SECOND EDITION

MUHITH: 2% UNDER TAX NET BY 2020 PAGE 32

TRAINS TO DAILY CARRY 250,000 PEOPLE PAGE 3

PM: STRICT MONITORING FOR PRIVATE UNIS PAGE 25

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 | Ashwin 1, 1422, Zilhaj 1, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 153 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

Cross-border cattle driving a lucrative professionn Mohammad Jamil Khan and Syed

Samiul Basher Anik, back from the borders

Shaheed Dakua from Panbari village in Lalmonirhat district in Bangladesh has been driving smuggled Indian cattle across the bor-der for 50 years.

He usually brings four cows or bu� aloes at a time because anything higher is not only hard to control but also raises the chances of getting caught at the border.

He can earn up to Tk10,000 for bringing each of these consignments for local smug-gling bigshots; but if things go wrong – which they often do – he might get killed for illegal

trespassing.In fact, according to Border Guard Bangla-

desh (BGB), 90% of Bangladeshis killed at the border are cattle smugglers.

People like Shaheed are called “dangowal” – the local term for a shepherd. His son Hasan Dakua, whom Dhaka Tribune correspondents met at a tea stall near the Burimari Land Port in Lalmonirhat, is an apprentice to his father.

There are entire villages of dangowals in these bordering districts in the coun-try’s north and west. In fact, most people in Hasan’s village are drivers of smuggled cattle.

He might be just 18 years old, but he has already married twice. He � rst got married at the age of 14. After his � rst wife died, he got

married again and has two children with his second wife.

Interestingly, most male residents of these border areas marry around the age of 15. Lo-cals said families tend to get their sons mar-ried early so that they do not stay back in In-dia after going there as a dangowal.

An “assignment” of bringing in a cattle consignment can be divided into three parts: collecting the cattle from India; driving the animals through the border; and � nally hand-ing them over to cattle traders on this side.

Part oneThis usually begins in one of the Indian PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Students to get their VAT backn Shadma Malik

Private university authorities have arranged for the students to get back the money they had already paid as VAT on their tuition fees.

The value-added tax that had already been collected from students shall be returned in two ways: either the amount will be adjusted with the next semester’s tuition fees, or the students would be able to collect the cash or a cheque from their respective accounts o� ce.

The decision was posted on websites of the private universities concerned as their students started returning to classroomsafter their successful street demonstrations made the government withdraw the VAT on education.

Classes resumed yesterday at North South University, which along with Independent

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015NEWS2DT

Cross-border cattle driving a lucrative professionvillages near the border. Bangladeshi traders place demand to Indian brokers, known as mahajans.

Based on the demand, the mahajans col-lect adult cattle from surrounding villages. Depending on the demand placed by the Bangladeshi trader, the mahajans can collect up to 50 heads of cattle.

The money is transferred mainly in two ways. The Bangladeshi traders either give the money to the dangowals if the consignment is small, or transfer it through informal chan-nels such as hundi. Sometimes the two par-ties meet at unguarded border points and just throw the money over the fence.

According to Hasan Dakua, they some-times smuggle drugs like phensedyl and even humans along with the cattle. But that is an-other story.

One dangowal usually does not bring more than four cows at a time. If the size of the con-signment is 50, then the importer here sends a team of 12 to 13 dangowals with the necessary information.

Communication is not a problem because Bangladeshi mobile phone SIM cards work in the Indian bordering villages, sometimes up to 2km inside Indian territory.

Part twoThe dangowals cross the border in the middle of the night, generally during the new moon. On the darkest of nights, they may even cross the border twice.

There is no fence at the Patgram border in Lalmonirhat. There is a narrow shallow canal at the border and the dangowals, along with the cattle, walk or swim across to reach Bang-ladeshi territory.

But not all borders are unfenced. For exam-ple, dangowals have to often cut the barbed-wire fences at the borders in Kurigram district

to pass through with the cattle.Smuggling rings have special arrangements

with the local units of the Indian Border Secu-rity Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and customs o� cials, police and local political leaders of both countries.

The dangowals have to share their incomes with all of them in exchange for free passage across the border.

When the cattle reach Bangladeshi terri-tory, BGB teams catch the dangowals and the

animals and inform customs o� cials.

Part threeThe customs o� cials come in the morning, seize the cattle and take them to makeshift cowsheds, locally known as khatals or bits.

In the khatal, customs o� cials speak with the dangowals, take Tk510 for each cow, is-sues a token or a receipt and frees the cattle. The token or receipt number is stamped on the back of the cows. This money goes into

the government’s books as revenue.The dangowals then bring the cows to des-

ignated places. From there, after having re-ceived the cattle, the Bangladesh trader sends the cows to markets. Before Eid-ul-Azha, the trader might bring the cattle to animal mar-kets in Dhaka and other big cities.

Against costs of about Tk10,000, depend-ing on the market and size of the animal, the selling price of a bu� alo or cow can range from Tk30,000 to Tk3 lakh. l

Students to get their VAT backUniversity Bangladesh announced of sus-pending classes on September 13; the IUB will open again on September 27.

Other universities that saw their students boycott classes since protests intensi� ed last Thursday, also returned to their universities yesterday.

University authorities said make-up classes would be held to cover for the losses

in academic activities during the demonstra-tions.

Talking about the return of VAT money, Prof M Omar Rahman, vice-chancellor of IUB, told the Dhaka Tribune: “A sum of money was taken as VAT from the students when it was enforced by the government. Since then, the government has cancelled VAT on private uni-versities and the authority has established the

policy to return the money. “The money will be adjusted in the next tu-

ition fees. If a student wants to take back the money, they will have to contact the accounts department. Procedures will be carried out to return their VAT money,” he said

Brac University VC Prof Syed Saad An-daleeb said: “Brac university will provide cash or give a cheque to the students. It will be ad-

justed in their next tuition fees. The students need to bring the receipt. The procedure has already been implemented.”

Green University of Bangladesh VC Prof Md Golam Samdani Fakir told the Dhaka Tribune: “Under the general procedure of tuition fees, students pay it twice before the mid-term and after the mid-term. The money will be adjust-ed in the second instalment.” l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Traders on way to the capital with sacri� cial cattle on a truck from northern zone of the country. The photo was taken at Tinmathha area of Bogra district yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

4 Bangladeshis die in Omann Tribune Report

Four Bangladeshi workers were killed and four others injured in an accident in Oman’s Yiti area on Sunday, reported the Times of Oman.

According to the report, of the deceased, three died on the spot when the JCB machine in whose bucket they were travelling, toppled over.

The machine was reportedly being driven by an inexperienced driver.

JCB is equipment for construction, dem-olition and agriculture carried in mini vehi-cles.

Five people received severe injuries during the incident while one of them succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Muscat.

All the Bangladeshi victims were employed at a landscape project in Jebel Sifah. However,

detailed information on the victims could not be known immediately.

The report further claimed that three out of four deceased were undocumented workers.

Quoting a senior o� cial from the Bang-ladesh Embassy in Muscat, the news outlet reported: “A � rst-hand information from an uno� cial source suggested that the Bangla-deshis died when the JCB machine toppled.

Three persons died on the spot and the other died yesterday.

“They were all rushed to the Khoula Hospital Trauma Centre. The remains of the dead have been shifted to the police hospital’s morgue.”

“E� orts are on by the mission o� ce to con-� rm their identities, including their address-es in Bangladesh, repatriate the remains and seek compensation,” added the report. l

Syed Mohsin Ali returns in a co� n from Singaporen UNB

The body of Social Welfare Minister Syed Mo-hsin Ali who died in a Singapore hospital on Monday was brought home yesterday night.

A � ight of Singapore Airlines carrying the body of the late minister landed at Shahjalal International Airport in the capital around 10:50pm, said Social Welfare Ministry Public Relations O� cer Maidul Islam.

“Later, the body will be taken to his Minto Road o� cial residence in the capital,” he said from the airport.

The body will be kept at the Central Sha-heed Minar from 8am to 9am today so that

people can pay their last respects to him.The � rst namaz-e-janaza of Syed Mohsin

Ali will be held at 10am today at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. President Abdul Hamid is expected to join the janaza.

His body will be � own to Moulvibazar by a helicopter at noon and his last namaz-e-janaza will be held at Moulvibazar Government High School ground around 4pm. Syed Mohsin Ali will be buried at Shah Mostafa Mazar at Darjir-mahal by the graves of his parents.

Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali, who was undergoing treatment at Singapore General Hospital, died on Monday morning at the age of 67. l

NEWS 3D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Khaleda leavesfor Londonn Tribune Report

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia left Dhaka for London yesterday for treatment.

An Emirates Airlines � ight carrying Khale-da left Shahjalal airport at 9:30pm while hun-dreds of leaders waved their hands outside the airport, said Shamsuddin Didar, an o� cial of Khaleda’s press wing.

Khaleda was accompanied by her younger brother Shamim Eskander and his wife Kaniz Fatema; her Personal Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar and house maid Fatema Akhter.

This is Khaleda’s second visit to the UK after 2006. She is likely to spend Eid-ul-Adha with her family members in London.

Khaleda’s elder son Tarique Rahman has now been living in London with his family members since 2007. He is facing a number of graft and criminal cases.

Khaleda and Tarique met last year when she went to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

This will be their � rst meeting since Khale-da’s younger son Arafat Rahman Coco died of cardiac arrest in January this year.

Khaleda was supposed to meet Tarique in Saudi Arabia for Umrah during the last Ram-adan but the reunion fell through as she had cancelled the visit in the last moment.

A number of BNP leaders said Coco’s wife Sharmila Rahman Sithi and her two daughters Jahiya Rahman and Jaisa Rahman were likely to � y to London from Thailand to spend the Eid together. l

UN o� cial praises Bangladeshi peacekeepersn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

UN Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Atul Khare has praised Bangladeshi peacekeep-ers, saying there had been no al-legation against them during the last two years.

At a press brie� ng in the cap-ital’s Hotel Sonargaon yester-day, the UN o� cial said he had received 43 allegations against peacekeepers from di� erent countries during this time, but not a single one against Bangla-deshi peacekeepers.

Khare arrived in Dhaka on Sun-day on a three-day visit. During his stay, he met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister for Foreign A� airs Mohammad Shahriar Alam and the acting chief of army sta� .

The UN o� cial quoted the acting chief of army sta� as telling him that as far as Bangladeshi peacekeepers were concerned, they had “not zero tolerance but minus tolerance” on sexual exploitation and abuse.

On another note, Khare said the UN would arrange an event next year for Bangladeshi busi-nesspeople to make them aware about the prospects of doing business with the global body. l

Trains to carry 250,000 dailyn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Railway is ready to serve around 250,000 passengers a day during the Eid hol-idays, up from the daily average of 170,000 passengers per day, the railway minister said.

Advance ticket sales ahead of Eid-ul-Azha started at Dhaka and Chittagong railway sta-tions yesterday morning. Tickets will be availa-ble both online and at ticket counters until Sep-tember 19. Each passenger is allowed to buy a maximum of four non-refundable tickets.

The national railway will sell some 48,000 advance tickets per day, with 25% earmarked for online and mobile sales, 5% allocated for VIPs and another 5% set aside for sta� .

Railway Minister Mujibul Haque visited Kamalapur Railway Station around 10am yes-terday while the station was crammed with passengers.

Passenger hardship will decrease by next Eid because new carriages will be procured by January, the minister said while visiting the station.

“Many passengers are not able to get tick-ets on their preferred dates of travel because there are not enough coaches and engines,” the minister said after observing the situation on the � rst day of advance ticket sales.

He said the number of train carriages would be increased to 270 from the existing 224 by January. An additional 150 engines will be added under ADP � nancing that has already commenced, he added.

The minister warned railway o� cials that

they would face dismissal if delays were prov-en to be caused by irresponsibility on their part.

Delays had already been caused by an ac-cident. The minister asked o� cials to swiftly get the train schedule back on track.

Kamalapur Station experienced a heavy rush on the morning of the � rst day of ad-vance ticket sales.

Tickets for September 20 were sold yester-day; those for September 21 will be sold today. September 22 tickets will be sold on Septem-ber 17, September 23 tickets on September 18 and September 24 tickets on September 19.

BR will operate 14 special trains, of which four will serve Solakia, Kishoreganj. The re-maining trains will run for three days before to seven days after Eid. l

As advance train tickets went on sale ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, hundreds throng the capital's Kamalapur Railway Station yesterday to secure a ticket home MEHEDI HASAN

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015NEWS4DT

Anti-VAT movement’s lesson for partiesn Kamran Reza Chowdhury

The latest case of the private university students demanding cancellation of the value added tax (VAT) on tuition fees demonstrates a qualitative change in the approach of a generation used to a culture of rampage. Damaging cars and buses used to be the primary approach of the students whenever they were out on the streets.

This violent way of protest had little support from the populace, but the student bodies were under the impression that no demand was achievable without resorting to street rampage. Perhaps it is because these “rampagers” hardly ever face legal action, unless the government decides to single out some political � gure to harass. For instance, the BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul

Islam Alamgir currently faces the charge of vandalising DCC garbage trucks.

The � ve-day student protest was organised and peaceful. No violence was reported in any part of the city, though it came to a standstill due to the blockade of students carrying messages such as: “Either withdraw VAT or shoot us.”

In a democratic polity, what else can be as powerful? As a journalist, I have seen some people try and provoke the students, but they remained unmoved. The organisers deserve credit for their peaceful approach; they have once again proven that anything is achievable through peaceful means.

The withdrawal of the VAT is another testimony that a political government, no matter how bad or undemocratic it is in nature, must respect the opinion of the

people. I have no doubt in mind that a violent approach would have prompted the government to go in the other direction.

The political parties, be it AL, BNP, or Jamaat, have been using violence as the principal political strategy against the governments. Their reckless attitude has distorted the peace-loving mentality of the people.

The parties should learn from this movement that the days of violence are gone. The one-sided elections in 2014 have no doubt eroded our democratic institutions and civil rights. But the BNP-Jamaat’s violent call and subsequent actions against the January 5 polls gave Awami League the ground on which to successfully sell the elections at home and abroad.

The Awami League backtracked from

the VAT decision sensing a probable consequence: They did not want to allow the opposition to cash in on the unrest. The BNP had extended moral support to the students. And the bureaucrat-turned-� nance minister was cornered by the politicians from within the Awami League.

The ruling party acted judiciously before the situation went out of control, though huge economic losses have befallen the people in the last � ve days. But a stitch in time saves nine.

The political parties should learn from our children that people want peace, not violence, and they want to know that their constitutional rights are protected. They expect the government to care about the dissenting voices that make democracy meaningful. l

Experts: Migration issues must be included in development policies n Tribune Reports

In light of recent events, migration must be included in the development policies of global leaders, experts said at a city event yesterday.

The event, a discussion the issue of migration, was held at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital, organised by the Bangladesh mission of International Organisation of Migration (IOM).

High-ups from several ministries, development agencies and experts took part in the discussion, which was organised to discuss Bangladesh’s stand on the issue in the upcoming 8th Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD) Summit, also organised by the IOM and to be held next month in Istanbul, Turkey.

Speaking at the event, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam highlighted the importance of legal channels of migration.

“In particular, encompassing protection obligations of the labour migrants will signi� cantly reduce the vulnerabilities and risks incurred by the migrants.”

Foreign A� airs Secretary Shahidul Haque said the GFMD summit was taking place at a critical time to shape the future of migration, which he said was a political issue rather than a technical one.

Speakers discussed a number of other issues, including the human rights conditions of migrants in foreign countries, fair recruitment practices and recruitment fees, harnessing the bene� ts of migration as a part of sustainable

development goals, human and � nancial costs of international migration, and mainstreaming of migrants into all sectors of the economy.

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Secretary Khandaker Md Iftekhar Haider said countries that export and/or import man power must ensure welfare and rights of the migrant workers.

He also urged all stakeholders to show utmost cooperation in order to successfully stage the 2016 GFMD Summit, scheduled to be held in Dhaka.

An initiative of the United Nations, the GFMD is the biggest platform on migration issues that addresses the connection between migration and development.

Bangladesh has been an active participant of the forum since its beginning in 2007. l

CNG � lling stations to remain open 24-hour for Eidn Tribune Report

The Natural Compressed Gas (CNG) � lling sta-tions will remain open round the clock from September 22-30 to facilitate journeys on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, scheduled to be held on September 25.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader made the announcement at the secretariat yesterday.

He said: “We have formed a special team headed by Bangladesh Road Transport Au-thority director to monitor four inter-district bus terminals of the capital to ensure has-sle-free journey of the holidaymakers.”

The representatives of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Dhaka South City Corporation, Dhaka North City Corporation and Bus Owners and Workers Association are included in the team.

The team will monitor to check charging of extra fares, overloading vehicles and other harassment of the passengers. l

Moudud’s son Aman dies of denguen UNB

Aman Moudud, only son of BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed, died early yesterday. He was 38.

He died around 4:30am when he was being � own to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore by an air ambulance from United Hospital in Dhaka on Monday night, said the BNP chair-person’s press wing member Sairul Kabir Khan.

Moudud’s chamber junior Ehsanur Rah-man said Aman’s body has been kept in the mortuary of the Singapore hospital.

On September 9, Aman was admitted to United Hospital with fever and was diagnosed with dengue. Ehsanur Rahman said Aman’s condition started deteriorating early Monday after he was given antibiotic for dengue and then he was put on life support. Moudud’s personal assistant Shahidul Islam said a med-ical team of the hospital suggested taking him abroad for better treatment. l

A mobile court conducted sudden raid at pharmacies in Saheb Bazar and Katakhali Bazar areas of Rajshahi city yesterday, looking for illegal veterinary drugs. During the raid, several pharmacies were shut down in order to avoid the raid. One pharmacy was � ned by the court AZAHAR UDDIN

NEWS 5D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

PM: Bring private universities under strict monitoringn Tribune Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed development planners to bring private university education under strict monitoring in a bid to ensure quality education.

Sources also quoted the premier as urging planners to increase investment in education research to enhance the sector.

Hasina’s directives came as General Economic Division Member Prof Shamsul Alam yesterday made a powerpoint presentation on the newly drafted seventh � ve-year plan at the Planning Commission.

Under the � ve-year plan, which is expected to be implemented from the next � scal year, the government will aim to attain an 8% economic growth over the following � ve years.

