is a writer. Follow him @snrasul.

Futile devicesShould we just stand by and watch as our nation gets hijacked by extremism?

The battle, it seems, is already lost. So, is it high time we accepted the dawn of this new era, and gave in to the forces of destruction? The answer, even though not a resounding yes, not yet anyway, is a depressing ‘maybe’

The intolerance towards writers shows a deep cultural malaise BUGSTOCK

Opinion 13D

TTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

n Ikhtisad Ahmed

This is an apology. It was meant to be a professional op-ed prefaced with a short apology -- and failing to do that is the � rst item on the list of rea-

sons for this apology -- but I realise that what is required is an unreserved apology.

Before I can go any further, there are two more features of this piece that have already reared their heads, two cardinal sins, for which I must apologise: Firstly, I neither believe in my own greatness nor am full of myself, nor wish to be exclusive, subjective or informal, hence I refrain from writing in the � rst person.

Secondly, I am not in the habit of writing open letters or referring directly to the read-ers because I do not wish to preach or insult their intelligence. But I � nd myself making an exception.

Hypocrisy is the bane of human existence. I � ght to keep its tentacles from entrapping me, but the recent inactions of contemporary Bangladeshi writers, myself included, have been either � ying too close to that particu-lar sun or wholly consumed by it. Since the existence of the written word, writers have had a duty to the truth, with which there can be, and must be, no compromise.

It is the sole responsibility of the pauper’s profession, for which the pen weighs heavy. In Bangladesh, writers want the glory of the title without bearing its burden or the pains that come with it. The contributions of writers and thinkers in our independence struggle gave birth to a unique class in our society, that of buddhijibis, the intellectuals.

Nostalgia has nurtured the existence of that class and allowed it to thrive. Oxymo-ronic social businesses, the civil society, and outright entrepreneurship are the illegiti-mate o� spring of this self-important class. Therefore, the ability to string two quasi-co-herent sentences together gives us writerly pretensions, and, both in our own egotistic minds and society’s collective conscience, we become elevated to a higher, culturally appropriate status.

We do not deserve it. We are an insult to the title of “writer,” and the comforts we enjoy are our sins multiplied. We censor ourselves to avoid censure from the government and from pretenders to the throne alike, know-ing full well that if we do not, editors and publishers will. Whosoever in that chain fails to censor faces the consequences, and they are grave.

Censorship for survival -- if we do it, we must apologise; if we consider it, as I have, we must apologise; if it exists in our society, we must be ashamed and apologise. We operate in a restricted space, but using that as an excuse for not speaking the truth, so that

essential truths are erased and eradicated, is the gravest of sins.

Our present deplorable reality is not the product of the actions of a few unfortunate souls in the past few years; it is the accu-mulation of over four decades of all our sins being reaped. We made loud proclamations, lied to be seen to be saying or doing what allowed us to attain stature and wealth, while the truth we once whispered stopped being uttered altogether. If murder exists in

Bangladesh, it is because ordinary citizens have become desensitised to it and writers in their ivory towers have not wept enough for it, become enraged enough by it or been truthful enough about it.

There are certain absolutes in human ex-istence, debating and intellectualising which serve only as justi� cation via obfuscation. The killing of a human being by another is one such absolute.

It is astonishing that it needs saying at all: The killing of a human being by another is wrong. Rather than arguing the merits and demerits of actions that injure and kill others, we should be discussing the underlying caus-

es of such actions so that their prevalence may be curbed and they may be prevented.

We need to be inclusive in our outlook, reaching out to those di� erent us, to those most vulnerable, to those who are hurt and angry, because they are Bangladeshis. We need to empathise, constructively criticise, and work together towards sustainable solutions. We are doing none of that, since it is real work, hard work, since it is pain, not glory.

Self-centred writers are mostly silent, and when they occasionally break that silence, they � ll the dead air with unconscionable lies. We are apologists for Bangladesh’s wrongs. We are responsible for assault and slaughter being justi� ed, for them being palatable.

We will be tempted to blame the erst-while, current and aspiring oppositions and the government, the harbingers of violence in our political and everyday lives, for living in a constant state of crippling fear that renders us speechless, wordless.

They have failed, and continue to fail, but we would do better to look at ourselves, take responsibility for our sins that have allowed our country to descend, and take up resi-dence close to hell.

Truth and reason are dead in this subter-ranean dystopia, but we are the ones who did not � ght hard enough for them. We are the ones who killed them. I apologise profusely for my part in it. I take responsibility so that I may do penance for my sins. l

Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and an erstwhile lawyer. He can be contacted on Twitter via @Ikhtisad.

An apology, not an apologist

Truth and reason are dead in this subterranean dystopia, but we are the ones who did not � ght hard enough for them. We are the ones who killed them

We are all guilty of this culture of violence

There are no two ways about it: Killing is wrong BIGSTOCK

Long Form14DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

n Arild Engelsen Ruud

If we turn now to the situation in Bangladesh and the state of its democratic state of mind, it is clear that democracy enjoys wide popular

support as a system of government. The 2008 report “State of Democracy in South Asia” was based on surveys that included Bangladesh and showed a whopping 97% of the population in favour of elected leaders.

At the same time, almost 80% of those in favour of elected leaders in Bangladesh could also accept dictatorship sometimes and about half of the respondents accepted army rule. So, what exactly people meant when they held that they were in favour of elected leaders was not clear. The report called them “weak democrats” and pinned it down to a de� ciency in how voters understood what democracy means or the process of decision-making in mature democracies.

Another survey, conducted in villages in Bangladesh, suggests quite clearly that what most people think about when they think about democracy is, � rst, the procedure, ie the election.

But when asked to elaborate, most villagers pointed to policy outcomes. Democracy meant development: Economic growth, better roads, more schools, and health clinics.

“What are you looking for in a candidate?” we asked a woman. “That he is rich,” she answered. “So that he can build factories and our children can have work.” Others pointed out that they wanted a representative who could help, who could intervene with the police, or distribute subsidised loans. They often put this in terms of respect, that the MPs should show them respect. To them, such respect more easily comes from a man who is rich, educated, and well-connected. Such a man would be more useful than a poor, uneducated, or poorly connected representative.

The clue is e� ciency -- a rich, educated, and well-connected man can get things done. Outcome is what matters to most. Due process or formal decision-making processes are not important. In fact, they seem almost irrelevant. One may probably extend this to include most Bangladeshis and most South Asians.

There are aspects of this process that could be important to the average

Bangladeshi, such as equality of opportunity and equality before the law. But their reading of society is probably astute enough to realise that this is very far from where the world is. There is no such thing as equality before the law when education, money, and in� uence are so unequally distributed and have been for generations and more.

Equality is a faint dream. What they hope for is respect, shomman, which is less the respect entailed in absolute equality and more closely tied to an acknowledgement of their status -- which is enhanced by their role as voter.

Where does this leave Annisul Huq? At a tea-stall in a village once, I talked with a group of eight to 10 men and asked them about what sort of MP they preferred. Would it be someone clean, untainted by corruption, but inexperienced, or would it be someone tainted, corrupt, but experienced? After some debate they agreed for the latter, even if with some hesitation.

They might prefer their parliamentarian to be incorrupt and clean, but acknowledged that in the ultimate analysis, ability to be e� ective is more important. A do-gooder with little impact is of no use. A determined and e� ective man or woman is preferable, in particular if he or she is also respectful.

It is no error of judgement that makes voters all over Bangladesh, and indeed all

over Asia, vote for dynastic leaders, corrupt and even criminal representatives, or so-called “bosses,” who are not adverse to a little muscle and intimidation to get things done. Political parties with such leaders and candidates often win elections. It is about energy, power, in� uence, the capacity to organise and mobilise, to e� ectuate. Voters want e� ective leaders, not leaders who look good in the eyes of some NGO-wallah.

In an unequal society, messy, and the bureaucracy is corrupt (often, not always) and understa� ed, you do not want to rely on written rules. You will want a powerful man on your side. You will want prowess, force. Street marches, demonstrations, street presence, a large number of activists, senior leaders, in� uence over the judiciary and the police -- all these testify to the prowess of a particular party. It promises e� ective MPs and city corporation mayors, individuals with connections, with the power to get things done. The AL had all this, it was part of their election campaign. In this light, street muscle

is not necessarily undemocratic.There are similar phenomena all over

the world. Voters will not vote for wimp candidates. American presidential candidates want to look strong and sound forceful, they want to be energy incarnated. Even British prime ministers and French presidents try to look youthful these days.

This exuberance has di� erent expressions in di� erent countries, as all such things vary with time and space. In Bangladesh, in April, the street presence of the ruling party was part of the message, part of the election campaign: We have the power, we have the in� uence, we are in control -- we can mobilise thousands and scare the others o� the streets in any para.

What have they to o� er? The opposition knew the game and tried to do the same, tried to mobilise, tried to look courageous and energetic. But the meetings were small and the slogans muted, and their leaders afraid or in hiding. It was a humiliating experience, but possibly more so because

they, rather lost than the rules being wrong.The voters I spoke with were all annoyed

at the botched election. They would have preferred a real vote. A real vote is good because it keeps parties and MPs respectful of the ordinary voter. But this does not mean that the street agitations and the muscle itself were wrong to most. Remember that there were no street protests afterwards. The result was quietly accepted. And once the disappointment at not having been able to vote was over and in the past, most voters seemed to have been more than willing to look beyond and to what really matters: Policy outcome. If the government or the city corporations are able to deliver on the election campaign promises -- forceful, e� ective, pro-poor government -- then most may grudgingly accept it as legitimate, as democratic. l

Arild Engelsen Ruud is Professor of South Asia Studies, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental languages, University of Oslo, Norway.

What if Annisul Huq was right?Do we already have the government we need? This is the concluding part of yesterday’s long form

Where does this leave Annisul Huq? At a tea-stall in a village once, I talked with a group of eight to 10 men and asked them about what sort of MP they preferred. They might prefer their parliamentarian to be incorrupt and clean, but acknowledged that in the ultimate analysis, ability to be e� ective is more important

Has Annisul Huq shown the gumption required in a successful parliamentarian? RAJIB DHAR

15D

TBusinessTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Team to negotiate terms of new Indian creditThe government is going to form a 10-member team to negotiate with the Indian Exim Bank to � nalise the draft of a new $2.0bn credit line, aimed at implementing infrastructural projects, o� cials said. PAGE 16

Asia’s factories struggle with global demand gulfActivity in China’s colossal factory sector shrank in October as global demand stut-tered, reinforcing the case for more stimulus and questioning whether the Federal Reserve can be con� dent enough to raise US interest rates this year. PAGE 17

China gives currency biggest boost in a decadeChina yesterday raised the daily reference rate for its yuan currency by the largest margin in a decade, o� cials and reports said, just three months after a surprise devaluation sent shockwaves through global markets. PAGE 18

Capital market snapshot: Past WeekDSE

Broad Index 4,536.1 0.5% ▲

Index 1,092.3 1.0% ▲

30 Index 1,722.5 0.8% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 2,905.2 8.5% ▲

Turnover in Mn Volume 75.8 -4.8% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 13,870.0 0.6% ▲

30 Index 12,283.8 0.6% ▲

Selected Index 8,440.0 0.6% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 204.6 20.7% ▲

Turnover in Mn Volume 6.1 -0.3% ▼

INSIDE

Bangladesh to seek $13bn Chinese loan for 24,000mw power plantsn Kayes Sohel

Bangladesh is set to seek over $13bn loan from China to produce 24,000mw electric-ity by 2021.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has re-cently given her consent to go ahead with 15 power generation projects proposed by the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Min-istry in last September.

