Professional Documents
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Print Edition: 21 April 2014 PDF
Print Edition: 21 April 2014 PDF
Print Edition: 21 April 2014 PDF
DA 6238 Vol 2, No 22
www.dhakatribune.com
SECOND EDITION
9 | RUSSIA OUTRAGED
record peak
n Abu Bakar Siddique
The country experienced the hottest day of the year yesterday as temperature reached 40.6 degrees Celsius in Rangamati. The Met office said the second highest temperature, 40.3 degrees Celsius, was measured in Chuadanga whereas in Dhaka it was 38.5 degrees Celsius. It said the heat wave would continue for the next few days as there was no sign of rainfall in the atmosphere. The hot weather will be there for a couple of days but will not go beyond April 27, said Sanaul Hoque Mondal, a meteorologist of the office, adding that the temperature was likely to reach 4143 degrees Celsius within the next few days due to the absence of rainfall. Regarding the absence of rainfall, the Met office said the westerly wind, which is responsible for rainfall in this time of the year, was yet to blow, thus causing the intolerable heat wave. According to the Met office, the country has experienced only 751 mil-
limetres of rainfall this month which is far below the expected amount. For instance, the average rainfall during this period in Dhaka is 127 millimetres while weve got only 39 millimetres till yesterday, an official at the Met office said. In the last 10 years, the highest temperature in the country was recorded 43.2 degrees Celsius in Jessore in 2009 and the second highest 41.5 degrees Celsius in Chuadanga on April 9 last year. However, the highest temperature that hit the country was 45.1 degree Celsius on May 18, 1972. Although temperature in Dhaka is lower compared to other areas, it feels hotter. Meteorologists said this was the result of higher population density, fewer plantation and loads of concrete structures.
A signboard placed inside the railway pond states that the Hathazari madrasa possesses it and a farm land on Station Road upon permission of the communications minister DHAKA TRIBUNE
The mercury lately soared to 35-40 degrees Celsius in Rajshahi, leaving people outdoors panting for water and cool air.
PAGE 2 COLUMN 6
ABDUCTION OF AB SIDDIQUE
23.76% PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA 63.74% PHYSICAL AILMENT TOTAL RESPONDENTS NOT RETURNED TO JOB
HC: No male doctor should examine rape victims to determine age n Tribune Report
The High Court yesterday ordered the Directorate General of Health Services to ensure that male doctors do not conduct medical tests to determine the age of rape victims. On April 2, the court had asked the DGHS director general to appear before it to clarify if he implemented a previous order on appointing female doctors to examine rape victims. DG Deen Mohammad Noorul Huqs lawyer SM Rezaul Karim informed the court that 40 female physicians had been appointed to different hospitals across the country. He also apologised for not informing the court about it on time. The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hosain yesterday disposed its previous ruling and cleared the DG. On April 16 last year, the HC on its own motion issued a ruling, asking the government and Dhaka Medical College Hospitals director to explain why they should not be directed to take action against male doctors examining rape victims to determine their ages. l
1,436
1,058 (73.7%)
2.2% 4.2% 26% 67.6%
DON'T HAVE ANY DIFFICULTIES CAN NOT MEET DAILY NEEDS FACING SOME DIFFICULTIES FACING A LOT OF DIFFICULTIES
Everyone is talking about financial support for Rana Plaza victims, but many are living with trauma
The study says around 63.74% of the respondents mentioned physical ailment, 23.76% trauma and 7.54% mentioned the employers unwillingness as reasons behind not being in jobs or leaving jobs. Findings of the survey conducted by ActionAid Bangladesh were revealed yesterday at a programme in the Brac Centre Inn of the capital. There were five garment factories
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ECONOMIC STATUS
Government Cash support through mobile cash transfer BGMEA Private Foreign Organisations Others Source: Action Aid
INSIDE
News
5 The mosquito menace in several areas of the capital continues to rise at an alarming rate as the two Dhaka city corporations were yet to take effective measures to curb the nuisance. appointed a year ago, Kevin Steele, was that he was forced to quit the airline faced with health issues.
Entertainment
Nation
6 Members of seven ethnic minority families in Rajshahi district are living under open sky as their houses were demolished.
12 Suchitra Sen Film Festival at the BSA saw huge audience in the weekend. The festival features nine timeless Bangla and Hindi films acted by the diva.
Sport
Op-Ed
11 The official line given at the sudden departure of the British MD of Biman
13 Dhaka Gladiators chairman Salim Chowdhury slammed ICCs Anti-Corruption and Security Units manner of investigation regarding the fixing allegations which engulfed the second edition of BPL.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
A signboard placed there by the madrasa authorities after the rejection reads: Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam is the possessing owner of these 2.64 acres of agricultural land and the pond, with the permission of the honourable communications minister. When contacted, former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain said he had never made any such commitment to the Hathazari Madrasa authorities. Local sources say one katha of land is being sold at Tk25 lakh in the area. Therefore, the price of the encroached land stands at around Tk15 crore. Abdul Bari, assistant estate officer at the railways East Zone, said the madrasa authorities have encroached on the pond by placing a signboard and putting up pillars. They also encroached on 0.2 acres of agricultural land that belongs to the railway. According to the railway sources, Shah Ahmed Shafi, chief of Hefazat and director of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam (better known as Hathazari Madrasa), had applied for the pond, an agricultural land of 1.86 acre and an abandoned building on 0.1 acre of land on August 16, 2010. The railway headquarters had formed a committee to submit a report on the application after scrutiny said Mohammed Kamrul Amin, chief estate officer at the East Zone, to the Dhaka Tribune.
The committee, in its report submitted on February 17, 2011, observed that a section of the guideline on leasing out railway land will have to be amended to lease the land to the madrasa authorities, he said. The Office of the Director General had rejected the application on receiving the report and the madrasa authorities were informed about it in a letter sent on July 13, 2011. We have already served a notice to the madrasa authorities to vacate the farm land while the process is underway to reclaim the pond, Kamrul said. Azizul Hoque Islamabadi, organising secretary of Hefazat, said they had applied for the lease and kept it protected by putting the pillars since the process was yet to be completed. He claimed that they were neither using the land nor had they erected any structure on it. There are about 14,000 students and the madrasa authorities have been bearing their expenses. We hope that the railway authorities will lease the land to us immediately considering the welfare of these people, said Azizul, who is also a teacher at the Qawmi madrasa. Railway sources said they had earlier sold out 1.6 acres of land at the market rate to the Hathazari Madrasa on March 15, 1993 and 1.31 acres of agricultural land was leased out on October 26, 1992. l
Vendors engage in a clash with DMCH authorities yesterday after they were evicted from the front of the hospital hawkers again congregated in front of the emergency gate of the hospital. A source said a section of unscrupulous hospital staff was involved with the hawkers who set up shops there. However, Abdul Khaleq, president of the DMCH class four workers association, refuted the allegation. Assistant Platoon Commander of Ansar, Abu Taleb, told the Dhaka Tribune that five of their officials received injuries from the hawkers attack. Khaza Abdul Gafur Fakir, assistant director (admin) of DMCH, told the Dhaka Tribune the DSCC eviction team launched the drive to free the roads, but the hawkers went on a rampage and attacked the Ansar members.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Shirajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Shahabagh police station, said DMCH ward master Abu Taleb, who is also the secretary of class four workers association, filed a case against some unidentified people for vandalising the hospital glass doors and attacking its staff. Investigation is underway to trace the attackers, he added. l
housed in the faultily-built building. At least 1,135 people, mostly female workers, were killed in the deadly incident and over 2,500 sustained injuries. The report states that economic hardship is acute among the respondents. Still now, 66.6% are facing a lot of difficulties in meeting their daily needs while 2.4% are totally unable to meet the needs. It reveals that the families of the deceased are facing more difficulties than the survivors families. While 67.7% of such respondents mentioned a lot of difficulties in meeting the daily needs, 26% are facing only some difficulties, 4.2% are not in a position to meet their daily needs at all and 2.2% do not have any difficulties. Everyone is talking about the financial support for the affected Rana Plaza workers. But there are still a large number of workers who are living with trauma who crucially require psychological counselling, said ILO Bangladesh office Chief Srinavasa Reddy. The team leader, A Amanur Rahman, said: Around 9.1% respondents said their conditions are deteriorating as some injuries need longer treatment. Some owners do not want to recruit the workers due to their lower productivity in comparison with the other workers. Around 1,368 survivors received cash support from the ILO through bKash, 468 from the BGMEA and 504 from the government. Besides these, they got other assistance like psychological help and assistive devices, says
the report. Amanur said: There is around Tk127 crore left in the Prime Ministers Emergency Fund after the distribution of only Tk22 crore. Article 121 of the ILO Convention does not make compensation mandatory for international brands, which should be made mandatory. Also, proper implementation of the labour law is a must. He said: We have identified over 200 children of the victims families. Some of them did not get compensation at all. So, the compensations need to be distributed as soon as possible. On the other hand, the family members of the deceased were exposed to life risks after getting compensation. The girls were forced into early marriages due to the lack of money, and the boys got involved in hazardous work and dropped out of schools. Amnaur suggested that the compensation money should be kept with the Rana Plaza Trust Fund. Otherwise it will be hard to coordinate all the sources. It will be easy to coordinate one source and distribute the money. The government should also provide security for the victims who got compensations to avoid life risks. Dr Mojtaba Kazazi, executive commissioner of the Rana Plaza Arrangement Coordination Committee, said: The coordination committee led by the ILO has taken an initiative to open bank accounts for the affected families on a small scale to ensure that all the support is provided in a coordinated way. l
AB Siddique
PAGE 1 COLUMN 1
Temperature hits
PAGE 1 COLUMN 6
She also said: The law enforcers keep on asking us if we need anything. But they do not tell us anything about the progress in investigation... They [investigators] tell us that they will inform us if any headway is made. They have not told me anything until today [Sunday]. She expressed concerns that the people suspected for the abduction are powerful. Siddique, who was abducted from Narayanganj on Wednesday afternoon, was dropped off by car to the capitals Mirpur the next night 30 hours after the abduction. He did not believe that he had been abducted for ransom. If they had abducted me for money, the amount of ransom that they discussed among themselves, would not have fluctuated from Tk10 crore to Tk4 lakh or from Tk5 crore to Tk1 crore. Narayanganj police sources said several raids have been conducted at different places in the district and in the capital and its outskirt from Saturday to Sunday. However, Syed Nurul Islam, Narayanganj district police chief, also declined making any comment on the raids and the progress. We can only say that we are working on it very sincerely and relentlessly, said Nurul. Rizwana filed an abduction case with the Fatullah police station in Narayanganj. Two separate committees of law enforcers one 12-member group from Narayanganj district police and another 5-member group from the police headquarters have been formed to help the investigation. The second committee comprises personnel from police, RAB and the Detective Branch. l
Local Met office said a mild heat wave hit most of the northern districts, restricting peoples movement, particularly at midday when heat from the sun reached its peak. Low-income groups, including day labourers and rickshaw pullers, were among the worst hit, forcing many to refrain from work. People preferred to stay inside due to the scorching heat as city roads and markets remained virtually deserted during the daytime. Traffic policeman Abu Jamal standing at a corner at Gourhanga rail crossing almost fell down on the street because of the sizzling temperature. I couldnt take it anymore. I was feeling drowsy and at one point almost collapsed, he told the Dhaka Tribune. Officials, meanwhile, said temperatures this season might set a new record. We arent certain about whether the situation in the northern districts would become worse but were assuming that we might cross last years record, said an official of the local Met office yesterday. Physicians at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) have advised people to drink enough water during the daytime, cold water if possible. Mahbubur Rahman Khan, Associate Professor of Medicine at RMCH, told the Dhaka Tribune that children, newborn babies, elderly people and cardiac patients usually suffer most in sultry weather. Sufficient oral saline and water should be taken to have protection from dehydration, he said. Mango farmers in Rajshahi, meanwhile, are worried that they might get a poor production this year. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
3
Rs80 lakh recovered, one arrested in Uttara n Kailash Sarkar
Police arrested a youth with Indian Rs80 lakh in his possession near Hajarat Shahjalal International Airport at the capitals Uttara area yesterday afternoon. This happened a day after Rs50 lakh was seized at the airport from a passenger coming from Pakistan. Mohammad Alauddin, 30, was arrested around 1pm by a police team from Airport police station by setting up a check post at Kosaibari on the airport road, said Nisarul Arif, deputy commissioner of Uttara division of police. The money was found in Alauddins travel bag, Arif said, adding: He claimed he was given the bag by someone else to just carry. He also said: We are verifying the sources of the currencies to know whether the money was being smuggled into the country or was being smuggled out. However, he could not confirm whether the notes were original or fake. However, Inspector Shah Alam, OC of Airport police station, said they had arrested Alauddin while he had been leaving the airport area. The detained man has been giving contradictory information to us. Sometimes he says a woman gave him the bag containing the currencies. Other times he says he was given the bag by a man from Haji Camp at Ashkona. We have yet to know the details about the woman, he said. Earlier on Saturday morning, the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) personnel arrested a youth with Rs50 lakh in his possession right after his flight landed from Pakistan. According to the Customs Department officials, almost 95% of the Indian currency seized at the airport by arresting around 150 people, mainly Pakistani nationals were found to be fake. l
Picture shows mealybugs infest a stem of a jackfruit tree beside ULAB campus in the capital yesterday SHEKHAR MONDAL
Of the 159 cases, 66 were lodged against Jamaat-Shibir men, 28 against BNP-led 18-party alliance members, 13 against the BNP activists and 918 named persons.
