PAGE 7Violence against women rising in Rajshahi

PAGE 8Development projects go at snail’s pace in Madaripur

PAGE 5Tra� c diversion for metro rail project yet to be � xed

PAGE 9Sluice gates out of service

GOVT AGAINST PADMA SPENDING CUT PAGE 4

TOO LITTLE AND TOO LATE PAGE 32

BICYCLE BOMB PLOT FOILED IN DHAKA PAGE 3

SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015 | Falgun 25, 1421, Jamadiul Awal 17, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 2, No 333 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

BB identi� es 100,000 mobile accounts behind � nancing arson and violencen Mohammad Jamil Khan

The government has decided to bring the ex-isting mobile banking services in the country under close watch to identify the sources of � -nance of the countrywide arson and violence.

Law enforcement agencies, banks, � nan-cial institutions and mobile phone operators have been directed to bring the popular on-the-go service under strict surveillance so that suspicious transactions can be traced and legal actions can be taken.

Under the existing mechanism, people do not need to produce any identi� cation for

sending or receiving money using the mo-bile banking services. This means anyone can send and receive money through private agents of the service that some banks provide.

On February 5, the PM asked all commer-cial banks and � nancial institutions to try and identify the source of � nance behind the arson and political violence that have been going on for more than two months and has claimed over 80 lives.

According to sources, intelligence agen-

cies have found that large sums are being transferred – both at home and from abroad – through banking channels, hundi (informal personal channels) and courier services to � -nance the arson and violence.

Intelligence sources said around 100,000 mobile banking accounts have been creat-ed using fake information over the last few months.

Following this information, the Bangla-desh Bank has identi� ed more than 98,000 mobile banking accounts who have been car-rying out suspicious transactions.

The central bank has brought this matter to the attention of the Bangladesh Telecommu-nication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and the mobile operators. The authorities have also been asked to put the activities of these accounts on hold.

“On February 10, we had a meeting with the chief executive o� cers and the heads of money laundering prevention departments of all the banks,” Bangladesh Bank deputy Gov-ernor Abu Hena Md Razee Hassan told the Dhaka Tribune recently.

“The central bank has asked the banks to keep records of suspicious senders and re-ceivers and � le regular reports. The banks located in the risky areas will analyse past six months’ � nancial records of their clients and report on any suspicious activities,” said Hassan who is also the head the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit.

Meanwhile, o� cials from several district PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Terror funding channels under scan

Transaction through mobile banking is becoming popular in Bangladesh MEHEDI HASAN

Tigers on the verge of making historyn Mazhar Uddin from Adelaide

History will beckon the Bangladesh cricket team when they take on England today at Ad-elaide Oval at 9:30am BST. The Tigers, bidding to qualify for the knockout stages of a multi-national event for the very � rst time, can en-sure their progress to the quarter� nals with a win against a demoralised England side.

The last time the Tigers survived the � rst-round hurdle of a mega event was back in

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Forgers arrested while trying to steal Tk90crn Munir Momtaj and Abid Azad

Eleven people were arrested yesterday for allegedly using fake documents to attempt to withdraw Tk90 crore from the Gulshan branch of Brac Bank.

Gulshan police station Inspector (Inves-tigations) Firoz Kabir said the gang had at-tempted to use forged papers to withdraw money from an account belonging to a Bang-ladeshi expatriate living in the United States.

The arrestees are Hasibul Hasan, 34, Mira-zul Islam, 34, Sabbir Rahman, 24, Md Naz-rul Haque, 42, Shahabur Rahman Babul, 65,

Khorshed Alam, 34, Delwar Hossain, 45, Selim Ahmed, 44, Shahajahan, 52, Kazi Shahadat Hossain, 57, and Mahbubur Rahman Kajol, 30.

Firoz said the forgers had tried to with-draw money from a Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) held by expatriate Saiful Islam.

The forgery gang had earlier submitted papers to the bank in order to carry out the withdrawal but bank o� cials detected that something was wrong.

Without notifying the gang of their suspi-cions, bank o� cials asked them to come to the branch yesterday, and also noti� ed the police.

Initially, two of the suspected frauds came

to the bank, but when told by the bank that many more people would be required to carry such a hefty amount, a further nine accom-plices came to help. Police arrested all of them.

Asked if bank o� cials were involved, Dha-ka Metropolitan Police Gulshan Division Dep-uty Commissioner Lutful Kabir said: “We are in the initial stages of the investigation.”

Iqbal’s elevenAccording to police, the main counterfeiter is 57-year-old Kazi Shahadat Hossain, who runs a business importing A4 size paper.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

‘Laws don’t allow banks to disclose clients’ personal information to anyone without court order or the central bank’s instructions’

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

AL-led 14-party’s road march begins todayn Abu Hayat Mahmud

The countrywide three-day road march of the Awami League-led 14-party alliance begins today protesting mindless violence unleashed by the BNP-Jamaat-led opposition combine.

The road march will be staged at all unions, upazilas, municipalities, districts, cities and divisional headquarters across the country.

The showdown will end on March 11.The ruling alliance has already organised

various political programmes, including public rallies, to counter the ongoing

inde� nite transport blockade and intermittent shutdown enforced by the BNP-led combine since January 6.

The 20-party alliance enforced the transport blockade on January 6, a day after it was prevented from holding a mass rally at Suhrawardy Udyan to mark the day – the � rst anniversary of the 10th national election – as democracy killing day.

The 14-party central leaders split in four groups will join today’s road march across the country to justify its position and motivate people to stand up against violence.

Led by Health Minister and Awami League Presidium member Mohammad Nasim, a team will join the road march in Sirajganj today, Bogra on March 10 and Gaibandha the next day.

Headed by Agriculture Minister and Awami League Presidium member Matia Chowdhury a second team will participate in the Gazipur road march today, Manikganj on March 10 and Munshiganj on March 11.

Bridges and Road Transport Minister and Awami League Presidium member Obaidul Quader will lead another team in Chittagong

today. The team will visit Noakhali on March 10 and Feni on March 11.

Team 4 led by Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif will participate in the road march in Kushtia today, and Jhenaidah and Jessore on the next two days.

Many alliance leaders have already reached their assigned areas, but several ministers and ruling alliance lawmakers are still in Dhaka due to the ongoing parliament session. They will go to their designated areas a day before the road march begins there. l

Terror fundingadministrations have recently held a meeting with regional bankers, law enforcement agen-cies and mobile phone operators with the same purpose.

According to the minutes, that meeting was held in Rajshahi district administration o� ce in early February. It discussed that identifying traditional banking transactions is easy, but tapping transactions made through the courier services or mobile banking ser-vices are not.

So, the regional area managers of the courier services and the mobile phone operators have been asked to keep records of the senders and receivers for any transaction above Tk20,000.

According to a September 2013 Bangla-desh Bank circular, a P2P transaction between two mobile banking accounts cannot exceed Tk10,000. The same circular stipulates that a mobile banking account-holder can withdraw up to Tk25,000 per day and a maximum of Tk1,25,000 every month.

But cracking this stipulation has been easy as one person can have as many mobile bank-ing accounts as the number of registered SIM cards they own. Even one can have mobile ac-counts in several banks simultaneously against the same SIM card, sources said.

Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Mah-fuzur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that the Chapainawabganj deputy commissioner’s o� ce had recently wrote to them, asking for informa-tion on the banking transactions made in the district every day. “The existing laws do not allow commercial banks to provide clients’ personal information to anyone without court order or the central bank’s instructions...We have already writ-ten letters to the Public Administration and Home Ministries expressing our limitations,” he said.

But the district administrations can seek speci� c information from the central bank based on speci� c reports, he said.

Sources in intelligence agencies have told the Dhaka Tribune that some 25 organisation are mainly patronising the terror attacks.

The Bangladesh Bank and police detectives are jointly working to identify and prepare a list of these organisations so that they can be brought under law, the sources said.

According to Monirul Islam, chief of the De-tective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Po-lice (DMP), arrested arsonists have mentioned the names of these organisations and patro-nisers during interrogation.

“These organisations belong political par-ties and their associate wings,” said Monirul but refused to disclose any name just as yet for the sake of investigation. l

Forgers arrested while trying to steal Tk90crThe suspected forgers claimed they did not know each other and were separately involved in withdrawing money in three or four groups.

Shahadat, believed to be a key player in the attempted fraud, said: “I � rst came to know about the money from a man named Iqbal Ahmed who identi� ed himself as a consultant of the bank.

“A few weeks ago, he said to me that one of his relatives, a US immigrant, had some deposits at Brac Bank. He suggested that we withdraw the money using a power of attorney.”

Iqbal has still not been arrested by police. Shahadat said he came to know Iqbal six

months ago. They are both from Barisal, he said.“According to his [Iqbal’s] plan, I agreed to

withdraw the money. Later, Iqbal brought a power of attorney form and told me to � ll it out properly,” he added.

Shahadat claimed that he does not know the holder of the account.

Shahadat and Iqbal felt that to be successful they needed to bring more people into the scam.

According to Shahadat, more people joined with them in separate groups for di� erent purposes.

Kajol joined the gang because, according to Shahadat, Kajol has a known person

at the bank.Hasibul, an executive of an organisation

called the Shuchinta Foundation, was brought into the group by Kajol. Hasibul is the most educated person among them.

But the papers and documents the gang

prepared failed to convince bank authorities.Inspector Firoz told the Dhaka Tribune

that the arrestees were unknown to his police station and police could not say whether the group was previously involved in a similar crime. l

Tigers on the verge of making historythe 2007 ICC World Cup when they made it through to the Super Eights. The format was, however, scrapped in the last edition of the � agship event in favour of the more competi-tive knockout system.

Besides Bangladesh, today’s high-octane clash is also vitally important for England. One win in four matches makes for poor reading and Eoin Morgan’s side will be looking to put it right against the Tigers. The Tigers, on the other hand, have two wins from four match-es and have an extra point to their name after their game against Australia was washed out.

England are also lagging behind Bangla-desh in their World Cup head-to-head equa-tion. The last time the two sides met in the World Cup four years ago, the Tigers got the better of their more illustrious opponents by two wickets in Chittagong.

All in all, this could be the best opportu-nity for the likes of Shakib al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mush� qur Rahim to inspire their side to glory and really announce themselves as the next big thing in world cricket.

Momentum has pretty much shifted to-wards the Tigers following their incredible chase against Scotland in their previous match. England, on the contrary, are coming to this match on the back of a nine-wicket thrashing against Sri Lanka.

Prior to the World Cup, Bangladesh’s bat-ting department was their major concern but the situation has changed drastically in a matter of a couple of weeks. It is Bangladesh’s bowling which is worrying the think-tank at the moment. The Bangladesh bowlers looked ordinary against the Scots as the Associate side racked up 318 after being asked to bat � rst.

In a bid to improve their bowling fortunes, it was learned that the Tigers are likely to go with an extra specialist spinner against Eng-land. Either Arafat Sunny or Taijul Islam will be making their World Cup bow today in place of paceman Rubel Hossain, who gave away 60 runs from his eight over against the Scots.

Opener Imrul Kayes, who replaced injured opener Anamul Haque in the squad, is likely to open the innings today alongside Tamim.

Soumya Sarkar will drop down to No 3 after opening the innings against Scotland.

The Adelaide Oval pitch is expected to favour run-scoring and will also have some-thing to o� er for the spinners. An extra spin option will, therefore, provide the Tigers more versatility.

England, yearning for a comeback to form, will open their bowling with Chris Woakes and either James Anderson or Stuart Broad, informed coach Peter Moores yesterday. Eng-land’s opening bowling duo, Anderson and Broad, have been struggling to give their side a good start so Woakes will come in and try to initiate early breakthroughs.

England’s bowling, like Bangladesh, might be struggling but the Tigers will need to be on their guard against the opposition’s batting strength. England bat deep and two of their batsmen – Moeen Ali and Joe Root – have already struck hundreds in this World Cup. Veteran cricketer Ravi Bopara, who has been overlooked in four matches so far, might re-turn to the side against Bangladesh. l

Eleven people were arrested while trying to withdraw Tk90 crore with fake documents from a branch of Brac Bank in the capital yesterday. The photo was taken at Gulshan police station DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

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Bicycle bomb plot foiled in Dhakan Tribune Report

RAB yesterday recovered a large cache of explosives in Dhaka and arrested three people who were planning to use an improvised bicycle bomb to launch a large-scale attack.

Initially, Rakibul Islam Mandal, 25, was arrested by RAB 2 during a drive at the capital’s Karnophuli Garden City; based on his information, the team also arrested Aminul Islam Rana, 30, and Riazul Islam, 22, from a house at Koltabazar in Sutrapur.

From the Sutrapur house, the elite force recovered a bicycle rigged with explosives, 58 crude bombs, one pipe bomb, 48 petrol bombs and other materials that were supposed to be used in subversive activities, said RAB’s Media Wing Director Mufti Mahmud Hasan.

The detainees were reportedly planning to destroy some important establishments in the capital. “Rana had collected high-powered explosives from Khulna. To bring the explosives, they bought a bicycle and dismantled its parts.

“They put the explosives inside the iron pipes of the cycle and restructured the frame. They made it in such a way that the explosives could be set o� inside the bicycle,” the RAB media wing chief said.

The RAB claimed that during primary interrogation, the arrestees said they were working for Anisur Rahman Khokon, former organisational secretary of Chhatra Dal’s previous central committee.

The three detained men had reportedly been carrying out subversive activities including blasting crude bombs, torching and vandalising vehicles in the capital’s Gulshan, Badda, Motijheel, Karwan Bazar and Dhanmondi areas.

Rana and Riaz also reportedly recruited activists from the Titumir College Chhatra Dal unit after being directed by the alleged � nancier of their operation – Khokon.

3 Jamaat-Shibir dens busted in SitakundaIn an overnight drive, the police yesterday busted three Jamaat-Shibir dens in the hilly forest areas of Sitakunda’s Nunachhara and Yakubnagar areas.

Police also arrested three Jamaat-Shibir men from the spots but refused to give their names “for the sake of investigation.” Prepa-rations were on to � le two cases against them.

Based on a tip-o� , around 200 police members conducted the drive from midnight until early yesterday.

The dens had been used by the Jamaat-Shibir men since 2013. They carried out attacks on ve-hicles on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and hid themselves in the dens to avoid arrest, Si-takunda Assistant Superintendent of Police Md Saiful Islam told the Dhaka Tribune.

“From the hideouts, the law enforcers

seized 70 petrol bombs, 50 crude bombs, four lighter guns, three rocket � ares, 24 cartridges, sharp weapons and kitchen items,” he said.

At least 50 Jamaat-Shibir men used to stay and hold meetings in these places, the ASP said, but they � ed the scene sensing the po-lice raid.

District Additional Superintendent of Po-lice (north) Mosta� zur Rahman said drives to arrest the fugitive activists would continue.

Police and local sources said many teachers and students of nearby International Islamic University of Chittagong were involved with Jamaat-Shibir politics. A number of students of the university were arrested for sabotages on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in 2013.

Meanwhile, the CMP Detective Branch ear-ly yesterday arrested acting ameer of city unit Jamaat Md Ahsanullah from Halishahar area. l

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Three men who were arrested with a bicycle bomb and a large cache of explosives are presented before media at the RAB 2 o� ce in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

10 instigators of Avijit murder identi� edn Ashif Islam Shaon

The FBI team assisting the probe into Avijit Roy killing, also suspects that fanatics were behind the murder.

The Detective Branch (DB) of police has prepared a list of 10 people who had threat-ened to kill Avijit on the internet.

“FBI detectives are collecting evidence. They said it would be di� cult to come to a conclusion so early but strongly suspect mili-tant groups,” DB boss Monirul Islam said.

“They have not yet asked us to arrest any-one nor sought information on any suspect.”

The four-member FBI team arrived in Dha-ka on March 5.

Monirul said the detectives wanted to trace the Facebook users who had threatened to kill Avijit and instigate others. But police as-sumed that the instigators used fake pro� les.

Avijit, a Bangladesh-born US citizen, was killed and his wife Ra� da Ahmed Bonna se-riously injured when unidenti� ed criminals hacked them near the TSC roundabout on Dhaka University campus on February 26. Bonna was � own back to the US for better treatment on February 2.

Former DU Prof Ajay Roy, father of Avijit, suspected that Islamist militants who did not like Avijit’s writings might have killed him. DB o� cials also emphasised on this issue.

So far, law enforcers have arrested Sha� ur Rahman Farabi, who had issued death threats to Avijit. Farabi, who is now on a 10-day re-mand, confessed this but denied involve-ment in the murder. RAB said Farabi was involved with banned Islamist out� t Hizb ut-Tahrir and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). ABT leader Redwanul Azad Rana is the prime suspect in Avijit murder. Police are looking for Rana since they suspect him for killing blogger Ahmed Rajeeb Haider in 2013 as well.

The DB chief said apart from Farabi, they had picked up another youth but released him after interrogation. “The FBI does not have the authority to launch drives. They can also examine any evidence in their labs.”

Bangladesh Police would also support if FBI wants to � le a case in the US. “The FBI team will stay in Bangladesh a few more days, if they need,” he said in reply to a question.

Yesterday afternoon, the FBI team visited the CID o� ce in Dhaka. They stayed there for around an hour and then went to the DB

headquarters. Sources said the FBI team dis-cussed about the evidences collected by the CID’s forensic team from the murder spot.

CID chief Saifur Rahman later told the re-porters that the FBI team had enquired them about the forensic test facilities and spoke to the forensic o� cials.

Meanwhile, a three-member DB team from Dhaka conducted a one-hour drive from 11:30am at Farabi’s Sylhet residence yester-day with the help of local Kotwali police.

SI Foyez Ahmed of the police station told our correspondent that Farabi’s mother and sister lived at the rented house at Munshipara in Sylhet city. They were not home during the drive.

Md Rahmat Ullah, additional deputy com-missioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police, said the detectives had seized a laptop, a CPU and some papers from the � at, rented around a year ago.

Locals said Farabi did not have any com-panion when he used to o� er prayers at the local mosque. “Some devotees rebuked him several times for using internet through mo-bile phone inside the mosque,” a neighbour said seeking anonymity. l

Indictment order in blogger Rajeeb murder March 18n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday � xed March 18 for passing order on whether to indict the ac-cused in blogger Rajeeb Haider murder case.

Dhaka’s 4th Additional Sessions Judge Ru-hul Amin yesterday a heard on charge framing matter from both defence and prosecution.

The defence � led discharge petitions with all accused produced before the court. They are Ansarullah Bangla Team chief Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani; expelled NSU students Faisal Bin Nayeem alias Dip, Maksudul Hassan alias Anik, Ehsan Reza Rumman, Nayeem Sikder ali-as Irad, Na� z Imtiaz, Sadman Yasir Mahmud; and former NSU student Rezwanul Azad Rana. Of them, Rana is also a prime suspect in blog-ger Avijit Roy murder.

Inspector Nibaran Chandra Barman of DB police submitted charge sheets against the ac-cused on January 28 last year.

The case says Jasim’s sermons instigated the killers to attack Rajeeb. The killers held meetings with Jasim at a madrasa in Dhaka.

Rajeeb was an active member of the Shah-bagh movement and vocal on social media against Jamaat-Shibir. He was hacked to death on February 15, 2013, near his Pallabi home.

Several websites, allegedly run by Shibir men, were among the � rst to report the mur-der and tried to justify the killing by terming Rajeeb “atheist.”

Victim’s father Nazim Uddin � led the mur-der case a day after the murder. Two weeks later, the investigating o� cer arrested � ve NSU students, none of whom directly wit-nessed the killing, he said in his report.

The detained NSU students reportedly confessed that they had killed Rajeeb upon directive from the chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team, a Bangladeshi follower of al-Qaeda.

Mufti Jasim was arrested along with 30 others at Barguna on August 12 last year. l

CID asked to submit Rana Plaza probe reportn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday once again asked the Criminal Investigation Department to submit probe report by April 15 in three cases � led over the 2013 Rana plaza collapse.

Dhaka’s Additional Senior Judicial Magis-trate Nazmul Haque Shyamal set the date as CID o� cer Bijoy Krishna Kar failed to submit the report yesterday.

On February 1, the court asked CID to sub-mit the reports by Sunday, March 8.

On April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, which housed � ve garment factories, a shopping mall and a branch of a private bank, collapsed leaving at least 1,135, mostly garment work-ers, dead and 2,000 wounded.

Rajuk o� cial Helal Uddin � led one case against building owner Sohel Rana. Another case was � led by SI Wali Ashraf of Savar police against Rana and several others. Sheuli Akter, wife of victim Jahangir Alam, whose body was recovered from the debris of Rana plaza, � led one more case against Rana, Bazlus Sam-ad Adnan, owner of New Wave Style, and the chief engineer of Savar municipality. l

NEWS4DTMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

PADMA BRIDGE PROJECT

Government against spending cutn Asif Showkat Kallol

The government is against reducing its planned annual spending for the Padma Bridge project in the current � scal year, in order to make sure that foreign investors are not discouraged by any curtailed expenditure plans.

Sources told the Dhaka Tribune that the authorities concerned were alert not to create any negative image surrounding the project that might turn away investors.

“The prime minister is against curtailing spending for the fast-track Padma Bridge pro-ject and has expressed hopes that fund alloca-tion for the project will not be slashed for the current � scal year,” an o� cial of the Finance Division said on condition of anonymity.

