SECOND EDITION

PAGE 9Fears of fresh violencein kashmir

PAGE 9Al-Qaeda executes Saudi ‘spies’

PAGE 6Kopotakkho River in danger

PAGE 3Friend of MP’s son surrenders to court

PAGE 5Khaleda likely to attend court today

ASI ARRESTED FOR RAPING FEMALE CONSTABLE PAGE 3

70,000KG EXPIRED DATES SPREAD IN CTG PAGE 32

POLYTHENE BAGS CLOGGING DRAINS PAGE 5

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015 | Ashar 4, 1422, Sha’ban 30, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 65 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

Bangladesh, India ready for � rst ODIn Reazur Rahman Rohan

The three-match one-day international se-ries between home side Bangladesh and In-dia promises to be exciting and important for both teams for various reasons. When the Ti-gers take the � eld today against the two-time world champions in the � rst game, they will have an eye on the rankings table as a good result in the series will give the Tigers a strong chance of making it among the top eight be-fore the cut-o� date of September 30 and qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

The home side is boosted by their recent success in the World Cup and the three-match series sweep over Pakistan and they will be eager to continue the momentum in possibly their favourite format of the game.

Wicket-keeper and top-order batsman Liton Kumar Das is likely to make his ODI de-but and it won’t be surprising if he opens the batting alongside Tamim Iqbal with Soumya Sarkar pushed back to No 3. Rest of the line-up is expected to be unchanged as they have gained the stability in the 50-over format with growing success.

However, skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza has his foot on the ground and kept India ahead as he said: “I � rmly believe India are favorites but when we get on the � eld we do not think about who is favorite or who is not. I hope we can play our best cricket.

“After the 2007 World Cup, we started to believe that we can beat any team. We nev-er lost our mental strength despite losing matches. Of course if we are playing against a

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Ramadan begins tomorrown Tribune Report

As the new moon was not sighted anywhere in the coun-try yesterday, the holy month of Ramadan 1436 Hijri will begin tomorrow, and the holy night of Qadr will be on July 14.

The announcement came at the meeting of National Moon Sighting Committee at the Islamic Foundation’s Baitul Mukarram o� ce last evening. The meeting was chaired by Religious A� airs Minister and Committee President Alhaj Ma-tior Rahaman.

In the meeting, the com-

mittee members reviewed the reports from the district administrations, the Islamic Foundation’s head, divisional and district o� ces, Bangladesh Meteorological Department and other relevant institutions, none of which con� rmed the sighting of the new moon last night.

Hence the committee decid-ed that today will mark the 30th day of Sha’ban, and tomorrow will be the � rst day of Rama-dan. Accordingly, Lailatul Qadr will be observed on July 14.

Among others, the meeting PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Myanmar border police shoot BGB mann Abid Azad and Adil Sakhawat

A Border Guard Bangladesh member was shot and another abducted by Myanmar’s Border Guard Police in the Naf River near Jadimura area of Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar yester-day.

“The bullet-hit BGB man is soldier Biplob, age 35. He was admitted to the Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital. Later, he was shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Chittagong,” Teknaf 42 BGB battalion Commander Lt Col Abuzar Al-Zahid told the Dhaka Tribune.

Regarding the abducted BGB man, he said: “BGP informed that he is � ne and will be re-turned after some formalities, possibly by Thursday.”

The local commanding o� cer said that the BGB had tried to bring the BGP to a � ag meeting the entire day. But Myanmar side in-formed that they had formalities such as get-ting permission from their government before such a meeting could take place.

In a brie� ng at Bangladesh Secretariat yes-terday afternoon, Bangladesh’s State Minister for Home A� airs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters: “During the patrolling hour, a misunderstanding arose between the BGB and the BGP near the zero line on the Naf Riv-er. The � ring is a result of that.”

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

BGB

BGB BGP

MymanmarBangladesh

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

First ODIhigher-ranked team, they will be the favorites but we do not think that we cannot beat them.”

Meanwhile, India’s captain cool MS Dhoni is also aware of the fact that Bangladesh are a tricky opponent and they have the ability to beat any nation.

“They are a very good ODI team. Also, if you see they have been playing ODI cricket for a long time. With their T20 coming in, it gives the guys more exposure and at the same time it gives them the right kind of calculative power as to when they can take the risk and when it is important to back o� . I always felt they had a very good ODI side,” said the visiting captain.

The match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium will begin at 3pm. l

Myanmar border police shoot BGB manAccording to a BGB press release issued in Dhaka yesterday, a seven-member team of the BGB on two boats were patrolling the area from the Jadimura canal to the Dumdumia border outpost.

“They were conducting routine patrol on civil boats. Suddenly, around 5:30am, soldiers of the Myanmar BGP appeared with a boat, opened � re on one of the BGB boats, injuring the arm of one soldier. The BGB team also re-taliated with gunshots,” the release reads.

At one stage, the two sides locked into a scu� e, the release says. However, at that time, the second boat arrived at the scene. The BGP men then disappeared and took BGB Naik Razzaq and his SMG along with them.

The rest of the members of that boat saved themselves by jumping into the river and swam ashore, says the release.

This is the second such incident since the Myanmar authorities abolished its Nasaka force in July 2013 and deployed the Border Guard Police.

One year agoOn May 28, 2014, another BGB naik named Mizanur Rahman was allegedly abducted and killed by the Myanmar frontier force near the Paanchhari border in Naikkhongchhari of Bandarban district.

Two days later, the BGP was supposed to return Mizanur’s body to the BGB. But, when the Bangladeshi border guards went to re-ceive the body, the BGP men opened � re on them instead of handing the body over.

BGB said Naik Mizanur was patrolling the border to check Rohingya in� ltration.

Amid high tension between the two sides, the BGP returned the naik’s body on May 31. In a � ag meeting held on June 3, BGB pro-tested the killing and demanded a probe and

punishment for the killer. But as of now, the Myanmar force has not done anything in that connection.

The same day, the Myanmar Times had re-ported: “Through articles in state media, Nay Pyi Taw [capital of Myanmar] has insisted [that] its soldiers were acting on information that insurgents from the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation were active in the area, and the Bangladeshi troops were attacked because they were not wearing Bord er Guard Bangla-desh uniforms or identi� cation.

“Police Colonel Min Aung, a deputy direc-tor of the Defense and Security Department, told Democratic Voice of Burma that the BGB troops were responsible for the con� ict be-cause they were not wearing the BGB insig-nia. Instead, they were wearing yellow cam-ou� age uniforms without armbands.”

The report also said: “They were shot at because they encroached on our territory without any identi� able insignia, leading our troops to assume they were insurgents.”

When reminded about that incident, CO Zahid replied: “BGP was supposed to inform us about progress but they have not as yet, although they regretted the incident at that time.”

Asked about the confusion about uni-forms, Zahid said: “De� nitely our soldiers were in uniforms when that incident took place. But that was also a case of misunder-standing between the two sides no doubt.

“It was very early in the morning and in the poor light none of the sides could see that the others were wearing uniforms,” he explained.

The nearly 271km border between Bangla-desh and Myanmar is divided into two parts – 64km zero line boundary on the Naf River and a 208km land boundary. l

Ramadanwas attended by Religious A� airs Secretary Dr Chowdhury Md Babul Hasan, Islamic Foun-dation Director General Shamin Mohammad Afzal and Baitul Mokarram National Mosque Khatib Prof Maulana M Salauddin.

Police have taken an all-out initiative to tighten security in the entire country for the holy month.

At a press brie� ng on Monday, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque said police will adopt a zero tolerance policy to en-sure free and safe movement and against all kinds of criminal activities.

He also put emphasis on security during Eid prayers and mobile court drives to pre-vent sale and consumption of out-of-date and contaminated food items during Ramadan.

The government announced a new o� ce schedule for government, semi-government and autonomous o� ces throughout Rama-dan on June 1, according to which the o� ces will be open from 9am until 3:30pm, with a break from 1:15pm to 1:30pm. l

Jamaat’s call for hartal goes unheededn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s country-wide 24-hour hartal, protesting the death sentence against its leader Ali Ahsan Mo-hammad Mujahid for his war crimes, ended peacefully in the city and across the country.

The strike which started at 6am saw no major incidents of violence at any part of the country as it evoked a lukewarm response.

Jamaat called the hartal hours after the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Jamaat leader Mujahid to death for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War on Tuesday.

No picketing or unexpected incidents were reported till � ling of this report at 10pm yes-terday.

Slack hartal in Rajshahi The hartal called by Jamaat was loosely en-forced in Rajshahi yesterday, reports our correspondent from Rajshahi. All vehicular movement and businesses in the city carried on as usual.

No untoward incidents took place and many inter-district buses left the Rajshahi

terminal for Dhaka and other districts, con-� rmed Manjur Rahman Peter, General Sec-retary of Rajshahi Highway Transport Group.

Assistant Commissioner of Rajshahi Met-ropolitan Police (RMP) Ifte Khayer Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that additional policemen were deployed at major points in the city to keep the situation under control.

From Tuesday evening untill yesterday morning RMP arrested about 53 leaders and activists of Jamaat-Shibir accused in di� erent sabotage cases � led earlier, informed AC Ifte Khayer.

Awami League holds demo protesting Ja-maat’s hartal

The ruling Awami League and it’s a� liated bodies yesterday held demonstrations across the country including the capital to protest the nationwide hartal. Awami League, Jubo League, Chhatra League, Swechchhasebok League, Mahila League and others held sep-arate demonstrations and meetings at di� er-ent areas in the capital.

Also, its leaders and activists took position at the intersections of di� erent roads and streets to keep Jamaat men from causing any mishap. l

PM returns today n UNB, London

Wrapping up her six-day visit to the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is ex-pected home this morning.

A VVIP � ight (BG-016) of Biman Bangla-desh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage is scheduled to take o� from Heathrow International Airport at 6:15pm.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Md Abdul Hannan will see Hasina o� at the airport. The � ight is scheduled to reach MAG Osmani International Airport in Sylhet at 9:30am BST today.

After making a one-hour stopover there, it will � y for Dhaka. The � ight will land at the Dhaka airport at 11:10am.

During her stay in the British capital, the prime minister was accorded a civic reception by the UK chapter of the Awami League at the Park Lane Hotel on June 14.

She also joined a reception hosted by Chairman of All Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh Keith Vaz at the UK chapter o� ce of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Associ-ation in the British parliament on June 15.

Sheikh Hasina visited the British parliament on June 16 and listened to the maiden speech of her niece and Labour Party MP Tulip Rezwa-na Siddique at the House of Commons. l

War criminal Mahidur appeals against ICT verdict n Tribune Report

Jail-till-death convicted war criminal Mahi-dur Rahman � led an appeal with the Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon challenging a tri-bunal verdict against him.

Mahidur submitted the appeal through his lawyer seeking acquittal from the two charges in which he was found guilty.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on May 22 sentenced Mahidur and Afsar Hos-sain Chutu to jail until death for committing crimes against humanity during the Libera-tion War in 1971.

84-year-old Mahidur, son of late Subedar Ali Biswas of Dadanchak in Shibganj, was in-volved in the politics of Muslim League and joined the Peace Committee and Razakar force during the war.

On the other hand, now 65-year-old Afsar, son of late Kutub Uddin Morol of Satrosia of Shibganj, was also an active member \of Mus-lim League and joined the Peace Committee and Razakar force in 1971. Afsar is yet to � le an appeal against the conviction. lHanif: BNP created

militancy n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mah-bub-ul-Alam Hanif yesterday said BNP had established militancy in Bangladesh.

The ruling party leader said he found no di� erence between the formation and activ-ities of BNP and Jamaat.

Hanif said this after a joint meeting of the party. The meeting was held at Awami League President Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s po-litical o� ce at Dhanmondi in the capital yes-terday evening.

Terming Khaleda’s ideology anti-Indian Hanif said: “She has just staged a drama to draw India’s sympathy but originally she is anti-Indian which is evident in her speeches at di� erent programmes of the BNP.

He claimed that Indian Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi at his meeting with Khaleda asked her to sever her relation with terrorists and militants. l

Int’l Finance Corp Bill placed in JS n BSS

The International Finance Corporation Bill, 2015 was placed in the Jatiya Sangsad yester-day.

The bill will also help legalising and con-tinuing activities of the corporation under the cancelled the International Finance Corpo-ration Ordinance, 1979 (Ordinance No-XII of 1976). Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Mu-hith introduced the bill in the House.

According to the bill, the International Fi-nance Corporation, as a sister concern of the World Bank group, has been playing a signi� -cant role in accelerating the country’s economic growth through providing services and advices to the private sector. Earlier, the cabinet ap-proved the draft of the law on March 16, 2015. l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

ASI accused in female constable rape arrestedn Kamrul Hasan

The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested Assistant Sub-Inspector Kalimur Rahman, who is accused of raping his former wife and police constable, in Cox’s Bazar.

A team of detectives found him in Cox’s Bazar following a tip-o� and arrested him yesterday morning, DB Deputy Commissioner (East) Mahbub Alam told the Dhaka Tribune. They were on their way to Dhaka when this report was � led.

Kalimur has been on the run since his former wife � led a rape case against him on Saturday.

During a press brie� ng at DMP Media Centre earlier yesterday, DMP Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said the DB had traced Kalimur’s location and arresting him was only a matter of time.

Asked about departmental actions against the accused, he said the actions will be taken after investigation.

About police’s delay in taking such cases, he said it is a part of police investigation that the superior authority will supervise the case proceedings to see whether the right procedure is being followed.

If the procedure is delayed for any reason, the supervisor will mention it in the report and action will be taken accordingly, the joint

commissioner said.The constable in question alleged to have

been gang-raped by her former husband and three others between June 10 and June 13. She managed to � ee and arrived at a One-Stop Crisis Centre on June 13.

Her medical examination was done the following day, and the report was � nalised on Tuesday under the supervision of the forensic department head Prof Mohammad Habibuzzaman Chowdhury.

The victim left the One-Stop Crisis Centre on Monday. Since then, she has been receiving medical treatment at the Rajarbagh Police Lines Hospital.

“We found evidence of physical

intercourse. But as she was divorced and had not been involved in such activities [since then], it can be said that she was raped. We have found injury marks on her right thigh that proves she was tortured,” the forensic expert said.

However, it could not be known if she was raped by more than one, he said, but did not comment on the DNA test being carried on the samples collected from the victim.

Police, meanwhile, insist that Kalimur will not get any privilege for being a member of the force.

Kalimur and the victim were married in 2011, but got divorced last year after he demanded Tk10 lakh in dowry. l

ANSARULLAH DEATH THREATS

DB says probe found no militant linksn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Detectives said that they had found no mil-itant involvement with the letter sent to DU VC’s o� ce on Tuesday that threatened to kill 25 noted personalities.

“We suspect that a group or a person, tar-geting some people, are sending these letters only to scare people,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of police’s Detective Branch (DB), told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Over the last one month or so, a total of three such letters had been sent to eminent personalities, mostly known for their secu-lar positions, under the name of the recent-ly-banned militant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team.

Those letter had separate hit-lists that fea-tured politicians, cultural activists, journal-ists and war crimes trial campaigners. Some names were included in multiple lists.

The � rst of these letter were issued on May 21 and the last on Tuesday, June 17. Several diaries had been � led with various police sta-tions in Dhaka soon after these letters came out.

DB chief Monirul Islam, who has been working on militant activities for a while now, said that they had never found any links with international terrorist group al-Qaeda who Ansarullah says is one of their ideological partners.

“Basically, we have seen that if Ansarullah wants to kill anybody, they would not give death threats like this. We have seen before that give threats on the internet as all of their members are tech savvy. But these letters are a totally new thing,” Monirul said.

“Ansarullah targeted those people that are against them or whose statements go against them. We have not seen them send such let-ters to alert the targeted person.”

These letters come months after the brutal killings of secular activists and science writ-ers Avijit Roy, Oyashiqur Rahman Babu and Ananta Bijoy Das, who were killed from Feb-ruary to April this year. Ansarullah claimed responsibility of all these murders.

Police have not yet managed to trace the senders of any of those letters; they said in-vestigations were going on. l

Friend of MP’s son surrenders to courtn Kamrul Hasan and Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Bakhtiar Alam Rony, the son of an MP, was drunk when he opened � re from inside his car earlier this year, a friend who was report-edly accompanying him at the time told a Dhaka court yesterday.

The friend, Kamal Mahmud, surrendered to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Haque around 1pm and gave a 30-minute long judiciary statement. He earlier also pro-vided a separate statement to the investiga-tion o� cer, DB’s SI Dipak Kumar Das.

He described how Rony, son of Awami League lawmaker Pinu Khan, � red shots us-ing his own licensed weapon. Rony was in an intoxicated state at the time, Kamal said, add-ing that he was in the car with Rony when the

incident took place.Meanwhile, Tanjir Ahmed, Rony’s elder

brother, pleaded to the same court for giving him back the custody of the SUV that was seized by the police as evidence. The court then ordered the investigation o� cer to scru-tinies the car documents and submit a report on this regard in � ve working days.

Earlier, a Dhaka court rejected a bail peti-tion from Rony and sent him to jail in the case � led over killing two people on a Dhaka street.

While arguing for the bail, Rony’s lawyer Ad-vocate Nazbullah Hiru alleged that the police had arrested the MP’s son only to harass him.

However, DMP’s DB chief Monirul Islam termed the claim a lie, saying the arrest was made after evidence was gathered against Rony.

“During primary interrogation [of Rony],

we have found that the bullet was � red from Rony’s gun and if the same thing is proven in the ballistic report, then we will request for the cancellation of his arms licence,” he said.

On the night of April 13, Yakub Sikder, an autorickshaw driver for Daily Janakantha, and Abdul Halim, a rickshaw-puller, received bullet wounds when Rony � red at people in-discriminately at Dilu Road. Halim died on April 15, while Yakub succumbed to his inju-ries on April 23.

Halim’s mother Monowara Begum � led a case with Ramna police station on April 15. It was later shifted to the Detective Branch on May 24.

Detectives arrested Rony from his Ele-phant Road residence on May 31. On June 1, a Dhaka court granted the DB police four days to interrogate Rony. l

BCL blamed for attack on leftist students at Narayanganj Tolaram Collegen UNB

At least 20 students, mostly activists of left-ist student organisations, came under attack from alleged Bangladesh Chhatra League members at Government Tolaram College in Narayanganj yesterday.

Bangladesh Students Union’s (BSU) Narayanganj district unit President Moitri Ghosh alleged that the Chhatra League activists attacked the students as they brought out a pro-cession on the college campus under the ban-ner of Progotishil Chhatra Jote around 12pm to submit a memorandum protesting admission business, occupation and assorted criminal ac-tivities of the ruling party’s student wing.

The injured include the Socialist Student Front (SSF) district unit President Sajal Baroi and Bangladesh Chhatra Federation district unit President Zahid Sujon, and other Jote members and students of the college, including women.

The injured were admitted to Narayanganj 300-bed Hospital.

The Jote leaders also alleged that the at-tack took place in the presence of police per-sonnel.

Instead of stopping the Chhatra League ac-tivists, police chased the Jote activists during the attacks, the injured students claimed.

When contacted, Chhatra League’s Tolaram College unit President Habibur Rahman de-

nied the allegation, saying the Chhatra League activists were not involved and the general public drove some outsiders away from in front of the main entrance of the college.

Fatullah Model police station Sub-Inspec-tor Golam Mostafa said the Chhatra League activists brought out a procession on the campus protesting yesterday’s Jamaat-en-

forced hartal, while the Jote activists brought out another procession with their demands at the same time.

When both the processions came close to each other, activists of both the groups tried to force one another out, he said.

Later, police went to the spot and brought the situation under control, the SI added. l

Chhatra League men attack the members of Progotishil Chhatra Jote with bamboo sticks yesterday as they proceeded to Government Tolaram College to submit a memorandum demanding completion of admission process to HSC level in all educational institutions in Narayanganj DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS4DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

‘Fish reproduction dwindles for irregular rainfall’n Abu Bakar Siddique

Reproduction and availability of local � sh resources has been declining in the country because of the delayed monsoon and erratic rainfall, leading to drought-like situations in the last few years, according to a paper.