Of the cases, five were under investigation by Kotwali police station, one by Bakalia, two by Panchlaish, two by Double Mooring, two by Pahartoli, three by Akbar Shah and one by Patenga police station.
Banaz also said the CMP would work to finish the investigations and submission of charge sheets quickly so that the trial could begin immediately at Speedy Trial Tribunals as per the governments decision. A CMP high-official, seeking anonymity, told Dhaka Tribune that charge sheet of the selected 16 cases would be submitted by the first half of May. Earlier, the government decided to transfer the political violence cases regarding pre- and post-parliamentary election to Speedy Trial Tribunal for quick disposal of the cases. Of the 159 such cases in the CMP, 66 were lodged against Jamaat-Shibir men, 28 against BNP-led 18-party alliance men, 13 against the BNP activists and 918 named persons. As many as 13,000 to 14,000 unnamed persons were sued in these cases. l
Several patients wait outside the entrance of the main building of Birdem hospital yesterday, giving an impression that the doctors were continuing their work abstention DHAKA TRIBUNE that doctors attending the 57-year-old had neglected duty. In protest of the incident, Birdem doctors went on an indefinite strike and claimed that ABM Masud Hossain instigated the patients relatives for assaulting their colleagues. The doctors called off the strike on Wednesday evening following suspension of Masud for his alleged involvement in the incident. Meanwhile, relatives of Sirajul have filed a case against five Birdem doctors for their alleged negligence of duty while treating him. Sirajuls daughter Farhana Nasrin lodged the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, hours after the Birdem authorities had filed the case against the four. The five accused doctors were Dr Anowar Hossain, Dr Kalyan Debnath, Dr Shamima Akther, Dr Firoz Amin and Dr Azad. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
11 BGB men injured CBA leader in Coxs Bazar blast murdered n Our Correspondent, Tangail n Our Correspondent, Coxs Bazar Recent incidents such as that in Ramu prompt authorities to mull a cyber shield A CBA (Collective Bargaining Agent) Eleven members of Border Guard Banbook users, 10 million smart phone us- by hackers and Bangladesh was not im- training and after their return, they and leader was murdered in Mirzapur upagladesh-17 battalion sustained burn inSheikh Shahariar Zaman n ers, while over 100 million use mobile mune to it, he said. other Korean experts would train inves- zila, Tangail, yesterday. Police recovered juries in an explosion yesterday during
a programme organised to destroy seized narcotics, including Yaba, liquor and hemp. State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan was present as cheif guest at the programme. According to sources, when kerosene was poured on the pile of narcotics to burn, it went off instantly, leaving the 11 injured. Khandaker Saiful Alam, commander of BGB-17 battalion, said the explosion took place in the field of the battalion headquarters around 11:30am. The minister and the BGB DG as well as other high officials were unhurt because they were farther away from the spot, the sources added replying to a question. The injured BGB men were admitted to Coxs Bazar sadar hospital, said duty doctor Puchnu, adding that their condition were stable. However, six of them were sent to Chittagong CMH for better treatment. Later, the minister visited the injured BGB members at the hospital. l Police is going to form a cyber cop division to tackle the looming social dangers of cybercrime. Bangladesh has in the recent past experienced social unrest triggered by online provocations. The Ramu incident was triggered by a fake Facebook post, while the draft verdict in war crimes cases against BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was leaked on to the web, which created further unrest. All these are related to cybercrime and both the cases were referred to the CID for digital forensic, and we investigated the matter, Special Superintendent of Criminal Investigation Department Sheikh MdRezaul Hyder told the Dhaka Tribune. Hyder is the director of Enhancing Cyber Crime Investigation Capability of Bangladesh Police project, assisted by experts from South Korea, the number one internet dependant country in the world. Bangladesh has 3.5 million Facephones; the more people get interconnected with the internet, the more it we are likely to experience the dangers of cybercrime, Hyder said. Any crime related to the internet, intranet or mobile phones is a cybercrime. Even if somebody sends an SMS for extortion or giving threats, it is a cybercrime, the police officer said. Malicious mail to foreign diplomatic missions and other VIPs, pornography, use of e-mail for illegal activities, use of internet for transmitting false and malicious information, abuse of intellectual property rights, and use of internet for prostitution and women and child trafficking are common in Bangladesh. We are living at a time where hackers can break into systems at airports or the central banks and shut them down. These are very much possible in Bangladesh as well, Hyder said. Even the Nasa system in the USA has been attacked thousands of times
tigators in Dhaka, the police officer said. Police would be able to provide training to about 200 people at a time in its cybercrime lab from next year and hopefully it would be able to accommodate over 1,000 people every year, Hyder said. We will train them about the knowledge needed to investigate cybercrime and other software programmes, he said. Basic operators would also be trained for assisting the investigators, he added. The 24/7 operational unit 7 would start working from next year, the officer said. Citing example, he said South Korea started its cybercrime wing in 1997 with only two experts and now it has nearly 1,000 investigators. We are not as much internet dependant as South Korea but we need to develop our own capacity to fight cybercrime, he added. l
his body 18 hours after he went missing. The deceased, Kazi Shafikul Islam Shafi, 50, was the vice president of the Tangail unit of the CBA of Sonali Bank and the son of late Kazi Moksed Ali of Kurni village in the Mirzapur upazila in the district. Aleya Begum, wife of the deceased, said Shafi went out on Saturday night after getting a phone call from one of his friends but did not return home. Locals found his body when it washed up next to Zinnah Mias pond in Kurni village at about 2:30pm and informed the police. Later the police recovered the body and sent it to the Tangail General Hospital morgue for an autopsy. His family members claimed that the murder was pre-planned since the killers abducted him first. Shyamal Kumar Datta, sub-inspector of the Mirzapur police station, confirmed the authenticity of the incident and said four suspects including three women were being held so far for interrogation. l
TRAIN CRASH
Road accident kills BGB member, injures army man n Our Correspondent, Barisal
A member of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) was killed and an Army man was injured in a road accident in Jhalakathi on the Khulna-Barisal regional highway, yesterday at noon. The deceased, Sohag Hossain, 26, and the injured, Sagir Hossain, 31, were siblings and the sons of Abdul Latif from Baro Soula under Mathbaria upazila of Pirojpur. Shilmoni Chakma, officer-in-charge of the Jhalakathi Sadar police station, said the siblings were riding on a motorcycle when they collided with a Barisal-bound bus, Anamika Paribahon, at Boidarapur on the Barisal-Khulna route at about 12pm yesterday. They were rushed to the Jhalakathi Sadar Hospital and were referred to the Barisal Sher-E Bangla Medical College Hospital after their condition deteriorated further. Sohag Hossain succumbed to his injuries and Sagir Hossain was in critical condition, the OC added. Sohags body was sent to the hospital morgue for an autopsy after an unnatural death case had been lodged with the Jhalakathi Sadar police station, police sources said. l
Police escort senior BNP leaders Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Amanullah Aman and Mirza Abbas out of a court room in the capiital yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE
We suspect chemicals was injected into the watermelon and the child died of food poisoning
We suspect chemicals was injected into the watermelon and the child died of food poisoning, Senior Medical Officer of Kushtia General Hospital Dr Salek Masud said. However, any other food could be behind the death, he added.
Our primary suspicion is that the child died of poison that was inside the watermelon, said Kushtia Civil Surgeon Dr Md Mustafizur Rahman, adding that this could only be confirmed following tests. Police, meanwhile, have arrested watermelon seller Rezaul in this connection. Kumarkhali Upazila Nirbahi Officer Shaila Akhter led the arrest operation in the afternoon and the law enforcers also seized 19 watermelons from the shop. Officer-in-charge of Kumarkhali police station Sheikh Lutfar Rahman confirmed the incident and said Rezaul was being interrogated. A sense of panic gripped the locals as the news of death spread. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
5
College principal assaulted in Pabna n Our Correspondent, Pabna
A college principal was beaten and chopped by unknown miscreants at the Sadar upazila in Pabna yesterday. The victim, Md Abdul Mannan, 52, principal of Shahid M Monsur Ali College, was suspended on charges of corruption on November last year. He was admitted to Pabna Medical College Hospital but the doctors recommended shifting him to Dhaka due to his critical condition. Victims brother Md Abdul Khaleque said Mannan was going to the district court yesterday morning. Some criminals suddenly swooped on him when he reached the Joykalibari Mondir area of the district. They beat him up with a hammer and chopped him mercilessly. Internal conflict over the college might be the reason behind the attack, he suspected. The victim was severely aattacked with hammer and sharp weapons. He had four major fractures while many injuries marked different parts of his body. He was shifted to Dhaka for better treatment as his situation turned critical, said Dr Masudur Rahman Prince, associate professor of PMCH. The distance of the crime scene was about 30 meter from the Pabna police station. Officer-in-Charge of Pabna Sadar police station Kazi Haniful Islam said internal conflict within the college might be the reason behind the attack. l
Adolescents vital for positive social change: Chumki n Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar
The Moluvibazar district administration and the Womens Affairs office in the district jointly organised a gathering of adolescent boys and girls at the Mathiura tea garden in Rajnagar upazila, yesterday afternoon. Organised under the Empowerment of Adolescents for Positive Social Change through Clubs programme, the gathering saw around 1,500 members from 67 adolescent clubs, come together under the programme. State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki was the chief guest in the event. While addressing the youngsters, she said: Todays adolescent boys and girls can play a vital role in changing our society for the better. Achieving gender equality and upholding mutual respect, they could contribute to the development of our society and country. Other speakers also agreed that young boys and girls would be able to help create resistance against social problems like dowry, early marriage, sexual harassment and oppression of women. The speeches were followed by a display of stick-dance, performed by the young boys and girls from the tea garden community. l
A bulldozer of Dhaka South City Corporation destroys a median strip in the capitals Shahbagh intersection after evicting illegal roadside shops on the median
NASHIRUL ISLAM
WEATHER
SUNNY
MONDAY, APRIL 21
DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:22PM SUN RISES 5:31AM FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Coxs Bazar 41 37 42 41 41 40 39 35 29 25 25 22 26 27 23 25
40.6C Rangamati
Source: Accuweather/UNB
22.0C Syedpur
Two people collect water from a deep tube well in the city as BCC supply water cannot fulfil the daily demand DHAKA TRIBUNE holder in Hospital Road area. Failing to say how many tube wells in the city corporation area were working properly and how many were out of order, the BCC said although they permitted installation of around 1,500 shallow and deep tube wells till 2012, their numbers would be more than 5,000. Sukumar Biswas, divisional director, Directorate of Environment, said a random extraction of groundwaterinstead of using surface water would endanger life, biodiversity and environment. Public Health Engineering Departmentin 2007 planned to construct two surfacewatertreatment plants (SWTP), each with capacity of refining 40 lakh gallon of water from Kirtankhola River to address water crisis in Barisal city, BCC sources said. The construction of SWTP at Amanatgant at a cost of Tk19.22 crore was scheduled to be completed within 450 days, but only 60% work had been completed, BCC officials said.