Mohmmad Sha� qul Islam, project director for the Padma Bridge project, said they were

also against cutting down the allocation for the project under the revised Annual Devel-opment Programme (RADP), adding that no such proposal has been made to the govern-ment.

However, Finance Ministry sources said the Bridges Division would not be able to spend Tk1,000 crore from the allocated Tk8,100 crore this � scal year.

The Bridges Division, meanwhile, last week asked for details to be included on the RADP regarding the funding sources for the construction of the bridge. Zakir Hossain, deputy secretary of the Bridges Division, sent a letter to the Finance Division on this regard.

The letter reportedly claimed that the Fi-nance Division had failed to disclose the fund-ing sources in the RADP, creating di� culties for ensuring funds in the revised budget as

well as the budget for the next � scal year.Commenting about funding sources, the

Finance Division o� cial who wanted to stay unnamed told the Dhaka Tribune that for the construction costs – the government had al-located $175m from the Indian line of credit provided as project assistance.

When a further $25m is received under In-dia’s line of credit, it would also be allocated as project assistance for the Padma Bridge, the o� cial added.

“We have no decision about collecting for-eign assistance from development partners after the World Bank cancelled its funding for Padma bridge,” said the o� cial.

According to the Bridges Division letter, the total cost for the Padma Bridge project is Tk20,507.20 crore, of which Tk4257.68 crore would come from the government exchequer. l

30kg lead worthTk54 lakh seizedat Chittagong airportn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Chittagong Customs House authorities at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chit-tagong city yesterday seized 30kg of lead from luggage in a cargo plane which arrived from Dubai on March 5.

Chittagong Customs House Assistant Com-missioner (AC) Selim Reza, who is deployed at the airport, told Dhaka Tribune they started rum-maging through the cargo of an Emirates Airlines plane following a tip-o� , and found the banned imported items after scanning the luggage.

The seized lead, worth Tk54 lakh, would be con� scated according to the customs act, while legislative measures would be taken as per as the law, he added. On March 3, the same customs team seized 87kg of lead worth Tk1.57 crore from a � ight of Air Arabia from Dubai. l

Falu denied bail againn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday denied bail to Mosaddak Ali Falu, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s advisor, in a case � led with Khilgaon police station in the city.

Metropolitan Sessions judge (acting) Imrul Kayes passed the order after the hearing on a petition � led by his counsel Md San-aullah Miah.

On February 2, Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Hasibul Haque placed Falu, also chairman of private TV channel NTV, on a 5-day remand rejecting his bail petition in the case � led on charges of torching a bus in Khilgaon area of the capital on January 30.

Three Dhaka courts placed Falu on a total of 13 days remand on di� erent dates in three cases � led with Khilgaon, Badda and Mirpur police stations of the capital after his arrest in front of BNP chairperson’s Gulshan o� ce on February 1. l

ACC summons BDBL DGMn Adil Sakhawat

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday summoned Deputy General Manger (DGM) of Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL) Sa� qul Islam in connection with his alleged in-volvement in recruitment irregularities and illegal wealth accu-mulation.

The ACC yesterday served a notice, signed by its assistant di-rector Saiful Islam, on Sha� qul to be present at the ACC head of-� ce at 9:30am on March 12 to face questioning, said ACC public re-lations o� cer Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya to the Dhaka Tribune.

A commission o� cial said the ACC has received allegations of recruitment irregularities and illegal wealth accumulation against DGM Sa� qul Islam, Sakhawat Hossain, and General Manager (GM) Ar� na Begum in January this year.

The ACC has already questioned Ar� na Begum after � nding the allegation against her. l

Arsonists target land o� cesn Tribune Report

A citizens’ body pressing implementation of vested property re-turn act expressed concern over arson attacks on land o� ces. In a press release issued yesterday, they demanded that the govern-ment takes immediate action against the arsonists.

“The arsonists want to destroy valuable document of land re-cord, especially those owned by minority communities.”

The press release was signed by Ain O Salish Kendra Executive Director Sultana Kamal, Nijera Kori Coordinator Khushi Kabir, Orpita Sampotti Ain Protiroth Andolan President Kamal Lohany, Secretary of Bangladesh Hindhu Boidha, Kristan Oikka Porisad Rana Das Gupta, HDRC adviser Abul Barkat, and ALRD ED Sham-sul Huda among others. l

NEWS 5D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Tra� c diversion for metro rail project yet to be � xedn Shohel Mamun

Tra� c diversion during the construction work of the elevated metro rail project in the capital has yet to be � xed, even though the geotechnical surveys and soil testing in the project area have already begun.

Workers have been digging in di� erent places between Uttara and Motijheel for the testing, which is creating tra� c gridlock in the areas.

The Road Transport and Highway Division had earlier said they would ensure an alterna-tive route for easier tra� c movement before starting the work, forming a committee for this purpose.

However, the committee, headed by Road Transport and Highways Division’s Joint Sec-retary Fakir Alauddin, met only once since its formation in 2013, sources said.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted Fakir yester-day in this regard, who said the full commit-tee would meet soon to take decision about

the diversion road.“We will sit in a meeting this month to

discuss the alternative road for easy tra� c movement in the project areas, and after � g-uring out the possible solutions we will make our recommendation to the higher authori-ties,” he said.

Mofazzal Hossain, director of the project, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We will � nalise the diversion once we receive the rec-ommendation from the committee.”

Recently visiting Farmgate and Mirpur ar-eas, this reporter found enclosures set up by the project workers in the middle of the roads, which is creating disturbances in the usual-ly-heavy tra� c movement in those areas.

The 20.1km project is expected to be com-plete by December 2019.

Trains will run every 3.5 minutes and take 37 minutes to cover the distance between Moti-jheel and Uttara, with 14 stations in between.

A Japanese consortium is currently work-ing on the detailed design of the project. l

Gold-smuggling N Korean diplomat to be expelled n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The government has decided to expel a North Korean diplomat who was caught trying to smuggle 27kg gold into the country.

“We will expel him. The process of taking action regarding the crime committed by the North Korean diplomat has started,” said a senior Foreign Ministry o� cial, adding that the process would take a few days.

The � rst economic and commercial secre-tary of the North Korean embassy in Dhaka, Son Yong Nam, was detained and later re-leased by customs police on Friday. He enjoys diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Con-

vention on Diplomatic Relations.“This is a rare event and a government can

take one of three actions against the o� end-er,” the o� cial said.

A host government, with the approval of the sending country, can take legal action against an o� ending diplomat, declare him persona non grata, or expel him by asking the sending government to withdraw its envoy.

“We will be asking the North Korean gov-ernment to withdraw him,” he said.

“I am not aware of any extra surveillance [for the diplomat],” the o� cial said, adding that until the issue is resolved, the diplomat is expected to remain in the country. l

Another arson victim dies n Tribune Report

Another � rebomb victim who sustained burn injuries on February 19 died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday.

Subhash Som, who got 25% of his body burnt in the attack, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital’s burn unit around midday, said Inspector Mozammel Haque, in-charge of DMCH police outpost.

Dr Partha Shankar Paul, resident surgeon of the burn unit, said the bomb attack burnt Subhash’s face.

Eight people, including Subhash, were injured when petrol bombs were hurled at a minibus in Chittagong’s Tiger Pass area.

Subhash was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital but was later brought to the DMCH for better treatment.

At least 87 people have been killed in vi-olence perpetrated across the country since January 6, the day the inde� nite blockade of the BNP came into force.

Meanwhile, Chhatra Shibir activist Abdul-lah Al Mamun was shot in the leg in Dhalpur of Jatrabari yesterday evening, and was taken to the DMCH around 9pm.

Jatrabari police station Sub-Inspector Atik said a group of Shibir activists marching in the area engaged in chase and counter-chase with police.

“They attempted to throw petrol bombs at police, prompting the law enforcement o� -cials to � re at them. Mamun was shot at the time,” he said.

But Mamun, talking to reporters at the hospital, denied that there was any attempt to throw bombs at police. l

BNP: PM renders judiciary uselessn Tribune Report

The BNP has alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had passed a verdict herself against Khaleda Zia from an open rally that virtually rendered the country’s judiciary ine� ective.

“But still BNP will deal with all the lawsuits � led against Khaleda Zia through legal proce-dure,” said BNP Joint Secretary General Sala-huddin Ahmed in a statement yesterday.

Addressing a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday, the prime minister said Khaleda

would be tried and punished for the violence that had killed more than 100 people.

Salahuddin said over 13 cases had been � led against the prime minister but she had never appeared before the court. Moreover, all the cases � led against the prime minister have been withdrawn by the “tamed judiciary.”

“The rule of law cannot be expected under a “tamed judiciary”. Because of naked inter-ference in the judiciary the opposition leaders and activists have given up their hopes of get-ting justice,” he said. l

A miscreant is caught red-handed by police and the public while trying to vandalise vehicles and explode crude bombs in the capital’s Paltan area yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS6DTMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

REB holds video PTA meetingn Tribune Report

In a landmark move, the Rural Electri� cation Board (REB) has recently held a performance target agreement (PTA) meeting through vid-eo conferencing with its 72 rural power pro-viding associations.

On the occasion, REB Chairman Brig Gen

Moin Uddin gave a directional speech to all the o� cials and employees of the sub-ordi-nate associations.

Every year, the REB used to spend a huge amount of money for transport, food and ac-commodation of all the sta� s from the rural associations for arranging the PTA meeting in Dhaka. l

Prof Jahirul Hoque passes awayn BSS

Professor Dr Jahirul Hoque, founder chairman of the � nance department and former chair-man of accounting at Chittagong University, has died after prolonged illness. He was 73, according to a press release yeasterday.

Family sources said Hoque was admitted

to a private facility where he was kept under life support system until his death on Wednes-day due to multiple organ failure. Hoque also served as the dean and head of faculties at dif-ferent private universities, including the Inter-national Islamic University, Asian University and the Eastern University in Dhaka. He is sur-vived by his wife, a son and two daughters. l

NEWS 7D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

WEATHER

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:05PM SUN RISES 6:13AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW32.8ºC 11.5ºC

Sitakunda Srimangal

MONDAY, MARCH 9

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 33 21Chittagong 33 21Rajshahi 34 20Rangpur 33 17Khulna 34 19Barisal 34 21Sylhet 34 16Cox’s Bazar 33 23

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:58am

Sunrise 6:13amZohr 12:09am

Asr 4:26pmMagrib 6:05pm

Esha 7:20pm

DRY WEATHER

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Case booked over arson attack on shuttle trainn CU Correspondent

Bangladesh Railway (BR) authorities yester-day lodged a case in the incident of the arson and crude bomb attacks on the Chittagong University-bound shuttle train.

“Sholashahar Railway Station Assistant Master AKM Farhaduzzaman � led the lawsuit with Government Railway Police (GRP) out-post accusing unidenti� ed miscreants around 11:30 am,” said its OC Himangsu Das Rana.

However, none was arrested in the case until yesterday evening, the OC went on.

When contacted, Farhaduzzaman said he � led the came on the behalf of the BR.

On the other hand, Chittagong University Teachers’ Association (CUTA) yesterday pro-tested the heinous attacks.

The CUTA made the statement through a press release signed by its president professor Benu Kumar Dey and general secretary pro-fessor Musta� zur Rahaman Siddique.

The organisation’s leaders opined that the o� enders were carrying out the attacks on the campus-bound trains in the name of move-ment to halt the academic activities.

“Miscreants set � re to and hurled crude bombs on the university-bound vehicles as part of well-planned conspiracy to make the CU unstable”, the press release noted.

On Saturday, some unidenti� ed miscreants set � re to a compartment of the train at Sho-loshahar Railway Station in the port city. l

Chhatra League showdown sparks tension at SUSTn Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Despite a ban on political activities, two rival factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling Awami League, yesterday � exed their muscles at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylhet.

This has created tension at the campus leading to deployment of extra law enforcers, said O� cer in-Charge of Jalalabad police sta-tion Akhter Hossain.

Witnesses said the faction, led by BCL committee President Sanjiban Chakrabarty Partha, entered the campus at around 3pm with 30-40 men and staged a demonstration. General Secretary of the committee Imran Khan and BCL leader Sajedul Islam Sabuj were present at the time.

Hearing about the demonstration, the ri-val group of committee Vice-president Anjan Roy and BCL leader Uttam Kumar, came to the campus with 20-25 people. They also brought out several processions.

BCL leader Nur-e-Alam said they came to the campus to peacefully demand their place in the university residential halls.

Meanwhile, Anjan Roy said any attempt to take over the halls by outsiders would be resisted with the support of general students.

One of the groups took position at the cam-pus while the other one was in front of the Shah Paran Hall.

Contacted, Emdadul Haq, acting proctor of the university, told the Dhaka Tribune that the BCL groups were asked to leave the campus.

“Both the groups tried to take over the res-idential halls. But we cannot let them do so until they can ensure a peaceful cohabitation. There is still a ban on any kind of political ac-tivities in the university.”

He further said the decision about their hall allocation would be taken when VC Professor Aminul Haq returned home from his India trip.

The proctor was still holding a meeting with the two factions when this report was � led at 7:30pm.

On November 20 of the last year, a BCL man named Sumon Das died during a clash between the two factions over establishing supremacy in the university. The university was closed for 58 days following the incident. And a meeting of the syndicate imposed an inde� nite ban on political activities on Janu-ary 10 this year. l

Violence against women rising in Rajshahin Nazim Mridha, Rajshahi

Repression against women has increased alarmingly in and around Rajshahi city with torture of 191 women in last 12 months.

A research conducted by the Association for Community Development (ACD), a human rights group, yesterday disclosed the statistics over violence against women on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.

The study say crimes against women has ris-en to great extent due to lax monitoring by the law enforcement agencies, delay in getting jus-tice and lack of social awareness programmes.

According to the statistics, a total of 22 inci-dents of violence against women were record-ed in 2010 while the number rose to 191 in the last 12 months.

A total of 191 women were tortured in and around Rajshahi city from March 2014 to Feb-ruary 2015.

Of the total number, 19 women were killed, 48 women committed suicide over family feud, 10 female were raped, 29 women faced sexual harassment, 48 women were assault-ed by in-laws, six women were victim of at-tempt to murder, seven went missing and 12 women were abducted.

The ACD gathered this information from reports published in various national and lo-cal newspapers of the country.

Considering the number of women vic-tims, Salima Sarwar, the executive director of the ACD, expressed deep concern over the is-sue. She said women were being victim of po-litical turmoil, family and social degradation.

She also viewed that following the rape, re-

pression, physical abuse and family disputes, the number of suicidal incidents are increas-ing alarmingly.

The numbers of such victims are more than the statistics which are not published in newspapers, she added.

“Lax enforcement of laws in most of the cases is the main cause for increasing the num-ber of victims in the Rajshahi city,” she said.

Salima, however, urged for strengthening legal assistance and e� ective enforcement of laws regarding women repression to elimi-nate the number of violence against women.

Razia Sultana, executive director of No-bodiganta Mohila Uddayan Sangstha of Ra-jshahi, said: “Most of the victims who come to us are victim of household disputes.

“There is now no alternative but to end

child marriage and dowry system to stop the violence against women,” she said.

Social awareness and social empowerment of women could reduce the number of such victims to a greater extent, she added.

Urging all to be united for strengthening the rights of women, She said: “We should create a congenial atmosphere for women at all spheres so that they are ensured equal rights.” l

A procession taken out in Rajshahi city yesterday marking International Women’s Day AZAHAR UDDIN

On November 20 last year, a BCL man named Sumon Das died during a clash between two rival factions over establishing supremacy at the university

NEWS8DTMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Development projects go at snail’s pace in Madaripur Di� erent schemes of Public Works Department involving Tk150 crore may miss deadline

n Our Correspondent, Madaripur

Di� erent development projects under the lo-cal public works department have been strug-gling to get pace as there is no supervision from the authorities concerned.

Consequently, the project works is going on at snail’s pace amid a great apprehension of low quality because of not having any such

type of move. Besides the under-construction projects esti-mated about Tk150 crore may miss the dead-line as well.

The projects include Rajoir, Kalkini and Dasar police station buildings; Dattapara, Khas-rhat and Vodrason police investigation centres; Shibchar � re service station, Shibchar highway outpost, Madaripur 250-bed hospital, district jail and vocational training centre as well as Madaripur ansar VDP headquarters building.

It was learnt that the onus of Madaripur sub-divisional engineer (civil) is to supervise all

local public works there, who was transferred two months back and a sub-divisional engineer (EM) was later assigned to the aforesaid post.

According to the department’s rules, a sub-divisional engineer (civil) has to take duty in case of the gap or the senior sub-assis-tant engineer (civil) concerned is supposed to discharge the task.

But a sub-divisional engineer (mechani-cal engineer) was sent there by breaking the rules, who has also no experience in the con-struction sector.

As a result, the aforesaid anomalies pushed the important projects into a great trouble and apprehension of delay as the new engineer is unable to take necessary decision in this regard.

Some contractors wishing not to be named said they were struggling to get vital order due to unavailability of the sub-divisional engineer (civil) and that was why the works might fail to touch the deadline.

Acknowledging the snail’s pace in the on-going development works, Madaripur Public Works Executive Engineer Anwarul Nazrul said: “The chief engineer is aware of the dis-order, who recently sent an o� cial to the post on deputation which was later postponed. I just know that the assigned incumbent o� cer is a mechanical engineer.”

“Moreover, I also look over the works and sent a letter to the higher authorities seeking a sub-divisional engineer (civil) for the district,” the o� cial went on. l

Tension grows in Bandarban over opposing programmes n Our Correspondent, Bandarban

Tension is mounting in Bandarban ahead of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) leader Santu Larma’s visit and the general strike imposed by Jago Parbatyabashi, a Bangali association.

Santu is scheduled to visit the district on March 12 while Pahari Chhatra Parishad will hold its district council the next day.

Protesting Santu’s visit, Jago Parbatyabashi has called a 36-hour strike for March 12 and 13.

Abidur Rahman, convener of Jago Parbat-yabashi and joint convener of Bandarban dis-trict Jubo Dal, said the strike was to protest extortion and terror acts of the PCJSS in the hills that had made it di� cult for traders to operate their businesses.

He said the association’s activists would hold a protest rally in Bandarban town on March 11.

Meanwhile, Santu, also the chairman of Parbatya Chattagram Anchalik Parishad, will be arriving in Bandarban to attend the Pahari

Chhatra Parishad’s council, which will be held at Faruk Para in Chimbuk Hill.

KS Mong Marma, a central PCJSS leader and a member of Parbatya Chattagram Ancha-lik Parishad, said he was unaware of the strike imposed by Jago Parbatyabashi.

Jago Parbatyabashi started its journey on February 25 when its activists formed a hu-man chain in front of Bandarban Press Club to protest extortion in hills.

Bangali activists of both the Awami League and the BNP participated in the humanchain.

Speaking about the extortion, Bandarban district Sramik League Organising Secretary Abdul Jalil and district Sramik Dal General Secretary Kamal Uddin said the Bangalis need to collect tokens to transport goods in the hills which is not the case for the hill people.

The blockade imposed by the BNP on Jan-uary 5 and the subsequent general strikes did not a� ect life in Bandarban at all but locals fear that the upcoming programmes could lead to unrest. l

A procession is brought out in Gaibandha district town yesterday marking the International Women’s Day DHAKA TRIBUNE

‘The chief engineer is aware of the disorder, who recently sent an o� cial to the post on deputation which was later postponed’

NEWS 9D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

S luice gates out of service in Khulnan Our Correspondent, Khulna

Maximum sluice gates in the district are use-less in absence of proper management of the rivers and canals, creating permanent water logging.

The situation has been created for natural disasters, silt accumulation in the rivers and canals for want of excavation and decline in their � ow and navigability, said Akram Hos-sen, engineer of Water Development Board.

According WDB sources, there are 419 sluice gates in Khulna. Of them, six are under Barakpur-Digholia project, four at no. 28/2 pol-der in Batiaghata, 13 at no. 25 polder, two at no. 26 polder, 14 at no. 19 polder, three at no. 27/2 polder, 11 at no. 17/1 polder, � ve at no. 17/2 pol-der, six at no. 27/1 polder in Dumuria, nine at no. 28/1 polder in Dumuria-Batiaghata, three at no. 9 polder, 15 at no. 10/12 polder, 12 at no. 16 polder, four at no. 18/19 polder, 14 at no. 20 pol-der and 20/1, three at no. 21, 11 at no. 22, 44 at no. 23 in Paikgachha, 23 at no. 30 polder, eight at no. 31 in Batiaghata, 27 at no. 31 polder, 61 at no. 32 and eight at no. 33 polder in Dakope.

Besides, there are 37 sluice gates under Amir-pur-Batiaghata-Bhanderkot project in Ba-tiaghata and eight others near the dams to protect the city. Some residents of Batiagha-ta upazila stressed the need for immediately excavating the rivers and canals to keep the sluice gates in the district functional.

Besides, most of the rivers and canals in the district are � lled with silt hampering smooth operation of the sluice gates, they said.

Expressing grave concern, one Makbul Hossain said if the situation continues, people may face severe water logging permanently in the region.