It said the country recorded 47,447 millime-tres of rainfall in June, July, August and Sep-tember in 2009 compared to 56,163 millimetres in the same period in 2008, 66,520 millimetres in 2007 and 60,551 millimetres in 2006.

“Breeding and grazing � elds of � sh saw a drastic reduction because of the abnormal sit-uation coupled with siltation in the big rivers and tributaries, waterbodies, � oodplains and other wetlands,” said Mostafa AR Hossain, professor of aquatic biodiversity of the � sh department at Bangladesh Agricultural Uni-versity, yesterday while presenting the paper at a workshop styled the “World Day to Com-bat Deserti� cation and Draft National Action Programme” at the capital’s LGED auditorium.

“Some of the most damaged � sh popula-tion are tangra, bujuri, batashi, shingh, pabda, gulsha, aire, nondui, ritha, bashpata, kaunya,

sarputi, jaita puthi, magur, cheng, taki, shol, gozar, baim, guchi and tara baim.

“Drought and siltation together are reducing wintering habitat for the � sh species, resulting in less recruitment into the grazing � elds to grow open water inland � sheries,” he said.

According to the � fth assessment report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Bangladesh is identi� ed as being at speci� c risk from climate change due to its exposure to sea-level rise and extreme events like salinity intrusion, drought, erratic rainfall and tidal surge which will hamper the country’s food as well as livelihood security.

“Overall � sh production in inland open water declined due to the movement and mi-gratory route within river, from river to marsh and � oodplain, and within � oodplain which caused reduction in � sh production in open water,” said Professor Mostafa.

He also said due to the decrease in ground water and surface water, tremendous pressure has been exerted on wetlands to convert those into agricultural lands. “This has resulted in a serious decline in the numbers of � sh species and � sh production as a whole.” l

9 die in separate incidents in Dhakan Kamrul Hasan

At least nine people including two minor boys died in separate incidents in Dhaka yesterday.

Yasmin, 28, a domestic worker, fell o� the balcony of a � at on the sixth � oor of a 12-sto-rey building situated on Dhanmondi Road 11.

Her employer said Yasmin had joined work � ve days back and slipped o� the balcony while watering plants.

Two minors, Mahmud, 5, and Rahat, 7, were playing beside the Al Amin Madrasa in Nawabganj yesterday afternoon when its boundary wall collapsed on them, killing them on the spot. Machineries from a neigh-bouring construction site crashed into the wall, causing it to crumble down, said Nawab-ganj police OC Md Saidur Rahman. Rahat was a student of the madrasa.

Rahat’s father claimed that his son died because of the negligence of the authorities responsible for the construction work going on inside the madrasa.

In another incident, a 24-year-old youth named Russel was beaten by a mob to death in capital’s Shwamibagh area. The mob start-

ed beating him after a shopkeeper suspect-ed him as a thief and gathered the crowd by screaming.

Russel’s father said Russel left home on Tuesday evening following an altercation that ensued between them. He got to know about his death yesterday morning.

In Jatrabari, a man named Jalal Uddin, 50, died after being hit by a bus while crossing a road. He was on his way to his younger broth-er’s house in Kadamtali area around 9am.

Jalal worked as a launch driver and his youngest daughter’s marriage ceremony was scheduled for yesterday, said his nephew Ab-dur Rashid.

Meanwhile, an unidenti� ed person fell o� a � ve-storey building in Mirpur yesterday morn-ing. His identity could not be con� rmed yet.

A sexagenarian was found dead inside the Gabtoli underpass, said Darus Salam police station Sub-Inspector Amanullah.

General Railway Police recovered two bod-ies from railway tracks in Jurain Bazar and Kamalapur railway station areas yesterday. Their identities could not be con� rmed im-mediately. l

7 demands placed to end child labourn Tribune Report

Anti-child labour activists have demanded that the government revives the Child Labour Unit, keeps special allocation in budget and amends the list of jobs risky for children.

A group of 10 organisations who work for eliminating child labour placed a seven-point demand at a seminar in Dhaka on Monday.

The Centre for Services and Information on Disability (CSID) and Shapla Neer were the top organisers of the seminar held at the Ajimur Rahman Seminar Hall in the Daily Star building.

Other demands include � nalising of the draft housemaid protection and welfare regu-lations 2010, � xing the ILO endorsed minimum age for entering labour, making the recently formed National Child Labour Welfare Council active, proper implementation of the national work plan on child labour and ensuring special allowance for the families of working children.

CSID Executive Editor Khandakar Zahurul Alam presented the keynote paper at the seminar.

Lawmaker Islra� l Alam, member of the parliamentary standing committee on the la-bour ministry, also spoke at the event. l

NEWS 5D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Polythene bags clogging up city’s drains

n Munir Momtaj

As the arrival of monsoon brings with it more frequent occurrences of water stagnation in Dhaka city, authorities concerned fail to ad-dress the potential of polythene bags to in� ict further damage to the existing crisis.

Although polythene bags were banned in the country in 2002, little enforcement of the restriction has been seen so far.

“We are carrying out operations at di� er-ent times, but we cannot succeed in stopping it totally. Everyone including the buyers and the sellers has to be aware about polythene bags; only then will it stop,” said AKM Miza-nur Rahman, director (planning) at Depart-ment of Environment.

As the impact of disposing non-biodegrada-ble polythene bags remains invisible to the na-ked eyes, people remain unaware that the plastic material accumulates in the environment over time – leading to slow but deadly consequences.

In Dhaka city, the discarded bags clog up the sewers and a� ect the drainage system,

resulting in water stagnation in places where the problem could have been avoided.

Despite the dangers, it is the low produc-tion cost that makes the plastic bags more common at grocery stores and more accept-able to customers.

Abdul Aziz, a consumer at Karwan Bazar who was using a polythene bag to carry the mangoes he just bought, admitted to the Dha-ka Tribune that he was aware about the ban on plastic bags, but could not refuse it when the shopkeeper supplied it.

Anwar Hossain, a shopkeeper at Hatirpool Bazar, said there was no alternative, environ-ment-friendly or cost-e� ective shopping bags available.

He added that most customers did not car-ry any reusable bags and asked for polythene bags that could be discarded easily.

Even though there had been some success last year in seizing plastic bags from the cap-ital’s markets, no such drive has been carried out so far this year, said RAB 3 Operation Of-� cer Md Saiful Islam Saif. l

HC to decide on fate of Niko case todayn Ashif Islam Shaon

The High Court is set to give its decision today on whether or not proceedings would contin-ue in the Niko graft trial against BNP Chairper-son Khaleda Zia.

The bench of Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice Jafar Ahmed � xed the date yesterday after hearing a petition � led by Khaleda on April 2 this year challenging the legality of the case proceedings.

On December 9, 2007, the Anti-Corruption Commission � led the graft case with Tejgaon police station, accusing Khaleda and several others of abusing power to award a gas ex-ploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko during her time in o� ce as the prime minister.

The other accused in the case were – former

law minister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former acting energy secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam and Kashem Sharif, vice-pres-ident (South Asia) of Niko Resources Bangla-desh Ltd.

The charge sheet in the case was submitted by the ACC in May 2008 against Khaleda and 10 others. Later in July, the High Court stayed the case and directed the ACC and the govern-ment to explain why the initiation and pro-ceedings of the case should not be declared illegal.

Recently this year, the ACC again moved to revive the Niko corruption case and anew High Court bench was assigned to dispose of it.

On May 28 this year, the hearing was con-cluded and the court kept the verdict waiting.

Gatco graft caseThe High Court is also set to deliver its verdict any day on whether trial proceedings should continue in the Gatco corruption case against the BNP chairperson.

After concluding hearing arguments, the High Court bench of Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice Abdur Rab yesterday kept decisions on two petitions by Khaleda on CAV, meaning the verdicts could be delivered any time.

On September 2, 2007, the ACC � led the case with Tejgoan police station against for-mer premier Khaleda Zia, her son Arafat Rahman Koko and 21 others, accusing them of causing losses worth Tk1,000 crore to the state exchequer by awarding a contract to Global Agro Trade (Pvt) Co Ltd (Gatco) for container management at inland container depots in Dhaka and Chittagong. l

Quader: Individual countries to � x BBIN tolln Tribune Report

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said yesterday the authorities of the BBIN countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) would individually set tolls to be collected for movement of both people and goods in the region according to rules of the individual countries.

He said the agreement signed by the four South Asian nations would be implemented as per the decision of the authorities con-cerned.

“O� cials of all four countries will have dis-cussions before setting the tolls in accordance with the rules of the individual countries,” the minister told reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal In-ternational Airport after arriving from Butan.

The BBIN motor vehicles agreement was signed on June 15 in Thimphu, the capital of

Bhutan, by transport ministers of the four countries, with expectations that it will boost regional connectivity.

“None can carry any product, which is banned in any of the BBIN countries, while visiting that particular country while valid

documents will be needed for vehicles to en-ter from one country to another,” Quader said.

“Vehicles crossing the countries must have insurance coverage and authorised o� cials can search those. They will not be allowed to take passengers or load goods while in anoth-

er country during the journey.” The minister, in reply to a question, said

the four-nation pact includes a provision for other Saarc nations to join the agreement.

He said the agreement would be reviewed in every three years or earlier upon consen-sus, and any country can pull out on a six-month notice.

At present, Bangladesh and India have a bi-lateral arrangement on passenger movement but Bangladeshi vehicles can enter Nepal or Bhutan through India and vice versa once the new agreement takes e� ect.

But the countries need six months to pre-pare the protocols before the agreement could be implemented.

Apart from easing movement of passengers and goods, the motor vehicles agreement is expected to have a positive impact on tourism and trade among the participating countries. l

The drain in the capital’s Jurain is supposed to carry waste and rain waters but is clogged with scrapped polythene sheets. The photo was taken yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Lax enforcement of existing ban and lack of awareness worsen the crisis during monsoon

Khaleda likely to attend court todayn Md Sanaual Islam Tipu

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is likely to ap-pear before a Dhaka court today to attend hearings in two graft cases – Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust cases.

Khaleda’s lawyer Md Sanaullah Miah con-� rmed this to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Earlier, the BNP chief appeared before the special court set up at Bakshibazar in the cap-ital in connection with the graft cases on May 25.

Later, the court � xed June 18 for next hear-ing in the graft cases.

On May 24, Dhaka’s Third Special Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar � xed June 18 for the next hearing in the graft cases and asked Khaleda to be present during the hearing.

The trial of the corruption cases against Khaleda and eight other accused began on September 22 last year.

The Anti-Corruption Commission � led one of the graft cases against Khaleda and � ve others for embezzling over Tk2.1 crore by forming a “fake” Zia Orphanage Trust that ex-isted only on paper.

The other accused are Khaleda’s son Tari-que Rahman, Ziaur Rahman’s nephew Mo-minur Rahman, Khaleda’s former principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, former BNP lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed.

The other case was � led by the anti-graft body in 2011 for abusing power in setting up the Zia Charitable Trust accusing Khaleda, her former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, his assistant private secretary Ziaul Islam Munna, and former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s assistant personal secretary and Monirul Islam Khan. l

None can carry any product, which is banned in any of the BBIN countries

NEWS6DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Kopotakkho River in dangern Our Correspondent, Jessore

The existence of the Kopotakkho, the once mighty river upholding the memory of Michael Madhusudan Dutta, is almost at stake now, thanks to unscrupulous land grabbers and lack of surveillance by the authorities concerned.

The illegal construction of buildings and business centres on its river bank is, howev-er, occurring right under the nose of the local administration and a group of in� uential peo-ple, alleged locals.

Kopotakkho River � ows through 20 upazi-las, 10 city councils and 95 unions under sev-en districts. Around 23km of it � ows from Jes-sore’s Chougachha upazila to Chhutipur.

In Chougaccha, in� uential locals have con-structed establishments in Narayanpur, Pet-bhora, Tengurpur, Kongsharipur, Digholsh-ingha, Mashila, Kodomtola, and Kabilpur by illegally grabbing lands on the river bank.

These establishments include multi-storey buildings as well.

Local sources said a local politician named MA Salam has constructed buildings in the area along the bridge in Chougaccha Bazar. They “managed” the local residents and set up slums over there. Moreover, the bamboos piled at several points in the area block the river’s normal � ow.

However, denying the allegations, MA Salam

said: “I am against river encroachment. The household that I have built are on my paternal properties. And the remaining seven acres of land were leased to me by the district council.”

Shahnur Alam, a Chougaccha resident, said: “In� uential locals have encroached on the lands along the river. They indiscrimi-nately grab lands and construct houses there. Some use the river for � sh breeding.”

The famous river must be saved from the encroachers right away, demanded several lo-cal residents.

A � sherman of the area, Amol Kumar, said: “The condition of the river has changed now. The government releases � sh in the river every year. But the in� uential locals, with the aid of politicians, use the river for � sh breed-ing. The poor � shermen cannot avail those � sh. No one is monitoring the situation.”

Tipu Sultan, assistant professor of geog-raphy and environment department of ABC College in Chougaccha, said: “The � ow of the Kopotakkho is shrinking everyday. Besides sand-� lling, illegal grabbing of the river bank also goes on unabated. If the situation contin-ues like this, soon the river will die.”

If the river is not there, the life of people living by it will be adversely a� ected. The ecology will also lose balance. Therefore, nec-essary steps should be taken to restore the � ow of the Kopotakkho, he said. l

Mohalchhari � shermen facing hardship n Our Correspondent, Khagracchari

The � shermen of Mohalchhari upazila in Kha-grachhari are facing hardship as they cannot maintain their livelihood properly due to a ban on � shing in Kaptai lake.

The Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation banned inde� nitely all sorts of � shing in Kaptai lake on May 18 to allow for the smooth breeding of � sh fries in the lake.

District o� cials of the Bangladesh Fish-eries Development Corporation (BFDC) and

local administration have been instructed to strictly enforce this ban.

During a visit to Sylhetipara in Mohalchhari upazila, this correspondent found families of many � shermen unable to manage their daily bread and butter thrice a day. Sometimes they are compelled to starve.

Sunamuddin, a � sherman in the area, said as the government enforced the ban every year during the rainy season, they had to go

through adversity as the � sheries develop-ment corporation has no rehabilitation pro-grammes for them.

Another � sherman, Md Manju Mia, de-manded immediate rehabilitation pro-grammes for them.

Mohammad Ershad Bin Shahid, upazila � sheries o� cer, told the Dhaka Tribune that he was informed about the misfortune of the � shermen.

He said: “There are 1,368 registered � sh-ermen in Mohalchhari upazila. As the BFDC does not have any scheme to help them, they were unable to provide anything for them.”

He said they had already informed the senior authorities about the matter. He also expressed hope that the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock would take measures to im-prove the lives of the � shermen.

Every year, the BFDC enforces the ban on � sh netting for three months from May-July for the breeding of � sh and boosting their pro-duction.

During this period, mother � sh lay eggs while � sh fries are also released in the lake by the BFDC.

The authorities concerned have taken these measures as indigenous � sh species are on the edge of gradual extinction in Kaptai lake due to the indiscriminate use of harmful pesticides and chemical fertilisers in the crop-land on both banks of the lake. l

4 killed in road accidents n Tribune Report

At least four people were killed in road acci-dents in Tangail and Natore districts yesterday.

Our Tangail correspondent reports: Three people were killed and one was injured as a truck plunged into a roadside ditch in Ach-himtala area on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway in Mirzapur upazila.

The deceased were identi� ed as Shajahan, 50, son of Moslem Khan under Kandipara village of Munshiganj Sadar upazila, Ra� kul Islam,65, son of Meraj Uddin Sheikh under Bikrampur vil-lage in Srinagar upazila of Munshiganj district and Ratan Dhali, 45, son of Nandur Dhali of Nao Duba village in Sariatpur district.

Gorai Highway police station O� cer-in-Charge Humayun Kabir said the accident

had taken place when a Sirajganj-bound CI sheet-laden truck coming from Dhaka fell into a roadside ditch in the area as its driver lost control over the steering around 5am. The trio, who were in the truck, died on the spot while one was injured.

A youth was crushed under the wheels of a trolley in Lalpur upazila of Natore district in the morning. The deceased was identi� ed as Shahidul Islam,28, son of Nazrul Islam of Boro-Badkoya village in the upazila, said our correspondent.

Abdul Hai Talukder, o� cer-in-charge of Lalpur police station said Shahidul was go-ing to Iswardi Bazar from Lalpur for an au-to-charger around 9am by trolley. At one stage, he fell on the road and the three wheel-er ran over him leaving dead on the spot. l

Locals look at a covered van lying in a paddy � eld near the Sapaihata Road in Naogaon yesterday. The van fell into a roadside � eld while it was carrying the generator on Tuesday night AZHAR UDDIN

Every year, the BFDC enforces the ban on � sh netting for three months from May-July for the breeding of � sh and boosting their production

NEWS 7D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:48PM SUN RISES 5:11AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

35.0ºC 24.5ºC

Rajshahi Sylhet

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 34 28Chittagong 34 26Rajshahi 33 27Rangpur 32 26Khulna 33 26Barisal 32 26Sylhet 33 26Cox’s Bazar 32 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:44am

Sunrise 5:11amZohr 12:00am

Asr 4:40pmMagrib 6:48pm

Esha 8:15pm

WEATHER

THURSDAY, JUNE 18

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Port city people worry about water crisis in Ramadann Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Chittagong city residents are facing an acute water crisis, as the Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority is unable to supply adequate water.

The townspeople are now concerned that their su� erings would intensify during Ram-adan, especially during Sehri and Iftar.

However, Chittagong Wasa claimed they had taken on a set of programmes to ease the su� erings of the city dwellers, but it seems all of their e� orts have proved futile.

The port city needs about 60 crore litres of water per day while the water supply author-ities can supply only about 20 crore litres for about 70 lakh city residents, said Chittagong Wasa sources.

Besides, deep tube-wells of Wasa, CCC and other private-commercial users have also failed to retrieve adequate water, as the un-derground water level has fallen drastically.

Residents of Bakalia, Chawkbazar, De-wan Bazar, Bahadderhat, Badurtala, Pahar-tali, Halishahar, Anderkilla, Lovelane, Jamal Khan, Kapashgola, Kazir Dewri, Sholoshahar, Muradpur, New Market and Kotwali are the worst su� erers.

Councillor of Uttar Agrabad ward Nazmul Haque Duke said about 3,000 people lived in his ward. “Residents of my ward get su� cient water on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in a week, but on the remaining days they face a severe water crisis.

Md Salim Ullah, councillor of Enayet Bazar ward, told the Dhaka Tribune that people of

his area got water at midnight. “People cannot collect water from surface

resources, as two out of the three big ponds in my area have been � lled up. The water of another one is also polluted,” he said.

About 320,000 residents of Dakkhin Hal-ishahar ward expect to face great challenges during Ramadan, as most areas in this ward are out of the CWASA water supply line, said Ward Councillor Ziaul Haque Sumon.

Md Nur Nabi, resident of Bowbazar area, said: “I have to set up a deep tube-well, after � nding no other solution.”

Aeysha Siddique, a resident of Halisha-har residential area, said she bought water for Tk500 for everyday use. She is worried that the price of water would increase during Ramadan.

CWASA authorities, acknowledging the crisis, said they had taken special measures to meet the city residents’ demand during Ramadan.

They said seven vigilance teams were formed and three control rooms were set up to monitor water supply conditions in the city.

Three deep tube-wells, which will provide 40 lakh litres of water per day, are being set up and the supply lines will be repaired soon, they said.

Managing Director of Chittagong Wasa AKM Fazlullah said they are working hard to provide su� cient water to the townspeople.

Besides, the CCC will also provide water to city dwellers during Iftar at about 40 points in the city, said CCC Public Relations O� cer Abdur Rahim. l

Mohanpur upazila in Rajshahi saw bumper production of vegetables including bottle gourds. However, the nationwide strike called by Jamaat means that the farmers would be taking another � nancial hit as most of the produce remain unsold and lying by the highways where they had been gathered for distribution to various parts of the country AZAHAR UDDIN

2 human tra� ckers heldn Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

Police arrested two suspected human tra� ck-ers in Teknaf upazila of the district yesterday.