PRAYER TIMES
Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha 4:14am 5:32am 11:57am 4:31pm 6:22pm 7:41pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Nation
Killings, abductions are increasing at an alarming rate in Lakshmipur. Killers and kidnappers are mostly remaining out of reach because of the polices failure to unearth the mystery of the cases. Criminals are abducting and killing mostly politicians, businesspersons and students posing as members of the RAB or police. Eighteen killings, 28 women and children abductions and enforced disappearances of two persons, including a BNP leader, took place in three and a half months this year. Police and locals say criminals shot dead Kamal Hossain, an expatriate, of Boralia in Sadar Upazilas Datta Para Upazila on April 13, Hamchhadi Union Parishads Juba League activist Rabiul Islam on April 3. Miscreants also shot dead Durgapur villages Juba League leader Kabir Hossain on March 31 and Ramganj Upazilas Karpara Union Parisads Swechchhashebok League leader Nur Hossain on March 20. On February 6, Sadar Upazilas Nal-
dogi villages Awami League leader Mohammad Ullah was shot, Radhapur villages microbus driver Sumon was slaughtered on February 8 and another Juba League activist of Lakkhipur village (west)s was strangled to death on February 1. Juba Dal activists Didar Hossain, also a listed criminal, Abul Hossain, Shahdat Hossain, Babar Hossain and BNP activist Shakil Hossain died in alleged gunfight with RAB on January 22, February 7, 12, and March 17 and 19 respectively. Besides this, six more killings took place in the district in the last three and a half months. Meanwhile, 28 persons were abducted over extortions, family feuds and affairs and two others were made to disappear over political conflicts in the current year. Of them, six abductions took place in January, nine in February, 10 in March and 3 in April until yesterday. Earlier on March 10, two brothers Zafar and Bachchu of Sadar Upazilas Koroitola village were abducted as they refused to pay extortion money. Though Zafar was later freed, Bachchu has ever since been missing, says their
family. Asked about this, Datapara Investigation Centre-In-Charge Wahiduzzaman Biswas said they have not yet been able to make any progress in the case though a case was filed with the Sadar police station about this. On March 9, criminals abducted Abdur Rahim, an office assistant of Kazi Mahmudul Haq Nannu of Sadar Upazilas Bashikpur village as Nannu refused to pay Tk5,00,000 what they demanded. Ever since, he has also been missing. Earlier on March 15, Dewapara villages Jinia Hosna Afroze and her threeyear old daughter Sanjida were abducted. Her mother Ayesha Akter filed a case with Sadar police, but police are yet to make any headway in the case. On March 4, criminals abducted Mobarak Hossain, an expatriate of Nandanpur village in the same Upazila as he refused to pay any money they had demanded of him. Posing as members of RAB, criminals abducted Sadar Upazila BNP leader Omar Faruk from one of his relatives house at Chittagongs Patenga on February 3, his family say, adding that they have not yet got him back. BNP activist and Mandari Union Par-
ishad member Rubel Hossain has been missing since March 29, locals say. Lakshmipur BNP president Abul Khair Bhuiyan blamed the government for the killings and abductions of those belonging to the party. The government is directly or indirectly involved in the killings and abductions. It is also harassing around 28,000 leaders and activists in various cases. Lakshmipur Awami League president M Alauddin said, Criminal groups have emerged due to lack of the partys coordination. He, however, did not give any explanation about it. They are regularly perpetrating killings, extortions and abductions, he said, adding, Peace would not come back here unless illegal arms were recovered. Lakhshmipurs acting Superintendent of Police say, Law and order is normal here. We have already arrested some terrorists and recovered arms. Efforts are also on to arrest the killers, investigating the cases. About the abductions, he says, Most abductions are related to extortions and affairs and family feuds. But some abductees have already been rescued and efforts are on to rescue others. l
Trade union wants wage hike for tea garden workers n Our Correspondent, Sylhet
Bangladesh Trade Union Sangha Sylhet district unit yesterday in a meeting demanded increments to the daily wages of tea garden workers. Sources said the tea workers under the banner of the union had joined a meeting in the court area of the district at 10am. Among others, district unit NDF president Kumar Chanra Roy, union leader Raj Deo Kiori, Bipondop Madraji Chashi, Bimal Kunju, Vasan Chatri, Arun Bouri, Sunil Modi and Ganga Kapoti spoke on the occasion while NDF central committee president MA Karim was present as chief guest. The union leaders demanded the wages of workers be hiked from Tk69 to Tk 300 per day. Later they brought out a procession in the town. l
Bangladesh Trade Union Sangha brings out a procession in Sylhet yesterday, demanding rise in wages of tea garden workers
DHAKA TRIBUNE
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Long Form
in accessing different sources. But they are also quite project-oriented in nature, and resource prioritisation and allocation is fragmented as a result. There needs to be better synergy among all the intermediaries so that investments are greater than the sum of their parts. This can be achieved by designing institutional arrangements that have the mandate and capacity to manage and coordinate climate investments. With its birds eye view of the entire development portfolio, the Planning Commission will be able to ensure better coordination among all these intermediaries and better synergy in fund allocation and investment decisions. Establishing close links with the Ministry of Finance, which has absorptive and financial capacity, will ensure the efficient management of resources. Working closely with a body with proven financial management capacity, will also give the Planning Commission access to international funds it may otherwise be denied.
finance through LGIs would establish a sustainable institutional mechanism at local level. But LGIs do not have the tools, systems or manpower in place to determine climate impacts on different vulnerable communities. Their current funding via central government and donor funds, locally generated revenues, household spending and private funds does not meet existing local needs. To enable LGIs to leverage funds from different intermediaries, their mandate needs to be enhanced to include mobilisation, management and
overlook climate change when they allocate their yearly budgets and plans) Establish public nancial management systems, so LGIs can prioritise actions and identify costs and sources of funding, and Ensure that they have proper monitoring and evaluation systems in place so they can track progress and measure impacts at local level.
71% Infrastructure
increase diplomatic efforts to collect more grants from major international funding sources such as GEFs Green Climate Funds and the Adaptation Fund. Devising additional, innovative financial and economic instruments to pull more resources could also help close the existing resource gap. For example, the Ministry of Finances Economic Relations Division recently signed an agreement with the Japanese government that will pull US$2 million, to develop innovative crop insurance products that will give smallholder farmers in Bangladesh, income protection from increasingly severe storms and natural disasters. Formulating some portfolios that blend different instruments such as grants, concessional loans and revenue budgets is another option for the government to consider.
such as the proposed Climate Fiscal Framework (CFF), will integrate climate change into national budgeting and planning processes, thereby leveraging synergy in investment. Operationalising the CFF will enable policymakers to link climate change with expenditure and taxation decisions, and ensure that external finances are used more effectively. 3. Using existing monitoring and evaluation systems like the IMED can enhance the effectiveness of climate finance. Climate change initiatives should either be integrated into the ADP process, so that they can be monitored and evaluated by the IMED or the Cabinet should amend IMEDs allocation of business, to give it a mandate to monitor and evaluate climate change projects implemented via the non-development budget.
sional loans and other tools, to mobilise and disburse financial resources. For example, in November 2010, the World Bank approved a US$110 million PPCR project, US$50 million of which was in grant form, US$60 million as a concessional loan. Alongside the US$37 million in grants illustrated above, GEF is also pulling US$369 million in co-financing. Bangladesh has the opportunity to
Various BCCSAP initiatives, implementing government agencies, local non-governmental organisations, universities, research organisations
Green banking through Central Bank Commercial banks Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund World Bank
Renewable energy, green buildings, clean transportation, water management, waste management, land management
Grants
BCCSAP
Climate Investment Funds Multilateral development banks Ministry of Environment and Forest
BCCSAP
Improving climate resilient agriculture and food security, strengthening the security and reliability of fresh water supply, sanitation, infrastructure, enhancing the resilience of coastal communities and infrastructure Biodiversity, climate change, land degradation
Grants
DHAKA TRIBUNE
World
Russia outraged as deadly east Ukraine Irans women not second class citizens shootout shatters Easter truce
n AFP, Slavyansk
A deadly gunfight in a town in restive east Ukraine on Sunday shattered a fragile Easter truce, with Russia declaring it was outraged at the return to violence in the crisis-hit former Soviet republic. Three pro-Russian militants and one attacker were killed in a firefight at a roadblock close to the separatist-held town of Slavyansk, said a local pro-Kremlin rebel leader, Vyatcheslav Ponomarev. Vladimir, a masked 20-year-old pro-Russian rebel who was at the barricade, told AFP: Four cars pulled up to our roadblock around 1:00am (2200 GMT Saturday). We wanted to conduct a check, and then they opened fire on us with automatic weapons. He said there were around 20 attackers, and confirmed the three rebel deaths, but was not sure of casualties on the other side. An AFP photographer saw the bodies of two dead militants laid out in a truck near the scene. The identity of the assailants, who escaped before militant reinforcements arrived, was not known. The Ukrainian interior ministry confirmed there was an armed clash but gave a toll of one dead and three injured. It said police were investigating. The gunfight broke days of relative calm. Western-backed authorities in Kiev had announced they were suspending
n AFP, Tehran
Irans President Hassan Rouhani admitted Sunday that women in his country still face discrimination and cultural barriers but he insisted they are not universally treated as second-class citizens. In a speech marking Womens Day in Iran, Rouhani, seen as a moderate reformer, said more had to be done but that the West did not offer a model that had to be followed. The remarks were followed by confirmation that the countrys supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had agreed to pardon or commute the sentences of some women prisoners. Rouhanis speech was consistent with his promise of more social freedoms, a cornerstone of the campaign that gave him a surprise victory in the June presidential election. I, as the head of the government, confess there are still so many deficiencies with regards to the vindication of womens rights, Rouhani told a conference attended by members of Irans female elite. Based on the Islamic criteria, we neither consider men as the first sex nor the women as the second sex ... they both have the same human dignity and none is superior, he said, drawing warm applause. Irans civil rights record is regularly criticised by international rights watchdogs and Western governments.
An armed pro-Russian militiant looks for ammunition casings as he stands guard at a check-point outside the eastern Ukrainian city of Slavyansk yesterday AFP military operations to oust the rebels over Easter, which ends Monday. The last deadly clash was last Thursday, when three pro-Russian militants were killed by Ukrainian soldiers when they tried to attack a military base in the southeast port city of Mariupol. Russias foreign ministry quickly seized upon the latest violence, saying in a statement that Moscow was outraged at this provocation by the fighters. It urged Kiev to abide by an accord signed in Geneva on Thursday by Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union calling for illegal armed groups to lay down their weapons and end the occupation of public sites. l
Among the criticisms levelled at the Islamic republic is a ban on women travelling abroad without official permission. Within the country, many hotels will not allow a woman to check into a room if she is alone. And under the Islamic sharia law practised in Iran, a womans evidence is considered to have only half the value of a mans, which Amnesty International says leads to discrimination in divorce proceedings, child custody disputes and inheritance. Rouhani has the backing of reformists, moderates and some conservatives in the Islamic republic. Arguing that it was misguided to think a womans place should be limited to the home, he questioned why some people think the presence of women is a threat?, noting that women are guardians of their own moral standards, not men. Is that possible to corner and marginalise the role of half of the society? Women should enjoy equal opportunities, security and social rights, he said. We will not accept the culture of sexual discrimination. A message on the supreme leaders website said he had agreed to pardon or commute the sentences of a group of convicted women, following a request from the countrys judiciary chief. The crimes of those shown clemency on womens day were not of a serious nature, it said. l
Bulgarian Orthodox Christians walk with candles during Easter mass celebrations outside the golden-domed Alexander Nevski cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday
AFP
French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius (R) welcome French journalists Didier Francois (L), Edouard Elias (2L), Nicolas Henin (3R) and Pierre Torres (2R) taken hostage in Syria last year and freed on Sunday AFP
DHAKA TRIBUNE
World
Lighting flares are released over the sea off Jindo where the capsized passenger ship Sewol sank, as fishing boats emit light during the night rescue operation in Jindo yesterday AFP
Indian transgender stands for office after landmark ruling n AFP, Chennai
With a tight budget and a humble autorickshaw, a pioneering Indian transgender is campaigning in her southern hometown for a seat in parliament, just days after the countrys highest court recognised third gender people. Describing the Supreme Court judges ruling as a milestone, 53-yearold Bharathi Kannamma hopes to build on the momentum and overturn prejudices against Indias several million transgenders. Running as an independent candidate in the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu state, she is thought to be the first transgender accepted as a candidate in a general election. l
Family members of the Everest avalanche victims light oil lamps at Sherpa Monastery in Kathmandu on April 20, 2014. Nepal has called off the search for three local guides still missing, citing weather conditions, after the deadliest accident on Mount Everest that killed 13 of their colleagues AFP
A policeman stands near a damaged passenger bus at an accident site in the town of Sukkur April 20. At least 41 people were killed and several others were injured Sunday morning in a bus-trailer collision on the National Highway in Sukkur district located in Sindh province, local media reported. The bus, which was carrying more than 50 passengers, was travelling from Dera Ghazi Khan in the central Punjab province to the port city of Karachi when it hit the vehicle coming from the opposite direction, security personnel said REUTERS
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DHAKA TRIBUNE
Editorial
LETTER OF THE DAY
Letters to
the Editor
April 12 This piece doesnt reflect ground reality but only deals with rhetoric. It is always easy to blame somebody, and it is always a challenge to find a silver lining in the dark clouds, although it does exist. Hasanuzzaman
Madrasas should be up to the mark when preparing their students for the future
Be Heard
Write to us at: Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email us at: letters.dt@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com Visit our website: www.dhakatribune.com Come join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune
here can be no doubt at this stage that climate change is a very real and worrisome phenomenon, and there can also be little doubt that as the Earth heats up that Bangladesh will be one of the countries that will suffer the most. Given our immense population, the effects of climate change could have a devastating impact on tens of millions of Bangladeshis, and we need to be making plans to deal with such a contingency from now. What we need to do is two-fold. The first step is that we need to do everything in our power to keep our own emissions within limits. Some might argue that globally speaking, emissions from Bangladesh are negligible, and that, furthermore, we need to scale up as we industrialise and modernise. Both points are correct, but they miss the bigger picture. While we grow and develop, we need to do so sustainably; otherwise the costs will be so great that we will end up worse than from where we started. In addition, if we can demonstrate that we are good global citizens when it comes to the environment, it gives us the moral authority and legitimacy to demand better from the rest of the world. This way Bangladesh both sets an example and at the same time ensures that it will retain its right to push the environmental agenda. Finally, there are a lot of funds floating around for mitigation and adaptation that Bangladesh both needs and deserves. In such cases, it is up to the government to take the lead in ensuring both that Bangladesh remains eligible for such funding through our actions and to follow through to make sure that such funding is both secured and properly disbursed.