The proposed projects under conces-sional loan of Exim Bank of China will be discussed during the upcoming visit of Chi-na’s Premier Li Keqiang to Bangladesh to mark the 40th anniversary of the two coun-try’s diplomatic relations at the invitation of his Bangladesh counterpart.

The proposed projects are the part of the government plan to produce 24,000mw electricity by 2021 and 40,000mw by 2030, which will require $30bn to implement.

“It is important to look for new source of � nancing for investment in power sector as the existing foreign � nancing in power sector is inadequate,” said the ministry in a letter to the Economic Relations Division.

The 15 projects are $16m-extension and augmentation of power distribu-tion system, $1.6bn-coal-� red power plant for producing a 1,320mw electricity, $450m-Gazaria 350mw coal-� red thermal power plant, $155m-Mollahat 100 solar PB power plant, $255m-wind power plant to produce 100mw power, $105 pre-payment metering priority project for the Bangla-desh Power Distribution Board’s six distri-bution zones (phase-2), $468m-reduction in system loss by replacing � ve million elec-tro-mechanical energy meters with elec-tronic meters, $1.4bn project to strengthen the power grid network under Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, $3bn-expansion and strengthening of power system net-work in the Dhaka Power Distribution Com-pany Limited, $64.57m design supply and installation, testing and commissioning of 33/11 KV substations on a turnkey basis in

the Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limit-ed area, $1bn Payra 1,320mw thermal pow-er plant project (second phase) and $3.4bn coal-based power plant project at Pekua, Cox’s Bazar of 2x600MW capacity or above.

Of the projects, Chinese company Guang-dong Power Engineering Co. Ltd (GPEC) has already showed its expression of interest in signing a Memorandum of Understanding, according to a letter of the company sent to the Power Division.

The three projects are coal-� red power plants in Cox’s Bazar and in Patuakhali and combined cycle power plant in Khulna or Chittagong.

GPEC wrote that its proposal is to con-

struct these power plants on a govern-ment-to-government preferential export buyers’ credit/soft/concessional loan.

The expected interest rate will be less than 2% per annum with more than 20 years repayment period, it said.

Implementing agencies of Bangladesh do not need to arrange � nance for the im-plementation of the projects or to share or invest their portion of � nance from other � nancial institutions or sources mentioned in the EOI, GPEC said.

The proposed projects will be imple-mented with the latest technologies of the world to reduce adverse impact on the en-vironment, it said. l

Remittance sees sharp fall in October n Tribune Report

The country experienced a sharp fall in remittance in� ow in October comparedto the previous month due to loss of job opportunities abroad amid growing global recession.

Remittance dropped 19.42% in October compared to September, according to the Bangladesh Bank data released yesterday.

Expatriates sent a total of $1.08bn remit-tance in last month which was lower than $1.34bn in the previous month.

The amount, however, rose slightly high-er from $1.01bn in the same month of the last year.

The country received $3.93bn remittance in July-September quarter of the � scal year 2015-16 which was down from $4bn in the

same period of the last � scal year, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

The amount of remittance received in the � rst quarter was also down slightly from $4.05bn in the last quarter of FY2014-15.

Fall in migration abroad is mainly accounted for slower growth of remit-tance, said a senior execu-tive of Bangladesh Bank.

He said the price of for-eign currency did not in-crease so much at the same time while the demand for taka was poor in the market which was also the factor of lower remittance.

In October, the country

received $331m remittance through the state-owned banks, $13.31m through specialised banks, $729m through private commercial banks and $13.77m through foreign banks. l

Business16DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

CORRIGENDUMThe article “Robi-Airtel merger may provoke controversy over spectrum use” published on October 28 contained the following sentence: “However, Barrister Tanjib-ul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that nobody acquires anyone’s spectrum. So, there is no scope for transferring the spectrum.”

In fact, in response to a query as to whether the proposed merger would prevent legal transfer of spectrum allocated to Airtel in view of restrictions under Section 55 of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act, 2001, Barrister Alam had stated the opposite, that the legal restrictions against transfer of spectrum would not be applicable in the proposed merger and therefore, there would not be any legal impediment in vesting the spectrum allocated to Airtel in favour of Robi Axiata.

He also stated that since the proposed merger would have the e� ect of vesting of all rights and privileges including the allocated spectrum by operation of law without any further act, the restriction on “transfer” of spectrum would not be attracted.

Stocks break 5-day steep lossesn Tribune Report

Stocks recovered yesterday, as investors found their bottom after � fth consecutive days of steep losses.

The market, however, was in negative ter-ritory until mid-session and late buying spree particularly on large cap stocks pulled up it.

The benchmark index DSEX rose 21 points or 0.5% to 4,536, rebounding from its previ-ous session’s four-month low.

The Shariah index DSES was up 11 points or 1% to 1,092.

The blue chip comprising index DS30 closed at 1,722, gaining 13 points or 0.8%.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX settled at 8,440 with a rise of 52 points.

However, trading still remained sluggish at the bourse with the turnover amounting to Tk290 crore but recovered well from its pre-vious session’s two-year low.

Trading was highly concentrated on se-lective large cap stocks as top � ve in turnover chart accounted for 24.6% of the total turnover.

Rally in large cap stocks, including Grameenphone, BATBC, Square Pharmaceu-ticals, Lafarge Surma Cement and Olympic Industries helped the market turn around.

The major sectors, including bank, IT and insurance declined while cement, textile, phar-maceuticals, power, non-banking � nancial in-stitutions and engineering closed positive.

IDLC Investments said after a total loss of over 134 points in the last � ve consecu-tive sessions, the bourse found a ground at 4,500— a psychological level.

It said since the market faced an erosion of 5.9% last month, opportunistic investors sensed an upbeat reversal primarily riding on previous month’s eroded large cap scrips with sound fundamentals.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the market reversed after � ve days of sharp fall in index in a raw.

A group of investors were in risk-o� mode as they perked their fund in defensive stocks, it said. l

ADN Telecom IPO prospectus awaits BSEC nodn Ishtiaq Husain

ADN Telecom Limited, a IT service provider, is going to � oat shares in the stock market to raise fund for expansion of its network across the country and introducing cloud data ser-vices.

The company’s proposal has already been approved by the Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The Initial Public O� ering prospectus has also been placed for clearance of the Bangla-desh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).

According to the IPO prospectus, the com-pany will o� oad 17m ordinary shares worth Tk10 each and has sought a premium of Tk30 per share to o� er at Tk40 each.

As per the latest � nancial statement of the company, earning per share (EPS) is Tk3.15 and the net asset value (NAV) is Tk22, while the paid-up capital is Tk30 crore.

“ADN Telecom will invest the proceeds from IPO in launching cloud data services to capture the emerging business of data stor-

age in Bangladesh,” Asif Mahmood, chairman of ADN Telecom, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“If any company can tap the market with proper business strategies, it will be possible to grab local TK50 crore business of cloud data services.”

Mahmood lamented that most of the busi-ness owners now have to send money abroad to avail of the services, as Bangladesh doesn’t have such type of services.

“At present, 80% companies are hosting their websites by the foreign companies, which costs foreign currencies,” he said.

Industry insiders say as most of the Sin-gaporean companies now charge $5,000 for cloud hosting in each rack with power, Bang-ladeshi companies can also make pro� ts pro-viding the same services at $3,000.

“Due to cheap labour, Bangladeshi com-panies will be able to provide those servic-es at a� ordable prices compared with other countries,” said ADN Telecom chairman.

According to the BTRC, Bangladesh cur-rently has one submarine cable company and six ITC (international terrestrial cable)

operators. O� cials say the government has a plan to

set up another submarine cable company by 2016.

“If another submarine cable company is launched in Bangladesh, more cloud data services will be needed,” Asif Mahmood said.

“We have multiple connectivity, despite we want to connect our cloud data services with global data services so that global com-panies can easily get our services.”

ADN Telecom started its journey in 2003 as Advanced Data Networks System Ltd., and within a short span of time, became a dom-inant market player by providing seamless and secured connectivity.

Presently, the company o� ers a wide range of internet, data and voice communi-cation services to its clients, both in home and abroad.

BTRC has awarded ADN with a number of licenses, such as, Nationwide Internet Ser-vice Provider, Nationwide IP Telephony Ser-vice Provider and VSAT Provider with Hub License. l

Team to negotiate terms of new Indian credit

n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government is going to form a 10-mem-ber team to negotiate with the Indian Exim Bank to � nalise the draft of a new $2.0bn credit line, aimed at implementing infra-structural projects, o� cials said.

The negotiations is likely to take place in the third week of this month to � nalise the credit line which is said to be good for Bang-ladesh’s development budget.

Economic Relations Division sent letters to nine ministries and divisions to select their representatives for the negotiation team. It will be led by ERD additional secretary.

The team will include o� cials from ERD, Prime Minister’s O� ce, Finance Division, Legislative Division, National Board of Rev-enue, Planning Commission, Foreign Minis-try, Railway Ministry and Roads and High-way Division.

According to the draft, the contract will be signed between the government of Bang-ladesh and the Export-Import Bank of India.

Sources in the ERD said the negotiations would focus on the proposed interest rate of the credit.

The proposed interest rate for the dol-lar-denominated line of credit is 1% per year, but in the event of default, the interest rate

will increase to 2% per year. The proposed commitment fee for the credit line is 0.5% per year. Goods and services, including con-sultancy services, worth at least 75% of the contract price must be supplied by Indian � rms, but will be procured by Bangladesh.

The remaining 25% of goods and services to be procured by Bangladesh must have In-dian consent.

Procurements will be made via competi-tive bidding and publicised in the local and Indian press, but India’s Exim Bank will ap-prove the Indian bids.

Moreover, the Exim Bank of India will not be held liable for the cancellation or suspen-sion of the procurement of any good or ser-vice, according to the draft.

Earlier, a number of ministries sought re-laxation of the conditions for the fresh Indi-an line of credit for their proposed projects.

The project executing ministries and other regulatory government agencies con-cerned in last meeting in Dhaka called upon the ERD to negotiate with New Delhi to sim-plify terms and conditions of the fresh loan.

The ERD convened the last meeting at its o� ce in Dhaka to take opinions from the min-istries which will implement the proposed 13 development projects under the LoC.