The arrested were identi� ed as Md Selim,35, son of Kala Mia of Shahparirdip area and Azizul Islam alias Putia, 30, son of Rashid Ahmed of Shamlapur village.

Ataur Rahman Khandokar, o� cer-in-charge of Teknaf police station, said on a tip-o� , a team of police raided the area and arrested the duo.

They were wanted in several cases includ-ing human tra� cking, said the OC. l

ANANTA KILLING

Photo journalist denied bail n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

A court in Sylhet yesterday rejected the bail plea of photo journalist Idris Ali in connection with killing of Ananta Bijoy Das.

Farhana Yasmin, judge of Sylhet Metro-politan Magistrate court, gave the order after a hearing.

The same court on June 8, 2015 placed the photo journalist on a seven-day remand.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) police detained Idris who worked in a local newspaper named `Sobuj Sylhet` from the city for his suspected involvement with the murder. Sources said police detained Idris on 8 June and produced him before the court, seeking 15 days remand for questioning.

Earlier on 12 May, four assailants hacked secular blogger Ananta Das to death in Syl-het two months after the killing of writ-er-blogger Avijit Roy in Dhaka. l

Four held with stolen vehiclen Kamrul Hasan

Four people have been arrested for stealing a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in the capital, a com-paratively new form of crime spawning in the city.

Shahid Sheikh, Selim, Farid Sheikh and Shaheb Rahman, were caught from the capi-tal’s Nikunja area along with a stolen CNG-run auto-rickshaw and 200 sedatives by a team of Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police led by Additional Deputy Commission-er Md Rajib Al Masud.

The ring had been actively engaged in the illegal act for a couple of years now, said ADC Masud.

During primary interrogation, the arrested said they had stolen the autorickshaw by se-dating the driver.

The ring uses di� erent strategies to steal the ride.

First, one or two members get on a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. Their associates remain stand by in the area posing as juice or tea

sellers who sell sedative mixed drinks to the driver as he stops at a stoppage nearby. As the driver becomes unconscious, the members sitting inside throw him out and run away with the ride.

The sedatives called Activan-2 sometimes even causes death of the driver.

In another strategy, one of the members pose as a wealthy man who gets on a CNG-run auto-rickshaw with the aid of another mem-ber posing as his assistant or subordinate. As the CNG moves ahead, the man tells the driv-er to call the man who they had left behind. As the driver gets out of the CNG and walks backwards, two other members of the gang join the man inside the autorickshaw and drive it away.

Quoting the arrested, Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the DMP, said they demand a minimum Tk50,000 from the owner of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. Sometimes the amount goes up to Tk1,50,000. Many times they do not return the ride to the owner even after receiving the money. l

WORLD8DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

US presidential hopefuls play middle-class cardn Reuters, New York

Don’t call Chris Christie rich. The Clintons say they still have bills to pay. And Mike Hucka-bee? Despite his wealth, he was born “blue collar, not blue blood.”

Touting one’s humble beginnings has been part of US presidential contenders’ playbook going back to Abraham Lincoln’s talk of his log cabin youth. But the 2016 hopefuls are work-ing harder than ever to convince voters they are just like them.

In burnishing their working- and mid-dle-class credentials the hopefuls are follow-ing a shift in the political debate from jobs and a fragile economic recovery to one centred on income inequality.

That re� ects a deepening sense that seven

years after the Great Recession any gains have gone to the wealthy, while millions of Ameri-cans continue to struggle.

Many respondents in Reuters polls say a candidate’s wealth would in� uence how they vote.

With a crowded � eld - at least 12 Republi-can hopefuls have declared so far - even just a few percentage points could separate front runners from also rans, making it crucial to appeal to as many people as possible.

Thus the humble roots card from many candidates, even if most are still among the wealthiest Americans.

The wealthy are most vulnerable to crit-icism that they are out of touch not just be-cause of their considerable personal wealth but also because of their association with

powerful political families.Hilary Clinton’s husband, former Presi-

dent Bill Clinton, was ridiculed when he said recently he would keep giving paid speeches as she runs for o� ce to “pay our bills.” The couple have earned more than $25 million for speeches since 2014 alone.

Bush, the scion of a wealthy family, has earned millions since stepping down as gov-ernor, including $3.2 million in board fees and stock grants.

2016 candidates’ kick-o� speeches tend-ed to dwell on their own or their parents’ working-class backgrounds. But not all White House contenders feel they need to play down their wealth. Real estate mogul Donald Trump, by contrast, started o� saying: “I’m really rich, I’ll tell you that.” l

Indonesian captain describes alleged Australian boat paymentn AFP, Rote Ndao

The captain of a migrant boat has described how Australian authorities allegedly paid US$31,000 to turn the asylum-seekers back to Indonesia, claiming the crew and migrants were sent on their way in “unseaworthy” vessels.

In an interview with police on Rote island, where the 71 asylum-seekers and crew came ashore last month, Indonesian captain Yoha-nis Humiang said Australian o� cials gave him US$6,000 and his � ve crew US$5,000 each to return to Indonesia. But he said they were or-dered to make the return journey not in their own boat -- which was apparently seized by the Australians -- but in two small wooden boats, Jasmine and Kanak.

Humiang said these were “unseaworthy”,

lacked proper navigation systems and had no toilets. “We were shocked.”

Wearing a black mask disguising his face, a common practice with Indonesian criminal suspects, the captain described how one boat experienced an engine failure leading to “pan-ic” on board, and how the crew and migrants had to � nish the journey in a single vessel.

“It was like an emergency situation, some of the migrants were trying to kill one anoth-er. I was scared and did not know what to do.”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is facing intense pressure over the alleged pay-ments. He has refused to con� rm or deny them, saying he does not comment on oper-ational matters.

But Indonesia has pushed for answers in the escalating row. l

Kremlin says Russia posture defensive n Reuters, Moscow

Russia accused NATO yesterday of encroach-ing on its borders and seeking to change the strategic balance of power, forcing Moscow to protect its interests and security.

The comments by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov came a day after Russia and the West accused one another of endangering global security, adding to tensions over the con� ict in Ukraine, in which pro-Russian sep-aratists have seized land in the east after Mos-cow annexed Crimea from Kiev in early 2014.

“It’s not Russia that’s approaching some-one’s borders. It’s NATO’s military infrastruc-ture that is approaching the borders of Rus-sia,” Peskov told reporters.

President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign poli-cy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Russia would not be dragged into an arms race with the West. l

Pope slams nations unwelcome to migrantsn Reuters, Vatican City

Pope Francis on Wednesday called for respect for migrants and suggested that “people and institutions” who close doors to them should seek forgiveness from God.

The pope’s appeal, made at the end of his weekly general audience, came amid grow-ing debate in Europe on how to deal with an immigrant crisis that has included clashes at the French-Italian borer between police and migrants.

“I invite you all to ask forgiveness for the persons and the institutions who close the door to these people who are seeking a fam-ily, who are seeking to be protected,” he said in unscripted remarks delivered in a somber voice.

France and Austria have stepped up border controls on migrants coming from Italy, turn-ing back hundreds and leaving growing num-bers camped out in train stations in Rome and Milan.

In a sign of persisting discord over how to deal with the migrant crisis, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi threatened retaliation if other EU countries did not agree to take their fair share of refugees that land on Italy’s shores.

Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing Northern League which has won votes from people fearing migrants bringing diseases and leeching resources from a long-stagnant economy, hit back at the ponti� .

“Out of curiosity, how many immigrants are there in the Vatican State?” northern Ital-ian broadcaster Radio Padania Libera quoted Salvini as asking. l

EU: Russia sanctions extended 6 monthsn Reuters, Brussels

European Union governments agreed on Wednesday to extend economic sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine by six months until Jan. 31, diplomats said, main-taining unity in the West’s tough stance to-ward Moscow.

The six-month extension was agreed by ambassadors from the 28 EU nations meeting in Brussels.

Rati� cation of the decision by EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday is expected to be a formality.

Russian media quoted Finance Minister Anton Siluanov as saying that Moscow had al-ready taken an extension of the measures into account in its economic planning.

The sanctions on Russia’s energy, defense and � nancial sectors, originally imposed in July 2014 for one year, were the EU’s tough-est response to Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and what the EU said was Russia’s support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Russia responded by banning imports of most food from the West. The United States has also imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Extending the sanctions until the end of January allows time for EU leaders to assess at their year-end summit in December whether the terms of the Minsk agreement have been met. l

French anti-riot police run after illegal migrants trying to hide in trucks headed for England in the French harbour of Calais yesterday AFP

WORLD 9D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Fears of fresh violence in Kashmirn Reuters, Sopore, India/Muzaffarabad,

Pakistan

After years of sharply reduced political vio-lence in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the gun-ning down of four men with links to militants has fanned fears of a new wave of bloodletting.

No group has claimed responsibility for the killings, but the police blame a breakaway fac-tion of Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest group in the region, which has been � ghting for Kash-mir’s merger with neighbouring Pakistan.

“They have serious di� erences with ... other militant leadership over several issues,” said Garib Dass, the chief of the police for northern Kashmir. “They feel that these peo-ple have damaged the movement and are tar-geting them.”

The killings have raised fears militants are regrouping and this could be the start of

a new period of unrest in Kashmir that has been the main � ashpoint between nucle-ar-armed neighbours India and Pakistan.

The bloodshed comes after � ve telecom workers and vendors were shot by militants last month after claims cell phone towers were being used to target their members.

The murders have centred on the northern Kashmiri town of Sopore, about 50 km from the border, that has long endured militancy, violence and a heavy military presence.

In the last few days, India has deployed an additional 600 soldiers and police specialis-ing in counterinsurgency operations to the area, police said.

Soldiers are conducting searches for sus-pected militants and have put up posters of-fering a million rupees ($15,600) for informa-tion that can lead to the arrest of two militant commanders who are said to have plotted the

attacks.Syed Salahuddin, supreme commander of

Hizbul Mujahideen, denied any members of his group were behind the murders. He said that Sopore was a stronghold of Hizbul Muja-hideen but that the area has a sizeable pres-ence of renegades, a term for former militants who switched loyalties to India.

Salahuddin said they are close to identify-ing the renegades.

Ajai Sahni, the executive director of the New Delhi-based Institute of Con� ict Man-agement, said that a new generation of mili-tants could be emerging.

“These youngsters are likely self-radical-ised over the Internet and do not have nec-essary linkages to established terrorist for-mations for recruitment, and therefore seek to give positive proof of their commitment,” he said. l

33 die as Syria army, rebels trade � ren AFP, Beirut

At least 33 people were killed in the Damascus region as the army bombarded a rebel-held town and the rebels � red rockets into the cap-ital, a monitoring group said Wednesday.

At least 24 people, including � ve children, were killed by government air strikes and rocket � re on Douma, a rebel-held suburb 10 kilometres northeast of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

An AFP photographer saw wounded chil-dren being brought into a makeshift medical centre in the town after the Tuesday after-noon bombardment.Later, the rebels � red rockets into the heart of the capital, striking Arnus Garden, a popular evening retreat.

The Observatory said nine people were killed. State media said they included � ve women.

“They gave us a present for Ramadan,” a resident said sarcastically. l

Al Qaeda executes Saudi ‘spies’n Reuters, Aden

Al Qaeda militants killed two Saudi men ac-cused of spying for the United States in south-east Yemen on Wednesday, residents said, a day after the group announced its leader was killed in a suspected US drone strike.

Residents said al Qaeda accused the men of planting tracking chips enabling US drones to target and kill leaders in the group, after its leader Nasser al-Wuhayshi, along with two others were assassinated last Tuesday.

“They executed two Saudis, named al-Mu-tairi and al-Khaledi. They put the two men on the corniche in the city of Mukalla ... they opened � re at them in front of a big group of residents,” one resident, who was present on the beach, told Reuters by telephone. l

Greek central bank issues Grexit warningn Reuters, Athens

The Greek central bank warned on Wednes-day that the country would be put on a “pain-ful course” towards default and exiting the euro zone if the government and its interna-tional creditors failed to reach an agreement on an aid-for-reforms deal.

It also said Greece risked a renewed bout of recession and predicted that the current eco-nomic slowdown would accelerate in the sec-ond quarter of this year. The Greek economy had started growing again last year after being pounded by years of austerity, but fell back into negative growth in the � rst quarter of 2015, contracting by 0.2 percent year-on-year.

The ongoing crisis has prompted an out-� ow of deposits of about 30 billion euros ($33.84 billion) from Greek lenders between October and April, the central bank said.

Time is fast running out for Athens and its creditors to reach a deal before a 1.6 billion euro repayment by Greece to the Internation-al Monetary Fund falls due at the end of the month. But neither side appears willing to give ground, with Greek Prime Minister Alex-is Tsipras accusing the creditors of trying to “humiliate” his country by demanding more cuts.

Despite the heated rhetoric, the central bank said that the two sides appeared to have reached a compromise on the main condi-

tions attached to an aid agreement, and that little ground remained to be covered for a deal to stick.

“Failure to reach an agreement would ... mark the beginning of a painful course that would lead initially to a Greek default and ul-timately to the country’s exit from the euro area and, most likely, from the European Un-ion,” the Bank of Greece said.

“Striking an agreement with our partners is a historical imperative that we cannot af-ford to ignore.”

The Greek central bank urged the Europe-an Union to spell out promises of debt relief to Greece - a key demand from Athens - in greater detail. l

Houthis blow up envoy’s home, vexing Geneva talksn Reuters, Sanaa/Geneva

Houthi � ghters in central Yemen blew up the home of a senior politician on Wednesday while he was in Switzerland as a member of the exiled government’s delegation to peace talks, residents said.

The destruction of member of parliament Abdel-Aziz Jubari’s house in Dhamar city co-incided with more air strikes by Saudi-led forces on military targets throughout Yemen in support of the government.

In Geneva, the UN-sponsored talks be-tween the warring factions went into a second day. Dhamar residents said that the Houthis, who had taken over Jubari’s house in April, dynamited the building early in the morning. Yemeni websites published picture of its col-lapsed ceiling on top of a pile of rubble.

Jubari, who is deputy head of the dele-gation sent to Geneva by ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, said he was shocked when he heard the news.

Houthi o� cials were not immediately available to comment. l

Men hold an injured girl saved from under rubble, at a site hit by what activists said was heavy shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus on Tuesday REUTERS

WORLD10DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Greenpeace India sorry amid rape, sexual harassment claimsn Reuters, New Delhi

Greenpeace India has admitted it failed to create a gender sensitive environment for its workers, and apologised for its handling of a sexual harassment complaint by a female sta� member while acknowledging the al-leged rape of another woman.

The environmental group, which is al-ready embroiled in a legal battle with the government over questions on its funding, said an internal review found lapses in how it dealt with crimes against women and gender sensitivity in the workplace.

The organisation which has more than 300 sta� , said it had accepted the resignations of two male sta� - one accused of sexual harass-ment and the other accused of rape.

Greenpeace said the two cases had not

been reported to the police as both victims, who have since left the organisation, had re-fused to have their cases investigated.

The sexual harassment case came to light in December 2012 when a female employee made a complaint against a male colleague but Greenpeace India’s “internal processes failed” and it “did not handle that complaint adequately,” the statement said.

The victim has declined to have the mat-ter re-investigated - citing Greenpeace’s ini-tial failures and her lack of con� dence in the company’s procedures.

Greenpeace said it received two separate sex-ual harassment cases involving the same man.

The group said the case of alleged rape took place in 2013 but the organisation only became aware of it in February when the vic-tim left the charity. l

WHO says MERS a wake-up call after 20th deathn AFP, Geneva

The MERS outbreak in South Korea is a “wake-up call”, the World Health Organization warned yesterday, saying that a lack of knowledge and substandard controls in hospitals had contribut-ed to the spread of the disease.

The WHO urged all countries to be more vigilant as South Ko-rea reported its 20th death from the Middle East Respiratory Syn-drome virus, and criticism grew of its e� orts to contain the crisis.

“The outbreak really should serve as a wake-up call for coun-tries,” WHO assistant director general Keiji Fukuda said after an emergency committee meeting.

“All countries should always be prepared for the unanticipated possibility of outbreaks like this and other serious infectious dis-eases,” a WHO statement said.

The warning came as alarming reports emerged in South Korea of new cases that had slipped through quarantine measures that already a� ect thousands.

And on Tuesday, German authorities reported that a national had died after contacting MERS during a trip to Abu Dhabi, but said there was no indication the virus had spread.

The WHO’s emergency committee meeting held Tuesday con-cluded that a lack of awareness about the virus among health workers and the public in South Korea was a major contributing factor to its rapid spread.

Others included the fact that MERS patients had been kept in crowded emergency rooms for long periods, and the practice in South Korea of going to multiple hospitals for second and third opinions on diagnoses and treatment -- so-called “doctor shop-ping.”

The custom of many visitors and family members staying with infected patients in their hospital rooms also facilitated the spread of the virus, the committee found.

However, the UN health body said that “conditions for a public health emergency of international concern have not been met”.

The virus appeared in South Korea on May 20 when a 68-year-old man was diagnosed after returning from a trip to Saudi Ara-bia. Fukuda described surveillance footage of the crowded hospi-tal emergency room where he stayed for several days.

“It’s clear that the person was coughing a lot and was also mo-bile in the emergency room... You really get a sense of how one person can lead to so many infections,” he said.

Critics say the government’s handling of the crisis shows it has done little to improve lax public safety standards since the Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014 which left more than 300 dead and saw the prime minister resign.

Almost all infections so far have been restricted within hos-pitals, but several patients diagnosed in recent days were not among those put under quarantine. l

Family hears from Syria-bound British sisters and 9 childrenn Reuters

One of three British sisters, thought to have headed with their nine children to join Islam-ic State militants, has made contact with her family in Britain and given an indication the group may be in Syria.

West Yorkshire police yesterday said: “Contact has been made by one of the missing women and there is an indication that they may have already crossed the border into Syr-ia but this is uncorroborated.”

British Muslims Khadija, Sugra and Zohra Dawood and their children, aged between three and 15, were reported missing six days ago. On Tuesday the husbands of two of the women appealed for their return, fearing they might have gone to Syria.

The group � ew to Saudi Arabia in May for

an Islamic pilgrimage and a Turkish security o� cial said they went to Istanbul on June 9.

Their families grew concerned when they failed to arrive back in Britain on June 11. Ear-lier yesterday a Turkish o� cial said authorities were working to locate the women and their children, but had found no trace of them.

British authorities estimate more than 700 Britons have travelled to Syria, with a signi� -cant proportion thought to have joined IS.

The out� t has attracted thousands of for-eign � ghters, many of whom have passed through Turkey.

Turkey has rebu� ed criticism from some Western countries for failing to stem the � ow, arguing that domestic intelligence agencies need to do more to stop their nationals being radicalised and travelling to Turkey in the � rst place. l

11D

TEDITORIALTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

INSIDE

The comments made by the state minister for � nance while he was defending the government’s proposal to impose 10% VAT on private universities, were ill-judged and lack foundation.

His claim that people choose private hospitals because they “do not like the beds” misses the point.

In the main, people turn to private medical and education services because the government cannot provide su� cient spaces for everyone, not because they do not like the beds.

It goes without saying that more people would use public institutions if more medical services and university places were made available by the public sector.

The plain fact is that the public sector is failing to properly supply either the quantity or the quality of educational and medical services which our population needs.

Hampering the right of citizens to choose private alternatives is not in the public-interest. Taxing the private sector will merely limit healthy competition and shift resources around, while failing to accomplish anything to ensure better public services.

The government should be focusing on improving public hospitals and universities, not criticising citizens who choose to go private.

Around 450,000 students study at 85 private universities and 64 private medical colleges in Bangladesh. Imposing new taxes on the large number of students attending these institutions may both harm them, and encourage more citizens to pay for private education and medical care abroad.

The government needs to address the deep-seated problems and resource constraints which hold back public hospitals and universities. It must tackle corruption and mismanagement as well as committing to increase public investment, if it is serious about wanting more people to use public hospitals and universities.