“The prime minister wants to see the re� ection of the Awami Leagues’ election manifesto,” said an o� cial who was at yesterday’s programme. Hasina also called for a strategy that would allow the country to export skilled manpower, he added.

The General Economic Division under

the Planning Commission is projecting to annually export four lakh skilled and semi-skilled manpower by 2020.

According to the draft seventh � ve-year plan, around 36 lakh jobs will be created in

home and abroad by the end of the ongoing � scal year and 40 lakh jobs by FY2019-20.

Emphasising the need to set a greater priority for the agriculture sector, the prime minister also called for a plan that would ensure growth of the food-processing industry.

According to the draft � ve-year plan, Bangladesh will require Tk31.9 trillion worth of investment to implement the plan and boost the economic growth.

Of the required fund, around Tk29 trillion or 90% is projected to come from domestic resources while the rest would come from external resources.

The government earlier framed the Perspective Plan 2010-2021 targeting double digit growth by 2021. As per the plan, the government prepared the sixth � ve-year plan which ended last � scal year.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and high o� cials of the commission also attended yesterday’s meeting. l

One war tribunal dissolvedn Tribune Report

The authorities yesterday reshu� ed the In-ternational Crimes Tribunal 1 and made the tribunal 2 dormant.

The Law Ministry issued a gazette noti� -cation in this regard. It says Justice Anwarul Haque, a former member of the tribunal 1, has been appointed as chairman of the tribunal.

Tribunal 2 Member Justice Md Shahinur Is-lam and High Court Justice Md Shohrowardi have been made its members.

On the other hand, former chairman of tribunal 1 Justice M Enayetur Rahim, former chairman of tribunal 2 Justice Obaidul Has-san and two members of the tribunals – Jus-tice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah – have been brought back to the High Court Division.

Earlier in the month, the government start-ed the process to merge the two tribunals into a single one in consultation with the Supreme Court.

The Awami League-led government formed the � rst tribunal on March 25, 2010 to try the collaborators of the Pakistani occupa-tion forces who had been involved in murder, rape, arson and looting during the 1971 Liber-ation War. The second tribunal was formed on March 22, 2012.

So far, the two tribunals have pronounced verdicts in 21 cases including those � led against former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghu-lam Azam and current chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

After the country’s independence on De-cember 16, 1971, then the government estab-lished 73 special tribunals across the country to try the local collaborators. The trial pro-ceedings began with 37,471 detained. Some 26,000 were freed under general amnesty de-clared in 1973.

But those accused of killing, raping, looting and arson were declared beyond the amnesty. The trials continued until the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. The subsequent military-backed gov-ernment annulled the Collaborator’s Ordi-nance on December 31 the same year and freed the detainees. l

USAID brings platform for improved cookstovesn Aminur Rahman Rasel

To create a dynamic and sustainable market for clean cooking solutions, United States Agency for International Development (US-AID) has organised a market facilitation plat-form on improved cookstoves (ICS) in the capital today.

With the theme “Transitioning Towards a Sustainable Market” the event is organised under Catalysing Clean Energy in Bangladesh, a project of the USAID, in association with the Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves, hosted by the United Nations Foundation,

The platform will bring together stake-

holders from international and local manu-facturers, donor organisations and the mem-bers of the parliament.

Manufacturers will have stalls to demonstrate their products and also have the opportunity to build network with other distributors interested in producing cookstoves locally.

The day-long event will take place at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Catalysing Clean Energy in Bangladesh (CCEB) is envisaged to build sustainable, improved market for cook stoves in Bangladesh in order to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse pollutants.

This will be achieved through expanding the market for improved biomass cook stoves by developing sources of � nance for consum-ers and/or clean energy businesses engaged in supplying the market with improved bio-mass cook stoves; strengthening businesses involved in the cookstove supply chain; and better understanding consumers in order to generate market demand.

CCEB will work closely and coordinate with Government of Bangladesh, the Global Alliance for Clean Cook stoves, other donors, the private sector, and civil society to estab-lish a thriving market – on both the supply and demand sides – for clean cooking solu-tions. l

Arrest, remand of philanthropists condemnedn Kamrul Hasan

Activists and well-wishers of Arifur Rahman, the youth who used to collect street children, educate them and give them vocational train-ing under his philanthropic organisation, have criticised the law enforcers for his arrest and remand based on a vague complaint.

Condemnation � ooded the social media platforms including Facebook since his arrest along with three other associates on Septem-ber 12 as the police claimed that the four were suspected human tra� ckers.

The 10 children rescued from the rented � at of Adomyo Bangladesh Foundation at section C of Banasree in Rampura, all aged between nine and 14, con� rmed that it was their shelter home. They were picked up from the streets following close observation by the activists working for the organisation.

The organisation runs two schools for street children in Sadarghat and Agargaon areas named

“Mojar Iskul” and “Pothoshishu O Amra.”The arrestees are Arifur, also known as Ar-

ian Arif, Jakia Sultana, Hasibul Hasan Sabuj and Firoz Alam Khan Shuvo. According to the police, the arrestees had failed to show any document of the organisation and that they had no signboard.

Police led the drive after the uncle of Mo-barak (one of the rescued boy) � led a com-plaint with Rampura police. He later lodged a case under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Tra� cking Act 2012.

After the drive, police sealed o� the o� ce and seized four computers and 10 mobile phones.

They were produced before a Dhaka court on Sunday and put on a two-day remand. They will be brought to the court today for further hearing in the case.

Investigation O� cer Ziarat Hossain said that in interrogation, the arrestees admitted that they had not been following the due legal processes to run a shelter home, launched a

year ago. He also said that they had no infor-mation about the NGO’s involvement in hu-man tra� cking.

One of the arrestees Hasibul last year took responsibility of the Amortize Scholarship Foundation in Tangail to help the street chil-dren. “How could he be a human tra� cker?” one of his friends questioned.

Since their arrest, people who donated money for Adomyo Bangladesh Foundation and participated in their various programmes have urged the government to investigate the matter seriously and release the youths.

At the shelter home, the children were giv-en general and computer education, as well as training on making paper packets so that earn some money.

Anowar Hossain, deputy commissioner of Motijheel division of police, earlier said that they had conducted the drive after receiving a complaint from a person that his nephew had been kept con� ned in the � at.

Mobarak’s uncle Munir Hossain claimed that his nephew had been picked up from a madrasa in Goran. He said that the sta� also refused to let the child leave the shelter home when he wanted to take him back last week.

“Last Friday, when I went to visit the ma-drasa to take information about him, I was told that an NGO o� cial had taken him for education,” Monir claimed.

However, Mobarak and police sources said that the child had been picked up from Ka-malapur Railway Station. He did not like the madrasa and so was hovering here and there. The activists of Adomyo Foundation took him to the shelter home. But he wanted to leave this place after a month, and was barred by the authorities.

Relatives of several rescued children came to the court on Sunday and spoke in favour of the release of the four activists. The children also told reporters that they wanted to get back to their shelter home. l

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015NEWS6DT

Man to die for killing wife n Our Correspondent, Barisal

A Barisal court yesterday gave death penalty to a man for killing wife throwing into a river from launch seven years back.

The convicted is Sohrab Akon, 40, son of late Lal Mia Akon, from Toyka village, Muladi upazila in Barisal.

Adib Ali, sessions judge of Barisal, handed down the verdict after cross-checking 11 wit-nesses and other evidences. The court also � ned the accused Tk50,00.

On October 20, 2007, Sohrab brought sev-en-month pregnant Mili to Dhaka telling to consult with a doctor over pregnancy compli-cations.

On October 22, Mili died falling o� launch on way to their native home.

On May 10, 2008, Mini Begum, sister of Mili, lodged a case with Muladi police station accusing Sohrab for killing her sister.

Sub-Inspector Abdur Rahim, investigation o� cer of the case, � led charge sheet against Sohrab on November 1, 2008. l

Two get death penalty for killing mother, son n Our Correspondent, Narayanganj

A Narayanganj court yesterday sentenced two people to death while another person to sev-en years’ imprisonment for killing a woman and her son four years back.

Narayanganj Additional Session’s Judge Miaji Shahidul Alam Chowdhury handed down the verdict after examining the records and witnesses.

The convicts are Abul Kashem, 58, and Dulal Hossain, 55, while the other convict is Babul Hossain of Darigaon village in Araihaz-ar upazila. Of the convicts, Babul was tried

in absentia. The court also � ned the convicts Tk50,000 each.

According to the prosecution, an uniden-ti� ed woman along with her seven-year-old son had sought help from Abul and Dulal on March 5, 2011 after losing their way at Dari-gaon village.

However, the duo in connivance with Babul took the woman to a local graveyard and raped her. Later, the killed the women and her son and cemented their bodies in a graveyard.

Locals sensed the incident when the killers tried to dump the bodies. Later, police � led a case in this connection. l

AL leader hacked to death n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A local Awami League leader was hacked to death by some miscreants at Dubail village in Gafargaon upazila, Mymensingh.

Police said the assailants had swooped on Mohar and hacked him indiscriminately from behind in the area around 8:30pm while he was taking tea in a tea stall around 9:30pm on Monday.

He was taken to Sreepur Upazila Health Complex in Gazipur where doctors declared him dead. Medical O� cer of Sreepur Upazila Health Complex, Gazipur told the Dhaka Trib-une that several injury marks were found in Mohor’s body. l

2 jailed for trading porn footagen Tribune Report

A mobile court sentenced two video shop owners to one month’s jail and � ned them Tk10,000 each for exchanging porn footages at Chaurongi in the district town.

The convicts were identi� ed as Ziauddin and Riad Ali, owners of two video shops in the area.

OC of Sadar Police Station Munsi Assaduz-zaman said on information, a mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Mohammad Ullah, conducted a raid in the area and sentenced the duo to one month’s jail and � ned them Tk10,000 each for storing porn footage and exchanging those with school students. l

Rawhide traders frustrated over non-payment n Our Correspondent, Dinajpur

Over 200 rawhide traders in the district are going to lose their interest in the business as they have not got their due of last year yet.

According to sources, Ramnagar is the sec-ond largest market for rawhide business in the district where the traders from Thakur-gaon, Panchagarh and Nilphamamri come to run the business.

More than 200 traders bought the rawhide of Tk2 crore from the people during the Edul-az-Ha every year and later it was supplied to tannery industries in Dhaka.

The tannery industry owners have not paid the money to the businessmen of last year yet. As a result, they have to pass the days in tension whether they cannot run their business.

According to the sources of Rawhide Trad-ers’ Association, the businessmen in the dis-trict have been passing days in uncertainty whether they are not able to run their busi-ness this year as they have not got their last year’s due.

The tannery industry owners also said that they had to face a critical situation as they could not run the business due to political turmoil.

Manjur, a rawhide trader said: “I have con-tacted with the industry owner but I have not got good response.”

“If I do not get my money soon, I will not be able do business this year as the Eid near to the door,” he said.

Shariful Islam, publicity secretary to the association alleged that the tannery owners got bene� ts from the government but they did not pay the due of the businessmen.

Due to their negligence, the businessmen would have to su� er much this year, he added.

Akter Aziz, general secretary to the asso-ciation, said the business is going to be ham-pered seriously as the tannery owners neglect the demand of the businessmen.

The owners should pay the due Tk15 crore to the businessmen immediately so that they can run their business, he added.

The government should take steps to save the business, he also said. l

A procession is brought out in Chuadanga district town yesterday, marking the National Income Tax Day DHAKA TRIBUNE

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015NEWS 7

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:03PM SUN RISES 5:45AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

36.4ºC 23.9ºC

Saidpur Kutubdia

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 34 26Chittagong 34 27Rajshahi 33 26Rangpur 32 26Khulna 32 26Barisal 30 27Sylhet 34 25Cox’s Bazar 31 27

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:27am

Sunrise 5:44amZohr 11:54am

Asr 4:19pmMagrib 6:02pm

Esha 7:32pm

WEATHER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Verdict on Khaleda’s plea in Barapukuria graft case tomorrown Tribune Report

The High Court will issue its verdict on BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s plea to scrap the proceedings of Barapukuria coal mine graft case tomorrow.

The bench of Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice Abdur Rob � xed the date yesterday morning.

Earlier on August 30, the bench decided to wait to issue the verdict.

The court had also extended its previous order that stayed the proceedings of the case until delivery of the verdict. On August 23, the High Court rejected two petitions � led by Khaleda Zia seeking the records and � nal re-port in Barapukuria corruption case.

Khaleda � led the petitions on August 18 to know the legal procedure under which the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) appointed the second investigation o� cer after the � rst o� cer had exempted her from

the charges in June 2008.The ACC � led the case with Shahbagh po-

lice station on February 26, 2008, accusing Khaleda and 10 of her former cabinet col-leagues of taking Tk159 crore in kickbacks on the Barapukuria coal mine deal awarded to the highest bidder, instead of the lowest one.

In 2008, the High Court stayed the case proceedings, and in a ruling asked the gov-ernment and the ACC to explain why the case should not be dropped. l

Busy schedule for PM at UNGAn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is going to have a hectic schedule at the 70th UN General As-sembly (UNGA) as she is expected to attend four out of � ve main events and also an event sponsored by Bangladesh.

The 70th session started o� cially yester-day and would continue till October 6, ac-cording to the UNGA schedule.

The prime minister is scheduled to leave Dhaka on September 23 for New York, said an o� cial of the Foreign Ministry.

The prime minister is expected to deliver speech at the post-2015 development agenda summit, peacekeeping summit, UNGA gener-al debate and women empowerment summit.

The two main events at the UN are summit for the adoption of the post-2015 develop-ment agenda and the general debate at the UNGA.

On the sidelines US President Barack Oba-ma is hosting a very important event –peace-keeping summit – where the prime minister is invited.

China is hosting another important event on women empowerment and invited the prime minister and it is expected that the prime minister would give speech at all the

four events, said a senior government o� cial.The US president is also hosting another

event on countering extremism and ISIL and invited the prime minister but Bangladesh is reluctant to make any statement as it does not want to invite any trouble to the country, he said.

Secretary of State John Kerry hosted a sim-ilar event at the last year’s UNGA and State Minister for Foreign A� airs Shahriar Alam attended the programme but did not say an-ything, he added.

According to the White House website: “The White House summit on countering vi-olent extremism is the � rst of many events leading up to UNGA in September 2015, through which the United States and its part-ners will develop actions to counter the most immediate threats, including ISIL, and stop the spread of violent extremism.”

Ministers from nearly 70 countries, the UN secretary-general, senior o� cials from other multilateral bodies, and representatives from civil society and the private sector will gather during the ministerial segments of the sum-mit to develop a comprehensive action plan against violent extremism.

Bangladesh is going to host an event on MDG and SDG where it would display its suc-

cess stories under MDG and how it prepares itself to face the challenges of SDG, said a For-eign Ministry o� cial.

Delegation The prime minister this year will stay at Wal-dorf-Astoria hotel instead of Grand Hyatt ho-tel where she stayed during the last six UNGA.

“We gave booking for about 70 rooms at the hotel where the core delegation and some other members will stay,” the Foreign Minis-try o� cial said.

According to Indian newspaper, The Eco-nomic Times, US President Barack Obama usually stays at the prestigious hotel during UNGA session but this year he would not as the hotel was bought by a Chinese insurance � rm. However, Indian Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi would stay in the hotel during the UNGA.

The Bangladesh delegation is likely to be at least as big as the last year, the o� cial said.

Last year over 200 including 75 business-men, the biggest delegation of the whole world, went to the UNGA, he said.

Many of the members including the busi-ness delegation bore their own costs but the government provided logistic support to them, he added. l

Fakhrul’s indictment deferredn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday set December 30 to hold hearing on charge framing against BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 62 others in a case lodged for vandalising and setting � re to vehicles.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Lutfar Rahman Shishir set the date accepting a time petition � led by Fakhrul’s counsel Md Sanaullah Miah.

The lawyer said Fakhrul could not appear before the court as he was undergoing treat-ment abroad. l

Shaukat Mahmood denied bail in 5 casesn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday rejected the bail pe-titions of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Ad-viser Shaukat Mahmood in � ve cases � led on charges of conducting violence in the capital.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Yunus Khan passed the order after hearing on the separate bail petitions � led by his counsel Md Sanaul-lah Miah.

Three of the cases were � led with Mugdha police stations and the others with Khilgaon police on charges of torching and vandalising vehicles during the BNP-led alliance’s block-ade and hartal in the capital in January and February this year. l

Artistes perform at a function arranged on the occasion of National Income Tax Day at Helenabad income tax o� ce in Rajshahi yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

WORLD8DTWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Nepal to introduce constitution despite deadly protestsn AFP, Kathmandu

Nepal will introduce a long-awaited new constitution within days, a parliament spokesman said Tuesday, despite oppo-sition from minority groups that has trig-gered deadly protests across the south of the country.

Lawmakers have been voting since Sunday on the charter, � nalised in August in a histor-ic deal between the main parties – under pres-sure to work together following a devastating earthquake.

They are expected to complete the process in the coming days.

The main parties have enough sup-port to pass the bill with the necessary two-thirds majority. But plans to carve the country into seven provinces have angered some ethnic minorities, who say it will leave them under-represented in

the national parliament.The protests have been most intense in

the southern plains, where clashes between security forces and protesters have killed 39 people in recent weeks including 11 police of-� cers and an 18-month-old boy.

There has also been criticism of a clause that makes it more di� cult for women to pass on Nepali citizenship to their children than it is for men.

“A formal invite has been sent to the pres-ident to announce the constitution on Sun-day,” the parliament secretariat spokesman Bharat Gautam said.

“The secretariat is working rigorously to prepare for the ceremony.”

The United States and regional power India on Monday urged lawmakers to ensure there was broad support for the new constitution, which follows the abolition of the monarchy and a decade-long civil war between Maoist

insurgents and the state.“The constitution should have the broad-

est possible support and the outcome should honour fundamental rights such as gender equality and basic freedoms,” the US State Department said in a statement.

“We urge citizens to engage through peaceful, non-violent means, and call on the Nepali security forces to exercise restraint in responding to protests.”

The sentiment was echoed by Nepal’s own president, who wrote to the chair of the con-stituent assembly – the body charged with drafting the constitution – last week.

“It is important that no group or communi-ty or geographic region of the country should be left out of the constitution-writing process,” President Ram Baran Yadav said in the letter on Tuesday.

