SECOND EDITION

LICENSED SELLERS SOURCE OF MILITANT EXPLOSIVES PAGE 3

‘MVA TO FACE VARIOUS CHALLENGES’ PAGE 32

YEMEN HIT BY DEADLY CAR BOMB PAGE 9

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015 | Ashar 7, 1422, Ramadan 3, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 69 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

SEHRI & IFTAR TIME

For Barisal, deduct one minute, and for Sylhet and Chittagong deduct six minutes; for Khulna add four minutes, for Rangpur � ve minutes, and for Rajshahi seven minutes.

Day Sehri Iftar

Ramadan 3/June 21 – 6.52pm

Ramadan 4/June 22 3.39am 6.52pm

Oil being removed at snail’s pacen Tarek Mahmud, back from

Boalkhali, Chittagong

The 90,000 litre furnace oil spilled from three wagons plunged into Boalkhali canal on Friday is spreading across the Karnaphuli River quick-ly due to tidal water while the authorities have not got adequate equipment and mechanism to stop the spill and rescue the wagons.

O� cials of Bangladesh Railway and De-partment of Environment with assistance of local people started removing oil from the canal yesterday noon. The oil spill has spread over 20 kilometres on both sides of the canal, DoE o� cials say.

Railway o� cials say they need at least a week to complete the rescue operation and resume the Chittagong-Dohajaree route.

The Dhaka Tribune correspondent visited the link point of the Karnaphuli River and the Boalkhali canal in Paschim Shakpura area in the morning and found that the oil was getting PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Tigers looking to seal seriesn Mazhar Uddin

A new-look Bangladesh team, oozing with con� dence, will be looking to register their 19th series win, and 14th at home, when they face India today in the second and penulti-mate ODI at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The Tigers are in the form of their lives in the 50-over format, having posted nine con-secutive ODI wins at home with the latest coming against India in the � rst match last Thursday. The visitors, in contrast, led by MS Dhoni, will be under tremendous pressure to

save the series today. Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe bin Mor-

taza will head into today’s game with the same team combination, including the inclusion of four seamers. India, expecting a barrage of spin from the home side, capitulated in the � rst ODI as the Tigers’ pace-bowling quartet accounted for eight of the 10 wickets to fall.

Youngsters Musta� zur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed have been a revelation for the Tigers in recent times and the duo will once again be expected to lead from the front today. Fellow

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Washington lauds Dhaka’s stanceon terrorismn Tribune Report

Praising the incumbent Bangladesh govern-ment for its strong political commitment and � rm determination to combat local and inter-national terrorist groups, the United States has said that terrorists � nd it di� cult to carry out any criminal activity using the territory.

“Bangladesh made counter-terrorism pro-gress in 2014, with the government demon-strating a commitment to counter both do-mestic and transnational terrorist groups,” the US Department of State said in its annual Congressionally-mandated Country Reports on Terrorism 2014.

The report gave a detailed overview of Bangladesh’s e� orts with its legislation, law enforcement and border security issues; coun-tering the � nancing of terrorism; regional and international cooperation; and countering rad-icalisation to violence and violent extremism.

“No major terrorist incidents took place in 2014, and the government’s counter-ter-rorism e� orts have made it more di� cult for transnational terrorists to operate in or use Bangladeshi territory,” the report says.

South Asia remained a front line in the battle against terrorism. According to the re-port, the number of terrorist attacks last year increased by 35% and total fatalities increased 81% compared to 2013, largely due to terrorist activities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.

More than 60% of all the attacks took place in � ve countries: Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria. And 78% of all fatalities due to terrorist attacks also took place in � ve countries: Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Paki-stan and Syria.

Terrorists use social media platformMentioning al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawa-hiri’s audio tape over Bangladesh last year, the US report says terrorist organisations used social media to spread their radical ideologies and solicit foreign � ghters from Bangladesh.

“Expatriate Bangladeshis have been arrest-ed for attempting to recruit Bangladeshis to join the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). While Bangladesh is not part of the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, it is taking steps to address the threat,” says the report.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Tiger sensation Musta� zur Rahman, who crash landed the mighty Indian batting three days ago, perfects his deadly cutters during a practice session at Mirpur yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

The sunken wagons are yet to be salvaged as oil continues to spill across the Karnaphuli River. Authorities say it will take couple of days to raise the wagons DHAKA TRIBUNE

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Police constable’s wife commit suiciden Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

Wife of a police constable committed suicide at the residential quarters of Chuadanga Po-lice Line early yesterday.

The deceased was identi� ed as Shanta Begum, 24, wife of SAF Constable-622 Helal Parvez and mother of a 7-month-old daughter.