Focus on improving public hospitals and universities, if you want more people to use them

Don’t criticise citizens for public sector failings

Leave the � ag, take the wicket

The man who saved IndiaLeading India with continuous economic reforms requires guts, and Rajan has that in spades

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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PAGE 14

Reform, growth, and economic refugeesIt is now a reality that Bangladesh has been growing at or around 6% over the last 10 years

Cricket in its “national” avatar has become an avenue for war by other means -- an opportunity to display jingoism

OPINION12DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

n Moazzem Hossain

Professor Jagdish Bhagwati, one of the world’s top economists of Indian origin at Columbia University and the pioneer in advocating FDI replacing

aid in developing nations, contributed an article to the Financial Times on June 6.

The subject matter of this piece was how to mitigate the costs to generous nations that take in refugees. His major take was on the recent refugee crisis unfolding in Southeast Asian waters involving “the ‘Bengalis,’ the Rohingyas of Myanmar, and the emaciated Bangladeshi lookalikes.”

Professor Bhagwati proposed: “It is logical that prosperous and humane countries such as the US and Switzerland establish a fund to mitigate the � nancial cost.” In other words, he wants the world to treat the Rohingyas as refugees persecuted as a minority in Myanmar, and for this, a new global policy is needed.

Having said that, Bhagawati insisted: “Bangladeshis adrift at sea are clearly an eth-nic majority and are simply escaping grinding poverty, not persecution. For those of us in India who have been arguing for economic reforms that would accelerate growth and pull up more of the poor above the poverty line, response of the left-wing populists has always been: Look at Bangladesh which has achieved a huge improvement in poverty and in social indicators without growth.”

Professor Bhagwati, with a sombre tone, asked if the contention of the left-wing populists was true: “It would be what I call the Bangladeshi rope trick! That many of the poor are � eeing from poverty in Bangladesh ought to be a wake-up call for these popu-lists, and a compelling argument for the pro-growth and hence poverty-reducing reforms in India in 1991 and the additional reforms now in store under the Modi government. The rich proponents of populism can, but the poor cannot, live in populist slogans.”

Indeed, the Professor concluded with too a strong word. Left-wing populists or not, it is now a reality that Bangladesh has been grow-ing at or around 6% over the last 10 years. The poverty rate in this nation declined

dramatically over this period. Let alone the poverty line, if one takes the growing purchasing capacity of poor wage-earners in rural areas, this has doubled over the last 10 years. In 2005, a day labourer could have bought 4kg of rice with his/her daily wage, but it can now buy 8kg.

In Bangladesh, so far, rice-buying capacity remains the major indicator of a poor house-hold’s relative prosperity. There is no denying the fact that things have improved a lot over the last decade both in terms of wages and

poverty-reduction.But sustainability is always a major issue

in Dhaka due to both man-made and climate change-driven disasters. It has been argued that almost three months of non-stop agita-

tion and ruthless petrol bombing by opposi-tion activists on the general commuters cost the nation more than half a percentage of growth early this year.

During the very recent visit of Prime Minister Modi to Dhaka, he even observed that Bangladesh has indeed improved greatly both in economic and social terms. Of course, there is more to be attained.

On the issue of Bangladeshis � eeing the nation due to grinding poverty and becoming the economic refugees of the world, this is mainly a convenient argument by the right-wing liberalists to play a blame game. Bang-ladeshis who were found to be on the boats in Southeast Asia’s waters were � rst termed by Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop as economic migrants/refugees, backed by information from Indonesia.

One wonders how a parent of a poor fam-ily has the ability to spend $3,000 or more to send their sons to attempt an illegal boat journey to Malaysia, Australia, or even to New Zealand.

I am afraid Professor Bhagwati may have gotten it wrong that Bangladeshis are � eeing the nation for “escaping grinding poverty.” I feel there is not much truth in the presumption. l

Moazzem Hossain is an associate professor in the Gri� th Business School at Gri� th University, Brisbane, Australia.

Bangladesh has come a long way in reducing poverty over the last decade

Reform, growth, and economic refugees

It is now a reality that Bangladesh has been growing at or around 6% over the last 10 years. The poverty rate in this nation declined dramatically over this period

With growth at 6%, why are they leaving? REUTERS

OPINION 13D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

n Mamun Rashid

Ours is an age-driven society. Six years ago, I joined a talk-show with a teacher of mine. My dad felt I was pushing my teacher hard in the

public domain and that the audience would not have liked it. My father’s advice was to avoid joining any talk-shows with that teach-er of mine in the future, especially where there is a chance of possible debate.

The same thing happened just three months back with a regulatory body boss. He thought that I was still young and had a long way to go, and therefore I should refrain from criticising others’ work, including, of course, his.

On the other hand, Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Indian premier, thought that being joined exclusively by aged people like P Chidambaram, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and C Rangarajan in the policy committees was not enough. India needed to bring in fresh ideas and introduce young blood to the economic policy-making space -- and thus a 44-year-old young man named Raghuram Rajan was invited to join the table and asked to put forth new ideas in terms of � nancial sector reforms.

An old article of mine, “Will India remember Manmohan Singh?” was manly based on my discussion with a taxi-wala in Delhi. The deemed-to-be-intelligent taxi-wala said to me: “Ab jo Rajan saab aya, kuch na kuch to hoga” (now that Mr Rajan has become the governor of RBI, something has to happen to stop the Rupee free-fall). And that’s exactly what had happened. Mr Raghuram Rajan, a former professor at Booth Business School with Chicago University and a chief econo-mist for IMF, did take some unpopular, but strong, steps to bring back con� dence into the system, especially from the foreign insti-tutional investors (FIIs).

When stalwarts such as Chidambaram or Pranab Mukherjee, or even Manmohan Singh himself, were panicking, Rajan, within seven days of his taking over RBI, thought that the days of conservatism were numbered. India had become a “part and parcel” of the global economy, and thus, it had to behave accord-ingly. Unnecessary restrictions would send the wrong message to the global investor community.

Since then, Rajan has been on a strong batting stance. The Rupee has stabilised,

in� ation has gone down signi� cantly, and India has come back to a sustainable growth trajectory. Analysts have posed increasing trust on the “India story.” Most importantly, we are hearing about continuous reforms -- even reforms taking place within RBI itself -- about how it would attack monetary policy, � nancial inclusion, m-commerce, and e-commerce.

Had it been 2006 or 2007, I would have gladly credited Manmohan Singh as being the saviour of India, or at least for putting the market reforms into action. But not now. Leading India with continuous economic reforms requires guts, and Rajan has that in spades. Even when one requires to dispas-sionately remind the very passionate Naren-dra Modi that export-led growth strategies, such as Make in India, may not work well all the time; instead, “Make for India” could’ve proven to be a better initiative.

It is also required that they go out of their way to tell a room full of journalists that the RBI “is not a cheerleader.” It’s not always about playing in accordance to the gallery. People also didn’t forget how fragile the Rupee was when he took charge and what he did to bring stability to it. He also has the clear visibility required in doing what he has to do going forward.

He was adjudged the “best central banker” in 2014, yet there was no big bang, no press release from his o� ce, or even reports from major newspapers. This IIT Delhi engineering graduate, IIM Ahmadabad MBA, and an MIT PhD in banking has his priorities right -- to contribute towards the public policy-mak-ing for the largest democracy in the world. Rajan, along with Nouriel Roubini and Robert Shiller, were among the few economists who, to the utter dismay of FED boss Alan Greenspan, predicted the global � nancial meltdown in 2007.

Like all his IIM colleagues, Rajan works hard and fast too. He picked his mate Na-chiket Mor to come up with ways to cover small businesses and low-income house-holds. Mor came up with the idea of “pay-ment banks” with an initial capital of Rs50cr that would only accept deposits and won’t do any lending. Now he is busy with putting up the framework for small loan banks to cater to the graduation needs of micro-borrowers. His review reports on Islamic banking and MFI should also help India to delineate a better charter for its future.

Rajan’s two biggest successes have been his continuous attack on in� ation and stabilising the Rupee. But he should also be remembered for bringing in greater compe-tition among banks by opening up the � eld, or for putting in mobile payment reforms or cleaning up the banking system from ballooning non-performing loans by reining in big defaulters.

His recent attack on state-owned banks, though it resulted in some unpopularity, would mean well for the future. The best part is, while Rajan was almost being shown the door -- being a UPA recruit -- Prime Minis-ter Modi himself was praising the “Rajan reforms” quite a bit. l

Mamun Rashid is a business professor and � nancial sector entrepreneur.

The man who saved India

Leading India with continuous economic reforms requires guts, and Rajan has that in spades

Raghuram Rajan has refocused India’s economic policies REUTERS

OPINION14DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

n Garga Chatterjee

It starts o� pretty innocuously, and happens most often during cricket tour-naments. Certain citizens of the Indian Union start talking about the possibility

of “what if.” What if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) team and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) team formed one great happy team.

How “we” would be an unimaginably formidable side, how “we” would take on an-yone. It is interesting to note that few really talk of a “united” South Asian love-in team that includes the team from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) or Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

What one wants to include and what one doesn’t really care for, thus points to impuls-es other than cricket, behind such “dream-team” calls. And those are impulses � red by dreams other than cricket, since BCB of late and SLC for quite some time, have been strong cricket powers.

There is more than pan-Southasianist fan-tasy love going on under such “unity” calls. I have a nagging suspicion that this is Akhand-Bharat with a velvet glove -- something that would like to say “but, consider the posi-tives.” Thankfully, the real world doesn’t start or end with cricket. But it is a major pastime and a serious passion for millions of people in the sub-continent.

We must realise that popular cricket is a deeply exclusionary game -- it is the sighted male version of the game. Blind cricket and women’s cricket are feel-good versions for those who cheer “their” men in whatever colour.

But even within the sighted male version, a lot of talent is excluded -- not for the sake of the game, but to pay homage to entities called nation-states. This is because ICC member entities like BCCI, PCB, BCB, SLC, and others are often mistakenly thought to be as “national” associations representing nation-states. Well, they don’t.

For now, consider this: The BCCI is not a government body, but a consortium of pri-vate clubs and legally functions as a society registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. It was founded in 1928. Many of the BCCI members were, in fact, formed much before the BCCI.

For example, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) was formed in 1908. Even in its constituent structure, the a� liates of the BCCI don’t correspond to the states of the In-dian Union. For example, some constituents are not states but entities, like the Railway Sports Promotion Board.

Additionally, cricket associations from some states of the Indian Union, like Miz-oram, aren’t members. Furthermore, some states of the Indian Union have multiple members like Mumbai and Maharashtra (both cricket associations from Maharashtra), Baroda and Gujarat (both cricket associations from Gujarat).

In short, there is nothing “national” about the BCCI team’s make-up. That the cricket associations of the Indian Union have largely been captured by politicians and their lackeys make them stink in other ways, but that doesn’t make them public or democratic entities -- a key pre-condition for anything

claiming to represent a constitutionally dem-ocratic nation-state.

The PCB is similarly a non-sarkari entity. So are BCB and SLC. There is nothing special-ly “India,” “Pakistan,” or “Bangladesh” about these bodies, just like there was nothing very “world-like” about the World Wrestling Federation. These are besarkari bodies with a lot of money and a mission.

Now that we know world-cup playing teams are drawing their players exclusively from the con� nes of a nation-state, it does not make something “national,” we can look for examples which complicate mat-ters more. Take the example of Wales and Scotland. They are not independent nations, but parts of the United Kingdom. The prime example of this category is England.

However, they have all played in the World Cup tournament as separate entities. Hong Kong, a territory of China, played in the 2014 Cricket World quali� ers. The West Indies team is another kind of formation whose 15 cricket associations represent sovereign nation-states as well as British, Dutch, and US dependencies, putting � ag-waving or TV-smashing tri-colour or green nationalisms to shame.

When cricket becomes a proxy for na-

tionalism, it also comes with the hegemonic assumptions of a nation-state. For example, Mahedra Singh Dhoni, the captain of BCCI’s ODI team says: “What I can read from behind the stumps, I tell them in Hindi. It's the best language to communicate.”

While it may be the best language to communicate for Dhoni, whose mother tongue is Hindi, he has not been entrusted by the BCCI or by anyone to carry forward the mission of the Hindi Prachar Sabha to the � eld. If anything, such things only show to some players that to � t into the supposed “national” team, the captain insists on his own mother tongue.

There are many examples to show that many talented players of the BCCI team don’t consider Hindi to be the “best language to communicate.” One remembers the 1996 Ti-tan Cup match in Bengaluru, when the BCCI team’s fortunes were lifted by an unexpected batting partnership between Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble.

The stump microphones picked up snatch-ets of their conversation and it was Kannada and not Hindi. Everyone breathed easier in their own language, irrespective of pompous claims about a “best language.”

That day, Srinath and Kumble were bound

by Kannada -- a bond deeper than the imposed dominance of Hindi. Not all bonds are based on the dominance-subjugation-marginalisation model. In the Kannada-to-Hindi journey, cricket loses its diverse � avour.

It misses things that Karnataka players say to each other all the time, like, “Baratte, baratte” (“it will come, it will come” -- gen-erally used like “run baratte” or “wicket baratte”), “Namde cup” (“cup is ours”), “Ba Ba” (“come come,” or while running between the wickets "yes, yes").

As many events have disturbingly shown, cricket in its “national” avatar has become an avenue for war by other means -- an oppor-tunity to display jingoism, sexual objecti� ca-tion of women, of doing “lena” and “dena” between nation-states (each one imagining oneself to male and the other to be female and rape imageries to top o� the “conquest”). the media is a conscious partner in this sor-did project.

If cricket fans love the game more than the � ags they wave during games, they shouldn’t be opposed to bringing out the diversity of the cricketing world in full force. This can take several forms, including certain BCCI or PCB constituents like Karnataka or Sindh playing their own teams in the World Cup, just like Scotland or Wales.

This will result in more talent of display at the highest level. Many other practition-ers of the game can rise to prominence and stardom. Cricket will be a richer sport if more players from the nearly 1.4 billion people from Pakistan and the Indian Union get to play the World Cup and not just 22.

We owe it to the players and to the sport. Others can take their � ag and politics else-where. l

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

Leave the � ag, take the wicket

Cricket in its 'national' avatar has become an avenue for war by other means -- an opportunity to display jingoism, sexual objecti� cation of women, of doing 'lena' and 'dena' between nation-states

Should nationalism be let to play on the pitch? REUTERS

15D

TBusiness THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Fed might fret about emerging market ‘spillback’

17Stocks edge higher with continued volatility

19Wild bees are unpaid farmhands worth billions

16Bangladesh conveys worries over US Trade Bill

20

Stamp duty on MF Trust Deed withdrawn n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

The government has withdrawn 2% stamp duty on registration of

Trust Deed of the mutual funds, said revenue o� cials.

They said no stamp duty would be charged from now on Trust Deed for collective invest-ment scheme or mutual funds approved by the Bangladesh Securities Exchange Commis-sion (BSEC).

On June 11, the Internal Resources Divi-sion published an o� cial gazette, signed by its joint secretary Parvin Banu, canceling the stamp duty.

The National Board of Revenue has taken

the move following requests from the stock market regulator BSEC and Investment Cor-poration of Bangladesh (ICB).

There are 41 mutual funds enlisted with Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges.

In the � nancial year 2012-13, the govern-ment amended the Stamp Act by slapping 2% stamp duty on total value target size of the mutual funds from Tk33.75 on registration of mutual funds.

Currently, the mutual funds need to be registered by the asset managers under the Stamp Act 1988 before getting regulatory ap-proval.

Insiders said the cost of formation of a mu-tual fund has increased signi� cantly due to imposition of the 2% stamp duty.

For example, the asset managers have to

pay Tk2 crore for registration of a mutual fund of Tk100 crore.

In addition, the sponsors get their sponsor money if it fails to register as a mutual fund, but they cannot get back the stamp duty, which is very high, according to the security rules.

“Due to stamp duty it was tough to become vibrant for the small open-ended mutual funds. Withdrawal of duty will help the fund manager to boost business as it will reduce cost of managing funds,” Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of IDLC Investments Ltd, told Dhaka Tribune.

He said it would also encourage small fund managers to bring funds.

“The cost of managing mutual funds will come down as the registration fee of the fund

will get reduced due to the withdrawal of stamp duty,” Union Capital managing director Akhter Hossain Sannamat said.

He said it would help fund managers to make more pro� ts and o� er dividend to unit holders.

He urged the authorities concerned to re-duce cost of fund management limiting the renting of luxurious o� ce at posh areas and appointment of highly paid professionals than necessary.

Sannamt also urged to devise how and where to minimise cost.

“To some extent, it would help the market get more mutual funds. But it is not an only is-sue of enlisting more funds as it also depends on market situation and other economic indi-cators,” he added. l

n Tribune Report

The ICT trade body and e-commerce busi-nessmen yesterday urged the government to abolish VAT system in the e-commerce sector for at least next four years.

They also demanded that the 4% VAT pro-posed in the budget be withdrawn from the ICT and e-commerce sector.

The leaders Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and stakeholders of e-commerce business made the demand at a round-table discussion on “Policy support for local e-commerce in-dustry” in the capital yesterday.

They stressed formulation of a local entre-preneur-friendly policy for the development of e-commerce sector in the country.

The programme was organised by BASIS while the keynote of the event was presented by the Convener of BASIS e-commerce alli-

ance Fahim Mashroor. Former president of BGMEA, Sha� ul Islam

Mohiuddin, said till the e-commerce business gets mature, it is necessary to protect the sec-tor for the greater interest of the country.

According to MA Hakim, president of ISPAB, the government has failed to create enough job and some ed-ucated youths are doing some-thing through e-commerce, but the imposition of 4% VAT is re-ally an obstacle to the growth of e-commerce business.

“We need a policy frame-work for survival, or else the industry will adversely be af-fected,” said Sarwar Alam, for-mer president of BASIS.

Additional Secretary of ICT Division Susanta Kumar Saha said local entrepreneurs need

policy support for survival as the huge invest-ment of multinational companies is a threat to the local businessmen.

“We cannot stop international e-commerce organisations doing business in Bangladesh according to WTO rules, we have to compete with them.”

He admitted that the newly proposed 4% VAT will take its toll on local entrepreneurs.

In his address, BASIS President Shameem Ahsan claimed that they are working relent-lessly for the development of a promising e-commerce sector.

The e-commerce platform is working for legal assistance, mutual communication and networking and other related activities.

More than 10% foreign investment in e-commerce sector is not allowed in many countries of the world, but here foreign e-commerce and telecom companies are tak-ing over the whole market, he added.

“If an extra VAT is imposed, local entrepre-neurs will be demotivated.”

Among others, BASIS Vice-President Rashidul Hasan and Secretary General Uttam Kumar Paul spoke at the programme. l

Muhith rejects plea to withdraw Vat on e-commercen Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has rejected the plea of ICT trade body and e-commerce businessmen to withdraw the 4% VAT pro-posed in the budget on e-commerce sector.

Muhith, however, hinted at not withdraw-ing the proposed VAT while speaking at the concluding ceremony of three-day Bangla-desh ICT Expo 2015 that ended in the city yes-terday at Bangabandhu International Confer-ence Centre (BICC).

“The present government is not reluctant to take steps for any development works for the country and its people, but its has also to earn revenues to carry out those develop-ment,” he said.

“Our mission is to move forward with the task of building digitised Bangladesh at a rapid pace and people will see the drastic change in ICT sector in no time,” said the � nance minister.

The three-day Bangladesh ICT Expo 2015 ended in the city yesterday with a call to in-troduce domestic hardware equipment to the global market by 2021.

The objective of the fair was promote the ‘Made in Bangladesh’ theme in technology world.

