Khaleda: We will not wait any longern Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

back from Narayanganj

Seemed more desperate than previous occasions, BNP Chairperson and the 20-party alliance Chief Khaleda Zia yes-terday said they had already given the ruling government much time to hold a mid-term election under a non-parti-san government.

“[Government] face me on the streets; do not cordon o� my house with sand-laden trucks. If you open � re, I will face that too. I will see how they [law enforcers] open � re. We will stay on the streets – irrespective of winter, summer and the monsoon,” the three-time former premier told a mass rally in Kanchpur Balur Math of Narayanganj.

“We have waited 12 months to see [government holding] a fresh election under a non-party government after

holding talks [with all parties]. But you did not pay any heed [to our demand]. Now we have no time to sit idle.

“I urge all, including mothers and sisters, to get united and take to the streets together. You will have to be there on the streets with whatever you have...under any circumstances. There is no use of shedding tears. We will have to stay there no matter how much time it takes to realise our demand.”

She also threatened non-stop pro-grammes if the government increased prices of power, gas and fuel. “If the prices are hiked, programmes will be enforced from the following day. We will go back home only after ousting this illegal regime from o� ce,” she said.

The BNP chief asked the audi-ence whether they would participate in the upcoming movement and the

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Minister Shajahan Khan says no major damage likely from Sundarbans oil spilln Abu Bakar Siddique

from the Sundarbans

With the ship’s salvage taking more than two days and authorities failing to clean up the spill – now spread over an 80km swathe of the Sundarbans – in over � ve days, the � rst of what is ex-pected to be a myriad of dolphin corps-es came to the surface yesterday.

Dhaka Tribune photojournalist Syed Zakir Hossain, who has covered a wide area of the forest in the last 24 hours, located the � rst dead body of an Irrawaddy dolphin in the Harin-tana-Tambulbunia channel of the Sela River yesterday, some 25km from where the tanker capsized.

Since the Sela River is a sanctuary of six types of dolphins, a major con-cern after the tanker capsized and went down with over 350,000 litres of oil was the well-being of these sensitive and rare marine creatures.

Reports of sightings of corpses of other wild animals were already com-ing in on Friday, but this is the � rst con-� rmed sighting of dolphin remains.

But the Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan was reported by BSS as saying: “I have discussed with the experts and they said that there will be no major damage.”

“It will not a� ect dolphins and oth-

er animals as the oil has not spread that much,” UNB quoted the minister as saying on a visit to Chandpai in the Sundarbans.

Monirul H Khan, professor of zool-ogy at Jahangirnagar University, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Generally, dolphin corpses do not come to the water sur-face. The fact that one of them has � oat-ed to the surface should mean a number of dolphins have been directly a� ected.”

He said: “If large creatures such as dolphins could not survive, then small-er ones like otters and � sh are in much bigger danger.”

However, Zahhidul Kabir, division-al forest o� cer in the Sundarbans,

claimed that so far they had not found anything other than the dead bodies of some small � sh and crabs which, he said, could not be linked to the oil spill.

There are three dolphin sanctuar-ies – Chandpai, Dhangimari and Dud-

hmukhi – across 33km of the Sundar-bans. Of them, Chandpai is the largest, covering 15km of the Sela River.

A Dhaka Tribune team which has been patrolling the area for three days did not see a single dolphin in the Chandpai sanctuary near where the tanker sank.

However, in Dhangimari sanctuary they counted 13 dolphin sightings in � ve minutes, though they could not determine the number of individual animals present.

Oil tanker Southern Star 7, carrying 357,664 litres of furnace oil, sank in the river at Mrigamari under the East Zone of the Sundarbans after being hit by a cargo vessel around 6am on Tuesday.

The MessWhen the vessel was salvaged after two days, nearly two-thirds of the oil it was carrying had spilled into the river and, propelled by the forces of high and low

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

Agrahayan 30, 1421Safar 20, 1436Regd No DA 6238Vol 2, No 250

20 pages | Price: Tk12

‘THE MEN AND WOMEN BECAME PART OF THE CLAY OF THIS LAND’

8 | REMEMBRANCE

BB EXTENDS REPAYMENT PERIOD OF GREEN REFINANCING

B1 | BUSINESS

NO ONE HEARS A CRY IN THE WILD

11 | OP-ED

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PHOTOSP3

Martyred Intellectuals Day todayn Tribune Report

By December, 1971, Pakistan knew that the game was up. The brutal war it had unleashed on unarmed civilians that it claimed were its citizens, the genocide it had begun against the Bangalee na-tion – all of it, in the face of indomitable resistance, was coming to nought.

Throughout the war, Pakistani forc-es had murdered intellectuals and

persons of culture whenever the op-portunity arose, in a bid to destroy the repository of the nation’s intellectual capital, its most inspiring thinkers and its most eloquent voices.

But with imminent defeat looming on the horizon, the Pakistani occu-pation forces ramped up their savage policy of selective murder to add force to the general policy of blood-letting.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

First dead dolphin spotted

A dead Irrawaddy dolphin � oats on the Harintana-Tembulbunia channel of the Sela River yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Khaleda: We will not wait any longer PAGE 1 COLUMN 6presence replied “Yes” loudly raising their hands. “Bravo, bravo,” said an im-pressed Khaleda.

On the government’s sending a joint secretary on forced retirement for “holding a meeting with her,” Khaleda said the government had politicised the administration and that meritori-ous and brilliant o� cers were removed from positions based on “false allega-tions.”

Regarding the arrest of a woman in connection with the Bardhaman blast in West Bengal, the former premier claimed that the arrestee had been in-

nocent. “It was reported [in media] that the woman was hatching conspiracy to kill [Prime Minister Sheikh] Hasina.

“There is no need of it. The more days she is alive, the more hatred she will be inviting...An innocent woman was arrested. It is a stage-managed dra-ma. It is also said [executed JMB chief] Shayakh Abdur Rahman’s wife trained her; then why has Rahman’s wife not been arrested?”

During her speech, Khaleda castigat-ed the prime minister several times on di� erent issues. She alleged that Hasi-na did not love the country as all of her family members live abroad. She also

questioned the role of the premier’s son as an adviser to the prime minister, for which he takes “more than Tk1.5 crore.”

The BNP chief said the Sundarbans mangrove forest had been destroyed in a planned way. She also questioned why a sand-carrying vessel would transport fuel oil. “It was done in a planned way to destroy the forest and its resources,” she said.

Apparently holding the government responsible for the oil spill incident, Khaleda said: “This regime is not only a man-eater but also Bangladesh-eater. It wants to gobble up Bangladesh to de-stroy its existence.”

She alleged that the arrests in Narayanganj seven murders were “mere eyewash” as the masterminds were moving freely. “Why [top RAB o� cial] was Col Zia not arrested? One was sacked for an alleged meeting with me. How does a killer like Zia still re-main in the job?”

Khaleda also labelled HM Ershad as a world famous shameless and “pet cat of Hasina.” She said Ershad was threat-ened with initiating proceedings in the Jamuna Tower and General Monzoor killing cases whenever he warned of resignation.

The BNP chief said the farmers were not getting fair price for their products as the government had imported 0.5m tonnes of rice.

Narayanganj district unit 20-party arranged the rally demanding election under a non-partisan interim govern-ment and protesting the incidents of “killing, enforced disappearance, ab-duction and the government’s repres-sive acts.”

As the venue of the meeting was just adjacent to Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet highways, communica-tion on the roads came to a halt as the party leaders, activists and supporters had occupied the highway. Many pas-sengers were seen walking to their des-tinations.

At the venue, balloons and post-ers were seen with portraits of BNP founder Gen Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda, her elder son Tarique Rahman and con-victed war criminals of key BNP-ally Jamaat-e-Islami. A large banner on the sensational seven murders also drew attention of the audience.

Narayanganj district unit BNP Pres-ident Taimur Alam Khandkar chaired the programme.

Khelafat Mojlish Chairman Moham-mad Ishak o� ered a special prayer after Khaleda’s speech. l

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

(Left) The Dhaka-Chittagong highway experiences an unprecedented tra� c tailback yesterday due to a rally organised by local BNP. (right) Passengers had to get down o� buses and walk with their baggages and children as the tra� c comes to a standstill MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU/ SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

First dead dolphin spotted PAGE 1 COLUMN 4coastal tides, spread over at least an 80km range of the mangrove forest.

The authorities have two options to remove the oil from the water – by using chemical dispersants or oil-con-suming bacteria. But they could not be sure about the environmental impact of the � rst option and the second had to be imported.

As a result, no e� ective measures have so far been taken to remove the oil. Instead, local people have been encouraged to manually collect the oil from the water.

Brian D Smith and Rubaiyat Mansur, experts at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said: “Chemical dispersants should not be used without consulting international experts with oil spill ex-

perience in mangrove forests. Disper-sants are typically used in oceanic wa-ters to prevent the slick from reaching the shore.”

The immediate toxic e� ect on ter-restrial and aquatic wildlife can lead to death or reduced reproductive � tness. Long-term e� ects may pose a risk to the aquatic ecology due to chronic ex-posure to oil toxins and fouling due to the retention of oil clumps in woody debris and vegetation and oil seeping into sediments through crab holes, they said.

They predict the die-o� of small mangrove trees near the waterline in the next few months and larger trees in the next few years or longer especially if trees become re-exposed to oil seep-ing out of sediments, UNB reported.

The impacts on the larger ecology of the mangrove system as small and large trees die-o� , will be soil erosion and excessive sediments deposited into small and large channels.

Potential toxic impacts to local hu-man communities are likely from expo-sure to oil during clean-up operations or by consuming � sh exposed to oil.

“Short-term impacts of the oil spill will be severe as the habitat of the af-fected areas will be damaged. Animals and � sh species will lose their breeding grounds,” former director of Water Re-sources Planning Organization (WAR-PO) Engineer Inamul Haque told UNB.

The clean upThe disaster, the fall-out of which has so far proven to be overwhelming, ap-

pears to have shown that the authori-ties have neither the capacity nor the experience to tackle it.

The Forest Department yesterday engaged 200 day-labourers with 100 boats to scoop the oil from the waters of the river and adjoining canals.

As of yesterday afternoon, Padma Oil Company, the owner of the oil, had collected just 10,000 litres from locals cleaning up the massive oil spill. They are o� ering the public Tk30 per litre of recovered oil.

Ecology and biodiversity researcher Pavel Partha, who is currently visiting the area, told the Dhaka Tribune yes-terday: “Engaging untrained locals in collecting the oil is also likely to turn out to be a boomerang. Along with oil, they are also collecting a lot of mud

from the river banks. This may harm the composition of the soil and end up harming the regeneration of the forest ecosystem.”

The Dhaka Tribune journalists have also noticed many mud-skippers and marine birds such as the maasranga trapped in the furnace oil-contaminat-ed mud.

Zoology Professor Monirul also said: “A large number of dolphins may have migrated from the area by now. They probably su� ered breathing problems because the contamination should have signi� cantly lowered the level of dissolved oxygen in the water.”

The route that the sunken tanker was following was o� limits to large vessels because it is within the dol-phin sanctuary. But because the al-

lowed route had become unusabledue to poor navigability three years ago, these vessels have been plying these waters.

Researchers and environmentalists have long warned of the consequences of poor enforcement of rules and laws.

Voicing concern over the oil tanker crash, UNDP Bangladesh Country Di-rector Pauline Tamesis said the acci-dent highlights the need for a complete ban on the movement of all commer-cial vessels through the Sundarbans, UNB reported yesterday.

“Global experience shows that this kind of incident has long term environmental consequences and itrequires coordinated multi-sectoral ef-forts to restore the a� ected areas,” she said. l

Martyred IntellectualsDay today PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Starting on December 9 and building up murderous intensity by December 14, the occupation army and its local henchmen killed o� as many intellec-tuals as they could.

The remembrance of the martyred intellectuals this year is special, because some of their tormentors and murders have � nally been brought to justice.

The local death squads belonged to a group called al-Badr, which operated as an auxiliary of the Pakistan army.

Islami Chhatra Sangha, later called Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a party termed a criminal organisation by the Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal, provided the bulk of al-Badr’s recruits. On the nights of December 13 to 15, masked al-Badr men surveying the roads in microbus-es, knocking at the doors of selected intellectuals and picking them up.

In this way, teachers, littérateurs, journalists and professionals were picked up and taken to the Physical Training Institute in Mohammadpur where they were beaten up ruthlessly. Their eyes were gouged out and their bodies pierced with bayonets, and eventually met their deaths.

After the Pakistani surrender, dumping grounds were discovered at Rayerbazar and at Mirpur, where the bodies of men and women were found dead among the bricks, mud and water, their hands tied and eyes blindfolded.

This year’s observances are di� er-ent because four of the masterminds behind the systematic killings – Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin and Syed Ashrafuzzaman – have been sentenced to death for the crimes by the war crimes tribunals. The verdicts are awaiting execution.

The government and di� erent so-cio-cultural organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day today.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay tribute to the martyred intellectuals by placing wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Mausoleum at Mirpur in the city at 8:05am and 8:15am respectively.

Afterwards, the Liberation War Af-fairs minister, freedom � ghters, family members of the martyred intellectuals and the public will pay their respects by placing wreaths at the mausoleum. l

India on alert after Sunderbans oil spilln Tribune Report

Environmental authorities in India are on alert after thousands of litres of oil spilled into a nature reserve in neigh-bouring Bangladesh.

Conservation chief Pradeep Vyas said “precautions” were being taken in West Bengal’s coastal region, reports BBC.

Oil leaked into waterways in the Sundarbans area after a collision in-volving a tanker three days ago.

O� cials say it is already harming the region’s wildlife, which includes two endangered dolphin species.

“We are taking all precautionary measures,” Mr Vyas, additional direc-tor of India’s Sundarban Biosphere Re-serve, told Reuters on Friday.

Footage shows Bangladeshi villagers scooping oil from rivers using pots and pans and sponges, and birds covered in black liquid in the Sundarbans man-grove forest in south-west Bangladesh.

The oil spilled after a tanker carrying 350,000 litres (77,000 gallons) collided with another vessel, spreading a sheen across 60km of waterways. The Sun-derbans is a Unesco heritage site, home to many rare species.

The oil leaked into the river at a sanctuary for rare dolphins. Environ-mentalists have expressed concern that the impact on wildlife could be

disastrous. But government o� cials say they still cannot give an assess-ment of the likely damage. The UN on Thursday called for a complete ban on all commercial vessels using the water-ways of the Sunderbans.

The Bangladeshi navy initially sent four ships to deal with the spill, and planned to use chemicals to disperse the oil.

But it was unclear whether the chemicals could be used, amid fears they could cause further damage.

“This catastrophe is unprecedented in the Sundarbans and we don’t know how to tackle this,” Amir Hosain, chief forest o� cial of the Sundarbans, told AFP news agency.

“We’re worried about its long-term impact, because it happened in a frag-ile and sensitive mangrove ecosystem.”

The tanker was reportedly on its way to deliver the oil to a power plant in Gopalganj when it was struck by an-other vessel.

The Sunderbans, is a vast river delta on the northern shore of the Bay of Ben-gal. Its mangroves and rivers are home to a vast array of plant and animal life, much of it unique to the region.

The government declared areas in the southern Sunderbans to be a dol-phin sanctuary in 2011, after research suggested some 6,000 Irrawaddy dol-phins lived in the area. l

BD signs deal with CERNn UNB

Bangladesh has moved one major step closer towards the advanced science and technology, particularly in the � eld of research of quantum and fundamen-tal physics, by signing an ‘International Cooperation Agreement’ with CERN in Geneva.

Bangladesh Ambassador and Per-manent Representative in Geneva M Shameem Ahsan signed the instrument of cooperation on behalf of Bangladesh with Director General of CERN (Eu-ropean Organization for Nuclear Re-search) Dr Rolf Heuer on Friday.

The CERN Director General remem-bered his recent successful visit to Bangladesh and praised the e� orts of Bangladesh government for taking the bene� ts of science and technology to

the doorstep of people.He assured CERN support in this re-

gard and hoped the teachers, students and researchers of Bangladesh would be immensely bene� ted from this for-mal cooperation.

For the countries like Bangladesh, CERN provides a unique opportuni-ty for the much-needed technology transfer, education and training for researchers, scholars, academics and students.

Bangladesh will be greatly bene� ted from this cooperation with CERN, es-pecially the universities, institutes, or-ganisations, academics, professionals, said a Foreign Ministry media release.

CERN will conduct a high-level short school on advanced particle and quantum physics at the Dhaka Univer-sity from December 15 to 18. l BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia addressing a 20-party alliance public meeting held at the

Kanchpur Balur Math in Narayanganj yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

Inu: Government returning to non-communal secular spirit n Tribune Report

The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led coalition government is cleaning up the garbage that has piled up during the regimes of military dictators and communal forces, Information Minis-ter Hasanul Haq Inu said yesterday.

He said the people of the country were accustomed to live with military dictatorship, autocracy, communalism.

No one imagined that the razakars and war criminals could ever be tried, punished and executed, the minister said. When these events happened, it came as surprise to the people of the country. They also witness some other abnormal things happening.

Also chief of a faction of Jatiya Sam-ajtantrik Dal, Inu said during this ten-ure, when people have been asked to stay away from these elements they are surprised.

He was speaking at the inaugural programme of a workshop titled “Government’s Public Relations and Mass Media” at the Bangladesh Press

Institute (PIB).Addressing as chief guest, the min-

ister termed the ruling government of Hasina a “phase of return” to the non-communal secular spirit which had been present in the original con-

stitution of the country to determine the fundamental character of the new-ly-born Bangladesh.

“Now we have reinstated secularism in the constitution while communal-

ism has been pushed back.” Many o� cers from information

cadre service including public rela-tion o� cers of di� erent ministries and public o� ces, and senior journalists attended the workshop and exchanged experiences, views and suggestions to enhance the understanding and coop-eration between mass media and gov-ernment’s public relation and commu-nication o� cials.

PIB Director General Shah Alamgir chaired the inaugural programme and workshop. Editor of the daily Bhorer Kagoj Shaymol Dutta and senior DPIO Mahfuzur Rahman also spoke at the event.

Inu said: “Pet journalists are not journalists at all, like a pet tiger is not a tiger.”

The minister also criticised the role of some media outlets claiming that those were doing yellow journalism by publicising false information and dis-torted history.

He, however, said some were run-ning reports based on “balancing the-

ory.” “They say ‘these are the bad sides of this leader and these are the bad sides of another leader; so both the leaders are bad.”

He said the information o� cers of the government were supposed to up-hold the spirit of the constitution.

Inu asked them to deal with journal-ists keeping it in the mind that a tiger must be in the wild; none can adopt a tiger. Similarly, a journalist cannot be a pet journalist; they practice journalism freely.

“It does not matter to a journalist if you [information o� cer] o� er them 10 cups of tea and � ve sticks of cigarette. Their head is hard; whatever you feed them they will do their report,” the minister said.

Every government has its political pledges and the information o� cers should be aware of these, he said. “In-formation o� cers will work for the government and the administration. They are not a private publicity worker of a minister. They have not been ap-pointed to carry a minister’s bag.” l

Locals at the Joymunir Char putting in a rigorous e� ort to collect whatever spilled furnace oil they can from the Sela River in the Sundarbans. Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan called for the clean-up drive by locals for which the Padma Oil is willing to pay DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nasrul Hamid: Power tari� to be adjusted despite fall in fuel pricen UNB

State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid yesterday said the planned upward adjustment in the power tari� will go ahead, despite the fall in energy prices on the international market.

However, he also added that the burden of the coming price hike, long-held to be coming in January, will not fall on the common people, who will get electricity at a very reasonable price.

The junior minister said this while addressing the closing ceremony of the � rst-ever Electricity Week 2014, including an electricity fair at Bangab-andhu International Conference Centre in the city,

organised by the Power Cell.With Power Secretary Monoar Is-

lam in the chair, the function was also addressed by parliamentary standing committee on power and energy chair-man Tajul Islam and Power Cell direc-tor General Mohammad Hossain.

Nasrul Hamid asked the power dis-tribution companies to improve their services through automation and in-stalling pre-paid metre system.

He said the distribution agencies have to achieve the con� dence of the customers by satisfying their demand for services.

The minister said development pro-grammes in all the segments of the power sector including generation, transmission and distribution have to be implemented keeping in mind the situation in the developed nations.

‘All our planning should be aligned with the developed nations’ system,’ he added.

Hamid asked the o� cials to take measures to reach electricity to o� grid areas of the county through solar pow-er, an initiative that has already met with success in the country.

The state minister also warned against the spread of the substandard solar panels now being sold in the market. l

13 injured in bomb blast in Jewelry shops in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

At least 13 persons were injured in a bomb blast incident in Chittagong city’s Kotwali area last night as some miscreants hurled the crude bombs at two jewelry shops in a bid to loot the jewelry shops.

The splinter injured nine persons were admitted into di� erent wards of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

Their identities, however, could not be assertained till � ling this report, said CMCH Police Outpost In-charge Sub-Inspector (SI) Johirul Islam.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Assistant Commissioner (Kotwa-li circle) Shah Mohammad Abdur Rouf told the Dhaka Tribune that a group of

miscreants hurled some crude bombs at two jewelery shops – Gini Jewelers and Aprupa Jewelers – located on Hos-sain Shahid Suhorawardy Road oppo-site the GPO under Kotwali area around 8:30pm, leaving the people injured.

The miscreants attempted to loot the shops but failed to do so as people from nearby areas resisted them. As police from near Kotwali Police Station rushed to the spot robbers � ed the scene.

None could be arrested till � ling this report while police are looking into the matter, said the AC adding that the glasses of the two shops and other fur-niture were damaged due to the blast.

CMP Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operation) Banaz Kumar Majumder along with a special police team also visited the spot. l

Mozena hopeful of restoring GSP for Bangladesh n Tribune Report

Bangladesh may get back the trade privileges in the US market, if it brings some positive changes in the appar-el sector as well as progresses in the shrimp sector, said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena yesterday.

“I hope, as Bangladesh transforms the apparel sector and also makes prog-ress in the shrimp sector that GSP can be restored at some point, because that’s a necessary stepping stone,” he said.

Mozena was speaking at a roundta-ble discussion titled “America-Bangla-desh Relations: Economic and Social Perspective” organised by the Center for NRB, an organisation for non-resi-dent Bangladeshis, in the capital.

The US government has recently suspended Bangladesh from the Gen-eralized System of Preferences (GSP) which allows duty-free entry of over

5,000 goods to the US market from least developed countries.

Mozena said: “Bangladeshi-Ameri-can diaspora play an important role in

building the most important part of our partnership. The people-to-popel ties strengthen America-Bangladesh rela-tions.”

Speaking on the occasion, Center for NRB Chairperson MS Shekil Chowd-hury said: “The Center for NRB is look-ing into the faces of the American-Ban-

gladeshis living in the US. We must take care of them, give them a better life.

“We hope both the nations will con-sider their views and try to give them comfort. Not only in the US, but in the other countries as well,” he said.

Economist Dr Mahbub Ali and Young Generation representative Wacef Chowdhury delivered a keynote speech.

Former commerce ministers Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and GM Kader, former minister Major Ha� z Ud-din, former � nance and trader adviser to a caretaker government Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, former information com-missioner and ambassador Mohammad Jamir, Rupali Bank Chairman Ahmed R Kabir and former foreign secretary CM Sha� Sami, and Centre for Policy Dia-logue (CPD) Research Director Khan-dakar Golam Moazzem, among others, spoke on the occaion. l

Ferry service resumed in Padma after 5-hrsn Tribune Report

Ferry services on the Shemulia-Kewra-kandi route in the Padma River have resumed after � ve hours of disruption because of dense fog.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) Simulia Ghat As-sistant Manager Shekhar Chandra Roy said ferry services on the route halted around 3am on Saturday due to poor visibility resulting from dense fog.

He said normalcy returned there around 8:30am.

Seven ferries -- Kalmilata, Karabi, Ramsri, Raipura, Thobal, Lenting and Raniganj -- had been forced to anchor in the middle of the river, causing im-mense su� ering to several hundred passengers.

Hundreds of vehicles with several hundred passengers kept waiting on both sides of the river. l

‘We hope both the nations will consider their views and try to give them comfort. Not only in the US, but in the other countries as well’

No one imagined that the razakars and war criminals could ever be tried, punished and executed, the minister said. When these events happened, it came as surprise to the people of the country

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

Regent Airway’s Travel Partners Meet held in Bangkokn Our Correspondent,

Chittagong

Regent Airways organised a “Travel Partners Meet” in Thailand on Monday to cel-ebrate its fourth founding anniversary.

Regent Airways Manag-ing Director Mashruf Habib was present as the chief guest while the Chief Advi-sor Sam Kalathra Issac and Head of Sales Er� an Haque were present among others.

As a private company, Regent Airways wants to take the aviation industry of the country ahead, said the managing director.

He said currently Re-gent Airways runs on � ve international routes.

“No other private Ban-gladeshi company except Regent Airways could con-tinue � ights in Bangkok, however, for that we had to encounter many challeng-es. Initially it was di� cult. In some instances, we even took o� with only 20 pas-sengers,” he said.

The � ights from Bangla-desh to Bangkok are operat-ed three days a week, from Dhaka and Chittagong.

Regent Airways launched the � ight on the Chittagong-Bangkok-Chit-tagong route in April this year. l

IGP seeks assistance of ex-police o� cials n Tribune Report

Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandkder yesterday urged the retired police o� cials to spontaneously give suggestions and assist the force with a view to developing policing of the “service-oriented organisation.”