During his Dhaka visit in June this year, In-dian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged the loan to help Bangladesh develop its infra-structural and social-economic sectors.

Currently, Bangladesh Railway has under-taken the highest 13 projects, out of total 15, under the $800m Indian LoC for upgrading its infrastructures and service facilities.

Bangladesh in August 2010 signed a $1.0bn credit deal with Indian government to support its development works, especially the transport sector linking the two neigh-bouring countries. l

During his Dhaka visit in June this year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (left) pledged $2.0bn credit to help Bangladesh develop its infrastructural and social-economic sectors

Business 17D

TWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Asia’s factories struggle with global demand gulf

n Reuters, Sydney

Activity in China’s colossal factory sector shrank in October as global demand stut-tered, reinforcing the case for more stim-ulus and questioning whether the Federal Reserve can be con� dent enough to raise US interest rates this year.

A crop of industry surveys out yesterday pointed to another poor month for trade

across Asia as activity contracted in South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. Only Japan showed any hint of growth, perhaps thanks to the persistent weakness of the yen.

The run of pedestrian results will focus attention on the US Intitute for Supply Man-agement (ISM) measure of manufacturing due later Monday which is forecast to have � atlined in October.

Indeed, analysts at Barclays see a risk

the PMI could fall under 50 for the � rst time since 2012.

“A negative reading on the ISM would be consistent with our view of continued head-winds facing the US manufacturing sector from a strong dollar, weak foreign demand and lower energy prices,” they said in a note.

“We think that soft US in� ation and ongo-ing turbulence in emerging markets will keep the Fed on hold this year.”

The US central bank surprised markets last month by downplaying global growth worries while opening the door wide to a rate hike in December.

Activity in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in October for a third straight month, according to the o� cial survey out on Sunday.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) held at 49.8 in October, missing market hopes for a break-even 50 reading, while new export or-ders shrank for the 13th month. That was fol-lowed by the Caixin/Markit China PMI which focuses on small and mid-sized companies. It edged up to 48.3 in October, from 47.2, but still pointed to an eighth month of contraction.

Beijing has rolled out a raft of support steps to avert a sharper slowdown, including slashing interest rates six times since No-vember, but the stimulus has been slower to take e� ect than in the past.

China’s woes are being felt among its neighbours. South Korea’s exports slumped the most in more than six years in October, with hefty drops in shipments to China, the United States and Europe.

The Nikkei/Markit PMI for South Korea ticked down to 49.1 in October, and has not been above 50 since February.

South Korea is the � rst major exporting economy to report monthly trade data and is home to global suppliers such as Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Heavy Industries.

The only promising news came from Ja-pan where the Markit/Nikkei PMI hit the highest in a year at 52.4.

Yet its economy remains at risk of reces-sion and markets are wagering the Bank of Japan will have to expand its asset-buying campaign further in the next few months.

The European Central Bank has already � agged the likelihood of more easing when it meets in December, putting pressure on oth-er major central banks to follow suit or see their currencies appreciate. l

Workers are seen at the construction site of a new skyscraper in Warsaw, Poland REUTERS

Huawei launches G7 Plus in Bangladeshn Tribune Report

Huawei, the world’s leading Android Smart-phone brand, has launched its latest Smart-phone Huawei G7 Plus in Bangladesh.

Ingmar Wang, director of Device Business, Huawei Technologies, Bangladesh, launched the device in Pan Paci� c Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Sunday.

With 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memo-ry, the phone set is expandable up to 128GB with MicroSD card, plus it supports dual SIM and 4G network. In addition, it has a gravity sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor and a magnetic sensor.

The Huawei G7 Plus is priced at Tk34,990. It will be available in the Huawei showrooms in Bashundhara City, Jamuna Future Park and Huawei Brand Image Shops across the country.

The device has high-end smartphone features at a very reasonable price and is designed to deliver solid and consistent per-formance to users relying heavily on smart-phones for social and business purposes.

The phone set takes pride in an outstand-ing battery life, with 3,000 mAh battery o� ering up to eight hours of online video

streaming, 10 hours of phone calls or six hours of web browsing. Its smart dual anten-na with switching technology allows up to 40% higher quality connectivity and 100% stronger signal strength in weak-signal envi-ronments than other similar devices.

The handset has enhanced � ngerprint technology for multiple functions, making it faster, more accurate, more ergonomic and both safer and easier to use.

The body of the device is composed of aircraft-grade aluminium with 2.5D display

having slightly curved edge screen. The display is 5.5 inches with a 1920*1080

full HD screen.The device has a 13MP BSI lens rear-facing

camera with F2.0 aperture, 28mm wide-an-gle lens, anti-vibration, an RGBW sensor and a dedicated Image Signal Processor typically found in professional digital SLRs.

The G7 Plus has a four colour RGBW sen-sor which enables it to enhance brightness by 32% and reduce noise in low light photos by 78%. The front camera of the set is 5MP. l

Huawei o� cials hold up newly launched Smartphone Huawei G7 Plus at the launching at Pan Paci� c Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka on Sunday DHAKA TRIBUNE

World stocks fall on China datan Reuters, London

Stocks fell in Europe and Asia yesterday after further evidence of economic slowdown in China, but modest growth in German factory activity slightly brightened the mood.

Turkish markets surged after the Isla-mist-rooted AK Party won a clear majority in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

Asian shares hit their lowest level in al-most three weeks after two surveys showed Chinese factory activity slowing.

The private Caixin purchasing manager’s index showed activity declined for an eighth consecutive month. An o� cial PMI survey on Sunday showed manufacturing unexpect-edly contracted in October for a third straight month.

The � gures helped push down the dollar and crude oil and drove copper to a one-month low.

Chinese shares also fell on concern about the weak economy. The CSI 300 index of larg-est listed companies in Shanghai and Shen-zhen closed 1.6% lower and the Shanghai Composite index lost 1.7%. l

Business18DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

Jamuna Bank Limited has recently held its 276th board meeting. The bank’s chairperson, Md Sirajul Islam Varosha presided over the meeting

Doctorola.com, a new online website with call center based service has recently started its journey at a grand launching event. President of BASIS, Shameem Ahsan attended the event as chief guest while vice president of Bangladesh Medical Association, Professor Dr MA Rouf Sardar was present as special guest

BSRM Foundation and British Council have recently signed an agreement on enhancing English reading skills through book reading competition. Managing director of BSRM Group of Companies, Aameir Alihussain was present at the signing ceremony, among others

Bangladesh Bank has recently recognised Dhaka Bank Limited for its contribution towards school banking in Chittagong region by handing over a certi� cate (2nd position) in this regard. Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr Atiur Rahman handed over the certi� cate to Md Shakir Amin Chowdhury, deputy managing director of Dhaka Bank

China gives currency biggest boost in a decaden AFP, Beijing

China yesterday raised the daily reference rate for its yuan currency by the largest mar-gin in a decade, o� cials and reports said, just three months after a surprise devaluation sent shockwaves through global markets.

The central People’s Bank of China adjusted the central rate of the yuan - also known as the renminbi (RMB) - upwards by 0.54% against the US dollar, according to a statement.

The increase was the largest since 2005 when Beijing unpegged the yuan from the dollar, Bloomberg News reported.

Analysts attributed the move to improved sentiment towards the world’s second largest economy as well as an impending decision by the International Monetary Fund on wheth-

er to include the yuan in its internal “special drawing rights” (SDR) reserve currency basket.

“The RMB rose mainly because the market is responding to an increasing chance for it to be included in the SDR,” Liao Qun, chief econ-omist of Citic Bank International, told AFP.

Even so the yuan ended at 6.3371 yester-day, down around 0.30% from Friday’s close.

China now allows the currency to trade up or down two percent from the centrally set daily rate on the domestic foreign exchange market.

Authorities moved the yuan almost � ve percent lower through the daily � x in one week in August, saying it was part of broad-er reforms aimed at shifting towards a more � exible exchange rate.

“The economy is stabilising, so the expec-tation of further depreciation has weakened both at home and abroad,” Liu Jian, an analyst from the Bank of Communications, told AFP.

“On the other hand, the policy intention of the government is very obvious. It is trying to maintain a stable foreign exchange market and guide the market as stability is important for the yuan to be admitted to the SDR at the coming IMF meeting.”

China wants to promote the yuan as a glob-al reserve currency alongside the dollar, an ambition that depends on its willingness and ability to loosen tight restrictions on its trade.

But authorities fear that losing control of the yuan’s value will mean giving up a pow-erful tool for managing the economy, which last quarter experienced its slowest growth in six years.

The August devaluation raised concerns abroad that the Chinese economy was per-forming worse than had been acknowledged, and fuelled fears that Beijing was trying to make its exports cheaper to give it a boost.

China has pledged that it would not en-gage in competitive devaluations. l

An employee reaches for a bundle of 100 yuan banknotes at a branch of Bank of China in Hefei, Anhui province REUTERS

The RMB rose mainly because the market is responding to an increasing chance for it to be included in the SDR

News 19D

TTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

CU turns into battle� eld as BCL factions clashn FM Mizanur Rahaman,

CU Correspondent

At least 30 people, including four police personnel, were injured in a � erce clash be-tween two groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) at Chittagong University yes-terday morning.

Police and witness said an altercation had ensued between supporters of Sixty Nine Group led by CU unit President Alamgir Tipu and Bijoy Group led by university unit BCL General Secretary HM Fazly Rabbi Sujon over � xing spot to stand to greet admission seek-ers around 10am.

At one stage of the altercation, both the

groups locked into a clash. During the clash, chase and counter-chase took place between the rivals.

Hearing the news of clash, other support-ers of both groups came out from Shahjalal dormitory and Shah Amanat hall and locked into clashes equipped with � rearms and sharps weapons in front of Shahjalal dormi-tory, creating panic among guardians and as-pirant students.

Being informed, police rushed to the spot and � red more than 30 rounds of tear canis-ters and blank shots to disperse the clashing groups, said O� cer-in-Charge of Hathazari police station Md Salauddin Chowdhury.

After arrival of police, two groups took

position at Shahjalal and Shah Amanat dor-mitories. Then, police entered into the halls and charge batons on clashing groups and brought the situation under control.

At least 30 people were injured in the clash. Of the injured, Additional Superin-tendent of Police (sadar) Md Shahidullah, Hathazari Police Station’s O� cer-in-Charge Md Ismail, Constables Enamul Haque, and Nurul Alam were received primary treatment at university medical centre, said OC Salaud-din.

Assistant Proctor of the university Helal Uddin Ahmed said clash had ensued over a trivial matter, creating tension among aspir-ants and guardians.

A panic day for admission seekers The written test for G and I units were held yesterday and panic gripped the aspirants who came to the campus to appear in the admission tests. Shathi Akhtar, an aspirant who appeared at I-unit examination, said she was frightened during the chase and counter chase between the BCL men.