Home Ministry spokesman Laxmi Pras-ad Dhakal said security forces have been

put on high alert before the constitution announcement.

Lawmakers from parties representing the Tarai region in the country’s south have stayed out of the voting process.

“We have called them for talks again and again, but they have not responded positive-ly,” said Bhim Rawal, senior leader of the rul-ing Nepali Congress.

“Regardless of their response, the process will not stop. Their demands can be met after the constitution is announced.”

Work on a new national constitution began after the end in 2006 of the Maoist insurgen-cy that left an estimated 16,000 people dead and brought down the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.

But negotiations faltered over the issue of internal borders and the resulting uncer-tainty left Nepal – one of the world’s poorest countries – in political limbo. l

Pakistan intelligence sought huge data collection toolsn AFP, Islamabad

Pakistani intelligence sought to tap world-wide Internet tra� c via underwater cables that would have given the country a digital espionage capacity to rival the US, accord-ing to a report by Privacy International.

The report says the country’s Inter Ser-vices Intelligence (ISI) agency hired inter-mediary companies to acquire domestic spying toolkits from Western and Chinese � rms for domestic surveillance.

It also claims the ISI sought access to tap data from three of the four “landing sites” that pass through the country’s port city of Karachi, e� ectively giving it access to Inter-net tra� c worldwide.

Pakistan was in talks with a European company in 2013 to acquire the technolo-gy but it is not clear whether the deal went

through – a fact the rights organisation said was troubling.

“These cables are going to route data through various countries and regions,” Matthew Rice, an advocacy o� cer for Priva-cy International, told AFP.

“Some will go from Europe to Africa and all the way to Southeast Asia. From my reading that’s an explicit attempt to look at what’s going on.”

Tra� c from North America and regional rival India would also be routed via the ca-bles, he said.

The report, based on what it called previ-ously unpublished con� dential documents, said the data collection sought in the ISI’s proposal “would rival some of the world’s most powerful surveillance programmes” including those of the United States and Britain.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s military said he was not able to comment on the issue at the present time.

Last month Pakistani rights campaigners and opposition lawmakers urged Islamabad to protect the privacy of its citizens after leaked top-secret documents appeared to show British intelligence had gained access to almost all the country’s Internet users.

Pakistan is also in the process of debating its own cyber-crime bill, which rights cam-paigners say threatens to curtail freedom of expression and privacy in its current form.

Rights groups also expressed concern over a provision that allows the government to share intelligence with foreign spy agen-cies, such as the American National Secu-rity Agency, and the mandating of service providers to retain telephone and email re-cords for up to a year. l

Study: Technology doesn’t make school pupils smartern AFP, Tokyo

Computers do not noticeably improve school pupils’ academic results and can even hamper performance, an OECD report said Tuesday that looked at the impact of technology in classrooms across the globe.

While almost three quarters of pupils in the countries surveyed used computers at schools, the report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found technology had made no noticeable improvement in results.

Conversely, in high-achieving schools in parts of Asia, where smartphones and com-puters have become an integral part of peo-ple’s everyday lives, technology was far less prevalent in the classrooms.

In South Korea, students used computers for an average of nine minutes at school and in Hong Kong, only 11 minutes – just a frac-tion of the 58 minutes spent in Australia, 42 in Greece and 39 in Sweden.

“Where computers are used in the class-room, their impact on student performance

is mixed at best,” OECD’s education director Andreas Schleicher said in a foreword to the report, the think-tank’s � rst on the topic.

“Students who use computers very fre-quently at school do a lot worse in most learn-ing outcomes, even after accounting for social background and student demographics.”

The report measured the impact of tech-nology use at school on international test results, such as the OECD’s Pisa tests taken in dozens of countries around the world and other exams measuring digital skills.

It found that education systems which have invested heavily in information and communications technology have seen “no noticeable improvement” in results for reading, mathematics or science.

The OECD urged schools to work with teachers to turn technology into a more pow-erful tool in the classroom and develop more sophisticated software for experimentation and simulation, social media and games.

“The real contributions ICT can make to teaching and learning have yet to be fully re-alised and exploited,” it concluded. l

Revised referendum question cuts UK support for EUn Reuters, London

The number of Britons who would back staying in the European Union at a planned referendum has fallen after the government agreed to amend the wording of the question to be put to voters, a poll showed on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the government said it would change the wording of the question af-ter a recommendation from Britain’s elections watchdog.

The question has now been changed to “Should the United Kingdom remain a mem-ber of the European Union or leave the Euro-pean Union?”

The poll carried out on September 11-13 by pollster ICM found 43% of the 2,006 adults surveyed backed Britain’s continuing EU membership, while 40% would opt to leave. l

EU deadlocked on refugee relocationn Reuters, Brussels

EU ministers failed on Monday to break a deadlock over sharing out responsibility for sheltering some of the hundreds of thou-sands of people who have sought asylum in Europe this year, leaving the shape of a � nal deal in doubt.

Determined opposition from a core of east-ern states blocked e� orts by Germany and France to secure agreement for a proposal by the EU executive to relocate 120,000 people from frontier countries according to manda-tory national quotas.

After six hours of argument, ministers put o� a decision, saying they hoped to agree on a deal to � nd places for the asylum-seekers at another meeting on October 8.

O� cials said that following a � nal legal endorsement of an earlier plan to relocate 40,000 people to countries that volunteer to take them, Hungary and Slovakia led resist-ance to pleas to accept a quota system for the larger new number. They argue such schemes will draw more migrants and lead to further mass movements that threaten Europe’s open borders system.

“We did not � nd the agreement we wanted,” EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avram-opoulos told reporters. O� cials put a brave face on the divisions after a day in which a German decision to reimpose frontier controls with Austria to check a � ow of refugees trig-gered a domino e� ect that threatens Europe’s cherished Schengen area of open borders.

The ministers did agree to increase man-power and resources protecting the external frontiers as well as aid to the United Nations refugee agency, Turkey and other states shel-tering millions of Syrians � eeing civil war.

Ministers also agreed to � nalise soon a list of “safe countries” whose citizens would not normally be entitled to asylum. But in a snub to Ankara, the EU presidency said Turkey would not be classi� ed as “safe” for now due to its current military action against Kurdish militants. l

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

CRUNCHING NUMBERS

Five key numbers in Europe’s migrant crisis430,000More than 430,000 people have crossed the Med-iterranean this year, according to International Or-ganization for Migration data. UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) forecasts that 400,000 people will have crossed the Mediterranean by the end of the year and that “450,000 or more” will follow in 2016.

160,000EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has proposed relocating 160,000 asylum-seekers across the 28-member union from Greece, Hun-gary and Italy and wants a permanent mechanism of binding quotas to deal with future emergencies.

63,000Around 63,000 migrants have arrived at the main station in Munich since August 31. Neighbouring

Austria was bracing for 10,000 people on Monday and Hungary reported a record 5,809 arrivals on Sunday.

1,000,000Germany might take in one million refugees this year, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said.

12,000,000The number of people o� cially estimated to have been displaced by the con� ict in Syria. That in-cludes 8m displaced within the country and 4m abroad, � rst to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey be-fore heading to Europe. An estimated 250,000 people have died in the Syrian con� ict since March 2011.

Source: AFP

IN-DEPTH

Conglomerate controlled by Khamenei a winner from nuke dealn Reuters, Washington, DC/Beirut

The historic nuclear deal reached between Iran and major world powers has yet to be implemented, but one clear winner has emerged: Iran’s highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei has yet to publicly back the ac-cord, which lifts some sanctions on Iran in return for limits on its nuclear programme. But he does stand to bene� t, thanks to his close control of one of the most powerful and secretive organisations in Iran – “Setad Ejraiye Farmane Hazrate Emam,” or Setad.

The deal, which is likely to go into e� ect af-ter clearing a major Congressional hurdle last week, lifts US secondary sanctions on Setad and about 40 � rms it owns or has a stake in, ac-cording to a tally based on annexes to the deal.

The delisting of Setad – which has little connection to Iran’s nuclear programme but is close to Iran’s ruling elite – feeds into US Republicans’ criticism that the deal will

empower Iran’s hardliners and help fund its regional ambitions.

Former US o� cials say Setad was just one of a slew of entities sanctioned because they were considered part of the Iranian govern-ment. One former o� cial said Setad was also targeted because the US saw it as close to Khamenei and believed that the sanctions might induce him to back serious nuclear negotiations.

With stakes in nearly every sector of Iran’s economy, Setad built its empire on the systematic seizure of thousands of proper-ties belonging to religious minorities, busi-ness people, and Iranians living abroad, which estimated the network’s holdings at about $95bn.

Iranians who said their family properties were seized by Setad described in interviews in 2013 how men showed up and threatened to use violence if the owners didn’t leave the premises at once.

In response to � ndings in 2013, a Setad

spokesman said at the time the information presented was “not correct,” and did not elaborate.

No evidence was that Khamenei is per-sonally enriched by Setad’s assets. But through Setad, Khamenei has access to re-sources that allow him to bypass rivals and other branches of government.

The entities being delisted represent a signi� cant portion of Setad’s holdings, though dozens of Setad-linked companies were never directly named by the US Treas-ury and may not have been a� ected at all by the sanctions.

The nuclear deal, reached in Vienna in July, would remove Setad from Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, enabling the conglomerate to open bank accounts abroad and procure � nancing for partnerships.

The secondary sanctions have barred foreign banks that wish to operate in the US-from dealing with Setad. American banks,

companies, and individuals will still be barred from dealing with Setad, also called Eiko, under US primary sanctions.

The conglomerate “produces billions of dollars in pro� ts for the Iranian regime each year,” said David Cohen, then the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and � nancial intelligence, at a Senate banking committee hearing in 2013.

A 2013 investigation found that Khame-nei exerts exclusive control over Setad’s economic empire. He chooses its executives and oversaw the creation of a body of legal rulings that safeguarded Setad’s asset acqui-sitions since its inception in 1989.

Setad’s current value and its holdings in the delisted entities could not be determined, because many websites with that data have been taken down since the investigation.

Setad’s holdings has some global reach too. The Setad-linked entities being removed from US secondary sanctions include � rms based in South Africa and Germany. l

Putin to keep up military support for Assadn AFP, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tues-day pledged to continue military support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad after Washington sounded the alarm over an al-leged military build-up by Moscow in the war-torn country.

“We support the government of Syria in its � ght against terrorist aggression, we provide and will go on providing it with all necessary military assistance,” Putin said at a regional security conference in ex-Soviet Tajikistan.

A US military o� cial said on Monday that Russia has sent artillery units and seven tanks to a Syrian air base as part of moves to boost its military presence there.

The alleged increase of Russian hardware in Syria has caused concerns in the West about the implications of Moscow militarily helping its long-time ally Assad.

Russia has denied it is expanding its mili-tary presence in Syria but has pledged to con-tinue support for Assad.

Moscow has been pushing for a broader co-alition of forces to take on Islamic State (IS), but key regional players such as Saudi Arabia have ruled out � ghting alongside Assad.

Putin said that Assad was willing to work with Syria’s “healthy” opposition to � nd a political solution to the four-and-a-half year civil war but insisted that tackling IS was the priority.

“Undoubtedly the need to unite forces in the � ght against terror comes to the forefront today,” Putin said.

The Kremlin strongman blasted critics of Moscow’s support for the “legitimate” Syrian authorities and said the current migrant cri-sis rocking Europe would be even more dire if Russia had not backed Assad.

“If Russia had not supported Syria the sit-uation in the country would be even worse than in Libya and the � ow of refugees would be even greater,” he said.

Syria’s con� ict spiralled into a multi-front civil war that has left more than 240,000 peo-ple dead. l

31,443 24,031 14,93110,500 9,287 7,2146,752 4,646

4,564 4,469 3,640 3,074 2,978 2,398

2,047 1,705

1,3691,364 1,309

1,300 1,100

1,100 7920

Britain, Irelandand Denmark haveopted-out of EuropeanUnion asylum policy

11 9.5 5.410.6 10.48.4

Quotas accepted, involving 32,256 migrants (July 2015) Country population (in millions)Proposed new quotas for 120,000 migrants (Sept 2015)

Belgium Sweden Austria Portugal Czech Rep. Finland

Sharing out Europe’s incoming migrants

Sources: E. Commission. Eurostat

Germany80.2

80.2

46.8 16.7 20.164.9RomaniaFrance Spain Poland

38Netherlands

These 12 countries account for 94%of new migrants to be shared out

WORLD 9D

T

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015WORLD10D

T

INSIGHT

N Ireland’s crisis lifts lid on deep distrustn Reuters, Belfast

When IRA-linked gunmen turned their fire on one other this summer they triggered a political crisis in Northern Ireland’s fragile government of pro-British unionists and republicans working for a united Ireland.

They also revealed an uncomfortable truth: 17 years after a US-brokered truce to end three decades of sectarian vio-lence, the province remains riven with old enmities.

The immediate cause of this particular crisis was the mur-der of a former Irish Republican Army member, Kevin McGui-gan, outside his Belfast home last month. Police say the killing was revenge for the murder of another former IRA member, Jock Davison, in May over a feud that went back decades.

Police said the murders were evidence that the IRA, that fought for independence from Britain and was supposedly disarmed under the terms of the 1998 ‘Good Friday’ peace agreement, continues to operate in the criminal underworld.

Nor does it operate alone, security sources, police and poli-ticians said. Some members of the armed groups on both sides of the con� ict are thriving, their focus now on racketeering.

The new generation of armed groups may be much small-er and less sophisticated than the military-style structures that were involved in the deaths of 3,600 people during the so-called Troubles, these sources said, but they continue to exacerbate the religious tensions while pro� ting from crime.

Veterans of Northern Ireland’s war warn that if the politi-cians fail to get a grip of the situation, the segregation along sectarian lines that still exists in many parts of the province can only get worse, exploited by these groups.

One of those brie� y arrested in relation to the McGuigan killing was Bobby Storey, a senior member of the Sinn Fein party that was once the political arm of the IRA. Storey, who was released without charge, said there was no basis for his ar-rest and those behind the murder were enemies of Sinn Fein’s embrace of peace. The police declined further comment.

Sinn Fein, part of Northern Ireland’s power sharing govern-ment, says the IRA has “left the stage.” The police’s assertion that the IRA still exists, however, drove the pro-British Un-ionists to withdraw most of its ministers from government, bringing it to the brink of collapse.

‘Tear down this wall’While life has changed for many in bustling central Belfast, parts of Northern Ireland remain divided. The divide is felt strongest in the working class areas of Belfast where there is little integra-tion and little obvious economic bene� t from the peace.

While a multi-million pound make-over draws tourists to the capital Belfast, to the docks where the Titanic was built and to the area’s rolling green hills, the sprawling low-rise Bel-fast estates still carry the scars of the con� ict.

To be sure, the end of what amounted to a war is enormous progress. Cross-community initiatives have taken o� . There is a level of integration that would have been unthinkable in the past.

As a result, Peter Shirlow, director of Irish studies at the University of Liverpool, said Northern Ireland was now a very di� erent place to the one that gave rise to sectarian violence in the late 1960s.

‘No surrender’Jude Whyte, a peace campaigner who lost his mother in a pro British bombing in 1984, said many people in Belfast still lived parallel lives, with separate social lives, separate education systems and separate sports - a modern day apartheid.

“Society is anything but normal here,” Whyte told BBC Radio. “(We have) walls that divide white English speaking Christians from each other. You could live your whole life in Belfast and never meet a Protestant, ever.”

“They do say tall walls make good neighbours,” said Jake, referring to the “peace walls” that were meant to be erected as temporary structures in 1969 but instead multiplied.

“It would be premature to remove them. l

11D

TEDITORIALWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

INSIDE

Over 1.4 million government employees will be receiving increases in basic salaries of between 91% to 101% in the coming year.

We agree with the national pay commission that a salary increase is warranted, but think it is long overdue to start taking a more systematic

approach to revising pay rates for public servants.Ad-hoc pay awards create uncertainty and bring in� ation risks. This month’s

award is estimated to see the proportion of the national budget taken by pay rising from 17.7% last year to over 20.1%.

While in� ation is steadying, it has averaged over 7% during the six and half years since the last such pay commission award, meaning that it only belatedly acknowledges large rises in the cost of living and the bene� ts to sta� of this increase, will soon start eroding.

It is in the interests of both the tax-payer and public servants, for the government to take a more systematic approach.

A better policy would be for the commission to review salary rates at least every two years and to adopt a formula linking salary increases to changes in in� ation and to improvements in productivity and revenue gains.

A rational evidence-based approach would also bring the bene� t of providing certainty and improving planning for future budgets.

In the longer term, it will also make it easier for the government to move towards a system that enables public servants to be paid wages which are at least comparable to, if not competitive with, the private sector.

Such a move would help to start countering the criminally extortionate mind-set which embeds corruption in many government posts as a way of mitigating low wages. Better-paid sta� are more motivated in performing their jobs well and in working to root out corruption.

Implementing such an approach to civil servant salaries has been shown to work very well in countries such as Singapore. If we are to emulate this here, the government also needs to take a more rational approach to managing is resources.

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

This would allow the government to pay, recruit, and retain higher quality civil servants and begin to root out corruption and poor quality in public services, once and for all.

A better policy would be regular reviews that take account of in� ation and link rises to improvements in productivity and revenue gains

Take a systematic approach to public servant pay

Microsoft’s wake-up call on software piracy

Rise of the ‘farm chickens’Apart from that single occasion in Rampura where police � red rubber bullets on East West University students, the protesters have always listened to the police’s requests, and hence, there has not been a single incident of students colliding with law enforcers

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The trouble with traditional schoolingIt is problematic to see that a good number of students are not necessarily going to schools or universities solely for learning, but what seems to be a greater priority is certi� cation. It is hoped that this certi� cation will result in jobs or in further learning opportunities

Because software piracy has been so common in Bangladesh for so long, the average computer user might be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft Windows and MS O� ce are free products which come automatically installed in their new computer hardware

BIG

STO

CK

OPINION12DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

When was the last time we saw a group of people demonstrating peacefully in Bangladesh in the true sense of the word?

When was the last time we saw any movement -- political or not -- without a few broken wind-screens or some burning tires or tear gases or water canons?

The students of private universities are often referred to as “farm chickens” for their comparitively elite lifestyle and the fact that they are not in touch with real working class problems.