“Nowadays many meritorious youths are joining the force. The assis-tance of retired and senior o� cials is needed to make them well-educated and responsible towards the job,” he said while addressing the 32-general meeting of Retired Police O� cers’ Wel-fare Association held at Rajarbagh Po-lice Auditorium in the city.

“Police members are discharging their

duties sincerely to ensure public safety and welfare of the country. We are deter-mined to maintain law and order in the future too,” the police chief said mention-ing that 17 patriot policemen had died last year while containing anti-state activities perpetrated by the Jamaat-Shibir men following war crimes trial verdicts.

Later he conferred “SM Ahsanullah Awards” on SI Mihir Kumar Paul, SI Md Nurunnabi and SI Md Mizanur Rahman for their contributions in community policing while “Prof Anamika Huq Lili and Dr Enamul Huq Award” on Inspec-tor Afroza Akhter.

Association President Dr M Enamul Huq moderated the event when the IGP also presented crests among the most senior members. l

Nine robbers held in Habiganj n Our Correspondent, Habiganj

Police on Friday night detained nine robbers along with local weapons in di� erent parts of the district.

The nine are Kudrat Ali, Shamim Mia, Jewel Mia, Bahar Mia, Arju Mia, Saiful Mia, Riaz Mia, Kawsar Mia and Reshan Mia.

Addressing a press brie� ng at his o� ce yesterda noon, Habiganj Police Super Joydev Kumar Bhadra said police carried out a drive in the wake of increased robbery in the district recently.

He said robbers take advantage of the dense fog to commit crimes by dodging police. l

Student leader killed in road accident n Tribune Report

A student leader was killed and another injured in a road accident in Ramgopalpur area on

the Mymensingh-Kishoreganj Road under Gouripur upa-zila in Mymensingh district yesterday.

The victim Iftekhar Alam Khan Rupon, 25 was convener of Iswarganj upazila unit of Jatiya Chhatra Samaj, the stu-dent wing of Jatiya Party. Atiqur Rahman Sujon 24, conve-ner of Iswarganj

Municipal unit of Chhatra Samaj sustained injuries in the accident, reports BSS.

The accident took place when a bus collided head-on with a motor cycle coming from opposite direction on way to Mymensingh town. Rupon was killed on the spot and Su-jon was critically injured at about 10am, said Mohammad Ali Sheikh, o� cer-in- charge of Gouripur police station.

On information, police went to the spot and recovered the body. The body was handed over to victim’s family members. l

PM: Poverty to be reduced to 10% within 4 years n Tribune Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yester-day said the government had reduced the country’s poverty rate to 24.4% in the last six years and would bring it down to 10% within the next four years.

Describing agriculture as a major source of income, Hasina said Bangla-desh would become a middle-income country if more agricultural products could be developed, adding that the country would be able to get out of poverty by 2041.

“To improve the country’s agricultural sector, we have increased subsidy for agriculture products ignoring numer-ous obstacles from donors. The gov-ernment is also providing incentives and small loans for farmers in order to increase agricultural products,” the prime minister said while addressing the Bangabandh National Agricultural Award ceremony at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital.

“It is the responsibility of the gov-ernment to make agricultural compo-nents available for farmers. It should also con� rm fare prices of agricultural products. Otherwise, farmers will be-come reluctant to increase produc-tion,” she said.

Hasina said the government had taken steps to dredge rivers across the country as part of agricultural devel-opment plans, and claimed the move would also prove helpful for the people in char areas.

“The government has extended

technological support at union level, creating employment for rural youths at information centres. Farmers now also get novel ideas that involve tech-nological advancement for agricultural development,” she said.

Hasina, also the chief of the Awami League, said the government was striv-ing to build Bangladesh as a self-reliant country, adding: “Children of farmers now have opportunities to work in village by applying their knowledge, which is a positive sign for the agricul-ture sector.”

The premier emphasised the use of environment-friendly organic fer-tilisers while suggesting that farmers should reduce the use of chemical fer-tilisers and pesticides in the croplands for tackling insects that cause harm to crops. “The excessive use of pesticides not only reduces land fertility but also causes harm to local species of � sh in wetlands.”

Hasina also emphasised the use of balanced fertiliser to reduce the depen-dence on urea fertiliser.

“I think we will have to increase the

use of DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate) and MOP (Muriate of Potash) fertilisers and gradually reduce the use of urea fertiliser,” she said, adding that DAP fer-tiliser has both urea and phosphate in it.

To reduce the waste of water, Hasi-na urged farmers to use pipes while ir-rigating croplands in addition to using solar-based irrigation pumps, arguing that this will reduce dependence on traditional electricity-run pumps.

“Farmers should also be careful about misuse of water at the time of ir-rigation. This will help save electricity

and will also bring down costs of prod-ucts,” she said.

Hasina stressed constant research on agriculture in order to achieve the goal of eradicating hunger and poverty. She also called on agricultural scien-tists to extend their support for intro-ducing new crop varieties.

The premier asked farmers to utilise every inch of their lands to produce food for the huge population as farm-lands are shrinking for a range of rea-sons, including construction of new houses, mills, factories and riverbank erosion.

Terming the government a farm-er-friendly one, Hasina said it had pro-vided about Tk43,266 crore to farmers in the last six years in terms of seeds, fertilisers, irrigation facility, fuel, and other agricultural inputs.

“The country thus achieved self-suf-� ciency in food while the production cost has come down, improving the lifestyle of people.

“As a result of various farmer-friend-ly steps taken by the government, the country’s food production has risen to 3.83 crore metric tonnes last year from 2.79 crore metric tonnes in 2006-2007. For the � rst time, coarse rice is being exported to Sri Lanka apart from the export of aromatic rice,” she said.

Hasina said the government along with building up a food reserve for con-tingency is working to ensure balanced food with proper nutrition for all.

This year a total of 30 individuals and organisations won the Bangab-andh National Agricultural Award, including � ve gold, eight silver and 17 bronze medals for outstanding contri-bution to the � eld of agriculture.

The prime minister handed over the awards at the programme while Ag-riculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mu-hammed Sayedul Hoque and several others were present. l

Shirin Sharmin: Taking refuge in the law can ensure human rights n Tribune Report

Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said the country’s people should take refuge in the law to secure their human rights.

She, however, admitted that the people face various obstacles in taking the refuge in the country.

Shirin Sharmin was speaking as the chief guest at a programme titled “Rec-ognition to Grassroots Human Rights Activists” in the capital yesterday.

Marking the International Human Rights Day 2014, Manusher Jonno Foundation, a non-government organ-isation working for promoting the hu-man rights, organised the programme at the Bangla Academy.

Shirin Sharmin said due to lack eduction and � nancial supports, and social-political pressures people often do not seek the refuge in the law.

“There are lots of work to be done to establish human rights in the country” she said.

Although, the country’s some 20% people are living under poverty line, it is going forward due to patriotism and hard works of the people, the JS speak-er added. Speaking on the occasion, Sar-ah Cooke, country representative of The Department for International Develop-ment (DFID) in Bangladesh, said: “Pov-erty and discrimination are challenges for Bangladesh to ensure human rights, while discrimination is occurred in occu-pation, ethnicity, gender and disability.”

So, the Bangladesh government should put emphasis on improving education, good governance, legal sys-tem and economic opportunities of the people, she said.

National Human Rights Commis-sion chairman Dr Mizanur Rahman said: “The government should not be blamed only, the people should also take responsibilities to promote human rights in the country.”

Some 10 human rights activists were honored with the Human Rights Award 2014 for their outstanding contribu-tions in promoting human rights in the country’s remote areas.

The awardees are Sha� qullah from Subarnachar of Noakhali; Jharna Roy from Collegepara of Khagrachhari; Ka-

sim Uddin from Dhanbari of Tangail; Madhabilata Chakma from Khagrach-hari; Kananbala Gupta from Narail; Umme Kulsum Ranjana from Shibganj of Bogra; Birendra Sangma from My-mensing; Kalpana Tirki from Rajsha-hi; Rahena from Dinajpur and Namita Chakma from Khagrachhari.

Jharnadhara Chowdhury, chief of Gandi Asram Trust in Noakhali, and Anjela Gomez, chief of Banchte Shek-ha, a non-goverment organisation, and Joti of Bangladesh female football team were also awarded for their contribu-tions in the international arena.

With Barrister Manjur Hasan in the chair, Shaheen Anam, executive direc-tor of Manusher Jonno Foundation, also spoke on the occasion. l

30 individuals, organisations receive Bangabandhu Agri Award n UNB

Thirty individuals and organisations yesterday received the Bangabandhu National Agriculture Award 1419, the highest state recognition for the contri-bution to the development

of the country’s agricultural sector. Among the awardees, � ve individ-

uals and organisations received gold medals, Tk 25,000 and a certi� cate each, while eight individuals and or-ganisations received silver medals, Tk 15,000 and a certi� cate each and 17 individuals and organisations bronze medals along with Tk 7,500 and a cer-ti� cate each.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina dis-tributed the medals, cash and certi� -cates among the winners at a function held at the city’s Osmani Memorial Au-ditorium.

The gold medal recipients are Mach-ing Nu Marma of Bandarban, Bangla-desh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Shamsuddin Kalu of Langolkot, Saidunnesa of Kishoreganj and Germ-plasm Centre of Bangladesh Agricul-tural University.

The silver medal recipients are: Maj Gen Salauddin Miazee (GOC of Rang-pur), Marjina Begum of Jhenidah, Dr M Anwar Hossain of Dinajpur, Abu Hanif Moral of Khulna, Chittagong Meridian Agro Limited of Chittagong, Alhaj Selim Reza of Natore, Mozammel Huq of Chit-tagong and Abdul Gafur of Gaibandha.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowd-hury and Fisheries and Livestock Min-ister Md Sayedul Haq were also present at the function held with Agriculture Secretary Dr SM Nazmul Islam in the chair. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presenting the Bangabandhu National Agriculture Award to a winner at the award giving ceremony held at the capital’s Osmani Memorial Auditorium yesterday BSS

Members of Hindu Oikkya Jote form a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday demanding arrest of goons who grabbed properties of some Hindu families in Brahmanbaria’s Kashba upazila MEHEDI HASAN

Hasina stressed constant research on agriculture in order to achieve the goal of eradicating hunger and poverty

WEATHER

PRAYER TIMES Fajr 5:12am Sunrise 6:31am Zohr 11:53am Asr 3:37pm Magrib 5:13pm Esha 6:33 pm

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:14PM SUN RISES 6:33AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW29.7ºC 11.4ºCTeknaf Jessore

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 27 18Chittagong 29 18Rajshahi 25 15Rangpur 25 15Khulna 27 15Barisal 28 18Sylhet 28 17Cox’s Bazar 29 20

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

CLOUDY

DU campus turns unsafe for female studentsGirls fear being on the campus especially in the evening and beyondn DU Correspondent

Female students of Dhaka University say they feel insecure on the campus amid the rising number of harassment cases in the recent time.

They say male students of the uni-versity, especially the freshers, harass them, an allegation which has been raised by female outsiders as well.

In the last six months, a number of female students complained to the university proctor and police about harassment they had faced but nothing has been done to stop such acts.

Girls fear being on the campus es-pecially in the evening and beyond as harassment frequently occurs during that period.

Two third-year female students of international business and philosophy were harassed in mid-November by some resident students of Salimullah Muslim Hall while they were sitting

with one of their male friends at Fuller Road area.

Shulob Chakma, the male friend and also a third-year student of law, said the boys hurled a stone at one of the girls before coming up and saying that they were very interested in talking to and befriending her.

Shulob told the boys that they all are students of the university, but still were treated inappropriately. The boys also forced them to leave the place.

The two girls, who requested ano-nymity, expressed deep concern while talking to the Dhaka Tribune and said they were shocked at the misconduct of Dhaka University students.

“Where will we go if we are not safe even on our university campus?” one of them said.

On November 5, four students of Shahidullah Hall beat up Imtiaz Alam Beg, principal of Beg Art Institute of Photography, and tore the clothes of

his two nieces, who were with him on the campus.

Imtiaz, who had to get six stitches in his head, said he was chatting with his nieces by the pond near Shahidullah Hall when the assailants approached them and asked them if they were stu-dents of the university.

“When we replied no, they attacked us. Many resident students stood near-by and silently watched as we were as-saulted. Nobody came to help,” he said.

One of Imtiaz’s nieces was Saba Ahmed, who studied at the Institute of Business Administration of the univer-sity and now lives in Canada. She said she would never forget what happened on the day.

“I never thought I would be assault-ed by junior students of the university I had studied at,” she added.

The victims � led a case with Shah-bagh police station but no arrest has yet been made.

Besides, a probe team headed by the house tutor of Shahidullah Hall was formed after the incident. The team submitted its report after nearly two weeks but no action was taken based on it. The report was not made public either.

During the countrywide blackout on November 1, many female students claimed to have been physically as-saulted by male students on the cam-pus in the evening.

Shuma, a third-year student of so-ciology, told the Dhaka Tribune one of her cousins, a banker by profession, came to the campus to give her some necessary stu� .

“In the evening, we two were head-ed to the Business faculty but some students in front of the Arts building hurled abuse at us. The words they used beggar description,” she added.

Acting proctor of the university Amzad Ali said the authorities are very

concerned about the security of female students, admitting that the girls are harassed frequently.

“We will direct police to maintain constant vigilance on the campus so that none could engage in such acts or get away with these,” he said, adding that any unbecoming behaviour aimed at harassing someone would be seri-ously dealt with.

O� cer-in-Charge of Shahbagh po-lice station Shirajul Islam told the Dha-ka Tribune it becomes di� cult to initi-ate legal proceedings against students of the university because the author-ities of the educational institution do not cooperate as expected.

“We investigate crimes committed by the students if we fail to catch them red-handed. But it is the university authorities who do not assist us in the course of our duty, making it di� cult for police to get to the end of a particu-lar incident,” he added. l

Non-government teachers demand inclusion in national pay scalen Our Correspondent, Barisal

Teachers and employees of non-govern-ment educational institutions organised a rally in Barisal yesterday afternoon, demanding inclusion in the national pay scale and job nationalisation.

The rally in front of Ashwini Kumar Hall was held after a procession organised by Jatiya Shikkhak Karmachari Front, Barisal unit, marched the city roads. It was addressed by Zia Shahin, Gouranga Kundu, Sultanul Are� n, Aminur Rah-man Khokan, Mujibor Rahman, and Mo-hsin-ul-Islam Habul, leaders of JSKF.

Speakers at the rally said the govern-ment had yet not declared an inclusion of teachers and employees of non-govern-

ment educational institutions in the new pay-scale, nor did the government declare a separate pay-commission for them.

Leaders of JSKF also criticised the discriminatory role of the present government about non-government teachers and employees. They said ed-ucation would never be standardised until the discrimination between gov-ernment and non-government educa-tional institutions were removed.

Apart from the new pay scale de-mand, their other demands included quick implementation of the Nation-al Education Policy 2010, increase of house rent, medical and festival allow-ances and annual increment for the teachers and employees. l

2-day Buddhist Youth Festival 2014 begins on December 18n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The two-day-long Buddhist Youth Fes-tival of this year is set to begin in Chit-tagong city’s Muslim Hall with full en-thusiasm and colourful arrangements on December 18.

Junior Land Minister Saifujjaman Chowdhury Javed is scheduled to in-augurate the festival organised by Bud-dhist Youth Festival Group (BYFG).

Chittagong Development Authority Chairman Abdus Salam, private TV chan-nel ATN Bangla Chairman Dr Mahfujur Rahman, Cambrian Education Chairman Lion MK Bashar, Khagrachhari Govern-ment College’s former Principal Dr Sudin Kumar Chakma and mountaineer Was� a Nazreen would be present at the inaugu-ration programme as special guests.

On the � nal day of the festival, Chit-tagong Hill Tract A� airs’ State Minis-

ter Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing and Chit-tagong University VC Dr Anwarul Azim Arif, are scheduled to be present at the programme, among others.

Ahead of the festival, the organisers told these at a press conference held at a restaurant in the port city around 1:30pm where BYFG Chairman Avi-jit Barua, its Member Secretary Sajib Chowdhury Gunjon and Well Group Managing Director Syed Sirajul Islam were present, among others.

The delegates would participate in seminars and discussions as well as share their experience behind their success while a colourful cultural programme would also be staged to entertain around 1,000 youths and other guests.

Ispahani Limited is the title sponsor of the festival while Omicon Group, Well Group, Cambrian College and Northern University are co-sponsors. l

Man rescued 10 hours into abduction in Chittagongn Our Correspondent, Chittagong

Within around 10 hours into abduction, police rescued a driver from the New Mooring area of Chittagong during the early hours yesterday.

Md Faruque, 26, hailing from Patiya upazila, was abducted by four miscre-ants from Bandartila area of the port city on Friday afternoon.

The abductors kept him con� ned inside a house in the New Mooring area, said EPZ police station O� cer-in-Charge (OC) Abul Mansur.

Police held four abductors – Emran, Mizan, Babul and Mohiuddin – in this connection while two more abductors � ed the scene.

They had demanded Tk7 lakh ran-som from Faruque’s family over phone, said the OC.

Soon after receiving the call, the vic-tim’s family members contacted police around 11pm. In the drive conducted around 2am on Saturday, police res-cued Faruque and arrested the four.

During primary investigation, the abductors claimed that Faruque had owed them Tk7 lakh, however, they failed to provide any document to sup-port their claim, OC Abul Mansur said.

A case was lodged with EPZ police station in this connection. l

7 Jamaat-Shibir men held over violence in Gaibandhan UNB

Police in a special drive arrested seven leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Isla-mi and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir in Palashbari upazila yesterday morning over Thursday’s violence.

Majibur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge of Palashbari police station, said a group of leaders and activists of Ja-maat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, brought out a procession on the Dhaka-Rangpur highway on Thursday.

The Jamaat-Shibir men swooped on a team of police as the law enforcers obstructed their procession, triggering a clash.

At one stage, they snatched away two Chinese ri� es and one shotgun from police and smashed those.

Police arrested 14 leaders and activ-ists on the same day. A case was � led in this connection. l

PROFESSOR SHAFIUL MURDER

Teachers observe work abstention, threaten tougher movementn RU Correspondent

Rajshahi University (RU) teachers ob-served a two-hour work abstention yesterday and threatened to carry out a tougher movement to demand the punishment of the killers of Prof AKM Sha� ul Islam Lilon.

The sociology teacher was hacked to death on November 15 on his way home from campus.

No class was held from 10am to 12pm because of the abstention but pre-scheduled examinations were held, RU Teachers’ Association General Secretary Prof Pranab Kumer Panday con� rmed.

The teachers decided to enforce the

two-hour work abstention because no headway had been made in the police investigation into the brutal killing, Panday said.

He said the police had neither brought the perpetrators to trial nor publicised the progress of their inves-tigation.

“We will go for a tougher move-ment if the killers are not arrested and brought to justice soon,” Panday yes-terday told the Dhaka Tribune.

On November 15, unidenti� ed as-sailants hacked Sha� ul with machetes at the entrance to Bihas, a university housing society, in the Chauddapai area close to the campus at about 3pm. He was later declared dead at Rajshahi

Medical College Hospital.A day after the murder, universi-

ty registrar Prof Entajul Haque � led a murder case against unidenti� ed at-tackers with Motihar police station. Police have arrested 17 suspects in the case.

Rajshahi Metropolitan Police spokesman Iftekhayer Alam, who is also assistant commissioner of the De-tective Branch of police, told the Dhaka Tribune that they were analysing the information provided by the detainees.

The investigating o� cer of the case, Motihar police station O� cer-in-Charge Alamgir Hossain, said police were gathering evidence and collecting statements from witnesses. l

CU’s decision to allow only BKSP graduates under player quota protested n CU Correspondent

Around 100 aspirants who had ap-peared in the written test for admission to the Chittagong University under “player quota,” were barred from tak-ing the physical test, the second stage of the admission test, yesterday.

After arriving at the CU playground yesterday morning, the aspirants came to know that only Bangladesh Krira Shi-kha Protistan (BKSP) certi� cate holders were being allowed to take the test for the 2014-15 academic sessions.

Prof Imran Hossain, president of CU player quota sub-committee, said ac-cording to CU admission committee’s decision, from this year, only the aspir-ants who have passed their HSC exami-nations under the BKSP will be allowed to take the admission test under the player quota. The player quota of the university secures 55 seats.

Calling to cancel the decision, the deprived aspirants formed a human chain in front of the university’s ad-ministration building in the afternoon.

They also submitted a memoran-dum to CU VC Prof Anwarul Azim Arif to allow them to take the physical test which they were denied.

Only nine players with BKSP certif-icates were allowed to take the physi-cal test while rest of the aspirants were standing nearby, said the protestors.

However, Akbar Hossain, deputy registrar of CU and member secre-tary of the CU admission committee, claimed that the clause of allowing only BKSP certi� cate holders under player quota was clearly mentioned in the university’s prospectus.

Acting director of CU Department of Physical Education Moazzem Hossain said: “The department took the � eld test with nine aspirants while the viva voce is scheduled to be held on December 15.”

“This decision of allowing only BKSP graduates has been introduced in CU for the � rst time,” he added. l

Musician brothers Ritu Raj (left) and Prithwi Raj (right on the piano) recording the national anthem for a music video to be aired on di� erent TV channels and social media on the National Victory Day. The photo was taken from the Panam City of Sonargaon yesterday SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

Almost incapacitated in cold a homeless family sitting on the ground inside the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan yesterday. With the arrival of winter, distress of people living on the streets reaches a greater degree every year MEHEDI HASAN

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

Seven Jamaat men held over violencePolice in a special drive arrested seven leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir in Palash-bari upazila yesterday over Thursday’s violence. Majibur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge of Palashbari police station, said a group of leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, brought out a procession on the Dhaka-Rangpur highway on Thursday. The Jamaat-Shibir men swooped on a team of police as the law enforcers obstructed their procession, triggering a clash. At one stage, they snatched away two Chinese ri� es and one shotgun from police and smashed those. –Our Correspondent, Gaibandaha

Trawler capsizes A trawler capsized as ferry hit it at Louhajang turning point in Padma River yesterday Sirajul Haque, Shimulia ghat manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), said a Jajira-bound stone-laden trawler of Monayem Company sank in the river after being hit by Kewrakandi-bound ferry ‘Thobal’ in the morning. However, workers on the trawler might have managed to swim ashore, said Yenus Ali, sub-inspector of Mawa Navy police camp. –Our Correspondent, Munshiganj

Section 144 imposed The local administration yesterday imposed section 144 in Ashuganj upazila as two rival groups called separate programmes at the same venue and time. The restriction remained in force from 6am to 12am. Jafar, o� cer-in-charge of Ashuganj police station, said Sha� ullah Mia, convener of the new committee of Ashuganj upazila unit Awami League, called a meeting in front of the party’s upazila o� ce around 11am. In another incident, Hanif Munshi, former general secretary of the recently abolished committee of the unit, called a separate meeting to be held at the same venue simultaneously. Apprehending trouble, the local administration imposed the restriction to maintain the law and order. –Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria

Schoolteacher hacked to death by stepsonA schoolteacher was hacked to death allegedly by her drug addict stepson in Kashiani upazila headquarters on Friday night. The deceased was identi� ed as Shipra Rani Das, 35, wife of Manoj Kumar Mandal. Manir Hossain, o� cer-in-charge of Kashiani Police Station, said Shipra had an altercation with her drug addict stepson Badhan, a class X student of Asha Alo Kindergarten School, as he demanded some money from her in the afternoon. As she refused to give him the money, Badhan stabbed Shipra with a sharp weapon indiscrim-inately, leaving her critically injured. She was rushed to Faridpur Medical College Hospital and then died on way to Dhaka around 11pm. –Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

NEWS IN BRIEF

One held for derogatory remarks about Bangabandhun Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

A farmer was held for making derogatory remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Gopalganj, the birthplace of the father of the nation.

Around 8:30pm yesterday, the arrested farmer Md Sohrab Hossain Khan, 55, engaged in a heated argument over the current activities of the Awami League government with another local of Boroibhita village under Kotalipara police

station in the district.At one point, he started using

abusive and insulting language to refer to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, according to locals.

Kotalipara police station O� cer-

in-Charge Md Abdul Latif said Sohrab, son of late Rustom Ali Khan of the village, was held from his house following complaints made by locals around 10pm.

No case was � led in this connection so far. l

Rally demands action against antisocial acts n Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon

The local unit of Bangladesh Nari Mukti Kendra in Thakurgaon yesterday de-manded steps to stop vulgar dance, gambling and use of illegal drugs in dis-trict fairs. They held a rally and formed a human chain in front of Samabai mar-ket to highlight their demand. Local leaders of the organisation, including Bizli Debi Nath, Munni and Bhabatosh Roy, addressed the rally.

They claimed district fairs, which are part of the local tradition, have become synonymous with gambling, drugs and sex trade. Complaining that the local authori-ties keep turning a blind eye to such prob-lems, protesters demanded e� ective steps against these be taken immediately. l

Killed minority leader’s family questions police role in arresting culpritsn Our Correspondent, Magura

Family members of killed minority leader Pankaj Kumar Bashu yesterday alleged that they were being threat-ened by the killers almost everyday, leaving them in a state of insecurity.

The allegation was expressed in a press conference organised by the fam-ily of the leader at Magura Press Club.

According to Pankaj’s wife Shondha Rani Biswas, her husband was killed on September 12 in Narayanpur vil-lage under Mohammadpur upazila of Magura. On September 14, Pankaj’s

brother Ashok Bashu � led a case in this connection with Mohammadpur police station, accusing 17 individuals.

Pankaj Kumar was an executive member of Hindu Buddha Christian Oikkya Parishad of the upazila unit.