Pijush Krisna Kundu, executive engineer of WDB, said huge money is needed to protect the sluice gates through dredging the rivers and canals. “But it is not possible presently as the government has allocated only one tenth of the total amount, he said.

Mujibur Rahman, executive engineer of the WDB, said : “Once the rivers and canals are ex-cavated, there will be normal � ow of their wa-ters and then the sluice gates will be protected.”

Mobarak Hossen Sarder, owner of a shrimp enclosure in Paikgacaha said: “I have cultivat-ed the shrimp on 5,000 bighas land with the help of two sluice gates.” “Now I have to incur losses as the sluice gates are damaged,” he said.

Khokan Ali Gazi, president of Dumuria Upazila Shrimp Enclosure Association, said the business men had to face a great di� culty as the s luice gates turned useless.

“We urged the government to take steps to operate the gates soon,” he said.

WDB executive engineer Pijush Krinshna Kundu siad for unavailability of fund as per demand, maintenance works of the sluice gates were not possible through proper dredging of the rivers and canals. l

Laal Bridge point in Pechar Dwip a safe haven for human tra� ckersn Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

After a long hiatus, the human tra� ckers in Cox’s Bazar have recently become active thanks to the ongoing political unrest.

Hundreds of people have allegedly been tra� cked to Malaysia through the Laal Bridge point of Khuniapalong union of Ramu upazila in recent times.

Locals said the Laal Bridge point has be-come the choice of departure for the human tra� ckers due to lax security.

Previously Reju Bridge was the most pre-ferred point. But since the setting up of a checkpost of Border Guard Bangladesh in that area, human tra� ckers moved to the Laal Bridge point.

Moreover, because of the current political unrest that has been keeping the law enforc-ers on their toes, it has become easier for the human tra� ckers to do their work.

The Laal Bridge point becomes active after

the sunset with the presence of the middle-men and Malaysia goers. Human tra� ckers gather people from Khuniapalong union’s Goaliapalong, Taingakata, Dhowapalong, Noyapara and other places.

They are then escorted through the coastal forest and brought to Mangalapara near the Laal Bridge point. When the darkness descends, Ma-laysia aspirants are sent away in � shing boats.

Though locals initially tried to stop the tra� cking, they have been silenced by the police, who allegedly take Tk1000 bribe per person from the tra� ckers.

Locals and relatives of those who had al-ready gone to Malaysia named some people who are actively involved in human tra� cking.

They are Abdul Gafur, Surat Alam, Md Ja-far Alam, Syed Alam Bodu of Pechar Dwip and Mir Kashem of Himchhari.

These human tra� ckers are working under Abdul Karim, Abdullah, Badsha of Khunia-palong, Rustam Ali, Mahadul Haq Madu, Mo-

zammel Haq and Akter Mia of Ukhia. Locals said these people were well known

in the area and had been accused in multiple human tra� cking cases. However, police is yet to take any action against them.

When contacted, Sub Inspector Abdul Mannan, in-charge of Himchhari police out-post denied the allegation of collaborating with the human tra� ckers.

He, however, acknowledged the increased human tra� cking through the Laal Bridge point and said police and BGB personnel were patrolling the area.

O� cer in-Charge of Saikul Ahmed Bhuiyan of Ramu police station said: “The allegations against us are baseless. Human tra� cking may be happening in some places but we can-not possibly patrol the huge coastal area with limited resources.”

He also added that police had been de-ployed at the Laal Bridge point after they were informed about the tra� cking. l

1 dies as trawler sinks n Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria

One person was killed as a trawler capsized in the Meghna River in Ash ganj launch ghat yes-terday morning. But identity of the deceased could not be known immediately.

Barek Mia, a passenger of the trawler, said the trawler had capsized as it was carrying ad-ditional goods along with passengers.

He said the trawler left Bhoirab ghat and started for Kishoreganj’s Astogram around 7am.

“The trawler capsized in the river when 10 to 12 passengers tried to board on the vessel in a time at Ashuganj ghat,” he said. All passen-gers managed to swim ashore.

Deputy Director of Brahmanbaria Fire Services and Civil Defence Mojibur Rahman Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune that � re-� ghters from Dhaka reached the spot soon af-ter the incident.

The � re� ghters later recovered the body of an unidenti� ed person. l

1 dead, 50 injured in clashesn Tribune Report

One person died and three other were injured in a gun� ght on Saturday night during a feud between two parties of Sorbohara extremist group in Shirkhara union of Madaripur mu-nicipality.

Deceased Hiru Sheikh is a resident of Ghunsi village of Shirkhara union.

Madaripur Assistant Superintendent of Po-lice Abu Bakar Siddique said the � ght broke out centering establishment of suprema-cy between the groups of current chairman Mojibor Rahman Hawlader and Habi-Mofej around 8:30pm yesterday. In the � ght, four people received bullet wounds.

Three of them were � rst sent to the Ma-daripur Municipality Hospital and later to Faridpur Medical College Hospital for better treatment.

After being rescued and taken to Madari-

pur hospital around 11pm, one was declared dead by the duty doctor.

In Baniyachang, Habiganj yesterday � ve villages got into a vicious battle where atleast 50 people were injured.

Twenty of them were taken to Habiganj Municipality Hospital in critical condition. The others were given � rst-aid.

According to police and the locals, Shamsu Mia of Khagaura village and Kamal Mia of the adjacent Ujirpur village were locked in a pow-er struggle for a while.

As a result, the � ght between the two groups broke out in the morning yesterday. Taking sides, people from three other adja-cent villages also got involved in the battle.

O� cer-in-Charge Nirmalendu Chakrabar-ty of Baniyachang police station con� rmed the incident and said when informed, police rushed to the area and brought the incident under control. l

‘We urged the government to take steps to operatethe gates soon’

Female farmers receive training from a � eld o� cial of the Department of Agriculture, Comilla on indigenous perching method. Perching is a system in which pieces of tree branches are randomly set up in a paddy � eld to protect the � eld from pest attacks DHAKA TRIBUNE

WORLD10DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

86 million-year-old oyster fossil found in Indian Agencies

Discovery of around 86 million-year-old fos-sil of a rare species of oyster, has once again re-con� rmed the presence of marine life and sea in central India. Oyster fossil recently recov-ered from Dhar and Jhabua districts of Madhya Pradesh by palaeontologist Vishal Verma is identi� ed as crassostrea species, which are considered one of the oldest evidence of sea in-cursion in the Narmada Valley. “Large numbers of good quality marine molluscs as oysters and gastropods are present in the matrix of fossils. It is one of the best quality samples found from Nimar sandstone of Bagh beds,” said Vishal Verma, adding sediments of this sea arm is de� ned as Bagh Beds and oyster fossils discov-ered from here belong to � rst upper cretaceous age (from 140 to 65 million years ago).

Verma said fossils was discovered when was carrying out � eldwork for the proposed National Dinosaur Fossil Park to be set up in Dhar district. l

Bloody yesterday commemoration continues in Selman AP, Selma, Ala

The Bloody yesterday 50th anniversary com-memoration continues yesterday with a se-ries of events in Selma before a group retrac-es the steps that helped secure equal voting rights 50 years ago.

Yesterday’s events are expected to include church services, � lm screenings and a pre-march rally at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Police beat and tear-gassed marchers at the foot of the bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965 in an ugly spasm of violence that shocked the nation. The attack on demonstrators preced-ed the Selma-to-Montgomery march, which occurred two weeks later. Both helped build momentum for congressional approval of the Voting Rights Act later that year. l

Boko Haram leader pledges allegiance to IS

n AFP, Kano

The leader of Nigeria’s Boko Haram militants, Abubakar Shekau, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group in an audio recording released Saturday.

“We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims, Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibra-him al-Husseini al-Qurashi,” said the voice on the message, which was believed to be that of

Shekau and was released through Boko Har-am’s Twitter account.

Qurashi is better known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the IS group which has proclaimed a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq.

Shekau spoke in Arabic, but the message contained French and English subtitles.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the message.

Shekau was not pictured, a contrast from most of Boko Haram’s past messages in which the Islamist leader has been shown, often in close up shots.

But Shekau did identify himself in the re-cording, which was accompanied by the sub-titles and a graphic including an image of a radio microphone.

There have in recent months been signs of closer ties between the Nigerian militants and the IS group, with both using similar ways of communicating with the outside world. Boko Haram has notably begun releasing videos that resemble those made by IS.

Boko Haram has been waging a six-year uprising against the Nigerian state, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives.

Analysts have long debated the extent of Boko Haram’s ties to other jihadist groups, but the evidence was never clear. l

France PM: 10,000 Europeans could be waging jihad by year-endn AFP, Paris

As many as 10,000 Europeans could be wag-ing jihad in Iraq and Syria by the end of this year, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned yesterday, a three-fold increase on current numbers.

“There are 3,000 Europeans in Iraq and Syria today. When you do a projection for the months to come, there could be 5,000 before summer and 10,000 before the end of the year,” Valls told French television channel iTele.

“Do you realise the threat that this repre-sents?” he asked.

He said there were around 1,400 people who were either already in these con� ict zones, who had come back from there or who were planning to go.

“There have already been nearly 90 French people who have died out there with a weap-on in their hand, � ghting against our own val-ues,” Valls said.

France, along with Belgium, has seen the largest numbers of volunteers leaving to join the Islamic State jihadist group, which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq. l

Iran: Key technical roadblocks for nuclear deal eliminatedn AP, Tehran

Iran’s vice president said key technical road-blocks hampering a � nal nuclear accord with world powers have been eliminated during on-going discussions with American negotiators.

Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also in charge of Iran’s nuclear agency, told state television on Saturday that Tehran o� ered proposals to re-move “fake concerns” over the country’s nu-clear program, paving the way for a � nal deal.

Salehi is involved in ongoing talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Sec-retary Ernest Moniz on formulating a compre-hensive deal that would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from crippling international sanctions.

Salehi said Iran put fresh proposals on the ta-ble to ease concerns over Tehran’s uranium en-richment program as well as the heavy-water re-actor at Arak in central Iran. Di� erences between Iran and the US over the size and scope of Iran’s enrichment program and the plutonium-produc-ing reactor remain the core obstacles to a deal.

“We have taken very good steps and man-aged to remove, as we believe, their fake con-cerns and worries through the technical o� ers we proposed,” he said.

Salehi didn’t elaborate on the proposals Iran put on the table but he has said in the past that Tehran was ready to redesign the Arak reactor so its plutonium output decreases signi� cantly to ease concerns by the West. l

MH370 report: Underwater locator beacon battery had expiredn AP, Kuala Lumpur

The � rst comprehensive report into the dis-appearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 revealed yesterday that the battery of the lo-cator beacon for the plane’s data recorder had expired more than a year before the jet van-ished on March 8, 2014.

The report came as Australian Prime Min-ister Tony Abbott said the hunt for the plane would not end even if the scouring of the current search area o� Australia’s west coast comes up empty.

Apart from the anomaly of the expired bat-tery, the detailed report devoted pages after pages describing the complete normality of the � ight, which disappeared while heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, setting o� avi-ation’s biggest mystery. Families of the 239 people who were on board the plane marked the anniversary of the Boeing 777’s disap-pearance, vowing to never give up on the desperate search for wreckage and answers to what happened to their loved ones.

Despite an exhaustive search for the plane, no trace of it has been found. In late January, Malaysia’s government formally declared the incident an accident and said all those on board were presumed dead.

The signi� cance of the expired battery in the beacon of the plane’s � ight data recorder was not immediately apparent, except indi-cating that searchers would have had lesser chance of locating the aircraft in the Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed, even if they were in its vicinity. However, the

report said the battery in the locator beacon of the cockpit voice recorder was working.

“The sole objective of the investigation is the prevention of future accidents or inci-dents, and not for the purpose to apportion blame or liability,” the report said.

Even though the beacon’s battery had ex-pired, the instrument itself was functioning properly and would have in theory captured

all the � ight information.The two instruments — commonly known

as “black boxes” — are critical in any crash be-cause they record cockpit conversations and � ight data through the end of a � ight.

The 584-page report by a 19-member inde-pendent investigation group went into minute details about the crew’s lives, including their medical and � nancial records and training. l

Dai Shuqin, whose sister was on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that went missing on March 8, last year, is stopped by policemen as she speaks to journalists near Yonghegong Lama Temple during a gathering of family members of the missing passengers, in Beijing yesterday AP

File photo showing the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau AP

WORLD 11D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

China defends island building in South China Sea, says not seeking new world n Reuters, Beijing

China’s foreign minister yesterday defended his government’s controversial policy of rec-lamation on disputed isles in the South China Sea which has sparked regional concern, and said Beijing was not seeking to overturn the international order.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to set Southeast Asian minds at ease over the country’s ambitions, but Beijing’s reclamation work in the Spratlys underscores its drive to push claims in the South China Sea and reassert its rights.

China claims about 90% of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on o� cial maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Bru-nei and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the potentially energy-rich waters that are crossed by key global shipping lanes.

China has already undertaken reclama-tion work on six other reefs it occupies in the Spratlys, expanding land mass � ve-fold, aerial surveillance photos show. Images seen by Reuters last year appeared to show an air-strip and sea ports.

The work on the islands has become pos-sibly the most visible sign of Xi’s more mus-cular form of diplomacy, even as he promises more than $120 billion in funds for Africa, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.

Speaking at his annual news conference on the sidelines of the on-going meeting of parlia-ment, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China was undertaking “necessary” construc-tion that was not aimed at any third party.

“We are not like some countries which have carried out ‘illegal building’ in other people’s home, and we won’t accept un-warranted remarks about work on our own home,” he said, in apparent criticism of build-ing by some other claimant states.

China’s hardline stance has stoked fears in Washington, Tokyo and some Southeast Asian capitals that Beijing is increasingly trying to play by its own rules and ignore international norms, as Xi seeks a global position commen-surate with China’s new economic power.

Wang said he believed that the current sys-tem needed to be updated rather than over-turned, to give more say to developing coun-tries, comparing the international order and system built around the United Nations to a big boat. l

China: Border dispute with India containedn Agencies

China yesterday said the border dispute with India has been “contained” and the Indian el-ephant and Chinese dragon should “do more” to strengthen the bilateral cooperation to fa-cilitate its settlement.

Addressing his annual press conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s legislature, for-eign minister Wang Yi said a warm welcome awaited Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he makes his � rst visit to China later this year.

“Last September, President Xi Jinping made an historic visit to India. Picture of the two leaders working at a spinning wheel in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister, has spread far and wide in China,” Wang said in response to a question from PTI about the India-China relations at a nationally-televised crowded press conference.

“Chinese people believe in reciprocating the courtesy of others. I am sure when Prime Minister Modi visits China later this year, he will be warmly welcomed by the Chinese gov-ernment and people,” he said.

Terming the “China-India boundary ques-tion, a legacy of history,” Wang said: “We have worked on it for many years and made some progress in the boundary negotiations.

“This is all the more reason that we do more to strengthen China-India cooperation so that we can enable and facilitate the set-tlement of the boundary question,” he said. l

Death row Australians in last-ditch bid to halt executionsn AFP, Jakarta

An Indonesian court will Thursday hear an appeal by two Australian drug smugglers on death row against President Joko Widodo’s refusal to grant them clemency, a last-ditch e� ort to halt the looming executions.

Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the ringleaders of the so-called “Bali Nine” drug smuggling gang, were sentenced to death in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of In-donesia. Their appeals for presidential clem-ency, typically a death row convict’s � nal chance of avoiding the � ring squad, were re-jected by Widodo. l

Iran leader appears in publicn AP, Tehran

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a public appearance yesterday amid ru-mors about his health, as a relative dismissed the claims as gossip meant to derail ongoing nuclear talks with world powers.

State television aired pictures yesterday of the 75-year-old Khamenei addressing a group of environmental o� cials and activ-ists at his residence in central Tehran. He appeared to look comfortable and healthy in the footage. l

Man spends night on UK parliament roof, arrestedn AP

British police have detained a man who spent the night on the roof of the Palace of Westmin-ster on suspicion of criminal damage and tres-passing. Scotland Yard said yesterday it was too early to know why the 23-year-old made his way to the top of Neo-Gothic masterpiece that serves as the seat of parliament in Britain.

The roof of the palace along the River Thames has long served as favored location for stunts by campaigners, such as those op-posing the construction of another runway at Heathrow. l

More than 40m Pakistanis defecate openly, according to Unicefn AP

More than 40 million people in Pakistan do not have access to a toilet, forcing them to defecate in the open, which in turn is a major contributor to stunting in the country, a top Unicef o� cial said.

“There are 41 million people who do not have access to a toilet in Pakistan and as a re-sult they are defecating in the open. And open defecation has signi� cant health and nutri-tional consequences,” said Geeta Rao Gupta, deputy executive director at Unicef.

She recently spoke to the AP during a trip to Pakistan to draw attention to the problem.

“Open defecation is a major contributor to stunting and that’s why we’ve got to do all we can to stop it,” she said. The problem can spread disease and lead to intestinal in-fections, which can contribute to stunting in young children, she said. l

NAGALAND LYNCHING

Victim buried as protests rock Assam; internet, SMS services n Agencies

Protests rocked Assam, especially in the three districts in the Barack Valley in the state, fol-lowing the lynching of a rape accused in Na-galand’s Dimpaur town on March 5.

Nagaland Police have arrested 18 people in connection with the lynching.

The arrests were made since last evening after going through the mobile video clip-pings during the incident and their interroga-tion is on, they said.

The victim Syed Farid Khan, who was dragged out of jail and beaten to death, was buried at his native village in Karimganj amidst tight security yesterday.

Khan was buried in Karimganj’s Bosla vil-lage. A huge turnout was reported with for-mer minister and Karimganj (south) MLA Sid-deque Ahmed attending, Karimganj deputy commissioner Sanjiv Gohain Boruah said.

Khan’s body was airlifted to Karimganj last evening after Nagaland authorities handed over his body to the Dimapur Muslim Council.

Khan’s brother Jamal Uddin Khan claimed that his brother was framed in the rape case as the medical examination of the girl, who alleged rape, indicated that there had been no sexual assault. “We are sons of the soil. We can’t be Bangladeshis just because we are Bengali Muslims,” Nasiruddin, Khan’s broth-er, told The Times of India.

A 12-hour bandh was called which par-alysed normal life in three districts of Barak Valley.

The bandh, called by several political, so-cial and business organizations was total with all shops and market places closed and vehi-cluar tra� c remaining o� the road, o� cial reports from the districts said.

The day being a yesterday, all schools and

educational institutions, o� ces and banks were closed.

There was, however, no report of any un-toward incident from the three districts of Karimganj, Cachar and Hailakandi of the val-ley, o� cials said.

Meanwhile, medical reports related to the alleged rape incident in Dimapur in Nagaland were awaited. l

Protesters in Tinsukia demonstrate yesterday against the mob killing of a man accused of rape in neighbouring Nagaland state AFP

EDITORIAL12DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

A generation after the end of military rule, the country still su� ers from broken politics.

Both the government and BNP must look beyond the current crisis to e� ect a long-term solution that not only ends the ongoing series of blockades and strikes, but which also helps to make democracy func-tion in the interests of the people by bringing stability.

The leading parties are stuck in a cycle of seeing elections as the means to enable a winner-takes-all form of government that concentrates pow-ers in their own hands, without regard to the interests of the nation.

We believe the suggestions made by speakers at this weekend’s workshop on “Rethinking Democrati-sation,” that constitutional reforms are needed to make democracy function properly, warrant serious attention.

Our economy’s potential is regularly undermined by political con� ict. Ways must be found to end the recurring cycle of political deadlock. The country cannot a� ord to risk perpetuating the cycle of major parties boycotting parliament and holding movements and hartals to change the government.

A constitutional convention that puts everything on the table, from strengthening independent bodies such as the ACC to improve govern-ance, to encouraging decentralisation and reforming the electoral system, can help settle recurring issues and bring the stability which citizens need to build a more prosperous nation.

New ideas such as bringing in referendums or adding a second cham-ber to parliament, elected by proportional representation, are worthy of consideration,

Only long-term thinking can truly bring a long-term solution.

Look beyond the current crisis to make democracy function better and bring stability

Think long-term for a lasting solution

According to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Re-search, three people in Bangladesh were found infected last month with the H1N1 � u virus, which causes the potentially fatal swine � u.

With the ongoing epidemic in India already taking over a thousand lives, the report highlights the impor-tance of taking further precautions against the disease.

A number of existing measures such as heightened-only screening for the � u for those entering Bangladesh from India, could be tightened further. It is essential the government makes full use of its co-ordination committee formed with the WHO to stockpile drugs and ensure adequate availabil-ity of thermal scanners and testing facilities at key points of entry.

Raising awareness of symptoms and risks is key to ensuring preventa-tive measures remain e� ective before the disease has a chance to sweep through the population.

Placing health o� ces on high alert for the virus should be backed up by health education campaigns and support.

Focus must be put on ensuring those groups most susceptible to infection, particularly pregnant women, children, and people with asth-ma, diabetes, and heart disease, are aware of the need to guard against infuenza symptoms by seeking treatment and taking precautions such as washing hands regularly to stop viruses spreading.

There is a real threat posed by the outbreak, but there is no reason why it should not be manageable.