During the melee many guardians and as-pirants were reportedly seen to left campus to avert possible causality, said campus sources.

Alamgir Tipu loyal to Chittagong City Cor-poration mayor also Chittagong city Awami League’s General Secretary AJM Nasir Uddin while Sujon is blessed by city AL’s President AMB Mohiuddin Chowdhury, said campus sources. l

Rajshahi University Sangskritik Jote holds a rally on the campus yesterday protesting killing of Faisal Are� n Dipan, publisher of Jagriti Prokashony AZAHAR UDDIN

Cuet closed inde� nitely following BCL clashn Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

Authorities of Chittagong University of En-gineering and Technology (Cuet) have shut-down the university for an inde� nite peri-od following a factional clash between two groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the students’ front of the ruling party Awami League.

The decision was made at an emergency meeting yesterday afternoon.

“No classes or examinations will take place during the closure of the universi-ty, but research works and examinations of post-graduate students will continue as usual,” said Prof Faruk-Uz-Zaman, registrar of Cuet, adding that a four-member probe committee headed by Dr Humayun Kabir of Mechanical Engineering Department was formed to investigate the matter.

Armed with sharp weapons, followers of

two BCL leaders - Mehedi Hasan Pavel, con-vener, and Mosleh Uddin, joint covenor of the university unit, – took position on the campus at about 10am over establishing supremacy. Then, a clash ensued between them, leaving � ve people of both groups injured. Of them, three persons were taken to Chittagong Medi-cal College Hospital in critical condition.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Jahangir Alam said: “We have decided to shut down the university to prevent further violence. It will remain closed until further announcement.”

The male students were asked to vacate the dormitories by 5pm yesterday while the female will have to leave the halls by 10am today.

Mehedi Hasan Pavel alleged that follow-ers of Mosleh Uddin launched an attack on his followers with the help of the police. “We will take disciplinary action from our organ-isation against the assaulters,” he added. l

KCC mayor suspended n Our Correspondent, Khulna

Khulna City Corporation Mayor Md Moniru-zzaman Moni has been suspended from his post following the framing of charges against him in several cases.

Local Government division of the LGRD Min-istry issued a circular in this regard yesterday.

Gokul Krishna Ghosh, chief executive of-� cer of the KCC, said: “The copy of the order singed by Abdul Malek, secretary of Local Government Department, reached at the of-� ce around 5pm.”

On June 12 this year, Khulna city unit BNP General Secretary Moniruzzaman Moni was charge sheeted with 42 people for attacking duty police on November 23, 2013.

According to section 12 (1) of the City Corporation Act, if charge sheet is accepted by court against any city corporation mayor and councillor, the government has right to

suspend him or her in consultation with the Election Commission.

On June 15, 2013, BNP-backed mayoral candidate Moniruzzaman Mony was elected as KCC mayor, ousting Awami League-backed candidate Talukduer Abdul Khaleque.

On September 8, 2013, Moni, took over the charges of the Khulna City Corporation o� ce.

Taking charges, he vowed to take every measure necessary for the welfare of Khul-na city residents, which includes forming investigation teams to � nd out previous cor-ruption, removing water-logging, freeing the city from drug, developing road communica-tion and reopening mills and factories.

On January 7 this year, the government suspended Sylhet Mayor Ariful Haque Choudhury on the same grounds. On June 4, the government also suspended Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul as he had been indicted in several cases. l

News20DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Dredging of Bakkhali River to begin soon n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

Dredging of Bakkhali, the only important river in Cox’s Bazar, is going to start soon as the government sanctioned Tk24 crore for the work.

According to sources, Water Development Board (WDB) sent a proposal of Tk225 crore to the Ministry of Water Resources on September,18, 2013, for dredging of the river.

But, the ministry did not sanction any budget in last two years for the work of the river.

Recently the government had assigned a

project for the development of the river and sanctioned Tk24 crore, said WDB Executive Engineer Sabibur Rahman.

The sources said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared the dredging of the river when she visited the district in 2011.

Later, the WDB sent a proposal to the ministry to excavate the river.

The ministry ordered the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority to complete the work.

The authority could not start the work until 2013.

Later, the ministry handed over the project to WDB.

According to sources, the pollution level of the river had risen to an all time high. But the local environment authorities had allegedly been inactive.

Local o� cials at the Department of Environment (DoE) argued that they were unable to take any measures because of a shortage of manpower and money.

They stressed the need for a coordinated approach by the municipal authorities, district administration and environmental groups to combat the problem.

The level of pollution was rising because household wastes produced by more than � ve lakh people living in the district were

dumped there.The DoE tested samples collected from

several parts of the river and found that the level of dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) vary greatly in comparison to the standard values.

The DoE o� cial warned that a lack of e� ective action would make the river more polluted than the Buriganga.

Twelve tonnes of wastes from the municipal area are dumped in the water bodies every day and more than half end up in Bakkhali River, said Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, director of Green Cox’s Bazar. l

Feature 21D

T

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Fright Night A night of chills and thrills at Six Seasons

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Given an audience desensitised by horror movies and some truly horri� c headline news, the bar for what it takes for an entertainer to really scare someone is really high. Add to that, the di� culty of catering to a wide range of tastes, and you’ve got quite the challenge.

The enterprising minds behind Six Seasons Hotel’s “Five Nights of Fear” haunted house experience (the � rst of its kind in Dhaka), certainly had their work cut out for them. We decided to go check it out for ourselves.

In for a penny...Staged in the basement of the hotel, the descent to the haunted house section is tinged with anticipation. The dimly lit reception area has some refreshments set out. “Blood, freshly squeezed,” jokes Alamin Abedin, the Reservation Supervisor, our host for the event. It turns out to be a fresh fruit concoction with a strong watermelon base. Vampirism suddenly doesn’t seem to be so bad. Before we enter, we’re asked to hand over our cell phones and read the warning and disclaimer. The experience is discouraged for anyone with a heart condition, or severe claustrophobia, or broken bones, which should really clue one in that they mean business, but at that moment, we’re not really expecting much.

Spoken too soon?To go into lengths describing the 20 minutes spent inside the maze would probably result in spoilers that would take away from the enjoyment of the venture for those yet to experience it. Su� ce to say, a lot of thought has been put into it by people who understand how fear works. You have your “boo” moments and the traditional scary costumed characters aimed at the easily scared, like yours truly. Then there are the creepy crawlies and stock characters that make it a sort of treasure hunt for dedicated horror a� cionados. The overall structure of the set-up, however, is designed to tap into that place in the psyche where the primal fears reside, slowly racking up the suspense, the unease and the paranoia that resides in the realm of terror. Even for the most stoic of visitors, the � nal exit sign comes with an overwhelming sense of relief at a narrow escape (although, we did have a moment of doubt about whether or not that door was going to lead us into another trap). The cookies and other treats served at the end de� nitely add to the feeling that all is well again.

A quick chat with the hotel’s director, Aaquib Shams revealed the inspiration behind the event. Drawing from his experience of haunted house o� erings when he lived in Canada, and later the UK, he felt that this was something that would de� nitely attract the populace of Dhaka, which is already warming up to the idea of Comicon and dressing up. “I felt like this is something no one’s done in Dhaka yet, so we decided to go for it.”

The verdictWhether you want an alternative to your regular date night activity, or to test your spookability, or simply for the catharsis of having survived a really creepy experience, the Haunted House at Six Seasons certainly delivers. The show ends tonight, so if you can still make it there, it’s de� nitely worth a try. l

News22DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 201522D

T

n Tahsin Momin

Stickers on cars can symbolise just about anything. Whether you have put it on yourself or somebody stuck one to your vehicle, taking o� unwanted stickers can be di� cult. While removing them isn’t as easy as putting them on, here is what you need to do to make such situations a little less sticky.

What you need:• Hairdryer • Box cutter (if removing from glass)• Plastic card (something similar to an ID

card)• Two clean towels• Glass cleaning solution• Car polish wax

What to do:1. Ensure that the surrounding area of the

sticker is dirt free. This removal process works best right after a car wash.

2. Turn the hairdryer on and hold it just a few inches above the sticker, not directly on top or above the car’s paint.

3. Keep the hair dryer over the centre area for a few seconds, and then slowly begin to move it around the rest of the sticker.

4. Now heat the edges of the sticker and use the plastic card at an angle to gently scrape up under the sticker.

Repeating steps 2, 3 and 4 a few more times can make a cumbersome sticker easier to remove.

But in case you’re removing a sticker

from the glass of your car, use a box cutter instead of the plastic card at a slight angle. Do not use a box cutter on your car’s paint; it will damage the paintwork. It is completely normal for the sticker to break apart during this removal process.

5. Once the sticker is removed, just apply a few sprays of the glass cleaning solution onto a clean towel and scrub away. If there is still some sticky residue left on the glass, use the plastic card to gently scrape it away.

6. Finally wipe the part of the car in question with some more glass cleaning solution to remove any remaining residue and give it a good rub with the car polish wax. l

How to remove stickers from your car?

auto correct

news

Handling a sticky situation

To excel in any of the numerous � elds of � nance, it is absolutely essential to have a strong hold over analysis and smart de-cision-making, combined with a blend of � nancial know-how. Consequentially, NSU Finance Club brings “IDLC Presents BLUE-PRINTS 1.0,” the � rst � nancial modeling competition in Bangladesh for the undergraduate students in the country. The competition is powered by Teletalk, Freedom and Seven Rings Cement.

BLUEPRINTS 1.0 is a platform where participants can apply their � nancial knowledge into analysis and decision making, work with templates of actual � nancial mod-els, get an opportunity to inter-view professionals, and build their skills as aspiring � nancial analysts.

There will be workshops before each phase of the competition. These workshops, besides intro-ducing participants to � nancial modeling, will also cover detailed instruc-tions on how to utilise the resources pro-vided, including templates to work on, and help to bring out the participants’ analysing prowess.

Prize money of Tk200,000 is to be awarded to the winning team of the compe-tition. The � rst and second runners up will get Tk100,000 and Tk50,000 respectively. Additionally, top � ve teams will be shortlist-ed for employment opportunities by reputed � nancial institutions.