Amirul Islam, RRI of Chuadanga Police Line, said upon hearing noise at around 4am they went to the � at of constable Helal and found his wife hanging from the ceiling fan in the bedroom.

“When we took her to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital, the doctor said she was already dead,” he added. “Constable Helal just moved here few months ago and we believe his wife committed suicide due to family issues.”

Shanta’s father Jibli Gazi said Shanta and Helal had an arranged marriage four years ago and they were not aware of any major inci-dent of dispute between them.

Liakat Hossain, o� cer in-charge of Chua-danga Sadar police station said a case of un-natural death had been � led and the body had been sent for autopsy. l

Tigers looking to seal seriespacemen Mashrafe and Rubel Hossain will pro-vide valuable support alongside the dependable left-arm spin of ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan. Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar, who smashed impressive half-centuries but failed to convert them into big scores in the � rst ODI, will be targeting yet another good start while the likes of Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rah-man will shore up the batting department in the latter stages of the inning.

The Tigers’ best batsman, Mush� qur Ra-him, however, is yet to � nd his rhythm in the ongoing bilateral home series. The diminutive wicket-keeper, who came into the series on the back of � ne performances in the Pakistan series, was dismissed for 14 last Thursday so he will no doubt eye a signi� cant score today.

On the other hand, Dhoni will have to � gure out a di� erent game-plan after failing big time in the � rst ODI. With the exception of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, all the Indian bowlers were bite-less in the face of some attacking batting by the home side, who totalled 300 against them for the very � rst time in ODIs.

The tourists will be looking to one-drop Virat Kohli to lead their batting charge. The dashing right-hander has been going through a lean patch recently after being dismissed for just one and three in his previous two ODIs against Bangladesh. And despite a solid start laid by openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, India’s formidable middle-order was unable to capitalise as they stuttered their way to 128/5 from 95 without loss.

All in all, Mashrafe and Co have the gold-en opportunity today to seal the series and establish themselves as the new powerhouse of the sub-continent. The Tigers’ new era be-gan last November when they whitewashed Zimbabwe. It continued in the 2015 ICC World Cup down under where the Tigers reached the quarter-� nal for the very � rst time in their history. A transitional Pakistan side then bore the brunt of the Tigers’ force as the for-mer were swept aside in the three-match ODI series. So Mashrafe and his troop will be ea-ger to maintain their dominance today and stretch their unbeaten ODI home run to 10.

The day-night a� air will begin at 3pm and Gazi TV, Star Sports 1 and 3 will transmit the game live. l

Oil being removed at snail’s pacemixed with the river water, unnoticed by the authorities.

Divisional Railway Manager (east) Mo� zur Rahaman said it would take couple of days to rescue the train engine while the entire res-cue operation would take more time since the railway authorities did not have necessary rescue equipment. He said rescuing the en-gine was their � rst priority.

Two empty wagons were sent to the spot from Chittagong yesterday noon to recover the furnace oil from another derailed but un-a� ected wagon.

DoE Chittagong Director Mokbul Hossain said: “We have started removing oil from the canal and the Karnaphuli River using local methods – by putting small embankments on the links of the canal and other water bodies.”

Blaming the authorities concerned for such massive loss, the o� cial said they would take action as per the rules and regulations against those responsible for the incident. “Negli-gence of the authorities concerned has been

found while discharging their duties causing the environmental loss.”

He admitted that the country does not have enough plan and mechanism to face such incident, especially with regard to re-moving spilled oil from the water.

The engine and three oil wagons derailed when the Number 24 Bridge – locally known as Shakerpool – collapsed around 2pm on Friday, leaving two train drivers injured and causing spill of the oil, meant for the 100MW power plant at Dohajaree.

The dilapidated bridge had been identi� ed as a “death point” by the railway authorities eight years back.

Two probe bodies have been formed to look into the matter and asked to submit re-ports within three working days. Two railway engineers were suspended.

This is the second such incident in Chit-tagong’s Boalkhali upazila, where another oil-carrying wagon was derailed on July 31, 2013 from the Kalurghat Bridge.

Similarly, � ve wagons carrying furnace oil and an engine were derailed near Fouzdarhat Railway Station in Chittagong’s Sitakunda on July 7 last year resulting in a large amount of furnace oil contaminating the waters of the Bay of Bengal.

Meanwhile, supply of furnace oil to the power plant remained suspended since the incident. Asked if the supply crunch could hinder power generation, Manager Arifur Rahman replied in the negative and said they had fuel stock for 10-15 days.

Three types of effects on biodiversity and ecosystemChittagong University’s zoology department Associate Professor Dr Manjurul Kibria said plants and water animals of the canal and the river would be the direct victim of the oil spill incident.

“Moreover, birds that live on � shes and water plants as well as adjoining farmlands will also be a� ected,” he said. The impact

would be long term and put biodiversity and ecosystems in danger.