Ensure proper precautions for swine � u

Focus on raising awareness and at risk groups

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

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

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

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

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

High Court orders government to stop the violenceFebruary 16

deep purple blueThe government is already using state law and order bodies such as the police, ansars, and the BGB to control the situation, but is largely failing to do so. Police and BGB have resorted to extra-judicial killings to control the situation, now only army deployment and declaring a state of emergency is left.

The court should have gone to the root of the problem, which is political in nature -- holding participatory elections under a

neutral government -- and asked the gov-ernment to hold credible elections without further delay.

MSirajullahThe government should legislate by banning the hartals and blockades forever. Hartals can be allowed for certain industries or business-es, for the interest of the employees of that entity, as it is practiced all over the world. Nothing like our hartals exist anywhere else.

Mob justice is no justice at allFebruary 16

Salem AhmedThis is alarming, as a society, where are we heading? A culture of violence and taking law into own hands is not acceptable, but we need to examine the reasons behind. An atmosphere of insecurity is palpable every-where, and these kinds of accidents are the outcomes of the situation at-hand.

Hasan Imam ParvezI liked your title: Mob justice is no justice at all -- which is applicable to all.

Ireland stun West IndiesFebruary 16ziaThat should give Bangladesh some relief as they are not the only ones, as Ireland beat West Indies in their group match. If Ireland can start on a positive note and can secure their quarter � nal, than our Tigers can do it as well. They can beat Afghanistan, Scotland, and Sri Lanka easily. ROAR TIGER, ROAR!

Bite of the underdogsFebruary 16Evil People PoliticsThe AAP have something that the BJP does not possess, a sense of modesty. But I can see how that alone cannot equate to political success.

US embassy congratulates Afghanistan for win over

Bangladesh!February 18

Adil ShahWrong intel by the CIA, as usual. No surpris-

es here folks.

Reazul KarimAdil Shah: They think this trick will bring

them closer, hehe … think again.

Shama Sha� qOvercompensation.

Ishtiaq HossainWhat a bunch of morons!

Reazul KarimSuckers.

Halima QaderDufus.

Rashed IslamI’m sure it’s gonna cost someone’s job.

Dentist charged in death of patient getting 20 teeth pulled

February 19Gary Jon Julyan

I have false teeth dear. I will courier them over for a scrap and polish this weekend.

Tnx Doc.

Kaniz KhanGary Jon Julyan: Hahahaha ... wait till I have

you Gman. No really, this is pathetic. As he shouldve paid attention to her medical

history, it’s important. And 20 teeth in an o� ce clinic? What

was he thinking?

DT

OPINION 13D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

n Junaed Shahid

Nigeria recently postponed the general election that was set to be held on February 14, 2015. The election com-

mission moved the date to March 28 instead, citing lack of troops to guard polling stations due to ongoing insurgency by Boko Haram.

How they would bolster the number of troops in a month and a half was not explained. Critics think that the government sensed defeat in the elections and post-poned it to hinder the momentum of the main opposition party, APC, with some even doubting whether the election would be held at all. The political landscape also shifted signi� cantly over the last couple of years, with many ruling-party lawmakers switching parties to join the opposition.

The 2015 general election is set to be a watershed moment for the people of Africa’s largest nation. The ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), will be headed by the current president Goodluck Jonathan and the main opposition party, All Progres-sives Congress (APC) party, will have former president and military dictator Muhammadu Buhari as the contender.

Many in Nigeria believe that the current government under President Goodluck Jon-athan failed to defeat or even contain Boko Haram, and Muhammadu Buhari’s primary election pledge is to end the insurgency “within months,” if elected.

Despite ongoing e� orts by the military and the government, Boko Haram continues to haunt the people of North East Nigeria, particularly Borno state. They also seem to cross the borders at will and threaten to destabilise Cameroon, Chad, and Niger (all bordering Borno). The group has separatist aspirations, and relies heavily on terrorising the people into submission, mainly through indiscriminate killings and kidnappings of unarmed civilians.

The Nigerian military has been mainly playing a role of containment in the past few years, and the government’s will to neutral-ise the group is regularly questioned by its opponents. From an economic development perspective, the Boko Haram insurgency has nearly crippled the economy of the Nigerian north, especially the north-eastern state Borno.

Nigeria’s second largest city Kano, which is located in the north and has been a tradi-tional trading hub for over a thousand years, is also su� ering from economic stagnation and lack of new investments.

Nigeria is no stranger to groups like Boko Haram; the country faced a similar but less deadly situation in the oil rich River delta state. The situation in that case was controlled

by the government through a 2004 peace deal with the local militias. In Boko Haram’s case no such clear-cut solution is in sight.

Boko Haram’s scare tactics have gone largely unnoticed by world media, even though the scale and death toll alone makes it one of the worst terrorist organisations in the world. They have indiscriminately at-tacked public places, and abducted unarmed civilians at will.

They managed to penetrate the heavily forti� ed capital city of Abuja on a couple of occasions last year, through attacks in a bus stop in Abuja in April 2014 and a market located in the a� uent part of Abuja called Wuse 2 in June, 2014.

This was followed by abduction of 274 girls from Chibok and a � erce attack in Baga this January which might have killed in access of 2,000 people. There were numer-ous other attacks in Kano and other parts of northern Nigeria in that period that failed to get much international media attention.

Nigeria shares many characteristic traits with Bangladesh. Both countries were part of the British colonial empire, and since independence both faced numerous military coups and political upheavals. Also, rather embarrassingly, both were featured as the most corrupt nations in the world in the past couple of decades and continue to operate along that line at present.

In 2013, the then central governor of Ni-geria, Lamido Sanusi disclosed that he could not account for $20bn from oil revenues in the period of January 2012 to July 2013.

But his disclosure was faced with a col-lective shrug from the Nigerian public, who were not terribly surprised by the audacious claim. In Bangladesh, similar events occurred with all the past and present ruling party ministers and a� liates, and in some cases they were caught red-handed and faced limited consequences.

Nigerian politics and governance currently faces many hurdles, similar to that of Bang-ladesh, but there has been some major pro-gress recently. The political parties in Nigeria are relatively democratic, as the party heads rotate and are nominated to be the presiden-tial candidates to contest for elections.

In addition, the opposition has some form of political space to operate and express their opinion, and the country’s media is relatively free and openly criticises their government. Despite all the hurdles, Nigeria is sure to face a free and fair election. It would be a step in the right direction, to allow the country to focus on more impending issues like diver-sifying their economy and defeating Boko Haram. l

Junaed Shahid is a development professional.

What Nigeria facesREUTERS

n Towheed Feroze

I have this rather annoying habit of looking at the horoscope at the beginning of the month. Sometimes I wonder why I do

this since, in most cases, the predictions (the ones that provide the momentary thrills) never come true. The bad ones usually do, or maybe that’s how we think.

So, when the monthly forecast for Aries in March said “prepare for the unexpected,” I never took it too seriously until I ended up at the Shahjalal Airport on March 4, a Wednes-day, all prepared to go to Kathmandu to attend an IFC seminar on hydro power.

With me I had none other than Sharier Khan, The Daily Star journalist, who’s also a specialist on energy, power, and water. For starters, the airport looked exceptionally clean, something which I had almost never noticed in the past.

The feeling was compounded when we went to use the toilet inside the immigration lounge. It was spotless and, for once, we could not smell “eau de urine” wafting in the air.

Additionally, the toilets looked as if they were renovated recently. Anyway, in the back of my mind I was waiting for the “� ight is delayed” sign. We were � ying Biman, and though there have been times when the national carrier kept to its timetable, the childhood memory of agonising waits at the Tejgaon Airport, back in the 70s, refused to go away.

If I remember correctly, back then, on one occasion, when the propeller-driven Fokker 27 failed to arrive after � ve hours, the announcer, noticing the wilted passengers, decided to add a tad of humour, saying: “Bei-man (meaning “ingrate”) would be coming soon, so do not lose hope.”

It surely lifted the spirits of some forty odd desolate people.

Anyway, they do say: Think something nasty and then it happens … in Bengali ... jekhane baagher bhoy, sheikhanei shondhya hoi (darkness comes fast in an area with a tiger threat).

The � ight was delayed by an hour! Okay, we thought, that’s not much.

“Shall we try the exclusive lounges on the top � oor?” Sharier bhai suggested.

No new information on the � ight was forthcoming. After about an hour, sensing something was amiss, we came down but no one could say what was happening.

I called the travel agent and got a real shocker: A Turkish Airline plane, trying to land in poor visibility conditions, veered o� the runway and, therefore, the Kathmandu Airport was closed.

Within minutes, we found photos in our smartphones -- it looked ominous: A plane dangerously perched by the main runway, which meant no plane would be able to land unless it was removed.

Strangely, no other passenger belonging to the Kathmandu � ight knew anything at all. They were blithely moving about, looking at shops, young couples canoodling in the corners, and holiday-makers taking the delay in their strides.

A few quick calls con� rmed that all � ights to Nepal had been cancelled, and that meant other dignitaries, � ying to attend the hydro power seminar, would not make it either.

First, go to the airport on-duty police

o� cer-in-charge, make an application to have the immigration seal cancelled, and then go downstairs to the arrival area and say that your trip has been cancelled. After this, you need to go out and collect your luggage, if you had checked in any suitcases that is.

We hurried to the police area where a stern looking man in uniform directed us to the man in charge, a smart looking fellow in white shirt and trousers, holding a wireless set.

As we began relating our predicament, the o� cer in charge dropped a bomb. Looking at me curiously he asked: “Aren’t you Toto bhai?” I was stunned -- only people who know me from my childhood and those who played, and still play, with me at the Dhaka University gymnasium � eld know my nickname. Jhashim, a keen sportsman, was now a responsible o� cer, a BCS cadre from the 2006 batch. I felt proud seeing him doing well in his career.

Seated in his room, we were given a tem-plate application where a passenger wishing to o� oad simply needs to put his name and signature.

While we waited, the case of a Tanzanian citizen, who had spent nine years in a Bang-ladeshi prison for illegal entry, was being settled. The man in question walked in and sat near us.

Walking with a limp, his face was the de� nition of innocence. Maybe looks can be deceiving, but sometimes a face truly speaks of the inner person. Remember what Oscar Wilde said in The Picture of Dorian Gray …

Formalities done, we came out. The luggage was not in the belt but a person from lost and found disappeared behind the con-veyor and got the bag.

Cancelled � ight, I said, walking out: “Kathmandu was a miss, but the duty-free shop wasn’t.” Out we came on a rain-cooled day, a little wiser about airport rules, carrying with us new memories and a fellow called Johnnie Walker. l

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

Adventures in airporting

BIGSTOCK

OPINION14DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

n Garga Chatterjee

Since I am a Bengali, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh has a special place in my heart. It is the nation-state where the largest number of my

co-ethnic people live. Bangladesh was born partly out of a struggle to protect the dignity of Bangla, the mother tongue of many of its people, against assaults from Urdu, Paki-stan’s state-sponsored language that served the purpose of fostering “national unity.”

Any multi-lingual nation-state that has policies favouring some languages over others as part of its unifying agenda is a state that is fundamentally insecure about diver-sity and views that as an existential threat, irrespective of politically correct o� cial stances. “National unity” is the slogan aimed to silence those who point out this basic fact and want to maintain their own dignity.

A few decades after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, Bangla has emerged as the dominant language of online media. The conscious twinning of vernacular media with technology has been behind this phenom-enon of people being able to express and exchange thoughts in the cyber domain in their mother-tongue, including development of mass-manufactured Bangla keyboards.

In the whole of the subcontinent, this is an unmatched achievement. This comes with a very popular and vibrant blog-centric cyber-activism culture in Bangla where many ideological shades are represented -- from Liberation war idealists, Marxists, atheists, Islamists, feminists, secular and non-secular Bengali nationalists and so on. Sometimes blog-debates also in� uence o� -line political discourse. In short, the Bangla blogosphere

plays a role in the political discourse of Bang-ladesh. This phenomenon is without match in the subcontinent.

Avijit Roy, a famous blogger who found-ed the blog Mukto Mona (freethinker) and a proli� c and popular writer propagating rational and scienti� c spirit, was hacked to death in the university area of Dhaka on 26th February, in full view of by-standers and security forces.

His wife, Ra� da Ahmed Bonna, has been very badly injured while trying to protect her husband. The assailants managed to slip away and still haven’t been found. Ansar Bangla-7, a little known Islamist group, has claimed responsibility for this murder.

While there has been widespread condem-nation of this event in Bangladesh, many Bengali Islamists have been openly jubilant on social media about Avijit’s death. They rue the fact that Avijit Roy put their religion under the scanner of rationalism and cri-tiqued it thoroughly. Avijit also did this for all religions, including Hinduism -- the religion others falsely but automatically associated with him, given his family origins.

He was personally an atheist. It must be supreme irony that atheist Avijit Roy was a “Malaun” (the Arabic meaning is precise -- one who is deprived of God’s mercy) in death. At least that’s how those who are hap-py about his brutal killing will remember him -- a blasphemous Malaun. There is a di� er-ence between those who want to protect the gods and those who believe that gods protect them. I happen to be in the latter category.

Earlier in February, Govind Pansare, veter-an communist leader, rationalist, freethinker and social activist, was killed in Maharashtra. The attack happened in broad daylight. One can be almost sure that his killers won’t be found. We also know typically in what situ-

ations the police can’t � nd the killers. These are unholy times in the subcontinent with the ferocious rise of portable religion with communitarian faith-systems being under constant assault. This is a disturbing scenar-io. One cannot simply point at an ogre called Pakistan and feel smug anymore.

Some brown people are very sensitive to the plight of whites in Whiteland and take to protesting the horrible killings of French

cartoonists. They have a certain idea of the “world” and the “global.” Of course, the majority of the world appears like backward creatures to them, not worthy of the same kind of sympathy and solidarity.

Some Delhi people had turned up at the French embassy after the cartoonists’ kill-ings. There was no such protest in Delhi for Avijit Roy. It was left to Kolkata to organise a street-protest in solidarity with another Bengali.

That is � ne but it’s important to note that the contours of fashionable brown cosmo-politanism has never been colour-blind. Ask them the name of any Indonesian intel-lectual. Their faces will show 50 shades of incredulity -- Indonesian intellectual?

Those whose mental worlds are colourless without being appendages to white culture and who respond re� exively to white #JeSuis symbolisms might do well to appreciate what a friend from Dhaka says: “There is di� er-ence in terms of power between a Hindu blogger, the weakest of weak in Bangladesh, and a satire magazine run by majority white French men in France.”

When you see pictures from the “good days” of 1960s and 70s when Afghanistan was but a cool stopover in the white hippie trail running across many national borders from Turkey to Goa, hold o� your identi� ca-tion with that “liberty.”

No group of only browns was allowed to go from Goa to Turkey “for fun.” Let us learn to respect our dead without imported tears. Before we imagine a world where we will live as one, we � rst need to stop playing John Len-non’s song as we work towards such a world. l

Garga Chatterjee is a political and cultural commentator. He can be followed on twitter @gargac.

Those whose mental worlds are colourless without being appendages to white culture and who respond re� exively to white #JeSuis symbolisms might do well to appreciate what a friend from Dhaka says

No colour-blind cosmopolitanismBIGSTOCK

15D

TBusiness MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Pakistan moves to widen tax net, but big � sh yet to be caught

China takes lessons from Japan, past master on slowdown, de� ation

Stocks slide for 6th session

Muhith: Ill attempt going on to stop economic progress

19 201716

KEPZ: Foreign investment hampered by land grabbingn Tushar Hayat, Chittagong

Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) au-thorities alleged that some local in� uential people had grabbed 11 acres of its land, hin-dering foreign investment and employment generation in the zone.

Police and district administrations were not doing enough to recapture the lands from the grabbers, o� cials told a press conference yesterday.

“The land-grabbers are eating into our lands, which prevents development works and foreign investment in the KEPZ. But we are getting no su� cient help from police and dis-trict administrations,” KEPZ managing director Brigadier General (Retd) Hasan Nasir said.

He said the local land-grabbers had grabbed 11 acres of land in the name of graveyard.

MD said the district administration, how-ever, retrieved four acres which were yet to be

demarcated.“We sent 13 letters since 1999. But no re-

sponse yet and the land-grabbers have been using the chance (of not demarcation).”

The district administration was yet to give them the Deed of Transfer and Mutation of Land, Nasir Hasan said, adding that they were unable to accommodate foreign investors at the zone for this reason.

“We cannot lease out industrial plots to foreign investors as the Deed of Transfer and Mutation of Land have not been provided,” he said.

Youngone have just set up four industrial units at the zone, where 10,000 people have been employed, he added.

MD also said if they got the Deed of Trans-fer and Mutation of Land, they would be able to increase employment to 50,000 at the KEPZ in two years.

He alleged some local workers drew sala-

ries from KEPZ without doing any work. When the salaries were stopped, they started waging movement against the decision, Nasir said.

Mohammed Saiful Islam, another o� cial, said then Prime Minister approved a proposal of KEPZ on August 3 in 1995.

He said they had applied for land on De-cember 13 in 1996 and received land on Au-gust 3 in 1999.

The KEPZ sources said they had built 22 fac-tory buildings, 24 kilometres of roads, a female dormitory for 5,400 workers and a golf course and planted 1.7m trees.

Various other development works are also underway on about 2,500 acres of land in the zone.

A high o� cial of the KEPZ said they were just provided with the licence. He said they could provide jobs to at least 100,000 people of Bangladesh if everything remained in their favour. l

FBCCI seeks rise in turnover ceiling for VAT in small, cottage industries n Tribune Report

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) yesterday urged the government to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) turn over ceiling to Tk36 lakh from existing Tk24 lakh for the small and cottage industries.

FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed made the call at a meeting with the Finance Minister AMA Muhith at his secretariat o� ce in the city yesterday.

The apex trade body also proposed to in-troduce multiple VAT system instead of � at 15% to help facilitate the small business.

It also argued that this type of rates was being practiced in many developed and de-veloping countries such as France, China, Ma-laysia and other EU countries.

“We’ve proposed the government to intro-duce multiple VAT system instead of � at 15%,’’ Akram told the reporters after the meeting.

“Although it won’t be possible for the gov-ernment to implement all the demands al-together, it will be possible to implement in phases,” said Akram as quoting the minister.

He also mentioned that during the meeting he discussed about 10 recommendations and the minister agreed on � ve issues while he took note on others for further discussion and consideration. Replying to a question, Akram said: “We will try to help the International Mon-etary Fund (IMF) to have better understanding about the country’s economic situation and will also consider the logic of IMF’ in this regard.”

He, however, said, “It is not necessary for us to abide by all the IMF conditions.”

A nine-member panel, headed by a former National Board of Revenue member, put for-ward its recommendations to Finance Minis-ter AMA Muhith early January.

The panel suggested the revenue authority to impose multiple VAT rates, instead of the universal 15% in all areas. It also recommended raising the ceiling of turnover VAT to Tk36 lakh from Tk24 lakh to facilitate growth of small and cottage industries especially in the rural area. l

Lending rules for cold storage easedn BSS

Bangladesh Bank (BB) yesterday eased further the procedure of bank loan for the owners of cold storages a� ected by ongo-ing political violence, particularly those in the northern region.

The central bank in a circular said the a� ected cold storages would not have to make fresh down payment in case of taking fresh loan for working capital. However, the goods of the cold storage should cover the loan amount.

Earlier on January 29, the central bank eased the loan repay-

ment for the owners of the cold storages, allowing them � ve to eight years for paying back their outstanding loans.

The cold storage owners, who borrowed money from banks as project loans, are now getting eight years for loan repayment in half-yearly installments. The repayment period is � ve years for the owners of the cold storages who borrowed for working capital.

BB also allowed the owners of the cold storages, who re-scheduled their loans earlier, get the fresh loan rescheduling facilities. l

An aerial view of factories at the Korean Export Processing Zone in Chittagong KEPZ

BUSINESS16DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Pakistan moves to widen tax net, but big � sh yet to be caught n AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan has begun chasing wealthy tax-dodg-ers who enjoy lives of extravagance and luxu-ry, but revenue o� cials face huge challenges in trying to force the very richest - and most in� uential - to pay up.

Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio of 9.5% is among the lowest in the world and the gov-ernment is under pressure from foreign do-nors and lenders, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to increase collection to boost the struggling economy.

Revenue authorities say they have identi-� ed about a quarter of a million new taxpay-ers who they project will add around 14bn ru-pees ($140m) to government co� ers.

Broadening the tax base and improving the economy after years of drift and sluggish growth under the last government was a key pledge in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s 2013 election campaign, when he was swept to power for a third time.

Currently less than one percent of Paki-stanis pay income tax and the government collected just $8 billion in total income tax in the 2013-14 � scal year - barely enough to cover just the country’s defence expenditure of $7bn.

The � nance ministry is aiming to boost the tax-to-GDP ratio to 15% in the current � scal year ending June 30.

As part of those e� orts, the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) is compiling lifestyle and vehicle data to try to trace unregistered tax-payers, including wealthy landlords and busi-nessmen zipping between their luxury homes

in imported Mercedes. “We are collecting information from the

vehicle registration authority, car manufac-turers, utility companies, telecom companies and property registration o� ces and trac-ing people who are not paying any tax,” FBR spokesman Shahid Hussain told AFP.

Taxpayer profiles The data is used to generate pro� les of po-tential taxpayers, after which demands are issued for them to pay income tax.