The registration will remain open until November 5. To stay updated about the competition, visit the Facebook event page: IDLC Presents BLUEPRINTS 1.0 – National Financial Modeling Competition. l

NSU Finance Club to host ‘BLUEPRINTS 1.0’

‘Grand Factory Inauguration’ at RRM, ShyampurRani TMT 550W Gold at present is considered as one of the world’s most advanced brands of cycle loading capacity earthquake resistive TMT bars. Adopting Direct Hot Rolling (DHR) technology with machinery support from Belgium, Germany, India, Italy and the USA, it was recently introduced to Bangladesh by the Rani Re-Rolling Mills Ltd (RRM).RRM Group launched its core products through a grand ceremony titled “Grand Factory Inauguration” held at its own premises located at RRM, Road 21, Plot 32, Shyampur, Kahamtali Industrial Area, Dhaka on October 31. Home Minister for the Ministry of Home A� airs, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, MP; attended the gala ceremony as chief guest. Syed Abu Hossain Babla, MP Advocate Sanjida Khanam, MP; GM Jainal Abedin Bhuiyan, chairman, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartopakkha (RAJUK); Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI); Habib Ullah Dawn, director, FBCCI, chairman and managing director of A M Group; Sumon Chowdhury, chairman, RRM Group and managing director of Rani Rolling Mills Ltd; Saiful Islam Shuvo Chowdhury, managing director, RRM Group and deputy managing director, Rani Rolling Mills Ltd; and chief executive Sanjay Kumar (India) will also be present as special guests. l

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Food safety curesA look at local stores that offer unadulterated groceries

n Saudia Afrin

The growing problem of food adulteration continues to be a health concern. However, people are more aware now than before and instead of waiting for others to take initiatives to � x the situation, they are taking matters into their own hands and doing whatever possible to minimise the consequences of food adulteration in the society and on themselves.

How will you react if you found out that about half the vegetable items in the markets are adulterated with pesticides? Unfortunately, that is exactly what we’ve come to. According to a survey conducted by the National Food Safety Laboratory, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), most of the vegetable items sold in the market are adulterated with pesticides.

Over time, the list of adulterated food items grew longer as several other daily grocery items were found to be adulterated as well. Even � sh, chicken, fruits and spices have not been exempted from this list. Civilians are purchasing and consuming fatal chemicals such as formalin and lead chromium along with their groceries.

A lot of mobile courts have appeared over time but the entire process of getting things under control is still just a work in progress. It’s high time people were made aware of it and something was being done to prevent it. But the fact that a handful number of people and organisations, out of the millions living in the city, started to combat the problem of food contamination, is probably the only silver lining.

Jahan Dairy is one such organisation. To provide nutritious food for families, they began farming their own products. The rising demand for healthy food initiated this endeavour. Jahid Alam, one of the initiators said, “There is an endless demand for unadulterated food with zero supply.

We wanted to grow vegetables and other food items for personal consumption but it was too expensive. That’s when we decided to start farming these items not for just ourselves, but for others looking to buy unadulterated food items as well. We wanted to serve people and also create a sustainable process.” Alam also informed that everything which includes milk and milk products such as ghee, curd, deshi chicken eggs and � sh are produced in their own farm in Mawla, Gazipur. Vegetables and fruits are sold depending on their seasonal availability. Everything has been farmed through a very natural process. Alam said, “In our chicken farm, we strictly avoid processed food, and we feed them local rice grains. The same process has been applied to every other section.” Right now, Jahan Dairy takes orders from across the city only on Tuesdays and Saturdays via their hotline number (+8801710990999).

Another similar initiative was taken by Shobuj Uddegh, a company that specialises in the same arena. They are providing unadulterated red/white � our, deshi sugar, a variety of rice, spices, shudh ghee, achaar, honey, pu� ed rice, seasonal fruits, etc. Apart from having their own farm, they also outsource from local farmers but only after they’ve ensured the quality of the produce. Shobuj Uddegh has a store in Mohammadpur along with which they also take orders through their hotline number (+8801791002007). “A few more stores will be opened very soon,” Riazul, a sales executive of the store happily added.

A lot of people seek for pure honey. For them there is Siqat Food Shop, an excellent store owned by Sadat. They o� er Kalijira Modhu, collected directly from farmers and Sundarban Modhu collected from the local Mawali. They can be reached at their designated hotline as well (+8801875221866). All three aforementioned companies provide home delivery. l

• Turmeric powder has lead chromate which can be deadly if swallowed or inhaled.

• Some of the other banned pesticides such as DDT, aldrin, chlordane and heptachlor are used in milk, milk products, � sh, fruits and vegetables. Almost everything edible is septic.

• Food with formalin can lead to chronic poisoning, and can also lead to damaged kidneys. It can also cause cancer.

• The presence of antibiotics in poultry only contributes to antibiotic-

resistance in bacteria, making infections harder to treat.

• The microbial food related illnesses are diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, sore throat with fever and jaundice.

• Arsenic and chromium above safety limits were detected in a total of � ve out of 13 rice samples. Arsenic has cancer-causing properties. Continuous low level exposure is the reason behind skin, vascular and nervous system disorders.

Tech 24DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

n Mahmood Hossain

Before you go and take stinging jabs and distasteful remarks, let’s get the obvious fact out of the way. The new HTC One A9 looks almost exactly like the new iPhones. Design wise, it is 90% identical to the iPhone 6 or 6s. We left the other 10% out because of the placement of its rear camera, the � ngerprint censor, home button and other minute details the changed to somehow become distinguishable compared to other � agships. Even the rear camera and � ash are shaped the same. But, and this is a big “but”, it should be stated that this is a really good Android phone.

The looksThe most signi� cant change, apart from the entire design, is the absence of its signature BoomSound speakers. They now have a single speaker. Guess where? And here’s the thing, other brands in the smartphone market have been copying or borrowing design elements from Apple for a very long time now. This is nothing new. However, almost perfectly cloning the iPhone can

de� nitely throw the average consumer o� a little. So much so, it’ll get more confusing because the phone weighs the same as the iPhone too. Again, you have a successfully cloned iPhone that is running Android. Some may argue that it’s a wannabe, while others will welcome the iPhone aesthetics with their more comfortable Android software.

Is it unoriginal? Sure. But it cannot go without comparison and we have to admit that it’s still an exquisite Android phone. In addition, the size of the new A9 is between the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. If you placed these three phones side by side, it’s literally choosing among small, medium or large; A9 being the medium option. It is 7.3mm thick and weighs 143g. It houses a 5-inch, AMOLED display with a 1080x1920 (441ppi pixel density) resolution. All of this protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

The worksIt’s unfortunate how many will point out its design characteristics, blinding them from the fact that this is actually one of the best smartphones in the market right now. Straight out of the box, the A9 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617, quad-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A53 and quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A53 processor. It’s backed up by 3GB of RAM, which is now the market standard, on the 32GB model. The base 16GB model has only 2GB of RAM. In all honesty, we don’t know how many buyers would actually settle for the lower tier specs. In addition, there’s the 13-megapixel rear camera and the 4-megapixel front-facing camera.

Interestingly enough, HTC will not go as far as saying this is the best camera they have ever produced for a � agship. The truth is, many avid users and professionals have already stated it has the best camera HTC has provided for a smart device. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for its non-removable 2,150mAh battery. It’s not the best, but it will actually last the entire day. And yes, it’s actually smaller

than the iPhone’s battery. But not to worry, just like all the other new Android devices, it has fast charging.

Another honest assessment is the phone actually performs quite well. It’s smooth and speedy. And even though it has the newest version of its Sense theme, you can easily remove or alter it to make it a more stock Android experience.

The verdictYes, it copied the iPhone, which is a shame because it diverts the attention away from a very good performing smartphone. This will turn o� plenty of users who appreciated the unique approach HTC has taken with their devices. Unfortunately, the company’s pro� ts have plunged over the past couple of quarters. This really isn’t helping with the overall image of their � agship line. Only time will tell if this somehow boosts their � nancial stance in the smartphone market.

What we have here is a pretty good phone, there is no denying that. And apart from its design, there’s another little snag. This might irk some of you, if not all of you. It has a premium price tag as well. $499 to be exact. At � rst, for a limited time in the States, they were o� ering the phone for $399. This move is to boost sales, but not knowing how the overall performance and outcome of its longevity might hurt HTC in the long-run. Yet again, we’re pretty sure many people out there wouldn’t mind buying a phone that looks like the iPhone but costs a little less. Not to mention it runs Android.

Whatever the overall number may be in sales, HTC has a tough mountain to climb. Sadly, they didn’t win too many points with their last One M9 model. Any tech enthusiast will tell you that this phone’s price is too high for what it is o� ering with its build and specs. It is better than all those knock-o� clones of the iPhone, that’s for sure. But how long can these brands hold on to Apple’s coattails? Bold statement? Sure, but that’s not far from the truth at all. l

HTC’s new � agshipIt’s the first Android iPhone. Wait, what?

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

‘I am still learning’Mominul Haque yesterday registered his maiden double-hundred in � rst-class cricket for Chittagong division in the National Cricket League. His innings of 239 came o� 322 balls against Barisal. He now has 3717 � rst-class runs from 93 innings at an average of 43.22. The 24-year-old, however, has a better record in the international arena as his average of 56 is the highest for any Bangladeshi in Tests. PAGE 26

Real, PSG in heavyweight duel, Juventus eye last-16A return to his former club for PSG’s Angel Di Maria, who got the goal in the French champions’ 1-0 win at Rennes on Friday to keep Laurent Blanc’s men � ying high at the top of Ligue 1. “I don’t know how the people will react and how they will treat me when I go back,” said Di Maria. PAGE 27

Muslim rugby star gives WC medal to teenage fanA 14-year-old New Zealand fan Charlie Lines is now the proud owner of a Rugby World Cup winner’s medal – after an extraordinary act of generosity from Sonny Bill Williams. Williams acted after seeing a security guard rugby tackle the boy after their victory over Australia. PAGE 28

Taylor’s maiden � fty keeps England in huntJames Taylor hit a maiden half-century in his comeback match to bolster England to 222-4 at stumps on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Sharjah on Monday. The 25-year-old kept Pakistan at bay with an unbeaten 74 and found an able ally in Jonny Bairstow (37 not out) as the two put on 83 for the unbroken � fth-wicket stand. PAGE 29

Paceman Kamrul Islam Rabbi is closely watched by coach Chandika Hathurusingha as the right-arm quickie is about to send a delivery during his � rst day in training with the Bangladesh national team at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Daddy-to-be Shakib backin businessn Mazhar Uddin

Soon-to-be father Shakib al Hasan upon join-ing the Bangladesh training camp yesterday said that his wife forced him to play in the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe. The world's leading all-rounder � ew to the United States with his wife Umme Shishir last month where the couple are expected to have their � rst child later this month.

There were confusion whether the Tigers would avail the service of their prime crick-eter, but Shakib said that he will be playing the series and will return to his wife imme-diately in case of any emergency.

“My wife's support has been very impor-tant for me and she is the one who insisted me to come and play. She also asked me to return early only if there is any emergency. If the delivery of my child takes place on the expected time then I will be able to com-plete the series and return.”

“It is only because of her that I decided to come, otherwise it would not have mattered to me if I didn't play the series,” said Shakib.

“She said to me, 'if you sit here and watch the game I can't bear the look on your face. It's better you go and play.'”

Shakib further said that one cannot im-

agine how excited he is about the upcoming series but “If required I may skip one or two games and that depends on the situation.”

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe team arrived in the capital yesterday as Shakib sees its as a good sign. Earlier, the Cricket Australia cancelled their tour in October citing “secu-rity threat.”