Further repetition of such incidents would also threaten the existence of the Karnaphuli River, Prof Kibria added.

Four more dead stops in same routeAccording to the railway o� cials, a total 58 small bridges in Chittagong-Dohajaree route are in bad shape while four others, labelled as “dead stops” are in highly vulnerable state.

To prevent accidents, trains have to run slow while crossing the bridges.

Railway’s tra� c sources said 20 such de-railment incidents took place in the last two years in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet dis-tricts. Of them, the incident at Kalurghat and Fouzdarhat were dangerous.

DRM Mo� zur said they were repairing the rail tracks under a project to improve rail communication between Chittagong and Dohajaree. The bridges would be repaired in phases, he added. l

Washington lauds Dhaka’s stance on terrorismLegislation, law enforcement, border securityThe annual report says Bangladesh’s criminal justice system is in the process of fully imple-menting the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 (ATA) as amended in 2012 and 2013.

“Although Bangladesh’s ATA does not out-law recruitment and travel in furtherance of terrorism, the broad language of the ATA pro-vides several mechanisms by which Bangla-desh can implement UN Security Council Res-olution (UNSCR) 2178, which requires nations to address the foreign terrorist � ghter threat.”The US report quoting media reports men-tions that the law enforcers arrested several members of local terrorist groups Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkat-ul Jihad al Is-lami-Bangladesh and Ansarullah Bangla Team.

“Bangladesh cooperated with the United States to further strengthen control of its bor-ders and land, sea, and air ports of entry. Bangla-desh continued to participate in the Department of State’s Antiterrorism Assistance programme and received counterterrorism-focused training for law enforcement o� cers,” it adds.

Counter-terrorism cooperation between India and Bangladesh was seen after the Octo-ber 2, 2014 blasts in Burdwan of West Bengal in which involvement of the JMB members

have been suspected. Following the incident, Indian o� cials visited to Dhaka while a Bang-ladeshi intelligence team travelled to West Bengal, and both countries intensi� ed paral-lel raids along the border, the report says.

Countering the financing of terrorismBangladesh Bank and its Financial Intelli-gence Unit/anti-money laundering section lead the government’s e� ort to comply with the international sanctions regime.

According to the report, the terrorist � -nance provisions of the ATA outlaw the pro-vision, receipt and collection of money, ser-vice, and material support where “there are reasonable grounds to believe that...the same has been used or may be used for any purpose by a terrorist entity.”

Regional and international cooperation Bangladesh is active in the full range of in-ternational fora and bringing the country’s counter-terrorism e� orts in line with the four pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The country is party to various coun-ter-terrorism protocols under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).

“The current government has demonstrat-ed its strong interest in cooperating with India

on counter-terrorism. It has signed memoran-da of understanding with a number of coun-tries to share evidence regarding criminal in-vestigations including investigations related to � nancial crimes and terrorist � nancing.”

Countering radicalisation to violence and violent extremismThe US annual report states that last year, Bangladesh became a board member and pi-lot country for the Global Fund for Commu-nity Engagement and Resilience, a public-pri-vate global fund to support local, grassroots e� orts to counter violent extremism.

“Bangladesh uses strategic communica-tion to counter violent extremism, especially among youth,” the report says.

It adds that the Education Ministry pro-vides oversight for madrasas and is developing a standard national curriculum that includes language, mathematics and science; and mini-mum standards of secular subjects to be taught in all primary schools, up to the eighth grade.

On the other hand, the Religious A� airs Ministry and the National Committee on Mil-itancy Resistance and Prevention work with imams and religious scholars to build public awareness against terrorism, the US State De-partment report adds. l

Tk 18 lakh robbed from bKash agents n Our Correspondent, Noakhali

Robbers looted Tk18 lakh from two agents of ‘bKash’, a mobile money transfer provider, from Rahmatnagar area of the district town yesterday morning.

Anwar Hossain, o� cer-in-charge of Sud-haram police station, said a group of rob-bers intercepted the motorbike of bkash agents-Ruhul Amin Liton and Salauddin Asif-in the area on Sonapur-Akhter Miah hat road around 11:45am.

The snatchers took away a bag containing the money from Liton after shooting him and hitting Asif, added the OC.

On information, police rushed to the spot and recovered their motorbike.

The injured were � rst taken to Noakhali General Hospital and then shifted to Dhaka. l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Licensed sellers source of militant explosivesn Mohammad Jamil Khan

None other than the licensed sellers have been supplying the militant out� ts and political saboteurs with explosive making materials to earn some easy bucks, detectives have found.

They got such sensational information while interrogating the four people, including a Dhaka University lab assistant, arrested re-cently on charges of selling explosives to the members of militant out� ts.