“FBR has already issued notices to 261,250 potential tax payers,” Hussain told AFP, add-ing that that new taxpayers have paid 570m rupees since the crackdown started.

It is not just dodgy businessmen who have been caught - several lawmakers have been found paying either no tax or very little and not � ling their mandatory annual tax state-ments.

The FBR has taken punitive measures against some “chronic defaulters”, freezing nearly 300 bank accounts, seizing more than 100 vehicles, putting 78 properties up for sale and issuing arrest warrants in 40 cases.

“Employing information technology, the FBR is creating a central database which would contain information about all taxpay-ers and nobody will be left undetected,” Hus-sain said.

A new FBR department tasked with broad-ening the task net started working in July 2013 and within one year it started showing results, he added.

But Pakistan is a country where wealth and political in� uence go hand in hand.

For generations, landowners and industri-alists have given patronage to political parties and scant attention has been paid to their as-sets by the taxman.

Changing this privileged arrangement is a tricky proposition.

Umar Cheema, an investigative journalist for Pakistani daily The News who has done several major exposes on tax-dodgers, says the FBR’s commitment is encouraging, but he does not expect them to net any big � sh.

‘War on tax cheats’ “FBR is after those who can’t in� uence them,” Cheema told AFP, citing several well-known tycoons considered among Pakistan’s richest whose names were missing from a list of the country’s top 100 taxpayers.

“It can be done only by waging a war against tax cheaters without discrimination of good and bad cheaters,” Cheema said.

Pakistan’s central bank said in a recent re-port that tax revenue growth was not keeping up with budget targets.

The tax take grew 11.7% in the � rst quarter of the current � scal year, against an annual target of 26.9% - but this was only half the growth of the same period during the previ-ous � scal year, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The central bank has urged the govern-ment to simplify tax procedures and do more to increase the documentation of the econo-my.

A vast amount of business in Pakistan is done o� the books, making transactions hard to trace and levy dues on. l

Pakistan has begun chasing wealthy tax-dodgers who enjoy lives of extravagance and luxury, but revenue o� cials face huge challenges in trying to force the very richest AFP

Kuwait: Oil price likely to stabilise at $50-60 n AFP, Kuwait City

World crude prices are expected to gain this year or at least stabilise at between $50 and $60 a barrel, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ali al-Omair was quoted as saying.

“Forecasts for the oil price this year indi-cate that it will gain or at least stabilise be-tween $50 and $60 a barrel,” the o� cial KUNA news agency quoted Omair as saying late on Saturday in Bahrain.

The minister said prices are currently sup-ported by con� ict in Iraq and Libya and by a drop in sand oil and shale oil output.

But that is counterbalanced by slow global economic growth, which is dampening de-mand, Omair said.

World prices dropped at close on Friday as the dollar rose sharply, making dollar-priced crude more expensive for buyers using weak-er foreign currencies.

West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April slid $1.15 to $49.61 on the New York Mer-cantile Exchange, ending near its week-ago level.

Brent North Sea crude for April, the in-ternational benchmark, dropped 75 cents to $59.73 a barrel in London. l

Apple takes leap into new territory with smartwatch n AFP, San Francisco

Apple’s hotly-anticipated smartwatch is ex-pected to debut today as the trend-setting � rm sets out to make stylish wrist-worn computers must-have accessories for modern lifestyles.

Industry trackers say Apple Watch will star at a media event being held at the same San Francisco theater where the California tech giant introduced the iPad.

Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook has re-vealed little about the sophisticated wrist wear, but has said that he “can’t live without it.”

The company announced its plans for Ap-ple Watch last year to much fanfare and has said it would begin shipping in April.

It will mark Apple’s � rst new product type since the iPad in 2010.

Apple has indicated that the entry price would be $349 in the United States, and that two di� erent sizes would be available in three collections, including the “Apple Watch Edi-tion,” featuring 18-karat gold cases in yellow or rose, sapphire crystal and � nely crafted bands and closures.

The Apple device will connect with the iP-hone, and also have a range of apps and sen-sors, notably for health and � tness.

The watch is also expected to include map software that guides people to destinations with gentle “taps” on the wrist.

Fitness apps on the Apple Watch and its ri-vals could spell trouble for makers of � tness bands from companies like Jawbone, Fitbit and Nike.

“Apple is poised to once again show how computing platforms are won or lost on the one-two punch of eager consumers and hun-gry ecosystem partners,” said Forrester Re-search analyst James McQuivey.

Apple reportedly had to scale back health tracking features on the watch after some sensors didn’t rise to the challenges. l

BUSINESS 17D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

China takes lessons from Japan, past master on slowdown, de� ationn Reuters, Shanghai

Chinese regulators are turning to Japan for lessons on economic history, determined to keep the world’s second biggest economy from taking the same path of recession and de� ation that has blighted its neighbour for the past 20 years.

Beijing views Tokyo’s handling of the lib-eralisation of capital � ows and the yen over 30 years ago as key factors that led to the cre-ation and subsequent bust of the asset bub-ble in Japan in the early 1990s, according to Japanese government and other sources who are in direct contact with Chinese regulators.

“They aren’t a single bit interested in Ja-pan’s successes. Their biggest interest is in Ja-pan’s mistakes,” one China-based source who is directly in touch with Chinese regulators told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“Japanese and Chinese economies do share many similarities, so I assume there is quite a lot to learn from our experiences.”

Chinese policymakers and analysts at gov-ernment think-tanks are already well versed in the experiences of Japan and other coun-tries, and the sources say two-way communi-cation at both government and private-sector level continued even through a chill in diplo-matic ties after a territorial spat in 2012.

But as economic growth slows and signs of de� ation emerge, China’s interest in Japan has increased notably around policy details, according to the sources.

At an annual parliamentary meeting that began on Thursday, China announced an eco-nomic growth target of around 7% for this year, down from 7.4% in 2014, already the slowest in 24 years.

Lost decades china is carrying out three key � nancial re-forms Japan undertook over the past decades - liberalising interest rates, internationalising its currency and opening up its capital ac-count.

These reforms should help develop the economy, but mis-steps could have huge re-percussions.

Chinese policymakers see the 1985 Plaza Accord between Japan and the Western pow-ers, which e� ectively approved a stronger yen and the opening up of the capital account during the 1980s and 1990s, as pivotal events for Tokyo which ultimately led to the Japan’s “lost two decades”, sources say.

The surge in the yen that followed the agreement hit the country’s main exports; Japanese auto makers, for example, start-ed shifting more production overseas. This started to hamper economic growth and prompted the Bank of Japan to ease mone-tary policy.

However, much of the cash from the easing, along with hot foreign money that followed the liberalisation of the capital ac-count, � owed into stocks, property and other assets, often magni� ed through leveraging.

“China is already applying lessons from Japan’s experience. Even when growth is slowing, Chinese policymakers aren’t taking policy measures that could heighten � nancial imbalances. That’s very wise of them,” Bank of Japan board member Takahide Kiuchi told a news conference in Maebashi, north of To-kyo, on Thursday.

He said that even when asset bubbles were forming, Japan wasn’t able to tighten mone-tary policy because of the impacts it would

have on the United States, its biggest partner. “One of the lessons from Japan’s experi-

ence is that achieving domestic economic stability should be the top priority for policy-makers (rather than international considera-tions),” Kiuchi added.

Debt risk china has other challenges that echo Japan’s past.

Its property market has cooled since the government tightened policy to prevent overheating and due to oversupply, and that, coupled with economic slowdown, is raising fears of a rapid rise in bad loans at banks and a further dent in local government � nances.

Sources said regulators have also been ask-ing how Japan dealt with bank bankruptcies, and that could be a signal Beijing is preparing for a likely consolidation in the fragmented banking sector once interest rates are liberal-ised.

“It makes perfects sense for them to look to Japan rather than other countries since our � nancial systems are very similar,” said an-other Shanghai-based source.

Like Japan, Chinese � rms rely heavily on bank loans to meet their � nancing needs as opposed to debt or equity issues. Also China heavily regulates its banking sector, for ex-ample by limiting the number and locations where banks can open branches, similar to Japan in the 1970s and 1980s.

“The consolidation in the banking sector Japan saw in the 70s and 80s was mainly a re-sult of stronger banks rescuing weaker ones so they could expand their network. It’s pos-sible this kind of move will happen in China,” the source said. l

China February trade surplus hits record $60.6bn n AFP, Beijing

China’s monthly trade surplus hit $60.6bn in February, the government said Sunday, a new record for the world’s second-largest economy.

Exports leapt 48.3% year-on-year to $169.2bn while imports fell 20.5% to $108.6bn, Customs said on its website.

The country’s trade surplus, long a source of tensions with its trading partners, rose above a previous all-time monthly high of $60bn recorded in January.

But analysts were pessimistic about the outlook for China’s exports and blamed the weak imports reading on falling commodity prices, with stringent bank � nancing for traders also a factor.

China is a key driver of global growth but its economy grew 7.4% in 2014, its weakest for almost a quarter of a century, and recent indicators show signs the slowdown is continuing.

Customs attributed the surge in exports to a rise in outbound shipments ahead of the Lunar New Year, which fell on February 19 this year.

“A� ected by the Spring Festival factors, ex-port companies in the country again rushed to export ahead of the holiday and only resumed working after it,” the statement said.

The Lunar New Year fell on January 31 in 2014, followed by a week-long national holiday, leading to a low comparison base for this February.

For the � rst two months of the year, China’s trade surplus totalled $120.7bn, said the statement.

The � gure stood at $8.9bn in the same period last year, Customs data showed.

“We still see strong headwinds facing China’s exports this year,” ANZ economists Liu Ligang and Zhou Hao said in a research note, pointing to a continuing contraction streak in export orders.

Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday announced a lowered growth target of “approximately seven percent” for 2015, and - underscoring concern - the central People’s Bank of China last weekend cut benchmark interest rates for the second time in three months.

Li also cut China’s trade growth target for this year to “around six percent”, after trade ex-panded 3.4% last year, below the 7.5% goal and the third consecutive year it had been missed amid softened domestic and foreign demand.

China’s huge trade surpluses were long a source of friction with the United States as the workshop of the world pumped out manufac-tured goods and US debt mounted, but the issue has receded in more recent years.

In the January-February period, China’s ex-ports to the European Union, the United States and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the top three trade partners of the country, increased by 13%, 21.2% and 38.4% respectively.

But imports from all three regions declined, falling 10.3% with the EU, 16.7% with the US and 18.2% with the ASEAN countries, indicat-ing domestic demand in China remained weak.

China’s exports to Japan, with which it is embroiled in bitter disputes over maritime territory and wartime history, fell 4.1% in the two-month period, while imports from the neighbour decreased by 13.8% . l

Workers set up a sca� olding on a building site in Shanghai AFP

BUSINESS18DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 184.88 7.42 19.73 8.33 204.62 7.50NBFI 143.63 5.77 5.38 2.27 149.01 5.46Investment 28.25 1.13 1.87 0.79 30.12 1.10Engineering 519.08 20.84 42.42 17.90 561.50 20.59Food & Allied 65.97 2.65 2.94 1.24 68.92 2.53Fuel & Power 364.69 14.64 30.45 12.85 395.14 14.49Jute 2.08 0.08 0.00 2.08 0.08Textile 316.35 12.70 49.50 20.89 365.85 13.41Pharma & Chemical 233.81 9.39 14.76 6.23 248.57 9.11Paper & Packaging 11.95 0.48 1.80 0.76 13.75 0.50Service 163.16 6.55 8.90 3.76 172.06 6.31Leather 11.16 0.45 0.25 0.11 11.41 0.42Ceramic 12.93 0.52 1.17 0.49 14.10 0.52Cement 160.79 6.46 20.39 8.60 181.18 6.64Information Technology 54.74 2.20 4.51 1.90 59.25 2.17General Insurance 12.18 0.49 0.26 0.11 12.45 0.46Life Insurance 29.24 1.17 2.10 0.89 31.34 1.15Telecom 72.30 2.90 13.90 5.87 86.20 3.16Travel & Leisure 14.62 0.59 3.35 1.41 17.96 0.66Miscellaneous 88.77 3.56 13.23 5.58 102.00 3.74Debenture 0.09 0.00 0.02 0.01 0.10 0.00

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

News, analysis and recent disclosuresUNIONCAP: The Board of Directors has recommended 10% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 31.03.2015, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Spectra Convention Centre Ltd. (2nd � oor), Gulshan-1, Dhaka. Record date: 16.03.2015. The Company has also reported consolidated net pro� t after tax of Tk. 199.99 million, consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.65, consolidated NAV per Share of Tk. 14.95 and consolidated NOCFPS of Tk. 0.91 for the year ended on December 31, 2014 as against Tk. 141.76 million, Tk. 1.17 (restated), Tk. 16.63 (restated) and Tk. 2.79 (restated) respectively for the year ended on December 31, 2013SHASHADNIM: (Q3): The Company has reported its pro� t after tax Tk. 89.05 million and basic EPS Tk. 1.85 for the 3 (three) months ended on 30 September 2014 (Jul 2014Sep 2014) as against pro� t after tax of Tk. (42.08) million and basic EPS of Tk. (0.88) for the same period of the previous year. It is to be noted that basic EPS has been calculated based on weighted average Pre-IPO paid-up number of shares i.e. 48,076,200 shares for both periods. However, consid-ering Post-IPO 98,076,200 number of shares the Companys basic EPS for the 3 (three) months ended on 30 September 2014 would be Tk. 0.91. For the period of 9 (nine) months (Jan 2014 to Sep 2014) ended on 30 September 2014 pro� t after tax was Tk. 96.55 million and basic EPS was Tk. 2.01 as against pro� t after tax of Tk. 107.86 million and basic EPS of Tk. 2.24 for the same period of the previous year. It is to be noted that the said EPS has been calculated based on weighted average Pre-IPO paid-up number of shares i.e. 48,076,200 shares for both periods. However, considering Post-IPO 98,076,200 number of shares, Companys basic EPS would be Tk. 0.98 for 9 (nine) months ended on 30 September 2014 (Jan 2014 to Sep 2014) and NAV per share would be Tk. 45.68 as on 30 September 2014.BSC: In connection with the Corporations earlier news (disseminat-ed by DSE on May 04, 2014) the Corporation has further informed that a proposal of procuring 6 (six) new vessels under Preferential/Concessional loan of Chinese Government has been approved in the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase.KPCL: In connection with the Companys earlier news (disseminated by DSE on November 13, 2014) the Company has further informed that the Honble High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has sanctioned the Scheme of Amalgamation (without modi� cation) proposing merger of Khanjahan Ali Power Company Ltd. & Khulna Power Company Unit II Ltd. (Transferor Companies) with Khulna Power Company Ltd. (Transferee Company) vide a judgment and order dated 03.03.2015 passed in Company Matter No. 322 of 2014. As a result, Khulna Power Company Ltd. shall take over, amongst others, all licenses, permissions, assets and liabilities of the Transferor Companies and shall continue to be as a going concern whilst the Transferor Companies shall be stricken out from the Com-pany register kept with RJSC.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

PrimeFin. 1st MF-A 9.92 9.21 14.35 14.40 14.40 14.00 1.104 1.13 12.7Ifad Autos -N 9.91 7.02 57.79 59.90 59.90 55.70 12.953 1.92 30.1Hakkani P& Paper -B 9.65 9.60 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 0.025 0.42 59.5ISN Ltd. -Z 9.48 7.93 12.52 12.70 12.70 11.70 0.225 0.13 96.3AMCL 2nd MF-A 6.82 6.33 4.70 4.70 4.70 4.70 0.002 0.84 5.6WesternMarine -N 6.70 4.17 43.71 44.60 44.90 41.70 14.424 1.76 24.8Shurwid Ind. -N 6.28 4.11 23.32 23.70 24.00 22.60 1.293 0.72 32.4Sinobangla Indu.-A 6.08 3.63 27.15 27.90 28.00 26.40 0.723 1.27 21.4SAIF Powertec-N 5.89 2.90 64.96 66.50 66.70 62.60 5.048 2.50 26.0Reckitt Benckiser -A 5.76 5.76 1322.00 1322.00 1322.00 1322.00 0.001 42.33 31.2

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Ifad Autos -N 9.89 7.41 58.14 60.00 60.00 55.00 155.247 1.92 30.3Shahjibazar Power-N 7.75 5.57 237.74 244.80 247.00 230.00 160.909 8.68 27.4Anwar Galvanizing-B 7.37 6.56 36.06 36.40 36.70 34.10 7.572 0.64 56.3National Polymer -A 6.96 2.60 78.47 81.40 82.90 76.30 57.249 3.30 23.8WesternMarine -N 6.92 3.78 43.70 44.80 45.00 41.90 74.435 1.76 24.8SAIF Powertec-N 6.19 3.10 65.21 66.90 67.30 63.00 65.279 2.50 26.1PrimeFin. 1st MF-A 5.22 9.44 14.26 14.10 14.50 13.90 8.935 1.13 12.6National Feed-N 4.94 4.05 27.26 27.60 27.70 26.40 21.325 1.37 19.9SonarBangla Insu. -A 4.52 5.00 16.17 16.20 16.90 15.10 0.072 1.77 9.1Shurwid Ind. -N 4.42 2.74 23.27 23.60 23.90 22.70 9.460 0.72 32.3

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Fareast Finance-Z -9.68 -7.37 14.21 14.00 14.40 14.00 0.397 1.88 7.6Peoples Insur -A -8.33 -8.24 17.60 17.60 17.60 17.60 0.018 2.25 7.8Dhaka Bank -A -7.65 -7.50 18.13 18.10 18.20 18.10 0.002 1.36 13.3Apex Tannery -A -7.32 -7.32 125.41 125.40 125.50 125.40 0.031 3.38 37.1Kay & Que (BD) -Z -7.04 -7.04 13.20 13.20 13.20 13.20 0.001 -1.41 -veImam Button -Z -6.36 -6.63 10.28 10.30 10.30 10.00 0.064 -1.48 -veLafargeS Cement-Z -5.84 -2.87 110.09 109.60 115.00 107.00 16.170 2.43 45.3Bata Shoe Ltd. -A -5.70 -5.70 1,273.10 1,273.10 1,273.10 1,273.10 0.004 52.96 24.0AMCL (Pran) -A -5.21 -5.21 200.00 200.00 200.00 200.00 0.009 6.50 30.8Islamic Finance-A -4.49 -4.04 14.97 14.90 15.30 14.70 0.219 1.21 12.4

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Fareast Finance-Z -12.26 -9.23 13.97 13.60 14.60 13.60 4.592 1.88 7.4Provati Insur.-A -5.81 -6.13 16.09 16.20 16.30 16.20 0.028 1.97 8.2Imam Button -Z -5.50 -6.12 10.28 10.30 11.10 10.00 0.238 -1.48 -veLafargeS Cement-Z -5.16 -1.37 110.65 110.30 115.90 109.50 129.853 2.43 45.5Meghna Con. Milk -B -5.06 -4.45 7.51 7.50 7.60 7.40 0.226 -4.42 -veSonali Ansh -A -4.72 -3.27 110.90 109.00 115.00 108.00 2.025 0.64 173.3Meghna PET Ind. -Z -4.62 -4.76 6.20 6.20 6.50 6.00 0.075 -0.44 -veNational Tubes -A -4.52 -4.17 119.71 118.30 125.00 116.00 12.792 -1.36 -veBATBCL -A -4.04 -3.05 2925.41 2895.50 2960.00 2870.00 2.706 104.70 27.9GreenDeltaInsu -A -3.89 -3.23 57.29 56.90 58.20 56.80 0.275 2.96 19.4

DSE key features March-8, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

2,490.67

Turnover (Volume)

57,006,762

Number of Contract

91,114

Traded Issues 305

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

85

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

211

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,512.26

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.45

CSE key features March-8, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

236.94

Turnover (Volume)

6,369,463

Number of Contract

16,266

Traded Issues 223

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

82

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

133

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,389.21

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.96

BUSINESS 19D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Stocks slide for 6th sessionn Tribune Report

Stock markets ground low-er yesterday amid concerns about possible bleak eco-nomic outlook as a political deadlock continued in the country.

The benchmark DSEX in-dex lost almost 40 points or 0.9% to settle at 4,625, ex-tending its losing streak for the sixth straight session.

The Shariah index DSES was marginally down 9 points or 0.9% to 1,103. The comprising blue chips DS30 closed at 1,712, dropping18 points or 1%.

Chittagong Stock Ex-change (CSE) Selective Cat-egories Index, CSCX, de-clined 49 points to 8,617.

“Fear over the econo-my battered by the block-ades and strikes continued to weigh on stocks,” said a stock broker.

The country is su� er-ing from non-stop shut-down and a series of strikes countrywide since Janu-ary 6 called by the BNP-led 20-party alliance demanding fresh national election un-der the neutral government.

Trading activities also con-tinued the declining trend, as most investors remained inactive in putting funds on stocks. Turnover at the Dha-ka Stock Exchange stood at Tk249 crore, down 6.5% over

the previous session. Almost all the sectors

also closed red, except tel-ecommunication and pow-er which ended marginally higher.

Cement sector lost lustre slipping 3.5%, dragged down by heavyweight Lafarge Sur-ma Cement that lost over 5% due its lower-than-expected dividend decelerations. The company announced 5% cash dividend for its share-holders for the last year.