In the last few years, we have seen that political parties -- who, on paper, should have the organisational strength, manpower,

and “ideological integrity” to stage peaceful demos to press home demands of national interest -- indiscriminately burn people to death on the streets in the most undemocratic of ways for what they claim as movements for “restoring democracy.”

We have also seen how, over a period of just a little more than a couple of decades, student politics have become one of the most hated phrases in Bangladesh from being one of the biggest driving forces behind virtually every political and social movement in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

This has happened solely because the members of these student groups -- who on paper, should just be a shadow and, at best, supporters, of the mainstream political parties -- have turned into the most ferocious of criminals, killers, rapists, kidnappers, tender manipulators, and what not, thanks to the senior front-line political leadership that has been using the students to serve their own petty interests.

Students of private universities in and outside Dhaka, have been on the streets for several months. Their movement intensi� ed after the government announced a 7.5% VAT on their tuition and other fees in June.

They were in a similar movement once before in 2010, against a similar imposition of an indirect tax. At that time, the government had to back-track in the face of peaceful protests.

This year, however, the government was adamant about imposing the tax, and as a result, the protests have also been much

more intense than how they were � ve years ago.

But, in these nearly four months of street protests, there has not been a single report of a car wind-screen being broken or tyres set on � re by the protesters. Apart from that single occasion in Rampura where police � red rubber bullets on East West University students, the protesters have always listened to the police’s requests, and hence, there has not been a single incident of students colliding with law enforcers.

Yes, they have blockaded roads and chanted slogans and waved placards to bring the capital city to a stand-still.

They had easy prey on silver platters -- vehicles standing static in tra� c tailbacks caused by their protests -- but they were left untouched.

They might be young, but unlike the political leaders, who are grown-ups, they have had the good sense to understand that vandalising cars or burning tyres could not be a way of pressing home their demands.

There is no Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal, or Chhatra Union in the private universities.

Yes, it is true, to some extent, that the students with the best secondary and higher secondary results prefer public universities over the private ones. It is also true to some extent, that most of the best teachers in the country are still a� liated in a full-time capacity with public universities. There are also allegations that some private universities “sell” certi� cates.

Then again, the academic structuring is such that the students of these private universities -- with mandatory attendance, a series of compulsory in-course tests, and, of course, the high tuition fees -- hardly have the luxury of “choosing” to stay out of classrooms to “save the country.”

There is a perception that the best students go to public universities, but the biggest irony is that the academic structures in these educational institutions are loose, which means that students can choose not to attend classes and still sit in on exams and come out with certi� cates. This surely is not “selling certi� cates,” but I do not know how else to describe this.

There is no denying the fact that Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal, and Chhatra Union -- the three leading student political groups in the country -- have historically played crucial roles in national movements and bred some of the most iconic � gures in the country’s politics.

But it can now be said with certainty that those days are gone. Nowadays, they only produce narrow-minded political strongmen with no patriotism and with the “skill” to stoop to unimaginable depths when it comes to corruption.

The private university students -- the so-called farm chickens -- have just proven, beyond doubt, that, what we have come to know as “student politics,” is good for nothing and should therefore be abolished. l

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla is a political reporter at the Dhaka Tribune

Rise of the farm chickensPrivate university students have shown us that they can make a di� erence

Apart from that single occasion in Rampura where police � red rubber bullets on East West University students, the protesters have always listened to the police’s requests, and hence, there has not been a single incident of students colliding with law enforcers

With peaceful protests, these students have shown us that they should not be underestimated MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

OPINION 13D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

n Shakil Ahmed

“It should be obvious that, even with schools of equal quality, a poor child can seldom catch up with a rich one. Even if they attend equal schools and begin at the same age, poor children lack most of the educational opportunities which are casually available to the middle-class child ... So, the poorer student will generally fall behind so long as he depends on school for advancement or learning.”

-- Ivan Illich, Deschooling Society

Now, allow me to share some thoughts that are open for discussion. It is problematic to see that a good number of students

are not necessarily going to schools or universities solely for learning, but what seems to be a greater priority is to get certi� cation. It is hoped, by the students and their families, that this certi� cation will result in jobs or in further learning opportunities.

However, this is where private companies/job-providing institutions and other

educational institutions can come in. If private companies played a part in decreasing the emphasis on certi� cation and increasing the emphasis on certain experiences that they want students to have -- if need be, a whole checklist of experiences -- then this whole need to go to schools and universities for the sole sake of certi� cation will decrease as well.

Private companies, for example, could have a checklist of:l I want employees to be able to communicate � uently in these languagesl I want employees to be able to code a programl I want employees to be able to analyse this data and create an an infographic that summarises the analysisl I want employees to be able to organise eventsl I want employees to be able to write a report

These checklists could be generated by individual companies or by crowd-sourcing ideas from the industry. Upon grasping an understanding of such a list, students can � gure out di� erent ways in which they can prove that they have these skills, and not just through certi� cation from schools and universities. Students can work towards ensuring that they have these experiences outside the realm of schools and universities.

Private companies should come forth and be open to accepting other means of being able to prove these skills. If need be, private companies should list out what these other acceptable means are, and, if possible, even provide these means for potential employees to display their skills.

However, in such a platform, private companies should be open to understanding that, at the end of the day, the ability of the employee matters and not really which space which he or she spent time and money in,

where it may very well be the case that the space, ie the school or university, did not provide the quality education that it was supposed to provide.

Technology has enabled us to learn in more than one way, so that students no longer need to waste time and money in spaces that are proving themselves dismal in providing quality education. There are multiple virtual spaces online, massive open online courses (MOOCs), programming platforms, language platforms, etc, which can enable one to acquire technical and non-technical information, while also acquiring new skills. In comparison, the usage of technology would probably be cheaper than spending money on what is claimed to be an “education.”

However, having mentioned what has been said above, I do believe that one needs “space” and human interaction even if they are using technology, and this is where the need to preserve and maintain certain types of public spaces is important. In order to access a “virtual” space, people still require physical spaces. People who can a� ord it have access to such physical spaces which are conducive to learning and collaboration, such as co� ee shops and private spaces.

However, if both public and private entities can contribute to provide these spaces that are conducive to learning and collaboration as public spaces in the city, then I believe we will see a di� erence in how the citizens of our city go about learning and developing. Now, how these spaces can be conceptualised and strategically created is still up for discussion, hopefully not in the distant future. l

Shakil Ahmed is an Educational Researcher at the Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University and Strategic Manager at the new BRAC Nobodhara Schools.

The trouble with traditional schoolingIs certi� cation from schools and universities the only way to prove oneself?

It is problematic to see that a good number of students are not necessarily going to schools or universities solely for learning, but what seems to be a greater priority is certi� cation. It is hoped that this certi� cation will result in jobs or in further learning opportunities

Technology has given us many new avenues to receive an education BIGSTOCK

OPINION14DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

n Zeeshan Hasan

According to Dhaka Tribune and other media reports, on September 10, police raided the o� ces of Flora, one of the largest Bangladeshi

computer retailers, and arrested a senior ex-ecutive there on charges of pirating Microsoft software. In fact, this was inevitable.

Not just Flora, but most companies all

over Bangladesh have been accustomed to running pirated software for decades. However, recently, a number of signi� cant changes have happened which have altered the government’s long-standing tolerance of software piracy.

Firstly, Bangladesh has signed TICFA (Trade and Investment Co-operation Frame-work Agreement) with the US government. This agreement gives US companies like Microsoft con� dence that they can pursue copyright violations even in di� cult legal environments like Bangladesh, as TICFA em-powers the US government to lobby in favour of their Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) with the local government.

Secondly, Bangladesh has been widely reported to have graduated from the ranks of low-income countries and to become a middle-income country. This development sends signals to multi-national companies around the world that software piracy and other copyright/intellectual property viola-tions in the Bangladesh market are no longer insigni� cant in value.

Since all multi-national companies are ultimately driven by pro� t, the increasing value of the Bangladeshi market is harder for

them to ignore. If legal cases and police ac-tion against companies who pirate software seem like they will increase pro� ts, then those will become more common options. The government has obviously realised that TICFA gives it no option but to treat software piracy as a crime.

Because software piracy has been so com-mon in Bangladesh for so long, the average computer user might be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft Windows and MS O� ce are free products which come automatically installed in their new computer hardware. However, prosecution of hardware vendors like Flora will quickly alter this scenario. Especially in the case of large companies with hundreds of computers, which present a potentially lucrative target in terms of soft-ware license fees, police action, and arrests suddenly seem more likely.

On the other hand, it is unlikely that the senior executive of any large company will be willing to risk arrest for the sake of pirated software. Soon, local companies will have to pay the real price for Microsoft software. For MS Windows, this cost is about Tk14,000 per PC; for MS O� ce, the additional cost is Tk26,000 per PC. So the total cost of pirated software per PC is about Tk40,000 ($500), which is more than the cost of typical PC hardware. This represents a big cost to Ban-gladesh companies and consumers.

Fortunately, there is another option. Over the last two decades, the computing world has seen the emergence of free/open-source software which can replace the standard proprietary Microsoft products at zero cost. At Kazi Farms Group, 700 PCs have been running since 2010 on the free Linux operat-ing system, which generally comes with the LibreO� ce o� ce suite (compatible with MS O� ce � les), the Firefox web browser, and the Thunderbird email client.

These are almost perfect replacements for their Microsoft equivalents, and can all be downloaded for free (from www.ubuntu.com or www.linuxmint.com, for example). In 2014, the same change was made in over 100 journalist PCs in Dhaka Tribune. Replacement of pirated software by free/open-source equivalents has e� ectively saved Kazi Farms Group and Dhaka Tribune from any worry of potential future piracy raids and arrests. It has also saved a total of 800 x 40,000 = Tk3.2cr ($400,000) in software license fees.

The same savings and legal safety a� orded by free/open-source software like Linux and LibreO� ce can be availed by other Bangla-deshi companies and organisations. Typi-cally, most people don’t know about free/open-source software as no one publicises it (unlike proprietary products, which are continuously advertising). With the threat of software piracy-related lawsuits and arrests looming, knowledge is de� nitely power. l

Zeeshan Hasan is a director of Kazi Farms Group (www.kazifarms.com), Dhaka Tribune, and Sysnova IT (www.sysnova.com). His articles on religion are at www.liberalislam.net and his global warming blog is at www.goodbyebangladesh.blogspot.com.

Microsoft’s wake-up call on software piracyWith piracy-related lawsuits becoming a looming possibility, open-source software seems to be the answer

Because software piracy has been so common in Bangladesh for so long, the average computer user might be forgiven for thinking that Microsoft Windows and MS O� ce are free products which come automatically installed in their new computer hardware. However, prosecution of hardware vendors like Flora will quickly alter this scenario

Linux and LibreO� ce are almost perfect substitutes for Windows and MS O� ce BIGSTOCK

15D

TBusiness WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Asian shares struggle, BOJ holds steady17 Stocks modest move

continues19China steps on the gas to spark economy16

RMG makers asked to pay Eid bonus by September 20

20

SIMs to be blocked unless registered in 7 days of SMS noti� cationn Ishtiaq Husain

If any user fails to re-register their mobile phone SIM cards in seven days of receiving a text message from operators concerned, they will face permanent blocking of their SIMs, according to a new directive by telecommuni-cations division.

As per the directive, the SIMs found regis-tered with fake NID would also be blocked.

If anyone has more than one SIMs, all of them must be registered separately with the respective operators.

The operators will keep database of distrib-utors and retailers so the regulator can con-duct additional veri� cation of the documents submitted.

Besides, all operators must launch a cam-paign programme to raise awareness about SIM re-registration among the subscribers.

Ekram Kabir, vice president of Robi Axiata Ltd, said they were working in line with the government directives.

To expedite the SIM re-registration pro-gramme, mobile operators have started send-ing their clients’ data to the Election Com-mission as part of the government’s plan to prepare a subscribers’ database to rein in mo-bile phone crimes.

The Election Commission approved the signing of agreement with all mobile opera-tors to provide them with NID access to make sure that their SIMs have been duly registered.

According to the latest BTRC statistics, there are 128.7m active mobile phone sub-scribers in Bangladesh. To get NID access each mobile operator will have to pay TK5 lakh as fees.

The EC secretary said Banglalink, Airtel and Citycell already applied for NID access to check out their SIMs.

The decision about the SIM re-registration was made on September 6 at a meeting of the telecommunication division with BTRC, BTCL, state-owned operator Teletalk and se-curity agencies. l

Muhith: 2% people to be brought under tax net by 2020n Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has hoped that the total number of the taxpayers will be in-creased to 40 lakh, which is 2% of the total population, by � scal year 2019-20.

The minister expressed his optimism while addressing a ceremony organised in recog-nition of the contributions of the country’s highest and long-time taxpayers in the capital yesterday.

To mark the National Income Tax Day, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) organised the programme at a city hotel with its chair-man Nojibur Rahman in the chair.

Speaking as chief guest, Muhith said, “Cur-rently, only 11 lakh, out of 16 crore people, pay their due taxes, which is less than 1%. It’s a shame for us being a nation and we’ve to come out of the miserable state.”

“To come out from the prevailing situa-tion, we have set a target and I hope the num-ber of the total taxpayers will be 40 lakh or 2% of the total population by FY2019-20,” said the minister.

“Although it’s a big challenge and ambi-tious, I have plans on how to achieve it.”

Muhith stated that if we could reach the target, the government would be able to o� er more facilities to its people.

The tax GDP ratio in the country is 10%, while it is much higher in many undeveloped countries.

“It’s a matter of shame. We’ve to recover the country from this situation,” he said.

Referring to the allegations raised by the business representatives on tax related is-sues, the minister said, “There are no reliabil-ity in such allegations that the tax authorities don’t collect tax from them properly and put undue pressure on them. The government has already instructed the tax o� cials not to force businesses in future.”

State Minister for Finance M A Mannan and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Com-merce and Industry (FBCCI) President Abdul Matlub Ahmed attended the programme as special guests.

At the programme, the tax authorities awarded 20 highest taxpayers, including 10 individuals and 10 companies, with the pres-tigious tax cards for paying the highest in-come tax at the national level in FY2014-15.

According to the list of national taxpayers, the US-based Chevron Bangladesh Block 12 Limited tops the highest corporate taxpayers’ category though the company does not pay taxes by it-self, rather it is the state-owned Petrobanglathat pays taxes on behalf of the company.

The other ward winning companies are- KarnaphullyFertiliser Company Ltd (KAF-

CO), Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), Bangladesh Petro-leum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX), Toma Construction, Central Depositary Bangladesh Limited (CDBL), Com-mercial Bank of Ceylon, the Security Printing Corporation and Uttara Finance and Invest-ment Limited.

In the list of individual taxpayers, Hazi Mo-hammad KausMia topped the list while the other taxpayers are-GolamDastagirGazi, Md-NasirUddin and Abdul Muktadir.

Six individual taxpayers from a family representing ATI Limited, a leading business house in the country, were also awarded in the category. They are-Mohammad Yusuf, RubaiyatFarzanaHossain, LailaHossain, Hos-neAraHossain, KhwazaTajmohol and MA Haider Hossain.

These 20 highest taxpayers were award-ed in line with the National Tax Card Giving Rules-2010. The cardholders will have the

privilege to attend the state programmes and get priority in transport while their family members will also get priority in medical ser-vices.

Meanwhile, the NBR has awarded a total of 367 long-term and highest taxpayers in the country.Among them, 50 taxpayers are from 10 city corporations, including two as long time taxpayers and three as highest taxpayers from each city corporations for their immense contribution to the national exchequer in the � scal year 2014-15. Rests of the taxpayers were awarded under district categories.

During the central programme in Dhaka, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has handed over crests and certi� cates to a total of 110 taxpayers, including 90 highest and long time taxpayers under Dhaka Division.

The taxpayers from other districts and city corporations were awarded in di� erent pro-grammes in the nine city cor-porations.

Meanwhile, the national Income Tax Fair-2015 will be-gin today across the country aiming to increase revenue through expanding the num-ber of the taxpayers to 30 lakh by the � scal year 2018-19.

During the fair, the NBR will o� er people various services including online facility for submitting income tax return and registering for e-TIN cer-ti� cate. l

A colourfull procession marking the Income Tax Day is brought out from the city’s NBR premises yesterday. Finance Minister AMA Muhith led the event RAJIB DHAR

‘To come out from the prevailing situation, we have set a target and I hope the number of the total taxpayers will be 40 lakh or 2% of the total population by FY2019-20’

BUSINESS16DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

Bank Asia has recently concluded a 22-day foundation training programme. The bank’s chairperson, A Rouf Chowdhury distributed certi� cates among the participants

SME Foundation has recently signed an agreement with NBFI IDLC Finance Ltd for providing Tk30m at an interest rate under its credit-wholesaling programme. MD of the foundation, Dr Engr Syed Md Ihsanul Karim and Selim RF Hussain, CEO& MD of IDLC Finance Ltd have signed the agreement

Singer Bangladesh Limited has recently opened its new pro dealer shop named Famous Electronics - 2 at Raipur in Lakshmipur. The company’s general manager (wholesale), Kazi Ra� qul Islam inaugurated the shop

Modhumoti Bank Limited has recently held its 2nd annual general meeting at a hotel in Dhaka. The bank’s chairperson, Humayun Kabir presided over the meeting

China steps on the gas to spark economyn Reuters, Beijing

China cranked up its � scal spending by 26% in August from a year earlier as Beijing tries to re-energise � agging economic growth and convince reluctant local o� cials to spend.

August data over the past week suggested the world’s second-largest economy lost fur-ther momentum over the summer, adding pressure on policymakers to ramp up what is already their biggest stimulus campaign since the global � nancial crisis.

The spending increase to 1.28tn yuan ($201bn) last month was the biggest percentage rise in central and local government � scal expenditure since April, when it leapt 33%, data from the Min-istry of Finance showed on Tuesday.

For the � rst eight months of the year, � scal expenditure rose 14.8% over 10tn yuan ($1.57tn) compared with the same period last year.

Still, some economists say the government’s full-year economic growth target of 7% is now at risk, while others fear real growth is already much weaker than o� cial data suggest.

With traditional monetary policy respons-es such as interest rate cuts having less impact in reviving economic activity than in the past, China is trying to increase � scal stimulus to both shore up short-term growth and fend o� growing de� ationary pressures.