“In the past, we have seized large quantities of explosives from militants and people who carried out sabotages during political violenc-es. But we could not trace the sources,” said Sanowar Hossain, additional deputy commis-sioner of police’s Detective Branch (DB).

“Now that we have arrested these four, we hope to get hold of everyone else who sell explosives to militants and criminals,” said

Sanwar, who is also the chief of DB’s bomb disposal unit.

He also said that these greedy business-men could be supplying the explosives mak-ing substances either for making pro� t or because they believe in the ideology of the militant out� ts.

Early Friday night, detectives arrested Gazi Mohammad Babul, lab assistant at the soil sci-ence department of DU; Ripon Mollah and Na-sir Uddin, owners of two chemical shops; and Mohiuddin, manager of another chemical shop.

Contacted, DB chief Monirul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune, yesterday that all the ar-restees had claimed during interrogation that their motive was making pro� t and had no involvement with those who bought the ma-terials from them.

“However, we are checking whether they have sold explosives to any other groups such

as Huji-B or Ansarullah Bangla Team,” Mon-irul said.

According to the Bangladesh Scienti� c In-strument Dealers Association (BSIDA), there are 350 authorised chemical shops in Bang-ladesh who import these substances and are supposed to sell them to authorised organi-sations such as science laboratories of educa-tional institutions.

Detectives say that these shops needs to have trade, narcotics and explosive licenses and Home Ministry clearance. However, most of the shops do not have all these licenses.

DB’s bomb disposal expert Sanowar Hos-sain said that there no no monitoring of such business activities, what they are doing and who they are selling these substances to.

“As these shops themselves do not have proper permits, they do not ask for proper au-thorisation of the buyers either,” he said.

“We have already talked to the BSIDA about monitoring and taking action against the shops that do not have proper permits,” Sanowar added.

Contacted, Moazzem Hossain Sazu, presi-dent of BSIDA, told the Dhaka Tribune yester-day: “We have taken the issue seriously after the arrest of the shop owners involved with selling explosives.”

He however said it was not true that most chemical shops do not have licenses.

“If any shops sell explosive materials that are not harmful for humans, it only needs to have a trade license. Similarly, the shops that sell acid only needs to have a acid selling li-cense and those selling narcotics items only need to have the relevant permit.

“However, we are going to have a meeting with the FBCCI tomorrow [Sunday] and we will make a decision in this regard” he said. l

Ex-army o� cer’s son held over IS linkn Mohammad Jamil Khan

Detectives as part of their continuous op-erations against militant out� t Junud at-Tawheed Wal Khilafah detained the son of a retired army o� cial from the capital’s DOHS area early yesterday.

“Faiyaz Ishmam Khan, 24, son of retired Lt Col Farid Haider Khan, was detained from a house on charges of having link with the activities of international militant organisation Islamic State,” Sheikh Nazmul Alam, deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch (north) of police, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said Ishmam was arrested based on information given by two Junud at-Tawheed Wal Khilafah members detained earlier.

“Ishmam was shown arrested in a case � led with Dhaka Cantonment police station and will be grilled for further details,” said Nazmul.

According to detectives, Ishmam, who works at a travel agency, studied at Adam-jee Cantonment Public School, Rajuk Uttara Model College and later at Islamic Online Uni-versity.

Ishmam yesterday was remanded for � ve days by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court after DB Inspector Hasibul Haque, also the investigating o� cer of the case, produced him before it with a ten-day remand plea.

Detectives traced Junud at-Tawheed Wal Khilafah after the arrest of its founder Abdul-lah Al Ghalib on May 31. They said the out� t was following the strategies of the Islamic State to establish caliphate in Bangladesh.

Ghalib told detectives his organisation had contacted the Islamic State online and held meeting with 10-12 Ansarullah Bangla Team members to draw up plans for fresh IS recruits.

Based on Ghalib’s information, detectives later detained another member of his organi-sation, Munsasir, on June 8.

“We are now looking for other members of the out� t,” said DB Additional Deputy Com-missioner Md Shahjahan. l

Mujahid to seek reviewn Ashif Islam Shaon

Condemned war criminal Ali Ahsan Muham-mad Mujahid yesterday asked his lawyers to � le a petition seeking review of the apex court’s verdict that upheld his death sentence recently for planning and instigating killings of intellectuals and professionals in 1971.

“Mujahid asked us to � le the review peti-tion when we met him at the Dhaka Central Jail around 11am [yesterday],” Shishir Monir, lawyer for the Jamaat-e-Islami leader, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“He has asked us to take preparation. The petition will be � led within 15 days after get-ting the copy of the full judgement.”

Mujahid claimed that he was absolutely in-nocent, the lawyer said. “He told us that he could not understand that the Supreme Court has sentenced him to death for killing whom, when where. He was absolutely innocent.”