Food & allied has also posted heavy losses of more than 3%. Other sectors such as banks, non-banking � nan-cial institutions and pharma-ceuticals closed lower.

IDLC Investments said depression eclipsed the market as solution to polit-ical uncertainty seems far-fetched, in the near term.

“With terror in the back of mind, investors stood on their toe to sell o� their holdings at signs of worsen-ing. As a result, market faced persistent gradual down-trend with occasional shake-out in speci� c sessions.”

Despite its share trading now under regulator lens due to recent abnormal price hike, Shahjibazar Power Company continued to � ex its muscle, as it gained highest of 7.7% and topped the turnover list with shares worth Tk16 crore changing hands. l

Depression eclipsed the market as solution to political uncertainty seems far-fetched, in the near term

ANALYST

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4624.94864 (-) 0.86% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1712.29821 (-) 1.06% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 14140.89530 (-) 0.84% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11720.08460 (-) 0.53% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8623.98810 (-) 0.56% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

Shasha Denims -N 962,753 35.49 14.98 37.20 0.27 37.10 38.00 36.00 36.87Shahjibazar Power-N 77,152 18.25 7.70 234.50 2.85 228.00 246.50 226.20 236.54LafargeS Cement-Z 146,874 16.17 6.82 109.60 -5.84 116.40 115.00 107.00 110.09WesternMarine -N 330,016 14.42 6.09 44.60 6.70 41.80 44.90 41.70 43.71Ifad Autos -N 224,127 12.95 5.47 59.90 9.91 54.50 59.90 55.70 57.79BD Submarine Cable-A 83,556 11.06 4.67 130.50 -2.90 134.40 135.00 129.50 132.42BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 174,487 5.50 2.32 31.60 0.32 31.50 31.80 31.30 31.54MJL BD Ltd.-A 42,218 5.16 2.18 122.70 0.33 122.30 123.40 121.00 122.32SAIF Powertec-N 77,708 5.05 2.13 66.50 5.89 62.80 66.70 62.60 64.96Singer BD -A 18,093 3.96 1.67 217.90 -0.59 219.20 221.90 217.10 218.88National Feed-N 140,782 3.85 1.63 27.60 3.76 26.60 27.70 26.60 27.35Social Islami. B-A 234,718 3.64 1.53 15.50 -1.90 15.80 15.70 15.30 15.49SummitAlliancePort.-A 55,319 3.59 1.51 64.90 0.00 64.90 65.50 64.10 64.86HeidelbergCement -A 6,223 3.19 1.35 513.80 -0.43 516.00 515.00 510.20 512.15Square Pharma -A 11,790 3.05 1.29 259.10 0.04 259.00 261.00 258.20 259.07

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

Shahjibazar Power-N 676,833 160.91 6.46 244.80 7.75 227.20 247.00 230.00 237.74Ifad Autos -N 2,670,315 155.25 6.23 60.00 9.89 54.60 60.00 55.00 58.14Shasha Denims -N 3,630,860 134.29 5.39 37.20 0.27 37.10 38.00 36.20 36.99LafargeS Cement-Z 1,173,530 129.85 5.21 110.30 -5.16 116.30 115.90 109.50 110.65SummitAlliancePort.-A 1,413,761 91.58 3.68 64.70 -0.46 65.00 65.50 64.00 64.78IDLC Finance -A 1,144,865 79.05 3.17 68.80 -1.99 70.20 70.00 68.50 69.04WesternMarine -N 1,703,315 74.44 2.99 44.80 6.92 41.90 45.00 41.90 43.70SAIF Powertec-N 1,001,114 65.28 2.62 66.90 6.19 63.00 67.30 63.00 65.21National Polymer -A 729,605 57.25 2.30 81.40 6.96 76.10 82.90 76.30 78.47BD Submarine Cable-A 358,688 47.28 1.90 130.60 -2.76 134.30 135.40 130.00 131.81Square Pharma -A 163,515 42.35 1.70 259.30 0.43 258.20 262.00 258.00 259.00Khulna Power-A 745,069 40.74 1.64 55.10 -1.61 56.00 56.10 53.50 54.68Quasem Drycells -A 609,121 38.29 1.54 63.60 3.75 61.30 63.90 61.20 62.85ACI Limited- A 85,366 35.50 1.43 414.10 -0.91 417.90 419.70 413.00 415.84Beximco Pharma -A 615,383 34.37 1.38 55.80 -1.24 56.50 56.90 55.40 55.85

BUSINESS20DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Kamal asks o� cials to implement projects timely to save money n Tribune Report

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yester-day said development works to upgrade living standard of the people are not a� ected by the ongoing countrywide blockade and strike.

“The pace of ADP (annual development programme) implementation in the � rst eight months of this year is as good as it was in the same period a year ago,” said the minister in reply to a question.

He was brie� ng the newsmen after a meet-ing with heads of development and planning divisions of all ministries at the NEC confer-ence room yesterday.

Since January 6 last, the non-stop trans-port blockade and a series of strikes enforced by the 20-party alliance continued in the country.

The renewed political strife was triggered by not allowing the alliance to hold a rally protesting the national election held on Jan-uary 5 last year when the ruling party came to power through “controversial” election.

The planning minister asked the o� cials to take right decision in right time to implement the development projects within the time-frame. “It will automatically reduce wastage of money, if project implementation period is not extended.”

He also directed them to be innovative in making such projects so the country gets ben-e� ts of employment generation and increased production within a shortest possible time af-ter the investment.

Laying emphasis on bringing down time between project adoption and its approval, he said it would help save time and implement the projects fast.

About the mode of projects in the next � s-cal year, the minister said the projects will be taken keeping sustainable economic develop-ment in mind by creating employment and boosting production. “Importance will also be given on human resource development, education, IT sector and social safety net pro-grammes.”

The meeting also discussed about the strategy to remove di� culties in implement-ing development projects faster. l

CSE organises training programme for TREC-holders n Tribune Business Desk

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) yester-day organised a day-long training program for TREC holders on Anti-Money Laundering & Combating Financing of Terrorism, Good Governance and Compliance Awareness & Surveillance.

The program was held at the conference hall of CSE Chittagong o� ce.

The training program included four ses-sions-Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism, Good Governance, Compliance Awareness and Surveillance. l

7th PSDPCC meeting to be held in April n Tribune Report

A delegation of BUILD-led by its Chairman Asif Ibrahim met the Prime Minister’s Princi-pal Secretary Abul Kalam Azad at PMO in the city yesterday.

Build Chairman urged the Principal Secretary to give his consent for holding the upcoming 7th PSDPCC (Private Sector Development Policy Coordination Committee) Meeting to be held in the � rst week of April.

During the meeting, Abul Kalam Azad put more focus on Public Private Dialogue (PPD) though BUILD and give his consent on the meeting.

Asif Ibrahim briefed the activities of this

Public Private Dialogue (PPD) Platform and underlined some successes of the � rst-ever PPD Platform established for research-based

advocacy to address private sector policy and regulatory constraints, working under the close supervision of the PMO in Bangladesh.

BUILD Team also handed over a set of Busi-

ness Licensing Guide Books to the Principal Secretary.

The BUILD delegation includes Alhaz Nurun Newaz Salim, chairman of NCC Bank LTD and senior vice president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a partner organ-isation of BUILD, Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO, BUILD and Na� ul Islam, Director-I of PMO.

Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), a � rst-ever public-private platform designed as the bridge that connects the pub-lic and private sector for better communica-tion, coordination and collaboration.

The aim of BUILD is to bring reforms in business policies and procedures to improve the country’s investment climate in Bangla-desh. l

Muhith: Ill attempt going on to stop economic progress n BSS

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith yesterday said Bangladesh is already on the path towards becoming a middle-income country, but ill attempt is being conducted to stop its socio-economic progress.

Mentioning it as a temporary crisis, Muhith said the government along with the common people’s heroic role would resist such an-ti-people activities within a short period.

He made the remarks while placing a re-port on the � rst and second quarter imple-mentation, progress, trend of earnings and expenditure as well as macro economic analy-sis on the current year’s budget in the House.

“The revenue income has gone up by 13.2% during the July-December period in the cur-rent � nancial year over the corresponding pe-riod of last � scal year,” Muhith told the house.

But the government’s expenditure went down by 1% to Tk76,798 crore during the peri-od in the current � scal year against Tk76,854 crore spent during the corresponding period of the last � scal year, he added.

Besides, the implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) increased by 10% in the same period of the current Fiscal Year compared to the last year’s July-Decem-ber period, he said.

He also told the House that the export earnings increased to US$14.9 billion in the � rst two quarters of the current � scal year, 1.6% higher than that in the July-December period in 2013-2014.

During the same time, the country’s imports rose to US$ 22.3 billion, 18.3% higher than that of the corresponding period of the last � scal year, the Finance Minister said in his report.

According to the report, the opening of the

Letters of Credit (LCs) and their disposals in-creased to 13.2% and 10.1% respectively dur-ing the July-December period of the current � nancial year.

The minister said the country’s remittance earning during the period rose by 10.6% from 8.5% of the same period during the last � scal year, thus the foreign currency reserve reach-ing to US$22.3 billion till December last.

Muhith in his report also said that the in� a-tion rate on a point-to-point basis declined to 6.1% in December last from 7.3% of the previ-ous year’s same period.

Meanwhile, the government implement-ed the major portion of the previous year’s budget promised in 2013-2014,” the � nance minister said, adding, “the people are now getting the fruits of the government’s relent-less e� orts exerted over the last � ve years in the key sectors like power and energy.” l

Despite e� orts like guarding goods-laden trucks during the blockade, the country’s economic activities get hampered DHAKA TRIBUNE

The aim of BUILD is to bring reforms in business policies and procedures to improve the country’s investment climate in Bangladesh

21D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015T

-JUN

CT

IONFuzzy

feelingsModel: Syed Rashad Imam TanmoyPhoto: Sabiha Akond Rupa

22school survival

To err is human

� ction

Avalanche Of emotion

23The wonderful world of beards

24The wonderful world of beards

Odours from within:

� e most common bad breath myths busted! Ditch the icky odour with these easy peasy steps.

A fresh take:Cats Eye’s latest ensembles under the tag “Trendy Youth,” have been all the rage this season. Shifting more towards a unisex colour palette, each and every ensemble from their collection seems to be on spot.

INSIDE

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015T-JUNCTION Schoologistics22D

T

n Pragya Rahman

English, for some of us is our � rst language since we familiarise ourselves with the letters of the alphabet before we jump onto the Bangla curriculum. For those who went to English-based schools from nursery and reception know that it’s easier to learn to speak, read and write in English than it is in Bangla. Which is why such schools start teaching you Bangla after a certain age, when you’ve grown up a little and can handle it. Most of us from these backgrounds are bilingual and it’s pretty amazing to be a part of this community, but that doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes. We tend to make mistakes in both languages, after all no one’s perfect and we’re all human. We don’t even realise the most common mistakes that we make whilst speaking.

The most unnoticed and common mistake:For starters, this one has to be awarded to the students all around, because they

do tend to mix this one sentence up. The sentence is pertaining to an exam and it’ll be something along the lines of: “When I was giving my math exam earlier today, I was so nervous that I was sweating like a pig.” The correct version of that sentence should have been “when I was taking my math exam earlier today, I was so nervous that I was sweating like a pig.” If you look closely you’ll see how one word makes all

the di� erence in the world. You can barely notice it but when you do and it hits you, it starts to make a lot more sense. Another

common mistake is when people mix up the meaning between borrow and lend. When someone comes up to you and asks, “can you borrow me some money?” what they really mean to say is “can you lend me some money?” Alternatively it’s the same when someone says “I borrowed some money to Joe last week, he still hasn’t paid me back” when what they’re really trying to say is, “I lent some money to Joe last week, he still hasn’t paid me back.”

It’s funny when people use the word

“literally” a bit too much in their sentences, like “I literally died out of laughter.” Well if you had died out of laughter then how’re you still sitting here right next to me, to tell the tale? That’s another common mistake people make, taking the word “literally” for granted and I mean literally taking the word for granted. Dear storyteller, you � guratively/metaphorically died out of laughter which is why you’re here today alive, and kicking and hopefully going to live a long and healthy life. l

n Zubaida Rana Rahman

I didn’t like a lot of things about her. I didn’t like the way she would make stupid puns. I didn’t like the way she would trail o� to a completely di� erent topic without taking even a breath in between. I didn’t like how that one strand of hair always covered her eyes. I didn’t like the way she made me feel so comfortable. I didn’t like the way she could � gure me out without even trying.

She possessed her own kind of magic. I saw it run through her veins, just like I saw the galaxies in her eyes. She was beautiful; with her long, tousled hair and sharp nose. She could light up the whole city with that award-winning smile of hers. She was beautiful for her glowing soul and admirable heart. And she was mine.

She didn’t like that I smoked. I told her it made me feel like I had � owers inside my lungs. Every night she’d replace one of my

cigarettes with a � ower and say, “you said you felt � owers inside of you, after all.” Somehow, I was okay with that. Somehow, it made me smile.

She was so kind; so crushingly radiant. I didn’t like a lot of things about her but I loved the way her stupid puns made me smile. I loved the way she talked for hours on end because her voice was breathtakingly soothing. I loved the way she made me feel so comfortable. I loved the way she didn’t even have to try to � gure me out.

She scared me. She ignited feelings in places I didn’t even know I had in me. She unearthed universes within me and opened up the skies in my arteries. When things “didn’t work out,” she told me she made a fool of herself because I didn’t love her back. It burned my tongue to say so. My bones ached even when I heard her name four months later, because oh boy, did I love her. l

To err is human

Avalanche Of emotion

A little polish, and you’re all set

After all’s said and done

school survival

� ction

Tempt T-JUNCTION 23D

T

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

The wonderful world of beardsn Mahmood Hossain

Before we get into the speci� cs, let’s get some ridiculous myths out of the way.1. There are certain foods that can actually

make your beard grow quicker. Not. You won’t � nd any magic beans, Jack. Sorry to disappoint. However, men do need amino acids and protein in their diets to grow hair properly. So eat well, fellas.

2. The more often you shave, the fuller your beard will be. Nonsense. The same goes for your chest hair, except we recommend you don’t shave your chest hair. Trim it as you would your beard. And there is no shame in having a clean

shaved face, but it might make you look younger than you’d like. We’ll get to that later.

3. Grey beards, as you get older, tend to be coarser. Rubbish. What happens is that, as you age, your hair follicles become smaller. If you don’t care for your facial hair properly, you’ll end up with split ends. Yes, that happens to beards as well.

From the 5 o’clock shadow to the glorious Santa beard, jotting down these dos and don’ts would be a wise thing to do. • Do it with a straight razor. Those

beautiful beard linings on celebrities and

models are due to the close shaves from straight razors. If you want the same grooming appeal, the best way to get it done is to head to your trusted barber. And that extra blade on the back of your Gillette Fusion is really for the tight spots. You won’t achieve the same e� ect that you can get from a straight razor.

• Don’t speed through, Schumacher. This should be an obvious. Never, and we mean never, blaze through a shaving session. Even if you’re using that extra Fusion blade to reach those di� cult corners. Your skin isn’t used to so much aggressive pressure, and it never will be. Save yourself the bleeding and the razor bumps, please.

• Do warm it up before taking the next step. Whether it’s shaving or trimming the beard, it should be a good habit to pat down your face with a warm towel. Open up those pores and let your skin breathe for a smoother shave or trim.

• Don’t mess with those ingrown hairs. They are not pimples, gentlemen. Whatever dirt in your nails are present may lead to infections.

Let it grow, let it grow! Once you’ve grown your beard to its full length, or far enough,

here’s how to give yourself a facial fade with a beard trimmer.1. First things � rst, make sure you have

yourself an adjustable beard trimmer, preferably a Philips NorelecoNorelco. You can’t go wrong with something so well established.

2. Set your trimmer’s guard to three and buzz your entire beard. You’ll see plenty of hair on your sink, but it’s better to sweep them up for the trash bin.

3. Set your guard to one and start buzzing your lower neck. This area contains your Adam’s apple to just two inches below your jaw line.

4. Switch your guard up to two and buzz the two-inch zone mentioned in step 3.

5. Get rid of the stray hair by taking the guard o� and buzz it clean. Remember, it’s best to line up what you’ve trimmed o� at the barber shop.

The truth about facial hair is that it’s not for everyone. The same goes for men who have solid beards. Most likely, you’ll look terrible with a clean shave. Leave that to the men who look handsome without the hair. And if you happen to be blessed with Greek mythological looks, shave or grow your beard whenever the hell you want. We envy you. l

Lumberjacks or a spring stubble, here’s how to trim and tame those beards, gentlemen

MODEL: BAIZID HAQUE JOARDER MODEL: ANIK KABIR

T-JUNCTION Take Care24DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Curfewed nightsWhat’s actually messing with your inner clock and sleep cycle

3 myths about bad breath Dragon breath? Here’s why

internal clock

n Khan N Moushumi

With our smartphones, smartwatches, tabs, and whatnot we’re always just a click away from being linked to the rest of the outside world but here’s the bad news - being glued to your smart devices becomes an everyday habit and it slowly turns into an addiction that you can’t say no to. Almost every smartphone user complains about being sleep deprived. Why? Because “these people are exposing their eyes to streams of photons from these objects that basically tell your brain to stay awake - it’s not time to go to bed yet,” says Dr Dan Siegel,

clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) School of Medicine. These photons signal your brain not to secrete melatonin.

What are sleep and awake hormones?Let’s just break it down a little more. When it’s bright, your brain releases the awake hormones also known as cortisol and suppresses the release of sleep hormones called melatonin. When it’s dark, it does exactly the opposite. When cortisol is released, your brain is wired in such a way that you feel the urge to get up and get moving.

Why do we need sleep?Sleep allows brain to rejuvenate and reorganise. Studies on rats prove that sleep deprivation can even lead to death. And you can die faster from sleep deprivation than food deprivation.

What happens without it?Except for only a small percentage of people, who are genetically di� erent and don’t need

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

If you’re wondering why people lean back whenever you start speaking, the answer could very well lie in the smell of your breath. Last year, we had interviewed close to 100 teens about their oral hygiene, and a shockingly high percentage of them scored poorly in basic hygiene practices. Even the ones who scored well in practice, seemed to have a few common misconceptions. Here are the top three bad breath myths, busted.

Mouthwash and chewing gum kills bad breathUmm, nope. They may be a temporary solution, but unless you do something about the bacteria in your mouth that’s causing the halitosis, you’ll soon be back to blowing holes through tin plates. When buying kind, look for the anti-bacterial mouthwash that also deals with plaque. And when using mouthwash, remember to take a whole capful and swirl it inside your mouth for a good 30 seconds before you spit it out, for it to be truly e� ective.

Remember, mouthwash is not a substitute for brushing and � ossing.

Just brush, and the bad breath is historyEver heard the saying “It’s not what you do, but how you do it, that counts?” This also goes for brushing. When brushing your teeth, remember to take time (2 minutes, minimum, as opposed to the average 45 seconds people spend brushing their teeth), and to clean your tongue, which is where the bacteria hang out. The average Bangladeshi teen doesn’t brush their teeth before bed. This is a serious no-no. You should be brushing at least twice a day, and � ossing at least once.

that much of sleep, the rest of us need to snooze for at least seven to nine hours on a day to day basis.

When you go on for days without sleeping properly, your tension will be faltered, memory impaired, and your ability to process and organise information will be challenged. In addition to all these, “The insulin responsible to regulate your metabolism will be messed up, so you will be more likely to gain weight from what you eat and you’ll eat more,” adds Siegel.

What you need to do?You know the drill. Cut the cord and go cold turkey. Chuck that smartphone out of your bed at least an hour before you hit the hay. Shut it o� or keep it in a drawer with its ringer turned o� . The same stands for other tabs and gadgets. Basically any electronic devices that have got you hooked.

Now you know what gets in the way when you’re trying to score some shut-eye and you know what to do. l

Want to check if you have bad breath? Breathe into your handUnless you’re making like Shahrukh Khan and breathing out words from the epiglottis, you’re not calling hair from the back of your mouth where bad breath forms and chillaxes, and even then, we’re so used to our own odours, we’re not the best judge. When in doubt, excuse yourself and

go to the bathroom for a quick gargle. Keep sugar-free mints handy as a temporary solution.

If you brush and � oss regularly and have good oral hygiene in general, halitosis, under normal circumstances, shouldn’t be a problem. If bad breath persists, make an appointment with your doctor, as it may indicate some health problem. l

teen health

PHOTOS: BIGSTOCK

25D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015Sport

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara became the � rst batsman to score

hundreds in three consecutive World Cup matches when he made a brilliant run-a-ball century against

Australia in Sydney yesterday.

LANDMARK

UNDER PRESSURE MOORES UP FOR CHALLENGE

MAXWELL MAIDEN TON SINKS SRI LANKA

MESSI, SUAREZ MOVE BARCA TOP OF LA LIGA

26 28 29

Mazhar Uddinfrom Adelaide

2011Don’t mention 2011. Bangladesh’s victory over England in the last World Cup was overshadowed by the craziness of Ireland’s triumph in Bangalore but it was a superb performance - England bowled out for just 225 and then Tamin Iqbal and Imrul Kayes (who are likely to open the batting again on Monday) getting the chase o� to a great start. It is a video that Bangladesh will surely have on endless repeat in the dressing room as inspi-ration. At least England can console themselves that only three members of the XI that played four years ago are in contention to line up again.