We need to make plans to deal with the effects of climate change from now
PEANUTS
CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1 Waver (6) 4 Dried fodder (3) 7 Nimble (5) 8 Pacific (6) 11 Female pig (3) 12 Italian monetary unit (4) 13 Otherwise (4) 15 Bridges (5) 16 Drive forward (5) 20 Get up (4) 23 Form walking surface (4) 24 Bees sound (3) 25 Plundered (6) 26 Danger signal (5) 27 Precious stone (3) 28 Governing body (6) DOWN 1 Misses achievement 2 Occupants 3 Speed contest 4 Sibilate 5 Drug-yielding plant 6 Tree 9 Tear 10 Period of time 14 Malicious satire 17 Light blow 18 Day before a holiday 19 Shelf-like surface 20 Govern 21 Muslim leader 22 Trees 24 Ugly old woman
SUDOKU
YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
Crossword
How to solve Sudoku: 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 numberrepeating.
Sudoku
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Op-Ed
11
shudders into life, into meaning. The words speak to us, give us their secrets. At that moment, whole universes are revealed, and we become, irrevocably, readers. I was only one of the more than 30 million to have bought a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude, and just one of the more than 100 million to have read that book; yet, this book is mine, and mine alone.
Death of a writer
I
n Saba El Kabir
n early July, 2012, Jaime Garcia Mrquez announced the death of one of the most celebrated storytellers of our time. That his brother, Gabriel Garca Mrquez, remained in good health, and still had the humour, joy, and enthusiasm that he [had] always had was, somewhat darkly, of scant consolation; senile dementia was robbing him of his memories and his stories, and how can a storyteller exist without his tales? The proclamation of the younger Mrquez when asked if his brother would be able to complete the second part of his autobiography, Vivir Para Contarla (Living to Tell the Tale), or any other literary works: Unfortunately, I dont think thatll be possible, in its stark finality, was jarring. It was a very personal loss. The writer I have known so intimately was not could not be anymore. It would generally be foolish vain, certainly to presume to know someone without having shared so much as a single moment together. Indeed, the human condition being what it is, to truly know someone, to go beyond the everyday masks and roles and reach something approaching the soul, must be among the rarest and most precious of human experiences. I cannot claim to have met Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to have shared a moment with him, or to have had any sort of contact with the man. Yet I have known the writer, as have millions of others like me. We have known his grandfather, who told him stories of a civil war he had fought in and taught him lessons on principles of life, and his grandmother, whose straight-faced tales of the supernatural we have grown so familiar with. We have seen glimpses of his life in the Colombian village, and then, when he was forced to leave Bogot after publishing a series of articles on a ship-wreck that displeased the authorities, in Mexico City, Barcelona, Geneva, Rome, and Paris. We have met his generals and his dictators, his lovers and his childhood friends, his wars and his solitude.
Having seen so many aspects of the writer vividly painted in ink, who could deny that our loss is not personal?
And his themes of oppression, plundering, and abandonment of his native land are mine too, although these I no doubt share with the millions. It is easy to talk about the magical realism that dominates his work, of the butterflies that flutter around the hair of eternal beauties, of corpses that have no weight, of thousands killed and completely erased from living memory in one night, of the disappearance of a village without a trace, but as the writer vigorously and consistently tells us, this literary expression of the outsized reality of Latin America must not be confused with literary slights of hand; all of these instances of the apparently magical was based on the realities of his life, simply scaled to fit the scope of his novels. This outsized reality is not of paper, the writer warns, but one that lives within us and determines each instant of our countless daily deaths, and that nourishes a source of insatiable creativity, full of sorrow and beauty. Living in the tumults of today, among the outsized realities of our country, it is impossible not to find in these words added resonance, another layer of meaning that is deeply personal. There is a paradox to writing. Writing is perhaps one of the most solitary of human undertakings. A writers story takes place in the solitude of his own, personal world, and it is peopled by the phantoms of his solitary mind. Yet, writing is also one of the most public of human undertakings. A writers world, his entire private universe, becomes public, the riches of his imagination gifted to anyone who is willing to accept. On the fault line between these two opposing universes, there exists a borderland, another private universe with a population of two: The writer and the reader. It is here that the paradox is resolved, where the private and public universes are amalgamated into one, and that which once belonged to the writer, becomes the sole property of the reader. Who would dare challenge the intimacy of this gift? And of those of us who have benefitted from it, who will not mourn the death of the source of such magnanimity? l Saba El Kabir is a freelance contributor.
WIKIMEDIA
n Towheed Feroze
he official line given at the sudden departure of the British MD of Biman appointed a year ago, Kevin Steele, was that he was forced to quit the airline faced with health issues. Somehow, this line does not appear to be the full truth. Obviously anyone can develop illnesses which can hamper work and lead someone to opt for a way out, but once the roller-coaster events of Biman over the past year are analysed, it becomes quite evident that in the face of a hydra-headed monster, perhaps the steely resolve of Kevin Steele finally capitulated. We are reminded of the powerful Bengali aphorism:Dosh chokre bhogoban bhut hote badhyo,which in English means that when the forces of evil are united and overpowering, sometimes the good either falters or joins them. That Biman has, for the longest time, been an ailing aircraft is not a new finding; the national carrier had been struggling since the early 90s with successive governments failing to reign in on a variety of allegations, ranging from shady ticket sales, to misuse of funds, to appointment of unskilled staff. The rotting had actually begun much earlier in the early 80s when the carrier started developing the habit of missing arrival and departure times. As I distinctly remember, sitting inside the Tejgaon Airport sometime around the 80s, the flight announcer, exasperated by repeated queries from irate passengers, finally declared: Beiman (ingrate) is finally arriving from Chittagong after a six hour delay. But surprisingly, the history of the airline shows a period of strong initial success gradually getting lost in a whirlpool of complexities.
In the mid-70s, when Biman, as a new airliner of a fledgling country, began its journey with their Majestic all the way tagline, there were very few competitors around. Special packages were launched, the airline was tagged with the tourism Bangladesh campaign (can still be seen in Parjatan motels) plus adverts, both on TV and other mediums, which lured in passengers. A famous 70s TV advert showed a young couple taking Biman to fly to different exotic destinations, a landmark of each major city placed behind them to create an artistic impact.
Of course, the fact that Biman is still running may seem like a miracle to many. Like many other things in Bangladesh, this is yet another element which keeps on surviving, defying the odds and giving credence to the oft used fatalistic observation:Allah bachae rakse(kept alive by divine power) With hardly any publicity, special rates, or standard in-flight entertainment, it has limped on, incurring huge losses. The simple reason why the airline is still carrying on is because millions of Bangladeshis, working abroad, prefer to use it regularly.
This beleaguered airline, which began with a bang, is the perfect example of how, with all the razzmatazz, something can fail to lift off
It was, bytodays standards, a very amateurish production, but eventually did the marketing. The greatest irony is that in a time when too many airlines are locked in an intense battle with countless adverts and promos, Biman does not have a single video commercial on air. In this age and time, aviation is all about fierce campaigning, where an airline must always offer new options sometimes even free tickets. The market is so tough that even all the flamboyance of Vijay Malllaya, Kingfisher Airline, featuring stunning models for stewardesses, failed to capture the market. This beleaguered airline, which began with a bang, is the perfect example of how, with all the razzmatazz, something can fail to lift off.
So when Steele came, the scene was already in a mess. Reportedly, too many groupings within the airline had paralysed it, making it a political cesspool. One main accusation is the national carrier was used to make a fast buck for a lot of people. Skin-saving by politicians at critical moments was also underlined. While many may differ, those who have followed the airline over three decades will have to concede that the bird has been hamstrung by a variety of administrative anomalies. Government apathy only compounded the problem, and as the Steele era ends, there is no assertive declaration from the authority in maintaining the revamping started by the Englishman. Kevin Steele, after taking over,
made enemies fast since, reportedly, he took a zero tolerance policy towards venality supported by sycophancy. Now that he leaves, within a year, maybe the devils are gloating. A reporter once told me that inside the airline, there was a silent confidence among many who had to take a backseat after Steele came. Todayis their day. As Kevin leaves, we come across news of luggage-cutting within the airport, a common complaint, which points the finger at the Biman staff responsible for ground operations. The airline has new planes but without a structured, clear-cut strategy executed by a transparent authority, fresh crafts will be able to do little. To be downright frank, Biman has literally mountains to climb in gaining passenger acceptance. Relatively new airlines like Malaysia Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, Qatar, and Etihad have already secured their positions, vying with other top names like Thai and Singapore to grab a large piece of the aviation industry. In that race, there is no mention of our airline.Its lost in a time capsule. Whatever the circumstances that led to the departure of Kevin Steele, if the government truly harbours a desire to revive the comatose airline, then it should hire another nononsense airline professional, giving him carte blanche to wipe out all weeds. Or better still, cross the Rubicon and let Biman be managed by a private business conglomerate known for professional acumen. That also means disavowing all those poisonous political elements that have been using their links to maintain their positions. We either save the Balaka or we let it perish there is no middle ground.l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.
I cannot claim to have met Marquez. Yet I have known the writer, as have millions of others like me
Granted the conduit for all these have been merely the pages of his books, but having seen so many aspects of the writer vividly painted in ink in those pages, so many parts of the storyteller inscribed within those stories, who could deny that we have known him intimately, that our loss is not personal? I tend to think that for me, the loss had been more personal than some. Gabriel Garcia Mrquez, for me, was the gateway. They say that at some point in ones life, most often during childhood, the page of a book, that string of confused, alien ciphers,
David vs Goliath?