The family members alleged that police were playing mysterious role in arresting the culprits. They said police arrested only two people in this con-nection till now. They alleged that � ve of the accused who were granted bail by High Court, including the prime ac-cused Daud Hossain, were threatening them to withdraw the case and con-

ducting attacks on their house every now and then.

The family said though the police were informed but they remained si-lent on the issue. Pankaj’s wife Shan-dha Bashu and son Prodip Bashu addressed the press conference and de-manded the arrest of the accused and their security.

When contacted, Mohammadpur police station O� cer-in-Charge Motiar Rahman denied the allegations and said: “We have already arrested two of the accused while � ve were on bail. We are trying to arrest the culprits.” l

Gorai river erosion takes a serious turn n Mazharul Hoque Lipu, Magura

Erosion by the Gorai river has taken a serious turn in the last one month, rendering 10 families homeless and de-vouring 200 acres of agricultural land at three villages in Sreepur upazilla of Magura.

The badly a� ected villages are Mazhail, Razdharpur and Kalinagar un-der Nakol union in the upazila.

The villagers said over 200 trees have also been damaged due to the erosion.

During a recent visit to the areas, the Dhaka Tribune found that over 500 acre agricultural lands are at risk of go-ing under the water.

If necessary steps are not taken im-mediately, the Kamrkhali Bridge on Dhaka–Khulna highway may also be damaged soon, cutting the road link between the country’s south western region and the capital.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, many

villagers alleged that illegal lifting of sands from the river is one of the main reason of the erosion.

An in� uential group has been lifting sands from the river for a long time. But the authorities concerned are not tak-ing any measure to stop the activity for unknown reason, said Golam Moula, a resident of Razdharpur village.

Shahajan Mia, chairman of Nakol union, said: “We have informed matter to the a deputy commissioner of Magu-ra and executive engineer of water de-velopment board.”

Stopping the illegal sand lifting and building an embankment around the river is a must to save the people from the erosion.

Magura Water Development Board Executive Engineer Gourpodo Shutradhar said: “We have visited the erosion prone areas.”

“But we are unable to take any step as we do not have adequate fund to do so.” l

Two ‘muggers’ lynched in Khulnan Tribune Report

At least two suspected muggers were beaten to death and two others injured in a mob-lynch attack during snatching in Mokampur area of Terokhada upazila yesterday.

One of the deceased was identi� ed as Saku, 38, son of Abdul Zalil, of Siromoni area of the upazila while identity of another could not be known, reports UNB

Police said a gang of muggers riding on two motorcycles snatched Tk 2 lakh 10000 from a local businessman Ashok Karmakar around 9am in front of Palli

Bidyut o� ce of Abdul intersection.When the local people chased the

muggers the opened � re towards them, leaving Alamgir Hossain, a village doctor, injured with bullet.

Later, four members of the gang were captured by the villagers while the rest managed to � ee.

The angry mob beat them mercilessly, leaving them critically injured.

On information, police rushed to spot and rescued the injured muggers.

They were taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital where two of them succumbed to injuries. l

Freedom � ghters in Gaibandha form a human chain in front of the press club in the district yesterday demanding the martyrs be buried with state honour who were killed by Pakistani army and Razakars in 1971 DHAKA TRIBUNE

The mild cold wave continues to sweep the country’s northern districts a� ecting normal life and causing miseries to the common people. A farmer is seen to go to the � eld amidst the cold. The picture was taken yesterday from a � eld in Puthia upazila of Rajshahi district DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sunday, December 14, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE World 7

At least 12 killed in central China highway wreck n AP, Beijing

At least 12 people were killed and three badly injured Saturday in a six-car pile-up on a major north-south highway in a southern China province.

The accident occurred shortly af-ter 2 a.m. near the city of Heyuan, the Guangdong provincial government said in a statement posted to its mi-croblog. No other details were giv-en, although photos from the scene showed a charred � at-bed truck loaded with steel coils and other burned-out vehicles that were apparently involved in the crash.

The World Health Organisation says China has the second-most annual tra� c fatalities after India, with more than 96,000 reported in 2010, the last year for which � gures were available. The US had more than 42,000, while Britain had fewer than 3,300. l

Thailand princess relinquishes her royal titlen AP, Bangkok

The wife of Thailand’s crown prince has relinquished her royal title, culmi-nating a downfall that means she is no longer in line to become the Southeast Asian country’s next queen.

While the reason for Princess Sri-rasm’s decision wasn’t clear, it follows revelations last month that several members of her family were detained in a high-pro� le corruption scandal.

A brief statement from the palace’s Royal Gazette that was made public late Friday said Srirasm, the third wife of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, had asked permission to give up her royal status. The statement gave no reason for the move, but said 87-year-old King Bhumi-bol Adulyadej had approved the request.

Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws, which carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone accused of defam-ing the monarchy, essentially prevent local and international media based in the country from reporting freely on the subject. l

Dozens killed in Afghanistan � ghtingn Reuters

The Afghan Taliban killed a Supreme Court o� cial, a group of mine clearers and two foreign soldiers but also suf-fered heavy losses as violence intensi-� es in the run-up to the withdrawal of most international troops in the next two weeks.

The Afghan army said it had killed more than � fty insurgents in the past 48 hours. On Saturday, Taliban gunmen on motorbikes killed a dozen workers deactivating land mines near the for-mer British base of Camp Bastion. In

Kabul, more gunmen shot dead senior Supreme Court o� cial Atiqullah Raou� .

“As Atiqullah Raou� was leaving his house, gunmen opened � re and shot him dead,” Hashmat Stanekzai, a spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, told Reuters, adding that no one had been detained.

The Taliban, ousted from power by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, claimed responsibility, but did not say why it had killed him. The hardline Is-lamist insurgents run their own courts in parts of the country and consider the o� cial judiciary to be corrupt. l

Thousands of protesters expected in Washington, NYC over police killingsn Reuters

Thousands of demonstrators were expected in Washington and New York yesterday to protest the killings of un-armed black men by US police and to urge Congress to protect citizens.

Organisers said the protests would be among the largest over police tactics and the killings of black males by o� cers in New York, Cleveland and Ferguson, Mis-souri. The lack of criminal charges from grand juries in the New York and Ferguson cases have galvanised protests around the United States.

“We need more than just talk; we need legislative action that will shift things both on the books and in the streets,” civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton, whose National Action Alliance is heading the Washington protest, said in a statement.

Sharpton said Congress needed to

pass legislation that would let federal prosecutors take over cases involving police. Local prosecutors who work with police regularly and then must investigate officers face a conflict of interest, he said.

The Washington protest will include the families of Eric Garner and Akai Gur-ley, who were killed by New York police; Trayvon Martin, slain by a Florida neigh-borhood watchman in 2012; and Michael Brown, killed by an o� cer in Ferguson.

The march will start at noon and block Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the US Capitol. Protesters are expected to arrive by bus from as far away as Florida, Connecticut and Pittsburgh. In New York, the march was expected to draw about 44,000 people and was meant to reinvigorate protests that swelled after a grand jury declined to indict the o� cer who killed Garner. l

18 killed in Indonesia landslide, 90 missingn AP, Banjarnegara

A mudslide set o� by torrential rains rushed down hills into a village in cen-tral Indonesia and swept away scores of homes, killing at least 18 people and leaving 90 others missing, o� cials said yesterday.

About 105 houses were swept away by the landslide late Friday in Jem-blung village in Central Java province’s Banjarnegara district, said Sutopo Pur-wo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Na-tional Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Hundreds of rescuers, including sol-diers, police and residents, dug through the debris Saturday with their bare hands, shovels and hoes, while others used bamboo to carry black body bags containing corpses. About 420 residents were evacuated to temporary shelters.

Crying relatives watched in horror as residents and rescuers pulled out mud-caked bodies from the village, while distraught women screamed at a hospital, MetroTV video showed.

Nugroho said some rescuers heard what sounded like calls for help com-ing from the debris, but that a lack of equipment had prevented them reach-ing possible victims. “Mud, rugged terrain and bad weather hampered our rescue e� orts,” Nugroho said.

Tractors and bulldozers were later brought in to help with the rescue e� ort.

Eighteen bodies were pulled from

the mud and the wreckage of crumpled homes, and rescuers were struggling to search for 90 people still missing, said Sutedjo Slamet Utomo, the district chief of Barnjarnegara, located about 460 kilometers (285 miles) east of the capital, Jakarta. Eleven badly injured villagers were being hospitalised.

Residents in Jemblung village de-scribed how they were horri� ed by the mound of red soil that suddenly cas-caded down hills and hit houses.

“It was like a nightmare. ... We sud-denly heard a terrible roar and we were immediately � eeing from the rain of red soil,” said Wahono, a resident who survived with his four family mem-bers. “Many failed and they were bur-ied in the ground.”

Wahono, who like many Indone-sians uses only one name, said he heard people screaming and pleading for help in the heavy rain and dark. But he said he was unable to do anything other than run with his family to safety.

The landslide was the second in several days on densely populated Java island. Mud and rocks hit Central Java’s Wonosobo district on Thursday, killing at least one villager.

Seasonal rains and high tides in re-cent days have caused dozens of land-slides and widespread � ooding across much of Indonesia, a chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas. l

US sends mixed message to Myanmar militaryn AP, Washington

Human rights advocates and some law-makers say the United States is sending the wrong signal by opening the door for broader engagement with Myan-mar’s widely criticised military just weeks after President Barack Obama assured opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi that closer ties weren’t going to happen soon.

Congress, acting at the administra-tion’s request, is allowing US training in some noncombat activities for the military in Myanmar, also known as Burma. It is part of a sweeping defense policy bill that passed Friday.

The administration says this does not mean closer ties are imminent with a military known for rights abus-es. Patrick Ventrell, a National Security Council spokesman, said the provision would “give us the � exibility to pursue

slightly broader engagement if the mil-itary takes steps to implement reforms and support Burma’s democratic tran-sition.”

But lawmakers who oversee US for-eign policy say it’s ill-timed. Political reforms have stalled, tens of thou-sands of minority Muslims are still living under apartheid-like conditions in displacement camps after attacks by Buddhist extremists, and � ghting is heating up between the government and ethnic rebels.

“It sends the wrong message to the people of Burma who are counting on the US to uphold the values and rights they so desperately seek,” said Repub-lican Rep. Steve Chabot, who chairs a House panel on Asia.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy direc-tor for Human Rights Watch, said it would be di� erent if reforms were ad-vanci ng in Myanmar. l

Air strikes, clashes near two Libyan oil portsn Reuters

Forces loyal to Libya’s recognised government conducted air strikes on targets yesterday near the eastern oil ports of Ras Lanuf and Es-Sider to stop an advance by a rival force toward the facilities, o� cials said.

The oil ports, two of Libya’s biggest, accounting for more than 300,000 barrels a day of exports, were working normally, an oil o� cial said.

The North African country is caught in a con� ict between two competing governments, parliaments and chiefs of sta� , allied to armed factions, part of turmoil three years after the ouster of Muammar Gadda� .

Saqer al-Joroushi, an air force com-mander allied to Prime Minister Ab-dullah al-Thinni, said his aircraft had attacked positions near Sirte, a costal city in central Libya.

He said a rival force from Misrata, a coastal city west of Sirte and the ports, had advanced toward the terminals with a large number of vehicles. “We bombed them to stop them from en-tering the ports,” he said.

Tripoli-based al-Nabaa television said a force it said had been mandat-ed by the General National Congress (GNC), a rival assembly based in Tripoli since a group called Libya Dawn seized the capital in August, had started an operation to take the ports.

It quoted the head of the force, add-ing that two people had been killed in clashes near Es-Sider port. Websites close to Libya Dawn also said such an operation had started.

Thinni has been forced to work out of the east since Libya Dawn seized the capital Tripoli after a one-month battle, setting up its own cabinet and reinstat-ing the previous assembly, the GNC. l

Russia says will react if US imposes new sanctionsn Reuters

Russia will take counter measures if Washington imposes new sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, Rus-sia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said yesterday.

The US Congress has readied new sanctions on Russian weapons com-panies and investors in the country’s high-tech oil projects, but US President Barack Obama has yet to sign a corre-sponding bill into law.

“We will not be able to leave that without an answer,” Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as say-ing. Relations between Russia and the United States are at their lowest since the Cold War because of Russia’s an-nexation of Crimea from Ukraine. l

ISIL � ghters gain ground in Iraq’s Anbar n Agencies

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have mounted two suicide car-bomb attacks aimed at security checkpoints at the main en-trance into Haditha city.

Haditha, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, is currently mostly under the control of the government, with troops and tribesmen holding about 70% of the city.

ISIL, however, is in control of areas that are in the direction of the border with Syria.

Saturday’s attacks left at least 12 people dead and 17 more injured, med-ical sources told Al Jazeera.

Nine policemen and three civilians

were among the dead, the sources said.ISIL � ghters also shot down an Iraqi

military helicopter yesterday, o� cials said, killing the two pilots on board and raising fresh concerns about the group’s ability to attack the US-led coa-lition’s aircraft.

The attack happened near the city of Samarra, about 95km north of Baghdad, the Associated Press news agency said.

A senior Iraqi Defence Ministry of-� cial told AP tha ISIL � ghters used a shoulder-� red rocket launcher to shoot down the EC635 helicopter on the outskirts of Samarra.

Earlier, ISIL took control of a di� er-ent area of Anbar province. Al Jazeera’s Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghdad, said � ghters seized the village of al-

Jabha just after Friday midnight. The village is about 12km west of Ramadi.

She said ISIL immediately sent out messages from loudspeakers in the mosques telling residents that if they did not � ght back, they would be safe.

“ISIL made clear that they are � ght-ing to regain the corridor between tribes that have turned against ISIL and the military command operation centre in Ramadi,” our correspondent said.

“There was � erce � ghting across Anbar. ISIL has taken over more than a dozen villages in the past few days. Residents there say its clear ISIL is making gains there, prompting des-perate calls, including from the provi-sional council head, for foreign troops to come and help them.” l

Yemen troops kill Saudi-bound Qaeda suspects dressed as womenn AFP, Sanaa

Yemeni troops yesterday shot dead � ve Al-Qaeda suspects disguised as women who � red at a soldier during a check-point inspection of their Saudi-bound bus, o� cials said.

Another suspect was wounded along with the driver in the shooting in Harad, a town 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the Saudi border, the of-� cials said, adding two of those killed were Saudis.

“As one of the soldiers climbed on board the bus for an inspection, one of the suspects opened � re and wounded him, prompting shooting from other sol-diers at the checkpoint,” said a govern-ment o� cial who gave the casualty toll.

All six had been dressed in black robes and wore the niqab, a face-cover-ing veil commonly worn by women in Yemen, the o� cial in Harad told AFP. l

Villagers use shovels to remove mud from the main road at Pasuruhan village in Wonosobo on Friday. Heavy rain caused a landslide early Friday in Pasuruhan village, with a citizen killed when a 50-meter high cli� hit the road REUTERS

Eric Garner Jr, son of chokehold victim Eric Garner, stands amongst attendees at a news conference where members of Justice League NYC presented a list of demands, at City Hall in New York REUTERS

After the war was over, a list of Bengali intellectuals (most of whom were killed on 14 December) was found in a page of Farman Ali’s diary that he had left behind at the Governor’s House. Ali con� rmed the list as genuine but denied that the aim was to kill the people. Altaf Gauhar, a former Paki-stani journalist and bureaucrat, also con� rmed the list. He said he had seen the name of a friend of his on the list and requested Farman Ali to cancel it, and Farman Ali had obliged.151

Gen. Farman Ali continued to deny that he had any role in those killings. But he understood the city well, knew the elite, and since Operation Searchlight, had a very good idea of what the troops were doing. A woman whose husband had been taken away went with a friend who knew the general to � nd out where he might be. He asked her about her husband’s name and details. She wrote down the information anxiously, hoping that Farman Ali would be able to � nd out the information. Farman Ali looked at the name for some time, folded it, and put it on the table, saying nothing. The woman bowed in gratitude and left. Her friend who had taken her to see Farman Ali (and who told me the sto-ry) is convinced that Farman Ali knew exactly what had happened but didn’t want to tell her that her husband would never return.

Farman Ali’s defence over the Rayer Bazaar killings is that the bodies were found only on 17 December, by which

time the Pakistani army had surren-dered. He claimed that a week earlier Maj. Gen. Jamshed had called him to the army headquarters and asked him to join him on a car ride.

During the journey he told him that they were thinking of making some arrests of civilians. Farman Ali claimed he advised against it and did not know what happened after that.

But in his book, The Betrayal of East Pakistan, Gen. Niazi described Farman Ali as an opportunist and a conspirator. Niazi also said that Farman Ali insisted on being sent back to Pakistan because ‘Mukti Bahini would kill him of his alleged massacre of the Bangalees and intellectuals on the night of 15-16 December. It was a pathetic sight to see him pale and almost on the verge of breakdown’.

Brigadier Salik, whose memoir does not spare Niazi from criticism, wrote: ‘He [Farman] was the major general in charge of civil administration. As such nothing would happen which he would not know.’

l

Two days before surrender, Pakistani troops made one � nal attack to cripple the emerging nation.

Asif Munier was 4 years old that year. He lived in his grandparents’ house in Dacca. Asif’s father Munier Chowdhury was a sensitive linguist who taught at the Dacca University. They used to live in a part of the cam-pus near the British Council and after the crackdown on 25 March and the killing of academics they did not feel

safe and left their home. Munier Chowdhury taught English

and Bengali and was a well-known playwright. Some of his writing was political—in the 1960s he wrote a play, Kobor, about the resurrection from death of the martyrs of the 1952 lan-guage movement. He was jailed, and his health su� ered, so upon release he focused on writing and teaching and stayed away from overt politics, although he stayed engaged with ideas—he was part of the Pragatisheel Lekhok Songho (Progressive Writers’ Union). Munier was involved with the development of the Bengali keyboard for typewriters, and with the German company, Optima that developed a keyboard, Munier-Optima, which later became a standard in the industry. He was a very strong proponent of Bangla.

The house in which they lived was old. It had two storeys and plenty of rooms. Munier had eight brothers and six sisters, and while some had gone to live in villages during the war, and a few had gone to India, only two sib-lings had stayed. Asif ’s oldest brother (now a UN o� cial), who was 20, joined the Mukti Bahini. He secretly left home with cousins and friends, leaving behind a letter for his parents. His father Munier was devastated with the uncertainty of the war and about his eldest son. Asif was too young to understand everything, but he sensed that things were not all right. His mother, the actress Lily Chowdhury who had grown up in Calcutta and Delhi, told him later that she noticed him observing everything, and he was not behaving like other children.

On 14 December, Munier sat at home, listening diligently to the BBC and VOA. He said aloud, ‘It is reach-ing the end. The good day will come very soon, I can feel it’. Lily had had a surgery so she was resting. Asif ’s grandmother was cooking lunch. His younger brother was in the shower. Asif had just had his bath and his father had wiped him dry.

The house had an iron gate. The main entrance had a courtyard. Some-body knocked and shook the grill. Asif’s uncle went over to see who it was. When the gate was opened, Mu-nier’s wife and mother could see that there were two or three boys whom they did not recognize, and they were wearing grey kurta pyjamas. The boys asked Asif ’s uncle if he was Munier Chowdhury. Asif ’s older brother who was 12 was standing nearby, so the uncle sent him away and spoke to the boys. ‘Can you call him? We need to talk to him,’ the boys said.

Lily saw a camou� aged van. She could not see the full car, but she could see its roof and its window. It had branches and leaves, and there was mud on the window.

Munier was about to have lunch—chapatis, vegetables, and � sh which his mother had prepared. It was around 1:30 p.m. He got up, put on his white kurta and started going down. ‘They want to talk, let me � nd out’, he said.

Al-Badr took away many people like Munier that day and brought them to Rayer Bazaar in the Beribadh area of Dacca where potters had lived since Mughal times because the red earth of that area was excellent for mak-ing clay pots. The men and women brought here had been tortured and their hands were tied; they were killed near Turag River, where their bodies were dumped—Shahidullah Kaiser, an award-winning novelist from Mazupur; Santosh Chandra Bhattacharyya, a Sanskrit scholar; journalist Syed Nazmul Haque who was arrested during the war and taken to West Pakistan to testify against Sheikh Mujib in his secret trial and then returned to Dacca; linguist Mofazzal Haider Chaudhury whom Tagore’s university Vishwabharati had honoured; journalist Nizamuddin Ahmed, who acted as a go-between for foreign correspondents; Dr M.A.M. Faizul Mahi, who quietly helped Mukti Bahini; Sirajul Haque Khan, an educa-tionist; historian Ghyasuddin Ahmed; physician Mohammad Fazle Rabbi; poet and journalist Selina Parvin; and Zahir Raihan, the leftist � lmmaker who had made the � lm Stop Genocide. Between 14–16 December Al-Badr and Al-Shams tried to enfeeble Bangladesh at its birth. The men and women be-came part of the clay of this land two days before it became free, their blood joining the water that � owed through the land.

l

Asif Munier, whose father was among the intellectuals taken away by Al-Badr on 14 December 1971 and later killed at Rayer Bazar, said that Projon-mo’s rationale was to keep the mem-ories of the martyrs alive, because it was not yet time for closure. There were too many answers not given, explanations not received, questions that were unresolved. ‘Within the group we don’t all think alike; we have our di� erences,’ he told me. ‘We are also perceived di� erently. Some look at us as unspoilt victims. We see ourselves as activists. We also see our-selves as catalysts. In the early 1990s when we were students we found that nobody really knew our stories, so we decided to organize the families of the martyred. In those days, we’d meet regularly and every day someone new would come to us with a heart-rend-ing story about losing a father or a mother.’ l

‘The men and women became part of the clay of this land two days before it became free’

n Excerpted from ‘Historicizing 1971 Genocide’ by Imtiaz Ahmed

During the Liberation War we re-mained at our residence in the teach-er’s quarter. Our ancestral home was in West Bengal, India.

As my father was worried about the proper care of my 2 year old sister, we did not move there. My father had openly supported our Liberation War. He had made students aware of their responsibility to the nation. An announcement had been given from the Pakistan government that said that anyone who could identify the people working for liberation would be awarded.

At that time, on 20 September, a few men from the Pakistan army came and took my father away, but with the help of a friend he returned unharmed 12 days later. But on the morning of 14 December, my father was taken away from Dhaka University quarter no. 30/E by members of Al Badar. That was the last time we saw him.

It was in the house of Anwar Pasha, Professor of BangIa, Dhaka University.

He and my father were bosom friends. From the � rst week of December we went regularly to Anwar Pasha uncle’s house to spend the nights there. On 14 December at 9 o’clock my father was talking to Anwar uncle while taking breakfast. I was beside my father. Suddenly, a knock at the door stopped their discussion. The door was opened and a few men wearing khaki uniforms came in. One of them had a paper in hand. They asked whether it was the house of Anwar Pasha sir. Anwar uncle came forward and gave his identity to them.

My father asked them why they were looking for Anwar Pasha. They replied that their sir had sent for him. They added that they needed to inter-rogate him and would send him back after some time. My father looked agitated. A man at the back holding a paper in hand (I later understood that it was the list of teachers targeted for killing) asked my father his identity. My father answered him. He checked something on the paper and then told my father to come with them. Being alarmed, I ran to my mother.

My mother and Mrs. Anwar Pasha were in the middle room. We came back to the drawing door and � nding nobody there, we rushed to the cor-ridor. We watched the men dragging them forcefully towards a bus. Father

and Anwar uncle were blindfolded. We cried out at the sight of it. They scolded us and asked us to stop crying. They started � ring in the air, then got in the bus and disappeared. My eyes often get blurred when I recall that sight. After independence we searched for my father. Some students from Dhaka University found his dead body along with the dead bodies of other intellectuals martyred at Mirpur Bod-

dhay Bhumi 22 days after his disap-pearance. The dead bodies of probably eight martyrs were found in tact. Some had only the upper portion of their bodies. Later the bodies were buried by the mosque of Dhaka University.

My father believed that we de� nite-ly would achieve our independence. My mother was often very nervous and scared about what was about to happen. And just two days after his

disappearance we did achieve our independence. We emerged as an independent nation ready to take our place in the world. The creation of Bangladesh was a triumph of the democratic spirit and the resolve of the people who created a homeland in which they could speak their lan-guage, embrace their culture, and live in dignity, free from religious bigotry and alien exploitation. l

The killing of intellectuals excerpted from the book ‘The colonel who would not repent’ by Salil Tripathi

SMA Rashidul HasanTeacherDepartment of EnglishUniversity of Dhaka

Taken awayAbduction of SMA Rashidul Hasan accounted by daughter Roquaiya Hasina Neely

Personal items of SMA Rashidul Hasan COURTESY: LIBERATION WAR MUSEUM

DHAKA TRIBUNE Remembrance Sunday, December 14, 20148

Gen. Farman Ali continued to deny that he had any role in those killings. But he understood the city well, knew the elite, and since Operation Searchlight, had a very good idea of what the troops were doing

n Muktasree Chakma Sathi

Delwar had survived the horror of the night of December 14, 1971, a night that saw numerous intellectuals of the country massacred at Rayerbazar of Katasur in the capital. Out of panic he had started running, ready to embrace a death by bullets rather than being hacked by bayonets. Eventually, he was able to escape. All the people had been bayoneted at Rayerbazar � eld that night, Delwar told the tribunal.

The accounts of this lone survivor from the Rayerbazar mass killing � eld had � nally found their purpose as the International Crimes Tribunal on No-vember 3 last year convicted al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan and sentenced them to death.