SpinnersSpinners are England’s never-ending fear. Ban-gladesh have various options. Shakib-al-Hasan, two wickets in the 2011 success, has sent down 28.5 overs at this World Cup for fewer than � ve runs per over with Mahmudullah not too much more expensive. Sabbir Rahman also bowls legspin. Spinners have been less successful than pace bowlers so far in this World Cup, but En-gland could change those stats if they bat badly.

Tamim IqbalTamim Iqbal is just the sort of whirlwind left-hander that England will undoubtedly bowl too short to. He has tucked into the England attack before, having slammed 125 from 120 balls in an ODI in Dhaka in 2010 and brings tidy form into this match with 81 in a warm-up against Pakistan and 95 against Scotland earlier in the week: Bangladesh’s highest score in World Cups. He is by a long distance Bangladesh’s most successful opening batsman in ODIs and gave Bangladesh’s chase a bright start in the 2011 upset over England with 38 from 26 balls.

UnpredictableityEngland will plan and prepare with their blend of nuclear science and homeopathy but which Bangladesh will they be preparing for? The Bangladesh who racked up over 300 to hand-somely win against Scotland or the Bangladesh who were bowled out for just 58 chasing 106 to beat India back in June? The Bangladesh who skittled Afghanistan for 162 or the team who allowed Scotland to rack up 318? The unpre-dictability of Bangladesh’s performances must be providing the ECB Match Planning (Select) Sub-committee with sleepless nights.

The VibeSouth Africa did not have “the vibe” in Auck-land when they lost to Pakistan. England have not had the vibe all tournament. They would not know a vibe if it stopped them in the street. England is sleeping through most of the tourna-ment and disenchantment is rife. There is little evidence of con� dence or purpose. They feel got at and unloved. Being an England player in Adelaide must be a lonely place to be.

5 REASONS TO FEAR TIGERS

Bangladesh cricket team players busy in warm up exercises during a training session ahead of their match against England at Adelaide Oval yesterday AFP

Con� dent Mashrafe all in

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza termed their World Cup Pool A match against England today as one of the most important matches they have played till date. A win will see the Tigers reach the second round of the multinational event and at the same time shat-ter the English dream of progressing further.

“Asia Cup � nal was very important for us and there were a few matches de� nitely, but this is one of them. If we can win this match, it will be a great memory for every-one involved with this team,” said a con� dent Mashrafe during the pre-match press confer-ence yesterday.

Mashrafe and his troop started brightly with a win over Afghanistan before sharing points from a Gabba washout with co-hosts Australia and they were tested against a spir-ited Scottish side where they eventually came out on top chasing 318 runs, only the second team to win chasing over 300 in a World Cup.

The last time these two sides met was

in the 2011 World Cup where Bangladesh beat England by two wickets in a thrilling match in Chittagong. However, 31-year-old Mashrafe realises that time has changed and they must put their best out there to repeat a similar result.

“It’s a pressure match, but the boys are looking very con� dent, especially while chasing 318 in the last match. Doesn’t matter who they’re against. So, the boys are very con� dent, which is more important, and they’re ready to give their best tomorrow (today),” he said.

Despite having � ve points from four matches, it all comes down to today’s match as Mashrafe anticipated the situation saying, “Before the tournament the equation was that we have to beat Afghanistan and Scot-land and then take a chance against a big team. Everything now depends on us, how we are doing. The real challenge is now to see if we can achieve that. We are all con� dent. Of course there is some pressure which is nor-mal. We know 160 million people back home are looking up to us. Even here (Australia) we have many fans waiting to see us do well. Coming out of this pressure is a kind of joy,” Mashrafe added. l

Sport26DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Barmy Army respects Tigersn Mazhar Uddin from Adelaide

The Barmy Army is a group of fanatic English cricket fans who are widely famous for their relentless support. The group supports its cricket team through thick and thin and fol-lows them to all corners of the globe.

It was back in 1994/95 when the Australi-an media termed the passionate English sup-porters as the “Barmy Army”. A struggling England toured Australia for the infamous Ashes and despite their side’s � agging for-tunes in that particular bilateral series, the Barmy Army still drove to the grounds in numbers.

The Barmy Army is usually prominent for its vociferous support and is also known for tempting the opposition through unusual chants, songs, banners and � ags. And when England face Bangladesh today in a do-or-die Pool A match at Adelaide Oval, the Barmy Army will no doubt be full of emotions.

However, in spite of its customary hostility towards the opponent, the Barmy Army sup-porters actually looked busy yesterday taking autographs of the Bangladesh cricketers. An unusual sight indeed.

John Hasting was one of the autograph-hunt-ers. Hasting, in his mid � fties, did not hesitate to take autographs of each and every Bangla-desh cricketer although he does not know any of them with the exception of opener Tamim Iqbal and all-rounder Shakib al Hasan.

“I have seen this young boy playing some good innings back in England a couple of years ago (indicating Tamim’s back-to-back hundreds at Lord’s and Old Tra� ord in 2010). And that boy, I guess he is the number one all-rounder (Shakib),” he said.

He went on to ask, “Who is the captain of your side?”, which clearly indicates that the travelling English fans are taking an interest in the Tigers.

Even though Hasting will undoubtedly support England today, the respect that the Barmy Army has reserved for the Tigers is

an unusual development, given the group’s chequered history.

The Tigers fans on the other hand are also famed for their unwavering support. Perhaps, the day is not far away when the Bangladesh supporters will also be famous throughout the cricketing world, just like the Barmy Army.l

Under pressure Moores up for challengen Mazhar Uddin from Adelaide

The arrogance of the English media was not the same as before as journalists took the chair for the pre-match conference of Eng-land coach Peter Moores yesterday. Moores’ expression and gestures spoke of how much pressure his team and he is under and it did not take long for him to face the big question.

The English coach admitted of psycholog-ical pressure against Bangladesh and said, “Certainly pressure on us as a team because we haven’t played as well as we’d like to. We know we’ve got to win the game, and that is part of international cricket, its about be-ing able to handle pressure. We’ve had some challenges, that’s for sure. We’ve got a mix of experience and young players who have the ability to handle pressure and playing under pressure is part of the job for an internation-al player. So that will be the challenge of the players. We’re very aware of it, and I think we’re very up for that challenge,” said Moores.

Moores shrugged o� any bitter memory from the 2011 World Cup defeat to the Tigers and said they have a di� erent group of players who are very focused on their match (today).

The England coach faced a lot of questions regarding his team’s con� dence level ahead of the match while the English media repeat-edly asked if the players had any “fear” fac-ing Bangladesh. This was the highlight of the brie� ng session.

The coach also hinted that Chris Woakes will be opening the bowling as their prime bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad have struggled so far with the new ball. l

England’s Moeen Ali (R) gets ready to bowls as the team’s coach Peter Moores (L) looks on during a training session at Adelaide Oval yesterday AFP

Vettori passes 300 in NZ winn Reuters, Napier

Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor got some valuable time at the wicket as New Zea-land did what they needed to looking ahead to the World Cup quarter-� nals with a six-wicket victory over Afghani-stan at McLean Park on Sunday.

Guptill, who had got starts in all four of his previous innings, was run out for 57, while Taylor, who had scored just 29 runs in four previous innings, was 24 not out as New Zealand scored 188-4 in 36.1 overs.

Afghanistan had been dismissed for 186 in 47.4 overs with Daniel Vettori be-coming the 12th man to take 300 one-day international wickets when he produced

another impeccable spell of left-arm spin bowling.

Captain Brendon McCullum had giv-en his side a rollicking start with 42 runs from 19 balls before Kane Williamson (33) and Guptill took them to 111 for one with-out looking troubled.

Taylor and Corey Anderson (seven not out) saw New Zealand home after Vettori had taken 4-18 from 10 overs.

The 36-year-old has taken 12 wickets in the tournament at an average of 11.33 and economy rate of three runs per over.

Vettori bowled the third over of the match to enable Tim Southee and Trent Boult to swap ends and bowled Usman Ghani on his � rst delivery, then took Nawroz Mangal’s (27) wicket in the 16th over for number 300.

He is the ninth player to take more than 300 wickets in both tests and ODIs and later took two wickets in successive deliveries in the 20th over but missed the hat-trick.

Vettori’s � rst over had put Afghanistan on the back foot after captain Mohammad Nabi had chosen to bat on a wicket con-sidered the best batting surface in New Zealand, before Boult struck twice to re-duce them 24 for three. l

302 ODI wickets for Daniel Vettori. He is the leading wicket-taker for New

Zealand with 294 (eight wickets were for ICC World XI), and three short of equaling Jacob Oram’s 36 World Cup wickets, which is New Zealand’s best.

12 Wickets for Vettori in � ve games in this World Cup, next only to Trent

Boult and Tim Southee’s 13.

229 Runs scored by Brendon McCullum in the � rst ten overs in

this tournament, out of his tournament aggregate of 249. He has scored those 229 runs in 108 balls.

621 The sum total of balls to spare after New Zealand’s last four wins. They

won with 151 balls to spare against Scotland, 226 versus England, 161 against Australia, and 83 against Afghanistan.

49.09 Shenwari’s strike rate in his 110-ball innings, which is one of only � ve

World Cup innings of 100 or more balls since 2003 to � nish with a strike rate of less than 50. Three of them are by players from non-Test teams.

50 Number of wickets taken by New Zealand in � ve games. The only

other team to bowl the opposition out every time in the tournament so far is India - they’ve taken 40 wickets in four games.

POOL ATeam P W L N/R Pts NRRNew Zealand 5 5 0 0 10 +3.090Australia 5 3 1 1 7 +1.597Sri Lanka 5 3 2 0 6 -0.151Bangladesh 4 2 1 1 5 +0.182England 4 1 3 0 2 -1.201Afghanistan 5 1 4 0 2 -1.881Scotland 4 0 4 0 0 -1.423

Sport 27D

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MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Bangladesh must execute to replicate England’s nightmare in Chittagong

Almost four years ago to the date, inside a capacity � lled stadium in Chittagong, a vociferous and ecstatic crowd saw Bangladesh come out of nowhere to stun a well-balanced and experienced England team. It was March 11, 2011. A match that every Bangladeshi had given up as a lost cause, turned on its head when a young, unassuming Sha� ul Islam along with Mahmudullah pulled the rug under the Englishmen’s feet with a dramatic ninth wicket partnership of 58 runs. That win propelled Bangladesh forward and created an opportunity for it to qualify into the quarter � nal stage of the 2011 ICC World Cup, which it lost as it was cruelly overwhelmed by the South Africans. The West Indies and Bangladesh were tied on points but the Caribbean unit edged the hosts out as run rate came into play.

Well, this time around, the cruel factor of the run rate shall not come into play if the Chittagong drama is repeated. Bangladesh has a luxury point in the bag, which one may term as a bonus point - courtesy of the Bris-bane washout against Australia.

Going into this “do or die” � xture, there are a few positives that the Bangladesh out-� t should take inspiration from. Firstly, their two wins against Afghanistan and Scotland displayed adequate examples of the team’s ability to perform well, more as a batting unit than anything else. In spite of the pitch being super friendly for batsmen, it takes courage and tenacity to gun down a score of 318 and

win with nearly two overs and six wickets to spare. Secondly, the fact that England is struggling may create a window of opportu-nity through which Bangladesh may sneak in.

No one is denying the fact that England will go into the match as favorites. The bookies will have the odds in England’s favour. With Adelaide using a “drop in” pitch, there will be plenty of runs to play for. Bangladesh’s biggest worry is its bowling. Other than Shakib al Hasan, I do not see anyone worrying the top order of England. Mashfare bin Mortaza is struggling with his bum knee and whether he will be cleared to play remains to be seen. This pitch is not going to behave like the Zahur Ahmed Stadium pitch of four years ago and unless the bowling unit is on target, we may see a huge total confronting Bangladesh. The strength and penetration of Bangladesh’s bowling lies within its spinners led by the ebullience and experience of Shakib. It may be advisable to � eld a second specialist spinner to support Shakib. The part time spinners like Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain, if relied upon, could be an expensive proposition.

England’s biggest worry is the inability of James Anderson and Stuart Broad to make the expected inroads into the opponent’s bat-ting line up. So far, between the two of them, only four wickets have been taken in the com-petition. Anderson is easily one of the most dangerous new ball bowlers because of his ability to swing the ball and reverse it over time. He has not been able to accomplish ei-ther. His tournament could have started o� with a bang had Chris Woakes not dropped Aaron Finch in his � rst over of the World Cup. Finch went on to make a fantastic hun-dred that sealed the fate of the Englishmen

and set them on their journey to the coal-pit. Since that opening match against the Aussies, they got thrashed by the Kiwis, beat a lowly Scotland and then got embarrassed by Kumar Sangakkara and the Lankan Lions when they failed to defend a total of 309.

England will be wary of Bangladesh and will not take the match lightly. Bangladesh on the other hand should approach this match with an open mind, since there is no pres-sure from any quarter, and look to produce its free spirited cricket. Whether the opening pair of Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar will be maintained is something to ponder upon. England’s opening duo of Moeen Ali and Ian Bell have produced important partnerships and their contrasting approaches serve Eng-land well. This opening pair is followed by a fairly decent power packed middle order.

With both sides batting reasonably well, this can be a high scoring match. Anything below 280 will be sub-par so scores of 300+ is a number that one should not be surprised of. Bangladesh, on the � eld cannot a� ord to have the lackadaisical approach that it exhibited against Scotland if they want to stay in the match. If they do, England can and will run away with the game leaving the Bangladeshi spirit chasing the winds of Adelaide. This match will be decided by the bowlers. Those that show up with their boots on and come up with telling penetrative spells will lead their team to safer waters. This is one � xture that the world, specially the Australians, will watch very closely. Some of the Aussie veterans will probably be in the commentary box and I assure you that they will all silently root for a Bangladesh victory as will every single global individual donning the red and green. l

Yousuf Rahman (Babu), former national cricketer, vice captain and � rst centurion writes from New York for Bangladesh fans all across the globe.

Kiwis or Aussies? Too hard to choose: Nabi n AFP, Napier

Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi could not separate New Zealand and Australia when it came to choosing between the form teams in the World Cup Sunday.

The Afghans played the two frontrunners and World Cup co-hosts in quick succession and were soundly beaten both times.

After losing to Australia by a massive 275 runs last Wednesday in Perth they su� ered a six-wicket thrashing by New Zealand in Napi-er on Sunday.

“New Zealand, they’re quite good. Also Australia,” Nabi diplomatically said when asked to rate the two sides after comprehen-sively losing to New Zealand by six wickets.

“I’m not saying that Australia is the best or New Zealand is the best, both of the teams are quite good and quite balanced.”

Afghanistan, making their World Cup de-but, scored an historic win over Scotland and were impressive when losing to Sri Lanka be-fore falling apart against Australia and New Zealand.

Nabi believed more substantial perfor-mances by the top order Afghanistan bats-man would have made a di� erence. Against Australia they were 103-6 and against New Zealand the situation was more dire at 59-6.

“In the whole tournament, the top � ve batsmen didn’t click in � ve games,” he said.

However, he saw positives against New Zealand with Najibullah Zadran and Samiul-lah Shenwari putting on an Afghanistan sev-enth-wicket record partnership of 86. l

AFG v NZAFGHANISTAN R BAhmadi lbw b Boult                   1 7Ghani b Vettori                      0 3Mangal b Vettori                   27 46Stanikzai c Guptill b Boult         9 18Shenwari c Taylor b Anderson    54 110Nabi c Taylor b Vettori           6 15Zazai lbw b Vettori                  0 1Najibullah c Vettori b Milne       56 56Dawlat c Ronchi b Boult             1 5Hamid c Milne b Anderson           16 21Shapoor not out                     2 4Extras (lb5, w9)                          14Total (all out, 47.4 overs)              186

Fall of wickets1-5, 2-6, 3-24, 4-49, 5-59, 6-59, 7-145, 8-151, 9-166, 10-186BowlingSouthee 10-0-43-0; Boult 10-2-34-3 (2w); Vet-tori 10-4-18-4; Milne 10-0-38-1 (4w); Anderson 6.4-0-38-2 (3w); Elliott 1-0-10-0;NEW ZEALAND R BM Guptill run out (Shenwari)             57 76B McCullum b Nabi                        42 19K Williamson c Shenwari b Shapoor        33 45R Taylor not out                         24 41G Elliott run out (Nabi)                 19 28C Anderson not out                        7 8Extras (lb2, w4)                           6Total (4 wkts, 36.1 overs)               188

Fall of wickets1-53, 2-111, 3-143, 4-175BowlingDawlat 9-0-51-0 (3w); Shapoor 10-2-45-1; Hamid 7-1-36-0; Nabi 7.1-0-39-1 (1w); Shenwari 3-0-15-0;Man of the Match: Daniel Vettori

New Zealand won by six wickets

Sport28DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

Age is only a number and Sangakkara is living proof

Kumar Sangakkara made his debut in 2000 at the age of 22 as a law student. At 37, Sanga-kkara is and, has been for quite a while, the cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s batting success. He has more than 14,000 ODI runs, averages over 50 and is the � rst batsman to score three con-secutive World Cup hundreds. Today, chasing a mammoth total of 377 against the Aussies, he once again took complete charge and nearly turned the tables with his intelligently crafted innings that provided the Lankan Lions the self-belief of gunning down the total. Australia eventually won the day but Michael Clarke did not get to relax until the seventh wicket was taken. The three “aged Musketeers” of Sri Lanka will ensure that this team goes deep into the tournament.

Fitness is an individual responsibility and the price for losing it can be heavy

Dinesh Chandimal was about to replicate a Glenn Maxwell explosion. In the � rst session

Maxwell got a hundred in 53 balls and Chan-dimal was blazing away on 52 runs in 24 balls when his hamstring had the better of him. With his retirement went Sri Lanka’s chances. Chan-dimal was well on course with Angelo Mathews to steer the Sri Lankan ship into the harbour. The concerned look on Clarke’s face when these two were batting is ample evidence of the fact that the Aussie score of 377 could be toppled.

Perfect batting approach for ODI and the Australians seem to have found the groove

Calculated power to start with, cool, calm and collected in the middle, high powered explosion to wrap things up – The Australians have exhib-ited this through David Warner and Aaron Finch as the starters with calculated power, followed by Steve Smith and Clarke to ensure calmness in the middle and then Maxwell and Brad Had-din to explode at the end. New Zealand comes close to the Aussies in this respect.

Which bowler can bowl the most yorkers? In one of my write-ups, I had mentioned that

with the pitches being hugely in favour of the

batters, the team that has smart and accurate bowlers will win the World Cup. So far, Mitchell Starc is head and shoulders above the others. Statistics show that he bowls more than 30% of his deliveries as yorkers, which are hurled at nearly 150 km per hour. This makes him an unplayable bowler at the death. He is a carbon copy of Lasith Malinga at his best, only faster. Starc almost won the day for the Aussies against the Kiwis defending a meagre total of 151.

How many times do you see a team batting second score more than 300 and lose?

A month ago, no one would believe that a team after scoring 300 runs batting second would end up losing the match. It has happened twice already in this World Cup. First it was Zimbabwe that lost to Ireland trying to gun down 331 and ended up with 326. Now we have Sri Lanka scoring 312 and losing to Australia by 65 runs. Where will this bizarre run chases end? There may be some change of rules for the 2019 World Cup so that contest can be an even one between bat and ball.l

TALKING POINTSYousuf Rahman (Babu), former national cricketer, vice captain and � rst centurion writes from New York for Bangladesh fans all across the globe.

FASTEST ODI 100sBalls Player Match Year 31 AB de Villiers SA v WI 2015 36 CJ Anderson NZ v WI 2014 37 Shahid Afridi PAK v SL 1996 44 MV Boucher SA v ZIM 2006 45 BC Lara WI v BAN 1999 45 Shahid Afridi PAK v IND 2005 46 JD Ryder NZ v WI 2014 48 ST Jayasuriya SL v PAK 1996 50 KJ O’Brien IRE v ENG 2011 51 GJ Maxwell AUS v SL 2015

Bold indicates World Cup

51 Balls taken by Glenn Maxwell for his hundred - the second-fastest in

World Cups after Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball hundred against England in 2011.

195.12 Strike rate of the partnership between Maxwell and Shane

Watson - the second highest in a century partnership by an Australian pair in ODIs.

160 Runs added by Maxwell and Watson - the second-highest

� fth-wicket partnership in World Cups.

376 Total conceded by Sri Lanka in this match - the highest conceded by

them in World Cups, beating the 373 for 6 scored by India in Taunton in 1999.

n AFP, Sydney

Australia supplanted Sri Lanka in second spot in World Cup Pool A propelled by a ‘big show’ ton from Glenn Maxwell before they weath-ered Kumar Sangakkara’s third consecutive century in Sydney on Sunday.

The Australians, aiming for a � fth World Cup triumph, amassed 376 for nine, Maxwell lighting up the Sydney Cricket Ground with 102 o� 53 balls and then restricted Sri Lanka to 312 for nine to win by 64 runs.