“Given China’s top policymakers have giv-en green light to re-leverage the economy on the back of supportive � scal policy and easing monetary policy, we expect China’s � xed as-set investment growth to � nd a bottom soon,” economists at OCBC wrote in a note. l

Oil prices mostly steady, but weak Asian economy weighsn Reuters, Singapore

Brent crude oil prices edged down slightly yesterday as Asia’s economic weakness per-sisted, extending losses into a third session, while US futures � rmed following a report that indicated a drawdown in weekly inven-tory levels.

Market intelligence � rm Genscape esti-mated a 1.8 million-barrel drop last week at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for US

crude. A weekly report from the American Petroleum Institute is expected on Tuesday while the US Energy Information Administra-tion’s report is expected Wednesday.

Front-month US crude futures were trad-ing at $44.15 a barrel at 0647 GMT, up 15 cents from the previous close. Internationally trad-ed Brent contracts, however, were weaker fol-lowing more gloomy Asian economic news, down 6 cents at $46.31 a barrel.

“With Asian demand slowing, not just due to

the contagion from China’s economic malaise, but also from rising political risks in countries such as China, Malaysia and Thailand, the outlook for oil market remains hazy,” Energy Aspects said.

Japanese manufacturers’ con� dence slumped the most in a year in September to an eight-month low and is forecast to worsen further as fears of a China-led global econom-ic slowdown grow, a Reuters poll showed.

In China, � scal spending jumped 25.9% in August from a year ago as Beijing tries to

re-energise � agging economic growth, but stock markets were unimpressed, with Chi-na’s major indexes down about 4%.

“In the � rst half of 2015, o� cial GDP growth in China came in at 7% year-on-year. O� cial economic growth is in stark contrast to commodity demand growth which has been low through 2015,” consultancy Wood Mackenzie said, adding that its China Activity Index implied economic growth of 5.3% in Q2 and just 4.5% in Q3. l

British in� ation rate falls back to zeron AFP, London

Britain’s annual in� ation rate fell back to zero in August, as the cost of clothes rose at a slow-er pace compared with a year earlier, o� cial data showed yesterday.

Last month’s 12-month in� ation rate com-pared with 0.1% in July, dragged lower also by falling fuel and food prices, the O� ce for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.

The data was in line with market expec-tations and analysts still expect the Bank of England to start raising its main interest rate from a record low level in the coming months.

On Tuesday, the ONS said that “a smaller rise in clothing prices on the month compared with a year ago was the main contributor to the slight fall in the rate” of in� ation in August.

It noted that food and motor fuel prices “have provided some of the largest down-ward contributions to the 12-month rate during 2015”, adding that “historically, price movements for these products have been among the main causes of in� ation”. l

A man stands on the top of a building as farmers’ houses are demolished to make space for new property to be built, in front of a residential compound in Hefei REUTERS

BUSINESS 17D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Asian shares struggle, BOJ holds steadyn Reuters, Tokyo

Asian shares struggled yesterday as caution reigned ahead of this week’s US Federal Re-serve decision on interest rates, while the yen rose after the Bank of Japan took no new pol-icy steps.

Financial spreadbetters predicted opening gains for European shares, with Britain’s FTSE 100 see up as much as 0.3%, Germany’s DAX as much as 0.5% higher, and France’s CAC 40 seen rising as much as 0.6%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Paci� c shares outside Japan erased early gains and was down 0.7% in afternoon trading, taking its cue from slumping Chinese shares.

The Shanghai Composite Index was down 2.5% and the CSI300 index was 2.9% lower in thin trading, with many investors sidelined amid concerns over the market’s direction after a 40% crash over the summer prompted the govern-ment to launch a massive rescue package.

“With a slim chance of making a pro� t in this market, money is not following in,” said Zhou Lin, analyst at Huatai Securities.

Japan’s Nikkei stock index ended up 0.3%, though o� its morning session highs.

The Bank of Japan held policy steady at the end of its two-day meeting as many had ex-pected, and also warned that slowing demand in emerging markets was taking a toll on Ja-pan’s exports and output.

“There was not a strong expectation for BOJ action, but there was a market reaction after the announcement, showing some were positioning for it,” said Ayako Sera, senior market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo.

“The BOJ could have decided to wait to see what the FOMC does this week, before taking any steps of its own,” she said.

Later yesterday, investors would listen to BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s post-meet-ing speech for future policy clues.

Adding to evidence that cooling Asian de-mand is hurting Japan, a Reuters poll showed Japanese manufacturers’ con� dence slumped the most in a year in September.

The Japanese yen turned higher after the BOJ outcome, with the dollar trading at 119.94

yen, down about 0.3% from late US trade.The euro gave up about 0.2% to 135.72

yen, while it was steady against the dollar at $1.1315.

The dollar index, which tracks the green-back against a basket of six major rivals, was nearly � at at 95.237, well above a three-week low of 94.913 touched overnight.

The Australian dollar hit a two-week high

against the dollar and the yen after Australia’s ruling Liberal Party voted out unpopular Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Malcolm Turnbull, a multi-millionaire former tech entrepreneur, was sworn in as prime minister on Tuesday.

On Monday, Wall Street began the week with losses, with US trading volume at its lowest in a month as markets awaited the conclusion of the Fed’s two-day meeting on Thursday. l

Yen rises as BoJ holds � re on fresh stimulusn AFP, Tokyo

The yen rebounded from early losses yester-day as Japan’s central bank held o� fresh eco-nomic stimulus measures, while uncertainty ahead of a US interest rate decision boosted the dollar against most riskier currencies.

The dollar eased to 119.76 yen from the 120.65 yen touched before the Bank of Japan’s decision, while the euro retreated to 135.30 yen from 136.22 yen in the morning.

The single currency was also at $1.1295 from $1.1317 in US trade.

The yen had fallen ahead of the deci-sion after a raft of weak domestic economic data and concerns about global growth had fuelled speculation the BoJ could expand itsalready unprecedented monetary easing pro-gramme.

Still, most investors had expected the cen-tral bank to refrain from adding stimulus be-fore the US Federal Reserve decides whether or not to raise interest rates Thursday for the � rst time in nine years.

While a US rate rise is expected by the year’s end, the ructions unleashed on global markets by China’s devaluation last month have complicated bank policymakers’ deci-sion. l

Emerging economies plea forend to US rates agonyn AFP, Paris

Some of the world’s biggest emerging econo-mies are pleading for the United States to end their drawn-out agony and raise interest rates now.

Already hit by a commodities crash sparked by the slowing of China’s once-booming econ-omy, the mere prospect of the US Federal Re-serve raising interest rates - perhaps as soon as Thursday - has battered the emerging giants that were once the world’s top performers.

Lured by the promise of bigger returns when the Federal Reserve eventually begins raising interest rates, investors are already moving their money to safer, yet pro� table, US destinations.

In August alone, panicky investors dumped equities held in emerging economies to the tune of $8.7bn, according to the Institute of International Finance. The dollar meanwhile, has climbed.

The International Monetary Fund warned this month against a “premature” increase in US interest rates as the slowdown in Chinese growth and the ensuing commodities price collapse ripples through the world economy, and emerging economies in particular.

Some key emerging economies, however,

would rather bring a swift end to the painful wait.The Fed’s decision is “probably the most

anticipated event in the last century,” Peru central bank chief Julio Valarde told the Nik-kei Asian Review on a visit to Tokyo last week.

“What is surprising is how many central bankers with whom I talk prefer the hike to come as soon as possible,” Valarde said, argu-ing that the uncertainty of the wait was more damaging than the interest rate increase itself.

Indian central bank governor Raghuram Rajan agreed.

“It’s preferable to have a move early on and an advertised, slow move up rather than the Fed be forced to tighten more signi� cantly down the line,” he told the Wall Street Journal at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, central bank-ers’ meeting last month.

‘Uncertainty created the turmoil’For Indonesia’s central bank, too, the doubts are of the greatest concern.

“We think US monetary policymakers have got confused about what to do. The uncer-tainty has created the turmoil,” Mirza Adit-yaswara, deputy governor at Indonesia’s cen-tral bank, told the Financial Times.

“The situation will recover the sooner the Fed makes a decision and then gives expecta-

tion to the market that they increase one or two times and then stop,” he said.

Financial markets have not forgotten the precedent of mid-2013 when then Federal Reserve governor Ben Bernanke evoked the possibility of a future increase in interest rates and sparked a � ight of capital from emerging markets.

Hopes for an end to the agony may be dashed even if the Fed pulls the benchmark US federal funds rate up from zero percent, where it has been frozen since the � nancial crisis of 2008, analysts said.

Mixed � gures on US employment and un-certainty over Chinese economic growth could prompt Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen to wait a little longer, analysts said.

Even if she acts, the speculation will live on, warned Philippe Waechter, economist at French investment bank Natixis Asset Man-agement.

Emerging markets “think that if the US moves, the question of capital � ight will be resolved and they can turn the page”, he said.

“But I am not so sure.”Waechter said the Fed was unlikely to tight-

en in a series of small steps at every meeting. “If they raise on Thursday, then on Friday we will be asking when the next one comes.” l

Passers-by are re� ected on a signboard displaying currency signs outside a bank in Tokyo REUTERS

BUSINESS18DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 461.30 10.97 19.91 7.65 481.20 10.78NBFI 172.27 4.10 10.75 4.13 183.02 4.10Investment 72.68 1.73 3.37 1.29 76.04 1.70Engineering 677.24 16.11 54.91 21.09 732.15 16.40Food & Allied 215.43 5.12 8.94 3.44 224.37 5.03Fuel & Power 451.21 10.73 22.59 8.68 473.80 10.61Jute 6.65 0.16 0.00 6.65 0.15Textile 482.75 11.48 21.87 8.40 504.62 11.30Pharma & Chemical 764.00 18.17 33.57 12.90 797.57 17.87Paper & Packaging 17.56 0.42 1.17 0.45 18.73 0.42Service 95.12 2.26 7.28 2.80 102.39 2.29Leather 63.90 1.52 3.12 1.20 67.03 1.50Ceramic 38.48 0.92 3.29 1.26 41.77 0.94Cement 181.85 4.33 13.54 5.20 195.39 4.38Information Technology 20.55 0.49 1.48 0.57 22.03 0.49General Insurance 34.59 0.82 2.12 0.81 36.71 0.82Life Insurance 50.43 1.20 1.52 0.58 51.94 1.16Telecom 39.97 0.95 4.63 1.78 44.60 1.00Travel & Leisure 95.09 2.26 17.06 6.55 112.15 2.51Miscellaneous 262.92 6.25 29.17 11.21 292.09 6.54Debenture 0.10 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.12 0.00

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

News, analysis and recent disclosuresZAHEENSPIN: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to make 51% invest-ment in the shares for establish-ment of a subsidiary company namely Zaheen Polymer Ltd. with an authorized share capital of Tk. 10.00 million divided into 1,000,000 ordinary shares of Tk. 10.00 each. The tentative project cost, annual turnover, NPAT is Tk. 200.00 million, Tk. 270.00 million and Tk. 82.30 million respectively. As a result net pro� t after tax of Zaheen Spinning Ltd. will go up by Tk. 42.00 million and the tentative time of commencement of production is June, 2016.SAIHAMCOT: (Q1 Un-audited): EPS for May-July, 2015 was Tk. 0.27 as against Tk. 0.40 for May-July, 2014; NOCFPS was Tk. 1.65 for May-July, 2015 as against Tk. (2.78) for May-July, 2014. NAV per share was Tk. 25.22 as of July 31, 2015 and Tk. 24.59 as of July 31, 2014.GPHISPAT: (Q1 Un-audited): EPS for May-July, 2015 was Tk. 0.79 as against Tk. 0.70 for May-July, 2014; NOCFPS was Tk. (4.01) for May-July, 2015 as against Tk. 2.20 for May-July, 2014. NAV per share was Tk. 17.18 as of July 31, 2015 and Tk. 16.40 as of April 30, 2015.Regent Textile Mills Limited: Bangladesh Securities and Ex-change Commission (BSEC) has given consent for raising of capi-tal through Initial Public O� ering (IPO) and issuance of prospectus by Regent Textile Mills Limited.IPO subscription schedule of Simtex Industries Ltd.: BSEC

has permitted to re-open the subscription schedule of IPO of Simtex Industries Limited from September 6, 2015 to Septem-ber 14, 2015.

Dividend/AGMMATINSPINN: 27% cash, AGM: 27.10.2015, Record date: 08.10.2015.BSCCL: 10% stock, AGM: 18.10.2015, Record Date: 28.09.2015.MODERNDYE: 10% cash, AGM: 15.10.2015, Record Date: 23.09.2015.GPHISPAT: 17% cash, AGM: 08.11.2015, Record date: 20.09.2015.SAIHAMCOT: 5% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 28.10.2015, Record date: 17.09.2015. BBS: 20% stock, EGM & AGM: 15.10.2015, Record date for EGM & AGM: 20.09.2015.APEXFOODS: 20% cash, AGM: 30.09.2015, Record date: 13.09.2015. APEXTANRY: 45% cash, AGM: 04.10.2015, Record date: 09.09.2015. BERGERPBL: 100% interim cash dividend. Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 20.08.2015.PRAGATILIF: 17% cash and 5% stock dividend AGM: 29.09.2015,. Record Date: 20.08.2015.SHASHADNIM: 10% interim cash dividend for 2015, Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 20.08.2015.NAVANACNG: 15% cash general shareholders (excluding Sponsors), AGM: 16.09.2015, Record Date: 18.08.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Power Grid Co. -A 9.81 9.70 45.90 45.90 45.90 45.90 0.910 -0.15 -veMidas Financing-Z 7.74 7.74 16.70 16.70 16.70 16.70 0.012 -1.55 -veAman Feed-N 7.74 3.49 67.06 68.20 69.00 63.80 15.286 3.60 18.6BSRM Ltd. -A 6.62 4.26 128.60 130.50 132.70 124.00 15.246 2.16 59.5Apex Footwear-A 5.19 4.37 401.83 405.00 405.00 390.00 0.076 -24.62 -veAppollo Ispat CL -A 5.16 4.51 22.26 22.40 22.60 21.30 5.285 1.12 19.9Islami Bank BD - A 4.76 4.57 28.35 28.60 28.90 27.80 6.334 4.22 6.7Hakkani P& Paper -B 4.38 2.62 50.19 50.10 50.90 49.00 0.788 0.29 173.1Olympic Accessories -N 3.98 2.76 52.04 52.30 52.80 51.00 7.428 1.41 36.9Monno Ceramic -B 3.19 2.28 48.38 48.50 50.00 46.20 0.141 0.16 302.4

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Power Grid Co. -A 9.84 10.85 46.89 46.90 46.90 45.00 23.276 -0.15 -veAman Feed-N 8.06 3.14 66.71 68.40 69.00 63.20 138.077 3.60 18.5Hakkani P& Paper -B 6.46 2.36 49.95 51.10 51.40 48.00 9.369 0.29 172.2BSRM Ltd. -A 6.34 3.68 128.95 130.90 132.20 123.30 155.781 2.16 59.7Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z 5.26 2.50 7.79 8.00 8.10 7.40 0.015 -45.17 -veAppollo Ispat CL -A 5.16 3.91 22.08 22.40 22.70 21.30 65.588 1.12 19.7Apex Footwear-A 5.11 4.05 399.67 405.30 408.00 385.00 18.652 -24.62 -veIslami Bank BD - A 5.09 4.77 28.55 28.90 29.40 27.20 136.587 4.22 6.8DBH 1st MF-A 4.35 2.39 4.71 4.80 4.80 4.60 4.115 0.45 10.5Monno Ceramic -B 4.32 (0.92) 47.43 48.30 48.50 46.20 7.019 0.16 296.4

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

EBL NRB M.F.-A -16.36 -15.82 4.63 4.60 4.70 4.60 0.027 0.41 11.3Paramount Insur-A -7.52 -7.31 12.30 12.30 12.30 12.30 0.006 0.98 12.6Deshbandhu Polymer-A -7.10 -7.63 16.23 15.70 17.10 15.50 6.895 0.13 124.8Sonargaon Tex -Z -6.06 -7.23 9.36 9.30 9.80 9.20 0.087 -2.26 -veImam Button -Z -5.84 -11.49 12.87 12.90 13.20 12.70 0.044 -1.21 -veMiracle Industries -B -5.70 -4.98 18.30 18.20 18.70 18.10 0.795 0.36 50.8Fine Foods A -5.22 -1.33 11.09 10.90 11.40 10.90 0.157 -0.27 -veMeghna Life Ins. -A -4.83 -4.70 56.54 57.10 59.50 54.00 0.110 6.45 8.8Hwa Well Textiles-A -4.75 -4.67 34.08 34.10 34.10 34.00 0.085 2.32 14.7Rupali Life Insur.-B -4.49 -4.14 34.03 34.00 34.50 34.00 0.131 5.33 6.4

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Sonargaon Tex -Z -7.07 -9.43 9.41 9.20 9.90 9.20 0.474 -2.26 -veDeshbandhu Polymer-A -6.55 -8.77 16.02 15.70 16.70 15.60 30.541 0.13 123.2Meghna Life Ins. -A -5.89 -2.84 57.84 55.90 59.60 54.40 2.844 6.45 9.0Popular Life Insu. -A -5.75 -0.97 89.69 86.90 91.90 86.00 13.223 2.89 31.0Savar Refractories-Z -5.27 -7.83 52.17 52.10 53.00 51.50 0.012 -0.64 -veRupali Life Insur.-B -4.49 -3.48 34.36 34.00 35.10 33.90 5.868 5.33 6.4National Tubes -A -4.46 -3.10 134.19 130.70 136.90 130.00 22.320 -1.36 -veRahima Food -Z -4.08 -4.74 46.83 47.00 49.80 46.40 2.186 -0.47 -veBangladesh Lamps -A -3.98 -3.22 201.62 197.90 210.00 195.50 5.954 4.32 46.7Imam Button -Z -3.73 -7.35 12.86 12.90 13.40 12.60 0.342 -1.21 -ve

DSE key features September 15, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

4,204.08

Turnover (Volume)

113,184,567

Number of Contract

100,838

Traded Issues 324

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

117

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

197

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,700.53

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.73

CSE key features September 15, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

260.31

Turnover (Volume)

9,032,206

Number of Contract

13,201

Traded Issues 241

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

117

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

117

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,590.45

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.40

BUSINESS 19D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Stocks modest move continuesn Tribune Report

Stocks continued to post modest move for the third consec-utive day yesterday as cautious sentiment deepened.