A
n Garga Chatterjee
s the Congress looks sure to reap what it sowed, the possibilities for the Bharatiya Janata Party looked exceedingly certain in almost a walk-over game. It was just a few months ago when there was an air of everything having been settled. A corruption-ridden second term government of the Indira Congress was looking increasingly out of touch with peoples issues and aspirations. And a saviour has descended from Gujarat a saviour whose public image was curated by the Bharatiya Janata Partys slick PR machine to appear in stark contrast with the Nehru-Gandhi scion. It was but a matter of time. It still is a matter of time. Much is still quite settled. But the air has cleared a bit and faces of the demi-gods dont appear as divine anymore. The man from Gujarat still stands tall and is way ahead in the battle. However, political currents in the last few months have ensured that at the end, the winner of the battle can claim political power, legislative power, administrative power, even the power to subvert habeas corpus and other things sacred to human dignity, but it cannot claim ethical and moral power with full-throated confidence. The rise of the Aam Aadmi Party has ensured that. Touted initially as an electronic media creation that would vanish as soon as the cameras turned elsewhere, the Aam Aadmi Party has continued to punch way above it popular weight even after much of corporate media turned hostile overnight over the partys decision to deny the Walmarts and Tescos of the world to set up shop in Delhi. Anything in Hindi-Hindustan is able to claim the top slot in the national agenda such is the nature of politics in this republic. But that is not all. The Aam Aadmi Party has been able to edge past its rivals in the universe of political morals and ethics by disclosing the hitherto undisclosable donor lists to party funds, naming the hitherto unnamable individuals and families who hold the political system in an unholy grip, forcing others to respond, retaliate, ignore, and thus expose themselves. The subcontinent has a special place for this sort of thing, even if ethical giants were really acting all the way. Even if silenced by fear or state violence, people in the subcontinent have shown that they have respect for those who speak truth to power. Which is precisely why other agendas for respect-garnering have to be generated strong leadership, teaching them a lesson, and content-less slogans of the India first type. Such respect-generation is coupled with hope-production by false promises for job-creation and material prosperity that will be ushered in by the same corporates who help fund advertisements of the strongman in widely circulated dailies, TV channels, cell phones, and websites. Arvind Kejriwal, ex-Chief Minister of Delhi and the public face of the Aam Aadmi Party, will be challenging Narendrabhai Modi, the chief-minister of Gujarat and prime-ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, in Benares in the upcoming parliamentary elections. This holy city, which is also the site of the controversial mosque that Aurangzeb Alamgir built after destroying the erstwhile Vishwanath temple, is all set for a David versus Goliath battle. And Goliath will win. When Arvind Kejriwal entered Benares for his inaugural political rally, he was pelted with rotten eggs and black ink was thrown on him. The kickback that is given by the saviours favourite banias in exchange of mining rights, ports, agricultural lands, tax breaks, mega-subsidies, and natural resources finds its way into the petrol of the campaign helicopter, the liquor consumed by the black ink and egg throwers, the danda that holds the jhanda. Kejriwal is astute enough to know that focusing on Benares will garner publicity, helping people know about the political agenda of a credible opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, especially when the Indira Congress is in retreat. An atheist turned believer,
The ironman may stand tall but his rusty core will not be hidden either
AFP
This party, which cannot claim numerical parity with either of the two behemoths of the political scene of the Indian Union, has been able to go strength to strength with these two in the game of political agenda-setting. This is partly due to the base it has been able to create for itself in crucial urban sectors of Hindi-Hindustan (and not in many urban centres of the Indian Union).
he can publicly pull off a call upon non-sectarian divine powers to intervene on the side of the aam aadmi. Call them publicity stunts, call them what you will, but the egg and ink-smeared Kejriwal has ensured that in spite of a chhappan inch chest, immaculately clean dresses, and Har Har chants, the winner this time cannot rise above the fray. The owner of the 56-inch chest will invariably see
his height diminished when the duel with Kejriwal progresses, when he reacts to the Aam Aadmi challenge. The ironman may stand tall but his rusty core will not be hidden either. That is serious political currency for the Aam Aadmi Party, which really is preparing for the election after this one. l Garga Chatterjee is a freelance contributor. He can be followed on twitter @garga.
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DHAKA TRIBUNE
Entertainment
ing tribute to the Bengali screen goddess marking her birthday on April 6, began on April 18. The nine-day long film festival is going on at the Music and Dance Auditorium of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at 6pm till April 26. Todays programme will feature Andhi which is a 1975 Indian political drama film directed by Gulzar. At the time, the film was allegedly based on life of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her relationship with her estranged husband, but in reality, only the look was inspired by politician Tarkeshwari Sinha, apart from Indira Gandhi, though this got the film into controversy. The movie is noted for its songs composed by Rahul Dev Burman, written by Gulzar and sung by Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. Bombay Ka Babu, pairing the actress with Dev Anand, is scheduled to be screened on April 22. Suchitra Sens hit Bangla classics with Uttam Kumar such as Jibon Trishna and Moroner Porey will be screened on April 23 and April 24 respectively. Sondha Diper Shikha, which stars Dilip Mukherjee, and Trijama, co-starring Chhobi Biswas, will be screened respectively on April 25 and 26. Suchitra Sen passed away early in the morning on 17 January, 2014 in Kolkata at the age of 82. Her demise left a big void in Indian cinema, but she will remain in the hearts of cinema-lovers forever. l
Joler Gaan performs at a charity concert on April 19 observing the autism awareness month
TODAY IN DHAKA
Exhibition
Exile in Calcutta by Thomas Meyer Time: 3pm 8pm Drik Gallery, House 58, Road 15/A (New), Dhanmondi Serenading Suchitra Time: 12pm 8pm Shilpangan Gallery House-7, Road-13, Dhanmondi Last Summer by Iffat Ara Dewan Time: 12pm 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, Gulshan Avenue Freezing Moments Time: 3pm to 8pm Drik Gallery House 58, Road 15/A (New), Dhanmondi
Film
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D & 2D) Jonakir Alo, Boishommo The Legend of Hercules 3D Avatar in 3D , Frozen in 3D Time: 10am 10pm Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City 13/3 Ka, Panthopath
Nisho-Mims love story Lady Gaga getting sees a tragic end engaged
n Entertainment Desk
Singer Lady Gaga's boyfriend and actor Taylor Kinney is reportedly planning to propose to her soon, after two years of dating. Kinney is said to be desperate to pop the question, but he hasn't found the right engagement ring yet, reports contactmusic.com. It has been reported that Taylor was considering proposing over her birthday, but he hasn't found the right ring in time. He wants to find something unique that will suit her personality. Gaga's 28th birthday was March 28. "Taylor's been looking at engagement rings for Stef (Lady Gaga) for a couple of months. He has told a couple of his close guy friends that he wants to propose soon. Despite her whole Lady Gaga persona, Stefani is really traditional. Taylor wants the proposal to represent that," said a source. Last week, Kinney said that he believes in monogamy and marriage. He said: "My grandparents have been together for some 50 odd years. I know a lot of happy marriages." l
n Entertainment Desk
Arfan Nisho and Bidya Sinha Saha Mim are featured in a special single-episode drama titled Agnigiri marking the 115th birth anniversary of the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Directed by Sajjad Sumon, the play is set to be aired on May 25 on RTV. The shooting for the drama has been completed recently in Pubail. The play is set on the backdrop of a village in early 20th century. The story of the drama revolves around a self-effacing and bashful religious college going student named Sabur, played by
Nisho, who pursues his studies by working as a lodging master in Patwar Ali Nasib Mia. He teaches Arabic and Persia to Patwar Mias only daughter Nurjahan played by Mim. The very shy Sabur never raises his eyes to Nurjahan though they fall in love with each other at a point. But the harsh reality pushes them to end up in a tragic end. Director Sumon Sajjad said: It is a periodic drama and everything from dialogue to costume, had to portrayed with authenticity and that was the most challenging part. For the first time, Nisho played a role based on Nazruls literature and I hope the audience will accept it. l
Sport
Tk20m in last two years but in return what we got was a libel. Not being a part of the BPL will not stop our earning as cricket is not the only business for us. We became part of cricket because we love the game. The Gladiators chairman, however, believes BPL played an important role in the development of cricket and hoped the tournament to continue. The storm of match fixing also swept over the Indian Premier League (IPL) recently but still it could not stop the tournament from being held. Salim thinks if the IPL can continue, why not BPL? One can say many things over an issue but this should never hamper the continuity. I think our national team would have performed better in the Asia Cup and the World Twenty20 if the BCB had organised the BPL in January, said Salim before accusing the Acsu officials being involved with fixing rings. Our lawyers presented evidences of Acsu officials involvement with match fixing to the tribunal. This was discussed several times in the hearings held by the tribunal, said Salim. He also added that the Acsu reports contained loopholes.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
13
14 Cavani scores
14 Roma playing
15 Wawrinka wins
BPL franchise Dhaka Gladiators owner Salim Chowdhury (2L) speaks during a press conference at Gulshan yesterday How come Ravi Bopara (who played for Chittagong Kings) knew that the Dhaka-Chittagong game was fixed three days ahead of the game whereas those charged said to the tribunal that they got to know about it only a day before the game? There is even an Acsu official named Dharamveer Singh who is said to be involved with fixing. ICC official Ian Higgins threatened to stop BPL. They also tried to produce Darren Stevens as a witness against us by telling him that all his charges will be lifted. Stevens himself confessed this to the tribunal, he added.
I was charged up for my first international exposure but unfortunately it is not happening
As a result he has now been denied his maiden international exposure as a coach which not only demoralised him, but spilled water on his preparations for the event. Yes, it hurt me, Maruf said yesterday. I started to prepare the team for the Presidents Cup, I rarely conduct video sessions but I started video sessions by collecting videos of the three opponents, I was charged up for my first international exposure but unfortunately it is not happening. Maruf blasted the club officials for their non-professional and ridiculous approach. The club served him a showcause letter that he received on April 9 and he answered it within half an hour. He said, They served me a show-cause letter for the failure in the Independence Cup football, the subject was why I chose Jamaican Ricardo Cousins and Uruguayan Francisco Usucar for the
Muktijoddha SKSs Maruf Ahmed and Mohammedans Jahid Hossain got involved in an ugly scuffle during their Bangladesh Premier League match at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MUMIT M
BRIEF SCORES
Dhaka v Khulna
Khulna 243 and 94/3
Dhaka batsmen could not capitalize on their good work on the first day when they bundled out Khulna for 243 and
After being bundled out for just 126 runs in their first innings, Dhaka Metro made a good comeback by dismissing the strong Rajshahi for 207 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong. Though Rajshahi secured a handsome lead of 81 runs, Dhaka Metro ensured there was no repeat of their first innings batting debacle in the second innings as they finished the day on 253/5 which gives them a 172 run lead with two more days remaining. Earlier in the day, Dhaka resumed on 139/7 and the two overnight batsmen Sanjamul Islam (18) and inform Muktar Ali (39) helped Rajshahi cross the two hundred mark. Left arm spinner Abu Bakkar took four wickets for Dhaka Metro. In reply, Dhaka Metro started brilliantly in their second innings with a 161 run opening partnership before Si-
kat Ali had to retire hurt on 94 after he pulled his hamstring while his partner Shadman Islam was dismissed after scoring 85 with twelve fours and a six. However, Dhaka lost some quick wickets later in the day as left arm spinner Taijul Islam bagged two wickets for Rajshahi. Asif Ahmed was still at the crease on 52 runs as curtain fell on second days play.
was dismissed after scoring 60. But Dhiman went on to smash a brilliant century and took Rangpur to a commendable position at the end of second day. Barisals Monir Hossain claimed three wickets for 91 runs from 41 overs.