It was a crucial win by the co-hosts, leap-frogging Sri Lanka into second spot behind New Zealand with one more group match to play.

Victory secured Australia’s place in the last eight and made a quarter-� nal against South Africa less likely.

In a high-scoring match before almost 40,000 fans, plenty of them Sri Lankans, Maxwell produced one of his famed ‘big shows’ with a pulsating maiden one-day in-ternational century o� 51 balls to leave Sri Lanka with a massive run chase.

No side batting second have made more to win a World Cup match than Ireland’s 329 for seven against England in Bangalore four years ago.

The mighty Sangakkara gave it a big shake, raising his third consecutive ton at the tour-nament o� 100 balls and his 24th century in his 402nd ODI.

But the Australians breathed easier when he holed out to James Faulkner for 104 giving Aaron Finch a running catch to end his other-wise chanceless knock.

Maxwell thrilled the SCG full house with his audacious reverse sweeps, � icks and pow-erful hitting in an innings he has threatened to unleash in his previous 44 ODIs.

‘The Big Show’, as he is known, blasted his half-century o� 26 balls with a pulled six o�

Thisara Perera and was particularly brutal with Seekkuge Pras-anna, hoisting the leg-spinner for

34 o� just 12 balls.Maxwell and Shane

Watson, back in the side af-ter being dropped in Australia’s previ-ous match against Afghanistan for re-peated failures with the bat, plundered 160 runs o� 13.4 overs.

The Sri Lankans were at their wits’ end trying to � nd ways to stop the run riot as Maxwell and Watson took the bowlers apart.

Maxwell had a life on 93 when he top-edged Mathews and wick-etkeeper Sangakkara scurried back and made his ground only to drop the catch, but he was out soon afterwards when caught by Lasith Malinga at mid-on.

Maxwell narrowly missed out on equalling the 50-ball record for the fastest World Cup hundred set by Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien against England in 2011.

In a solid e� ort by Australia’s bats-men, Watson struck 67 o� 41 balls, Steve Smith hit 72 o� 88 balls and skipper Michael Clarke chipped in with a run-a-ball 68.l

AUS v SLAUSTRALIA R BD Warner c Prasanna b Malinga           9 24A Finch st Sangakkara b Prasanna       24 12S Smith c Perera b Dilshan             72 88M Clarke b Malinga                     68 68G Maxwell c Malinga b Perera          102 53S Watson c Chandimal b Perera          67 41J Faulkner run out (Mathews)            0 1B Haddin c Perera b Mathews            25 9M Johnson  not out                      3 3M Starc run out (Perera/Mathews)        0 0X Doherty not out                       0 1Extras: (b1, lb1, w4)                    6Total (9 wkts, 50 overs)               376

Fall of wickets1-19, 2-41, 3-175, 4-177, 5-337, 6-338, 7-368, 8-373, 9-374  BowlingMalinga 10-0-59-2 (1w); Senanayake 9-0-59-0; Mathews 7-0-59-1 (2w); Prasanna 10-0-77-1; Perera 9-0-87-2 (1w); Dilshan 5-0-33-1SRI LANKA R BL Thirimanne c Haddin b Johnson         1 5T Dilshan lbw b Faulkner               62 60K Sangakkara c Finch b Faulkner      104 107M Jayawardene run out (Clarke)         19 22A Mathews c Haddin b Watson            35 31D Chandimal retired hurt               52 24T Perera c Doherty b Johnson            8 3U Tharanga c Warner b Faulkner          4 5S Prasanna  b Starc                     9 11S Senanayake c Doherty b Starc         7 8L Malinga not out                       0 2Extras: (b2, lb5, w4)                    11Total (9 wkts, 46.2 overs)             312

Fall of wickets1-5, 2-135, 3-188, 4-201, 5-283, 6-293, 7-305, 8-307, 9-312 BowlingStarc 8.2-0-29-2 (1w); Johnson 9-0-62-2 (2w); Watson 7-0-71-1; Doherty 7-0-60-0; Maxwell 6-0-35-0; Faulkner 9-0-48-3 (1w)Man of the Match: Glenn Maxwell

Australia won by 64 runs

Maxwell maiden ton sinks Lankans

Sport 29D

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MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

BTV, Gazi TV, Maasranga TVStar Sports 1, 39:30AM ICC Cricket World Cup England v Bangladesh Star Sports 22:00AM Italian Serie A Juventus v Sassuolo Star Sports 41:45AM English FA Cup Manchester United v Arsenal

DAY’S WATCH

Milan coach Inzaghi has no thoughts of quittingAC Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi had not thought of quitting after his stuttering side were held 2-2 at home by modest Verona, who equalised in the � fth minute of stoppage time on Saturday. “It’s not a question that should be directed at me, I’m going to carry on with my head up, trying to do my best,” he told Sky Sport Italia after being asked about his future. “I’m looking ahead to the next match against Fiorentina which will be di� cult. “There is determination and the right spirit but, of course, we have to do better. We are not the Milan that everyone expects,” he added. Milan have won only two out of 10 matches since the Christmas break and are a modest ninth in Serie A. “It’s disappointing to concede a goal seconds from the end, we were silly,” said Inzaghi. “The lads were very disappointed, it’s di� cult to react after a draw like this, but that’s football. “The team that scores at the end can celebrate, the team that concedes can expect some di� cult days.” Inzaghi is in his � rst senior coaching role after being promoted from his previous role as head of the under-19s before the start of the season.

–Reuters

Aamer set for domestic return Considered among the best young bowlers in the world when he was hit with a � ve-year � xing ban in 2010, Pakistan pacer Moham-mad Aamer embarks on the long road to redemption Monday in his return to domestic cricket. The 22-year-old left-armer is set to play for Omar Associates in the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II national tournament - one rung below � rst-class - at the quiet Army Cricket Ground in the garrison city Rawal-pindi near the capital. Half a world away in Auckland, a trio of fellow southpaws closed out a hard fought victory for Pakistan against the mighty South Africans in an electrifying World Cup clash Saturday, highlighting how far former teenage prodigy Aamer will have to go to reclaim a place in the international arena. Aamer was one of three Pakistani players banned from the game for at least � ve years for arranging no-balls to order in a Test against England at Lord’s in 2010.

He was also jailed in Britain in 2011, along with former captain Salman Butt and Moham-mad Asif.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

Make-or-break for United, Arsenal in FA Cup n AFP, London

The FA Cup has been an underdogs’ tourna-ment this season, but its � rst genuine heavy-weight clash arrives on Monday when holders Arsenal visit old rivals Manchester United in the quarter-� nals.

The eliminations of Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton have cleared the route for United and Arsenal, and it is an opportunity that both teams are desperate not to squander.

Recent events have left the FA Cup as the last realistic opportunity for both sides to ap-ply a silver sheen to seasons that are rolling towards uncertain conclusions.

The pair remain well placed to qualify for next season’s Champions League, with Arse-nal currently third in the Premier League ta-ble and United a point back in fourth.

But Arsenal are on the brink of elimination from this season’s Champions League after a 3-1 � rst-leg loss to Monaco in the last 16, while doubts continue to dog United as they strug-gle for form under Louis van Gaal.

Arsenal have won four matches in a row in the league, but recent history has given them reason to fear trips to Old Tra� ord.

Arsene Wenger’s side have not won there since September 2006 - a run of 10 matches that includes two FA Cup defeats and a scar-ring 8-2 annihilation in the league in August 2011.

The Arsenal manager refuses to entertain talk of bad omens, however, saying: “I don’t believe too much in history. I just believe in the performance on the day. At the moment we are doing very well away from home.

“The size of the pitch is exactly the same everywhere. It is just down to how much we turn up and how much e� ort we put in to win

the game. Both teams will think, ‘If we get over this hurdle, we have a good opportunity to win the competition.’

“We are con� dent from our Premier League run, so we go to Manchester United to qualify and to give absolutely everything.”

With 11 titles each, United and Arsenal are the two most successful teams in the history of the FA Cup. l

U-23 freshers seek Kruif’s style n Tribune Desk

The intention behind calling up 37 booters in the Bangladesh U-23 training camp is simply to grow the young players with the existing style of play and get accustomed to Lodewijk de Kruif’s philosophy.

The residential training camp ahead of the AFC Under-23 Championship quali� ers is scheduled to begin from tomorrow at BKSP with the preliminarily selected 37 players among which only 14 players have the nation-al team experience.

“Kruif gave me some direction before leav-ing Dhaka. As the new players are not known of his playing style and philosophy, he in-structed me to align them with the playing style of national team,” said Bangladesh’s as-sistant coach Saiful Bari Titu yesterday.

“We don’t have much time. We have to � nalise our squad soon. They are currently analysing the match videos of our opponents Syria, Uzbekistan and India. The opponents are tough,” added Titu.

Bangladesh’s Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif is likely to arrive in Dhaka by March 16 to take charge of the team and till then Titu will guide the footballers.

Hosts Bangladesh were placed in Group E alongside Syria, Uzbekistan and India. The home side will face Syria in their opening match on March 27 at the Bangabandhu Na-tional Stadium. Bangladesh will then take on Uzbekistan and India on March 29 and 31 respectively. Only the group champions will progress to the � nal round.l

Messi, Suarez move Barca top of La Liga n AFP, Madrid

Barcelona moved to the top of La Liga for the � rst time since early November as Lionel Messi struck his 32nd hat-trick for the club in a 6-1 thrashing of 10-man Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday handed Barca the chance to over-take the European champions and Luis Su-arez wasted no time in taking advantage as he slotted home his sixth goal in as many games.

Gerard Pique doubled the hosts’ advantage just after half-time before Messi added a third from the penalty spot at the second attempt thanks to a reprieve from the referee after his initial e� ort was saved by Cristian Alvarez and Tito had been sent-o� for a second book-able o� ence.

There was no controversy over the Argen-tine’s � nal two goals, though, as he moved level with Cristiano Ronaldo on 30 league goals for the season.

Both sides ended with 10 men when Dani Alves was shown a straight red card for bring-ing down Alberto Bueno inside the area and Bueno converted from the spot.

However, Barca had the � nal word when Suarez slammed home his second of the af-ternoon from Messi’s through ball.

Suarez has found his scoring touch in re-cent weeks after a slow start to life at the Camp Nou and was razor sharp in front of goal just six minutes in as he rolled his defender before � icking the ball past Alvarez with the outside of his right foot.l

LA LIGABarcelona 6-1 Rayo VallecanoSuarez 6, 90+1, Pique 49, Bueno 81-PMessi 56-P, 63, 68

On Saturday

Deportivo 3-4 SevillaRiera 28, 72, Vitolo 33, 52, Perez 90+3-pen Gameiro 65-P, Sidnei 83-og

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Real MadridAduriz 26

Elche 1-0 AlmeriaRodriguez 6

Granada 1-0 MalagaCamacho 57-og

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (R) and Luis Suarez celebrate after scoring during the Spanish league football match against Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou yesterday AFP

DOWNTIME30DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 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 16 represents H so � ll H every time the � gure 16 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropri-ate 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 Smallgoods favourite (6)5 Was ahead (3)7 First woman (3)8 Wait on (6)11 Droop (3)12 Destroys utterly (5)14 Noteworthy act (4)16 Encounters (5)18 Command (5)20 Food (4)21 Proverb (5)23 Band’s engagement (3)24 Settle cosily (6)27 Neckwear (3)28 As well (3)29 State as true (6)

DOWN1 Briny (3)2 Permit (3)3 Warded o� (7)4 Bill of fare (4)5 One granted a lease (6)6 Abstract (6)9 Layer (4)10 Not bright (3)13 Retributive justice (7)14 Fail to recall (6)15 Slowly (mus) (6)17 Lofty (4)19 Moved quickly (3)22 Obtains (4)25 Gol� ng aid (3)26 Newt (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TMONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

BRUNO MARS @BrunoMars I’m writing songs again. :)

ALIA BHATT @aliaa08We are stronger than people think we are. We are MORE than equal! More power to all the women/girls out there!!! #Happy-WomensDay

ELLIE GOULDING @elliegoulding Well this is bloody CHILL taylorswift @selenagomez @haimtheband

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

Here is what’s on repeat on Abrar’s playlist:1. Beck- Hell yes ( Beck is the perfect

mix of alternative rock, hip hop, electronica, pop and everything in between)

2. Jack White- Lazaretto (This song is de� nitely all about that bass! The drums too)

3. Dandy Warhols- Sleep (We’re not friends if you haven’t heard Thirteen tales from Urban Bohemia. Brilliant Album)

4. GZA ft Tom Morello- The Mexican (GZA and Tom Morello together! Wu Tang and Rage have made me who I am today!)

5. Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars- Uptown Funk (There’s always room for more funk in this world and Bruno Mars is

our only hope today)6. Cat Empire- Lost Song (Cat empire is

easy listening world music that you’re bound to play on repeat)

7. Passenger- Scare away the dark (The lyrics couldn’t be more relevant today. Brilliant song) 

8. Incubus- Absolution Calling (They are one of my favourite bands and I’m really hopeful about their new album. You have to check out S.C.I.E.N.C.E and Fungus Amongus, their � rst two albums)

9. Arctic Monkeys- Come Together (Arctic Monkeys covering the Beatles!)

10. Foo Fighters- Learn to Fly (This song never gets old. It’s the � rst Foo Fighters track I heard and I’ve loved the band since) l

SOUND BYTES

TUNE IN

Incursion Music will launch Fuad’s Hit Factory, featuring various artists which include Zohad, Upol, Moury, Shuvo, Anila, Shumi, and Ari� n Rumy, brought to you by Bellissimo. The launch will take place at Bellissimo Lounge in Banani, on March 19th, where fans will get to meet with the artists, buy the album and score autographs.

On March 26th, Savagery will launch their much anticipated double disc album along with the re-issue of Parthibo’s anthology album with a new music video and availability of the anthology discs.

From hypnotic tunes to concert dates, Mondays are now dedicated to the universal language called music. Every week, Showtime will provide the right dose of news and reviews. Take a seat, grab your headphones and turn up the volume.

MUSICAL MONDAYS

n Raisa Rahim

March is recognised as one of the most important months of the year in the history of the Bangladesh Liberation War. To mark the notable speech delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 7th, 1971, Young Bangla, a platform for the youth, initiated by Centre For Research and Information (CRI), organised the “Joy Bangla Concert” on Saturday, March 7th at the Army Stadium in the capital. l

Wait for itn Sabah Rahman

Metal heads rejoice! Iron Maiden’s new album is all wrapped up, but the veteran rockers aren’t going to make a move until front man Bruce Dickinson has completely healed. Dickinson has recently been through a course of chemotherapy and radiology that lasted seven weeks after a small cancerous tumour was found on his tongue. While the treatment has been a success, the multi-talented vocalist still needs a few months to be at his best. Fans have been eagerly awaiting the launch of the 16th album from the metal maestros. Nicko McBrain, the legendary band’s drummer shared his thoughts in a recent interview, “We have made an album. The album was ready to go this year… And it still is. We were planning on going out and doing some work around the album, which now, we’re all just holding on, and once Bruce is up and running, hopefully in the next couple of months… You never know when this might happen. You just never know, do you?”

Here’s to wishing Mr Dickinson a speedy recovery. l

For the love of the nation

Turn it up

n Showtime Desk

We’re kick starting our new column for Music Monday’s and who better to start with, but Abrar Athar? This illustrious man took some time out from his busy life, what with having to juggle being your favourite, witty RJ at Radio Foorti, playing the drums for the band, 12 A.M., taking care of his beautiful wife and son as well as � ghting o� mobs of overheated lady fans.

What to listen to:Radio Shadhin 92.4FMBossbreak 12-3pmSreyoshe 3-5pmBombastic 5-8:30pm

BACK PAGE32DT

MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2015

KEPZ: INVESTMENT HAMPERED BY LAND GRABBING PAGE 15

FOR THE LOVE OF THE NATION PAGE 31

CONFIDENT MASHRAFE ALL IN PAGE 25

Women’s Day observedn Tribune Report

International Women’s Day was observed around the country yesterday with a call for establishing the rights of women at every sphere of life in society.

Various socio-cultural organisations ar-ranged di� erent events to highlight women’s rights and their progress in economic, social, political and other areas.

On the eve of the day, President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in separate messages, urged all to work togeth-er for ensuring women empowerment, their equal rights and opportunity.

Hundreds of people, including the students of Dhaka University, gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar at midnight for the occasion.

Later in the day, the Ministry of Women

and Children A� airs organised a programme at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Addressing the event as chief guest, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said some people mis-interpreted religion to prevent women from progressing. “No society or country can de-velop by leaving behind a part of it.”

At Jahangirnagar University, a colourful grand rally was brought out by hundreds of stu-dents, teachers, university o� cials and sta� .

Addressing the rally, JU Vice Chancellor Farzana Islam, the country’s � rst female VC, said: “Empowerment of women and humani-ty is necessary to maintain social equilibrium. We should create a congenial atmosphere for women everywhere.”

Programmes were held in Chittagong. Chua-danga, Rangamati, Netrokona, Mymenshigh, Rangpur and other districts too. l

Connecting young voicesn Syeda Samira Sadeque

Young women shared their experiences on gender discrimination at a programme mark-ing International Women’s Day yesterday at Bangladesh Youth Leadership Centre.

“Back in 2013, I � led a complaint against my father at Ain O Salish Kendra,” a partici-pant shared at the event.

“And I knew the next time he wanted to hit me, I could ask him not to because I had just � led a complaint against him.”

Her story resonated with many in the room at BYLC’s event, where UNDP Country Direc-

tor Pauline Tamesis and Barrister Nihad Kabir also spoke.

Some shared stories of bravery, while some expressed opinions on how to tackle the nu-anced gender discrimination woven tightly into the fabric of our society.

“The main obstacle I faced is the mindset of questioning whether women can be as ef-fective professionally as men. To respond to that, there is no alternative but to work hard, to be good at what you do,” said Nihad.

Tamesis, from UNDP, said she believed in the power of women coming together and us-ing their networks to reach other women. l

Too little and too laten Rehman Sobhan

The crisis long pre-dicted in these col-umns and which we along with many others throughout the country had tried so hard to avoid is upon us. The future of this nation is at stake. If

it survives this moment of peril it can never be the same again.

The people of Bangla Desh have had to take to the streets to re-win the right to self-government they had sought to estab-lish three months ago at the polls. Then they did indeed speak their minds unequivocal-ly. And today those same people are in the streets, armed with only primitive weapons but sustained by indomitable courage and faith in the justice of their cause.

The interests that have provoked this con� agration are the same as those which attempted to preserve the nation as a play-ground for their greed and ambition. It is however only � tting that the instrument for their design should be none other than Zul� kar Ali Bhutto, chairman of the Peo-ple’s Party, pledged to emancipate the peo-ple from these same vested interests.

Less than a month ago there was hope in the air. The polls had made it su� cient-ly clear that Bangla Desh was solidly com-mitted to Six -Points. The victors in West Pakistan had no campaign commitments against Six-Points which could have inhib-ited a settlement with the Awami League and which could prevent them from hon-ouring their economic commitments to their electorate.

A constitution based on Six-Points, but taking care of the special problems of West Pakistan, could have been jointly framed without prejudice to the rights and interests of the common people of West Pakistan.

A peaceful transition to a democratic or-der, which for the � rst time in two decades would have put inter-wing bickering at an end and left parties free to get on with the task of engineering social revolution, was distinctly possible.

All these hopes are ashes. Mr. Bhutto’s refusal to attend the Assembly indicated that he has made common cause with the “hawks” in the power elite, and had the strength to force the postpone-

ment, sine die, of the Assembly. The long delay between election time

and the summoning of the Assembly had already generated enough tension so that March 3 was not a day too soon. Anyone with the slightest notion of the mood in Bangla Desh knew this would push the self-restraint of the people over the brink.

The reasons put forward by the great chairman for not attending the National Assembly were too puerile to be taken seri-ously. The notion that a National Assembly is merely a rati� cation chamber for clan-destine agreements is part of the Byzantine politics which the chairman learnt for 8 years at the feet of his spiritual father.

If a parliament is not meant to discuss basic issues, to examine them closely in committee sessions, to seek settlement and to vote on them if positions are irrec-oncilable, why was so much blood shed in the cause of parliamentary democracy?

All this Mr. Bhutto knew and had made clear to him, not just on his visit to East Pa-kistan but by the powers-that-be, when he ignited the � ames of crisis. It was therefore a cold-blooded act which could have no oth-er end than the death of peasants, workers and students in the streets of Bangla Desh.

He has worked hand and glove with the hawks who have now come up with their proposal of a National Assembly held un-der the shadow of the gun. A � ve-hour ses-sion with the president before his provoc-ative broadcast has proved this collusion without a shadow of doubt. His so-called progressive supporters should take note of the role of their chairman’s collaboration with the forces of oppression.

Dictatorship has been given a new lease of life and they would do well to realise that their own freedoms may be trampled in the dust along with the blood of workers and students in Bangla Desh. l

This piece is the � rst in a series that will run until March 25, in which we reproduce Rehman Sobhan’s contemporaneous account of the events of that momentous month in Bangladeshi history, originally written for Forum magazine. This piece was � rst published in Forum on March 6, 1971, and we publish it in two parts. The

concluding part of the article will follow

tomorrow.

A torch procession is brought out in DU marking Int’l Women’s Day yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

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