The defence lawyer said Mujahid was mentally and physically well. He hoped that the Supreme Court would consider his review prayer and acquit him of all the charges.

Shishir Monir and four other lawyers met Mujahid at the jail in the morning, four days after the Appellate Division gave its verdict. The other members of the team are Moshiul Alam, Kamal Uddin, Najibur Rahman and Ma-tiur Rahman Akand.

They left around 11:40am, Farman Ali, the senior jail superintendent, said.

On July 17 last year, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 awarded the death penalty to the 69-year-old Jamaat leader, who served as social welfare minister (technocrat) during the BNP-Jamaat alliance’s 2001-06 tenure.

The tribunal in its verdict said during the war, members of razakar and al-Badr Bahini used to receive their “training” at the camp. Mujahid used to visit the camp regularly with his co-lead-ers with an intent to annihilate the “Bangali pop-ulation,” to design planning and conspired with the senior army o� cers at the camp. Following such conspiracy and planning, the “intellectuals killing” began from December 10, 1971.

Mujahid was the secretary of the then East Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat, and subsequently became the head of al-Badr Bahini. l

BNP demands immediate return of abducted BGB mann Tribune Report

The BNP yesterday said the abduction of a Border Guard Bangladesh member by Myan-mar Border Guard Police was a shame for the country.

The party demanded immediate return of the abducted BGB member and enhancement of the force’s capacity.

“Myanmar’s BGP has abducted our BGB Nayek Abdur Razzak. We have seen a picture on Facebook which was also published in a Myanmar newspaper. The picture showed that Razzak’s hands were in shackles. It is a shame for us,” Asaduzzaman Ripon, acting spokesperson of the party, said.

Addressing a press brie� ng at party’s Nayapaltan headquarters, the BNP leader said: “We will ask the government to bring

back abducted Abdur Razzak immediately.”“We have observed that our border guards

are not being trained properly. We urge the government to enhance the force’s expertise and capacity,” he added.

Demanding immediate and unconditional release of the detained BNP leaders and ac-tivists, Ripon said: “Even though we do not have any movement right now nor any polit-ical programme, our leaders are not being re-leased from jail. It is painful.”

Ripon said: “No more confrontation. We will oppose others, we will criticise but it should not be vengeful. I hope that the gov-ernment will release the leaders soon consid-ering Ramadan.”

The BNP leader also urged the government to take proper step to stop food adulteration and control the price hike of daily essentials. l

A major accident is avoided as passers-by put out a � re caused by technical glitch of a motorbike in front of a petrol pump in the capital’s Nilkhet area yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS4DTSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Govt mulls master plan for green, modern educational institutions n Tribune Report

Solar panel, motion sensor, launderette and beauty parlours are some of the salient fea-tures that the new educational institutions will have to have from now on, according to a circular issued by the Ministry of Education.

All new institutions should devise a master plan for their campus considering the size and nature of their land. This master plan should have consistent building designs that are eas-ily recognisable as educational institutions.

According to the circular issued in June, the ministry said most of the institutions in the country did not have proper campus plan resulting in poor utilisation of land and lack of facilities for students.

The draft plan was taken up to make all institutions student-friendly, attractive and a modern one, according to o� cials.

The government has asked all schools, col-leges, madrasas and universities to properly follow the circular.

Currently, there are 37,265 schools, colleg-es, madrasas and universities in the country.

As for the main design, the buildings should have tiled rooftops rather than � at ones. This would allow easy � ow of rainwater, ensure space for rooftop gardening and the red/green tiles would give a distinct identity to the buildings.

The draft circular reads that institutions must have a playground, indoor and outdoor sports facilities including swimming pool, re-served locations for library, laboratory, audi-torium, storage room and facilities for clean drinking water.

A primary health care centre complete with basic treatment facilities and trained nurses should also be in the premises. It fur-

ther asked the institutions to plant rare and endangered plants as part of the landscaping.

Motion sensor technology has been advised for toilet, staircase and water reservoir to en-sure maximum usage of electricity and water.

The ministry also asked the institutions without electricity to install solar panel and help students avail computer and internet fa-cilities regularly.

The student halls of the institutions must have proper dining room with kitchen facili-ties, a laundry corner with washing machines and beauty parlours for female students.

When contacted, Education Secretary Naz-rul Islam Khan said the draft circular was now awaiting for general feedback, after which it would be all set for implementation.

“Once implemented, the students will en-joy a number of facilities just like developed countries,” he added. l

‘Bangladesh-Maltarelations to improve’ n Tribune Report

The bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Malta will be more vibrant after the creden-tials ceremony of the accredited high com-missioner of Malta in Dhaka, said M Shoeb Chowdhury, honorary consul of Malta in Bangladesh.