The champion all-rounder spoke to the media after quite a while where he informed that Zimbabwe has helped Bangladesh by taking part in the series after Australia can-celed their tour due to security reasons re-cently and it's a very positive thing for Bang-ladesh, said Shakib after the Tigers training session at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadi-um yesterday.

“It's a positive sign and in a way I think Zimbabwe helped us by coming to our coun-try. It's a big thing that a team arrived to play against us at the moment. I don't think there were any uncertainty over cricket in Bangla-desh ever. I am very happy to see Zimbabwe arrive and I believe that there was no prob-lem involving cricket in the past and there won't be any in the future in Bangladesh,” said the 28-year-old.

The southpaw expects his team to con-tinue delivering good results as it has been

in the past few months. He said that it's im-portant for them to � nish the year on a pos-itive note before adding that, earlier Bangla-desh fought to win over Zimbabwe but now they eye domination. l

Sport26DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

NCL, ROUND 6, DAY 2Rangpur v Khulna, ZACS, ChittagongRangpur (1st): 324/7 in 104.3 overs(Tanveer 105, Dhiman 69, Razzak 66/4)

Rajshahi v Sylhet, SANS, KhulnaSylhet (1st): 176/10 in 60.3 oversRajshahi (1st): 395/10 in 101.1 oversSylhet (2nd): 242/10 in 61 overs(Ruman 106, Sunzamul 3/90, Shafaq 2/24)Rajshahi (2nd): 26/0 (6.2 ov)(Avishek 19*, Junaid 7*)

Rajshahi won by 10 wickets

Chittagong v Barisal, SCS, BograBarisal (1st): 489/10 in 143.4 oversChittagong (1st): 423/8 in 120 overs(Mominul 239, Nafees 56, Gazi 3/133, Monir 3/64)

Chittagong trail by 66 runs with 2 wickets remaining in 1st innings

Zimbabwe arrive safely in Dhakan Mazhar Uddin

Led by Elton Chigumbura the 16-member Zimbabwe cricket team arrived in Dhaka yes-terday to play three one-day internationals and two international Twenty20s in their two-week tour.

Zimbabwe will begin training today before engaging in a tour game on Thursday against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah.

The visitors arrived on the back of a bit-ter experience of losing a � ve-match one-day series to ICC associate member’s Afghanistan 2-3 at home. That saw some shu� es in their squad as leg-spinner Graeme Creamer and wicketkeeper-batsman Regis Chakabva were recalled to the side while Brian Chari, Kevin Kasuza, Tinotenda Mutombodzi and Christo-pher Mpofu lost their place.

The ODIs will be played on November 7, 9 and 11 respectively followed by the T20s on November 13 and 15 at the Sher-e-Bangla Na-tional Stadium.

Zimbabwe squad: Elton Chigumbura, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva, Chamu Chibhabha, Tendai Chisoro, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Neville Madziva, Wellington Masakadza, Richmond Mutum-bami, Taurai Muzarabani, John Nyumbu, Tinashe Panyangara, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams. l

Elton Chigumbura (L) along with his Zimbabwean teammates arrived in the capital yesterday to play three ODIs and two Twenty20s with Bangladesh from November 7 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Khulna, Barisal set to celebrate n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Khulna relaxed

After the � rst day was washed out, Rangpur batted till stumps on day three yesterday and made 324 runs with three wickets remaining in their � rst innings. However, that will hard-ly give a headache to Khulna who are at the top of Tier 1 with 47 points and will get their hands on the trophy after he match ends today. Tanvir Haider scored 105 runs and Dhiman Ghosh added 69 to the tally for Ran-pur. Khulna skipper Abdur Razzak bagged four wickets and was ably supported by left-arm spinner Murad Khan who picked three.

Mini’s double hundred propel CtgMominul Haque’s 239 aided Chittagong to a strong reply to Tier 2 leaders Barisal on day three as the match is set for a draw. The port-city side resumed their � rst innings with Mominul and Nafees Iqbal unbeaten on 64 and 56 respectively as they went on to add 156 runs for the second wicket. Mominul went on to play 322 balls for his maiden � rst-class double hundred. Despite a debacle lat-er, Chittagong at stumps trailed by 66 runs with two wickets remaining. Barisal spinner Sohag Gazi and Monir Hossain bagged three wickets each.

Rajshahi shine lateRajshahi registered a 10-wicket victory against Sylhet for their second win in the sea-son and although they reached top of Tier 2 with 54 points, it will only last a day as Baris-al, after completion of their match in the last round today, will reclaim the spot.

Despite Ryman Ahmed’s 106, Sylhet were bowled out for 242 in the second innings, set-ting Rajshahi a target of 24 runs to win. It only took 6.2 overs for Rajshahi to win the game.

Meanwhile, due to rain there was not a single ball bowled after day three in the match between Dhaka division and Dhaka Metropolis in Cox’s Bazar. l

Mominul Haque yesterday registered his maiden double-hundred in � rst-class cricket for Chittagong division in the National Crick-et League. His innings of 239 came o� 322 balls against Barisal. He now has 3717 � rst-class runs from 93 innings at an average of 43.22. The 24-year-old, however, has a better record in the international arena as his aver-age of 56 is the highest for any Bangladeshi in Tests. Nicknamed ‘Mini’ in the dressing room, Mominul, who has nine half centuries and four hundreds in 17 Tests, shared his ex-perience and views with Minhaz Uddin Khan yesterday. Below are the excerpts.

How does it feel after registering the maiden double century in your cricket career?It is hard to explain, it has come after a lot of hard work. I personally believe that I was not being able to score to my ability. So I thought only a big score can help me come out of it. So I hope this double century will help me surpass the mental block and score more runs in the coming days.

You were involved in a 156-run partnership with Nafees Iqbal. How was the experience?The job becomes easy when you have a sen-ior batsman like Nafees bhai alongside. Every time I made a mistake, he came up to me from the non-striking end and pointed it out. I also returned the favour by doing the same on few occasions, so we were both helping each other during the partnership. It was a good partnership.

Given your caliber in the longer-version cricket do you think the double century has

come late?I had scored 181 (the previous highest in � rst-class) in the 2013-14 season. To be honest I feel I should have scored this big a long ago, but then again I believe I am still in the learn-ing cuve. Wrong techniques might have been the reason for the delay and I am trying my best to overcome that. With blessings from the Almighty I have scored a double (hun-dred) now but that doesn’t mean that I have become perfect, I am still learning.

Chittagong for last few seasons have been amongst the bottom teams? Where is it going wrong?I don’t know what to put � rst but both bowl-ing and � elding are the issues behind the team’s poor performance. We don’t have a bowler in the team who can take 10 wickets or one who can give an edge to the attack. Talking about � elding, we dropped at least seven to eight catches in this game (against Barisal) or else it have been tough for them to score more than 300 runs. So the team is in big trouble now. But there are few young-sters who are coming up strongly and if taken proper care they will go a long way and make look Chittagong division better. l

‘I am still learning’

Chittagong’s Mominul Haque celebrates his double-century as Barisal’s Sohag Gazi applaud’s the feat during their NCL Tier 2 � nal round match in Bogra yesterday COURTESY

Mominul HaqueFirst-Class RecordInnings 93Not Out 7Runs 3717Highest Score 239Average 43.22

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Bagerhat, Joypurhat win in women’s football Bagerhat and Joypurhat district kicked o� their National Women’s Football Champion-ship campaign with identical 1-0 victories yes-terday. Bagerhat edged past Magura thanks to Lika’s goal in the 17th minute at the Police Line ground in Jessore while Lota netted in the 67th minute in Joypurhat’s win over Bogra at the Police Line Ground in Rajshahi. A total of 42 district teams are participating in the tourna-ment across six venues in Rangpur, Jessore, Rajshahi, Meherpur, Faridpur and Laxmipur.

TRIBUNE REPORT

Own ghoul! Barca sorry for Halloween prankEuropean champions Barcelona have apologised for the behaviour of their players after a number of the star-studded squad interrupted a press conference by screaming whilst dressed in Halloween costumes. The group including Luis Suarez and Neymar burst in on Getafe mid� elder Victor Rodriguez’s press conference after Barca had beaten the Madrid side 2-0 on Saturday.

AFP

Guardiola visits ailing mentor Cruy� Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola took advantage of a rare weekend o� to � y back to his native Barcelona to visit sick mentor Johan Cruy� . The 68-year-old Dutch legend is su� ering from lung cancer and was Guardiola’s coach at Barcelona during his playing career. According to Catalan sports daily Sport, Guar-diola � ew to Spain to meet Cruy� in Osona, near Barcelona, after Bayern’s goalless draw with Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.

AFP

Costa avoids disciplinary action over Skrtel tangleChelsea striker Diego Costa has avoided disciplinary action after appearing to kick out at Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat, according to EFA sources. Referee Mark Clattenburg is understood to have seen the incident and opted against issuing a cau-tion, meaning there can be no retrospective sanction by the authorities. The two players had fallen to the ground after a challenge by Spanish international Costa.

REUTERS

‘Chelsea giving 100 percent for Mourinho’Chelsea players are giving 100 percent for under-� re manager Jose Mourinho, mid� elder John Obi Mikel has said, adding that the Pre-mier League champions needed a bit of luck to turn their fortunes around.

REUTERS

Mexico provide F1 magicMercedes and Nico Rosberg were the race win-ners on Sunday but Mexico provided the magic on an unforgettable return to the Formula One stage. The � rst Mexican Grand Prix since 1992 provided the sort of atmosphere to rival even the most passionate races of yesteryear.

REUTERS

QUICK BYTES Real, PSG in heavyweight duel, Juventus eye last-16n AFP, Paris

Real Madrid (ESP) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)

A return to his former club for PSG’s Angel Di Maria, who got the goal in the French champions’ 1-0 win at Rennes on Friday to keep Laurent Blanc’s men � ying high at the top of Ligue 1. “I don’t know how the people will react and how they will treat me when I go back,” said Di Maria. On seven points apiece, either PSG or Real can qualify with a win combined with defeat for Malmo. Real warmed up with a 3-1 win over Las Palmas to keep them on top of La Liga on goal di� er-ence. PSG held Real to a goalless draw at Parc des Princes last time out.

Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) v Malmo (SWE)Cut adrift by PSG and Real Madrid, Shakhtar and Malmo are barring an upset in a scrap for a Europa League spot. Deposed Swedish champions Malmo edged Shakhtar 1-0 a fort-night ago, but their hosts are in buoyant form after a 7-1 rout, their seventh straight win, in the Ukrainian top � ight at the weekend. Alex Teixeira’s double took his tally to 18 goals in 12 league games.

Man Utd (ENG) v CSKA Moscow (RUS)United have not scored in any competition since matchday three when Anthony Mar-tial’s equaliser saw these sides share the spoils 1-1 in Moscow, leaving both clubs on four points at the halfway stage. CSKA are top in Russia after an 11th win in 14 games on Saturday. After three straight 0-0 draws the key enigma for United is whether boss Louis Van Gaal persists with mis� ring Wayne Roon-ey as centre-forward with Martial operating on the left.