Anamul Haque 36 not out Mithun Ali 8 not out Dhaka Division 252/10 Nurul Hasan 101 Abdur Razzak 6/101
Rajshahi v Dhaka Metro
Dhaka Metro 126 and 253/5
Chittagong v Sylhet
Rangpur v Barisal
At the Khan Shaheb Osmal Ali Outer Stadium, Rangpur took a lead of 57 runs and finished the second day on 346/5 as wicket-keeper batsman Dhiman Ghosh smashed a brilliant 149 with twenty fours and a six. Starting the second day on 89/2, Nasir Hossain was shortly dismissed after adding just five runs to his overnight 27 while his partner and national team mate Naeem Islam smashed half century and
At the BKSP-3 ground, Chittagong managed to restrict Sylhet to only 190 and took a first innings lead of 23 runs, all courtesy of their skipper Faisal Hossain. The veteran and occasional left arm spinner took five wickets for just 36 runs from 16 overs after Sylhet resumed the day on 75/3. In reply, Chittagong scored 152/3 in the second innings where opening batsman Abdullah Al Mamun scored 68 while national star Mominul Haque remained unbeaten on 53 to hopefully manage a winning lead for his team on the third day. l
Asif Ahmed 52 not out Abu Bakkar 1 not out Rajshahi 207/10 1st innings Sabbir Rahman 64
Rangpur v Barisal
Rangpur 346/5
14
Vettel denies ignoring team orders
World champion Sebastian Vettel denied sparking another Red Bull team orders row after he appeared to ignore an instruction during the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday. Vettel grumpily replied, Tough luck when told to yield to his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, who was closing fast in fifth, after the first round of pitstops. Ricciardo eventually passed two laps later and finished fourth, 21 seconds ahead of Vettel in fifth. But despite his initial reaction, Vettel insisted he did give way to Ricciardo when he realised the Australian had more pace. AFP
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Sport
RESULT
Lyon
Lacazette 56
1 2
PSG
Cavani 4, 33 P
Lyon, back at the Stade de France for the first time since winning the French Cup two years ago, might have equalised moments later, but Bafetimbi Gomis hit the side-netting after good work from his strike partner Lacazette. Gomis then headed an Arnold Mvuemba corner straight at Nicolas Douchez, who was preferred in goal to regular PSG first-choice keeper Salvatore Sirigu, just as he had been in the earlier rounds of the competition. However, Paris were on top and Cavani was unlucky not to score with a superb first-time volley from 25 yards that was spectacularly saved by Lopes. l
Paris St Germain's players celebrate with their trophy after defeating Olympique Lyon in the French League Cup final at the Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis on Saturday
REUTERS
RESULT
Fiorentina Juventus
0 1 1 0
Roma
Nainggolan 26
on Saturday. Despite their record-breaking season Rudi Garcias side have had to play second fiddle to an all-conquering Juventus team on the verge of their third consecutive league title. Romas win in Florence, which was decided by Radja Nianggolans neat
Bologna
Pogba 64
That season they finished on a club record 82 points but fell three points short on the final day. Garcias Roma are already on the same points total with four games left to play. Roma, however, are still eight points
behind relentless Juve, who beat Bologna 1-0 and are looking to become the first Serie A side to break the 100-point barrier as they march towards a 30th scudetto. The addition of Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente in the off season strengthened an already dominant Juventus, with the pair combining to score 32 goals. Garcias initiation began in similar circumstances and the Frenchman looks determined to go one further, ready to bring the club on-field success to match its off-field financial backing and appears to be dreaming of an impossible comeback. There are four games to go and we are sure of a place in the Champions League, Garcia added. l
AS Roma's Serbian forward Adem Ljajic (C) vies with Fiorentina's Argentinian defender Gonzalo Rodriguez during their Serie A match at Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence on Saturday AFP
Bayern must step up in 'City will take title race down to wire' Madrid, says Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has said Bayern Munich will only beat Real Madrid in Wednesdays Champions League semi-final with a vastly improved display after their lacklustre Bundesliga win at bottom-side Eintracht Braunschweig. European champions Bayern ended a run of three Bundesliga games without victory with an unimpressive 2-0 win at Braunschweig on Saturday, four days before their semi-final, first-leg at Madrids Bernabeu. We wont reach the Champions League final unless we put in a commanding performance against Real Madrid, said Guardiola. Its not been easy for us after winning the German title, but we fought despite a difficult situation. We have the nickname la bestia negra, but now we have to provide some proof of that in Madrid, said Rummenigge, who said he hopes Reals Cristiano Ronaldo will face Bayern. When Real Madrid play Bayern Munich, its a game the whole world will be watching. Im always for seeing the best players on the pitch. l Manuel Pellegrini insists Manchester City can take the Premier League title race down to the wire because Liverpool and Chelsea will drop more points before the end of the season. City are title outsiders after a 3-2 defeat at leaders Liverpool and then a 2-2 draw with Sunderland in midweek left them six points off top spot. That gap will become nine points if Liverpool win at Norwich on Sunday. But Pellegrini, whose team host West Bromwich Albion in a must-win fixture on Monday, is sure City still have a chance to overhaul the leaders because the unpredictable nature of the season suggests Liverpool and Chelsea could both slip up before the race is run. Pellegrinis assessment was made before Chelsea slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Sunderland on Saturday, a shock result which confirmed his theory. It also opened the door for City to move closer to the second-placed Blues, who are currently four points ahead of the Eastlands outfit having played two games more. I am absolutely sure the other teams will drop points in the same way we did in the last game. We have 15 more points to play for and we will try and win the most amount of points, Pellegrini said. Then, at the end of the season, we
will see who has the title. All of us want to win as much as we can. We must try to finish this season in the best way. The game against Sunderland was a disappointment because we always want to win but as I said before that game, playing against relegationthreatened teams during the last games of the season is not easy. The performance in every game is very important and I hope we are going to improve our performance against West Brom. Pellegrini wants City to guard against complacency and midfielder James Milner is certain West Brom will offer a similar test to Sunderland as they battle to pull away from the relegation zone. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Sport
15
QUICK BYTES
Ziaur Rahman lost points for the first time in the Open Section of the Asian Continental Chess Championships when the Bangladesh Grandmaster drew with 2581 rated GM Yang Wen of China in the third round on Saturday in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Zia played with black pieces against Catalan open of Wen and made draw at 31st move which was early Deviations from Catalan. Zia earned 2.5 points after the end of 3rd round and shared the 2nd position in the points table along with other 3 players. In the womens section, WFM Nazrana Khan Eva earned her first victory in three rounds by beating WGM Assaubayeva Bibissara of Kazakistan. Tribune Desk
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland (R) poses with his trophy after winning the final match against his compatriot Roger Federer (L) at the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco yesterday REUTERS
RESULTS
Everton
Baines 28-pen, Mirallas 43
2 0 0 3 2 3
Man United
Hull City
Arsenal
Ramsey 31, Podolski 45, 54
Norwich City
Hooper 54, Snodgrass 77
Liverpool
Sterling 4, 62, Suarez 11
Meanwhile, Arsenal kept their noses in front of Everton in the race for the fourth and final Champions League qualifying berth with a comfortable 3-0 win at future FA Cup final opponents Hull City. Arsenal welcomed Mesut Ozil back from a hamstring injury and he played a part in the 31st-minute move that led to Aaron Ramsey drilling the visitors in front. In response, Hull midfielder Jake Livermore drove a low shot against
the post, only for Lukas Podolski to emphatically volley home Arsenals second goal just before half-time from Ramseys chested lay-off. Podolski claimed his second goal in the 54th minute, tucking away the rebound after Hull goalkeeper Allan McGregor had blocked from the irrepressible Ramsey. The victory provisionally put Arsenal four points clear of fifth-place Everton, but Roberto Martinezs side trimmed their lead back to a point with a clinical 2-0 defeat of Manchester United. It was United manager David Moyess first visit to Goodison Park since he left to succeed Alex Ferguson last year and it was to prove a chastening one, as his side fell to their 11th defeat of a dismal campaign. Leighton Baines, a one-time United target, put Everton ahead from the penalty spot in the 28th minute after Phil Jones had blocked a shot with his hand and Kevin Mirallas added a second shortly before half-time. l
Juan Manuel Fangio and level with Niki Lauda and Jim Clark for career wins. But despite consecutive wins in Malaysia, Bahrain and now China, the Briton still trails Rosberg by four points in the standings as he seeks to regain his 2008 world title. I cant believe how amazing the car is. I was able to look after the tyres and then I was racing myself, said Hamil-
DAYS WATCH
Sony Six 8:30PM Indian Premier League 7 Chennai v Delhi NBA Play Off 2013 14 5:00AM Washington v Chicago 7:30AM Portland v Houston Star Sports 4 1:00AM Man City v West Brom Star Sport 2 2:00AM La Liga Malaga v Villareal
Bangladesh Jail beat Mozaffar Smriti Sangsad in the Walton Premier Division Kabaddi at the Kabaddi Stadium yesterday. In the other matches of the day Bangladesh Army beat Maniknagar Kabaddi Club by 49 09 points with three lonas and BGB overpowered Bangladesh Air Force by 19 10 points with one lona
16
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Back Page
Female migrant workers who lost their jobs in Hong Kong wait outside the Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry to meet the minister yesterday RAJIB DHAR
I have received a notice from Probashi Kallyan Bank to pay my instalment but I have no way to pay back the loan
While talking to this correspondent at the Expatriates Welfare Ministry, the migrant workers said they had submitted their allegations to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) on October 2013 but yet to get any response. On February 25, 2014, they also submitted a memorandum to the ministry.
I have submitted my complaint to the BMET which has not done anything to solve my problem, Sumi Akter told this correspondent at the ministry. I have received a notice from Probashi Kallyan Bank to pay my instalment but I have no way to pay back the loan, Faria Akter said. We have asked the BMET to inform us about the problems of the female migrant workers and as per the request of the BMET steps would be taken, Expatriates Welfare Secretary Khandaker Shawkat Hossain said. On February 25 this year a number of female migrants at a press conference alleged that they were promised a good working environment, suitable food and accommodation, and eight working hours daily but the promises were not fulfilled. Two months after arriving in HK many of them were dismissed and sent back home. l
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A view of the houses at a neighbourhood in the capital demands for housing loans are there in Kishoreganj, Gopalganj, Sirajganj and Srimangal after opening branch offices in these towns. But we are unable to disburse loans in these areas due to severe fund shortage. Banking Secretary Dr Aslam Alam told the Dhaka Tribune the corporation has already exhausted all the funds, resulting in the suspension of the programmes. Now they would not be able to disburse loans for the clients without realisation of previous loans, he said. He said: Sovereign guarantee could have been given to BHBFC for borrowing fund from the development partners like World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other international lending agencies. The finance ministry, however, refused giving the guarantee, he said. Finance ministry sources said the BHBFC received only Tk40 crore as loan from the government in the fiscal 2012-13. It could not mobilise any other fund for lending purposes. The BHBFC provides house building loans in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan cities at a rate of 12% while it is 10% for other cities and towns. There are plans by BHBFC to expand its activities through setting up offices in every district gradually. Now the or-
ganisation is operating 29 offices across the country. During July-December period of 2013, the amounts of loan sanctioned, disbursed and recovered were Tk222 crore, Tk226 crore and Tk200 crore respectively. The total loan balance was around Tk2,930 crore. During the same period, the amount of classified loans stood at Tk233 crore, only about 8% of the total disbursement. BHBFChas increased the individual loan ceiling to Tk50 lakh two years ago. The corporations lending had earlier remained suspended from 1988 to 1992 due to fund shortage, sources said. l
there has been tremendous progress in the telecom sector but infrastructure was the least developed among all. He said the government is working to provide more NTTN licences to ensure the competition in telecom transmission. Presenting a paper, North South University teacher M Rokonnuzzaman said: The bandwidth which cost Tk400 in Singapore is Tk2,800 in Dhaka at the end user level. If the same bandwidth transmits to other districts of the country, the cost increases substantially. LIRNEasias senior policy fellow Abu Saeed Khan said the government should allow the foreign bandwidth carriers to enter into Bangladesh to reduce the price. The uncertainty of the regulatory regime often discourages foreign investors. The government should be more open about licence and other fees, he said. BASIS Senior Vice President Syed Almas Kabir said the bandwidth price is one tiny fraction of the entire cost of the internet. There is different type of transportation cost in many levels which should be reduced if we want to reduce the price at the user level, he said. He said that there are too many middlemen in the transmission side which is increasing the cost. Fiber@Home Limiteds Chief Strategic Officer Sumon Ahmed Sabir said the government have to either take the market driven pricing policy of internet or they can take the responsibility in its hand.
B 3 COLUMN 4
He also proposed for allowing banks, insurance companies and financial institutions to avail of the tax exemption on the income derived from zero coupon bonds. Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association Vice President Md Akter Hossain Sannamat proposed the NBR to reduce corporate tax of merchant banks to 27.50%. The merchant banks are making losses from 2010 due to the instability in the stock market whereas corporate tax of merchant banks is higher than the asset management companies or the stock brokers. We think the corporate tax for the merchant banks should be set at 27.50%, he said. He requested NBR to publish statutory regulatory order for initiating incentive package for the merchant banks to cover up the losses which these institutions are making from 2010. The associations other proposals includes treating 1% general provision and specific provision as tax deductable, treating write off losses of merchant banks as tax deductable, and avoid double taxation on dividend income of the banks. l
NBR chair for MCCI wants tax-free income rationalising tariff raised to Tk2.75 lakh to stop spice in the import level. In response, NBR n Tribune Report chief said the government has to face smuggling The Metropolitan Chamber of Com- revenue loss as the pending amounts of disputed tax are huge. merce and Industry (MCCI) urged the n Tribune Report Citing a loss of Tk26,000 crore revgovernment to raise tax-free income
Importers claimed high duty for spice and glass products unlike in any other neighbouring countries has been resulting in peril of the customers and alluring smugglers to make the best out of such supposedly irrational tariff structure. They made the call at a pre-budget meeting with National Board of Revenue yesterday. The NBR chair Md Ghulam Hussain presided over the meeting and said the revenue authority will assess the current tariff structure to rationalise. ceiling for individual taxpayers to Tk275,000. It also proposed increasing the limit to Tk3,00,000 for female and senior citizens aged over 65 years and to Tk3,50,000 for physically challenged people. MCCI president Rokia Afzal Rahman submitted the proposals at a pre-budget meeting with National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday. The meeting was presided over by NBR Chairman Md Ghulam Hussain. MCCI also proposed reduction of corporate duties on banks, insurance and financial institutions as the organisations have to pay 42.5% tax which is very high compared to the neighboring countries. The chamber asked for reducing Advance Income Tax to 3% from 5%
The countrys import expenditure rose by 13.49% in the first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of last fiscal year. The overall import continued to increase at a time when the country had plunged into a political turbulence centering January 5 general polls. Increased import of capital machineries has led the overall import to a positive growth, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank. Capital machinery import increased during the period of July-February due to the increased inflow of foreign direct investment mainly in the garment sector, he also added. According to the central bank data, capital machinery import witnessed 8.61% rise in the first eight months from the negative growth of 18.46% in fiscal year 2012-13. The growth was also negative by 15.85% in the previous fiscal year 2011-12. The value of LCs (letter of credits) settlement stood at US$2.4bn in the period of July to February of the current fiscal year compared to $2.12bn in the same period of the last fiscal year. Although the import growth remained positive, it was slower compared to the export growth, the trade deficit during the period reduced to $3.56bn from $4.59bn. The export earnings increased by 13.96% in July-February of the current fiscal year from 9.36% growth recorded in the same period of the last fiscal year.