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, Shyam Sundar Shikder, ICT secretary, Imran Ahmed, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication & ICT Division, Abdul Matlub Ahmed, president of FBCCI, AHM Mahfuzul Arif, president of BCS, its secretary general Nazrul Islam Milon, among others, were present at the concluding ceremony. l

BASIS leaders speak on VAT exemption on e-commerce at a round table in city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Call to exempt Vat on e-commerce for 4 years

BUSINESS16DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

‘Stop eating Nutella’ urges French ecology ministerFrance’s ecology minister, Segolene Royal, has rankled the company that makes Nutella by urging the public to stop eating its irresistible chocolate hazelnut spread, saying it contributes to deforestation. “We have to replant a lot of trees because there is massive deforestation that also leads to global warming. We should stop eating Nutella, for example, because it’s made with palm oil,” Royal said in an interview late Monday on the French television network Canal+. “Oil palms have replaced trees, and therefore caused considerable damage to the environment,” she explained. Nutella, she said, should be made from “other ingredients”. The comments needled Ferrero, the giant Italian chocolate group that makes Nutella. Without referring to Royal directly, the company issued a statement Tuesday saying it was aware of the environmental stakes and had made commitments to source palm oil in a responsible manner. Ferrero gets nearly 80% of its palm oil from Malaysia. The rest of its supply comes from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Brazil. Two and a half years ago, French

senators tried to impose a 300 percent tax on palm oil, saying it was dangerously fattening and its cultivation was bad for the environ-ment. The measure was defeated. – AFP, Paris

German in� ation higher again in MayIn� ation in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, crept higher in May with consumer prices rising by 0.7% year-on-year, � nal data showed on Tuesday. The index had risen in April by 0.5% on a 12-month basis, the federal statistics o� ce Destatis said in a statement. Using the Har-monised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) - the yardstick used by the European Central Bank - in� ation in Germany also rose by 0.7% year-on-year in May, still way under the ECB’s annual in� ation target of just below two percent. The � nal data con� rm a preliminary estimate published earlier this month and appear to indicate that the ECB’s monetary policy measures are slowly beginning to push up in� ation. In March, the ECB embarked on a massive trillion euro ($1.1tn) bond purchase programme to ward o� de� ation and end stagnation in the eurozone economy. – AFP, Frankfurt

HeidelbergCement sees no negative e� ects from Holcim-Lafarge mergerGermany’s HeidelbergCement sees no negative e� ects on its business from the merger between rivals Holcim and Lafarge, Chief Executive Bernd Scheifele said. “Where we make our money ... the impact on country level is really minor,” Scheifele told investors last week during a presentation in London. Separately, the CEO said HeidelbergCe-ment was taking part in the sale process of Holcim-Lafarge activities in India. – Reuters, Berlin

Lafarge to pay 270m euros for India buyoutFrench cement maker Lafarge will pay Baring Private Equity 270m euros ($304m) to acquire the fund’s 14% stake in Lafarge India, the company said on Monday. The buyout deal, which will return the Indian subsidiary to 100% ownership, is conditional upon completion of Lafarge’s merger with rival cement maker Holcim, the company said. – Reuters

NEWS IN BRIEF

Wild bees are unpaid farmhands worth billions n AFP, Paris

Wild bees provide crop pollination servic-es worth more than $3,250 (2,880 euros) per hectare per year, a study reported Tuesday.

Their value to the food system is “in the billions, globally,” its authors wrote in the journal Nature Communications.

Over three years, researchers followed the activities of nearly 74,000 bees from more than 780 species.

The team looked at 90 projects to monitor bee pollination at 1,394 crop � elds around the world.

They found that on average, wild bees con-tribute $3,251 per hectare ($1,315 per acre) to crop production, ahead of managed honey bee colonies, which were worth $2,913 per hectare.

The probe adds to attempts to place a dol-lar � gure on “ecosystem services” - the natu-ral resources that feed us - to discourage envi-ronmental plundering.

Amazingly, two percent of wild bee spe-cies, the most common types, fertilise about 80 percent of bee-pollinated crops world-wide, the team found.

The rest, while crucial for the ecosystem, are less so for agriculture - so conservationists may undermine their own argument by promoting a purely economic argument for the protection of bee biodiversity, the authors said.

“Rare and threatened species may play a less signi� cant role economically than com-mon species, but this does not mean their protection is less important,” said David Klei-jn, a professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who led the study.

A healthy diversity of bee species is essen-tial, given major � uctuations in populations, he added.

Honey bees in many parts of the world are su� ering a catastrophic decline, variously blamed on pesticides, mites, viruses or fungus.

Last month, US watchdogs reported that US beekeepers lost 42% of their colonies from the previous year, a level deemed too high to be sustainable.

“This study shows us that wild bees pro-vide enormous economic bene� ts, but re-

a� rms that the justi� cation for protecting species cannot always be economic,” said co-author Taylor Ricketts of the University of Vermont.

“We still have to agree that protecting bio-diversity is the right thing to do.”

Busy bees According to the Food and Agricultural

Organisation (FAO), about 80% of � owering plant species are pollinated by insects, as well as by birds and bats.

At least one third of the world’s agricultur-al crops depend on these unpaid workers, the UN agency says on its website.

Crops which require pollination include cof-fee, cocoa and many fruit and vegetable types.

The economic value of pollination was estimated in a 2005 study at 153bn euros, ac-counting for 9.5% of farm production for hu-man food.

Commentators not involved in the study said it may play an invaluable part of the cam-paign to save bees.

“Crucially, the commonest wild bees are the most important, which gives us the ‘win-win’ situation where relatively cheap and easy conservation measures can support these and give maximum bene� t for the crops,” said Pat Willmer, a professor of biology at Scotland’s University of St Andrews.

“For example, planting wild � owers with wider grassy margins around crops, as well as less intensive or more organic farming, all enhance abundance of the key crop-visiting bees,” he told Britain’s Science Media Centre (SMC). l

Beekeper Roman Linhart checks a honeycomb from a thermosolar hive in Chrudim REUTERS

Chinese credit proposal approved n Tribune Report

Cabinet Committee on Economic A� airs has given its consent to the proposal for seeking US$167m loan from the Chinese state-owned Exim bank for the implementation of the pro-ject titled ‘Development of ICT Infra-Network for Bangladesh Government Phase-III’.

The incumbent AL-led government had earlier announced the ‘ICT Vision 2021’ in its election manifesto as a political commitment as part of its bid to build ‘Digital Bangladesh’.

After the meeting, Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division Maksudur Rahman Patowary yesterday told the reporters that the cabinet committee on economic a� air ap-proved the loan proposal sent by the Informa-tion and Communication Technology (ICT) division.

According to the ICT division proposal, the loan will be to be taken from the Exim Bank of China under a government-to-government arrangement.

The proposed loan would be used to pro-cure all the necessary products, infrastructur-al works and services from the Chinese state owned � rm M/S China Railway International Group Company Limited through direct pur-chase method.

As per the proposal, Chinese government has already nominated the state-owned � rm M/s China Railway International Group Com-pany Limited (CRIG) for the implementation of the project.

ICT Division has undertaken a project ti-tled ‘Info-Sarkar Phase-3’ with an aim to give all the Union Information Service Centres (UISC) an institutional shape. Treating it a pri-ority project for making Digital Bangladesh, ICT Division under the ministry of Post & Tel-ecommunication has sought the money on an urgent basis.

Under the project (Info-SarkarPhase-3), government plans to provide optical � bre connection up to 1,200 union parishads across the country.

A total of 171 video conference system, 554 Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), pilot-based Cloud platform, increasing the capacity of existing network management system, set up of network equipment and es-tablishing Help desk will be needed to expe-dite the ICT infra-Network on urgent basis. l

‘Rare and threatened species may play a less signi� cant role economically than common species, but this does not mean their protection is less important’

BUSINESS 17D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Fed might fret about emerging market ‘spillback’n Andy Mukherjee

The US Federal Reserve didn’t lose much sleep about the spillover e� ects of its easy-money policies on the rest of the world. But when it starts raising interest rates, the central bank might very well fret about spillback.

The term, coined by the International Mon-etary Fund, describes the threat to US output from slumping import demand in emerging markets. As the Fed pushes borrowing costs higher, capital could � ee developing countries, forcing them to cancel investment and settle for slower growth. That would be the spillover. But a buyers’ strike could rebound on US exports of software, machines and services, undermining a fragile domestic recovery. That would be the spillback – and it could be quite signi� cant.

Since the early 2000s, above-par US growth has been associated with strong sales to emerging markets. During the cred-it-fuelled housing boom, when the American economy’s actual growth rate exceeded the potential growth rate as determined by im-provements in productivity, emerging mar-kets ramped up production capacity to take advantage of bubbling US consumer demand. That in turn sucked in US exports, giving the world’s biggest economy a further boost. But now that emerging markets aren’t investing or importing with the same gusto, it’s hard to see how US growth can break free of the speed limit imposed by weak productivity growth.

Worse still, if the Fed raises interest rates amidst muted in� ation pressures, the spill-back from emerging markets could be harsh.

Higher borrowing costs in emerging markets and a stronger dollar would further reduce US exports, and the country’s growth rate might slip below potential.

Capital in� ows amounted to 5.4% of devel-oping countries’ combined output last year. The World Bank estimates that � gure could shrink by 18 to 40% as the Fed raises rates. Such a slump wouldn’t have mattered a great deal to the US economy until the 1990s. But emerging markets, led by China and India, accounted for 57% of global growth between 2011 and 2014. Spillback risks of US monetary tightening are both real and large enough for the Fed to lose sleep over them.

Andy Mukherjee is a Reuters Breaking-views columnist. The article was initially pub-lished at Reuters. l

US Fed expected to hold o� on rate hike n AFP, Washington

Analysts expect the Federal Reserve to hold o� on raising interest rates as it opens a two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, despite the economy’s rebound from a winter stall.

But the Federal Open Market Committee, led by Fed Chair Janet Yellen, is clearly nearly ready for the � rst increase in the benchmark federal funds rate in nine years.

Evidence shows the US economy is re-bounding from a surprise contraction in the � rst quarter, with consumers spending more, a rebound in job creation and wages begin-ning to rise.

That leaves less and less justi� cation for holding the rate at the zero percent level, where it has been since the 2008 crisis.

But there are enough question marks - weak industrial output, the negative impact

of an already strong dollar, and low in� ation - that the Fed will stay patient to see what happens over the summer. Many analysts are now focused on September for a rate increase.

This week’s meeting comes at about the very time that, a year ago, the FOMC was ex-pected to announce a rise in its benchmark fed-eral funds rate, the start of a series of increases.

Anticipation of the move has sent trem-ors through � nancial markets and the global economy, stoking volatile swings in curren-cies and interest rates that have sparked some capital out� ows from emerging economies.

Pressure to wait The Fed itself appears anxious to get over the � rst hurdle toward “normalization” of mon-etary policy, after years of easy money that some say is fueling new mini-bubbles in some asset markets.

But there is also pressure to hold back un-til there are clear signs the US economy and the world economy will not be set back by an increase.

In recent weeks both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have urged the Fed to wait until early next year for “lift-o� ”.

“While the Fed is not expected to begin raising rates tomorrow, it is possible, and we expect a few FOMC members will make the case, especially after two solid employment increases and evidence of accelerating wage growth,” said Chris Low of FTN Financial.

“In the end, however, the Fed is likely to continue to make the case for a hike later this year.”

The FOMC has repeatedly said the causes of the winter stall in the economy were most-ly “transitory.” l

NBR admits irregularities in tax o� ces, takes zero tolerance policy n Tribune Report

The National Board of Revenue yesterday ad-mitted the much-talked-about allegations of irregularities in tax o� ces and said e� orts are on to eliminate them.

“Taxpayers always complain about VAT registration and price declaration under the existing system. The businesses were facing losses due to the problems and the allegations were found true in some cases,” said NBR member Enayet Hossain (Vat implementation and IT).

Once the complete VAT system is automat-ed, there will be no such problem as taxpay-ers will be able to get these services online, he added.

The NBR member made the observation at a taxpayer motivation and awareness raising seminar on “Value Added Tax and Supple-mentary Duty Act 2012” at a programme in Police Sta� College in the city.

Customs, excise and VAT commissionerate Dhaka (West) organised the seminar with its commissioner Motiur Rahman in the chair while NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman attend-ed the programme as the chief guest.

NBR is set to implement the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 from July 2016. After implementation of the new law, VAT payers can avail online the VAT reg-istration, payment and return submission fa-cility, rebates and refund of paid VAT.

All levels of business have to pay a unique and a single VAT rate at 15% with the new law.

Earlier at a 2014 survey, informal business sectors of the country categorically identi� ed ‘bribery and corruption’ in the NBR and its of-� cials as major obstacles to doing business in Bangladesh.

Among the respondents, 57% found it as a severe obstacle while 22% rated it moderate, 13% as minor and 8% considered it not an ob-stacle.

The survey was entitled ‘Tax perception and compliance cost of the formal sector and perception of taxation by the informal sector’ conducted by International Finance Corpora-tion (IFC).

Respondents have also rated NBR 79.4% for over imposition of tax, 51.5% for bribery, 67.7% for harassment by tax o� cials, and 42.7% for repeated visits required for the same job due to non-cooperation etc faced while resolving disputes.

NBR chaiman Nojibur Rahman said there were some problems in the past in tax admin-istration, but the NBR is now resolving it.

“The NBR is now working on for good gov-ernance as it has taken zero tolerance policy for corruption, harassment, indiscipline and misconduct,” he said.

With regards to steps taken against tax evasion, he said the income tax inspection, custom intelligence and investigation de-partment, and vat intelligence wings were strengthened to identify the tax evaders and bring them under tax net.

The chairman also sought support from the Value Added Tax (VAT) payers to achieve the revenue target of Tk1,76,370 crore for � s-cal year 2015-16. l

BUSINESS18DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 217.51 4.57 9.50 2.16 227.01 4.37NBFI 79.29 1.67 4.98 1.13 84.27 1.62Investment 31.24 0.66 1.56 0.35 32.80 0.63Engineering 505.38 10.63 47.13 10.71 552.51 10.63Food & Allied 621.38 13.07 7.69 1.75 629.06 12.11Fuel & Power 635.40 13.36 46.06 10.46 681.46 13.12Jute 21.22 0.45 0.00 21.22 0.41Textile 1043.00 21.93 104.28 23.69 1147.28 22.08Pharma & Chemical 601.78 12.65 84.71 19.24 686.48 13.21Paper & Packaging 14.90 0.31 2.60 0.59 17.50 0.34Service 120.27 2.53 4.66 1.06 124.93 2.40Leather 25.87 0.54 1.84 0.42 27.71 0.53Ceramic 84.68 1.78 3.01 0.68 87.69 1.69Cement 108.98 2.29 49.91 11.34 158.89 3.06Information Technology 48.31 1.02 4.31 0.98 52.62 1.01General Insurance 17.00 0.36 0.52 0.12 17.52 0.34Life Insurance 69.30 1.46 5.87 1.33 75.17 1.45Telecom 192.92 4.06 14.12 3.21 207.04 3.98Travel & Leisure 163.36 3.44 24.88 5.65 188.24 3.62Miscellaneous 153.79 3.23 22.56 5.13 176.35 3.39Debenture 0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.05 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 disclosuresHAKKANIPUL: In connection to their earlier news (disseminated by DSE on 14th June, 2015) regarding Sanction of loan to implement the BMRE and Tissue Project, the Com-pany has further informed that the estimated time for testing/com-missioning and � nal commercial production is July, 2016 for Tissue Project and is July, 2017 for Writing Printing and Glossy Paper Project.ACI: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on De-cember 31, 2014 to the respective shareholders’ BO Account.TOSRIFA: (Q1): The Company has reported its pro� t after tax of Tk. 26.47 million and basic EPS of Tk. 0.77 for the 3 (three) months ended on 31 March 2015 (Jan 2015 March 2015) as against pro� t after tax of Tk. 26.04 million and basic EPS of Tk. 0.76 for the same period of the previous year. It is to be noted that basic EPS has been calculated based on weighted average Pre-IPO paid-up number of shares i.e. 34,469,800 shares for both periods. However, considering Post-IPO 59,036,000 number of shares the Company s basic EPS for the 3 (three) months ended on 31 March 2015 would be Tk. 0.45 and NAV per share would be Tk. 33.13 as on 31 March 2015.Dividend/AGMASIAINS: 10% cash, AGM: 11.07.2015, Record Date: 23.06.2015.LAFSURCEML: 5% interim cash. Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 02.07.2015.DELTALIFE: 20% cash dividend, AGM: 21.06.2015, Record Date: 02.06.2015.FAMILYTEX: 10% stock divi-

dend,EGM & AGM: 07.08.2015, Record Date: 09.07.2015.KPCL: 40% cash, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 31.05.2015.BDWELDING: 5% stock dividend AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 09.06.2015.NBL: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 14.09.2015, Record date: 30.08.2015.ORIONPHARM: 15% cash divi-dend, AGM: 28.06.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015.ISNLTD: No dividend, AGM: 28.06.2015, Record date: 16.06.2015.PURABIGEN: 15% stock dividend, AGM: 30.07.2015, Record date: 07.06.2015. JANATAINS: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 25.07.2015, Record Date: 21.05.2015. AMBEEPHA: 28% cash dividend, AGM: 14.06.2015, Record Date: 25.05.2015. ISLAMIINS: 5% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 19.05.2015.NCCBANK: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 24.06.2015, Record Date: 18.05.2015.PEOPLESINS: 13% cash dividend, AGM: 09.06.2015, Record Date: 18.05.2015.LEGACYFOOT: 5% stock, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015. UNIQUEHRL: 20% cash dividend, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 24.05.2015. WATACHEM: 5% cash and 25% stock dividend, AGM: 20.06.2015, Record Date: 14.05.2015. ARAMITCEM: 10% cash dividend, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 13.05.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

R. N. Spinning-Z 9.95 8.67 21.55 22.10 22.10 20.30 5.284 0.44 49.0Hakkani P& Paper -B 9.70 7.87 28.91 29.40 29.40 25.90 1.137 0.29 99.7Samata LeatheR -Z 8.86 9.05 17.23 17.20 17.30 17.20 0.026 -0.05 -veAppollo Ispat CL -N 7.18 4.53 18.94 19.40 19.60 18.00 7.710 1.12 16.9ISN Ltd. -Z 6.74 7.34 9.50 9.50 9.50 9.50 0.005 0.16 59.4AMCL 2nd MF-A 6.67 5.30 4.77 4.80 4.90 4.70 0.041 0.71 6.7Meghna Life Ins. -A 6.60 6.20 70.23 71.10 71.30 67.50 0.046 6.45 10.9Envoy Textiles Ltd-N 6.21 4.54 47.17 47.90 47.90 45.80 0.007 4.84 9.7Eastern Cables-A 5.66 5.66 112.00 112.00 112.00 111.00 0.067 1.12 100.0Golden Harvest Agro-N 5.62 4.85 26.15 26.30 26.50 25.20 1.947 1.32 19.8

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

R. N. Spinning-Z 10.00 8.47 21.64 22.00 22.00 20.20 33.706 0.44 49.2Al-Haj Textile -A 9.95 6.61 97.92 101.70 101.70 91.90 76.278 1.07 91.5Prime Islami Life -A 9.45 5.94 43.01 44.00 44.20 40.00 22.148 4.95 8.7Golden Harvest Agro-N 8.20 3.71 25.98 26.40 26.60 24.60 47.191 1.32 19.7Atlas BD-A 8.10 7.44 120.87 122.80 124.50 109.40 13.911 -1.24 -veRangpur Dairy-Z 7.56 4.49 12.58 12.80 13.00 11.60 11.521 0.80 15.7Desh Garments -A 7.34 4.42 77.32 79.00 79.70 73.30 7.884 1.47 52.6Appollo Ispat CL -N 7.18 4.48 18.91 19.40 19.60 17.90 69.549 1.12 16.9BSRM Ltd. -N 6.28 3.19 71.39 72.80 73.50 68.40 79.684 0.73 97.8Dacca Dyeing-A 6.47 2.89 14.25 14.80 14.90 13.70 22.715 0.84 17.0

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Pioneer Insur -A -7.25 -7.36 31.96 32.00 32.00 31.10 0.102 5.44 5.9Anwar Galvanizing-B -7.11 -7.11 35.30 35.30 35.30 35.30 0.028 0.68 51.9Rahima Food -Z -6.84 -6.27 35.40 35.40 35.40 35.40 0.018 -0.47 -veFine Foods A -6.06 -4.14 9.26 9.30 9.90 9.20 0.041 -0.27 -veBata Shoe Ltd. -A -5.73 -5.73 1,200.00 1,200.00 1,200.00 1,200.00 0.001 42.84 28.0PrimeFin. 1st MF-A -5.08 -4.52 11.20 11.20 11.20 11.20 0.001 0.40 28.0MeghnaCement -A -4.70 -4.47 111.32 111.40 112.00 111.00 0.083 8.52 13.1Da� odil Computers -Z -2.90 -1.11 13.40 13.40 13.50 13.30 0.029 0.80 16.8NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A -2.70 -1.62 3.64 3.60 3.70 3.60 0.078 -2.12 -veJMI Syringes MDL-A -2.37 -2.96 155.56 156.50 158.00 155.00 0.859 2.48 62.7

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Savar Refractories-Z -10.00 -10.00 38.70 38.70 38.70 38.70 0.000 -0.64 -ve7th ICB M F-A -7.78 -7.78 83.00 83.00 83.00 83.00 0.007 9.73 8.5EBL NRB M.F.-A -6.38 -14.89 4.00 4.40 4.40 4.30 0.001 0.61 6.6Standard Insurance-A -5.79 -6.52 17.78 17.90 18.30 17.70 0.039 2.88 6.2Agrani Insurance -A -4.46 -3.58 15.07 15.00 15.90 15.00 0.053 1.80 8.42nd ICB M F -A -4.38 -4.43 270.37 270.50 275.00 270.10 0.073 34.88 7.8Dulamia CottonZ -3.90 -4.56 7.33 7.40 7.50 7.30 0.011 -3.15 -veMeghna PET Ind. -Z -3.57 -3.57 5.40 5.40 5.40 5.40 0.005 -0.53 -veStandard Ceramic -A -3.42 2.52 37.07 36.70 40.00 36.30 0.043 0.49 75.7Rahima Food -Z -3.19 -5.35 36.26 36.40 38.50 35.70 0.132 -0.47 -ve

DSE key features June 17, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

4,471.59

Turnover (Volume)

112,227,156

Number of Contract

130,565

Traded Issues 316

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

227

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

85

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,539.58

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.78

CSE key features June 17, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

440.17

Turnover (Volume)

12,082,970

Number of Contract

24,023

Traded Issues 229

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

164

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

61

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,456.37

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.77

BUSINESS 19D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Stocks edge higher with continued volatilityn Tribune Report

Stocks continued to edge higher for the third straight session yesterday as inves-tors were cautious over the high volatile market.