PSV Eindhoven (NED) v Wolfsburg (GER)Bottom of the group on three points, Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven know a home win over leaders Wolfsburg will see them draw level with the Germans. On Saturday, PSV gave up a three-goal lead to bottom side De Graafschap before regrouping to clinch a remarkable 6-3 victory. Third in the Bundesliga, Wolfsburg also needed a late winner against Bayer Leverkusen delivered by German international Julian Draxler. Wolfsburg beat PSV 2-0 in Germany just two weeks ago with late goals from Bas Dost and Max Kruse.

Astana (KAZ) v Atletico Madrid (ESP)Atletico Madrid will look to build on their 4-0 demolition of Astana last time out. Atletico are level with Ben� ca on six points and the 2014 � nalists will be eager to make amends for Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Deportivo La Coru-na in La Liga. Competition debutants Astana, who will again be without banned Ghanaian forward Patrick Twumasi, picked up their only point at home to Galatasaray on match-day two.

Benfica (POR) v Galatasaray (TUR)A first win in 11 European matches revived Galatasaray’s challenge for a top-two finish

as Benfica dropped their first points when the sides met in Turkey a fortnight ago. That defeat was followed by a 3-0 reverse against Sporting which snapped Benfica’s 55-match unbeaten league run at home and they will be without suspended Greece midfielder Andreas Samaris on Tuesday. However, Galatasaray’s recent away form in the Champions League is particularly poor -- they are without a win in nine attempts.

Moenchengladbach (GER) v Juventus (ITA)Last season’s Champions League runners-up Juventus can qualify for the last-16 if they beat Moenchengladbach and Sevilla lose to Manchester City. Juve and Borussia drew 0-0 in Turin in what was the German club’s � rst point in three games. Juventus needed an in-jury-time goal to beat city rivals Torino at the weekend with on-loan Chelsea winger Juan

Cuadrado scoring his � rst goal in 38 games. They will be without Germany mid� elder Sami Khedira who tore his calf in that game. Under caretaker coach Andre Schubert, Glad-bach have climbed from bottom of the Ger-man league to � fth.

Sevilla (ESP) v Man City (ENG)City kept their hopes alive thanks to Kevin de Bruyne’s injury time strike in a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the Spaniards last time out. On Tuesday, they will again be without the injured Sergio Aguero, whilst David Silva remains doubtful due to a sprained ankle. Jesus Navas will return to his home city to take on the club where he spent ten years before joining City. Sevilla have injury problems as top scorer Kevin Gameiro misses out due to a hamstring problem picked up in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Villarreal. l

Real Madrid’s Danilo (L) controls the ball past Casemiro (C) as Luka Modric (R) and Cristiano Ronaldo (back) look on during a training session on the eve of their Champions League Group A match against Paris St Germain, at the team’s training grounds outside Madrid, Spain, yesterday REUTERS

28DT Sport

n AFP, Liverpool

Everton manager Roberto Martinez paid tribute to the determination of Arouna Kone after the Ivorian forward’s hat-trick inspired his team to a 6-2 demolition of Sunderland on Sunday.

Kone, 31, struck three times at Goodison Park and also created a goal for Gerard Deu-lofeu as Martinez’s side ended a three-game winless run and climbed into the top half of the Premier League table.

“His springboard was against Watford on the opening day,” said the Spaniard, referring

to a 2-2 home draw in which Kone scored a late equaliser. “He had a career-threatening knee-injury, but when he came on against Wat-ford, to show he could help the team and per-form, it was an incredible turning point. Since then we have seen a very good footballer.”

It was a � rst hat-trick in English football for Kone, who played for Ivory Coast at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

“It’s my � rst hat-trick in the Premier League. Before I scored (one) in the Nether-lands,” Kone told Sky Sports. l

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

n Tribune Report

A 14-year-old New Zealand fan Charlie Lines is now the proud owner of a Rugby World Cup winner’s medal – after an extraordinary act of generosity from Sonny Bill Williams. Williams acted after seeing a security guard rugby tackle the boy, who had run on the pitch during the All Blacks’ lap of honour following their 34-17 Rugby World Cup � nal victory over Australia last Saturday.

Williams, who was photographed in-tervening then handing the dumbfounded youngster his medal, told New Zealand’s One News afterwards: “I was walking around do-ing a lap of honour with the boys and a young fella came running out and he got smoked by the security guard, like full-on tackled him. I felt sorry for the little fella.

“If that was a younger brother or cousin I would have given the security guard a hid-ing. But I just picked the kid up and took him back to his old lady and tried to make the night more memorable for him. Better [for the medal] to be hanging around his neck than mine.”

Williams, who made an instant impact in the � nal when he came o� the bench at the start of the second-half, added that defend-ing the World Cup was “by far the best feel-ing” he had experienced in his career.

“You’re doing it all with your best mates,” he said. “There’s world class quality players throughout our squad. Everyone dug deep

and it’s a very happy way to � nish the tournament. I just want to go and enjoy the win — back to back World Cups — with my brothers.”

However, on Sunday the Rugby Union pre-sented Sonny with a new medal after which he said, “I am sure that he’ll remember it. I’m happy that he has it because I know that he will really appreciate it. When he’s older, he can tell the story to his children.”

Williams converted to Islam in 2008, stat-ing that he found his faith in France while playing for Toulon. He is the � rst Muslim to play for the All Blacks. Prior to converting to Islam, he was involved in several alcohol-re-lated incidents, including a low-range drink driving conviction, being caught in a com-

promising position with Australian model and ironwoman Candice Falzon and receiv-ing an infringement notice and � ne for public urination. On his o� -� eld indiscretions, Wil-liams has said, “Those things have made me who I am today, I wouldn’t change that.”

On 27 May 2009, Williams made his debut as a professional boxer on the undercard of close friend Anthony Mundine, defeating Garry Gurr with a technical knockout (TKO) in the second round in Brisbane.l

Real name Sonny William WilliamsNickname SBWRated at HeavyweightNationality New ZealandAge 30Rugby record for New ZealandYears Played Tries Points2010–15 33 9 45Boxing recordTotal � ghts 7Wins 7Wins by KO 3Losses 0

Muslim rugby star gives World Cup medal to stunned 14-year-old fan

In an interview on “The Footy Show” (a sports show based on rugby in New Zealand) in September 13, 2013, Sonny was asked, “What has the Muslim faith done for you? What has it given you most?”

His reply was, “Happiness..happiness. I don’t go around..I won’t go around preaching or anything. It’s like something that’s just with me. What it’s done for me on my inside I can’t really explain. But obviously it’s helped with my footy, cause I don’t drink or anything like that anymore and I try to live a lot cleaner lifestyle and things like that. But essentially it’s just made me a lot happier.”

Arouna Kone shoots to score the second goal for Everton against Sunderland in their EPL match at Goodison Park on Sunday. Kone netted a hat-trick and assisted one goal in their 6-2 win REUTERS

Tevez leads Boca to Argentine titlen AFP, Buenos Aires

Carlos Tevez captained his boyhood club Boca Juniors to the Argentine Primera Divi-sion title on Sunday, the eighth league crown of the former Juventus and Pemier League striker’s career.

Tevez, who played for Boca when they won their last national crown in 2003 before moving to Europe, returned to the Buenos Aires side in July.

“I came back to feel this again” the 31-year-old said after former Lyon defender Fabian Monzon’s 42nd minute goal earned Boca a 1-0 win over Tigre and their 31st title with a game to spare.

Boca are six points clear at the top of the table of San Lorenzo, the side supported by Pope Francis, and eight points ahead of Ro-sario Central. l

EPL, GAMEWEEK 11Everton 6-2 SunderlandDeulofeu 19, Defoe 45+4, Kone 31, 62, 76, Fletcher 50Coates 55-og,Lukaku 60

Southampton 2-0 Bournemouth Davis 31, Pelle 36

Martinez hails Everton match-winner Kone

Sport 29D

T

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

PAKvENG, DAY-2Pakistan 1st innings 234 (Misbah-ul-Haq 71; J. Anderson 4-17)ENGLAND IST INNINGS R BA.Cook c Ali b Shah 49 119Moeen Ali c Younis b Malik 14 28I. Bell st Ahmed b Shah 40 158J. Root c Ahmed b Rahat 4 14J. Taylor not out 74 141J. Bairstow not out 37 94Extras: (lb2, nb2) 4Total: (for four wkts, 92 overs) 222

To bat:B. Stokes, Adil Rashid, S. Patel, S. Broad, J. AndersonFall of wicket:1-19 (Ali), 2-90 (Cook), 3-97 (Root), 4-139 (Bell)Bowling:Rahat 16-8-35-1, Shah 29-3-79-2, Riaz 15-4-23-0 (2nb), Babar 25-2-60-0, Malik 5-2-16-1, Ali 2-0-7-0

Toss: Pakistan

BRIEF SCOREWest Indies159 for 8 (Russell 41, Holder 36, Lakmal 3-15) Sri Lanka164 for 9 (Dilshan 59, Mendis 21*, Narine 3-21)

SL win by one wicket (D/L method)

Ten Action7:00PM UEFA Youth League Real Madrid v PSG UEFA Champions League 9:00PMAstana v Atletico 12:45AMReal Madrid v PSG Ten Cricket11:00PM England Tour of Pakistan (UAE) 3rd Test Day 3 Star Sports 27:30PM Indian Super League 2015Delhi v North East Star Sports 44:00PM ATP 1000 Masters 2015BNP Paribas Masters Paris

DAY’S WATCH

Roger Federer (L) holds the trophy after winning the � nal against Rafael Nadal (R) at the Swiss Indoors ATP Tennis Tournament in Basel on Sunday REUTERS

Federer downs old foe Nadal to take Basel titlen Reuters, Basel

Roger Federer got the better of old rival Rafa Nadal for the � rst time in more than three years to win a seventh Basel title 6-3 5-7 6-3 on Sunday.

Top seed Federer, whose rivalry with Na-dal is one of the most storied in tennis histo-ry, had not beaten the Spaniard since he won a semi-� nal at Indian Wells in 2012 and had lost their last � ve matches.

The pair had not met across a net for 21 months, so there was an added sense of an-ticipation as Federer walked on court for

his 12th � nal in his home city. He survived a break point in his opening service game be-fore grabbing the upper hand.

The Swiss broke twice to take the opening set and went about putting pressure on third seed Nadal at the start of the second, crafting a break point at 3-2 ahead.

Nadal, however, dug deep to stay in the contest and claimed his � rst break of the match for a 6-5 lead as Federer netted a back-hand, leaving the Mallorcan to serve out to love.

The Swiss broke decisively to lead 5-3 in the third set and served out to take the title,

the 88th of his career, after two hours and three minutes of battle.