Now 70, Delwar, who used to work

as the chief accountant of Green Mer-cantile Company in 1971, broke into tears several times and trembled when recollecting the horror of that night. The courtroom was completely silent when Delwar was telling his experi-ence of the mass killing.

“I witnessed the killings [at Rayerbazar] from the beginning to the end. Ashraf and Mueen led the killings. None of the persons con� ned at Mohammadpur Physical Training Institute and those taken to the killing � eld survived. I am the only survivor,” Delwar told the tribunal.

He particularly mentioned the names of Prof Munier Chowdhury and Prof Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury of Dhaka University and journalist Selina Parvin as the victims of the massacre by al-Badr, which assisted the occupation Pakistan force in its atrocities in 1971.

Delwar had been picked up from his home on December 14, 1971 by al-Badr men led by Mueen-Ashraf. He was taken to the physical training centre by a microbus painted in black and blue. Three or four people had already been inside the vehicle on its way to the centre which was used as a torture cell of al-Badr. The microbus stopped a few more times to pick up more people.

Delwar pointed out that not all the victims had been intellectuals – there had been several laymen, too. He mentioned a youth named Tarek, a class VIII student, who had untied his hands at the centre.

“I saw tortured people lying on the � oor – some of their eyes gouged out. The � oor was full of blood. I took o� my shirt, soaked it in blood and blind-folded myself in a way so that I could still see,” Delwar said.

Munier Chowdhury and Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury were brought to the centre that evening.

“Around 8pm or 8:30pm, a few people armed with iron rods led by two youths came to the room. They were carrying lanterns because of the blackout. They approached Munier Chowdhury and they told him: ‘You have preached your students a lot, now we will preach you.’

“They also asked Munier Sir: ‘How many books have you written on Rabindranath?’ Munier Sir shook his head. Then they asked Mofazzal Sir the same question and he said he had written books on Rabindranath Tagore. They told each other that they did not have much time. ‘These persons need to be killed. They are Indian spies.’”

Then they started hitting Prof Mu-nier and Prof Mofazzal with iron rods. “Munier Sir was forced to put his head between his legs while sitting on the � oor. He was hit on his back. He bled profusely through his mouth from the

beating.”Delwar said he had also heard a

woman screaming out of pain. “I guess she was tortured either on the roof or in any other room in the building.”

After midnight all of them were taken to Katasur in Mohammadpur area by 20-22 buses. Delwar said he had heard a woman’s voice requesting: “Please, spare me. Do not kill me. I have a little child. If you kill me, he will die. You also have sisters. Please consider me as a sister.”

Delwar said: “Those who were taking her away asked her name. She answered: ‘Selina Parvin, I am a jour-nalist.’ She told them if they spared her life, she would never write again and would not come back to Dhaka. But those people killed her with bayonets.”

Delwar said they had been kept waiting beside a pond. Each time 20-25 people tied with one piece of rope were taken to the bank of a beel near-by. There were brick � elds too. Then they were bayoneted to death. l

This article was � rst published on November 4 last year in Dhaka Tribune.

The tale of the lone survivor

Dr Alim Chowdhury was a well known proponent of Bangalee nationalism. In 1971 after the Pakistani crackdown Dr Chowdhury remained in Dhaka and helped the Muktibahinis who came on “operations.” On the night of December 15 Dr Chowdhury was picked up from his house and later he was found in the “killing � eld” of Rayer Bazar with his eyes gouged out. One of the members of razakars Moulana Abdul Mannan lived on the ground � oor of the � ats Dr Chowdhury resided in.

Dr Mohammad Fazle Rabbi, progressive and politically conscious physician took an active part in the language move-ment of 1952. He was also involved with all the major social and political movement of Bengali people. Protesting against the discriminatory medical policies of central government of Pakistan he refused the award of “Best Professor of combined Pakistan.” He was very popular among his stu-dents. On March 27, 1971 he was asked to issue false death certi� cates for the victims of genocide brought to the hospital. He refused to obey the order.

He and his wife rendered support to the freedom � ghters and other people by providing medical and � nancial help. On December 15 afternoon he was picked up from his house by local collaborators of Pakistan Army. He was brutally killed along with other intellectuals at Rayer Bazar on the night of December 15. His bullet-redden dead body was found on December 18 at the killing � eld.This car used by the doctor was do-nated to the Liberation War Museum according to the wishes of his wife Dr Jahanara Rabbi, who had preserved it for a long time.

Eyewitness account of Delwar, the only one to survive the brutality of December 14

Bodies dumped at Rayerbazar killing � eld COURTESY

MUJAHEEDC H A R G E S

1Murder as crimes against

humanity(Sirajuddin Hossain)

2 Genocide (Baidyadangi, Majhi-dangi and Baladangi)

3 Con� nement as crimes against humanity

4Con� nement and causing

inhuman act as crimes against humanity

5

Murders as crimes against human-ity (Altaf Mahmud, Jahir Uddin

Jalal, Badi, Rumi (son of Jahanara Imam)

6 Extermination as crimes against humanity (Intellectual killing)

7 Murders and persecution as crimes against humanity

SLH/DT INFOGRAPHICSPHOTO: RA JIB DHAR/DHAK A TRIBUNE •

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding smallFour of the war criminals brought to justice through the on-going war crimes trials have been convicted for the killings of the intellectuals along with other war crimes.

Here are the full list of charges that were brought against the four: Nizami, Mujaheed, Mueen, and Ashraf. At long last, after 40 years of impunity, all four have been convicted and sentenced to death

Charges Date Incident Charges � led

1 June 1971, Pabna Freedom Fighter Kasimuddin murder Arrest, detention, torture and killing

2 May 14, 1971 Killing and rape at Baousgari Ruposhi and Demra Murder, rape and deportation

3 From May Torture and killings at Physical Training Institute, Mohammadpur

Complicity in torture, murder and rape

4 May 8, 1971, Karamja village Mass killing, rape, looting Murder, rape, looting and destruction of property

5 April 16, 1971, Arpara and Bhuter Bari Killing 21 unarmed civilians Murder and persecution

6 November 1971, Santhia, Pabna Killing of more than 50 people Murder

7 Killing of Sohrab AIi, Brishalikha Torture and murder

8 Aug 30, 1971, MP Hostel Dhaka Ordered killing of several youths including Rumi, son of Jahanara Imam

Murder

9 Brishalikha Village, Pabna Mass killing Genocide

10 Start of war Torture of Anil and forcing family to � ee Persecution

11-14 All over the country Inciting violence at several meetings Incitement

15 Santhia Pilot School Conspiracy to commit crimes speci� ed in section 3(2)(g) of the Act

Conspiracy

16 Dhaka and other places in the country Planning and executing killing of intellectuals Murder

CHARGES AGAINST NIZAMI AT A GLANCE

CHARGES | Mueen & AshrafCharge 1

Abduction and killing of journalist Siraj Uddin HossainCharge 2

Abetting, abducting and killing of journalist Syed Nazmul HaqueCharge 3

Abduction and killing of journalist A.N.M Golam MostafaCharge 4

Abetting, abducting and killing of journalist Nizam UddinCharge 5

Abetting, abducting and killing of journalist Selina ParvinCharge 6

Abduction and killing of Professor Gias Uddin Ahmed, Professor Dr Serajul Haque Khan, Dr Md. Mortuja, Dr Abul Khayer, Dr Foyzul Mohiuddin, Professor Rashidul Hassan, Professor Anwar Pasha, Professor Dr Santosh Bhattacharjee

Charge 7Abduction and killing of Professor Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury

Charge 8

Abduction and killing of Professor Munier Chowdhury

Charge 9

Abduction and killing of Shahidullah Kaiser

Charge 10

Abduction and killing of doctor Fazle Rabbee

Charge 11

Abetting, abducting and killing of doctor Alim Chowdhury

9DHAKA TRIBUNE Remembrance Sunday, December 14, 2014

‘Those who were taking her away asked her name. She answered: “Selina Parvin, I am a journalist.” She told them if they spared her life, she would never write again’

Live up to their memory

On Martyred Intellectuals Day, the nation recalls the prominent individuals who were heinously murdered on December 14, 1971.

Their brutal murders by death squads of the Pakistani military and its collaborators during the closing week of Bangladesh’s struggle for independence, are infamous for their cynical timing and targeted nature.

While recent years have seen a lifting of the sense of impunity for crimes against humanity committed during the Independence War, we still have much to accomplish as a nation going forward.

No one can claim that everyone in the nation is now safe from abduction. In the last decade, we have witnessed a rising number of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial executions, under successive governments of di� erent complexions.

It is a matter of grave concern that so many forced disappearances can take place in our country. Whether carried out for extortion or other criminality, or to sti� e political competition, there must be zero tolerance for this appalling activity.

The government’s foremost duty is to protect the lives of all citizens. It must do more to investigate and prevent enforced disappearances. Only by ending impunity for enforced disappearances can we deter them e� ectively.

We should act on this day to commemorate and honour the nation’s martyrs by ending human rights abuses and working to make independent Bangladesh a better place for all our people.

Eliminate wasteful energy subsidies

We support President Abdul Hamid in urging everyone to be more economical in their use of electricity.

His observations made at the launch of National Electricity Week calling on the country to reduce dependency on fossil fuels by cutting system loss and increasing use of renewable energy, are clearly in the national interest.

It is important however for the government to take a more joined-up approach to achieving these ends. As a nation, we spend far too much on wasteful subsidies for gas and power.

Thanks to the high cost of rental plants on which much of our recent capacity increases have relied, and our dependency on imported fossil fuels, the state is stuck in a vicious cycle of rising demand and uncontrollable subsidy costs.

As a nation, our long-term growth depends on investment in improving education and infrastructure, including new industrial parks and power plants. The economy cannot a� ord to squander scarce taxpayer resources on ine� cient industries and pro� igate use by a� uent consumers who can a� ord to pay the market price for gas and power.

The government needs to take a more rational market led approach and cut energy subsidies completely. This will automatically help curb waste by consumers.

More importantly, it will stimulate investment in energy e� ciency measures and long-term energy production, including renewables.

Cutting subsidies is essential in permitting taxpayer funds to be spent on more productive forms of investment.

Don’t make excuses for a genocidal criminalNovember 28

Evil People Politics“Anything that lionises convicted war criminals is an insult to the countless victims.”

There is a stark di� erence between listening to what the other side has to say, and twisting history; this is a real shame.

Bashir Haque Evil People Politics: True, but when the other side engages in killing, looting, rape, and arson, they don’t deserve to be heard in the � rst place.

Three symptomsNovember 28

Mr KahnThank you for the piece, Mr Shahrukh. If these things happen within the span of just a week, just think of how many circus antics our news media goes through in the span of a year. At least Bangladeshis are never bored. I have friends in Denmark who feel nauseated by the lack of action in their lives. But seriously, we are beyond repair.

Editorial10 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

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Honour the nation’s martyrs by ending impunity for enforced disappearances

Cut subsidies to curb waste and stimulate investment

CODE-CRACKER

ACROSS1 Spurious imitation (4)3 Resting places (4)7 Corded fabric (3)8 Kingdom (5)11 Not di� cult (4)12 Farm animals (5)13 Earlier (5)15 Be concerned (4)18 Black deposit (4)19 Entangle (5)20 Run away to marry (5)21 Hospital room (4)23 Concise (5)24 Greek letter (3)25 Refuse to admit (4)26 Church seating (4)

DOWN1 Fragments (6)2 Slowly (mus) (6)4 Period of time (3)5 Longing (6)6 Secret agent (3)9 Plundered (6)10 Spoil (3)11 Leak out (6)14 Turn (6)16 Reluctant (6)17 Church o� ce holders (6)19 Decay (3)21 Marry (3)22 Moved quickly (3)

CROSSWORD

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

SUDOKU

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 14 represents Y so � ll Y every time the � gure 14 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appro-priate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZNahid: If needed, Facebook, mobile will be shut down

November 28Riast UllahWhy not shut down the whole internet? Better yet the whole electricity system? Punished by the “Almighty”? Is there even a judiciary system in this country? Instead of putting a stop to the people who are leaking the questions, you go and make such an irresponsible comment.

Latari BhaiF for fail minister. How will this threat stop people

leaking the questions in the � rst place?It’s like shutting down all telephones and

closing the post office because a burglar might send a message advertising something he’s sold.

roseThe authorities should constitute austere laws so that the question papers are not leaked before the exams.

Lovers of war criminalsNovember 28

HovercraftPerhaps it is time the Bangladeshi parliament also adopted a few resolutions in sympathy with the tribes being brutalised by the Pakistan army in its various operations against its own citizens and called for an end to such “army actions.”

Nadeem Qadir Hovercraft: Surely. My friend in Gilgit told me about the brutality there. God bless them.

We should not lose sight of the futureNovember 28

vhsIt’s good to see a Danish scholar take such a keen and close interest in Bangladeshi a� airs without coming across as patronising at any point. Some will be upset, as we are touchy about the war crimes trials, but the fact is we do need think hard about our future. Angry slogans don’t build a country’s infrastructure.

RS“The challenge is not to convict war criminals at trials; the challenge is to think what comes after.”

Yes indeed. We should ponder over the future of Bangladesh and prepare ourselves for the challenges ahead.

Update our shipsNovember 29

Imran MajlisI’m surprised we don’t build more boats. There are so many ancient, unsafe ferries that need to be replaced for a start. And our shipbuilders are capable of meeting European orders.

Gas and electricity to every household within 3 years

December 6

PBI bet they will fail.

SAIndeed. Nothing but lip service.

Latif Siddique admitted to BSMMUDecember 6

Anon“The former minister has fallen ill because of

cardiac complications.”I hate that people say he is reaping what he

sowed for his evil words. That’s like saying good, hard-working poor people who lose everything

in nature’s storms, � oods, and typhoons deserve to lose everything. It’s nothing but BS. Latif has a right to his opinions just as much as anyone else.

Same minister smokes on his whim

December 7

Mir AhmedRequest to the PM: As Minister Mohsin Ali had

been caught sleeping earlier, wake him up, madam, then better dismiss him.

Moudud � nally breaks silenceNovember 28

AFBPeople elect their representative to the parliament

to � ght for their rights in parliament, not on the streets. But BNP members were elected to remain

on the streets by not attending the parliament sessions. Probably 97% of the time, BNP members

along with their leader did attend the parliament and yet did not hesitate to take salaries and all other

bene� ts. Is this the kind of democracy Moudud Ahmad wants? There is no legitimate issue for BNP

but coming into power. Moudud has spilled the beans by telling the truth about their leader who

wants her corrupt sons to be saved. That’s all.

Invest in skills to improve competitiveness

November 28Bcominparis

I note a di� erent Dhaka paper cited the CIP rank as positive. This one seems more contextual and helpful.

n Adnan Pavel

The other day I was enjoying being alone over a cup of tea at a co� ee shop in Banani. I was

trying to explore the newly established co� ee businesses in Bangladesh, particularly those in Dhaka city, during my winter break from London.

The quality of my beverage wasn’t that bad, but I did stumble upon a bunch of youngsters there who were shouting at each other and enjoying their time to the fullest extent.

They were too loud in fact, and every single word was easily heard from my seat, and therefore I couldn’t resist listening to them. I had a quick glimpse at them, they were mostly between the ages of 18-20 – certainly an age during which everyone should enjoy life – but believe me, not a single word that they had uttered would be considered anything close to being constructive.

All their conversations were full of vulgarity, sex, and drugs. I can cer-tainly understand how such friendly gatherings would be full of banter, but can we not expect something con-structive as well?

How about a conversation on planning for a debate club, or raising some money for the street children, or cleaning our campuses or streets by the collective e� ort from all friends?

How about planning to raise social awareness on a vital social issue? Can this country not expect such conversa-tion from you? There is so much that needs to be done in this country. Why don’t you take some steps to collect winter clothing for people who can’t a� ord it? Of course, youngsters will enjoy their lives, but similarly, this country wants to see some initiatives being taken by them, some construc-tive initiatives.

Bangladesh is lucky enough to be a country in which the majority propor-tion of the population is young, so our prosperity and future largely depends on the calibre and positive motivation of the youth.

This country is looking for you young people. Don’t just enjoy a cozy life and take sel� es at di� erent co� ee shops, do something for your country.

You are the freedom � ghters of the 21st century, you need to free this country from its dirty politics and corruption.

Fight for hope when faced with fear, � ght against the inequalities in our society, stand against racism and discrimination. Do you want to wit-ness the change, or be the change? l

Adnan Pavel is former Governor and Deputy President of London Metropolitan University Students’ Union, UK.

n Enayetullah Khan

The Global Social Business Sum-mit was held in Mexico City from November 27-28, at the Expo

Bancomer convention centre. This was the sixth global edition of the summit, and the Mexican capital was a suitably vibrant and accommodating host for the � rst to be held in the Americas.

It could only have been a matter of time really. Everything on the event agenda plus whatever went on in the sidelines served to categorically un-derline the ever-growing and universal appeal of an idea whose time has most de� nitely come.

Once again, a deceptively simple but pioneering idea that has the po-tential to change the lives of millions of people around the world has a Bang-ladeshi as its beating, irresistible heart. Even more remarkably, not happy with taking one idea and taking it so far that his name is now irrefutably linked to microcredit for all time, and winning a Nobel Peace prize no less, that person happens to be Dr Muhammad Yunus.

Superlatives lose their shine next to his name. But let me just say, this tireless crusader who � rst proposed the radical yet bewitching challenge of putting a thing called poverty in museums by 2030. In his 70s, he throws down the gauntlet to the world to meet his challenge.

And how they all respond to him, one and all! From youthful activists to bankers and presidents, heads of state and assorted aristocracy. It does make one wonder about the somewhat mixed reaction or coverage he gets at home. Here though, for two days amongst his ilk, he is untouchable. And his is also the commonest touch.

Professor Yunus made a keynote speech highlighting that we need new ways to think about changing the world, that change will come about through small actions, and repeating those ac-tions to reach scale. He said the summit was an opportunity for us to share expe-rience of all the exciting social business-es that are developing around the world to energise each other.

The Minister of Economy Mr

Ildefonso Guajardo also delivered a keynote speech highlighting the importance that microcredit and social business can play in Mexico and reiter-ating his government’s commitment to building social business in the country.

The summit, which was organised by Grameen Creative Lab, Green Street of Mexico, and Yunus Centre, opened with 720 people from 50 countries to talk about how social business, a non-dividend company to solve hu-man problems, can tackle some of the pressing social problems of the day.

The summit brought together practi-tioners of social business from around the world, as well as the supporters of social business to share experiences of how social businesses can be created and scaled up, and also to learn what motivates the supporters of social business to get involved.

Supporters, including the director of government agency Inadem, and the CEOs of Cemex, a leading cement company, Banamex, the national bank of Mexico, Siemens Foundation, Lom-bard Odier Foundation, Ashoka, and others spoke about their motivation in supporting social business in Mexico and their own plans to begin social business in the country.

Existing social business CEOs presented updates of their actions, including updates of social businesses in Bangladesh, such as the Grameen Bank, Grameen Shakti, Grameen’s Nobin Udyokta initiatives. New social businesses from Japan, France, South

Africa were showcased at a Pecha Kucha session.

There were also updates on social businesses operated by Yunus Social Business in Haiti, Colombia, Brazil. There was also a social business marketplace and specialised “agen-da of the Future” sessions including sessions on Grameen Healthcare and Grameen Shakti.

During plenary sessions, practi-tioners exchanged best practices and imagined what social business in 2020 would look like, and what would be needed for social business to become a pillar of the global economy.

Practitioners committed to building social business to become 1% of the global economy in the near future. The role of social business to tackle global unemployment was highlighted, and the need for young people in taking forward the movement.

Several important announcements were made during the summit, includ-ing an announcement of $5m for social business from USAID for Haiti, Albania and Uganda. There was an announce-ment on the creation of a Yunus Social Business Incubator Fund in Veracruz, Mexico with the support of the Verac-ruz government.

In addition, Cemex announced a social business in housing in Mexi-co. Mexican company Es Por Todos announced the earmarking of $1m for social business in Mexico. La Trobe University in Australia announced the creation of a Yunus Social Business Centre at their business school. In addition, � nance secretary of Mexico City DF announced its intention to become a social business city.

Professor Yunus addressed a meeting of Young Challengers, where dynamic young people from around the world who are passionate about social business were brought together to plan actions for the future.

The summit concluded with a call for action from Professor Yunus.

After the conclusion of the summit, Professor Yunus delivered a public lec-ture on Saturday afternoon to a packed audience of 1,500 people, mostly young Mexicans, at the Expo Bancomer, describing his journey from initiating microcredit in the early 70s, to creating social business to tackle social prob-lems a� ecting the poor and vulnerable people around the world. l

Enayetullah Khan is Editor-in-Chief, UNB and Dhaka Courier.

11Op-Ed Sunday, December 14, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

n SM Shahrukh

This newspaper reported yesterday in the story “Authorities clueless in the Sundarbans,” that in 2008, an oil spill from a

Shell pipeline crack in the Niger delta destroyed 1,000 hectares of forest and a� ected 30,000 people. What were our authorities doing when that calami-tous news was being broadcast all over international media? Doing anything other than learning from it, it appears.

The report also reminds us about the spillage at Borguna district’s Bish-khali River, a spillage of a few hundred litres. Lessons learned – zip. What did the authorities do when a tanker cracked open at the Karnaphuli River not too long ago? Pray to the Almighty with an SOS prayer, perhaps.

Disaster management has always been a contentious issue in the 43-year long history of Bangladesh, but the current state of a� airs is unacceptable by all accounts. We have been very poor for a greater part of those years, but the state of the economy as we see today calls for better disaster prepar-edness.

The long history of damages done by cyclones has taught us the need to make people aware and build shelters and instruct people what to do.

With the help of donors and other relevant organisations, the governments have done a better job of dealing with that menace. However, rehabilitation of people a� ected by Sidr and Aila is still up in the air, and millions su� er till today from the ravages.

It took several launch disasters for the authorities to wake up, somewhat, as we have seen some earnest e� orts from them, during the last Eid-ul-Azha, to keep launches from the

traditional holiday overloading.But, regretfully, no such e� orts for

staying prepared for a disaster like the one that happened at the Shela River on Tuesday morning.

The Sundarbans – a World Heritage Site – is a unique marvel of nature, the world’s biggest mangrove forest, home to the Royal Bengal Tiger and various other species of � ora and fauna. It is no ordinary forest. It deserves special care as a natural barrier to the inevita-ble cyclones that foment every year at the Bay of Bengal.

It is, economically, of immense importance, for its neighbourhood provides the breeding ground for � sh and aquatic mammals, thereby keep-ing alive a rich source of protein for the people and providing livelihoods to millions, permanent or itinerant, who depend on the � sh reserves. The seasonal “Bawwalis” and the hon-ey-collectors are also dependent on the mangrove.

Now, who takes care of the Sunda-rbans? The West Bengal government has a ministry for the development of the Sundarbans, they look after all matters related to their part of the mangrove, which is appreciably smaller than the size of ours. And it is plain to see that the West Bengal government is doing a far better job in keeping their part in prime condition.

The authorities there, with the head warden in lead, are already taking measures to stop any in� ltration of this spillage in their part. That’s pre-paredness for you.

In Bangladesh, it’s a quagmire. The forest department is in charge of the forest per se, while the environment ministry is supposed to keep eyes and ears open for any environmental faux pas. Now, the Sundarbans has several rivers all around, with canals and creeks running through and around it.

These rivers and water channels fall under the supervision of the internal waterways ministry, with all the ves-sels plying using these waterways.

Now you see how a quagmire gets formed. The waterways minister tried immediately to placate the people through the media sending a deputy to the spot. Many “wiseheads” from vari-ous authorities started arriving too.

As is the modus operandi, inevi-tably, committees and investigation teams get formed in these conditions and it was no di� erent here. These latest committees immediately set up a high power committee with an additional secretary in the chair and eight or nine other bureaucrats and academics.

They are scratching their heads since reports last came in. The Kana-dari – 10 vessels of the navy stocked with dispersant of fuel and at the spot – are kept standing as no one is sure as to what damage those dispersants will do to the biodiversity in the long run. The bacterial method of dispersal will require time to import, even then it will require more time to disperse the thick, heavy oil, but the cost is prohibitive.

So the interministerial group have now called the “authorities” to urge the people nearby to jump into the oil-infested waters of Shela to manually collect the cakes of furnace oil.

This could take ages, and there is no concern shown as to what damages to

their health that could cause. The navy ship stands helpless, staring at the remaining beauty of the Sundarbans!

The cry I want to make is for a “Ministry for the Sundarbans.” We have seen many interdepartmental think-tanks sit to solve matters of emergencies, but the results are dismal – we end up with a report that gathers dust with a million other such reports and hardly any action is ever taken as per the suggestions of those reports.

If the West Bengal state can have a ministry in the matter, why can’t we? Under the status quo, a Bengal tiger gets down from the jurisdiction of Ministry of Forests to swim across a water-body belonging to the Wa-terways Ministry, and then back on

forestry controlled by the other side to hunt a deer. It’s ridiculous.

People have been screaming for a separate ministry for the garment industry for better co-ordination of e� orts to handle the problems of that crucial sector, but alas, to no avail.

Now the Sundarbans is screaming for one, but does anyone hear it?