The benchmark of Dha-ka Stock Exchange, DSEX, gained over 20 points or 0.5% to close at 4,527, hit-ting the highest 4,534 in the � nal session and 4,508 in the early trading.

The Shariah index, DSES, was slightly up 2 points or 0.3% to 1,104. The blue chip comprising index, DS30, ended at 1,746, rising 4 points or 0.3%.

The Chittagong Stock Ex-change prime index, CSCX, rose 45 points to settle at 8,468. Large cap sectors showed mixed performance. Power gained highest 1%. Other sectors, including non-banking � nancial insti-tutions, textile and banks closed marginally higher.

Cement declined more than 1%, snapping up gain-ing streak over the last few sessions. Food and allied, telecommunication, phar-maceuticals experienced a thin correction.

Tosrifa Industries Lim-ited, in its � rst trading day, jumped 257% to Tk35.7 per share before rising as high as Tk50 on its face value of Tk26. Most of the shares were traded between Tk36 and Tk39 each.

The company was the top gainer and also top turnover leader with shares worth Tk25 crore changing hands.

The DSE turnover stood at Tk447 crore, up 9% over the previous day on the back of Tosrifa Industries. Out of 316 issues traded, 200 closed positive, 85 negative and 31 remained unchanged.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market participation remained low as investors opted for cautious trading approach until the current consolidation phase ends.

IDLC Investments said despite the day-long volatili-ty, the market continued last day’s momentum amid par-ticipation from both retail and institutional investors.

Textile and engineering dominated the turnover.

Tosrifa was followed by Grameenphone, United Air-ways, Khulna Power Compa-ny and Familytex. l

Despite the day-long volatility, the market continued last day’s momentum amid participation from both retail and institutional investors

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 11188.73050 (+) 0.46% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1746.07825 (+) 0.24% ▲

CSE All Share Index: 13929.17900 (+) 0.54% ▲

CSE - 30 Index : 11188.73050 (+) 0.34% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 8470.49300 (+) 0.55% ▲

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

Tosrifa Industries -N 1,679,283 62.32 14.16 36.40 0.00 0.00 40.00 35.00 37.11HeidelbergCement -A 59,830 34.69 7.88 572.00 -1.17 578.80 578.00 570.00 579.84ACI Formulations-A 128,485 29.16 6.62 225.60 -0.57 226.90 227.00 222.60 226.96UNITED AIR-A 2,210,264 23.03 5.23 10.40 4.00 10.00 10.70 9.90 10.42Berger Paints-A 12,000 18.84 4.28 1614.00 0.00 1614.00 1614.00 1614.00 1570.00BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 540,647 18.08 4.11 33.00 -0.30 33.10 34.10 32.80 33.44BSRM Ltd. -N 210,384 15.02 3.41 72.50 5.53 68.70 73.00 69.20 71.39LafargeS Cement-Z 123,434 14.58 3.31 118.10 -0.92 119.20 121.00 117.50 118.11MJL BD Ltd.-A 111,397 12.19 2.77 111.90 5.27 106.30 113.00 106.00 109.45Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 755,015 11.71 2.66 15.50 0.65 15.40 15.70 15.10 15.50United Power-N 61,016 9.76 2.22 158.80 -0.44 159.50 162.00 158.20 159.91FAR Chemical-N 211,890 9.34 2.12 43.60 -1.36 44.20 45.40 43.20 44.09Beximco Pharma -A 152,947 8.94 2.03 55.70 -0.71 56.10 58.90 55.40 58.43Appollo Ispat CL -N 407,069 7.71 1.75 19.40 7.18 18.10 19.60 18.00 18.94Grameenphone-A 22,212 7.38 1.68 331.70 -0.54 333.50 335.00 331.00 332.27

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

BATBCL -A 150,446 446.80 10.50 2912.90 -1.25 2949.80 2970.00 2905.00 2969.84Grameenphone-A 436,639 145.25 3.41 331.90 -0.18 332.50 335.00 331.60 332.65UNITED AIR-A 13,678,689 141.63 3.33 10.40 5.05 9.90 10.70 9.90 10.35Khulna Power-A 1,670,684 119.51 2.81 70.70 -0.42 71.00 72.90 70.30 71.54Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 7,353,282 114.04 2.68 15.60 1.30 15.40 15.80 14.90 15.51BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 3,256,802 109.08 2.56 33.10 0.00 33.10 34.20 32.90 33.49Summit Power -A 2,050,421 85.71 2.01 41.50 0.48 41.30 42.40 41.10 41.80MJL BD Ltd.-A 755,605 83.17 1.95 112.60 5.43 106.80 114.00 106.50 110.07FAR Chemical-N 1,869,429 82.38 1.94 43.60 -1.80 44.40 45.40 43.00 44.06Square Pharma -A 320,409 81.48 1.91 253.20 -0.78 255.20 256.50 252.60 254.30United Power-N 503,946 80.63 1.89 158.50 -0.56 159.40 162.50 157.80 159.99RAK Ceramics-A 1,109,678 80.55 1.89 72.30 -0.41 72.60 73.90 71.70 72.59Ifad Autos -N 774,437 80.41 1.89 103.50 2.99 100.50 107.00 100.00 103.83BSRM Ltd. -N 1,116,170 79.68 1.87 72.80 6.28 68.50 73.50 68.40 71.39ACI Limited- A 156,284 78.08 1.84 501.60 1.19 495.70 508.00 491.10 499.61

BUSINESS20DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Bangladesh conveys worries over US Trade Billn Tribune Report

Bangladesh has expressed its concern over the US trade bill on Trans- Paci� c Partnership (TPP) with a fear that it might lose its com-petitive edge in the American market due to the preferential treatment to the trans-paci� c partners.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Mohammad Ziauddin conveyed Dha-ka’s concern to the US authorities in separate meetings held with the US Congressmen Brad Sherman and Tom Marino at the Capitol Hill in Washington DC on June 15 and 16 respectively.

During the meetings, Ziauddin briefed the congressmen about Bangladesh’s trade rela-tions with the US.

Being a least developed country (LDC), Bangladesh does not receive any special or deferential treatment from the US in terms of trade and commerce, Ziauddin told the US Congressmen.

The US is a major destination for Bangla-deshi products mainly RMG, receiving nearly one fourth of total exports but Bangladeshi apparels are subjected to a high tari� in the USA as opposed to zero tari� s to almost all other least developed countries in the world, said Ziauddin.

The Bangladeshi envoy said: “Around 90% RMG workers are women, who accelerated the process of women empowerment and so-cio-economic development in Bangladesh.”

He urged the US government to provide preferential market access for Bangladeshi products (duty free and quota free) to the US market as accorded to other developing coun-tries of the Sub-Saharan Africa and the Car-ibbean and to reinstate the GSP facilities for BangladeshBangladeshi RMG.

“The international community should per-suade Myanmar to take back the Rohingyas from the southern part of Bangladesh,” said Bangladesh envoy while responding to Brad

Sherman. Bangladesh cannot a� ord to host such a large

number of refugees inside her territory, he said Regarding the Burmese Rohingyas, he said:

“They are extremely susceptive to the reli-gious extremist groups as there are evidences of using Rohingyas for terrorist activities.”

The envoy also briefed the Congressmen on the colossal adverse e� ect of climate change on Bangladesh saying that climate change, a fact of life of the people of the coun-try, is hardly of their own making, and being one of the least emitters of CO2 (with only 0.3 metric ton per capita emissions).

Bangladesh is the most vulnerable to the severe e� ects of climate change and the pres-ent government under the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina created ‘Trust Fund’ of US$ 375 million and launched nearly 238 projects for adaptation and mitigating the adverse e� ects of climate change in Bangladesh, he told the US congressmen. l

Modhumoti Bank to introduce agent banking n Tribune Report

Country’s new generation bank ‘Modhumo-ti’ is going to introduce agent banking activ-ities across the country through setting up a linkage with the Union Digital Center (UDC), which is directly under the Access to Informa-tion (a2i) programme of the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO).

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the bank and a2i pro-gramme at city hotel yesterday to provide agent banking services, using UDC centers as agent points.

With Humayun Kabir, chairman of the board of directors of Modhumoti Bank in the chair, the MoU signing ceremony was attend-ed by Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB), Kabir Bin Anwar, director-general (Administration) at PMO and Project Director of a2i Programme and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh MP, chairman of the executive committee of the bank. Under the agreement, Modhumoti Bank will be able to provide banking services like ac-count opening, cash deposit, cash withdraw-al, money transfer, utility bill payment, pay-ment of inward foreign remittance, balance inquiry, loan initiation etc. through their re-spective agents.

BB governor Atiur asked the banks to con-duct the agent banking activities under the existing rules and regulations.

Currently, � ve banks are allowed by the central bank for introducing agent banking across the country.

Bangladesh Bank had issued a guideline on agent banking in December 2013 to create an enabling environment for commercial banks to o� er � nancial services to a new customer base.

According to the guideline, agent banking allows an agent to provide limited scale bank-ing and � nancial services to the underserved population through engaged agents on behalf of a bank under a valid agency agreement. l

Vat automation: UK � rm’s proposal okayed n Tribune Report

Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase has approved a UK-based � rm’s propos-al of project management consultancy to introduce online value added tax system in Bangladesh which is supposed to start from July 1, 2016.

“The cabinet committee on public pur-chase has given its consent about appointing the UK � rm as project management consult-ant,” additional secretary to cabinet division Maksudur Rahman Pathowary told journal-ists after the meeting yesterday.

He said the cost of appointing the UK � rm as project management consultant would be Tk38.98 crore.

Five foreign � rms participated in the ten-der process, which include KPMG Advisory Services Private Limited, Ecory’s UK Ltd, Price Water House Coopers Pvt, Deloittle Touche Tohmatsu and Apex Consulting. l

Half of employed people earn less than $1 a day n Tribune Report

Around 50% employed people of Bangladesh earn less than $1.25 per day – the worst situ-ation in the region, according to a new book launched yesterday.

Analysts opined that this happened as most employees could not get fair remunera-tion in line with their works, causing inequal-ity between the reach and poor.

They also lamented that confusing data on employment generation in the Labour Force Survey 2010 has created di� culties for job-led economic growth – much needed for sus-tainable economic development.

According to the book, Bangladesh unem-ployment rate was 4.5% as of 2010 while in USA it was 8.3% in the � rst quarter of 2012.

The observation was made at a book launching ceremony at the Policy Research Institute in the city. The book titled “Unnayn Bhabany Karmasngsthan and Sromobazar (employment in development thinking and labour market” was written in Bangla by Ri-zwanul Islam, former special adviser at ILO (employment sector).

Economist and former bureaucrat Akbar Ali Khan said in Bangladesh, employment is a biggest problem. Bangladesh constitution says every citizen has working right, but it was ignored so far.

Unemployment data is confusing as the di� erence between US and Bangladesh job growth is nothing but confusion.

PRI Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur said the country’s labour market information is very poor, though it is the foundation of economic growth.

Without proper labour market survey, the job-led growth is not possible to ensure sus-tainable economic development.

Echoing him, PRI Chairman Zaidi Sattar said employment data is critical for the eco-nomic development, but it has enough mis-macth in the labour statistics.

He laid emphasis on export doversi� cation

policy to create diversi� ed labour market for sustainable economic development.

Ex-member at General Economic Division, Planning Commission and ex-managing di-rector of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation Quazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed said labour force market survey is very di� cult to understand as it is not transparent.

The remuneration received by workers and employees at the cost of their hard-work is very low and even below poverty line. Those employed people can be called hard-core poor.

Professor of economics at Dhaka Universi-ty Selim Raihan said diversi� cation of econo-my means employment diversi� cation.

Policy should be taken in such a way so the country should not depend on one sector that is RMG. Many countries depend on many sec-tors mainly labour-intensive ones.

BIDS Senior Research Fellow Nazneen Ahmed stressed on generation of women la-bour force to add to the labour force for faster development of the economy.

Professor of economics at Dhaka Universi-ty Prof Barket-e-Khuda said East Asia actually bene� tted from demographic dividend. Many labour dropped out from the labour force. He stressed on ensuring the quality of labour force. Bangladesh has the capacity to create enough jobs to absorb people into productive sector. l

Rizwanul Islam, former special adviser at ILO (employment sector), speaks at the launching ceremony of his book at PRI conference room in the city yesterday RAJIB DHAR

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22Hot topic

Dreams unfolded

24Ticket

Taken for a ride

INSIDEnews

Photo: Bigstock

Outta this world!

Enjoy the spirit of Ramadan at Dhaka RegencyIndulge in a lavish Iftar buffet cum dinner at Dhaka Regency Hotel & Resort, perfect for experiencing an extraordinary meal with the unique indoor ambiances. Please call 01713332661 to book a table.

Dhaka Regency is also offering special discounts and arrangements for the booking on Banquet Iftar events for private, corporate or larger family gatherings at its different types of banquet halls. Please call 01713332623 for the reservation. l

Hot topicTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

T-JUNCTION22DT

n Saudia Afrin

Do dreams often urge you to think about your past or are you constantly bothered by the hidden meaning of each and every dream of yours? After waking up, we often face the mysterious dilemma of not being able to

� gure out the meanings behind the things we dream about. Especially if it’s a bad dream, an entire day or more is spent hunting down why we saw what we did. Interestingly, some basic information is all you need to dig out, for it’s the purpose and in� uence of factors that a� ect our dreams. This week, T-Junction brings you the easy-to-understand anatomy of dreams to remove any doubt you may have when trying to decipher what exactly your dreams mean.

Dream recallersMany often wonder why they can’t properly retrieve the exact scenes and moments they dream while they sleep. Scientists at France’s Lyon, Neuroscience Research Centre, studied groups to � gure out how well wide-brain activity dreaming relates to our waking life. Many claim to “wake up several times at night,” while others “just lay down in bed and pass out till they see sunrise and that’s when they wake up.” Lyon’s study says people with the ability to recall dreams have high brain activity while low-recallers have less. Moreover, this pattern remains the same for when you’re awake too. Interestingly, during the times when they brie� y awaken at night, high-dream-recallers often aren’t even aware

that they’re awake.

Mastering dream retrievalThe above explanation might upset those who can’t easily recall their dreams the way high-dream-recallers can. However, where there is a problem, there’s always a solution. The good news is that we can all train ourselves to recall our dreams. Here’s how: before going to bed make a vow not to let yourself sleep after you’ve � nished seeing a dream. You must be headstrong with this idea and it will work. Once you wake up, try to remember what you dreamt about. Practise this again and again, for this is the only way to master the art.

One fact we need to be aware of is that the human brain does not store fresh memories while it’s on sleep mode. When we are done dreaming, we usually continue sleeping and hardly wake up right after. This drastically lowers the chances of retrieving the dream. High-dream-recallers awaken twice or more at night to maintain their ability to recall.

Endless mysteryScientists have been working hard to � nd clear reasons and establish many theories behind dreams. This includes practising

response to threatening situations, creating wisdom and psychotherapy. Despite these e� orts, the main reasoning behind dreams remain a mystery. As a result, dreams are brushed o� as nothing but a creation of our mind. Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University thinks, “There is still a lot more for us to understand about the night productions of our mind.” It is clear that by valuing and analysing dreams, many aspects of our life can be experienced di� erently.

Dreams are shaped by our beliefsIn a research, Carey co-author Michael Norton, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School surveyed general beliefs about dreams. Most of the students from 149 universities from the USA, India and South Korea consented to the theory that our dreams tell us about the hidden meaning of our lifestyle and culture. Researchers wanted to � nd out if humans should consider all dreams to be equally meaningful, or should they consider the interpretations to be biased as it is determined by their waking beliefs and desires. Morewedge stated, “People attribute meaning to dreams when it corresponds with their pre-existing beliefs and desires.

Dreams unfolded

The truth behind your dreams

This was also the case in another experiment which demonstrated that people who believe in a higher power were likely to consider any dream in which that power spoke to them to be meaningful; agnostics, however, considered dreams in which God spoke to be more meaningful when God commanded them to take a pleasant vacation than when God commanded them to engage in self-sacri� ce.”

Social relationships shape dreamsIn 2001, neurologist Patrick McNamara began working on a hypothesis based on the idea that social relationships can have direct impact on our dreams. After observing 300 universities, his team categorised the students on their level of attachment

security. Based on their comfort level in relationships and how

included or secluded they are in their daily life, they were

classi� ed as either “secure” or “insecure.” McNamara found that students from the insecure attachment pole had more dreams every night which were reported to be much more morbid, intense, and traumatising than the other groups. Morbid dreams were boosted by isolation and poor attachment, and as a result, it created a solid foundation for trauma and other issues that make it harder for individuals to reach out and connect with

others. Filmmaker Ingmar Bergman commented that his dreams were his inspiration. Not only him,

but there are plenty of creative people who � nd inspiration for their work

from dreams.

Lucid dreamingNow you can even control

your dreams. Have you heard about lucid dreamers who use

their dreams e� ectively to solve creative problems? Recently

researchers are working with lucid dreamers who troubleshoot using

their dreams. Dreams are about perception and revolves around what

happens in your surroundings.

Drug’s e� ects on dreamsCertain types of anti-depressants may a� ect dreaming. SSRI, selective serotonin uptake inhibitors, may decrease the ability to recall dreams as well as intensify dreaming. SSRI may lead to the presence of more positive emotions in dreams. Removal of SSRI, on the other hand, may lead to nightmares. Alcohol, too, is a reason behind alterations in our dreams as it breaks the normal, healthy sleep cycle. Studies show that consuming alcohol leads to having more negative emotional content in our dreams. Insomnia and sleep disorder can heighten dream recall and also lead to more stressful and disturbing dreams. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may cause nightmares and disturbed dreaming. PTSD mostly happens to people with past experience of trauma, including assault, disaster, war and combat. l

Hot topic T-JUNCTION 23D

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THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Photos: Bigstock

TicketT-JUNCTION24 DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Rickshaw art is vivacious, vintage and sleeped in the raw beauty of Bengali culture. This week we focus on rickshawart.org, an initiative that not only promotes artists from this genre,

but also ensures that they are being fairly paid to keep this artform alive. Log on to their website to browse through a wide array of options ranging from Birds to Blue Brete. l

Rickshaw artwork at its best

Taken for a ride

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1ST ODI, PREVIEW

India to test Bangladesh’s run of successn Reazur Rahman Rohan

Bangladesh are back in their comfort zone but braced for a sti� challenge when they face two-time world champions India in the � rst one-day international of the three-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.