The market started on happy note rising around 30 points in the early trading, but lost half of its early gains as sell-o� dominated at the end.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark index DSEX rose slightly over 15 points or 0.4% to 4,801.

The Shariah index, DSES, was slightly up 5 points or 0.5% to 1,180. The blue chip comprising index, DS30, gained 13 points or 0.7% to 1,837. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Se-lective Category Index, CSCX, rose over 39 points to 8,944.

Cement surged almost 1%, extending gaining streak for the second consecutive ses-sion. Non-banking � nancial institutions were down 0.8%, breaking its one-day gain in previous session.

Among the major sectors, bank, food & allied, telco and power continued to move up marginally. Textile and life in-surance was the worst loser.

State-owned Power Grid Company continued to display its muscle as it added more than 10% to its previous ses-sion’s similar gain since Sunday when news hit in the market that Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission increased transmission tari� for the company.

Trading activities continued to fall with DSE turnover standing at Tk442 crore, down almost 4% over the previous session’s value.

Beximco Pharmaceuticals was the most traded stocks for the second straight day, which accounted for nearly 5% of the day’s total turnover.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market has maintained its positive momentum with DSEX closing above 4800 mark. As some of the economic data have been pointing to margin-al improvement, it seems investors are focusing more on the company speci� c news, it said.

After Beximco Pharmaceuticals, other top traded stocks included Lafarge BSRM, Aman Feed, Islami Bank and Al-haj Textile. l

DSES, was slightly up 5 points or 0.5% to 1,180. The blue chip comprising index, DS30, gained 13 points or 0.7% to 1,837. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, rose over 39 points to 8,944

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 12671.54080 (+) 0.33% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1837.66374 (+) 0.70% ▲

CSE All Share Index: 14695.76860 (+) 0.43% ▲

CSE - 30 Index : 12671.54080 (+) 0.75% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 8944.71570 (+) 0.44% ▲

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

UNITED AIR-A 1,524,003 16.36 6.28 10.80 1.89 10.60 10.90 10.50 10.73Aman Feed-N 227,935 15.29 5.87 68.20 7.74 63.30 69.00 63.80 67.06BSRM Ltd. -A 118,554 15.25 5.86 130.50 6.62 122.40 132.70 124.00 128.60Beximco Pharma -A 163,148 11.41 4.38 70.30 1.30 69.40 70.50 69.20 69.95LafargeS Cement-A 81,964 9.03 3.47 109.70 0.73 108.90 111.20 109.30 110.18Olympic Accessories -N 142,735 7.43 2.85 52.30 3.98 50.30 52.80 51.00 52.04Deshbandhu Polymer-A 424,830 6.89 2.65 15.70 -7.10 16.90 17.10 15.50 16.23BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 223,713 6.81 2.62 30.50 1.67 30.00 30.70 30.00 30.44Square Pharma -A 25,752 6.49 2.49 250.90 0.36 250.00 253.00 250.20 252.05Islami Bank BD - A 223,403 6.33 2.43 28.60 4.76 27.30 28.90 27.80 28.35United Power-A 42,209 6.07 2.33 142.90 -0.42 143.50 145.10 142.60 143.84Appollo Ispat CL -A 237,459 5.29 2.03 22.40 5.16 21.30 22.60 21.30 22.26UCBL - A 236,748 4.92 1.89 20.70 0.49 20.60 21.00 20.60 20.78BSRM Steels-A 57,774 4.89 1.88 84.90 1.92 83.30 85.40 83.40 84.67LankaBangla Fin. -A 147,728 4.72 1.81 31.70 0.96 31.40 32.30 31.60 31.93SAIF Powertec-A 55,112 4.55 1.75 82.30 -1.56 83.60 84.90 81.90 82.55

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

Beximco Pharma -A 2,704,950 189.53 4.51 70.40 1.59 69.30 70.60 68.90 70.07Marico BD Ltd-A 102,863 164.71 3.92 1626.70 0.41 1620.00 1679.00 1600.00 1601.22BSRM Ltd. -A 1,208,063 155.78 3.71 130.90 6.34 123.10 132.20 123.30 128.95Aman Feed-N 2,069,913 138.08 3.28 68.40 8.06 63.30 69.00 63.20 66.71Islami Bank BD - A 4,783,883 136.59 3.25 28.90 5.09 27.50 29.40 27.20 28.55Al-Haj Textile -A 1,054,413 129.27 3.07 122.40 -3.62 127.00 130.40 119.00 122.60Square Pharma -A 474,841 119.87 2.85 251.30 0.52 250.00 253.20 250.00 252.43LafargeS Cement-A 1,037,788 114.25 2.72 109.40 0.92 108.40 111.00 109.10 110.09Social Islami. B-A 8,097,961 94.88 2.26 13.10 0.77 13.00 13.20 11.70 11.72Olympic Ind. -A 323,665 92.59 2.20 287.50 1.77 282.50 288.60 282.00 286.08UNITED AIR-A 7,835,559 84.17 2.00 10.80 1.89 10.60 10.90 10.50 10.74Ifad Autos -N 695,584 72.68 1.73 104.00 0.58 103.40 105.80 103.00 104.49Appollo Ispat CL -A 2,970,609 65.59 1.56 22.40 5.16 21.30 22.70 21.30 22.08DESCO Ltd. -A 842,254 60.29 1.43 71.10 0.85 70.50 72.40 70.80 71.58Shahjibazar Power-A 341,292 59.21 1.41 172.60 -0.75 173.90 175.30 172.00 173.47Zaheen Spinning -A 1,875,054 57.90 1.38 31.10 0.65 30.90 31.80 28.80 30.88

Some economic data have been pointing to marginal improvement

BUSINESS20DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Chinese investors to get special economic zonen Tribune Report

Chinese investors are set to get a special economic zone in Bangladesh as Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved the proposal for estab-lishing an exclusive economic and industrial zone for them.

The project “Acquisition of Land for De-velopment of Anwara-II Economic Zone” will require a total amount of Tk420 crore for im-plementation. Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) would complete the project by June, 2016.

The approval came at the Ecnec meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi-na, at the NEC conference room yesterday.

The move for setting up an exclusive eco-nomic zone came soon after Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina had proposed an industrial zone during her visit to China on June 6-11 last year.

BEZA had signed an agreement with the Commerce Ministry of China to this end.

As per the deal signed with China’s Com-merce Ministry, Bangladesh will provide land to Chinese investors on a long-term lease ba-sis and a � rm nominated by China will set up the economic zone. Once the project is imple-mented, a huge number of jobs will be created for Bangladeshis.

After the meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said, “Such special econom-ic zones are there in 119 countries across the world with 2031 are in operation. Out of that number, 436 are in India, 460 in China and about 200 in the Philippines.”

He has stated that the project aims to create

a congenial business environment for attract-ing Chinese companies there as well as creating scopes for jobs for ensuring sustainable econom-ic development. “Once the project is implement-ed, huge jobs will be created for Bangladeshis.”

Kamal said the Ecnec approved seven pro-jects including the economic zone with an outlay of Tk5,039 crore.

Of the total project cost, the government will provide Tk2,916 crore from the national excheq-uer while the remaining Tk2,123 crore would come as project assistance. Of the approved projects, � ve are new and two are revised.

The meeting approved another project ti-tled Greater Chittagong District Rural Infra-structural Development (Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar district) at a cost of Tk366 crore. Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) will implement the project by June 2019.

The project will cover 14 upazilas of Chit-tagong district and eight upazilas of Cox’s Ba-zar district.

Another project on extension of irriga-tion facilities by using surface water through “double lifting technology (3rd phase)” pro-ject with Tk118.73 crore was approved. Bang-ladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) will implement the project by June 2020.

Other projects cleared by the ECNEC are-Second Local Governance Support Project (LGSP-2) with Tk3,940 crore (1st revised), Bon-gaon-Nunni-Hatipagar Road Widening and Strengthening Project with over Tk63 crore and Postal Transport System strengthening project with over Tk78 crore and establish-ment of Chancery complex at Islamabad in Pakistan (1st revised) with over Tk51 crore. l

RMG makers asked to pay Eid bonus by September 20n Tribune Report

The government has directed the ready-made garment manufacturers to pay the upcoming Eid festival bonus by September 20.

Eid ul-Azha will be celebrated in the coun-try on September 25.

State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu made the call after a meeting with the members of “Crisis Manage-ment Committee” at his o� ce yesterday.

Paying festival bonus is not mentioned in the labour law, but RMG factory owners are paying its over the years, he said.

“I hope all factory owners will pay the allowance ahead of Eid ul-Azha,” Mujibul Haque said, adding that the rules of Labour Act that recently incorporated the festival al-lowance issues would be published within a day or two.

The state minister asked the factory owners to pay to the workers the 15-day wages of the current month without mentioning any date.

As per the law, the workers’ wages should have to be paid within the � rst seven working days of every month.

“I urge the factory owners to pay wages for at least 25 days as Eid will be held on Septem-ber 25,” said Mujibul.

The junior minister also directed the fac-tory owners to allow vacation to the workers in phases, starting from September 21, so that they can leave Dhaka smoothly.

However, the garment factory owners also requested the minister not to ask them to pay partial wages for the current month.

They also said it is not necessary to set any date as more or less all factories pay bonus be-fore Eid.

However, the government, factory own-ers and labour leaders agreed to pay festival allowances by September 20 in the wake of a primary opposition from the factory owners.

Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar, Inspector General Syed Ahmed of the Department of Inspection for the Factories and Establish-ments, former BGMEA vice-president Sid-diqur Rahman, representatives from Bangla-desh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Textile Mills As-sociation and jute mills and industrial police were present at the meeting. l

WB: Shortage of long-term � nance chokes growth prospectn BSS

Shortage of long-term � nancing is choking the investment-backed growth of companies in developing countries and hampering the ability of credit-worthy families to borrow for education and housing needs and escape poverty, said a new World Bank (WB) report released in Washington DC on Monday.

The report, Global Financial Development Report 2015-2016: Long-term Financing, said despite appeals by the Group of Twenty (G-20) and other key international groups, devel-oping countries are struggling to mobilise the billions of dollars in � nancing they need to build badly-needed infrastructure in order to grow their national and regional economies.

The WB suggested that policy makers need to focus on institutional reforms, such as pro-moting macroeconomic stability, establishing a regulated and legally enforceable banking and investment system to secure the long-term � nancing, de� ned as investment fund-ing that matures in a year or more.

While commercial banks remain the pri-mary source, � rms in developing countries saw a 15-fold increase in the amounts raised in equity, bond, and syndicated loan markets between 1991 and 2013, the report said.

It said long term housing � nance is argu-ably the most important ingredient towards home ownership, yet the disparity across countries is stark: an average of 21 percent of individuals in high-income countries have an outstanding home loan, compared to a mere 2.4 percent in lower-middle and low-income countries.

India is a typical case, with only 2.3 percent of individuals having a home loan.

Firms in developing countries also face sub-stantial disparities. Loan durations to � rms in low-income countries average 23.3 months, less than half of the average for � rms in high-in-come countries at 58.7 months.

While explaining the scope for long-term � -nance, the report also cautioned that long-term � nance is not optimal or even necessary in all circumstances. l

International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) yesterday inaugurated its new o� ce at Tejgaon, Dhaka. Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon inaugurated the new o� ce as chief guest, while David Meale, Chargé d’a� aires, of US embassy in Dhaka, FBCCI president Abdul Matlub Ahmad and Elizabeth Gourlay, Consul General of US Embassy were also present as special guests

A mobile court recovers a large catche of fake energy saving bulbs in seperate drives in Karwan Bazar Market Complex 1 and 2 of the capital yesterday RAJIB DHAR

21D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015T

-JUN

CT

ION

22Trial RoomHumanitarian e� orts

23EventTRESemme in Bangladesh

24NewsWomen’s Horlicks presents Allure Eid fest

INSIDE

I want you, BagPhoto: Ecstasy

Trial RoomWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

T-JUNCTION22DT

Humanitarian e� orts

Sarah Begum has walked the deadliest paths to explore the world. Throughout her journey she has looked into the lives of di� erent ethnic groups, and worked on documentaries. While venturing onto the deep Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest in 2010, Sarah wasn’t scared in the least since the journey was her childhood dream. During her expedition, she visited the Berber tribe of Ourika Valley in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

The nature of her work involves studying ethnic groups, travelling and investigating on current a� airs. Sarah indulges herself in the analysis of the impacts of oil exploitation in the Ecuadorian land. And to help the tribes protect their land, she married a warrior of the Huaorani tribe, which was also turned into a � lm Amazon Souls, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013.

Her upcoming journey is called Life In the Darien Gap, which is about ancient petroglyphs, where she aims to dig out “undiscovered” petroglyphs in the area. For this cause, she has won the “Spirit of Adventure Award” from the Captain Scott Society 2014 for her expedition.

Quick Facts She is the youngest � lm-maker to make a � lm on Amazon at the age of 21.

In 2014, Sarah partnered with Russ Malkin and created a platform to connect, share, empower and encourage women to set up The Adventuress Club.

Sarah is a public speaker and trains in martial arts.

Combining the idea of adventure, art, science, space and new technology, she created, “Adventurion 3D-360,″ which was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the � rst ever adventure themed 3D UV chroma depth body paint to be captured on both linear and 360 camera lens, representing the past, present and future of exploration.

The most dangerous thing you’ve ever done?Probably surviving Caracas – the murder capital of the world!

What is the happiest colour for you?Green. My mum wears it a lot and it reminds me of nature.

The biggest surprise or shock you ever got?Bungee jumping by accident.

The best feedback you’ve ever received for your work?A tweet by Bear Grylls after he watched my documentary.

If you could switch lives with a person for a day, who would you choose?Richard Branson

what is one thing that’s missing in your life?My Dad who passed away from lung cancer a few years back.One question you wish people would stop

asking you?Are you still married to the Amazon warrior?

If you had one superpower what would it be?To save lives with the power of my mind.

The last place you visit?Norway. I was on a cruise in the Norwegian Fjords

The � rst thing you notice about a person?Their aura and energy

The movie that inspired you to work in this � eld?The Godfather

The book that you are currently reading?Dark Star Safari

One thing you still have from your childhood?First ever textile piece I made in art class

One trend you hope doesn’t exist in the next few years?Stupid haircuts

The best part about being a female?We have powers.

The Hardest part as well as the best part is being a daughter, who was once considered as the “Black sheep of the family”

Being understood.

If you could meet one historical � gure who would it be?The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). l

It is a triumphant tale of Sarah Begum, who achieved great heights with her performance in whichever area she stepped into. She is part of the Royal Geographical Society, an investigative journalist, an anthropologist-explorer, a film maker, a speaker and an activist. Saudia Afrin had a quick heart-to-heart online chat with her on her successful story

Event T-JUNCTION 23D

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Photos: Courtesy

TRESemme in Bangladesh

TRESemme is a reliable hair product brand that ampli� es the beauty of today’s woman. It’s not only popular amongst the beauty enthusiasts but also among the hair specialists and artists worldwide.

This brand was recently brought to Bangladesh by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. The launching of the product took place on September 13 through a grand fashion show. Director of Unilever Bangladesh, Javed Akhter, inaugurated the programme.

The fashion show featured attire apt for all seasons – fall, summer, spring, and winter. The showstopper of the event was none other than Susmita Sen, actress and former Miss Universe. Besides, the brand ambassador of TRESemme, Daniel Bauer, also graced the programme. Eminent TV artists and celebrities such as Bidya Sinha Mim, Sadia Islam Mou and Mehazabien Choudhury were also present at the fashion show that was wrapped up with musical performances from Elita and band group Nemesis. l

NewsT-JUNCTION24DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

MasterCard launched a new lifestyle and dining o� er called “700+ partner outlets, 700+ choices” for its cardholders. Applicable for all MasterCard debit, credit and prepaid cardholders, this o� er is aimed at promoting the use of MasterCard by rewarding the cardholders to enjoy their favourite places to dine and shop.

Under this campaign, MasterCard cardholders will be able to avail discount of up to 35% at more than 700 partnered lifestyle outlets and restaurants. There are more than 150 exclusive restaurants which will provide MasterCard cardholders up to 22% discount at dining and up to 35% discount at 550 lifestyle partners.

Commenting on the launch of these new o� ers, Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager, MasterCard Bangladesh said: “We are excited to o� er 700+ choices by o� ering highest discounts at 700+ partner outlets for our cardholders. These days, people tend to eat out a lot and shopping has become a mode of recreation. Through this campaign, our cardholders will have the opportunity to avail these o� ers at a number of restaurants and lifestyle outlets across all major cities. We want our cardholders to avail these lucrative discounts and we are equally con� dent that this will go a long way in promoting electronic payments in the country.” l

For the � rst time ever in Bangladesh, Windmill Initiative, an in-house e� ort of Windmill Group, is going to organise a home decor expo in Bangladesh titled “Home Fest Dhaka 2015,” supported by BRAC Bank Ltd. This grand event will be held at the International Convention City (ICCB), Gulnoksha, Bashundhara, from November 6-7.

Prior to the main event, Home Fest Dhaka is going to commence a month-long nationwide “Interior Design Competition” among young, emerging interior designers and architects, in an e� ort to � nd visually rich design that makes e� ective use of material, space, colour, texture, lighting and graphics. The best design will be awarded with Tk3,00,000. Top designers will also be available in the Home Fest for feedback and booking.

A press conference was held to announce the news about the events. On this occasion, Reazuddin Mosharaf, managing director of Windmill Group, Sabbir Rahman Tanim, CEO of Windmill Advertising Ltd, Firoz Ahmed Khan, head of retail banking, BRAC Bank Limited, Aftab Mahmud Khurshid, CMO of Super Star Group (SSG), Mohammad Abdur Rouf, COO of BRAC-Aarong & AAF, were all present along with other senior o� cials at the ceremony.

Commenting on the “Interior Design Competition” and “Home Fest Dhaka 2015,” Sabbir Rahman Tanim, said: “We have talent, we have resources; they just need to come

together to create something stunning. This is the main idea behind ‘Home Fest Dhaka Interior Designing Competition.’ In our country, we have separate showrooms for all the components necessary, but these are all scattered all over the city. Home Fest Dhaka will bring everyone and everything on the same platform.”