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” – a philosophical thought experiment that raises questions regarding observation and knowledge of reality. The Sundarbans is making a loud cry for its survival, but no one seems to be there to listen. l

SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

No one hears a cry in the wild

Why isn’t anyone listening? SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

A tiger gets down from the jurisdiction of Ministry of Forests to swim across water belonging to the Waterways Ministry, and back on forestry controlled by the other side to hunt a deer. It’s ridiculous

Once again, a simple idea that has the potential to change lives has a Bangladeshi as its beating heart

An idea whose time has comeConstructive blabber

BIG

STO

CK

BIGSTOCK

12 DHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

Sport1413 Real Madrid make it perfect twenty

Lyon bowls Australia to epic victory

14 Red Devils face Reds challenge

Did you know?Sangakkara has hit

25 scores of 50+ in 2014 across all

formats, the most in a single calendar year -

Ponting hit 24 in 2005

BFF mulling inclusion of Pakistan or Maldivesn Raihan Mahmood

Changing the previous stance of not in-viting any sub-continental teams in the forthcoming Bangabandhu Gold Cup, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) is now mulling the inclusion of either Paki-stan or Maldives in place of Laos.

BFF president Kazi Salahuddin re-vealed this at his o� ce yesterday. “We may include Pakistan or Maldives in the tournament. There will be no prob-lems with that. We have not o� cially noti� ed Laos about it. The president of the Laos Football Association is a friend of mine so we can convince him over this issue.”

Alongside hosts Bangladesh, Bah-rain, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have already con� rmed their partici-pation in the tournament. The BFF has decided to host Bangladesh’s group matches in Sylhet considering the pop-ularity of the game in the north-eastern division. The tournament will begin on January 16 next year with the grand � -nale slated for January 27.

The tournament will be held next year after a � ve-year hiatus.

Meanwhile, football’s governing body in the country is looking for a foreign coach before the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, following the departure of Dutch coaches Lodewijk de Kruif and

Rene Koster. However, the BFF has not really progressed on this issue due to � nancial constraints.

The BFF might seek assistance from the Japan Football Association over the appointment of a foreign coach for the senior team. Former Slovenian footbal-ler Ermin Siljak recently showed inter-est but the BFF said he is asking for a lot of money. Salahuddin ruled out the chances of recruiting Siljak.

Interim coach Saiful Bari Titu is cur-rently at the helm of the national side ahead of the upcoming international friendly against the Japan Under-21 team this Thursday at Bangabandhu National Stadium.l

Business stage awaits Dhaka Premier Leaguen Mazhar Uddin

The 11th and � nal round of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League will begin today at di� erent venues with most of the stakes already decided in the lone 50-over domestic competition of the country.

The top six teams will contest the Super League phase while the bottom three sides will play each other once to determine which of the two among the trio will be relegated.

Table-toppers Prime Bank (18 points) and second-placed Abahani (16 points) have already con� rmed their participation in the Super League. The

remaining four places will be decid-ed from these � ve teams - Kalabagan Cricket Academy (14 points), Prime Doleshwar (12 points), Legends of Rupganj (12 points), Mohammedan (12 points) and Victoria (12 points).

As far as the relegation � ght is con-cerned, Kalabagan Krira Chakra (4 points), Partex (4 points) and bottom side Old DOHS (zero points) already know that two among them will go down.

In today’s matches, Kalabagan KC will take on Mohammedan in Fatullah, hold-ers Rupganj will face Sheikh Jamal Dhan-mondi Club in Mirpur while Prime Doles-hwar will encounter Partex in Savar.

In tomorrow’s matches, Abahani will

go head-to-head with Prime Bank in Fatullah, Brothers Union will lock horns with Old DOHS in Mirpur while Kalaba-gan CA will clash with Victoria in Savar.

Heading into the � nal round of matches, Abahani opener Liton Kumar Das tops the highest run-scorers chart with 568 runs in 10 matches at an aver-age of 56.80. Recently called up to the 30-man preliminary Bangladesh squad for next year’s ICC World Cup in Austra-lia-New Zealand, Liton will be looking to continue making merry of the oppo-sition bowlers in order to stake his claim in the � nal 15-member squad that will be announced on January 7 next year.

National discards Shamsur Rahman

and Nasir Hossain have fared well and will be eyeing more solid performances in the upcoming matches that will be vitally important to catch the attention of the na-tional selection panel. Shamsur has scored 392 runs in 10 matches for Kalabagan KC at 39.20 while Nasir has accumulated 268 runs in nine matches for Abahani at 44.67.

Meanwhile in the bowlers’ list, Asif Hasan of Brothers Union features at the very top of the highest wicket-takers chart. Asif has taken 25 wickets in 10 matches for the Oranjes at 13.28. Prime Doleshwar’s Elias Sunny and Kalaba-gan KC’s Abdur Razzak, who were both named in the preliminary squad, has scalped 19 and 15 wickets respectively.l

Busan IPark want to play in Bangladesh n Shishir Hoque

Former AFC Champions League win-ners Busan IPark have expressed their interest to play a friendly match on Bangladeshi soil. The South Korean top � ight club sent an invitation letter to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) last Monday asking if the national side or any premier league club are interest-ed in playing a friendly in Bangladesh.

The BFF though is yet to take a � -nal decision on the matter. “Korean K-League club Busan IPark are inter-ested to play in Bangladesh. It could be against the national team or any club,” said BFF general secretary Abu Nay-eem Shohag yesterday.

“We will discuss this issue in the

next national team committee meet-ing. We have to look into the schedule and if the committee rejects the o� er then we will see if any premier league club are interested,” he added.

Meanwhile, the national side have a hectic schedule ahead. Following the international friendly against the Japan Under-21 team this Thursday, Bangladesh will take part in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup at home in the middle of next month.l

CHAMPIONS TROPHY FIELD HOCKEY

Pakistan edge India to set up Germany � naln Agencies

In a brave battle between the two arch rivals, Pakistan edged forward in the � nal few minutes to set up a title clash against Germany. India will play Aus-tralia for the third spot.

End of match and Pakistan maintain their record of never losing to India in Champions Trophy. Wild clebrations from the visiting team as jerseys go � ying in the air. Indian will have to come out of it quick. The team played extremely well and will now face Aus-tralia for the bronze medal.

Olympic gold medallists Germany quashed Australia’s bid to win a sixth successive Champions Trophy � eld hockey title, ousting the side 3-2 in the semi-� nal on Saturday.

The Germans, playing with sev-en junior World Cup winners of 2013, stunned the Kookaburras with two goals by the ninth minute through Timur Oruz and Mats Grambusch.

They went up 3-0 immediately after half-time when Florian Fuchs took ad-vantage of a goalmouth scramble and scooped the ball past Australian goal-keeper Andrew Charter.

Australia hit back in the 34th min-ute as Chris Ciriello banged in a penalty corner to net his fourth goal in the tour-nament. Nicholas Budgeon narrowed the margin further in the 42nd by scor-ing o� a penalty corner rebound.

Australia, who lost to Germany 4-2 the last time they met in the semi-� nals of the 2012 London Olympics, failed to equalise despite benching the goalkeep-er to accommodate an extra striker.

It will be Germany’s � rst Champions Trophy � nal since 2009 when they were beaten by hosts Australia 5-3 in Mel-bourne. German coach Markus Weise said he was happy - and also relieved -- that his young side had reached the � nal after a poor sixth-place � nish at the World Cup in June.l

MARCEL CORPORATE CRICKET

Walton, Alif Group in Corporate Cricket semisn Raihan Mahmood

Walton and Alif Group cruised into the semi� nals of the Marcel Corporate Cricket after winning their respective quarter� nals at di� erent venues yes-terday.

At Mohammedpur Eidgah Ground, Walton beat Runner Group by 35 runs. Batting � rst, Walton scored 183 for the loss of seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Zohirul top-scored with 39 from 26 balls while Bishwajit of Runner Group scalped four wickets conceding 41 runs.

In reply, Runner Group managed 148 for nine wickets with Muraduzzaman chipping in with 35. Nayeb Ali of Wal-ton bagged three wickets for 26 runs.

Zohirul was adjudged the player of the match.

In the last quarter� nal of the event, Alif Group registered a 21-run victory over Computer Source.

Alif Group posted 190/8 in their stip-ulated 20 overs with Azimul Islam hit-ting 41 o� 32 deliveries.

The total proved to be a tall order for Computer Source who eventually ended on 169/9. Shihab took two wickets. Azimul was named the player of the match.

Europa Group and Anowara Group earlier secured semi� nal slots winning the � rst and second quarter� nals against DBL Group and Bando Desgin respectivley. The semi� nal are billed to be held next weekend. l

Fiji to assist Bangladesh Rugbyn Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh Rugby Union (BRU) yes-terday signed a memorandum of un-derstanding with the Republic of Fiji for the development of the game in the country.

The head of mission and consul of Fiji to Bangladesh, Seemab Rashid, and BRU general secretary Mousum Ali signed the deal for their respective or-ganisations. BRU vice president Abdul-lah al Zahir Swapan and joint secretary Saeed Ahmed were also present on the occasion.

As per the agreement, Fiji will assist the development process of rugby in the country. The procedure will start with the Fiji-Bangladesh Friendship Rugby in February next year.

Through the sporting diplomacy, BRU believes the bilateral relationship between the two countries will also blossom. l

Consul of Fiji Seemab Rashid (L) and Mousum Ali (2R), the general secretary of Bangladesh Rugby Union in a happy moment after inking the development deal DHAKA TRIBUNE

A tense moment of the � nal between Gregorians Kings and Gregorian Titans at the basketball court of St. Gregory’s High School yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Pakistan hockey players celebrate their victory over India during their Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2014 semi � nal match at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar yesterday AFP

Gregorian Aces win titlen Raihan Mahmood

Gregorian Aces claimed the Teachers Memorial Basketball title yesterday after defeating BKSP 81-51 in the � nal at the St. Gregory High School basketball court.

The other participating teams of the junior section are Josephites and Verti-cal Horizon.

The tournament, organised by the students of St. Gregory High School, also contained a senior section that was won by Gregorian Kings who defeated Gregorian Titans 65-64 in a � ercely-contested � nal ear-lier on the day.

Brother Prodip Placid Gomez, the headmaster of the school, distributed the prizes as the chief guest. l

Korean K-League club Busan IPark are interested to play in Bangladesh

RESULTSGermany 3-2 AustraliaTimur Oruz 5, Chris Ciriello 34, Grambusch 9, Nicholas Budgeon 42Florian Fuchs 31

Pakistan 4-3 IndiaArslan Qadir 16, 59, Gurjinder 12,Waqas 32, Dharamvir 44, Irfan 49 Chandana 52

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE 13Sunday, December 14, 2014

Star Sports 15:30PMItalian Serie AJuventus v Sampdoria1:40 AMMilan v NapoliStar Sports 29:50 AMRanji Trophy 7:30PMIndian Super LeagueKolkata v GoaLa Liga11:55 PMAtletico Madrid v Villarreal 1:55 AMReal Sociedad v Athletic BilbaoStar Sports 4English Premier League7:15 PMManchester United v Liverpool 9:50 PMSwansea v Tottenham HotspurNeo PrimeGerman Bundesliga8:30PMBayer Leverkusen v Borussia Monchen-gladbach10:30 PMVfL Wolfsburg v Paderborn Ten Sports8:00 PMHockey Champions Trophy FinalTen ActionFrench Ligue 17:00 PMNice v Saint-Etienne10:00 PMGuingamp v Paris Saint-GermainTern Cricket5:00 PMPakistan v New Zealand, 3rd ODI

Air Force set � nal date with ArmyBangladesh Air Force defeated Bangla-desh Jail by 32-20 points in the Victory Day Kabaddi Championship at National Kabaddi Stadium in Paltan yesterday to set up a � nal clash with Bangladesh Army. The � nal will be held tomorrow at 4pm at the same venue. Army earlier secured their berth in the � nal despite being held to a draw by Air Force last Friday.

–Tribune Desk

Air Force clinch volleyball titleBangladesh Air Force emerged as the champions of the Walton Smart TV Vic-tory Day Volleyball Tournament follow-ing a comfortable 3-0 victory over Ban-gladesh Army in the � nal at Volleyball Stadium yesterday. In the third-place decider, Power Development Board (PDB) defeated Bangladesh Navy 3-1. PDB’s Horshid was adjudged the player of the tournament.

–Tribune Desk

QUICK BYTES

DAY’S WATCH

Sri Lanka R BM Jayawardene c Taylor b Woakes   5 15T Dilshan c Bopara b Tredwell    68 105K Sangakkara c Ali b Jordan     112 112S Prasanna c Morgan b Finn       20 12A Mathews c Buttler b Finn        1 5D Chandimal b Jordan             35 31T Perera c Cook b Woakes         16 10J Mendis not out                 12 11Extras (lb4, b10, w8, nb1)        23Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs)     292

BowlingFinn 9-0-53-2 (w3), Woakes 10-1-51-2 (w1) Ali 8-0-46-0 (nb1), Tredwell 10-0-37-1 (w1), Jordan 9-0-68-2 (w3) Bopara 3-0-19-0 Root 1-0-4-0.England R BA Cook lbw b Senanayake             1 2M Ali c Sangakkara b Dilshan       34 32J Taylor b Senanayake              10 12J Root b Lakmal                    55 76R Bopara c Sangakkara b Lakmal     13 20E Morgan c Sangakkara b Lakmal      0 1J Buttler run out                  22 26C Woakes c and b Dilshan           41 49C Jordan c Sangakkara b Lakmal      4 6J Tredwell c Dilshan b Senanayake 19 22S Finn not out                      1 3Extras (lb1, w1)                     2Total (all out; 41.3 overs)        202

BowlingSenanayake 8.3-0-33-3 (w1), Dilshan 10-0-55-2, Prasanna 8-0-40-0, Lakmal 8-0-30-4, Mendis 4-0-22-0, Perera 3-0-21-0

Sri Lanka win by 90 runs

SLvENG, 6TH ODI

Australia 1st innings517 for 7 declared (S. Smith 162 not out, D. Warner 145, M. Clarke 128; M. Shami 2-120)India 1st innings444 (V. Kohli 115, C. Pujara 73; N. Lyon 5-134)Australia 2nd innings R B(Overnight 290 for 5) C. Rogers c R. Sharma b K. Sharma 21 45D. Warner   b K. Sharma             102 166S. Watson   b Shami                 33 86M. Clarke   c Saha b Aaron           7 20S. Smith    not out                 52 64M. Marsh c Vijay b R. Sharma        40 26B. Haddin   not out                 14 15Extras (b1, lb6, w5, nb9)           21Total (5 wickets dec; 69 overs)    290

Fall of wickets1-38, 2-140, 3-168, 4-213, 5-266BowlingShami 11-2-42-1, I. Sharma 14-3-41-0 (6nb), K. Sharma 16-2-95-2, Vijay 6-0-27-0, R. Sharma 12-2-35-1, Aaron 10-0-43-1 (1w, 2nb)India 2nd innings R BM. Vijay    lbw b Lyon              99 234S. Dhawan  c Haddin b Johnson        9 8C. Pujara  c Haddin b Lyon          21 38V. Kohli    c Marsh b Lyon         141 175A. Rahane  c Rogers b Lyon           0 5R. Sharma   c Warner b Lyon          6 18W. Saha    b Lyon                   13 10K. Sharma   not out                  4 20M. Shami  c Johnson b Harris         5 10V. Aaron   lbw b Johnson             1 3I. Sharma  stpd Haddin b Lyon        1 2Extras (b5, lb8, w2)                15Total (all out; 87.1 overs)        315

Fall of wickets1-16, 2-57, 3-242, 4-242, 5-277, 6-299, 7-304, 8-309, 9-314, 10-315BowlingJohnson 16-2-45-2 (2w), Harris 19-6-49-1, Lyon 34.1-5-152-7, Siddle 9-3-21-0, Watson 2-0-6-0, Smith 3-0-18-0, Marsh 4-1-11-0   ResultAustralia won by 48 runs; lead 4-match series 1-0

AUSvIND, DAY 5

Pakistan252 (Hafeez 76, Misbah 47, Henry 4-45)New Zealand255 for 6 (Williamson 70, Devcich 58, Haris 3-48)

New Zealand won by four wickets

BRIEF SCORE

Cool Williamson guides Kiwis to winn Reuters

Kane Williamson’s assured unbeaten 70 guided New Zealand to a comfortable four-wicket win over Pakistan in the second one-day international in Shar-jah on Friday to level the series at 1-1.

Chasing 253 for victory, New Zealand started well through a century opening partnership between Dean Brownlie (47) and Anton Devcich who made 58, his � rst limited-overs international half century.

But Brownlie fell to Shahid Afridi and Devcich was run out before Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and Corey Ander-son fell in quick succession to leave New Zealand struggling on 167 for � ve.

Williamson and Luke Ronchi (36) shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 58 to put the tourists back on course and the experienced Daniel Vettori (13 not out) helped steer his side to their target.l

Injured Clarke out of series, doubts on futuren AFP, Adelaide

Injury-jinxed Michael Clarke says there is a chance he may never play cricket again after another setback forced him out of Australia’s � rst Test triumph and the rest of the India series on Saturday.

The Australia skipper su� ered a new injury after pulling up sharply while � elding after lunch, forcing him to watched on as his team-mates pulled o� a thrilling 43-run victory over the Indians to go one-up in the four-match series.

“There’s no doubt, there’s certainly

a chance, I may never play again. I hope that’s not the case and I’ll be doing ev-erything in my power to get back out on the park, but I have to be realistic as well,” Clarke said.

He said scans revealed he had torn his right hamstring, adding that the di-agnosis was not good.

“I’ve had my scans, the scans are not great, they have certainly showed a tear there. The experts are looking at them and I can pretty con� dently say that I won’t take part in this Test se-ries,” Clarke said.l

Lyon bowls Australia to epic victoryn Reuters

Australia beat India by 48 runs in a thrilling end to the � rst Test at Ade-laide Oval on Saturday, with Nathan Lyon picking up seven wickets after Vi-rat Kohli scored an inspired century for the visitors.

A match that had begun in high emotion after the death last month of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes ended in high drama after an absorbing � nal day in South Australia.

Set 364 to win after Australia de-clared on their overnight score of 290-5, India seemed to be on their way to an unlikely victory after a brilliant 141

from Kohli and a gritty 99 from opener Murali Vijay.

But Lyon, a former groundsman at Adelaide Oval, turned the match the home team’s way with his o� spinners, as India’s tail collapsed and the tourists were bowled out for 315.

“This � rst Test is one we will re-member and cherish for the rest of our careers,” Australia captain Michael Clarke said of the � rst match since the death of his good friend.

“He’s in our minds, he always will be. He will be for the rest of my life.

“Every Test match you play for Aus-tralia you have a lot to play for but ob-viously this series is even closer to our

hearts.”Lyon � nished with 7-152, giving him

12 wickets for the match, a career-best, and handing the Australians the ear-ly advantage in the four-match series which resumes in Brisbane next week.

Clarke will miss the rest of the series after injuring a hamstring while � eld-ing on Saturday, the latest in a series of back and leg problems that have ham-pered the Australian skipper.

The 33-year-old hopes he can re-cover in time to play in the World Cup, which Australia is co-hosting early next year, but his recurring problems have caused him, to ponder his future.

“There’s a chance I may never play

again,” Clarke said.“I hope that’s not the case and I’ll

be doing everything in my power to get back out on the park, but I have to be realistic as well.”

Kohli, � lling in for Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India’s captain, almost won the match single-handedly for his country. He scored centuries in both in-nings and dominated Australia’s bowl-ers on a pitch favouring spin.

His career-best 141 came o� just 175 deliveries and featured 16 fours and one six. He also shared a third wicket partnership of 185 with Vjay, who made half-centuries in each innings but fell agonisingly short of a deserved

hundred.With India seemingly in control at

242-2 after tea, Vijay suddenly had an attack of nerves and threw his wicket away with a rash attempt to reach tri-ple � gures, trapped lbw by Lyon after swiping at the ball.

His departure triggered a cata-strophic batting collapse as India lost their last eight wickets for just 73 runs with Lyon the chief destroyer.

Kohli continued to play a lone hand but once he mistimed a pull shot and was caught in the deep, the end came quickly for the visitors.

“I’m really proud of the way the boys played,” Kohli said.l

Sangakkara ton enables Sri Lanka to ODI series victory over England

n Reuters

Sri Lanka beat England by 90 runs in the sixth one-day international at Pallekele on Saturday to take an unbeatable 4-2 lead in their seven-match series.

Kumar Sangakkara completed his 20th one-day international century to help the home team post a healthy to-tal of 292 for seven.

England could only muster 202 in reply, bowled out in less than 42 overs despite a resilient 55 from Joe Root.

The evergreen Sangakkara blazed 112 o� as many balls, highlighted by 12 fours and two sixes, after the 37-year-old was dropped on 41 by England cap-tain Alastair Cook.

The Sri Lankans made a slow start, scoring just 27 runs o� the � rst 10 overs, before Sangakkara opened up, putting on 153 with Tillakaratne Dilshan for the second wicket.

Dilshan made a patient 68 before Dinesh Chandimal pushed the total to-wards 300 with a brisk 35 in the closing overs.

Chris Woakes, Steven Finn and Chris Jordan captured two wickets each for England, who needed to win the game

to square the series heading into Tues-day’s � nal match in Colombo.

“It was a challenging wicket to bat on,” Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said.

“I thought Sangakkara was amazing and set the tone for the batsman to play at the end.

“He and Dilshan set the tone. We still want to win the next game as well and win the series 5-2.”

England could hardly had made a worse start to their innings when Cook was dismissed lbw for one in the � rst over.

By the 18th over, England were in deep trouble at 84 for � ve and although Root completed a half-century and Woakes chipped in with 41, the tourists never came close to challenging Sri Lanka’s total as SurangaLakmal mopped up the tail to � nish with 4 for 30.

“For the � rst 20-odd overs we bowled really well, but it didn’t help me dropping Sangakkara,” said Cook.

“It was a real big catch to drop be-cause we’d built up some good pres-sure, but credit to Kumar, he made us pay today.”l

Australia’s spin bowler Nathan Lyon (C) celebrates with teammates after beating India on the � nal day of the � rst Test at the Adelaide Oval yesterday AFP

Superb Kohli shines brightn Reuters

Stand-in India captain Virat Kohli has no regrets that his side lost the � rst test to Australia on Saturday after risking everything to try and snatch an unlike-ly win.

Set a daunting target of 364 on the � nal day, India spurned the chance to play safe and salvage a draw when they went for it, only to come up short when their lower-order batting collapsed in the � nal session.

For Kohli, who led India's assault with a brilliant century, the 48-run loss was a bittersweet result but the bats-man praised his team mates for throw-

ing caution to the wind."I'm really proud of the way the boys

played," Kohli told a news conference."At no point did we back o� . And

we are not going to back o� either. If at any stage that we had in mind that we might play for a draw, we would have lost by 150 runs, to be honest.

"So we went for it. That is what I am happy about."

He scored centuries in each innings, including a career-best 141 on Satur-day before he was caught in the deep, e� ectively ending India's chances of winning.

"I went for my shot. I don't have any regrets," he said.l

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara plays a shot during the sixth ODI against England yesterday AFP

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE14 Sunday, December 14, 2014

RESULTAlmeria 1-4 Real MadridVerza 39 Isco 34, Bale 42, Ronaldo 81, 88

EPL Man United v Liverpool Swansea City v Tottenham

Balotelli accepts FA charge over ‘racist’ postn AFP, London

Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has accepted a Football Association charge of making racist and anti-semitic com-ments on social media, according to re-ports on Friday.

Balotelli was charged a week ago af-ter he posted a controversial image of computer game character Super Mario on Instagram.

The image included the message: “Don’t be racist — be like Mario. He’s an Italian plumber created by Japanese

people who speaks English and looks like a Mexican. Jumps like a black man and grabs coin like a Jew.”

Balotelli’s o� ence was deemed by the FA to be an ‘aggravated breach’, as de� ned by rule E3(2), as it included a reference to ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality or religion or belief.

The minimum ban for a race-related on-pitch o� ence is � ve matches, but that would not apply in a case such as Balotelli’s, for which no speci� c punishments are outlined.l

Deschamps wants long term France jobn AFP, Paris

Didier Deschamps has already dis-cussed a long term future at the helm of the French football team with his federation president and wants to stay on beyond Euro 2016, he told AFP on Friday.

“Absolutely,” replied Deschamps when asked if he wanted to stay on after France has hosted the Euro 2016 � nals, where his current contract ex-pires.

“Noel Le Graet (The French Football Federation boss) wants that, and I want it too. This is totally clear and we both fully agree on that matter,” explained Deschamps.

“We have already discussed this and will continue to do so,” he said. “He (Le Graet) wants me to carry on (beyond the � nals).”

The former Monaco and Juven-tus coach who led France to the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 as captain of the team, declined to reveal any indica-tion of when a prolongation might take place.

Deschamps quali� ed France for the 2014 World Cup � nals where they fell 1-0 to Germany in the quarter-� nals after taking over the job in the summer of 2012 from previous coach Laurent Blanc.l

Gamba Osaka lift Emperor’s Cup to claim domestic treblen Reuters

Gamba Osaka secured a rare domestic treble with a stirring 3-1 victory over second tier Montedio Yamagata in the Emperor’s Cup � nal in Yokohama on Saturday.

Takashi Usami put on a brilliant display before a crowd of 47,829 at Nissan Stadium, scoring a goal in each half for Gamba, with Patric netting the other, as the Osaka side became the � rst team to win a treble since Kashima

Antlers in 2000.Romero Frank netted for Yamaga-

ta, who at least have the consola-tion of having earned promotion to the J.League � rst division for next season.

Kenta Hasegawa’s men, who also won the J.League and Nabisco Cup ti-tles in their � rst season back in the top � ight, made a slow start and were for-tunate not to fall behind when Frank put the ball in the net for Yamagata but was � agged o� side.l

I’m still best man for Liverpool: Rodgersn AFP, London

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has declared that he remains the best man for the job despite disappointing recent results, in comments published by several British newspapers on Sat-urday.

Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League by Basel in mid-week and are currently 15 points below leaders Chelsea in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s trip to Man-chester United.

Defeat at Old Tra� ord would further compromise Liverpool’s hopes of se-curing a top-four � nish and qualifying for next season’s Champions League, but Rodgers is con� dent that he will turn things around.

“I think the message from me is clear: I don’t think there would be any-one better to do the job here,” said the Northern Irishman.

“Seven months ago we nearly won the title unexpectedly. I had time to work with players and we took them beyond where the club has been in a long time.

He added: “Criticism comes with the territory when you don’t win games. Football is very short-term. The same people who are criticising me now were maybe saying I couldn’t do anything wrong six or seven months ago.

“That is the way football works. You have to accept that as a manager and � ght even harder to bring success. This period has ensured I will do that for sure.”l

Lyon win again to close gap at topn AFP, Paris

Ligue 1’s leading scorer Alexandre La-cazette grabbed a brace as Lyon beat struggling Caen 3-0 on Friday to make it eight consecutive home wins.

Lacazette’s early penalty set OL on their way and the France striker struck again just before the hour mark, with Yassine Benzia then making sure of the victory.

Hubert Fournier’s side have won eight of their last 10 Ligue 1 games and remain third in the table, although they are now only two points adrift of

leaders Marseille, who go to Monaco on Sunday.

Caen had gone six matches without a win to sink into the relegation zone

and their evening got o� to a bad start as Jean-Jacques Pierre was harshly ad-judged to have fouled Nabil Fekir in-side the area in seven minutes.

Lacazette beat his old team-mate

Remy Vercoutre from the spot to set Lyon on their way, although the second goal did not arrive until the 58th minute.

Samuel Umtiti headed down a cor-ner for Lacazette to lash home his 15th goal of a � ne campaign on the volley at the back post, and Benzia then drilled a low shot into the net from 16 yards four minutes later.

Only Vercoutre kept the score re-motely respectable for Caen, as he saved another penalty, this time tak-en by Fekir, and then turned a Rachid Ghezzal free-kick onto a post in the lat-ter stages. l

Pellegrini wants Lampard to stay at Man Cityn Reuters, London

Premier League champions Manches-ter City want to extend mid� elder Frank Lampard's loan deal from Major League Soccer club New York City be-yond December, manager Manuel Pel-legrini said.

Lampard, who joined New York after being released by Chelsea at the end of last season, is on loan at City until the end of the year and has scored three goals in 10 league appearances.

The 36-year-old is due to return to America for pre-season training in Jan-uary ahead of the start of the MLS sea-son in March.

City manager Pellegrini now hopes the two clubs, who are both owned by the Abu Dhabi-controlled City Football Group, can agree a deal to keep Lam-pard in Manchester.

"I think Frank is a very important player for us and I hope we will not have any problems for him to stay here," Pellegrini, whose team are sec-ond in the league and three points adrift of leaders Chelsea, told report-ers ahead of City's visit to bottom-club Leicester City on Saturday.

"But I cannot say just from one side what will happen with him. He has a loan just until the end of December and there is another club involved.

"The MLS is involved also. There are a lot of parties with an arrangement. It's not just depending on one opinion. But I hope we can have a decision as soon as possible because it's important for us and the players."

Lampard has enjoyed a number of impressive displays during his short time at the Etihad Stadium and is seen as important cover for Ivorian mid� eld-er Yaya Toure, who will be unavailable during January should he play at the African Cup of Nations.

Media reports said the English champions and New York are due to meet this week to decide Lampard's immediate future. MLS commissioner Don Garber said this month that the American league would not get in-volved in the decision. l

Real Madrid make it perfect twentyn AFP, Madrid

Two late Cristiano Ronaldo goals helped Real Madrid make it 20 consec-utive victories in all competitions as they saw o� Almeria 4-1 at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterraneos on Friday.

In their � nal La Liga game of 2014, Los Blancos stretched their lead over Barcelona, who travel to Getafe on Saturday, at the top of the table to � ve points.

First-half goals from Isco and Gareth Bale either side of Verza’s stunning equaliser sent the visitors in ahead at half-time, but they needed a big save from captain Iker Casillas when he par-ried Verza’s penalty on the hour mark.

Ronaldo then sealed the win when he turned home crosses from Karim Benzema and Dani Carvajal to take his La Liga tally to 25 goals this season.

“Almeria fought hard and we had a lot of problems during the game as we

sought to keep possession. Only at the end of the game were we able to con-trol the ball well and � nd the goals we needed to � nish the match,” said Carlo Ancelotti of his side’s victory.

The hosts, with caretaker coach Miguel Rivera in charge following Francisco Rodriguez’s dismissal earlier this week, came out of the blocks quickly, and almost made the perfect start.

First Pepe and then Carvajal blocked goalbound close-range e� orts from Fer-nando Soriano and Sebastian Dubarbi-er within the � rst three minutes.

After gaining a foothold in the game, Madrid then saw a Toni Kroos volley from outside the area de� ected onto the bar by Fran Velez, before Bale failed to � nd an unmarked Benzema in the six-yard box after breaking down the Andalusian side’s left on the quar-ter-hour mark.

With the hosts defending resolutely, Madrid’s frustrations began to show, with Bale guilty of a silly challenge that brought a yellow card from referee Al-fonso Alvarez Izquierdo.

As ever with Madrid, the calibre of player they possess means they can conjure a goal out of nothing, and that is exactly what happened as they took the lead on 33 minutes.

Benzema’s cross was too long for Ronaldo, but Isco was able to control the ball on his chest before curling an e� ort beyond the outstretched Ruben Martinez in the Almeria goal from the edge of the box.

This brought a reaction from the home side, who pushed on aggressive-ly and were rewarded for their pressure seven minutes from the break as Ra-phael Varane’s headed clearance fell to Verza, who � red a � rst-time e� ort into the bottom corner 25 metres from goal to spark elation in the stands.

The joy was short-lived, however, as fewer than three minutes later the league leaders retook the lead through a Bale header to go in at half-time in front.

Eight minutes after the restart, Bale had a chance to double the visitors’ advantage as he produced a trademark burst through the heart of the Almeria defence, only for his right-footed e� ort to � y past Ruben’s right-hand post.

Moments later Ruben then pro-duced a full-length stop from a Ronal-do e� ort as the European champions sought to put the game to bed.

While they only trailed by one goal, the hosts always remained in the game, and they had the opportunity to draw level 15 minutes into the second period as Marcelo brought down Edgar Men-dez in the area, but Casillas guessed correctly and parried Verza’s spot-kick to safety.

Nine minutes from time Ronaldo sealed the win after combining with Benzema, and the Portuguese then put the gloss on the scoreline a minute from the end when he thumped home Carvajal’s cut-back. l

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during their Spanish league match against UD Almeria at Juegos Mediterraneos stadium in Almeria on Friday AFP

Red Devils face Reds challengen AFP, London

Manchester United and Liverpool will remind themselves what top billing in the Premier League feels like when they lock horns for the 191st time at Old Tra� ord on Sunday.

Chelsea and Manchester City seem destined to duke it out for this season’s title, but contests between United and Liverpool often serve to show why it is their rivalry that remains the most en-during in English football.

United’s run of � ve consecutive wins has seen them climb to third place in the table, eight points behind league leaders Chelsea and � ve points below defending champions City.

But although Liverpool are sev-en points back in ninth place, United manager Louis van Gaal is aware that

his side’s recent momentum could col-lapse swiftly if they do not approach Sunday’s game correctly.

“I dream for Manchester City’s place or Chelsea’s place,” the Dutchman told MUTV.

“Now we have to live match for match and that is the most important thing. We have to beat Liverpool, which is more important than thinking about City or Chelsea.”

He added: “Of course I am aware of the rivalry. Even on the (pre-season) tour of the United States, all my sta� were saying that to me.

“We have a cook whose name is Mike and when I don’t know about any-thing to do with United and rival clubs, he shall say it! He’s a big United fan and I hear immediately from him.”

The injury problems that have be-

devilled United since the start of the season are � nally clearing, with Angel di Maria, Daley Blind, Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling the only con� rmed ab-sentees for Sunday’s match.

Defenders Phil Jones and Rafael da Silva are both in contention to start af-ter two months on the sidelines with,

respectively, shin and groin problems.Robin van Persie, meanwhile, will be

gunning for his fourth goal in four games after netting twice at Southampton.

Rodgers has also received good news on the injury front after Mario Balotelli returned to training.

The Italy striker has not played since November 8 due to a groin injury that he sustained on international duty.

In the other match of the day, Ben Davies admits he will have to keep his emotions in check when he makes his � rst return to Swansea as Tottenham visit the Liberty Stadium on Sunday.

Davies joined Spurs during the close season for a fee of around £10 million ($15 million) and is � nally establishing himself in the side after a slow start to his career at White Hart Lane.

The left-back knows it will be a shock going back to the club where he started his career, but with Tottenham lying 10th in the Premier League, two places behind Swansea and six points adrift of the Champions League, he is well aware there will be no place for sentiment.l

Gamba Osaka mid� elder Yasuhito Endo (C) celebrates on the podium with teammates after their victory over Montedio Yamagata at the Emperor’s Cup tournament in Yokohama yesterday AFP

LIGUE 1Lyon 3-0 CaenLacazette 7-P, 58, Benzia 62

DHAKA TRIBUNE Entertainment Sunday, December 14, 2014 15

Apurba Maasranga TV 11pm

A drama series Apurba revolves around four girls who are living in the metro city. They share their sorrow, happiness with one anoth-er and rejoice their interdependen-cy under one roof.

UnforgettableHBO De� ned, 4:05pm

Unsuccessfully framed for his wife’s murder, Dr. David Krane at-tempts to � nd the real culprit by utilising a new drug that allows him to experience the memories of other people.

Crouching Tiger Hidden DragonStar Movies Action, 10:30pm

Two warriors in pursuit of a sto-len sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physical-ly skilled, adolescent nobleman’s daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

Exhibition16th Asian Art Biennale BangladeshTime: 11am – 8pmNational Art GalleryBangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Meet the FacesBy Nasreen Sultana MituTime: 3pm – 9pmAlliance Francaise

Be Smart About ArtTime: 10am – 8pmAthena Gallery of Fine Arts

Shifting SandsTime: 12pm – 8pmBengal Art Lounge60, Gulshan Avenue

FilmRoar, Fury, Ek Cup ChaBig Hero 6 (3D)Pipra Bidda, OuijaTime: 10am – 10pmStar Cineplex

FAROOKI winsAPSA-MPA Award

n Entertainment Desk

Celebrated Bangladeshi � lm direc-tor Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has been awarded with a grant of $100,000 for his next directorial venture “No Land’s Man”, a dark satirical drama about religious persecution.

The “No Land’s Man” was also named as the best project at the Film Bazaar co-production market in Goa, India last month.

On Thursday, the The MPA APSA Academy Film Fund announced the grants of US$25,000 for this year at the 8th annual Asia Paci� c Screen Awards ceremony in Brisbane, Australia.

The prize winners were selected by Australian distributor Andrew Pike, China’s Zoe Chen of Ruddy Mor-gan Organization (China) and Sheila Timothy (Indonesia), producer and president of the Association of Indo-nesian Film Producers (APROFI).

Iran’s imprisoned director Jafar Panahi was also in among the recipi-ents of the award.

Panahi won the award for his project “Flower” (Goul”). This � lms is about a man who needs to kill his disabled son to bring peace to a fam-ily. Jafar Panahi’s son Panar Panahi will dirct the � lm.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Dror Moreh won for “Corridors of Power,” a con-fronting documentary examination of how the world’s political leaders have responded to reports of mass killings and genocide in recent decades.

Danish � lm-maker Signe Byrge Sorensen (“The Act of Killing”) also won for her upcoming documentary “On Screen O� Record” which charts the citizen journalist movement in Syria. l

Band Bangla performs at the National Theatre Auditorium of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on the opening day of Tareque Masud Festival 2014 on December 12. The band’s music video titled ‘Kanar Hatbazar’ directed by Tareque Masud was unveiled at the programme

Star Wars character names revealed in trading cards

n Entertainment Desk

Director JJ Abrams con� rmed the names via some old school trading cards, in a humorous nod to when the � lms were � rst released in the 1970s.

Boyega’s card showed his charac-ter to be called Finn, with Ridley’s named Rey and Isaac’s known as Poe Dameron.

The football-like droid, seen in the recent trailer, was revealed as BB:8.

The trading cards also feature a Sith warrior named Kylo Ren.

The seventh instalment of the sci-� saga is set about 30 years after the events of “Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.” The � lm, which reunites original stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher, is scheduled to be released in cinemas on December 18 2015.

Two more � lms are planned as part of the latest Star Wars chapter.

The original Star Wars trilogy, re-leased between 1977 and 1983, was envisioned by director Lucas as the central chunk of a nine-movie cycle.

Disney are behind the forthcom-ing trilogy in the franchise following a deal which saw them buy Lucas� lm for more than $4bn (£2.5bn).

An 88-second trailer was released last month, revealing a new cross-shaped lightsaber and Tie Fighters pursuing the Millennium Falcon. l

Padatik Bangladesh’s Poramati premieres todayn Entertainment Desk

Theatre troupe Padatik Bangladesh’s latest production, Poramati, which is set in 1971 premieres today at the Ex-perimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Acad-emy at 6pm.

Written by Babul Biswas and directed by Dr Irin Parvin, the production, the troupe’s thirty-� rst, portrays the torture and killing of intellectuals by Pakistani forces and their collaborators towards the end of the 1971 Liber-ation War.

Director Irin Parvin said: “It is my responsibility to convey the message of the Liberation War to the next generation. I think we have succeeded a bit in expressing our thoughts through the production.”

Ferdousi Majumder, Panna Kaisar, Shaymoli Nasrin Chowdhury and Jahid Reza Noor, family members of the martyred intellectuals, will inaugurate the production.

Indian Deputy High Commissioner Sandip Chakraborty will be present at the opening as the special guest. l

AAMIR KHAN to direct Baraf n Entertainment Desk

Aamir Khan Productions has bought the rights of a script titled Baraf writ-ten by Aditi Rao and none other than Aamir Khan is interested in directing it.

Aamir’s brother Faisal Khan who works with Aamir Khan Productions said, “I think at one point Aamir had expressed his interest in directing it. He will not act in it but I think he might still be interested in directing

it though when it will happen I don’t know. Aamir works at his own

pace. But he is de� nitely ex-cited about the script.”

A human relationships drama, “Baraf” traces the

journey of a young boy, his problems and the way

he overcomes them. Aamir had earlier directed “Taare Za-

meen Par.” l

LAWRENCE and ADAMS paid less than male American Hustle co-stars

n Entertainment Desk

Both Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams walked away with Golden Globes for their roles in “Amer-ican Hustle,” but it was their male co-stars that grabbed the real gold.

The actresses are the latest big celebrities to be named in the Sony Pictures hacking scandal that has left Hollywood both enthralled and worried.

In the latest set of emails, it has been uncovered by the Daily Beast that Jennifer and Amy were given much smaller chunks of the successful � lm’s earn-ings. The actresses were paid seven “points” (7% of the pro� ts), as opposed to the 9% her male co-stars and director David O Russell received.

While Oscar winner Jennifer was arguably the hottest star to be signed to the Seventies crime � ick, she and Amy were given a smaller percentage

of the back end - which is a split of the pro� t after the � lm breaks even - then director David O. Russell and male stars Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper.

The Daily Beast reports in an email dated De-cember 5, 2013, from Andrew Gumpert, President of Business A� airs and Administration for Colum-bia Pictures, to Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal and Doug Belgrad, President of SPE Motion Picture Group, shows the ladies were getting hustled.

Gumpert says he got a ‘rush call’ from Jennifer’s attorneys, Steve Warren and Gretchen Rush, com-plaining that the men were getting more than the ladies.

The email says: “Got a Steve Warren/Gretchen rush call that it’s unfair the male actors get 9 per-cent in the pool and Jennifer is only at 7pts [per-centage points].” l

Enacting of an acting cream n Imad Khan

Priota Farelin Iftekhar is an actor in the making. She started her acting career when she � rst appeared in Air-tel’s tele� lms, “Impossible 5” in 2013.

This was what the Bangladeshi model wanted to do, she continued pursuing what later became “the Bol-lywood dream.”

Like any person who sets forth on a � eld never ventured upon, Priota too had many questions she wanted answered before embarking on her journey, a quest to become a big-time, professional actress.

“My journey started from the day I Googled ‘best acting schools of In-dia,’ and found Actor Prepares and knew that all of my questions would be answered once I get a proper guid-ing,” says Priota. Actor Prepares is a Mumbai-based acting school for tal-ented individuals who wish to pur-sue careers as actor-performers in the entertainment industry.

Established in 2005 by Indian fa-mous actor Anupam Kher, the inten-sive professional-level course pro-

vides specialised training in acting. To those wondering what it is like

to be able to follow the steps of all those famous stars from Bollywood or even Hollywood, Priota talks about what it is like to learn how to act.

“I can now say that acting is no piece of cake. It needs hours of re-searching, studying, and rehearsing. Also, one needs to stay � t and be well groomed. Maintaining this balance makes acting a subject like no other.”

Priota counts amongst her bless-ings, the perks of getting the opportu-nity to meet and learn from the likes of Lana Wachowski and Andy Wa-chowski (the directors of The Matrix), renowned Bollywood superstars, and some of India’s � nest scriptwriters.

“It’s surprising how I came to Mumbai unable to speak a single word in Hindi and ended up acting out a ninety nine page script all in Hindi after being taught how to,” Pri-ota added.

“This just goes to show how great the teachers are over here. I’m very thankful to get the chance to learn from them.” l

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

Mamata to BJP: Stay within your limits or face musicn Tribune Report

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on BJP and the Centre on Saturday over the arrest of state Transport Minister Madan Mitra by CBI in the Saradha scam.

Mamata said Trinamool Congress MPs will protest against it in parliament from Monday, reports Indian Express yesterday.

“CBI has lost all credentials. It has become His Master’s Voice. CBI has be-come a political tool. It is time to wind it up. TMC MPs will protest in parliament from Monday against BJP’s politics of vendetta.”

Mamata Banerjee was speaking at a TMC rally.

“Stay within your limits or face the music,” she warned the BJP and the Cen-tre and added that people of Bengal will not tolerate insult. They are arrogant be-cause they are in power, she said.

Reminiscent of her earlier practice, Mamata hit the road along with thou-sands of party workers, including min-isters and several sports persons in a protest march against the arrest.

“I have not come here as chief min-ister but as a common citizen. I do not

believe that Madan is a thief or dacoit. His family’s pecuniary condition is not such that he had to take this money (from the Saradha Group) to sustain his family.”

Apparently referring to photos of Madan Mitra sharing the dias with Saradha Group Chairman Sudipta Sen, who is now in judicial custody, at a func-tion of its employees union of which he was stated to be the president, Banerjee said “If an image is a proof of criminal conspiracy, then the PM should be ar-rested for the Sahara scam.

“There are photos of several CPI-M leaders with chit fund owners. There are photos of the PM with the Sahara chief. Should we demand that CBI arrest PM Narendra Modi?” Mamata questioned.

Alleging that Madan Mitra, a key party organiser and also state sports minister, was called as the witness to the CBI o� ce and was arrested hours after, she said it was done following a phone call from Delhi.

“His son, who met him after the ar-rest was told by Madan that CBI o� cials were just interacting with him and ask-ing him as to which school and college he had studied in.”

At this stage a phone call came from Delhi following which he was arrested.

“Madan was called as a witness. If one after being called as a witness, gets arrested this way then no one will go to depose as the witness,” Mamata said.

Meanwhile, responding to her charg-es, the BJP in Delhi said Mamata is pressing the “panic button” and “rat-tled” by the possibility that her “own involvement” could come to light, re-ports the Hindustan Times.

“Dare does not matter. Sometimes I can say these are politically motivated attempts...If anything which is linking Mamata Banerjee with the scam, she would be investigated and interrogated by the CBI. It is for the CBI to take that call and not for me to direct the CBI,” BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi told reporters outside parliament

“And it will be determined on the fact of the case and investigating mate-rial, which is before the police. I am no one to direct CBI, nor is the BJP. CBI is an autonomous institution,” she added.

Lekhi said that if Mamata Banerjee has done anything wrong or committed any wrong in terms of conspiracy which has happened or if any link is found connecting her with Saradha scam “her dare will go away” because the law would then take its course.

Another party spokesperson GVL

Narsimha Rao attacked Banerjee, say-ing she has “lost all her courage” and was making “adventurous comments” without o� ering an explanation on the alleged role of her party leaders.

“She is possibly rattled by the reve-lations and possibly fears that her own involvement in the scam would come to light,” he said.

Opposition parties in West Bengal have repeatedly accused the chief min-ister of trying to shield some of the ben-e� ciaries of the company’s slush funds.

Meanwhile, West Bengal minister Madan Mitra was sent to CBI custody till Dec 16 by a Kolkata court.

Rejecting the bail plea moved by Mitra’s lawyers, the chief judicial mag-istrate’s court sent him to four days’ custody in connection with the ponzi scandal.

The Saradha scam was caused by the collapse of the investment operation of the Saradha Group, a consortium of over 200 private companies, which ran many unlicensed � nancial schemes in eastern India.

Under the scam hundreds of thou-sands of small investors lost Rs. 2,459 crore, according to an o� cial estimate. There are uno� cial estimates that peg the � gure higher. l

Actress sues cricketer Rubel n Raihan Mahmood

In the midst of the BCB-Badal controver-sy, Bangladesh cricket has been hit with another bouncer as an actress and model named Naznin Akter Happy � led a case against national paceman Rubel Hossain at the Mirpur Model Police Station yes-terday under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Happy, who appeared in a number of commercials including Airtel, demanded justice.

The actress, who has also acted in a � lm titled “Kichu Asha Kichu Bhaloba-sha” told the Dhaka Tribune over phone: “I met Rubel about one year ago and we have had a relation for the last nine months. I believed that he would marry me. But I have found out that he is involved with other girls.

“When I asked him to marry me he began to distance himself from. That is why I � led the case. I want justice as per the law.”

Salahuddin Khan, the o� cer-in-charge of Mirpur Model Police Station, admitted the fact: “Yes, a case has been � led against Rubel Hossain by Naznin Akter Happy. Rubel owns a � at in Mir-pur and the plainti� used to go there. There are allegations of physical rela-tion with the promise of marriage. We are looking into the facts and will take necessary steps according to the law.”

Despite repeated attempts, Rubel’s mobile phone was found switched o� . l

Road Safety Council wakes up after 2yrsAt least 10 crucial decisions taken in the last meeting only gathered dustn Shohel Mamun

Entitled to formulate plans to curbing road accidents, the National Road Safe-ty Council (NRSC) has called a meeting for its reformation after more than two years of hibernation.

The council held its last meeting on June 17, 2012 and came up with a set of recommendations which were never implemented. Now it has called a fresh meeting for December 21 with a hope to start functioning again.

“The committee had 44 members comprising of representatives of al-most every ministry related with the road accident issue. But some mem-bers have already gone on retirement,” Road Transport and Highways Secre-tary MAN Siddique told the Dhaka Trib-une recently.

The committee did not work due to “bureaucratic problems.” In the last meeting, the panel had taken more than 10 major decisions, but those just gathered dust.

Around 3,000 people are killed in road accidents across the country every year, according to police records. But the World Bank puts the � gure at 12,000 while the World Health Organ-isation says it is 18,000, according to a 2011 report of Buet’s research institute.

Prof Tanweer Hasan, a road trans-ports expert, said: “The government has hardly taken steps to minimise road accidents. Had the council been active, we would have seen at least see some visible progress.”

Apart from the council, there are two other committees that work on cutting down road accidents – Road Transport Advisory Council and Cabi-

net Committee on Road Safety. Govern-ment o� cials, law enforcers, experts and rights activists are members of the committees which have also been sit-ting idle for years.

Since its inception in 1995, the NRSC has formulated six road safety action plans between 1997 and 2011. In the lat-est plan, it has identi� ed nine sectors that are to be improved for ensuring road safety. They include road engi-neering, tra� c legislation, tra� c law enforcement, driver training and tests, vehicle safety, education, publicity and medical services.

The NRSC also drew up a detailed plan and course of action, and speci� ed responsibilities of di� erent govern-ment bodies. But none of those have been implemented.

However, the 44-member body looked so “e� cient” with Minister Obaidul Quader as its convener and BRTA Chairman Nazrul Islam the mem-ber secretary.

The forgotten committee also in-cludes Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, State Minister for Home Asaduz-zaman Khan Kamal, State Minister for Cooperatives Moshiur Rahman Ranga, Chairman of the Parliamentary Stand-ing Committee of Road Transport and Bridges Ministry Akabbor Hussain.

Member Secretary Nazrul said: “We are frustrated with this committee as it has not work out. We hope a reformed committee will perform desirably; at least, they will hold meetings regular-ly.”

The committee had also decided to form a sub-committee. It has been for-gotten. They also decided to establish a training institute which was never dis-cussed thereafter.

There was another decision of draft-ing the Road Transport Act in Bengali so that everyone could understand it. This decision too has been pending.