B 3 COLUMN 5
Spice Importers
The spice importers said three-fourth of hot spices in the local market come through smuggling and therefore
B 3 COLUMN 4
enue loss from this situation, he urged the businessmen to do something which could benefit both business and government. Ghulam Hussain alleged the businessmen have a tendency to go for appeals in the tribunal whenever they need to pay a big amount of tax. The demands of MCCI, among others, also include allowing financial institutions, banks and insurances to invest in the form of fixed deposit like savings deposit in post office, deduction of duties on software imports and reduction of Vat from import of services by the export-oriented companies. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms have been enjoying tax exemption since 1999, but the facility is renewed every year.
B 3 COLUMN 1
B2
Financials keep stocks afloat
n Tribune Report
Stocks opened flat in the opening session of the week yesterday with limited trading activities. Rally in financials helped offset losses due to profit-booking on some large cap companies that gained over the past several sessions. The benchmark index DSEX gained 17 points or 0.3% to close at 4,616, extending the gaining streak for the last consecutive session. Shariah Index DSES witnessed fractional losses of 0.7 points to 1,034. The blue-chip comprising DS30 fell 4 points or 0.3% to end at 1,698. Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, closed at 8,880 with a gain of 11 points. Volume of trade was poor as the total turnover at DSE declined more than 10% to Tk400 crore. The market breadth was positive as out of 288 issues traded, 182 advanced, 86 declined and 20 remained unchanged. All other major sectors ended lower with telecommunications, power and pharmaceuticals declining 1.7%, 0.8% and 0.3% respectively on profit booking. On the other hand, the financial sectors banks and non-banking financial institutions ended higher with a rise of 1.2% and 1% respectively. Decline in large and mid caps against the upswing in remaining cap classes neutralised each other and subsequently put DSEX in flat region, said IDLC Investments in its market analysis. Meanwhile, investors preference changed a bit which was stimulated by the news of positive export growth, especially in textile sector, it said adding that besides, lower price at scrips-level also generated another stimulus. These twin factors assisted textile to lead in sectoral performance with 2.7% gain. However, investors were seemed to be hesitant of positioning in large cap stocks because of their recent spike in prices. Zenith Investments said the main index rose along with some heavyweight sectors when stocks belonging to blue chip index and the Shariah index faced some correction. It said the total turnover volume is abating gradually day by day, but may soon change its course of direction as the market turned its attention towards mid cap scrips. The top eight positions on turnover chart were dominated by the blue chip stocks. Meghna Petroleum was the most traded stock of the session with almost Tk27 crore. It was followed by two cement companies Lafarge Surma and Heidelberg Cement. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Stock
DSE GAINERS Company
Closing (% change) 9.90 9.80 9.72 9.70 9.68 7.65 7.44 7.30 7.01 6.93
Agni Systems -A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-N Rahima Food -Z R. N. Spinning-Z BD Finance-A Bangladesh Welding -A CVO PetroChem RL Z Anlima Yarn -A National Housing Fin.-B Ambee Pharma -A CSE GAINERS Company Familytex (BD) Ltd.-N Agni Systems -A R. N. Spinning-Z Midas Financing-Z Bangladesh Welding -A BD Finance-A Fareast Finance-N Maksons Spinning-A CVO PetroChem RL Z National Housing Fin.-B
Average (% change) 7.39 6.49 8.68 11.93 7.49 6.71 2.90 5.72 5.02 6.70 Average (% change) 5.34 8.30 9.89 9.87 7.46 6.22 5.96 8.09 5.00 5.92
Closing average 21.81 54.15 45.31 29.09 16.93 19.41 736.87 24.76 28.65 305.66
Closing 22.20 56.00 46.30 29.40 17.00 19.70 757.90 25.00 29.00 305.60
Daily high 22.20 56.10 46.40 29.40 17.20 20.00 758.00 25.20 29.70 310.00
Daily low 18.40 51.60 42.00 24.20 14.00 16.60 700.00 24.10 25.00 296.00
Turnover in million 14.606 85.149 2.877 9.342 15.663 3.947 11.053 1.436 1.792 10.102
Latest EPS 1.10 7.26 -1.00 6.11 1.34 0.57 -4.06 0.80 1.39 5.01
Latest PE 19.8 7.5 -ve 4.8 12.6 34.1 -ve 31.0 20.6 61.0
Closing (% change) 10.00 9.90 9.89 9.87 9.34 8.33 8.04 6.47 6.41 6.32
Closing average 53.62 21.93 28.67 24.50 19.58 16.74 11.91 14.83 742.82 28.46
Closing 56.10 22.20 28.90 24.50 19.90 16.90 12.10 14.80 744.90 28.60
Daily high 56.10 22.20 28.90 24.50 19.90 17.00 12.30 15.20 752.00 29.50
Daily low 52.00 18.50 28.00 24.50 18.50 15.50 11.10 13.00 740.00 25.50
Turnover in million 10.027 1.238 1.613 0.012 1.204 0.151 1.519 2.200 2.080 0.221
Latest EPS 7.26 1.10 6.11 -5.96 0.57 1.34 -0.97 0.64 -4.06 1.39
Latest PE 7.4 19.9 4.7 -ve 34.4 12.5 -ve 23.2 -ve 20.5
(+) 0.38% (-) 0.06% (-) 0.27% (+) 0.42% (-) 0.22% (+) 0.13%
Traded Issues Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis) Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis) Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis) Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.) Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)
Average (% change) -7.36 -6.05 -4.81 -7.14 -3.71 -0.41 -4.64 -3.85
Closing average 26.42 563.56 226.85 23.55 6.49 81.65 69.86 7.50
Daily high 28.00 585.00 235.00 23.70 6.80 85.90 71.10 7.50
Daily low 25.80 552.90 223.20 19.50 6.20 79.80 68.70 7.50
Turnover in million 3.960 202.262 54.241 2.688 3.019 52.597 4.122 0.002
Latest EPS 2.58 26.09 2.92 0.99 1.52 4.85 1.10 -50.84
-3.48 -3.45
-1.49 -3.36
618.78 14.08
609.50 14.00
635.00 15.00
604.00 12.00
82.338 14.716
23.48 1.96
26.4 7.2
Closing (% change) -9.09 -7.69 -7.54 -7.45 -6.11 -6.08 -5.63 -5.28
Average (% change) -9.09 -7.69 -7.68 -7.25 -6.00 -6.08 -4.22 -4.20
Closing average 7.00 24.00 37.98 26.08 563.08 1,232.67 302.00 229.25
Daily high 7.00 24.00 38.00 26.30 580.00 1,240.00 302.00 247.90
Daily low 7.00 24.00 37.80 25.90 553.00 1,231.00 302.00 225.00
Turnover in million 0.004 0.012 0.091 0.078 10.361 0.370 0.015 7.623
Latest EPS 1.52 1.55 3.71 2.58 26.09 46.53 11.53 2.92
-5.21 -4.84
-2.34 -6.46
20.00 23.60
20.00 23.60
20.00 23.70
20.00 23.50
0.110 0.083
0.56 0.99
35.7 23.8
ANALYST
SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY
Sector Bank NBFI Investment Engineering Food & Allied Fuel & Power Jute Textile Pharma & Chemical Paper & Packaging Service Leather Ceramic Cement Information Technology General Insurance Life Insurance Telecom Travel & Leisure Miscellaneous Debenture
Decline in large and mid caps against the upswing in remaining cap classes neutralised each other and subsequently put DSEX in flat region
DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Meghna Petroleum -A LafargeS Cement-Z HeidelbergCement -A Grameenphone-A Olympic Ind. -A Padma Oil Co. -A
Square Pharma -A
DSE Million Taka 516.70 193.36 47.48 279.54 284.03 688.98 3.22 359.15 349.65 0.80 28.08 42.29 10.09 509.53 55.26 50.32 118.18 272.40 47.28 135.13 0.08
% change 12.94 4.84 1.19 7.00 7.12 17.26 0.08 9.00 8.76 0.02 0.70 1.06 0.25 12.77 1.38 1.26 2.96 6.82 1.18 3.39 0.00
Million Taka 46.56 12.21 3.91 20.25 19.06 45.28 52.66 23.15 17.33 1.12 20.13 1.78 31.68 6.48 1.41 8.44 25.64 5.85 20.27 0.02
CSE
% change 12.82 3.36 1.08 5.58 5.25 12.46 0.00 14.50 6.37 4.77 0.31 5.54 0.49 8.72 1.78 0.39 2.32 7.06 1.61 5.58 0.00
Million Taka 563.26 205.57 51.39 299.79 303.09 734.25 3.22 411.81 372.79 18.13 29.20 62.42 11.87 541.21 61.74 51.73 126.63 298.05 53.13 155.40 0.10
Total
% change 12.93 4.72 1.18 6.88 6.96 16.86 0.07 9.46 8.56 0.42 0.67 1.43 0.27 12.43 1.42 1.19 2.91 6.84 1.22 3.57 0.00
BSC A Jamuna Oil -A Titas Gas TDCLA Southeast Bank-A Emerald Oil Ind. -N
Volume shares 865,552 3,700,500 358,900 782,898 658,837 430,700 395,613 3,811,067 2,928,199 1,572,500
Value in million 268.35 262.94 202.26 196.15 157.87 152.45 111.62 94.50 86.56 85.15
% of total turnover 6.72 6.59 5.07 4.91 3.96 3.82 2.80 2.37 2.17 2.13
Daily closing 311.40 72.00 555.70 250.30 238.30 352.70 280.70 24.80 29.60 56.00
Price change 0.19 5.42 -6.00 -1.69 -1.73 -1.15 -1.06 2.06 3.14 9.80
Daily opening 310.80 68.30 591.20 254.60 242.50 356.80 283.70 24.30 28.70 51.00
Daily high 315.00 72.90 585.00 255.00 244.70 360.00 285.90 25.20 29.90 56.10
Daily low 284.00 68.00 552.90 247.10 221.40 335.00 275.00 22.00 26.00 51.60
Daily average 310.03 71.06 563.56 250.55 239.62 353.95 282.15 24.80 29.56 54.15
Volume shares
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
Grameenphone-A BD Submarine Cable-A Matin Spinning-N UCBL - A Padma Oil Co. -A BSC A HeidelbergCement -A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Meghna Petroleum -A Delta Life Insu. -A AB Bank - A Square Pharma -A Southeast Bank-A
251,000 53,200 59,725 297,200 458,581 31,140 17,055 18,400 187,000 275,340 24,719 33,250 244,463 25,155 293,874
Value in million
17.96 13.32 12.32 11.77 11.42 11.02 10.61 10.36 10.03 7.95 7.66 7.62 7.22 7.08 5.82
% of total turnover
5.92 4.39 4.06 3.88 3.76 3.63 3.49 3.41 3.30 2.62 2.52 2.51 2.38 2.33 1.92
Daily closing
72.30 250.40 205.70 39.90 24.80 353.30 610.00 555.20 56.10 29.10 312.00 226.10 29.60 280.80 20.00
Price change
4.78 -1.53 -1.72 2.57 2.48 -0.98 -3.25 -6.11 10.00 4.68 0.35 -5.28 3.50 -0.95 4.17
Daily opening
69.00 254.30 209.30 38.90 24.20 356.80 630.50 591.30 51.00 27.80 310.90 238.70 28.60 283.50 19.20
73.00 254.00 210.00 40.20 26.00 357.10 636.00 580.00 56.10 29.20 313.20 247.90 29.80 284.00 20.10
67.50 248.00 205.20 38.60 21.80 349.00 606.50 553.00 52.00 25.20 290.00 225.00 28.00 275.00 17.30
Daily average
71.56 250.39 206.33 39.59 24.90 353.81 621.95 563.08 53.62 28.89 309.89 229.25 29.53 281.52 19.81
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Business
B3
1, about 1,500 meters underwater, is a Seafloor Massive Sulphide (SMS) deposit, which forms along hydrothermal vents where mineral-rich fluids spurt from cracks in the ocean crust. Equipped with cameras and 3D sonar sensors the robot is driven by two pilots from a control room on the vessel above, attached via a giant power cable. The cameras arent enough by themselves because the machine will be working by vents where black soot spurts from the ocean crust and it will
sometimes be near impossible to see anything, said Stef Kapusniak, business development manager for mining at SMD. The 3D sonar will allow it to make images and send it back to the control room. The machine then cuts up the sea floor and sucks the rocks through a pipe to deposit it in mounds behind like icing a cake, Kapusniak said. Another machine, yet to be built, will then help suck the ore to the surface. Nautilus aims to produce 80,000100,000 metric tons of copper and
100,000-200,000 ounces of gold equivalent to a modest onshore mine. It was supposed to be producing by now, but disagreements with the PNG government over financial terms have set it back. Chief Executive Mike Johnston told Reuters he was confident a resolution would be sorted out and the company would be mining within two to three years. Most of the worlds best deposits lie even deeper than Nautilus Solwara 1, at around 6,000 meters in an area known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone. l
Hyundai Motor unveils small SUV concept for China NTTN licences soon Import rises 13%
n Reuters, Seoul
South Koreas Hyundai Motor on Sunday unveiled its small sport utility vehicle (SUV) concept targeted at the Chinese market, planning to join a flurry of rivals in tapping the growing segment in the worlds biggest market. Hyundai said it had picked popular Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun to promote the subcompact SUV ix25, to capitalise on the Korean pop culture boom in wooing Chinese customers aged between 25 and 35. Small SUVs are a bright spot in key markets from China and India to the United States and Europe, offering the functionality and space of SUVs in an affordable small vehicle. In China, General Motors and Ford Motor are offering small SUVs Trax and EcoSport, respectively, among other carmakers. The ix25 concept, which debuted at the Beijing auto show, is smaller than Hyundais Tucson compact SUV and will go into sales in the second half of this year, Hyundai said. Hyundai, which now sells a miniSUV only in Brazil, did not say whether it will roll out similar products in other key markets such as India, the United States and Europe. Hyundai, which ranks fifth in global sales along with affiliate Kia Motors, hopes the upcoming model will help retain its momentum in China, which generates 22% of its sales. With Hyundais sales in the United States and Europe stagnating, China is a bright spot for the carmaker. Its China sales rose 9% to 270,347 vehicles in the period from January to March, compared to a year earlier. Hyundais chief financial officer earlier said the firm hoped to boost China sales by more than 10% to more than 1.13 million vehicles this year, aided by a capacity hike at its third Chinese plant and a new commercial vehicle factory there. l