The fest will display 17 model rooms divided into three di� erent types of � ats according to individual needs; fully furnished with furniture, lighting, paint, tiles and � tting solutions, and all other accessories at very special rates.

The proud partners of the Home Fest Dhaka 2015 are BRAC Bank Limited, SSG, Aarong etc. The partners will provide customised product bundles by taking the customer’s budget, taste and fashion trend into consideration. In addition, there will be other companies too with their attractive product lines.

To participate in the competition and to learn more about the Home Fest Dhaka 2015, interested individuals can visit: www.homefestdhaka.com or www.facebook.com/homefestdhaka l

Home Fest Dhaka 2015

Women’s Horlicks presents Allure Eid fest

The first ever home decor expo in Bangladesh to be held in November

Bouquet of lifestyle and dining o� ers by MasterCard

n N Anita Amreen

On September 4, Hotel Amari opened its doors to host a two day special Eid fair comprising of stalls by top online stores and boutiques. Titled “Women’s Horlicks presents Allure Eid fest” the fair was organised to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of young female designers and businesswomen.

The line up brought together more than just online clothing stores. More than 3,000 daily visitors were able to choose from a range of high end cosmetic stalls as well as stalls selling fashion accessories such as sunglasses, costume jewellery and even T-shirts. With Amari hosting several neatly organised stalls, the ground � oor was abuzz with around 25 vendors selling kameezes, punjabis, imported cosmetics, purses, clutches and even abayas.

Inspired by the idea of giving young entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their products and uplift their brand image, the fair succeeded in doing just that and more. With some stalls having sales of more than Tk4.5 lakhs over a two day span, most entreprenuers were able to boost sales as well as gain insight into current purchase trends.

“On the � rst day of the event, we had so many people in our stall, I could barely � nd space to stand. We were overwhelmed with the response, especially since it was our � rst time at a fair like this,” expressed an excited Anika Azam, head designer and partner at Ombre, an online boutique that sold over 60 pieces of evening wear kameezes within two days.

Although many stores were o� ering higher priced evening wear in line with their Eid campaign, averagely priced casual wear garnered highest sales. “We saw a huge turnout of youngsters who preferred casual wear over the high ranging items. Even though we planned on selling to the slightly older crowd since they have greater purchasing power, we were happy with how quickly the casual line got sold out,” stated Adiba Tahsin Choudhury, chief designer of Adiba’s, a three year old online boutique that specialises in semi casual kameezes,

evening wear and even casual shirts. In line with latest trends, they created a line of kameezes that sported slightly shorter hemlines coupled with “cigarette” pants - straight cut trousers that seem all the rage this season. Interestingly, what sold fastest were their chi� on and georgette casual shirts, making them a favourite among younger shoppers.

Make-up addicts too, were able to choose from an impressive selection of branded cosmetics, both low end and high end. “Kat Von D, Anastasia Beverly Hills and Lime Crime lipsticks in particular were well-received products, especially since they aren’t so easily available elsewhere,” stated Tanzina Naushin, proprietor of Afsheen, an online cosmetic store that has over 50,000 likes on Facebook. Cult favourites such as Ben Nye Banana powder and Too Faced’s eyeshadow palettes were also part of their specially selected merchandise.

The brands that received the highest accolades from visitors included Made in Bangladesh selling special handmade notebooks, bags and pen holders, Orange Theory o� ering specially crafted inspired brass jewellery, Manas, Ombre and Elma Labonno’s Closet. Other brands at the event included Tahoor, D Style Factory, Samara Hyder, Afrah Fashion, Opal Fashion Wear, Elma’s, UrbanElla, Quidan, Revere and Mansha among others.

As the fair came to a close on September 5, stall owners expressed their satisfaction with the event, and also applauded the organisers’ e� ort to hold an event that was an e� ciently organised success.

The technology partner for the event was Aamra Networks, the media partner was Dhaka Tribune, and the Radio partner was Radio Shadhin. l

25D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

BLATTER TAUGHT PLATINI TO STEAL, SAYS MARADONA

VARDY: LEICESTER START EVERY GAME ON ZERO POINTS

26 2927

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is facing an extended

spell on the sidelines and has � own to the United States for treatment on a foot injury that has ruled him

out of the last three games

LONG LAYOFF

Sport17TH NCL TO SALVAGE LOST CHARM: AKRAM

The visiting Bangladesh A team, led by Mominul Haque, will take on India A today in the � rst of three one-dayers at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Young top-order batsman Unmukt Chand will be leading the one-day side that feature national cricketers like Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav and Sanju Samson. The tourists on the other hand can also count on national players like vice-captain Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar et al to deliver the goods in their preparation for the Australia Tests next month. Following the three one-dayers, Mominul and his troop will face Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka in their � rst three-dayer before concluding their two-week trip with their second and � nal three-dayer against India A. In the picture (L-R) Taskin Ahmed, Arafat Sunny and Soumya Sarker are seen enjoying football during their practice session in Bengaluru yesterday AP

Australia to continue with half-� t Starc in Bangladesh n Agencies

Australia have revealed that their fast bowl-er Mitchell Starc has been struggling with a right-ankle condition for which he needed cor-tisone injections during the tour of England.

The 25-year-old from New South Wales, who was a near ever-present during the Ashes Tests and one-day series, missed the fourth ODI at Headingley, which England won

by three wickets. It has now been con� rmed that bone spurs caused fresh in� ammation to Starc’s ankle, though Cricket Australia said surgical intervention was not called for.

A statement read: “Mitchell has a chronic right ankle condition that has required ar-throscopic surgery twice during his career. It is an injury that the Cricket Australia medical team, coaches and Mitchell have become ac-customed to managing for some time.

After winning the ODI series 3-2, Austral-ia’s attention has turned to a two-Test series with Bangladesh, with the � rst of them taking place in Chittagong on 9 October.

Starc, who forced the England one-day captain Eoin Morgan to retire hurt after be-ing hit on the helmet in the � nal ODI, has not been ruled out yet, with Cricket Australia adding: “Our plan is to continue to manage Mitchell and monitor how his ankle responds.

“While surgery has been discussed, like most other situations, it is a last resort, par-ticularly as it will involve a lengthy lay-o� from playing [three-� ve months].

“Mitchell has had similar surgery in the past and understands the amount of time and e� ort that is required to return to playing at his best. We will be guided by the surgeon on the need for surgery but are hopeful that will not be necessary in the short term.” l

BANGLADESH-A BEGIN INDIA MISSION TODAY

Sport26DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

17th NCL to salvage lost charm, says AkramThe two-tier � rst-class competition rolls on Fridayn Minhaz Uddin Khan

The 17th National Cricket League, the coun-try’s premier � rst-class tournament, is all set to begin this Friday with hopes that it will shred its “picnic mood” image and present some competitive cricket.

Bangladesh Cricket Board’s tournament committee chairman Akram Khan informed that all possible initiatives have been taken by the board to ensure the competition recov-ers some of its lost charm. Launched in 2000, the � rst-class tournament has gradually lost attraction with the progression of time due to the lack of importance shown by the partici-pating teams.

In order to perk up the antagonism be-tween the eight teams of the forthcoming edi-tion, the BCB has introduced a two-tier sys-tem in the tournament. The � rst four teams in the points table from last season – Rangpur division, Dhaka Metropolis, Khulna division and Dhaka division – make up the top tier while the bottom four teams – Rajshahi di-vision, Barisal division, Chittagong division and Sylhet division – will compete in the sec-ond tier.

Matches in each tier will be played in ac-

cordance with the double home-and-away league format. The top � nisher in tier two will be promoted to tier one while the team � nish-ing bottom in the top � ight will be demoted to the second tier.

“You see, the teams in the second tier will want to get promoted while those in the � rst tier will like to hold on to their place. I think this system will create competition and make

the tournament exciting,” Akram told the me-dia yesterday during the sponsor declaration ceremony at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

“The practice sessions and the other as-pects are to be decided by the respective divi-sions. The teams were noti� ed of the tourna-ment, say around two months ago. I believe the board has done everything required to motivate them. I personally contacted the di-visions, asking them to prepare themselves,”

said Akram, when enquired about the prepa-ration of the participating teams.

“It is true that the quality of this tourna-ment had a fall but we are trying to restore that right now. Hopefully, everything will be in place in the upcoming days,” the former national captain added.

Akram also announced the details of the tournament in the presser where Walton LED television was named as the title sponsor of the competition.

“We have the Eid-ul-Adha vacation up ahead. The � rst round starts this Friday and ends this Monday. The cricketers will not face trouble with their journeys while heading back home for the Eid holidays. We tried to make sure that the venues would be conven-ient for them. The home-and-away format will be in place from the second round on-ward,” Akram explained.

Following the � rst round, the tournament will be suspended for the Eid holidays before resuming on October 1.

The � rst-class tournament was brought forward keeping the upcoming Test match-es against Australia in mind. The � rst of two Tests against the Aussies will get underway in Chittagong on October 9. l

Ariful Islam of BKSP clocked 1min 8.62s to make a new national record in 100m breaststroke (18-20yrs) in the three-day long Mir Akter Hossain Ltd 31st National Age-Group Swimming that got underway at the Swimming Complex in Mirpur yesterday

The � rst-class tournament was brought forward keeping the upcoming Test matches against Australia in mind

Mahanama to step down from ICC match referee paneln Cricinfo

Roshan Mahanama, the former Sri Lanka bats-man, will step down from the ICC elite match referees panel at the end of the year so that he can spend more time with his family and focus on his business activities in Sri Lanka.

Mahanama joined the elite panel in 2004 and has refereed in 58 Tests, 222 ODIs and 35 T20Is till date, including in three World Cups and the Champions Trophy 2009.

“This has been an extremely di� cult de-cision as I am very passionate about cricket, which has been an integral part of my life for over 40 years as a cricketer, coach and ICC match referee,” Mahanama said. “However, in life a time comes when one has to keep moving forward based on obligations and priorities. My time has come to devote an un-interrupted focus and attention to my family, who made massive sacri� ces over the years to enable me to pursue my career for over three decades.”

Geo� Allardice, the ICC general manager - cricket, thanked Mahanama for his contribu-tions. “Roshan has been one of the pioneers of the elite panel and has been an integral com-ponent during the phase when the referee’s role was evolving,” Allardice said. “Roshan, very e� ciently and intelligently, integrated his cricketing knowledge into match manage-ment skills to earn huge respect and appreci-ation from the entire cricketing fraternity.” l

Botham and Vaughan mourn England hard man Brian Closen Reuters, London

Former England captains Ian Botham and Mi-chael Vaughan have led the tributes to Brian Close after the hard man of cricket died from lung cancer at the age of 84.

Yorkshireman Close was the young Both-am’s � rst county skipper at Somerset in the 1970s when the great all-rounder burst on to the scene with his good friend, swashbuck-ling West Indies batsman Viv Richards.

“The best captain a young player could ever have wished for! Myself & IVA (Richards) owe you so much,” Botham said on his Twit-ter account on Monday.

Close, England’s youngest ever Test crick-eter and the man who had the courage to deliberately fend o� bouncers from the fear-some 1976 West Indies pacemen with his chest, died on Sunday.

The batting all-rounder made his debut at the age of 18 against New Zealand in 1949 and went on to play 22 Tests, captaining England seven times.

“Such a sad day,” said Vaughan. “He was a true inspiration to all of us. Thanks Brian for helping me as a kid growing up at Yorkshire.

“I once had an lbw problem. Closey, aged 60, came into the nets and batted without pads ‘only way, young man, you will sort your problem’.”

Another Yorkshireman, former Test um-pire Dickie Bird, recounted a familiar tale in-volving Close’s � elding exploits at short leg before the invention of helmets. l

Sport 27D

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Wanderers, Institute of Kabaddi reach semisDhaka Wanderers Club and Institute of Kabaddi, Jatrabari moved to the semi-� nals of the inaugural Aarong Dairy Federation Cup women’s kabaddi tournament. Wanderers defeated Narail district 41-10 yesterday to reach the semis while Institute of Kabaddi beat Faridpur district 42-10 to seal their last-four berth. Wanderers will face Azad Sporting Club in the � rst semi-� nal today while Institute of Kabaddi will take on Dhaka Zila Krira Sangstha in the other last-four clash on the same day. Both the matches will be held at Dhaka Kabaddi Stadium.

–TRIBUNE DESK

Bayern con� dent of injured Ribery’s comeback this yearBayern Munich winger Franck Ribery will return to action this year after fully recovering from a dragging ankle injury, club Chief Executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said on Tuesday. The Frenchman has been out of action since March after being injured in their Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk with an initial recovery estimate of a few days.

–REUTERS

Bolivian player strike threatens WC quali� ersBolivia’s footballers have gone on strike and will refuse to take part in a national team training camp next week unless their grievances are resolved, their union Fabol has said. Bolivia are due to begin their World Cup qualifying campaign in less than one month and the announcement added to the problems in the country, where the head of the football federation has been arrested on graft charges.

–REUTERS

Murray swaps racquet for football bootsAndy Murray and his Great Britain team-mates swapped tennis racquets for football boots on Monday as they warmed up for their Davis Cup semi-� nal against Australia by taking on Scottish champions Celtic in a crossbar challenge. Murray and company are in Glasgow preparing for the start of the Davis Cup tie on Friday, but they took their minds o� that crunch clash when they travelled to Celtic Park for a team-bonding exercise.

–AFP

Gerrard is trying to sell his book: Benitez Rafael Benitez insists that Steven Gerrard’s claims that the Real Madrid manager never liked him are simply aimed at selling his autobi-ography. Gerrard claims in his book that there is “no bond” between himself and the Spaniard, having endured a frosty relationship with Benitez during his time in charge at An� eld. “Out of the respect that I have for Stevie and for the value and appreciation I have for him, and for Liverpool and the supporters, I think it’s best to just let it pass,” Benitez said on Spanish television. “He has brought out a book and now I’m the Real Madrid manager, that sells.”

–AGENCIES

QUICK BYTES

Bangladesh’s new coach Fabio Lopez met his charges for the � rst time yesterday. In the picture, national captain Mamunul Islam (C) introduces his mid� eld partner Jamal Bhuiyan (R) to the Italian Lopez at the Bangladesh Football Federation. 37 of the 41 footballers called up for the national camp reported and left for BKSP yesterday evening MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Vardy: Leicester start every game on zero pointsn Agencies

Jamie Vardy attempted to lift the lid on Leicester City’s stunning Premier League start, claiming his team-mates treat every match as if it is their � rst of the season.

Leicester are the only other unbeaten team in the league along with leaders Manchester City after winning three of their opening � ve matches.

Claudio Ranieri’s men produced a remark-able second-half comeback to prevail 3-2 over Aston Villa on Sunday.

England international forward Vardy, who netted an 82nd-minute equaliser against Vil-la, said Ranieri’s approach has Leicester � ying this term.

“The manager has got it built into us that we start every game as if we are on no points and we need to pick the three up to start the season again,” said Vardy.

“We will be doing that exactly the same this weekend - we will be back down on zero points and hopefully able to pick the three points up against Stoke.

“We know how hard the league is, so � rst and foremost for everyone it is making sure you are away from the relegation zone.

“Then once you have got to the points stage where you think you are safe, then you can reassess and maybe push on.

“We are going to keep plugging away and getting as many points as we can, then who knows come the end of the season, we will see what happens.” Leicester are away at Stoke City on Saturday.l

Sania slams critics n Agencies

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis won the US Open in New York on Sunday. It was their sec-ond Slam of the year after Wimbledon. Sania has been upset over controversies surround-ing her Khel Ratna award.

“It’s been a great year for me and I am delighted to win US Open after Wimbledon Championship,” Sania told NDTV.

The Indian ace, who is always on the radar of critics, said her aim is to play good tennis and is not bothered about what people say.

“All I know is that I’ve helped a lot of peo-ple sell their newspapers and get TRPs up

over my career. I am glad that people have got me so much of publicity out of absolutely no issues.

“I play tennis and I try and win. I play for myself and my country and for my family. I don’t get into who says what, I just answer with my racquet. I just play and that gives me the most joy,” she said.

Sania and Martina have reached � nals in six of 12 tournaments together and the Indian ace says she gels well with the Swiss legend.

“Martina and I play very well together. I have a great chemistry with her. We are look-ing forward to Singapore (WTA Finals) as the No.1 team in the world,” Sania said.l

Ansari wins place in England Test squadn Reuters, London

Uncapped Surrey all-rounder Zafar Ansari was named in England’s squad on Tuesday for the forthcoming three Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Left-armer Ansari, 23, is the third spin-ner in the 16-man team alongside Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid. Moeen could be used as an opening batsman with captain Alistair Cook, although uncapped Alex Hales has also been included, despite failing to impress in the one-day international series against Australia.

There was no place, however, for opener

Adam Lyth or Gary Ballance, both deemed to have failed during the Ashes Test series against Australia that England won 3-2.

Batsman James Taylor won a Test spot after some impressive performances in the one-day international series against the Aus-tralians.

“Zafar Ansari’s potential excites us and he will provide strong competition for Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali in the Test squad after enjoying an excellent domestic season with both bat and ball for Surrey,” national selector James Whitaker.

Test squad: Alastair Cook (captain), Moeen

Ali, James Anderson, Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bair-stow, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Mark Wood

ODI squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos But-tler, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, James Taylor, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

T20 squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Stephen Parry, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Reece Topley, James Vince, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood l

28DT Sport

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

Holders Barca begin defence at Roman AFP, Paris

Bayer Leverkusen (GER) v BATE Borisov (BLR)Bayer Leverkusen and BATE Borisov meet for the � rst time in their opening Champi-ons League Group E � xture at the BayArena. Leverkusen, who reached the round of 16 last season, advanced to the group stage following a 3-1 aggregate play-o� win over Lazio. Dif-� cult to break down on their home ground, Roger Schmidt’s side have won � ve of their last six home � xtures in Europe, and conced-ed just two goals in their last 12 homes match-es. BATE advanced through three qualifying rounds to reach the group stage. It is their � fth group stage appearance but they have never gotten past this round, conceding 24 goals in last year’s campaign. BATE’s veteran mid� eld-er Aleksandr Hleb knows the German side well however having played them 11 times with German clubs Stuttgart and Wolfsburg.