The Tigers, in an extraordinary turn of events, picked up form in the World Cup in February-March and carried the momentum by sending Pakistan packing 3-0 in the bilat-eral one-day series at home last month. Sta-tistically, Bangladesh are nowhere near India, but statistics won’t matter today, nor will the results of an under-strength Indian team win-ning here emphatically last year and neither will any of their previous meetings.

Things have changed a lot in the past six months. It will be the rising maturity and growth in success of the Tigers in the 50-over format that will give opposition captain MS Dhoni, who will be leading a full-strength In-dian side, a headache.

The match is important for Bangladesh from many aspects. A good result in the series

will give the Tigers a strong chance of mak-ing it among the top eight before the cut-o� date (September 30) and qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy. It is crucial for Mashrafe bin Mortaza to remain calm-headed and push the team’s standard higher as he has been do-ing with each game while a winning start will set the tempo of the series just about right.

For the hosts, Liton Kumar Das and Rony Talukdar are in the reckoning for the No 3 spot which has been left vacant after Mahmudullah was ruled out of the bilateral series with a frac-tured � nger. The wicket-keeper cum top-or-der batsman Liton, however, after his com-pact performance in his Test debut where he made 44 batting at No 7, is most likely to make his one-day debut this time ahead of Taluk-

dar and it won’t be surprising if he opens the batting alongside Tamim Iqbal with Soumya Sarkar pushed back to No 3. Mush� qur Rahim, all-rounder Shakib al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain should complete the strong batting order as Arafat Sunny will complement the three-man pace attack comprising Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Mashrafe.

The weather will also be a key factor in the monsoon game. Forecasts suggest heavy shower in the evening so for the captain win-ning the toss, chasing would be a good deci-sion in the 3pm start as a curtailed match is on top of the cards.

However, Dhoni will be well aware that even a full game at the Tigers’ backyard won’t be as easy as their 109-run quarter-� nal victory in Melbourne last March as Bangladesh have the capability of playing outstanding cricket and surprising their opponent frequently. It will take their big names to deliver if India want to avoid any unpleasant result and to accomplish the mission, the visitors might also play three seamers, but it will be up to their spinners to make the majority of the damage. l

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Liton Kumar (WK), Soumya Sarkar, Mush� qur Rahim, Shakib al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Arafat Sunny, Rubel Hossain, Taskin AhmedIndia: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, V Kohli, A Rahane, S Raina, MS Dhoni (C & WK), R Jade-ja, R Ashwin, B Kumar, U Yadav, Mohit Sharma

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

TIGER READY TO SUFFER MORE HUMILIATION

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Pakistan’s cricket chief on Tuesday said former national team captain

Salman Butt has confessed to his role in a spot-� xing scandal, potentially paving his way for a return to international cricket

CAN HE?

SportMASHRAFE CALLS FOR CALM AHEAD OF CHAMPS TROPHY

DE KRUIF’S ROLLERCOASTER RIDE AT A GLANCE

INDIA vs BANGLADESHHighest Totals 370-4 296-6Lowest Totals 105 58Most Runs Kohli 509 Mush� qur 448Most Wickets U Yadav 7 Mashrafe 16

HEAD TO HEADBAN 3 NR 1 IND 25P

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Bangladesh will rely a lot on the contribution of ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal as the duo discuss game plans while jogging. On the right, India’s key batsmen and best friends Virat Kohli and Shekhar Dhawan enjoy football at the BCB Academy ground yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

PLAYERS TO WATCHShakib al Hasan is entering the series as the highest-ranked ODI bowler (8) between the two side. Ranked No 2 all-rounder in the world, Shakib’s input will be crucial and he should provide the stability in both the batting and bowling department.

Virat Kohli has had a very good IPL season with Royal Challengers Bangalore and he will be keen to score heavily at the ground where he registered his � rst World Cup hundred, that too against the same opponent in 2011. His rivalry with Tigers paceman Rubel Hossain will also be interesting to watch.

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RANK TEAM POINTS1 Australia 1292 India 1173 New Zealand 1154 South Africa 1125 Sri Lanka 1066 England 957 West Indies 88 8 Bangladesh 889 Pakistan 87

10 Ireland 5011 Zimbabwe 4412 Afghanistan 41

SERIES FACTS 3-0 to Bangladesh will lift them to No 7 with

96 points

3-0 to India will reduce their gap with No 1 ranked Australia by 10 points and see Bangla-desh slip to ninth place with 86 points

2-1 to Bangladesh will take them to 93 points and see India drop to 115 points with No 3 ranked New Zealand, although India will still remain at No 2

2-1 to India will keep them unchanged at 117 points but give Bangladesh enough points to hop over West Indies in seventh place by a fraction

Virat Kohli is the highest-ranked batsman on either side in fourth place in the ICC ODI Batsmen Rankings while Mush� qur Rahim is Bangladesh’s highest-ranked batsman in 18th position

Bangladesh’s Shakib al Hasan at 8th place is the highest-ranked bowler in the series. On 195 ODI wickets, he will be looking to hit the 200-mark and climb the rankings

Mashrafe calls for calm ahead of Champions Trophy battlen Mazhar Uddin

Following the emphatic series sweep over Pa-kistan last April, Bangladesh now turn their attention to India as the two subcontinent ri-vals prepare to face other today in the � rst of three one-day internationals at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. Besides the obvious impor-tance of the occasion, the permutations of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy will also be in the back of the mind of the Bangladesh cricketers when they face India.

Before the cut-o� date of the tournament’s quali� cation process, which has been set at September 30 this year, the Tigers will en-counter India and South Africa in six ODIs at home. Irrespective of results elsewhere, two wins from these six matches will be enough to guide the Tigers to their maiden appearance in the Champions Trophy in the tournament’s eighth edition.

If Bangladesh do qualify for the event, it will be a historic occasion for them given that only the top eight teams in the rankings get to strut their stu� against each other in the mar-quee event. According to the latest Interna-tional Cricket Council rankings, Bangladesh are ranked eighth with 88 points, the same tally as seventh-placed West Indies. Pakistan are a place below at ninth with 87 points.

The Tigers can be forgiven if they have the equation of the Champions Trophy in the back of their minds but ODI captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza believes they should just concen-trate on their cricket rather than taking undue pressure upon themselves.

“It is quite natural to think about this type of equation, but at some point this can be the source of extra pressure. We do not want the cricketers to think about it. We should take it match by match. We have to do well and then think about the next game,” Mashrafe told the media yesterday.

“It is important to control our emotions. Taking pressure will not be good for us. We faced similar pressure in the World Cup. Even

those who believed in us, they were only hop-ing that we would reach the second round. So, just like we did it there, we will take it match-by-match here also,” said Mashrafe.

The last time Bangladesh pitted their wits against India was in the quarter-� nal stage of the 2015 ICC World. On that occasion, the two-time world champions posted a 109-run victo-ry but the last eight clash was overshadowed by some controversial decisions from the umpires. Mashrafe however, stated that their World Cup clash is very much in the past now.

“We battle on the � eld but it is not literally a battle. I do not think anyone will think about what happened in a match three-four months ago. A lot of things can happen by accident. I do not think it requires any deep thinking,” said Mashrafe before adding, “I � rmly believe India are the favourites but when we get on the � eld, we do not think about the tag of fa-vourites. I hope we can play our best cricket. Following the 2007 World Cup, we started to believe that we can beat any team. We never

lost our mental strength despite losing match-es. Of course, if we are playing against a high-er-ranked team they will be the favourites but we never think that they are unbeatable.”

The Narail Express also touched on the sub-ject of paceman Rubel Hossain’s extravagant celebration following Virat Kohli’s dismissal in the World Cup down under. Mashrafe in-formed that he has no problems if the individ-ual battle heats up, as long as it is fair.

“If (Rubel’s) madness is helpful, then I do not mind it. I obviously would not want any personal attack. But, I do not think there is anything wrong between Rubel and Kohli. I think he got him out just once or twice,” said Mashrafe.

“I think we create such problems by ask-ing these questions. It is better to avoid such questions. We shake hands at the end of the match. Rubel and Virat do not have a problem against each other. Both will give their 100 percent and one of them will be successful,” he concluded. l

Dhoni enjoys the on-� eld rivalryn Minhaz Uddin Khan

The previous encounter between India and Bang-ladesh gave birth to massive controversies. The World Cup game in which the Tigers lost by 109 runs sparked emotions among the crowds that was lin-gered a long way.

And just inside three months India arriving with a full strength side to Bangladesh, the series is ex-pected to be very lively at the stands.

However, like any professional sportsman should be, Indian captain MS Dhoni calmly handled the questions thrown at him during the pre-match post conference at Mirpur yesterday as he gave clever an-swers to the queries.

“Which controversy? Which game are you talk-ing (about)?” Dhoni replied when asked if the World Cup events will give more spice to the series. And when the reporter pin pointed the situation, captain cool said, “That’s like 4-5 months back. Anything about last couple of days I remember. Let us not get into it. It was a game of cricket.”

The India captain praised the ongoing on-� eld ri-valry between Bangladesh and India in the one-day

format. “It has been nice, it has been subtle. It has been very professional in the sense that both the teams playing at their best with mission to win for their country. But we have not had any incident on the � eld which I feel is very important as far as sport is concerned. It has been good, it’s moving in the right direction,” he said.

The 33-year old wicketkeeper-batsman retired from Test cricket in December and handed over the job to their mercurial No 3 batsman Virat Kohli. Dhoni informed that the packed schedule doesn’t allow him to follow all the cricket happening around the world, but he well informed of Bangladesh and their achievements in the recent past.

“Yes, I have said thank you to one of the formats (Test) but still the amount of cricket that has hap-pened very di� cult to follow any other series. As far as videos are concerned, we have the luxury of video analysts. More than that, I cannot really comment on it. But what’s more important is to have good � rst-class teams and I feel the upcoming players in Bang-ladesh, most of them have done well whenever they have got an opportunity to play. That's de� nitely good for them,” he said. l

HOW A RANKING MAY CHANGE

If playing a similarly rated team, a win would typically increase the rating by 1-2 points, while losing would cost 1-2 rating points.

If playing a side rated say 20-30 points higher, a win would increase the rating by around 2 points, but a defeat should only cost 1 rating point.

If playing a side rated say 20-30 points lower, then the opposite of b) applies-a win might be worth only 1 point, but a defeat might cost 2 points.

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THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Australian running legend Ron Clarke dies aged 78Australian athletics Wednesday mourned the loss of champion distance runner Ron Clarke at the age of 78. Largely self-coached, Clarke never won an Olympic gold medal despite o� cially breaking 17 world records and at one point holding records for every distance from two miles to 20 kilometres. “Today is a very sad day for athletics in Australia, with news of the passing of legendary runner Ron Clarke,” Athletics Australia president David Grace said.

– AFP

Chelsea start title defence against SwanseaChelsea will start the defence of their Premier League title with a home game against Swan-sea when the 2015/16 season gets underway on August 8. Next season’s calendar released Wednesday gives Liverpool a chance to banish memories of their 6-1 drubbing at Stoke on the � nal day of last season, as they return to the Britannia on day one of the new campaign. Another highlight of the opening weekend is Tottenham’s visit to Manchester United.

– AFP

Man City raise Sterling bid to £40 MillionManchester City have made a fresh and much improved o� er of £40 million to Liverpool for want-away England international Raheem Ster-ling, according to reports in the English press. Liverpool are thought to value the livewire 20-year-old winger at £50 million (69 million euros) and they are likely to turn down the o� er.

– AFP

Japan, USA into last-16Holders Japan and Olympic champions the United States both kept their title challenges on track as they advanced to the last 16 at the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday as group leaders. The United States, beaten in the 2011 � nal by Japan, eliminated Nigeria 1-0 in front of their passionate fans in Vancouver’s BC Sta-dium to lead Group D, after the Japanese had earlier beaten Ecuador 1-0 to top Group C.

– AFP

Laporta con� rms he’ll run for Barcelona presidencyFormer Barcelona president Joan Laporta has con� rmed he will run in next month’s presiden-tial election, when he will be one of favourites to take the top job at the Spanish and European champions.

– Reuters

Spain court probes fraud case against NeymarA Spanish court Wednesday launched a fraud investigation against Barcelona striker Neymar, a judicial source said, dragging the Brazilian star into a case in which the club’s president faces trial. The National Court admitted a lawsuit alleging “corruption and swindling” by the star player, his father and his former club Santos linked to the signing of Neymar by Barca in 2013, the source told AFP.

– AFP

QUICK BYTES

Controversial BPL 3 set to roll this Novembern Minhaz Uddin Khan

The third edition of the Bangladesh Pre-mier League Twenty20 will be held in the third week of November this year, the fran-chise-based tournament’s governing council informed last Tuesday following a meeting.

Although the Bangladesh Cricket Board initially decided to hold the controversial yet cash-rich competition in December, the play-ers’ unavailability, both local and foreign, saw it being rescheduled. BPL governing council chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha, in a press conference held yesterday, said all the seven

franchises owe money to the BCB. Sinha add-ed that they would make every possible e� ort to resolve the issue before the tournament rolls on the � eld.

“The third season of the BPL will be held this November. But, we will need to make the franchises settle their dues. We will serve them letters within a day or two and give them a month’s time to settle the issue. The BCB will take necessary steps if they (fran-chises) fail. If that happens, the BCB will look for new franchises,” said Sinha yesterday.

Sinha revealed that BPL franchise Rangpur Riders owe the lowest amount of money while

the other six franchises owe some Tk100m in total and stated that the BCB will have no op-tion but to look for new franchises if the cur-rent ones fail to cooperate accordingly.

The inaugural edition of the BPL saw it end on a high note in 2012 with Dhaka Gladiators lifting the trophy. Next year, the Gladiators clinched BPL 2 as well but their title-win was marred by � xing allegations and irregulari-ties and since then, the tournament has been struggling to roll on the � eld.

However, following a long wait, the BCB has � nally decided to hold the third edition of the money-spinning tournament. l

Uncertain future awaits De Kruifn Shishir Hoque

It has been approximately two years since Dutchman Lodewijk de Kruif was appointed the head coach of the Bangladesh football team. During this time, both the country’s football arena and the Dutchman have expe-rienced contrasting fortunes.

At one stage in October last year, the Bang-ladesh Football Federation bid the Dutch coach goodbye before appointing him again, albeit on a temporary basis, for the Bangab-andhu Gold Cup last January where Bangla-desh exhibited brilliant football on their way to a runners-up � nish. The second-placed � n-ish in the six-team event allowed De Kruif to be in charge when the men in red and green began their 2018 Fifa World Cup second round qualifying campaign.

Current situationConcerns over De Kruif have started to sur-face again. It is still unclear over whether he will stay in his job or leave. BFF president Kazi Salahuddin is expected to sit for a meet-ing with De Kruif to decide the Dutchman’s future. Football’s governing body in the coun-try however, is hopeful that De Kruif will be in charge when Bangladesh face Asian champi-ons Australia in Perth this September.

Change in playing styleThe most noticeable aspect during De Kruif’s tenure with Bangladesh is that the Dutch-man has been able to inject a regular shape and a new philosophy of playing style into his charges. Before his appointment, the Bengal Tigers did not have a � xed playing style. Bangladesh’s playing style and tactics

changed with time and the appointment of a new head coach.

De Kruif deployed his favourite formation (4-3-3) and has kept faith with his charges for nearly two years now. As a result, the play-ers have gelled together as a unit and team chemistry has also improved in the process. He brought in new players who later emerged as Bangladesh’s most important players. For instance, De Kruif introduced players like Hemanta Vincent Biswas and Jalam Bhuiyan, who is now rated as South Asia’s best defen-sive mid� elder.

The ResultsIn his � rst tournament, De Kruif led Bangla-desh to the runners-up spot in the AFC Chal-lenge Cup quali� ers. The Dutchman’s next tournament, the 2013 Sa� Championship, however, was a big let-down as Bangladesh crashed out in the group stages having failed to win a single game.

By the time he was sacked in October last year, he had taken charge of seven interna-tional matches with Bangladesh winning two, drawing two and losing thrice.

He was brought back for the Bangabandhu Gold Cup where Bangladesh put up a positive display, � nishing as the runners-up side.

With time, De Kruif’s results improved as Bangladesh drew against Sa� champions Af-ghanistan and Tajikistan recently. l

Ranked world No 8 Hemayet Molla emerged as champion in the � rst Summer Hit Open Carrom Tournament, organised by the Bangladesh Carrom Federation. 50 male and female participants from di� erent universities took part in the three-day event that ended on Monday. Afsana Nasrin of Eden College � nished � rst in the women’s section followed by Farhana Nasrin and Sabina Yasmin in second and third place respectively. Ali Robin and Ashraful Islam claimed second and third place in the men’s section. Social worker Helen Jahangir and general secretary of the carrom federation Ashraf Ahmed distributed prizes among the winners COURTESY

TIMELINEJanuary 2013: A Memorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) signed between the BFF and De Kruif. The Dutchman becomes the new head coach of Bangladesh.March 2013: De Kruif guides Bangladesh to a runners-up � nish in the AFC Challenge Cup quali� ers. Bangladesh put in an impressive performance, defeating Nepal and the Mariana Islands before losing to Palestine.July 2013: The 45-year o� cially joins the Ban-gladesh team on a rolling one-year contract with the further provision of a one-year extension. October 2014: BFF decides to terminate De Kruif’s contract. Up until this point, he was in charge for 16 months.January 2015: De Kruif rejoins Bangladesh as a temporary head coach for the Bangabandhu Gold Cup where they � nish runners-up.

Sport28DT

Vidal arrested for drunk driving after crashn AFP, Santiago

Chilean soccer star Arturo Vidal crashed his Ferrari and was arrested for drunk-driving casting a shadow of controversy over the Copa America tournament his country is hosting.

Chilean media said Vidal and his wife had left a casino and were returning home when the accident happened late Tuesday.

The football star, no stranger to controver-sy, scored two goals for Chile 24 hours earlier, but denied he was to blame.

It was not immediately known whether Chile would punish the key player.

The front of the 28-year-old Juventus mid-� elder’s Ferrari was left mangled by the ac-cident on the outskirts of Santiago. O� cials said he collided with at least another car.

Vidal su� ered “minor injuries” and his wife, Maria Teresa Matus, “moderately seri-ous injuries,” police colonel Ricardo Gonzalez told reporters.

The footballer and his wife were brie� y tak-en to hospital and Vidal then kept in custody.

“Because he was driving under the in� u-ence of alcohol ... (Vidal) is being held,” Gon-zalez said. He refused to discuss the level of alcohol in Vidal’s blood.

The player posted a video message on You-Tube to proclaim his innocence in the accident.

“Today, I had a car accident. It was not my fault. I’m � ne, my family’s � ne. Thank you for everything,” Vidal said, giving a thumbs-up.

Twitter users posted photographs of Vidal’s car, which was badly mangled on the driver’s side. The airbags had deployed.

Chile are top of Group A and meet Bolivia in their � nal � rst round match on Friday.

The Chilean team management now face a tough decision over Vidal because of his past record. He is known as “King Arturo” to his adoring Chilean fans and “The Warrior” at Ju-ventus because of his tough style of play.

The combative mid� elder is no stranger to controversy.

In 2011 he was among � ve players excluded from Chile’s squad preparing for World Cup quali� ers after they turn up for training late and drunk. l

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Serbia to face Brazil in U-20 World Cup � naln Reuters

Ivan Saponjic banged in a header in extra time to give Serbia a 2-1 victory over Mali in the under-20 World Cup on Wednesday to set up a � nal against Brazil after Marcos Guilherme scored twice in their 5-0 demolition of 10-man Senegal.

The unmarked Saponjic nodded home af-ter Milos Veljkovic headed back across goal from a corner in the 101st minute of a match the Europeans should have sealed several times over but for their poor � nishing.