“It was one of my best weeks in Basel, considering everything I’ve done throughout my career here,” Federer told reporters.

“I thought the match was close. I had my chances in the second, but he fought back well, like he’s done throughout the week re-ally. Overall, I was really happy how I played and it was a very special day.”

Nadal, who has enjoyed a return to form after a relatively poor year by his standards, fell just short of claiming only the second in-door hard court title of his career. l

Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni and West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle at a promotional event of Mcdowell’s No.1 Soda in New Delhi on Monday AP

Sri Lanka win in thrillern Reuters, Colombo

Sri Lanka paceman Suranga Lakmal took three quick wickets before Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed a 32-ball 59 to lead Sri Lanka to a tense one-wicket win in a rain-curtailed � rst one-dayer against West Indies on Sunday.

The hosts seemed to be cruising to their target of 163, adjusted by the Duckworth-Lew-is method, before o� -spinner Sunil Narine struck three times in an over to bring West In-dies right back into the match. l

Taylor’s maiden � fty keeps England in huntn AFP, Sharjah

James Taylor hit a maiden half-century in his comeback match to bolster England to 222-4 at stumps on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Sharjah on Monday.

The 25-year-old, playing his � rst Test since 2012, kept Pakistan at bay with an un-beaten 74 and found an able ally in Jonny Bairstow (37 not out) as the two put on an invaluable 83 for the unbroken � fth-wicket stand at Sharjah Stadium.

That leaves England just 12 behind Paki-stan’s � rst-innings total of 234 with six wickets intact as they hope to gain a decisive lead in their bid to level the three-match series. When Taylor walked in England were struggling at 97-3 after Alastair Cook (49) and Joe Root -- their two key batsmen -- had been dismissed.

Pakistan lead the series 1-0 after winning the second Test in Dubai while the � rst Test ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi. l

Downtime30DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

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

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 13 represents T so � ll T every time the � gure 13 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Male deer (4)6 Inferior horse (3)7 Valley (4)9 Earth (4)10 Musical note (5)11 Army rank (5)12 Flightless bird (3)14 Assail (5)17 Disguises (5)20 Land measure (3)21 Blackboard support (5)23 Yielded (5)25 Contended in rivalry (4)26 Seeds covering (4)27 Be victorious (3)28 Den (4)

DOWN1 Method (6)2 Hostility (6)3 Festive (4)4 Pale (3)5 Precious stone (3)7 Dreadful (4)8 Vital organ (5)10 Unruly crowd (3)13 Manufacturer (5)15 Salt lake (6)16 O� er (6)18 Part of a yacht (4)19 Sorrowful (3)22 Wicked (4)23 Headwear (3)24 Obscure (3)

SUDOKU

Bangladeshi singer Mehreen just celebrated her birthday with friends, fans, other musicians and eminent personalities at the premises of Shandhani (a voluntary institution of medical students) in Nilkhet by donating blood and registering for after death eye donation.

“My birthday was on October 30, and

initially I planned on celebrating the day in a grand manner,” Mehreen says, “but later I changed my mind, and wanted to do something entirely di� erent. I decided to get in touch with Shandhani and asked them if they’d let me help them out with something. They gave me an opportunity to make a di� erence.”

Also present at the event were former ambassador Dr Afsarul Kader, provost of

Rokeya Hall Rowshan Ara, freedom � ghter and organiser Ruhel Ahmed Babu, designer of Rang Biplob Saha, musicians Sayan and Minar, elocutionist Anik Khan, Shandhani National Eye Donation Society’s central counsellor Mizanur Rahman Mazumder, Prof Dr Ali Asgar Moral, Dr Joynal Abedin and Dr Joynul Islam. The programme was managed by Go Girl and Cool Exposure, and sponsored by Diamond World and Rani Steel. l

Showtime 31D

TTUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

Mehreen celebrates her birthdayFinal Destination 2 HBO 7:43pmWhen Kimberly has a violent pre-monition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few others safe. Or are they? The survi-vors mysteriously start dying and it’s up to Kimberly to stop it before she’s next.Cast: Ali Larter, AJ Cook, Michael Landes, Tony Todd

Transporter 2Star Movies 9:30pmMercenary Frank Martin, who spe-cializes moving goods of all kinds, surfaces again this time in Miami, Florida when he’s implicated in the kidnapping of the young son of a powerful USA o� cial.Cast: Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta

Blade WB 7:37pmA half-vampire, half-mortal man be-comes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires.Cast: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dor� , Kris Kristo� erson, N’Bushe Wright

WHAT TO WATCH

Back Page32DT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015

MEHREEN DONATES BLOOD ON BIRTHDAY PAGE 31

BD TO SEEK $13BN CHINESE LOAN FOR POWER PLANTS PAGE 15

DADDY-TO-BE SHAKIB BACK IN BUSINESS PAGE 25

JSC, JDC exams rescheduled to2pm todayn Shadma Malik

Today’s Junior School Certi� cate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certi� cate (JDC) examinations have been rescheduled to 2pm from 10am.

The Ministry of Education made the announcement yesterday, which said the scheduled English Paper I test of the JSC and the Bangla Paper I test of the JDC exams had been postponed by four hours due to una-voidable circumstances.

A nationwide half-day hartal is being ob-served today by Gonojagoron Moncho in protest of the brutal killing of publisher Fais-al Are� n Dipan and attacks on another three publisher-writers.

The JSC and JDC examinations began across the country on Sunday and are sched-uled to end on November 18.

A total of 2,090,692 students from 27,925 educational institutions are taking this year’s examinations, according to the ministry.

Earlier on Thursday, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid at a press brie� ng said the government had taken steps to prevent ques-tion paper leak during these exams.

“There is no chance of question paper leak. We have increased surveillance in Bangladesh Government Press so that no employee can take any of the questions out of the press.” l

Jail Killing Day todayn Tribune Report

The nation will observe the Jail Killing Day today to commemorate the 1975 killing of four national leaders inside Dhaka Central Jail.

On November 3, 1975, four national lead-ers and heroes of the country’s Liberation War - Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Captain Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzam-an - were assassinated inside the jail.

The four played a key role in forming the Mujibnagar government that led the 1971 Lib-eration War with Syed Nazrul Islam as the act-ing president, Tajuddin Ahmed as the prime minister, Mansur Ali as the � nance minister and AHM Qamruzzaman as the home, relief and rehabilitation minister, reports UNB.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Hasina have issued separate mes-sages on the occasion.

The Awami League, its associate bod-ies and other political parties have chalked out elaborate programmes to mark theday.

The programmes include hoisting the national � ag half mast and party � ags, lay-ing wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu in Dhanmondi, o� ering prayers at Banani graveyard and wearing black badges.

The ruling party has organised a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan where the prime minister will speak as the chief guest. l

‘Hanif should be removed’n Jebun Nesa Alo and Kamrul Hasan

The spell of grief was slowly subsiding and a sense of gloom was gradually taking over Prafulla – home of slain publisher Faisal Ar-e� n Dipan.

Yesterday afternoon, the family members – Dipan’s wife Razia Rahman Jolly, father Prof Abul Kashem Fazlul Haque, son JSC-ex-aminee Ridad and sixth-grader daughter Rid-ma – all seemed to be trying to settle back to their everyday chores.

But the presence of the man in their lives who was brutally slain for his allegiance with free thinkers was still far from erased.

While talking to Dhaka Tribune’s Jebun Nesa Alo around 1:30pm yesterday, Jolly was collecting all the news and comments pub-lished in local and international media and social networking sites about the murder.

She said she was keeping them so that her children could see them when they grow up.

“I still cannot accept Dipan’s absence in my life ... My mind is always saying that Dipan will call me anytime ... He was such a well-mannered man. My children are un-lucky that they have not got to spend enough time with their father,” Jolly said.

“If just one crore out of the 16 crore peo-ple of the country came out in the streets to protest Avijit’s killings, then more murders would not have happened ... We did not pro-test Avijit’s murder and so we had to see Di-pan’s death,” she said.

On Sunday, a day after the murder, Prof Fa-zlul Haque said there was no use seeking jus-tice. In reaction to this, Hanif said the profes-sor believed in the ideology of the killers and that is why he does not want justice. Hanif, however, later apologised for his comment.

Asked about Awami League Leader Mah-bub-ul Alam Hanif’s comment, Jolly said he should have been removed from his post for the comment he made.

“Abul Kashem Fazlul Haque [her father-in-law] was Sheikh Hasina’s direct teacher and Hanif dishonoured him ... It is unfortu-nate for the nation that these people [like Hanif] are running the country.”

Meanwhile, Prof Fazlul Haque said: “Who doesn’t want justice for their son’s murder?”

He was talking to Dhaka Tribune’s Kamrul Hasan at the DU proctor’s o� ce yesterday.

Fazlul Haque, who is a supernumerary professor of DU, said that he of course wants his sons killers to be punished but in the cur-rent circumstances he cannot hold faith in the traditional systems.

He however assured that he would extend all kinds of cooperation to the investigators. l

Two killed in RAB gun� ghtsn Tribune Report

During an alleged gun� ght, RAB forces yes-terday shot and killed a murder suspect who allegedly burnt to death his mother-in-law and sister-in-law in Jhenaidah.

Thirty-year-old Kamal Hossain, from Jessore’s Agrail-Labutala village, was killed while � eeing on a motorcycle from a RAB 6 team.

Major Suruj Mia of Jhenaidah RAB 6 said a team of the elite force was patrolling the Dhaka-Khulna Highway near Kaliganj upazi-la’s Koraitala bus stand when they spotted three suspicious-looking men on a motor-

cycle. They asked the bikers to stop but the men tried to escape and at one stage opened � re at the RAB vehicle.

Law enforcers returned � re and one of the men – Kamal – fell to the ground; the other two managed to escape. Kamal was declared dead after being take to the local health complex.

Kamal was a suspect in the arson and mur-der of his mother-in-law Taslima Begum, 40, and his 15-month-old sister-in-law Tasmia Khatun at Farashpur village on October 19.

Gazipur gunfightA top criminal in Gazipur’s Joydebpur was killed in an alleged gun� ght with RAB yesterday.

The deceased was Md Ra� qul Islam, 35, a criminal wanted in several cases including murder, extortion and narcotics cases.

According to a press release from Rapid Action Battalion, a team of RAB 1 received a tip that a group of around eight criminals had gathered in Kumarkhada village adjacent to the Joydebpur National Park.

As soon as the RAB team reached the scene around 1:15am, the criminals started shooting at the law enforcers, injuring two RAB personnel. RAB forces � red back in self-defence, forcing the culprits to retreat. RAB men later found bullet-hit Ra� qul, who was later declared dead by doctors. l

Tra� c comes to a standstill in front of the Prime Minister’s O� ce yesterday, as it did at several places around the capital, as a result of a rally arranged by the Awami League at Suhrawardy Udyan to mark Jail Killing Day MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

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