An NRSC member and � lm star Ilias Kanchan said: “We took many good de-cisions. But those were not implement-ed due to lack of sincerity of the im-plementing agencies and bureaucratic tangles. The reformed committee will not be a successful one if the bureau-cratic tangles are not removed.” l

With only one day left to the celebration of the 43rd Victory Day, the lake by the Independence Monument at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan still lies � lled with � lth. The photo was taken yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

The NRSC also drew up a detailed plan and course of action, and speci� ed responsibilities of di� erent government bodies

IS top tweeter Mehdi held in Bengaluru, group vows to free himn Tribune report

The young engineer behind a popular pro-Islamic State (IS) Twitter account was arrested yesterday at his one-room rented accommodation in an upscale Bengaluru neighbourhood, triggering pledges to free him by those subscribing to the terror group’s alarming agenda.

Mehdi Masroor Biswas, the man who operated pro-IS Twitter handle, worked for a MNC, reports the Hindustan Times.

“On the basis of credible intelligence inputs ... we have apprehended Mehdi Masroor Biswas from his apartment,” said Director General of Police LR Pachuau.

The mobile phone – the one that he apparently used to tweet thousands of jihadi posts to his 17,000 followers on Twitter – was con� scated along with a laptop and other documents for evidence.

Police said 24-year-old Mehdi from a Kolkata suburb working with ITC in Bengaluru didn’t probably have any direct links with the terror group which controls swathes of Syria and Iraq as part of its campaign to create an Islamic caliphate.

“He appears to have been only majorly active in the virtual world,” said Bengaluru Police Commissioner MN Reddi.

Police said he used to post Twitter messages after o� ce hours, cheering the IS’s advances in Iraq and Syria, and mocking its enemies.

“He was particularly close to the English-speaking terrorists of IS and

became a source of incitement and information for the new recruits trying to join IS,” Reddi said.

A case was registered against him for abetting war against the state.

But his parents in Kolkata said he was being framed. “He is religious but not a fanatic to join a terrorist group. He didn’t go to a madrasa and doesn’t even know Arabic,” said mother Mamtaz Be-gam.

Britain’s Channel4 on Wednesday night revealed Mehdi as the man behind the Twitter handle @ShamiWitness that was described as a “leading conduit of information between jihadis, supporters and recruits” with 2 million views each month.

But Reddi said Biswas never recruited anyone or facilitated any such activity in India, and had never traveled outside India.

Reports suggest Mehdi was seeking cheap thrill as he was drawn into the IS propaganda machine that promotes its conquests, inspires sympathisers and attracts new recruits through the social media.

The IS uses Hollywood-style � lm

clips and other elements to attract disa� ected but plugged-in young Muslims like Mehdi, a regular man who shares “jokes, pictures of pizza dinners with friends and Hawaiian parties at work” on his Facebook account. His arrest prompted IS to launch a “Free Shami Witness” campaign while Kurdish � ghters in Syria celebrated the news.

“Bengaluru ruthless police arrest brother Mehdi Masroor Biswas as owner of @ShamiWitness twitter acc,” wrote IS Tweeter handle, @IS_WorldPress, drawing immediate response from the group’s supporters across the world to free him at any cost.

“We all miss #ShamiWitness twitter isnt the same without his news,” tweeted JanissaryFighter (?@SaifAlRasheed97).

Kurdish � ghters, the IS’s bitter enemies, uploaded morphed pictures of Biswas behind the bars, wearing Santa Claus hats.

Meanwhile, ITC Ltd, where IS twitter handler Mehdi Masroor Biswas is employed, is engaged with the police who are investigating the matter and has said that this is now a top priority area for the company, reports The Hindu.

When contacted, ITC, which is headquartered in the city, said that Biswas was employed with its Foods Division and the company has extended every co operation with the investigation process.

“We are engaged with the police for the investigation. That is the top-most priority,” the company said. l

He was particularly close to the English-speaking terrorists of IS and became a source of incitement and information for the new recruits trying to join IS

Instead of a warning sign, the signpost on this manhole reads: “I have been ill for the last 22 days. No one is here to take care of me. Will I stay like this forever?” A manhole without cover is apparently a common scenario in many of the city streets, however, the satirical signpost set on this one on the North Brook Hall Road of the capital stands apart to catch the eyes of the authorities concerned MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

www.dhakatribune.com/business SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2014

B3 Congress misses out on Lagarde’s ‘belly dance’ by rejecting IMF reforms

B4 Global oil demand to slow despite price rout

Shasha Denims to raise production by 180% n Tribune Report

A leading export-oriented denim fabric producer Shasha Denims is set to increase its production capacity by 180% in next one and a half year through raising fund from the stock market.

“The production will be raised from 10 lakh yards to 28 lakh yards in next one and a half years,” said Jamal Abdun Naser, a director of the company based in Dhaka Ex-port Processing Zone.

He said the fund to be raised through IPO will be used to pur-chase modern machinery to im-prove the quality of denim fabrics and also increase volume of pro-duction.

He briefed a group of jour-nalists at the Shasha Denims manufacturing plant premises at Dhaka EPZ yesterday. The com-pany’s Managing Director Shams

Mahmud and chief � nancial of-� cer Md Ahasanul Huq were also present.

Receiving green signal from the Bangladesh Securities and Ex-change Commission to go ahead with IPO plan in October last, the company will raise Tk175 crore through the IPO with 88% of the fund to be spent on the expansion.

It will also use Tk18.23 crore for partial repayment of bank loans and the rest Tk 2.77 crore for bearing the expenses of the IPO proceedings.

The denim producer will of-� oad � ve crore ordinary shares at an o� er price of Tk 35 each, includ-ing a premium of Tk 25 for each Tk 10 share. The IPO subscription will begin tomorrow (December 14) and end on December 21.

Naser said there is a huge de-mand-supply gap for denim fab-rics both at local and internation-

al markets. “Being one of the high quality denim fabric producers in the country, we want to exploit the opportunity.”

Every month, 25 local makers produce 30m yards of denim fab-rics while the demand is nearly 60m yards, he said.

To meet the demand, 30-35m yards of such fabrics are imported every month at $75m on an aver-age from di� erent countries, in-cluding China, India and Pakistan.

Starting commercial produc-tion in 2000, Shasha has around 15% of Bangladesh’s market share, after Partex Denims with 17%, followed by Envoy Denim with around 13%.

The company is denim sup-plier to world’s top retailers and brands, including H&M, Uniqlo, Levis, Nike, Tesco, Wrangler, s.Ol-iver, Hugo Boss, Puma, Primark, JC Penney, C&A, Tommy Hil� ger, Inditex, Walmart, M&S, Calvin Klein, Diesel, Gap, Channel, Dior and G-Star.

The main raw material used for the production is yarn, which the company imports mainly from China, India and Pakistan.

According to the audited � nan-cial reports for the year ending on December 31, 2013, the compa-ny’s earnings per share stood at Tk 3.73, while its net asset value is Tk 52.95 per share. l

BKMEA Palli to be developed in Narayanganjn Tribune Report

The government will establish a BK-MEA Palli at Shantir Chor in Narayan-ganj to help ensure compliance in the country’s knitwear sector.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed came up with the disclosure while un-veiling the “Global Buyers Information Directory (GBID)” in Dhaka yesterday.

The announcement came in re-sponse to a BKMEA demand to estab-lish a special area for the knitwear in-dustry to make the sector compliant and modern.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufactur-ers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) launched Global Buyers’ Information Directory (GBID) for the entrepreneurs to help knitwear export to further en-

hance the export market. The directory contains detailed in-

formation of 25,000 buyers of 160 coun-tries across the globe, which has been published with the help of BKMEA.

Tofail said: “As we want to modernise the country’s apparel industry and also to make it complaint as well, the govern-ment will extend all out cooperation and help build a Palli for the BKMEA.”

BKMEA president Salim Osman urged the minister to establish a Palli for the knitwear sector and a hospital for the workers to ensure health safety.

“We only can use 60% of our work-ing capacity due to lack of gas electric-ity and water supply,’’ said the BKMEA president. He also demanded subsidy for the diesel, as they need to use it to generate power through generator in

case of insu� cient power or gas supply. “If the uninterrupted supply of gas

and electricity was ensured, the sector would be able to double the export vol-ume to US$13bn by 2016,” he added.

State Minister for labour and Employ-ment Mujibul Haque Chunnu said: “If there is no negative attitude towards the workers, it will be better for the business and Bangladesh would be able to reach RMG export target of $50bn by 2021.

The minister also noted that the government was working for reducing the gap between the workers and the owners by ensuring good relations be-tween them.

Necessary measures would also be taken to build a labour o� ce and a hos-pital at Chashara in Narayanganj as per the demand of BKMEA, he added. l

BB to extend repayment period of green re� nancing schemeIt would be made � ve or six years from existing three years n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has decided to extend the credit repayment period for renewable energy projects, making easier the green � nancing conditions to boost fund disbursement.

“Just now I have decided to extend the loan repayment tenure from three years to � ve or six years for renewable energy projects,” Governor Atiur Rah-man told a conference on Green Fi-nance for Sustainable Development in the city yesterday.

At present, a borrower has to pay back the loan with interest within three years from the date of � rst disbursement.

The central bank’s green loan relaxa-tion came in response to the renewable energy companies’ recommendations put forward at the event, arranged by the NeoSTAR Innovation, a IT � rm that has developed an online platform ‘GDNET’ to facilitate information shar-ing and to strengthen communication process between banks, entrepreneurs, technology providers and researchers.

Around 10 institutions, including Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy, Ener-gypac, NCC Bank, IFIC Bank and NRB Global Bank, took part at the confer-ence aiming at bridging the gap be-tween � nanciers and stakeholders.

In response to another recommen-dation, the governor said, “I’ve already asked to form a voluntary advisory committee drawing representatives from private sector, development part-ners and stakeholders to � nd out strat-egy for taking green movement faster.”

He urged energy � rms to innovate green projects related to carbon emis-sion-free industry for reducing risk of damaging environment and bankers to set up one cold-storage by each bank in the country from their CSR funds to participate in taking green movement forward.

He said BB has so far identi� ed 47 green products under BB re� nance scheme where 23 are green energy. If any bank or � nancial institution will come up with innovative green prod-uct that truly contributes to environ-mental conservation, BB will seriously

look into the issue for identifying the product as a green one, he said.

“The central bank has set annual target to banks and � nancial institu-tions for direct � nance which will be mandatory from January 2015. Shift-ing the investment from fossil-fuel to green energy is the only way of trans-forming economic growth paths.”

CEO of Energypac Electronics Ltd Nurul Aktar said for quicker imple-mentation of “go green movement,” a green committee is needed. “We have still gap between � nanciers and stake-

holders in some issues.”He said improving energy e� ciency

level is also a strong element for green movement. “Unfortunately, this has not been given due diligence.”

Managing Director of Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Munawar Misbah Moin requested the central bank to simplify the due diligence process of green � nancing. “Typically, loan is tied to the project. Tenure is a mismatch with the project lifeline.”

According to Moin’s presentation paper, in Bangladesh, the loan repay-

ment period is from 3 to 10 years with interest rate ranging from 8 to 12%, but in countries like India, China and Thai-land, it is 5 to 15 years with interest rate from 3 to 7%.

Over the last 10 years, renewable energy with largest contribution from solar home systems generated 162mw of power, the paper said.

BB has so far disbursed more than Tk1,000 crore in the renewable energy sector and, of which, only 1.9% or 200 crore went into green � nancing pro-jects, it said.

GIZ Sustainable Energy for Develop-ment Programme Manager David Peter Hancock put importance on seamless collaboration among stakeholders, pol-icy makers and stakeholders for mak-ing the green movement successful.

“I think there is a bit of disconnect between the � nancier and stakeholder. Commercial bank is not familiar with such business.”

Vice Chairman of NCC Bank ASM Main Uddin Monem and CEO of NeoS-TAR Innovation Edward Apurba Singha also spoke at the vent. l

Solar panels installed on the rooftop of a city building as part of the country’s campaign for going green SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Fayekuzzaman made ICB MD for 5th time n Asif Showkat Kallol

Md Fayekuzzaman has once again been appointed as managing Director of the state-run � nancial institution, Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB), for the � fth time in a row, despite having strong allegations that he had played negative role in the share mar-ket crash during 2009.

Bank and Financial Institutions Division issued a circular on Wednesday, appointmenting him for the � fth-time.

According to a high o� cial of the Banking division, Md Fayekuzzaman is a lucky man as he got the appointment for the � fth time.

He is the person who appointed highest number of employees under

contract since he became the MD of ICB. As contacted over phone, Fayekuz-

zaman declined to make any remark. He has reportedly requested the jour-nalists, who are familiar with him, not to publish any news about the appoint-ment again.

Former Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank and Chairman of the probe committee on the share market scam Ibharhim Khelad, however, in his report admitted the fact that there was a negative role of the MD of ICB during the crash of the share market in 2009.

“I don’t really understand how the same person, who has allegedly been involved in corruption, has once again been appointed,” Ibrahim Khaled told the Dhaka Tribune.

Referring the age limit for the po-sition, he also said, “There should be no question if his age is below 65 as per law, but if he crossed the age lim-it, there should be question to be an-swered by the government.”

Questioning the tenure of the ex-tension, he also observed that the ap-pointment should be made for at least three years. 

Md Fayekuzzaman had joined ICB as a MD for the � rst time on July 11, 2010. Earlier, he had served as deputy MD of the state-owned Agrani Bank.

He was appointed as a MD of ICB on December 5, 2013 for the fourth time, the tenure of which came to an end on December 4 this year and again he got another year of extension, ICB o� cials said. l

Tofail: Government to implement apparel summit recommendationsn Tribune Report

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said the government will implement recommendations mobi-lised from the “Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014” to make Bangladesh a number one RMG exporting country.

“We have been able to probe that Rana Plaza collapse does not depict the holistic picture of RMG sector. There is something good here that represents global standard also,” Tofail said in his address at a post-Apparel Summit me-dia brie� ng at BGMEA o� ce.

He described the summit as mostly needed to brand Bangladesh following the Rana Plaza building collapse.

The Apparel Summit, � rst in its kind in Bangladesh, issued a set of recom-mendations including better infra-structure, availability of power and gas, political stability, workers’ knowledge, raising awareness on safety issues, ac-cess to low-cost � nancing for remedi-ation and relocation of RMG factories, ethical pricing, constructive criticism from media and good governance.

The minister said foreign buyers and friends that participated in the event realised that $50bn export vision is a realistic one for Bangladesh.

Quoting the participants at the pro-gramme, Tofail said Bangladesh does not seem to be a Least Developed Country.

It is a miracle that even after RMG factory visits foreign delegates were pleased with their standard, he noted.

“We have been able to identify chal-lenges and ways forward to reach the export target by 2021 and to make a road map for sustainable development of RMG sector,” BGMEA President M Atiqul Islam said.

He claimed that a good relationship between apparel makers and western civil society members and buyers has been established.

“Bangladesh is even ahead of Ameri-ca in terms of labour price and we would go ahead with our own speed and ca-pacity,” Atiqul said, adding that Bang-ladesh has been rati� ed by ILO in eight categories while the US in only two.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) organised the “Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014” to draw a road map for export tar-get, marking the golden jubilee celebra-tion for the country’s independence. l

The company will raise Tk175 crore through the IPO with 88% of the fund to be spent on the expansion

Skills development stressed for economic growth n Tribune Report

State Minister for the Ministry of Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chun-nu yesterday said skill manpower is a crucial need for Bangladesh to attain a middle-income status by 2021 and to ac-celerate the country’s economic growth.

“Bangladesh needs to develop workers’ skill and educate them to be able to contribute to the national eco-nomic growth,” he said.

Mujibul was addressing as the chief gust the inaugural ceremony of a three-day programme titled “Industry-respon-sive skills: a road map for development.”

The British Council in partnership with the National Skills Development Council (NSDC) is hosting the event that focuses on the importance of skill development in the � eld of national economic and social growth.

B3 COLUMN 1

B2 Stock Sunday, December 14, 2014DHAKA TRIBUNE

News, analysis and recent disclosersAGM/DividendSONALIANSH: The Board of Directors has recommended 10% cash dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 30.12.2014, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: White House Hotel, 155, Shantinagar, Dhaka-1217. Record Date: 21.12.2014. The Company has also reported net pro� t of Tk. 1.62 million, EPS of Tk. 0.60, NAV per share of Tk. 225.58 and NOCFPS of Tk. (15.53) for the year ended on June 30, 2014 as against Tk. 7.19 million, Tk. 2.65, Tk. 226.00 and Tk. (24.23) respectively for the year ended on June 30, 2013.HFL: The Board of Directors has recom-mended 10% cash dividend and 10% stock dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 30.12.2014, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: Trust Milonayaton, 545 Old Airport Road, Dhaka. Record Date: 22.12.2014. The Company has also report-ed EPS of Tk. 5.58 (restated 3.46), NAV per share of Tk. 46.78 (restated 42.30) and NOCFPS of Tk. 3.01 for the year end-ed on June 30, 2014 as against Tk. 5.09, Tk. 41.20 and Tk. 4.42 respectively for the year ended on June 30, 2013.Audited/unaudited Financial Reports:BSC: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 30th September 2014 (July'14 to Sep'14), the Company has reported pro� t/(loss) after tax of Tk. 22.55 million with EPS of Tk. 1.66 as against Tk. 17.54 million and Tk. 1.29 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Accumulated pro� t/(loss) of the Company was Tk. (2,320.33)

million as on 30.09.2014.EHL: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 31st October 2014 (Aug'14 to Oct'14), the Company has reported pro� t after tax of Tk. 50.72 million with EPS of Tk. 0.60 as against Tk. 31.36 million and Tk. 0.37 respectively for the same period of the previous year.KEYACOSMET: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 30th September 2014 (July'14 to Sep'14), the Company has reported net pro� t after tax of Tk. 105.17 million with EPS of Tk. 0.59 as against Tk. 94.96 million and Tk. 0.53 respectively for the same period of the previous year.Fixed Assets/Right/Investment:FUWANGFOOD: The Company has in-formed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to go for commer-cial operation of Fu-Wang Chocolate Bar and di� erent types of Chocolate Coated Products from December 07, 2014 and its annual turnover is expected to be around Tk. 20.00 Crore.POPULARLIF: The Company has in-formed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to purchase land of 7.80 Decimal with Building Plot No. B-11, K.D.A, M A Mojid Sorani, Sonadanga, Khulna. Tortal price amounting Tk. 6.10 Crore approximate only.SINGERBD: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Com-pany has approved 40% equity partic-ipation in the International Appliances

Limited (IAL), a proposed private limited company. The proposed company will manufacture refrigerators, deep freezers and other appliances.HFL: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to purchase a land mea-suring 153.25 Decimal at Shilmandi, Narsingdi Sadar, Narsingdi at a cost of Tk. 12,62,65,948 from Victory Cables Industries Limited for Yarn Dyeing Unit (Expansion Unit) of the Company.Credit Rating:PHOENIXFIN: Alpha Credit Rating Limit-ed (AlphaRating) has rated the Company as "A+" in the long term and "AR-2" in the short term along with a stable outlook based on audited � nancial information of the Company up to December 31, 2013 and quantitative and qualitative informa-tion up to November , 2014.BXPHARMA: Credit Rating Information and Services Limited (CRISL) has rated the Company as "AA-" in the long term and "ST-2" in the short term along with a stable outlook based on audited � nancial statements of the Company up to December 31, 2013, unaudited � nancials up to September 30, 2014 and other relevant quantitative as well as qualita-tive information up to the date of rating declaration.GLOBALINS: National Credit Ratings Lim-ited (NCR) has announced the rating of the Company as A in the long term based on audited � nancial statements of the Company up to December 31, 2013.

Stocks slips into red past week n Tribune Report

Stock markets slipped into red last week after a strong rebound in the last to last week as investors turned cautious and booked pro� ts on launching of new trading platform.

Dealers said automated trading platform launched into closing ses-sion of the week that ended Thurs-day leading investor to take ‘wait and see’ policy.

In the past week, the benchmark index DSEX lost almost 29 points or 0.6% to settle at 4,933, chipping away from previous week’s signi� -cant rise of 189 points.

The comprising blue chips DS30 index was down 20 points or 1% to 1,823. The DSE Shariah Index shed 6 points or 0.6% to 1,155.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Categories Index, CSCX, declined 54 points or 0.6% to 9,256.

The past week’s average daily turnover value stood at Tk360 crore, down 9% over the previous week. On the closing session, turnover hit 14-month low following the intro-duction of the new trading system at the bourse.

Over the past week, power sec-tor lost the most 3.8%, followed by life insurance 3%, general insurance 2.6%, engineering 2.4%, cement 2% and pharmaceuticals 1.6%.

Telecommunication was the week’s best performer surging al-most 3%, food and allied 2%.

Banks, non-banking � nancial insti-

tutions, service and real estate, IT and jute were among other top sectoral gainers of the week. Small caps were also in the buying radar of investor.

During the week, investors pre-ferred centralising their position in pharmaceuticals and chemicals, tex-tile and engineering sector.

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) launched its new automated trading platform powered by NASDAQ tech-nology and DSEFlex-TP OMS from FlexTrade.

The system is expected to solve problems of odd lot and few other glitches which existed in the old sys-tem.

Lanka Bangla Securities said in the past week the benchmark index lost amid cautious trading behaviour among investors.

IDLC Investments said absorbing a number of � at-ends, increased lev-el of volatility kept overall market movement sluggish, in the past week.

It said investors were observ-ing the newly introduced trading platform of DSE. Besides, ampli� ed trading in mid and mini caps fos-tered volatility as investors contin-ued searching lucrative spreads.

Overall, investors remained cau-tious and were looking for perfect con� rmation of trend reversal, it said.

“With lower participation market was slowing down, as investors were re-balancing portfolio, cautiously. Since they were searching for lucra-tive spreads, volatility in mid and min caps surged.” l

CSE LOSERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Hamid Fabrics -N -21.26 -26.62 44.43 43.70 59.50 43.00 147.092 3.12 14.2Khan Brothers-N -19.15 -21.08 34.00 34.20 41.50 33.40 28.083 1.36 25.0WesternMarine -N -15.82 -14.74 49.11 47.90 57.30 47.30 57.779 1.80 27.3Meghna Petroleum -A -15.75 -15.29 222.95 222.50 243.00 220.50 11.790 23.44 9.5Shurwid Ind. -N -10.78 -11.45 29.78 29.80 33.30 29.60 5.414 0.76 39.2SonarBangla Insu. -A -10.53 -10.53 15.30 17.00 17.20 17.00 0.134 1.77 8.6Orion Infusions -A -8.79 -9.04 44.05 43.60 48.00 43.20 11.046 3.64 12.1Sa� o Spinning-A -7.69 -4.10 32.98 32.40 37.40 32.20 3.182 1.24 26.6Keya Cosmetics -A -7.56 -9.53 26.97 26.90 29.60 26.60 29.010 2.36 11.4Provati Insur.-A -6.98 -8.14 19.74 20.00 21.50 18.60 1.148 1.97 10.0

DSE LOSERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Hamid Fabrics -N -21.93 -27.54 44.22 43.80 58.90 43.30 632.418 3.12 14.2Sonali Ansh -A -20.06 -19.76 113.98 112.80 150.00 110.50 30.628 0.60 190.0Khan Brothers-N -19.62 -22.45 33.72 34.00 41.90 32.20 180.035 1.36 24.8WesternMarine -N -16.40 -15.93 48.43 47.40 57.50 46.80 310.103 1.80 26.9Meghna Petroleum -A -15.03 -15.04 223.71 224.40 237.30 208.00 208.037 23.44 9.5PragatiLife Insu. -Z -11.07 -11.76 88.83 89.20 100.00 88.10 1.096 2.38 37.3Shurwid Ind. -N -10.75 -12.21 29.70 29.90 33.60 29.10 52.860 0.76 39.1Reliance Insur -A -10.45 -11.34 57.72 58.30 60.10 56.00 1.922 3.79 15.2ICB Islamic Bank-Z -8.62 -9.09 5.30 5.30 5.90 5.20 6.476 -0.71 -veOrion Infusions -A -8.00 -8.60 44.23 43.70 48.30 43.60 74.888 3.64 12.2

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

Square Pharma -A 574,837 150.49 8.58 260.50 -0.38 261.50 264.00 257.00 260.52Hamid Fabrics -N 2,850,800 147.09 8.39 43.70 -21.26 55.50 59.50 43.00 44.43Midas Financing-Z 7,509,000 105.15 6.00 17.30 17.69 14.70 17.40 15.80 17.33SummitAlliancePort.-A 738,619 61.81 3.53 87.10 15.21 75.60 87.30 76.30 86.58BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 1,497,241 58.89 3.36 37.80 -6.44 40.40 42.50 35.00 38.11WesternMarine -N 1,090,600 57.78 3.30 47.90 -15.82 56.90 57.30 47.30 49.11R. N. Spinning-Z 1,212,550 39.82 2.27 32.50 9.43 29.70 35.80 29.10 32.60Beximco Pharma -A 570,265 37.80 2.16 63.90 -4.20 66.70 69.40 60.00 63.98Moza� ar H.Spinning-A 1,419,000 36.09 2.06 27.30 12.81 24.20 27.50 23.50 27.07Grameenphone-A 87,400 31.39 1.79 364.70 3.43 352.60 370.00 348.10 364.67