The match grew spiteful in the � nal few min-utes of extra time with Youssouf Kone, who had scored Mali’s goal, sent o� when he received a second yellow card for apparent dissent.

He then appeared to push Argentine referee Mauro Vigliano and needed to be ushered away by his team mates before he trudged o� North Harbour Stadium. Andrija Zivkovic opened the scoring in the fourth minute for Serbia, though they could have had at least another three goals as Mali’s defence disintegrated.

Mali, however tested Serbia throughout on the counter attack and they got back into the game when they spread the ball to Kone who slammed it from 35 metres out past the diving Predrag Rajkovic to level the game.

The goal rejuvenated Mali and Rajkovic was forced to tip a Soulemayne Diarra rock-et from 25 metres over the bar less than two minutes later. l

Uruguay drew us into a tough tussle: Messin Reuters

Argentina had hoped to avoid a tough, physi-cal game against Uruguay at the Copa America but showed they were equal to the task, Li-onel Messi said after the hard-fought 1-0 win over their River Plate rivals.

Argentine coach Gerardo Martino was ban-ished from the stands for arguing with match o� cials in the � rst half and on several occa-

sions tempers threatened to boil over as play-ers jostled and argued.

“It was a tough match, full of clashes and physical contact,” Messi said. “We showed that we could play that way even though it’s not what we were looking for.

“They set out to play a hard match from the outset. They didn’t want to play much.”

Argentina enjoyed two thirds of the posses-sion and played the more attacking football but

needed a brilliant second-half diving header from striker Sergio Aguero to secure the victory.

His team mate Javier Mascherano said the Argentines had improved since their open-ing Copa America match, when they let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Paraguay.

“Every day we’re playing better for longer and that’s a good feeling,” he said.

Argentina’s victory leaves them level with Paraguay at the top of Group B with four

points each. Defending champions Uruguay have three points ahead of their � nal group match against Paraguay on Saturday.

“We have Paraguay next and we’ll be play-ing for a place in the next round,” Uruguayan defender Maxi Pereira said. “But we knew that it would be like this, that this would be a very tough group. But we have three points and we’re still in with a chance.” Argentina face Jamaica in their � nal group match, also on Saturday. l

BEFORE AFTER

Falcao already a Chelsea ‘team mate’: Cuadradon Reuters

Chelsea’s Colombia winger Juan Cuadrado suggested striker Radamel Falcao’s move to English champions Chelsea was a done deal at the Copa America on Tuesday.

Falcao, who is captain of his national team at the tournament in Chile, has left Manches-ter United after a disappointing season on loan from Monaco.

British media reported on Tuesday that Chelsea were on the verge of agreeing terms with the striker for a season-long loan deal.

Cuadrado surprised reporters at a news conference, saying: “It’s important to have a team mate like him at the club but now I’m concentrating on the Copa America and will talk about it later.”

“Say you’re happy,” coach Jose Pekerman, who was beside Cuadrado, said to him, then added: “I’m sure they’ll help each other mu-tually and do good things.”

United have said they will not use their op-tion to buy Falcao from Monaco. l

Argentina striketr Aguero celebrates scoring against Uruguay during their Copa America match at Estadio La Portada in La Serena on Tuesday REUTERS

1-0RESULTS

Argentina 1-0 Uruguay Aguero 56

Paraguay 1-0 JamaicaBenitez 36

Sport 29D

T

Gazi Tv, Star Sports 13:00PM India Tour of Bangladesh 1st ODI Sony Six5:30AMCopa America 2015Peru v VenezuelaTen Cricket10:15AM Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 1st Test Day 2 Star Sports 112:00AM Natwest T20 Blast 2015Kent v EssexStar Sports 45:30PM ATP World Tour 500 2015Aegon Championships

DAY’S WATCH

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

RESULTSTimor Leste 0-1 United Arab Emirates Abdulrahman 80

Malaysia 0-6 Palestine Musab Battat 9; Maraaba 22, 75; Seyam 41, 86; Abuhammad 63

Bangladesh 1-1 Tajikistan Jahid Hasan 50 Fathuloev 88

Kyrgyzstan 1-2 Australia Baimatov 90 Jedinak 2, Oar 67

Hong Kong 2-0 MaldivesXu Deshuai 63, Lam Ka Wai 67

Bhutan 0-6 ChinaYang Xu 45+2, 60, 76, Wu Lei 55,Yu Dabao 67, 83

Guam 2-1 India McDonald 37, T. Nicklaw 62 Chhetri 90+4

Turkmenistan 1-1 IranMingazov 46) Sardar Azmoun 4

Japan 0-0 Singapore

Cambodia 0-1 Afghanistan Zazai 86

Chinese Taipei 0-2 Thailand Teerasil 21, 39

Laos 0-2 Lebanon Ghaddar 5, Shamsin 75

Myanmar 0-2 South Korea Lee Jae-Sung 35, Son Heung-Min 67

Korea DPR 4-2 Uzbekistan Pak Kwang-Ryong 4, Sergeev 53, Rashidov 79Jang Kuk-Chol 16, Ro Hak-Su 34, Ri Hyok-Chol 36

Yemen 0-2 Philippines Misagh Bahadoran 52, Iain Ramsey 74

2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Japan and Iran held by minnows, Korea duo winn Reuters

Asian heavyweights Japan and Iran kicked-o� their World Cup bids with surprise draws against Singapore and Turkmenistan on Tues-day as the region’s minnows continued to jus-tify the decision for a qualifying revamp.

Singapore owed much to goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud after their goalless draw at the Saita-ma Stadium, while Turkmenistan’s Ruslan Mingazow scored just before halftime in Dashoguz as three-times Asian champions Iran were held 1-1.

Despite their stuttering starts, neither Ja-pan nor Iran should have problems advancing to the next stage as pool winners in an in� ated joint World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying sec-ond round where 39 teams are split over eight groups.

Asian champions Australia also looked close to su� ering a surprise draw but they es-caped Bishkek with a 2-1 win over Kyrgyzstan.

The Socceroos were given a dream start as Mile Jedinak’s free kick in the second minute bounced into the corner of the net, with the hosts’ goalkeeper at fault.

But the visitors were on the backfoot there-after as Kyrgyzstan, ranked 177th in the world by FIFA, pushed and probed impressively.

Tommy Oar eventually added a 67th-min-ute second for Australia, who endured a nervy � nale after a 92nd-minute goal for the hosts was allowed to stand despite Socceroo

claims Almazbek Mirzaliev had handled the ball into the net.

South Korea, who lost the Asian Cup � nal to Australia in January, had no such trouble in seeing o� Myanmar 2-0 away in Bangkok.

Son Heung-min’s second-half pile-driver and Lee Jae-sung’s � rst-half opener gave the perennial quali� ers a solid start to Group G.

Arch rivals North Korea, twice World Cup � nalists, recorded an impressive 4-2 win over Uzbekistan in Pyongyang for their second win in Group H. The hosts were 4-0 up in 36 min-utes.

Elsewhere the other groups have unfamil-iar leaders.

Tiny Guam, in Group D with Iran, contin-ued their dream start to the campaign with a 2-1 win over India which left them top of the pool after they recorded their � rst ever World Cup qualifying victory against Turkmenistan on Thursday.

Lowly Hong Kong top Group C after they overcame Maldives 2-0 at home for their sec-ond win in the pool.

While Teerasil Dangda scored both goals as Thailand beat Taiwan 2-0 away to make it two wins from two to lead Group F.

Their Southeast Asian rivals Malaysia en-dured more misery, however, as they were tanked 6-0 at home by Palestine, the same victory margin China enjoyed in Bhutan.

Asia’s road to Russia 2018 resumes in Sep-tember. l

Tiger Woods ready to su� er more humiliation in pursuit of grand revivaln Agencies

If Tiger Woods was not still committed to the game of golf, he would not be going through all this anguish, not embarrassing himself in full view of the entire planet. That was his message to those who doubt the American retains the hunger here at the 115th US Open.

Even his friends have � ashed up the ques-tion marks, after they watched him shoot an 85 at the Memorial two weeks ago on the way to his worst 72-hole display as a pro. Notay Be-gay, his childhood friend, walked with Woods during the nine holes he played with Jordan Spieth on Tuesday and was, apparently, im-pressed with his form.

Except just a few days ago, Begay was ask-ing whether it was possible for a multi-mil-lionaire with 14 majors to have the inspiration to climb from 195th in the rankings all the way back to the summit. “It’s tough to � nd the motivation to just get up and go out and do it again,” Begay said.

It certainly is tough. Woods acknowledges so. But the fact that it is tough is all the valida-tion Woods needs. “It’s short-term su� ering for long-term gain,” Woods said.

“Obviously I’ve got to do it in front of the world, and sometimes it’s tough. But I’ve got to suck it up and do it. The good news is I’ve done it before in my career. I know what it feels like.”

That is Woods’s default setting whenever he is challenged about his woeful streak. The former world No 1 will never concede that his toils have been mental as well as physical, because if he did then he would, at the very least, be admitting that he no longer possess-es the uncrackable psyche, that he no longer has the stomach for the � ght.

So he presses on, explaining it all in ref-erence to his latest swing change under new coach Chris Como. It is technical, maintains Woods. And to hell with those who put the spotlight on his desire.

“I wouldn’t have made the changes if I wasn’t de-voted to the game of golf and winning golf tourna-ments,” Woods said. “I want to be out here. I want to play. I want to compete, and I want to win. It’s so much fun having a chance to winon the back nine on Sunday. It feels the same to me.

“From my very � rst major to now, it feels the same. I want to win these championships. I love them. I love playing them.” l

GROUP BTeam GP W D L GD PTS

1 Jordan 1 1 0 0 +2 3

2 Kyrgyzstan 2 1 0 1 +1 3

3 Australia 1 1 0 0 +1 3

4 Tajikistan 2 0 1 1 −2 1

5 Bangladesh 2 0 1 1 −2 1

DOWNTIME30DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 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 21 represents T so � ll T every time the � gure 21 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

ACROSS 1 Knocks sharply (4)5 Garden tool (5)9 Unaccented (4)10 And not (3)11 Sti� hair (4)12 Tree (5)14 Altruisitic love (5) 16 Slender support (4)19 Eastern ruler (4)21 Out of place (5)24 Indian language (5) 27 Ill-mannered (4)29 Metal bearing rock (3) 30 Approached (6)31 Baili� (5)32 Trees (4)

DOWN 1 Coarse � le (4) 2 Consumed (3)3 Soup (6)4 Hidden obstacle (4) 5 Regal emblem (7)6 Also (3)7 Female deer (3) 8 Mistake (5)13 Sheltered side (3)15 Stupid (7)17 Ripe (6)18 Loathe (5)20 Central (3)22 Supplicate (4)23 Resting places (4)25 Choler (3)26 Born (3)28 Early freshness (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

WHAT TO WATCH

The Hobbit: An unexpected journeyHBO 6:18pmA reluctant hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home - and the gold within it - from the dragon Smaug.Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage

Thor 2: The Dark WorldStar Movies 9:30pm

When Dr Jane Foster gets cursed with a powerful object, Thor must protect it before an army and its ruthless leader try to get their hands on it to take over the remains of Earth.Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston

10,000BCMovies Now 2:25pmA prehistoric epic that follows a young mammoth hunter’s journey through uncharted territory to secure the future of his tribe.Cast: Steven Strait, Camilla Belle, Cli� Curtis

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

Alyson Hannigan @alydenisof This was my favorite shirt growing up. Kinda still is :)

Demi Lovato @ddlovato So excited to be voicing Smurfette in the new animated Smurfs movie, in theatres Spring 2017!!!

Vanessa Hudgens@VanessaHudgensSister date @stellahudgens

n Showtime Desk

Theatre troupe Palakar will stage one of its critically acclaimed stage productions “Nar-igon” at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at 7:00pm today.

This particular staging marks the birth an-niversary of Ataur Rahman, the director of the play and eminent theatre personality who has been called “Natya Sarothi” among the fellow theatre activists.

Written by Syed Shamsul Haq, the play de-picts the heart-breaking incidents in the pal-ace after the death of Siraj-ud-Daulah, the last Nawab of Bengal, following his defeat to the British colonial power in the Battle of Plassy in 1757.

The undivulged agonies of female folk in the palace are narrated in the play along with the cruelty of the winning forces. l

n Showtime Desk

Dame Helen Mirren has been aptly crowned as the reigning Queen of Broadway after being named the best actress in a play at the Tony theatre awards in New York. Her success can be traced back to her portrayal of the Queen in the 2006 � lm set in the aftermath of the death of Lady Diana, who was the Princess of Wales, for which she won an Oscar.

She won her very � rst Tony award for playing the British monarch in “The Audience.”

“Your Majesty, you did it again,” she said, after taking home the prize for her portrayal of the Queen. The movie is centred around the Queen and her weekly private meetings with the prime minister over a six decade span. Not only did she beat British actress Carey Mulligan and Ruth Wilson, she also surpassed Elisabeth Moss and Geneva Carr. “This is an unbelievable honour and I am so thrilled,” she exclaimed after receiving her prize.

Her co-star Richard McCabe, who played the lead role of prime minister Harold Wilson, was also named the best featured actor in a play. Other British wins included Alex Sharp for best actor and Marianne Elliot for best directing of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” which also won the award for best play. l

Palakar brings a special staging of Narigon

Queen of BroadwayBBC Bangla’s new weekly current-a� airs programme, BBC Probaho, is launched on Channel i from June 11, 2015. Presented by BBC Banglas’ Sharmin Rauma, BBC Probaho will be broadcasted live from the cable/satellite stations at prime time, 9:30pm, every Thursday. The programme will be repeated on Fridays.

With hard-hitting interviews and debate, BBC Probaho brings 25 minutes of in-depth reporting of key issues a� ecting Bangladesh today. The programme will feature international and business stories delivered by the BBC’s global network of correspondents and journalists.

Sharmin Rauma will conduct studio interviews and encourage direct engagement from audiences via the BBC Bangla social-media accounts on Facebook and Twitter. BBC Probaho is

produced by BBC Bangla’s Monowar Darpon.

BBC Bangla Editor Sabir Mustafa comments: “The launch of BBC Probaho marks a new stage in the BBC’s decade-long collaboration with Channel i and a milestone in BBC Bangla’s presence on the Bangladeshi media scene. Adding to our radio, digital and mobile content, BBC Probaho signals our commitment to the Bangladeshi audiences, ensuring they get our trusted news coverage on the platforms of their choice.”

Shykh Seraj, head of news of Channel i, adds: “BBC Probaho is a historic landmark achieved in the news and current-a� airs scene in Bangladesh. Channel i has always been a trusted partner of BBC, starting o� with BBC Bangladesh Sanglap, and now the road takes a new, exciting turn.” l

BBC Probaho launches on Channel i

At the spectacular event of the 10th Citycell Channel i Music Award held on June 15, Ferdousi Rahman was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contribution in the music industry.

BACK PAGE32DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

INDIA TO TEST BANGLADESH’S RUN OF SUCCESS PAGE 25

PALAKAR STAGES NARIGON PAGE 31

STAMP DUTY ON MF TRUST DEED WITHDRAWN PAGE 15

70,000kg expired dates spread in Ctg, repackaged and relabelledn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Around 70,000kg expired dates have already reached the kitchen markets in Chittagong city ahead of Ramadan, repackaged and car-rying fake date of expiry, putting the health of thousands of people at risk.

The matter came to light yesterday when the Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropol-itan Police conducted a raid at a cold storage in the city’s Chaitanyagoli area.

The detectives raided the cold storage, owned by Rownak Jahan who also owns East Asiatic Trading Corporation Limited, around 2pm following a tip-o� . Led by Assistant Com-missioner (North Zone) Mohammad Kamruz-zaman, the team seized 6,000 cartons of out-of-date dates and 2,000 cartons of raisins that had been imported last year, as well as some stickers with fake expiration dates, in the three-hour raid.

Each carton of dates carries around 10kg of dates and each carton of raisins carries 10.5kg of raisins, the assistant commissioner said.

Following the drive, a mobile court led by Executive Magistrate and Assistant Commis-sioner Ashraful Alam of Chittagong district sealed o� the cold storage.

He sentenced East Asiatic Trading Corpora-tion Limited’s Manager advocate SK Dutta, 70, to a year of jail and charged him a Tk50,000 � ne.

The court also sentenced three persons – Dolon Barua, 32, Mahbubur Rahman, 40, and Nazim Uddin, 29 – to six months in jail; the convicts are employees of a trader named Aziz, who owns 3,000 cartons of the expired dates.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, the cold storage O� ce Assistant AK Mollik said a trad-

er named Nurul Kabir Chowdhury imported some 13,329 cartons of dates – 10kg in each carton – and stored them in the cold storage on July 22 last year.

Later, Nurul sold the dates to di� erent trad-ers, who started collecting their purchases in May this year. Aziz, however, sent his men to relabel the packages of his purchase, said DB Sub-Inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma.

By the time the detectives raided the cold storage, more than 70,000kg of expired dates had already been dispatched to di� erent stores and markets by some ill-motivated traders, he said.

Executive Magistrate Ashraful said they found expired dates, raisins, almonds and other products imported by nine traders.

He said the drives would continue and the

products found in cold storages would be ex-amined further.

According to Chittagong District Adminis-tration, Chittagong City Corporation, Bangla-desh Standards and Testing Institution and other bodies, a total of 20 mobile courts are roaming around the port city to prevent trad-ing and consumption of sub-standard food items during Ramadan. l

False Rohingya propaganda probe yields � rst arrestn Mohammad Jamil Khan

A dozen online news portals and Facebook pages are under surveillance for posting fake photos and information about the persecu-tion of Myanmar’s Rohingya, as police yester-day made their � rst arrest over the false prop-aganda campaign.

Police said the authors of the pages are insti-gating religious sentiments and inciting retalia-tory violence by posting false information and urging readers to like and spread the posts.

“Not only are those who post this infor-mation guilty under the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, those who like or share the posts are guilty as well,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the De-tective Branch (DB) of police, said yesterday.

The DB chief was giving a media brie� ng at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Media

and Community Centre following the arrest of the author of a news portal publishing spuri-ous information.

The arrestee was identi� ed as Sakhawat Hossain, 38. DB o� cers arrested him in the capital’s Paltan area and seized a laptop, a com-puter CPU and a cellphone from his possession.

Originally from Kotchandpur, Jhenaidah district, Sakhawat is the editor of online por-tal islamicnews24.net, the DB joint commis-sioner said.

“He confessed in primary interrogation that he collected an assortment of unrelated old pic-tures and posted them to social media sites and his so-called online news portal,” Monirul said.

Analysing his social media sites, it was seen that photos of Thai protesters forced by the army to lie on a shore in 2004, Tibetan Bud-dhists rescuing victims’ bodies after the 2010 China earthquake, charred bodies from a 2010

gas tanker explosion in Congo, and a Tibetan youth running on a Delhi street after setting himself on � re in 2012 had all been associated with the Rohingya issue.

Asked about Sakhawat’s political identity, Monirul Islam said: “We do not have any in-formation linking Sakhawat with any political party or group. We are still investigating.”

On whether the arrestee is linked to the Jamaat-run Basherkella page, Monirul said: “In primary interrogation, the arrestee said he personally collected and posted the photos.”

On what action the police are likely to take against the Facebook pages publishing false information, the DB chief said they were in-vestigating it but there were limitations to such probes.

“There are some limitations on the Bang-ladesh side in conducting investigations be-cause information requests must be made

to Facebook, which then decides whether to share client information,” he said.

Sakhawat was placed before the Chief Met-ropolitan Magistrate Court yesterday, where detectives sough a 10-day remand after show-ing him arrested in a case � led with Paltan po-lice station under the ICT Act.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mosta� zur Rah-man passed an order granting a two-day re-mand for the interrogation of Sakhawat.

Although DMP Detective Branch chief Monirul Islam did not name any political party as being behind the false information campaign, Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mondol said some of those posting the photos and information were Jamaat-Shibir men.

“Action will be taken against these people after the investigation,” the Chittagong police commissioner said. l

Almost 4,000 cartons of expired dates being distributed by the importer were recovered by the DB from a cold storage in Chittagong DHAKA TRIBUNE

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