Roma (ITA) v Barcelona (ESP)Lionel Messi-powered Barcelona open their ti-tle defence in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico as they bid to become the � rst team since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990 to win back-to-back titles. The Spaniards arrive at the former club of coach Luis Enrique buoyed by a hard-fought 2-1 vic-tory at Atletico Madrid in which Messi came o� the bench to score the winner to keep their perfect start to the La Liga season at the week-end. No team has ever retained the European Cup in the UEFA Champions League era but Enrique will be looking to get o� to a strong start at the club he managed in the 2011-2012 season. Roma warmed up for the tie with a 2-0 win away to Serie A new boys Frosinone at the weekend. The Italians will be looking to put behind them last season’s 7-1 home whipping by Bayern Munich at home on their return to the competition after three years.

Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) v Arsenal (ENG)Dinamo are on a 15-game winless run in the Champions League, failing to make it out of the group stage in four attempts. The Croatian champions came up against Arsenal in the third qualifying round in 2006/2007, losing 5-1 on aggregate to the Premier League giants.

Dinamo have found goals hard to come by, mustering only four in their last dozen group outings. Wenger says his side, sitting fourth in the league, need to � nd the right balance between “urgency and con� dence” in Zagreb. Theo Walcott, who scored against Stoke at the weekend, is set to once again be deployed as a central striker rather than in his more usual role as a winger.

Olympiakos (GRE) v Bayern Munich (GER)Olympiakos, under recently appointed coach Marco Silva, are making their � fth successive appearance in the competition, and have proved tough to dismantle at their Piraeus HQ. The Greeks are on an 11-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

Bayern, � ve-time European champions, welcome back Mario Goetze, the Germany international who is � t after missing Saturday’s 2-1 come-from-behind Bundesliga win over Augsburg. But longterm sickbay

residents Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are absent. Coach Pep Guardiola has told his players they must raise their game from their weekend performance to avoid slipping up in Greece. The two sides’ only previous encounter dates back to 1980/81 in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup with Bayern coming out on top.

Dynamo Kiev (UKR) v Porto (POR) Returning to the Champions League after missing out for the last two years, Dynamo Kiev aim to defeat a Porto side who are un-beaten in their six visits to Ukraine. Ukrainian double winners Dynamo are competing in the group stage for the 15th time, but manager Seri Rebrov is in charge of a team in the tour-nament for the � rst time. Porto, whose man-ager Julen Lopetegui serves a touchline ban, are looking to improve on last season’s run to the quarter-� nals where they were defeated by Bayern Munich.

Chelsea (ENG) v Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR)With their defence of the Premier League title already in turmoil after three defeats in their � rst � ve matches, Chelsea kick o� their European campaign hoping for a morale-boosting victory over a Maccabi Tel-Aviv team returning to the competition after a 10-year absence. Condemned to a disappointing Champions League last 16 exit by Paris Saint Germain last season, the west Londoners, reeling after Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Everton, will be facing Maccabi for the � rst time in a competitive � xture, although there are a couple of familiar faces at the Israeli club. Maccabi manager Slavisa Jokanovic, who led Watford to promotion to the Premier League last season, is a former Chelsea mid� elder, while defender Tal Ben Haim spent the 2007-08 season at Stamford Bridge.

Valencia (ESP) v Zenit St Petersburg (RUS)The omens are not good for Zenit in a match that sees two Portuguese former colleagues lead their sides into battle. Valencia’s Nuno and Andre Villas-Boas of Zenit worked to-gether under Jose Mourinho in their Porto days when the former was a reserve goalkeep-er and the latter a coach. Nuno leads Valen-cia back into the Champions League after a two-year absence against a side that have lost every time they’ve played in Spain. Valencia also have four wins and a draw form their home matches against Russian out� ts.

Ghent (BEL) v Lyon (FRA)Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s Ghent are perhaps unique in the Champions League as they would have preferred a tougher group. Denied the chance to take on a Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester United, their debut in the competition sees them tackle it with limited ambitions.

Managing director Michel Louwagiue says they simply want to get as many points as possible in the group stages to earn as much money as possible. Lyon, semi-� nalists in 2010, will be expecting to take three points to boost their chances of a place in the knock-out rounds, although they are missing injured forward Nabil Fekir. l

Champions League

AS Roma’s head coach Rudi Garcia (L) and captain Francesco Totti take part in a training session, on the eve of the team’s Champions League match against FC Barcelona, in Rome yesterday AFP

Who will win it? Take your pick from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. It will largely depend on who of those three will be in the best shape going into April and May, as the last three seasons have shown. The Spanish have more quality in the � nal third, Bayern a slightly better squad – but only if all key players are available.

Who will score more goals, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Lionel Messi, or will someone else claim the Golden Boot? Lionel Messi. Playing alongside Suárez and Neymar means the Argentinian genius should be able to feed on a bu� et of chances in each and every match.

Most excited player? Keep your eyes on Europe’s most promising young players in the competition this sea-son. Julian Draxler with Wolfsburg, Ángel Correa and Óliver Torres with Atlético, Cor-entin Tolisso with Lyon, Ra� nha with Barce-lona, Jonathan Tah with Leverkusen, Josh-

ua Kimmich with Bayern, Anthony Martial with Manchester United, Danilo with Real Madrid, José Luis Gayà with Valencia and all the other wonderkids taking part in the Champions League this season.

How will the English clubs do and why? All four should qualify from their groups, but even if one of them gets their act togeth-er in the knockouts, they will still need a load of luck to get past the obvious favour-ites. Manchester United and Manchester City may be surprise semi-� nalists. Louis van Gaal knows how to win the European Cup and City’s Manuel Pellegrini now has a squad equipped to go deep into the compe-tition.

How will the German clubs do and why? Bayern are among the favourites to win the competition but for Wolfsburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer Leverkusen it’s about acquitting themselves as well as possible. Wolfsburg have a decent chance to make it into the last 16 even if they’re not

the same force without Kevin De Bruyne.

How will the French clubs do? Last season was very good for the French clubs with PSG and Monaco reaching the quarter-� nals and it will be very hard to re-produce that this time around.

How will the Spanish clubs do and why? On the evidence of European competition over recent years, better than anyone else.

Flop team? Juventus don’t look capa-ble of repeating last season’s heroics. Their transfer business has cost them key players – Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal in particu-lar – and while their � rst-choice mid� eld is impressive, both Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio are extremely injury-prone.

Surprise package of the tournament? Paris Saint-Germain. Despite the cash in-jected into the club, if Laurent Blanc’s team reach the � nal it would still be a major achievement and would announce PSG as a new continental heavyweight.lPredictions

Sport 29D

T

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

UEFA Champions League Ten Sports 11:30 PM Chelsea FC v Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC Ten HD11:30 PM GNK Dinamo v Arsenal FC Ten Action11:30 PMAS Roma v FC Barcelona Ten Cricket11:30 PM Olympiacos FC v FC Bayern Munich Star Sports 49:00 AMFIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup Eygpt v Argentina 4:00 PMAFC Champions League Gamba Osaka v Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

DAY’S WATCH

Djokovic on course to be greatestn AFP, New York

Novak Djokovic may never be the people’s champion, but with a 10th Grand Slam title wrapped up and his rivals � agging, the Serb is on course to be the sport’s greatest player.

The 28-year-old became only the eighth man in history to reach double digits in totals of Slams won and now stands just seven be-hind the record of Roger Federer, the man he vanquished in Sunday’s US Open � nal.

It may seem a huge target to chase, but Djokovic is six years younger than Federer.

His second title in New York was his third major of the year to add to the Australian Open and Wimbledon victories.

Only a third defeat in four years at the French Open � nal prevented him from cele-

brating what would have been the � rst calen-dar Grand Slam since 1969.

It was the second time after 2011 that he had won three of the four Grand Slams in the same season. Djokovic has now won nine of the last 20 Slams and � nished runner-up in six others.

By contrast, 34-year-old Federer has not added to his 17 Grand Slams since Wimbledon in 2012 and has lost � ve of his last seven � nals at the majors.

Rafael Nadal, meanwhile, is the equal sec-ond best of all time alongside Pete Sampras with 14 Slams but outside of the French Open, his last major came in New York in 2013.

Djokovic is also the model of consistency. The last time he failed to make at least the quar-ter-� nals of the majors was when he slipped to a third round loss at the 2009 French Open.l

Lovestruck Pennetta happy to quit as championn AFP, New York

Flavia Pennetta captured her � rst Grand Slam singles title at the US Open on Saturday and said she was happy to head into retirement.

The 33-year-old beat fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 to become the oldest � rst time women’s winner at a major.

She then stunned the 23,000 crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium by announcing her re-tirement, admitting she had made the deci-sion to quit before the tournament began.

“Before I started this tournament one month ago, I took a big decision about my life,” said the 26th seed.

“I decided that this is the way I would say goodbye to tennis. This is my last US Open and I couldn’t think of � nishing in a better way.”

Playing in her 11th US Open, Pennetta said she was stunned to have gone so far in the competition.

“I’m really happy. I never thought I would get so far and never thought I would be a champion. This is one of my favorite tourna-ments, I enjoy playing here,” she said of an event where she has consistently recorded her best results at the majors.

“It’s a dream come true, and it’s also nice to play with a friend of mine - we have known each other since we were nine years old, we spend so much time together.

“We could write a book about our lives,” add-ed Pennetta after collecting the winner’s cheque for $3.3 million. It had been a dramatic US Open for Pennetta who had an earlier match inter-rupted by a drone crashing into the stadium. l

Flavia Pennetta of Italy, the US Open Women’s Singles champion, poses with the trophy at the Top of the Rock in New York on Sunday REUTERS

Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the US Open Men’s Singles champion, poses with the winner’s trophy in Central Park in New York City on Monday AFP

Blatter taught Platini to steal, says Maradonan AFP, Rome

Former Argentina superstar Diego Maradona on Tuesday blasted FIFA president Sepp Blat-ter and his UEFA counterpart Michel Platini, who is bidding to succeed the Swiss as head of world football, as two of a kind.

“I’m outside all that because someone called Blatter closed all doors on me,” former Argentina great Maradona told Naples televi-sion station PiuEnne.

“But I’m not a thief. Blatter did a lot of harm to football and with Platini it’s a farce. They pretend to be separated, one at FIFA and the other at UEFA, while in fact they were al-ways side by side,” said Maradona.

“The only thing Blatter could teach Platini was how to steal,” added the 1986 World Cup winner.

Maradona, 54, added that he had an agreement with Prince Ali of Jordan, another candidate for the FIFA presidency on

February 26.“If he should win the election, I will be at

his side as vice-president,” added the former Napoli and Barcelona star. l

Newcastle hit bottom after defeat at West Hamn Reuters, London

Newcastle United slumped to the foot of the Premier League table after a 2-0 defeat at West Ham United on Monday left manager Steve McClaren still seeking a � rst win in charge.

Dimitri Payet was Newcastle’s chief tor-mentor, scoring early in each half to lift West Ham into the top � ve with three wins and two defeats from their opening � ve games.

If West Ham are unpredictable, Newcastle have been predictably uninspired under new boss McClaren and they o� ered little to excite their fans at Upton Park.

After being delayed en route because of pre-match tra� c and needing to walk the last mile to the ground, Newcastle’s players be-gan slowly and went behind after nine min-utes when Frenchman Payet took a pass from Mark Noble and placed a rising shot into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Payet doubled West Ham’s lead three min-utes after the interval when he calmly vol-leyed the ball home from close range.l

DOWNTIME30DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

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

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 18 represents B so � ll B every time the � gure 18 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Expensive (4)4 Evade (5)8 Incentive (6)9 Cried (4)11 Musical note (5)12 Table-shaped hill (4)14 Knight’s title (3)15 Believe (6)19 Bring into being (6)21 Whatever quantity (3)22 Mountain lake (4)24 Assumed name (5)27 Hazard (4)29 Cowardly (6)30 Precipitous (5)31 Matured (4)

DOWN1 Early freshness (3)2 Electrical unit (6)3 Decays (4)4 Somewhere dark (3)5 Sheeplike (5)6 Lair (3)7 Animosity (6)10 Eastern ruler (4)13 Part of a play (3)14 Fragments (6)16 Soak (3)17 Intrepid (6)18 Taverns (4)20 Conscious of (5)23 Tract (4)25 Frozen treat (3)26 Plant juice (3)28 Young goat (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

JATRA BIROTI BULLETIN

WHAT TO WATCHHome Alone 3Movies Now 4:35pmAlex Pruitt, a young boy of nine living in Chicago, fend o� thieves who seek a top-secret chip in his toy car to support a North Korean terrorist organisation’s next deed.Cast: Alex D Linz, Rya Kihlstedt, Lenny von Dohlen, Olek Krupa, David Thornton

Ice Age: Continental Drift Star Movies 3:30pmManny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.Cast: Aziz Ansari (Squint), Joy Behar (Eunice), Christopher Campbell (Creature Siren), Alain Chabat (Silas), Ester Dean (Female Siren)

Sherlock HolmesHBO 4:30pmDetective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan

n Showtime Desk

Hollywood nowadays are no strangers of remakes and reboots. Sources say that Disney and Rob Marshall are developing a new and original Mary Poppins � lm. Disney, being one of the biggest companies in the front-lines of reboots, are looking to creating the magic again with this new musical by bringing back the team from Into the Woods.

Insiders have con� rmed that the new � lm will take place in London 20 years after the � rst � lm. It will also ob-tain elements and storylines from P L Travers’ children books that focuses on the magical nanny’s adventures with the Banks family.

The � rst � lm, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, earned a little over $100 million and � ve Oscars, including best actress award for Andrews. Disney looks to continue their winning streak of recent reboots after the success of Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. Into the Woods star Meryl Streep received an Oscar nomination. We’re assuming the new Marry Poppins won’t be far o� from the rest. l

Latin American � lms win big at Venice

n Showtime Desk

Films from Latin America bagged double top honours at the 72nd Venice Film Festival on Saturday, with Venezuelan director Loren-zo Vigas getting the Golden Lion best � lm award for Desde Alla (From Afar).

The � lm was about a murky homosexual a� air between a tough street hustler and a successful businessman. Being Vigas’s � rst

feature � lm, he dedicated the award to his country.

“This is a bit of a surprise but I know it’s going to be very well received in the coun-try where we’ve had some problems in the last few years. I hope it is going to help,” said Vigas as he accepted the Golden Lion on the stage of the main festival cinema.

He added that he hoped his � lm’s victory might be a clarion call for greater co-opera-

tion among the region’s � lm makers. “I think that this is something we should do in South America,” he added.

The best director award went to Argen-tina’s Pablo Trapero for El Clan (The Clan), which portrayed the real-life Puccio family of kidnappers who operated in Buenos Aires during the 1980s.The runner-up grand jury prize went to American director Charlie Kaufman and co-director Duke Johnson for stop-motion animation Anomalisa, which uses puppets instead of drawings.French actor Fabrice Luchini won the best actor prize for his role as a judge in L’Her-mine (Courted) and Italy’s Valeria Golino took the best actress prize as a woman married to a Naples loan shark in Per Amor Vostro (For Your Love).

Turkish � lm Abluka (Frenzy) won the Spe-cial Jury Prize and L’Hermine also received the prize for the best screenplay.

Film specialists noted that the jury was headed by Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, whose Gravity opened the Venice festival two years ago, and suggested the awards might have re� ected his support for � lms from his region of the world. l

Meet Brazilian cinematographer, Chico Kfouri

A Poppins reboot

September 18, Friday Open Mic: Featuring Vincent, the band! Vincent will do a set of both his songs in French and a few oldies and goldies as well. Humayra Jahan on back vocals, Sanjib Mazunder on tabla and Don on bass will join his groove. They start by 8.30 pm. The regular Open Mic will take place after (and before) Vincent’s set. Ticket: Tk300

September 19, Saturday Electro/Acoustic: Featuring The Speakeasy Crew, Don, and more surprise musicians with their voices, instruments, synths, FXs and all. Ticket: Tk500

Tickets can be pre-purchased/booked via imdhaka.com Tea and Phuckha included in the ticket price.

Venue: Jatra Biroti60 Kemal Ataturk Ave, 1213 Dhaka, Bangladesh

n Showtime Desk

Pathshala Cinema Department has organised a day-long program consisting of a discussion session with Brazilian cinematographer Chico Kfouri and screenings of two acclaimed Brazilian cinemas. The event will be held at the Pathshala Cinema Department (House 58, Road 15/A, Dhanmondi) on September 19, at 11:30am.

BAFTA winner Walter Salles’s drama Central Station, and Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund’s crime drama City of God will be screened at the event.

Producer and cinematographer, Chico Kfouri, has produced and worked in more than three hundred TV commercials before switching his career to � lm cinematographer. Kfouri will share his observation of the two Brazilian masterpieces, which will be shown prior to discussion.

The program is open for all and requires pre-registration. l

BACK PAGE32DT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

LATIN AMERICAN FILMS WIN BIG AT VENICE PAGE 31

SIMS TO BE BLOCKED IF 7-DAY NOTIFICATION IGNORED PAGE 15

AUSSIES TO CONTINUE WITH HALF-FIT STARC PAGE 25

Banks to set fake note detectors at cattle marketsn Tribune Report

Banks will set fake note de-tection machines at the cattle markets across the country to prevent fake notes circulation ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

Moreover, bank branch-es near cattle markets will remain open even after the three-day Eid holidays to fa-cilitate banking transaction.

Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Nazneen Sultana came up with the disclosure at a press conference held yes-terday at its headquarters.

She said 39 banks have been assigned to set fake note detection machine at total 20 cattle markets, of which 17 have been located in two city corporation areas of Dhaka and three outside the city cor-poration.

The local bank branches will be responsible for cattle markets located in and out-side of Dhaka.

The central bank’s several teams will monitor the fake note detection activities. Son-ali bank will be responsible in this regard for areas where the central bank has no branch.

A total of 450 fake note detection machines were provided to law enforcement agencies of which 170 were given for the city’s cattle market and 280 outside of Dhaka.

Moreover, di� erent meas-ures including advertising campaign to make people aware of fake note have been taken.

In addition to it, the central bank has requested the Minis-try of Information to present video images of original notes as part of raising public aware-ness against fake notes.

Bangladesh Bank is ready to circulate new notes of Tk25,000 crore during Eid. The new notes will be provid-ed from the special counters of all schedule banks includ-ing Motijheel branch of Bang-ladesh Bank.

An individual will be al-lowed to take Tk3,700 in a bundle of Tk20, Tk10, Tk5 and Tk2 denominations. l

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