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

Beximco Pharma -A 10,698,074 711.64 3.95 63.90 -4.91 67.20 69.40 60.00 63.91Hamid Fabrics -N 12,076,907 632.42 3.51 43.80 -21.93 56.10 58.90 43.30 44.22SummitAlliancePort.-A 6,325,086 522.34 2.90 87.40 15.92 75.40 87.70 72.50 86.78Square Pharma -A 1,950,513 509.39 2.83 260.80 -0.84 263.00 280.00 237.00 261.39Grameenphone-A 1,328,403 476.30 2.64 363.10 2.98 352.60 369.00 348.80 364.00Quasem Drycells -A 6,332,987 442.21 2.45 77.40 25.04 61.90 78.00 57.00 76.47BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 10,038,576 397.12 2.20 37.90 -6.19 40.40 41.50 35.50 37.99Keya Cosmetics -A 13,996,736 393.36 2.18 26.80 -7.90 29.10 29.60 25.00 26.77BD. Thai Alum -B 6,830,881 345.63 1.92 52.90 11.37 47.50 53.70 44.00 52.57Jamuna Oil -A 1,274,860 318.45 1.77 247.40 -2.71 254.30 257.60 227.00 246.94

CSE GAINERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Aziz PipesZ 35.10 33.25 27.73 28.10 30.10 18.80 0.872 -0.37 -veQuasem Drycells -A 31.38 25.21 77.47 78.30 79.00 62.10 11.395 2.24 34.6Tung Hai Knitting -N 20.24 16.82 19.79 20.20 20.50 16.90 28.502 1.19 16.6Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z 17.90 17.47 19.43 19.10 20.00 15.00 20.204 0.08 242.9Midas Financing-Z 17.69 17.89 17.33 17.30 17.40 15.80 105.149 -7.00 -veAnwar Galvanizing-B 16.99 15.56 42.18 42.70 42.90 36.50 1.321 0.84 50.2SummitAlliancePort.-A 15.21 14.19 86.58 87.10 87.30 76.30 61.809 0.88 98.4Samata LeatheR -Z 14.75 14.75 21.00 21.00 21.00 21.00 0.011 0.05 420.0Imam Button -Z 13.92 10.76 8.85 9.00 9.20 7.70 0.471 -1.72 -veMoza� ar H.Spinning-A 12.81 10.67 27.07 27.30 27.50 23.50 36.090 2.80 9.7

DSE GAINERS

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Shampur Sugar -Z 34.67 34.13 10.10 10.10 10.30 7.70 1.363 -52.72 -veAziz PipesZ 28.31 25.46 27.40 28.10 29.00 22.00 7.130 -0.37 -veQuasem Drycells -A 25.04 21.63 76.47 77.40 78.00 57.00 442.206 2.24 34.1Anwar Galvanizing-B 20.17 16.35 41.63 42.30 42.70 33.00 42.037 0.84 49.6Dulamia CottonZ 19.12 18.17 8.13 8.10 8.60 6.90 0.923 -3.84 -veTung Hai Knitting -N 18.60 16.09 19.91 20.40 20.60 16.90 136.765 1.19 16.7Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z 17.07 17.08 19.60 19.20 20.20 15.00 152.254 0.08 245.0SummitAlliancePort.-A 15.92 14.53 86.78 87.40 87.70 72.50 522.339 0.88 98.6Tallu Spinning -Z 14.29 12.87 15.87 16.00 16.50 14.10 19.562 -0.48 -veZeal Bangla Sugar -Z 13.92 11.32 9.05 9.00 9.10 7.90 0.216 -47.80 -ve

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 2016.32 11.19 143.44 7.79 2159.77 10.87NBFI 1472.92 8.17 179.91 9.77 1652.83 8.32Investment 169.15 0.94 18.46 1.00 187.61 0.94Engineering 2310.58 12.82 215.51 11.70 2526.08 12.72Food & Allied 975.32 5.41 44.91 2.44 1020.23 5.14Fuel & Power 1935.60 10.74 127.16 6.91 2062.75 10.38Jute 30.71 0.17 0.00 0.00 30.71 0.15Textile 2520.56 13.99 398.51 21.64 2919.07 14.70Pharma & Chemical 2675.28 14.84 295.64 16.05 2970.93 14.96Paper & Packaging 102.45 0.57 35.71 1.94 138.16 0.70Service 775.58 4.30 83.54 4.54 859.12 4.33Leather 204.10 1.13 31.45 1.71 235.54 1.19Ceramic 120.51 0.67 10.70 0.58 131.21 0.66Cement 523.62 2.91 37.01 2.01 560.63 2.82Information Technology 318.49 1.77 16.52 0.90 335.01 1.69General Insurance 126.09 0.70 9.98 0.54 136.06 0.68Life Insurance 170.64 0.95 8.25 0.45 178.88 0.90Telecom 513.17 2.85 39.47 2.14 552.64 2.78Travel & Leisure 276.37 1.53 41.13 2.23 317.50 1.60Miscellaneous 783.79 4.35 104.09 5.65 887.88 4.47Debenture 1.14 0.01 0.10 0.01 1.24 0.01

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4933.03008 (-) 0.58% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1823.64439 (-) 1.09% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 15180.7959 (-) 0.56% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 12443.0300 (-) 0.97% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 9256.5254 (-) 0.58% ▼

DSE key features December 7-11, 2014Turnover (Million Taka)

18,022.38

Turnover (Volume)

477,642,849

Number of Contract 460,329

Traded Issues 316

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

108

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

205

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,640.28

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.00

CSE key features December 7-11, 2014Turnover (Million Taka) 1,765.84

Turnover (Volume) 56,652,518

Number of Contract 66,414

Traded Issues 258

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

97

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

156

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,544.32

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.84

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

Absorbing a number of � at-ends, increased level of volatility kept overall market movement sluggish, in the past week

ANALYST

B3BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

Godrej Household Products (Bangladesh) Private Limited has recently announced the launch of its product, GoodKnight Advanced Fast Card

bKash has recently signed two separate agreements with City Medical College & Hospital Ltd. and City Dental College & Hospital Ltd. to facilitate the patients with the two medical institutions to pay their medical bills through bKash. Rezaul Hossain, chief commercial o� cer of bKash, Dr Meghdeep Badruddoza, director of Hospital Administration, City Medical College & Hospital and assistant project director of City Dental College & Hospital have signed the agreements on behalf of their organisations

Rupali Bank Limited has recently opened its 534th branch at Nandail, Mymensing. Member of parliament Anwarul Abedin Khan attended the inaugural ceremony as chief guest at the presence of the bank’s general manager, Arifur Rahman

Lotto Bangladesh has recently organised Franchise Conference 2014 at Army Golf Club in Dhaka. The company’s managing director Kazi Jamil Islam was present at the conference among others

Congress misses out on Lagarde’s ‘belly dance’ by rejecting IMF reforms Washington, along with other major countries o� cially supported the reforms in 2010 n Tribune Business Desk

International Monetary Fund Man-aging Director Christine Lagarde on Friday expressed her disappointment over the US Congress’s rejection to rat-ify crucial IMF reforms supported by other major countries.

She said the US inaction on the re-forms, delayed now more than two years by Washington, would force the global crisis lender to seek other ways to build its � nancial resources and modernize its voting structure.

In October, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde jokingly promised to perform a belly dance in front of Con-gress if it gave its o� cial approval.

The IMF was left hanging untilthis week after US legislators failed to en-dorse the reforms in the � nal budget legislation of the year.

“The IMF’s membership has been calling on and was expecting the United States to approve the IMF’s 2010 Quota and Governance Reforms by year end,” Lagarde said in a statement.

“Adoption of the reforms remains critical to strengthen the Fund’s credi-bility, legitimacy, and e� ectiveness, and to ensure it has su� cient permanent resources to meet its members’ needs.”

“I have expressed my disappoint-ment to the US authorities and hope that they continue to work toward speedy rati� cation.”

With the White House supportive of the reforms, the IMF had held out hopes that a rati� cation would be in-cluded in the huge budget bill that was passed late Thursday. But Republicans in Congress prevented the bill from in-cluding Congressional endorsement.

Washington o� cially supported

the reforms in 2010 when they were formulated. As the IMF’s largest single shareholder by far, the US rati� cation is essential to get the necessary endorse ment of 85% of the membership by

voting power. Earlier Friday China, the world’s second largest economy but with only four percent of voting rights in the Fund - barely larger than Italy’s - said it was “deeply disappointed” in

the US inaction. The 2010 reforms would have in-

creased China’s shareholding slightly, while leaving the US, Europe and Japan the dominant powers in the Fund.

“Implementing the 2010 funding and governance reform is crucial for maintaining the credibility, e� ective-ness and legality of the IMF,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. l

CORPORATE NEWS

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde speaks at the Tokyo International Forum REUTERS

Labourers work at the construction site of a bridge being built over the river Yamuna for metro rail in New Delhi REUTERS

IMF to move on new plan after US snubs reforms again n AFP, Washington

The International Monetary Fund will begin weighing options in January for a new set of crucial governance and funding reforms after the US Congress again refused to ratify the existing plan.

Spokesman William Murray said Thursday that the IMF board would meet next month to weigh “alterna-tive options” to the 2010 reform plan held up by Congress’s reticence to en-dorse it.

“We are following developments on Capitol Hill very closely. Our position regarding the need to rapidly advance the Fund’s quota and governance re-forms remains unchanged,” Murray told reporters.

“Prompt entry into force of the 2010 quota and governance reforms is of utmost importance to preserve the quota-based nature of the IMF, and strengthen its legitimacy, e� ectiveness and relevance,” he said.

The IMF was left hanging Wednes-day after US legislators failed to en-dorse the reforms in the � nal budget legislation of the year. After waiting more than two years, the IMF had held out hopes that the reforms, backed by the White House, would be accepted in the huge budget bill that was under dis-cussion this week.

But the bill that emerged from tough negotiations between Democrats and Republicans late Tuesday night exclud-ed the reforms.

The reforms to the Fund’s mem-bership quota system - essentially its shareholding - would both strengthen the global crisis lender’s funding and also give emerging economies like Chi-na and Russia greater say in it.

Washington o� cially supported the reforms in 2010 when they were formulated. As the IMF’s largest single shareholder by far, the US rati� cation is essential to get the necessary endorse-ment of 85% of the membership by vot-ing power. l

China’s factory and investment growth � agging, more stimulus seen n Reuters, Beijing

China’s economy showed further signs of fatigue in November, with factory out-put growth slowing more than expected and growth in investment near a 13-year low, putting pressure on policymakers to unveil fresh stimulus measures.

In a sign that banks were already re-sponding to Beijing’s instructions to re-� ate the economy, however, new lend-ing jumped 56 percent in the month.

Weighed down by a sagging housing market, China’s economic growth had already weakened to 7.3% in the third quarter, so November’s soft factory and investment � gures suggest full-year growth will miss Beijing’s 7.5% target and mark the weakest expansion in 24 years.

“The data bodes ill for GDP growth in the fourth quarter, which is bound to slow further,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

Growth in real estate investment also slipped for the � rst 11 months of 2014, though property sales registered their best month this year, buoyed by Bei-

jing’s e� orts to revive a sector on which so much of the economy depends.

After September’s move to cut mortgage rates and downpayments for some home buyers, the People’s Bank of China cut interest rates on Nov. 21 for the � rst time in two years.

The surprise rate cut signalled policymakers’ growing concern that a sharper slowdown in the economy would raise the risk of job losses and loan defaults.

Factory output rose 7.2% in No-vember from a year earlier, down from October’s 7.7%, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, and missing analysts’ forecasts of 7.5%.

Fixed-asset investment, an impor-tant driver of growth, grew 15.8% in the � rst 11 months from the same period last year, slipping from 15.9% in the � rst 10 months.

Freer lending The rise in new loans comes after sources told Reuters on Thursday that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) had instructed banks to lend more and had quietly relaxed the enforcement of loan-

to-deposit ratios to further that end. “The lending numbers give hope

that investment will pick up now that there is more funds available to pay for capital spending projects,” said Kowal-czyk.

Not all the new lending is being put to productive use, however, as some will just replace existing debt, and there is evidence that speculators are ploughing some of it into a wild stock market rally of recent weeks.

Other data this week showed Chi-na’s export growth slowed sharply in November, while imports unexpect-edly shrank.

And despite the resulting expansion in the money supply, consumer in� a-tion hit a � ve-year low, stoking expec-tations that Beijing may move more aggressively to stave o� de� ation, in-cluding a cut to banks’ reserve require-ment ratio (RRR), which would allow them to lend still more.

“We’re ready for an RRR cut at any point. We think there will be 100 basis points of cuts over the next couple of quarters,” said Tim Condon, head of Asia research at ING in Singapore. l

India’s industrial output contracts, in� ation eases

n AFP, New Delhi

India’s monthly industrial output con-tracted and in� ation hit a near three-year low, o� cial data showed Friday, fuelling hopes of a rate cut next year.

Production by India’s factories, mines and utilities was down 4.2% in

October from a year earlier. Meanwhile consumer in� ation fell

to 4.38% in November, down from October’s 5.52%, after a weakening of global crude oil prices - a key driver of in� ation in India.

Bill Adams, senior international econ-omist for PNC Financial Services Group,

said the � gures would make it easier for India’s central bank to cut rates.

“Looking to 2015, India should be a big winner from the global decline in energy prices, which will support con-sumer spending power, dampen in� a-tion, and provide the Reserve Bank of India with room to loosen monetary

policy,” he said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has

indicated he would favour a cut in borrowing costs, held at 8% since last January, to boost investment and con-sumer spending.

Consumer in� ation was riding at over 10% last year but economists say Re-serve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan’s aggressive policies to curb price rises appear to be paying dividends.

November’s consumer in� ation was the lowest since the government intro-duced the current price index in Janu-ary 2012 and well below the RBI’s target of eight percent for January 2015.

India’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged last week despite grow-ing calls to ease monetary policy, saying a reduction would be “premature”.

But the bank indicated it may cut interest rates in the new year to boost � agging economic growth.

India’s economy grew 5.3% in July-September year-on-year, signi� cantly slower than the previous three months, adding to the pressure on the RBI.

The central bank has forecast growth of 5.5% this year, slightly below the government’s target of 5.8% .

India’s economy has posted two years of sub-� ve-percent growth, the longest slowdown in a quarter century. l

Skills development B1 COLUMN 6The workshop also stresses the need to ensure that skill be used in industry-relevant sector and in a responsive way.

British High Commissioner to Ban-gladesh Robert W Gibson was present as special guest at the function.

He said: “The potential of this part of the world is amazing. In Bangladesh, people are its assets. That’s why there is no substitute for education and skills. Skills need to be led by the employers and enabled by the government.”

With that collaboration and respon-sibility, economic and technological growth follows, productivity rises, and the skilled workforce de� cit reduces, said Gibson.

Skills will be the future treasure of the world, NSDC Chief Executive Of-� cer ABM Khorshed Alom said in his address, adding that Bangladesh needs to know the changing scenario of global as well as local industry.

He underscored the importance of training based on the needs of industry.

Bangladesh’s National Skills Devel-opment Policy was developed in 2011 to guide skill development strategies and facilitate improved co-ordination of all elements involved in skill devel-opment training. l

B4 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Sunday, December 14, 2014

DILBERT

Global oil demand to slow despite price rout n AFP, Paris

Global appetite for oil will grow at a slower pace in 2015 than earlier thought despite plunging crude prices, the IEA said Friday, warning that further price drops heighten the risk of social insta-bility in producer countries like Russia and Venezuela.

Oil demand for 2015 was now ex-pected to grow by 0.9 million barrels a day to reach 93.3 million barrels, some 230,000 barrels less than the previ-ous forecast, the International Energy Agency said in its fourth downward re-vision in � ve months.

Crude prices have collapsed by al-most 50% since June, and are now trading around $60 - levels last seen � ve years ago, as increased US shale production adds to oversupply.

But the cheap oil was not expected to prompt more consumption.

“It may well take some time for sup-ply and demand to respond to the price rout,” the IEA said.

Market share lost to renewable ener-gy sources was unlikely to be replaced again by cheaper crude, the IEA said.

In the OECD rich countries, “a tepid economic recovery, weak wage growth and ... de� ationary pressures will fur-ther blunt the stimulus of lower pric-es,” it added.

Any boost that cheaper crude could give to oil importing economies would be outweighed - if not more than out-weighed - by the damage done to oil producers.

In focus is Russia, which relies on its energy exports for half of its revenues. Its economy has been hammered by the double whammy of sliding oil rev-enues and Western sanctions.

The IEA said it was making the big-gest cut to Russian demand, now ex-pecting it to drop to 3.4 million bar-rels a day, 195,000 barrels below last month’s estimate.

“Lower oil prices signi� cantly dent potential export revenues in net oil ex-porting countries, slashing their income streams and in turn denting demand.

“In particularly cash-strapped econo-

mies, such as Venezuela and Russia, this impact is likely to be magni� ed as the risk of default escalates,” said the IEA.

“The resulting downward price pressure would raise the risk of social instability or � nancial di� culties if producers found it di� cult to pay back debt,” it added.

Russia has said that it is losing up to $100bn a year due to weak crude pric-es. But that was in November, when trading was at around $80.

On Friday, the US benchmark West

Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery was trading well under the psychological $60 barrier - at $58.80. Brent crude had dived to $62.75.

Oil exporters hurting The plunge in oil prices is sparked in part by a fundamental shift in the en-ergy market.

Countries are turning to more ener-gy e� cient or renewable sources while new technologies have led to a shale boom, particularly in the United States.

While oil cartel OPEC has in the past acted against low prices by cutting out-put, this time round, the group is sit-ting � rmly against reducing supplies.

Rather, it is in an all-out price war against US shale energy, in a battle to hold on to its market share. Casualties are piling up - including OPEC members themselves. Venezuela has been forced to slash its budget, making sweeping salary cuts in civil servants’ pay.

Even rich Nordic nation Norway was not spared, with its central bank

on Thursday announcing a surprise rate cut in a pre-emptive move to counteract the impact of plunging oil prices.

Russia’s ruble on Friday slumped to fresh lows, as the central bank’s actions to halt the haemorrhage - through an interest rate hike and heavy selling of foreign currencies - proved futile.

Industry players too have been forced to restructure and cut jobs, with petroleum giant BP Wednesday an-nouncing an overhaul costing $1bn. l

A drop of diesel is seen at the tip of a nozzle after a fuel station customer � lls her car's tank in Sint Pieters Leeuw REUTERS

Oil prices slip again after WTI sinks below $60 n AFP, Singapore

Oil prices sank further in Asia Friday, with analysts warning of little respite from the selling after plunging more than 40% since June.

US benchmark West Texas Intermedi-ate (WTI) for January deliver was down 66 cents at $59.29 in afternoon trade. The contract on Thursday closed below the psychological $60 mark in New York for the � rst time since July 2009. Brent crude was down 29 cents at $63.39.

“There just doesn’t seem to be any re-lief for oil prices at the moment,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.

“The bearish sentiment is unlikely to change until the end of the year unless we see a signi� cant drop in global production

levels or a supply disruption,” he said. WTI and Brent prices have fallen

precipitously since hitting 2014 peaks of $106 and $115 respectively in June.

The drop has been attributed to slow-ing growth in China and emerging-market economies, a recession in Japan and a near-stall in the eurozone.

On top of that, OPEC last month said it would maintain output levels despite ample global supplies, in part due to cheaper oil extracted from North American shale rock.

McCarthy said at levels below $60, prices falls are likely to face “more resis-tance than at the moment”.

Analysts said the crude market had largely ignored data showing a healthy rise in US retail sales in November that raised hopes about consumer demand in the world’s largest economy. l

China boosts bank liquidity with $65bn fund injection n AFP, Shanghai

China’s central bank has stepped up its e� orts to pump more cash into its banking system with a $65bn fund in-jection, Dow Jones Newswires reported Thursday.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) on Wednesday injected around 400bn yuan into the interbank market where banks borrow from each other, Dow said, citing people familiar with the matter.

It came after an earlier 500bn yuan injection into the country’s � ve big-gest state-owned banks in September through a tool to manage short-term liquidity, according to state-run media. The loans were set to expire this month.

The latest fund injection has not been made public by the PBoC for fear that the market might read it as a strong signal of a broad monetary easing, Dow cited the sources as saying. l

Eurozone industrial production rises 0.1% in October n AFP, Brussels

Industrial output in the eurozone rose a very slight 0.1% in October, o� cial data showed on Friday, in another sign that the European economy remains stalled.

The feeble rise in factory output data was a slowdown from the previ-ous month, when industrial activity rose a still-low half percent.

The state of the eurozone economy continues to be a major source of worry around the world, with increasing fears Europe could sink into a long period of Japan-style de� ation just as the outlook for the US economy improves further.

Underscoring concern, � nancial markets have been in retreat on fresh worries about Greece, struck by a new political crisis less than three years since problems in Athens nearly de-stroyed the euro. l

Microsoft lets US shoppers pay with Bitcoin n AFP, San Francisco

Microsoft began Thursday letting US shoppers at its online Windows Store pay with digital currency Bitcoin.

Bitcoin, traded in at market value through a partnership with payment processor BitPay, could be used to add money to Microsoft accounts that pro-vide funds for buying games, music, vid-

eo or applications for Xbox consoles or computers powered by the US technol-ogy titan’s Windows operating systems.

“The use of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, while not yet mainstream, is growing beyond the early enthusiasts,” Microsoft Universal Store corporate vice president Eric Lockard said in a blog post.

“We expect this growth to continue and allowing people to use Bitcoin to

purchase our products and services now allows us to be at the front edge of that trend.”

Virtual currency cannot be used to directly buy products at the Windows Store, but must � rst be converted to traditional funds in Microsoft ac-counts, according to the post.

No more than $1,000 worth of Bitcoin can be exchanged per day, and there is also a limit regarding the overall amount that could be exchanged in multiple ac-counts registered to a single person.

The virtual currency is a software-based system introduced in 2009 by an individual or group masked by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

It can buy goods or services from any person or company accepting it as payment, but is not a real currency managed by a central bank.

Bitcoin value has been subject to wild crashes and the digital currency’s reputation has su� ered due to a lack of transparency that has made it a tempt-ing tool for criminal activity such as money laundering.

Bitcoin took a hard hit after Mt Gox trading exchange declared bankruptcy early this year due to a fortune in digital currency vanishing or being stolen. l

US House approves $1.1tn spending bill, averts shutdown n AFP, Washington

Facing intense pressure to avoid a government shutdown, the US House of Representatives narrowly passed a $1.1tn federal spending bill Thursday, sending it to the Senate after it was ushered through barely two hours be-fore a midnight deadline.

The 219-206 vote followed a bruising day of arm-twisting by the White House after dozens of Democrats revolted over pro-Wall Street and campaign-� nance riders in the bill, dramatically splitting with President Barack Obama over the legislation that funds most federal operations through September.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said after the vote that his chamber will take up the must-pass legislation Friday.

Congress passed a two-day exten-sion to keep government open beyond Thursday’s witching hour so that the Senate can debate and vote on the measure.

The spending package, which would fund most federal operations through September 30, the end of the 2015 � s-cal year, was the focus of extraordinary brinkmanship in Congress, a � tting cap to one of the most polarized eras in Washington.

The deal almost did not happen, forcing the White House and Obama, who came out in favor of the measure, into near-panic mode as they scram-bled to get enough Democrats on board.

House Speaker John Boehner was forced to suspend proceedings in the chamber when he realized he was short, fueling a rancorous Capitol Hill showdown.

Progressive Democrats were furious over a clause buried deep in the 1,603-page bill that rolls back key � nancial regulations on Wall Street.

Bitter compromise Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi joined the revolt.

In a stunning rebuke of Obama on the House � oor she blasted as “black-mail” the e� ort to shred reforms in the so-called Dodd-Frank law that prevent big banks from making risky deriva-tives trades protected by taxpayer-in-sured funds.

Pelosi and others argued that the change opens the door to another big bank bailout that rescued foundering � nancial institutions during the worst of the Great Recession. That, Demo-crats fear, could lead to a repeat of con-

ditions that fueled the � nancial crisis of 2007-2008.

Democrats are also angered by a rid-er which would dramatically expand the amount that wealthy individuals can contribute to political parties - a move which would undercut campaign � nance reforms from 2002.

Senior House Democrat Steve Israel warned that the two provisions were poison pills “that Democrats can’t swallow,” and said he hoped Boehner would strip them out and start anew.

Ultimately, 57 Democrats joined most Republicans in supporting the measure. Democratic congresswom-an Maxine Waters was furious about the provisions, and suggested she was unimpressed by the White House dispatching chief of sta� Denis Mc-Donough to the US Capitol to persuade distressed Democrats about the bill.

“We don’t like lobbying that is being done by the president or anybody else that allows us to... give a big gift to Wall Street,” Waters boomed to reporters.

“We’re going to � ght it. We’re � ght-ing anybody who is lobbying to tell people to vote for this bill.”

Asked if McDonough swayed

Democrats, congressman Bill Pascrell sneered, “absolutely not.”

Conservative Republicans, for their part, are angry that the bill takes no di-rect steps to block Obama’s executive action on immigration, announced last month, that would shield millions from deportation.

As a compromise, the measure pro-vides only two months of funding for the Department of Homeland Security, allowing the Congress -- which returns to full Republican control next year - an opportunity to revisit funding for the agency that will handle Obama’s immi-gration action.

Conservatives wanted a tougher approach to stopping what they call

presidential overreach. “With November’s election a vague

distant memory, the Republican-con-trolled House passed a bill that does nothing to stop the president’s illegal and unconstitutional amnesty agen-da,” deplored conservative House Re-publican Tim Huelskamp, referring to last month’s mid-term elections.

Such mega-laws are greased by backroom negotiating and often intro-duced at the last minute.

To expedite the process, lawmak-ers vote not on each amendment, but on the � nal text. The take-it-or-leave-it approach is a double-edged sword: ap-proval can be swift, but rejection can trigger a government shutdown. l

The US Capitol building is seen before US President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address in front of the US Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington REUTERS

The use of digital currencies such as Bitcoin, while not yet mainstream, is growing beyond the early enthusiasts