He also emphasised opportunities for young Bangladeshi entrepreneurs eager to do business in Malta while addressing a recep-tion arranged in honour of John Joseph Aqui-lina, accredited high commissioner of Malta to Bangladesh, on June 16.

The reception was organised by the con-sulate of the Republic of Malta in Bangladesh and was held at Lakeshore Hotel in the capi-tal’s Gulshan.

It was attended by Commerce Minister To-fail Ahmed, Palestine Ambassador and Dean of Diplomatic Corps Shaher Mohammad, Russian Ambassador Alexander A Nikolaev, South Korean Ambassador Lee Yun-Young and diplomats of several other missions in Dhaka, senior political leaders, government o� cials, economists, civil society members and intellectuals.

The newly appointed high commissioner said at the programme that Heads of Gov-ernment Meeting (CHOGM) would be held at the end of November in Malta. He hoped that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would lead the Bangladeshi delegation to the meeting.

“During my courtesy call on Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, I received an in-dication that she might lead a parliamentary delegation to Malta. Besides, a top delegation of businessmen from Bangladesh will also at-tend the CHOGM,” said John Joseph Aquilina.

The commerce minister said the Bangla-deshi business delegation would play a key role in the CHOGM.

Other speakers also hoped that diplomat-ic ties between the two countries would be more strong in the future. l

Housewife commits suicide over NGO loann Our Correspondent, Jessore

A housewife has allegedly committed suicide for failing to pay loan taken from a non-gov-ernmental organisation at Mahishahati area of Kaliganj upazila in Jhenidah.

Nilima Rani Das, 28, died on Friday while being under treatment at the 250-bed hospital in Jessore.

Nilima’s husband Ripon Das said his wife took Tk10,000 loan from Grameen Bank and was supposed to repay in 46 instalments.

“We have already paid o� 40 instalments. But Grameen Bank workers would frequently come to our house and humuliate my wife for the rest of the money,” Ripon said.

On June 18, Nilima drank pesticide to com-mit suicide. She was admitted to hospital right away but died on the following day.

Mohammad Selim, a member of Baroba-jar Union Parishad’s no 6 Ward, said: “Ripon works as a labourer. I heard they took loan from Grameen Bank and some other NGOs.”

“That day the couple had an argument over the loan repayment and at one point Nil-ima drank poison,” he added.

When contacted, Manager of Barobajar branch of Grameen Bank Masum Billah said Nil-ima was their member but she had already paid o� the loan and there was no instalments left.

He also claimed that the allegation of pres-sure from Grameen Bank workers was not true. l

MA Kashem made NSU trust chairman n Tribune Report

Eminent industrial-ist MA Kashem has been selected the chairman of North South University Trust and the North South Foundation recently.

The selection un-contested took place through the 4th and

23rd AGM of both organisations respectively on Friday, says a press release.

North South Foundation established the NSU and the previously served the founda-tion twice as its chairman. Moreover, he has also served as the chairman of the Endow-ment Committee of NSU Foundation several times.

Kashem was a syndicate member of Ja-hangirnagar University and Bangladesh Open University and he was the chairman of the Association of Private Universities of Bangla-desh.

He is a former president of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and In-dustries (FBCCI) and also founder chairman and director of Southeast Bank Ltd. He was awarded “President Export Trophy” twice for making notable contribution to the export sector and “C R Das Gold Medal” for making remarkable contribution to the industrial sec-tor in the country. l

Bapa: Nothing new on environment in the budgetn Nure Alam Durjoy

Environmental activists criticised the govern-ment for not comprehensively marking envi-ronmental protection issues in the proposed national budget for the 2015-16 � scal year at a press conference yesterday.

Organised by Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa), the conference titled “How much environment friendly the proposed budget 2015-16 is?” was held at Dhaka Reporter’s Unity.

Government has proposed to allocate Tk1,020 crore for the Ministry of Environ-ment and Forest, which is higher by Tk84 crore compared to the previous budget.

However, the salaries of the ministry of-� cials will also be raised by 20%-30% which brings back the scenerio to square one. It indi-cates that there is nothing new in the budget centring the Ministry of Environment and Forest, remarked the participants.

Abdul Matin, general secretary of Bapa, urged the government to consider environ-

ment conservation as the centre point of the country’s development measures to make it sustainable.

Moreover, the proposed budget does not re� ect anything on Bangladesh’s role in the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to be held in December this year in Paris, France.

Bangladesh will participate in the COP as one of the most vulnerable countries in terms of climate change issues, said Matin said in his written speech.

“The budget should blend both develop-ment and environmental issues in order to bring a signi� cant change,” Bapa Vice-Presi-dent Syed Abul Maksud said.

He sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s attention in order to terminate irresponsible people from the ministry.

“We have observed that the current activi-ties of the ministry are quite lifeless. This can bring hazards in future,” he added.

The press conference was attended by agronomist Dr Shahidul Islam and Bapa Joint Secretary Mihir Biswas, among others. l

Columnist and Vice-president of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), Syed Abul Maksud, at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity in the capital yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

NEWS 5D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Bangladesh protests BGB naik’s photo posting n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Bangladesh has lodged its protest over a pic-ture of handcu� ed BGB Naik Abdur Razzak put up on the BGP Facebook page.

“Bangladesh Ambassador in Myanmar Mohammad Su� ur Rahman met newly appointed Myanmar foreign ministry permanent secretary yesterday and expressed Bangladesh’s extreme displeasure about the photograph,” said an o� cial of the foreign ministry.

The BGB Naik along with his SMG was ab-ducted by Myanmar’s Border Guard Police in the Naf River near Jadimura area of Teknaf border in Cox’s Bazar Wednesday morning. In the incident another Border Guard Bangla-desh member Biplob was shot.

In the meeting with Bangladesh Ambassa-dor, the Myanmar side claimed that Razzak was detained on Myanmar water and con-sidered it as an illegal entry to Myanmar and

there were some formalities before releasing him, the o� cial said.

“Our ambassador told them it was their version and Bangladesh has also its own ver-sion,” the MOFA o� cial said.

The Myanmar side did not give any speci� c date when Razzak would be released but hint-ed that it would be early next week, he added.

The BGB protesting Razzak’s captivity on Friday sent an e-mail and fax messages to My-anmar.

The BGB protest said no international law allowed detaining and torturing a neighbour-ing country’s border force member and this is an insult not only for the BGB but for the 16 million people of Bangladesh.

The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh also summoned Myanmar Ambassador to Dhaka Myo Mint Than on Thursday to protest shoot-ing on the border and abduction of Razzak.

This was the second time the ambassador was summoned this month. Earlier, on June

5 he was summoned to protest against Myan-mar propaganda about Rohingya and Bangla-desh.

The Foreign Ministry asked him to release Naik Razzak immediately.

According to a BGB press release issued in Dhaka Wednesday, a seven-member team of the BGB on two boats was 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 one soldier. The BGB team also retaliated 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 ago, on May 28, 2014, another BGB naik named Mizanur Rahman was al-legedly 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 over the body.

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

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

Ambitious projects fail to prevent waterloggingn Abu Hayat Mahmud

The city dwellers have not seen the end to the waterlogging as the projects launched by Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority and the two city corporations failed to bring any remedy to overcome the regular disaster during every monsoon.

The residents in Dhaka North City Corpo-ration (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corpora-tion (DSCC) experienced the untoward situa-tion again some days ago owing to � ash rain ahead of the rainy season.

The capital’s drainage system was designed to discharge rainwater to the surrounding rivers although the � ow of those goes higher during the monsoon, resulting the waterlog-ging.

In 2008, though the Dhaka Wasa under-took a Dhaka Water Supply and Sanitation project in association with the World Bank to

reclaim 26 canals from the grabbers, the move was � nally in vain without any visible reason from the authorities concerned.

Earlier in di� erent times, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Shipping Minister Shaja-han Khan had directed di� erent government bodies to address the waterlogging problem.

Dhaka Wasa and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the two city corporations are yet to make any concrete headway in this regard.

Later, the Dhaka Wasa installed pumping stations in Rampura, Kamlapur, Dholaikhal and Kallyanpur to drain rainwater after a heavy rain in short time, but the e� ort pro-duced no satisfactory outcome.

Several Wasa o� cials wishing not to be named said their existing drainage system was not appropriate in handling rainwater, which needs at least 40% expansion.

Dhaka Wasa Managing Director Taqseem A

Khan said: “The waterlogging occurred tem-porarily due to heavy rainfall. To pump out heavy rainwater immediately, we have in-stalled pumps at di� erent stations including Rampura in the city.”

They have been facing acute fund crisis to tackle the long-pending problem, Taqseem added.

Recently newly elected DNCC Mayor An-nisul Huq has visited Mirpur area along with Dhaka Wasa o� cials.

Annisul directed the corporation o� cials and urged upon the Wasa to take proper ini-tiatives immediately to resolve the waterlog-ging.

When contacted, DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon said: “We have already taken some temporary steps to mitigate the crisis and we will also discuss with Dhaka Wasa, Rajuk and urban planers to come out from the waterlogging.” l

College girl raped in city, three detainedn Kamrul Hasan

A 20-year-old college girl yesterday morning was allegedly raped by her friend’s fellow in the capital’s Shewrapara area.