PAGE 1 COLUMN 6
Immediate past BASIS President Fahim Mashroor said lowering the power cost for the internet transmission will help reduce the cost. Telecom Minister Abdul Latif Siddique said the private operators are aggressive on profit maximisation and wealth centralisation. He said the mobile telecom companies are involved in illegal VoIP business and there is lack of clarity in their audit reports. Even the BTRC is not fully fair in many cases. He said the private companies oppose the foreign investment for their own vested interest. Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury said time has come to amend and review the ICT policy and upgrade it. l
PAGE 1 COLUMN 4
Bangladesh Bank, however, fears that the import of commodity products will be increased significantly very soon ahead of Ramadan. The central bank has already stressed the need for incre asing the export earnings as it might face a setback in balance of payments for the next few months due to significant increase of import. Import has already increased significantly by 23.33% to $3.13bn in February of current fiscal year just after January 5 polls, compared to growth of 15.52% in the same month of the previous year. Meanwhile, the central bank has
urged the government to take necessary measures to enhance manpower export to offset a looming setback in the countrys foreign exchange balance, said an official of the central bank. According to the settlement of letter of credit (LCs), food grains imports rose by 119.78% during the period compared to 41.38% negative growth in the same period of previous fiscal year. Import of food grains followed by industrial raw materials with a rise of 10.57% compared to 6.84% negative growth while petroleum products registered 3.63% negative growth compared to 5.45% negative growth. l
BGMEA forms body to scrutinise NBR chair for rationalising tariff to stop spice smuggling
PAGE 1 COLUMN 6
MCCI wants the facility should be fixed for at least a five-year period, which will be encouraging for the investors. The renewal of the exemption facility every year is really discouraging to the investors. If it is given for a five-year term, the investors feel encouraged, said Habibullah N Karim, managing director of Technohaven Company Limited. About automation, Ghulam Hussain said the revenue board is going to integrate works of all its three wings Customs, Vat and Income Tax - through making services online. NBR will be the first fullyautomated government office in Bangladesh within next one year and we are working into it, he said, seeking support from the trade bodies, to achieve the goal. l
workers portfolios to make sure whether they were the workers of the Rana Plaza factories or not, SM Mannan Kochi, convener of the committee, told the Dhaka Tribune. He also said: We have made the decision to bring all the victims under a common platform as they are now scattered and wandering for help and the committee will scrutinise the claims of the victims with the help of the local administration. As per the statistics of several trade unions, there are around 120 workers are unidentified and missing, said Sirajul Islam Rony, president of Bangladesh National Garment Workers Employees League. But the BGMEA leaders claimed that the number could be around in between 40-50.
After cross checking the identity of the victims, they will get compensation from Prime Minister Relief Fund, ILO Trust Fund, benefits for losing jobs as per the section 20 of labour law and, said BGMEA vice president (finance) Reaz Bin Mahmood. A total of 207 victims out of 322 had been identified through DNA test, of which in the first phase report last November, the lab identified 157 victims 116 women and 41 men, while the second phase report in February this year identified 43 more victims 33 women and 10 men and seven in the third phase. Sources at the national DNA lab said a total of 541 families had provided DNA samples for cross-matching with the 322 unidentified victims, whose bone and teeth were collected as DNA samples. l
PAGE 1 COLUMN 1
urged the government to relax duty on the products. Hot spices and dry fruits completely depend on import. But high duty has encouraged large scale of smuggling, said M Enayet Ullah, president of Bangladesh Wholesale Hot Spice Businesses Association. Due to high duty, the smugglers are leaned towards bringing spices into the country from India and bag the duty amount as their profits. He added: Now the import duty on raisin is 92.30%, dry fruits 35% and hot spices 61%. The structure is also making the products out of the peoples purchasing capacity. The association leaders urged the NBR to waive supplementary duty and Vat on import of the products and cut
customs duty to 15% from 25% now. Attending the meeting, the association leaders said the importers have to pay Tk300 to Tk400 in duties for importing a kilogram of hot spices, which is illogical and unlike any other neighbouring countries. The NBR chair heard the requests made by the small, medium and other businesses as part of its budget preparation work. He sought support from businesses to manage the revenue collection in the next fiscal as a collection target has been set at Tk1,49,000 crore.
Glass Importers
At the discussion, representatives from Bangladesh Glass Merchant Association have also raised the same demand to rationalise the industrys currently
set duty of 133%. Moreover, they urged to set the supplementary duty at 10% from the current range of 20% to 45% on different type of imports. Currently, there are 133% duties on import of sheet and float glasses whereas only 5% VAT has been imposed at the local manufacturers. For the very reason importers are continuously facing losses from such price competitiveness, said association general secretary M Abu Saleh. Demanding reduction of duties, he said there are no such high duties in the world. He mentioned that the duties are not more than 50% in the neighbouring countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Therefore, the duties need to go through reduction for the greater good - for protecting businesses. l
Gulshan branch of Jamuna Bank has been shifted to 116 Gulshan Avenue of Gulshan-2 in Dhaka. The banks chair, Kanutosh Majumder inaugurated the new premises as chief guest
A 15-day special training course was held at BIBM Bhaban to produce skilled audit officers for Publai Bank. The course was jointly organised by human resources division of Pubali Bank Ltd and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management at the presence of the banks managing director and CEO, Helal Ahmed Chowdhury and director general of BIBM, Dr Taufique Ahmed Chowdhury
The state minister of Labour and Employment Ministry, Md Mujibul Haque is seen handing over a cheque for Tk2 lakh to Taslima Akter, wife of late Nirman Sramik Md Million, in settlement of a group insurance scheme with Jiban Bima Corporation and Bangladesh Labour Welfare Foundation
A conference for branch managers was recently held where 35 branch managers of National Bank Limited working in the capital along with concerned divisional heads participated at the banks training institute. A K M Shafiqur Rahman, managing director and CEO of the bank attended the conference as chief guest
A six week long course on banking foundation was started for the 8th batch PSO of Standard Bank Ltd at SBL Training Institute yesterday. The president of FBCCI, Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed inaugurated the programme as chief guest while the banks managing director, Md Nazmus Salehin presided over the ceremony
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A model poses on a McLaren electric motorbike on display at the China International Exhibition Center during the "Auto China 2014" Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing yesterday. Leading automakers are gathering in Beijing for the kickoff of China's biggest car show, but lackluster growth and environmental restrictions in the world's largest car market have thrown uncertainty into the mix. More than 1,100 vehicles are being showcased at the auto show, which opens to the public today AFP
A taxing issue
Going global
Nearly all of them live in Denmark, where the website is especially popular in the trendy Copenhagen neighbourhoods of Noerrebro and Vesterbro, but the sites founders are hoping it will go global after recently launching an English-language version. Earlier this month, another Danish take-away website, Just-eat.com, which allows users to order food from 36,000 restaurants in 13 countries, was valued at 1.47bn (1.78bn euros, $2.47bn) when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange 13 years after being founded. However, feeling peckish one night, the team behind Dinnersurfer - made up of two business students and a computer programmer - felt that regular take-away wasnt what they were looking for.
While the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries regularly publishes inspection reports from the countrys restaurants, Dinnersurfers cooks operate without any supervision. On one Danish Internet forum, users questioned how buyers could know whether hygiene standards were being upheld and how the origin of the food could be verified. We dont supervise the cooks, but through our ratings system you can see if they have received good or bad reviews, Kraegpoeth said. So far we havent heard of anyone getting sick, he added. On its Frequently Asked Questions page, the website has a mere two lines on tax regulation, telling users to check with the tax authoritys website if they have any further questions. Its up to the individual user to pay the right amount of tax, Kraegpoeth said. So far, most sellers appear to be amateurs with little interest in turning their hobby into a full-time profession. I relax and I feel creative, said Salas, the consultant. Its not my goal to make money from this. I think its fun, and at best it will make my own food a bit cheaper, she added. l
A pedestrian walks by the Zynga headquarters in San Francisco first time in the franchise, according to Zynga vice president of games Jonathan Knight. FarmVille is essentially what it sounds like, in that players feed livestock, nurture crops, craft goods and virtually tend to other aspects of country life. In the mobile version, weve added more ways for players to team up together, help each other out and even compete, Davies said.
AFP
Bite-sized play
Zynga has made a priority of adapting games for lifestyles increasingly centered on smartphones and tablets. The new game takes advantage of touchscreen controls and play made bite-size to pop into spare moments in daily routines. We know people like to pull their
Italy's government on Friday said it had raised 371,400 euros (US$513,200) so far in an eBay auction of luxury official cars in a symbolic effort to cut outrageous spending by ministries that has sparked public anger EBAY the defence ministry. A brand new Maserati can cost around 100,000 euros. The government said the official cars chosen for sale were those that the public administration retains no longer essential for institutional ends. As Italy struggles to recover from a painful two-year recession, national and local authorities have been forced to cut down on thousands of official cars known as auto blu (blue cars) that have been for decades one of the many perks for the political class. l
DILBERT
and choose to share with each other to see when youre nearby. Your friends will only be able to see that youre nearby if you share this info with them and vice versa. Facebook will also allow users to share a precise location with the particular friends for a set period of time. When you share your precise location, the friend you choose will see exactly where you are on a map, which helps you find each other, said Vaccari. Facebook had an estimated 1.23 billion users at the end of December, and more than one billion who use the social network on a mobile device. The nearby friends feature will be available for Android and iPhone users in the United States over the coming weeks. l