Police detained three people named Newaj Sharif, Sohel and Rocky, friends of the prime accused, in this connection.

The victim told the Dhaka Tribune that her friend Sakib took her to a � at at west She-wrapara where one of his friends was awaiting.

Sakib’s friend raped her there and the trio made a video of the incident, she added.

Later, she somehow managed to escape.Inspector (investigation) of Mirpur Model po-

lice station Md Sha� qur Rahman said they made the arrest around 4:30pm. However, the prime accused Sakib and Shaon had � ed the spot.

The victim was sent to Dhaka Medical Col-lege Hospital’s One Stop Crisis Centre. l

NEWS6DTSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Futail Bazar in Jamalpur is on the verge of extinction due to recent Jamuna River erosion DHAKA TRIBUNE

Wrong treatment kills patient n Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria

A patient had died due to alleged wrong treat-ment at a clinic in Brahmanbaria city on Fri-day night.

The deceased person, Nasir Mia, 50, was admitted to the National Hospital and Diag-nostic Centre with complaints of severe pain caused by kidney stones on June 18.

Dr AKM Nizam of the hospital’s surgery de-partment conducted an operation on Friday night, after which the patient died.

Upon hearing about the news, relatives of Nasir Mia carried out vandalism in some parts of the clinic. However the situation was brought under control by the police soon.

SI Abul Kashem said the relatives vandal-ised glass windows and some expensive ma-chines of the clinic.

“We brought the situation under control but we are yet to receive any formal com-plaint,” he added.

When contacted manager of the clinic Ati-kur Rahman refused to comment initially but later acknowledged the incident and said the matter was taken care of by the city mayor.

Accused doctor AKM Nizamuddin said the operation was done as per the directive of the clinic but he was not responsible for the death of the patient. l

25 injured in Lalmonirhattrain collision n Tribune Report

At least 20 people were injured when a train collided head-on with another train on the Lalmonirhat-Burimari rail route in Kaliganj upazila yesterday.

Locals said a Burimari-bound local train collided with another train stationed at the railway station in the morning.

At least 20 passengers of both trains in-jured when they tried to get down from the trains hurriedly.

Lalmonirhat Railway police station O� cer-in-Charge Golam Mostafa said a four-member committee headed by Musta� zur Rahman, di-visional tra� c superintendent (Lalmonirhat), was formed to probe the accident.

Lalmonirhat Divisional Railway Manager Nazmul Islam said booking clerk Abu Taher and points man Nazir Hossain had been sus-pended for their negligence in duty. l

70 injured in clashes in three districtsn Tribune Report

At least 70 people were injured in separate incidents of clash in Habiganj, Chandpur and Savar, outskirts of Dhaka, yesterday.

Our Habiganj correspondent reports: More over 40 people were injured in a clash be-tween two rival groups over a tri� e matter at Joyaram village in Sadar upazila.

According to police sources, a cow of Firoz Ali of the village entered the paddy � eld of Ishak Ali at the village in the morning. The duo got locked in an altercation over the in-cident and at one stage, supporters of them attacked each other leaving 40 injured.

Mohammad Nazimuddin, o� cer-in-charge of Sadar police station said of the in-jured, 10 were admitted to Habiganj Hospital in critical condition.

At least 20 people were injured during a clash between two groups of villagers over taking possession of a piece of land at Shyam-pur village in Savar, said our correspondent.

Quoting locals, police said there had been a longstanding rivalry between local Awami League leadres Mahsin Mandol and Shahja-han over the ownership of a piece of land.

A clash ensued as men of Shahjahan ob-structed the Mahsin group when they tried to put up a signboard on the disputed land

around10:30pm.At one stage, supporters of the both groups

equipped with weapons and � rearms attacked each other, leaving 20 people injured.

On information, police rushed in and brought the situation under control.

The attackers also vandalised a police van during the clash. The law enforcers also ar-rested a man named Shahjahan of the village in connection with the clash.

Savar Model police station O� cer-in-Charge SM Kamruzzaman con� rmed the in-cident.

A case was � led in this connection.In Chandpur, ten people were injured in

the town over playing gambling, said our cor-respondent.

Sources said local Awami League men Kahleque Khan and Shahid Haowlader got locked in an altercation over the money of gambling in the town. At one stage, support-ers of both sides attacked each other with � re arms and local weapons. Ten people were injured and 15 shops were vandalized during the incident.

On information, police went to the spot and brought the situation under conrol.

Puranbazar police station O� cer-in-Charge Mahbubur Rahman Mollah con� rmed the incident. l

River erosion hits dwellers n Tribune Report

A good number of people in Gaibandha and Jamalpur have been facing tough time as the unusual riverbank erosion is yet to see the end despite the improved � ood situation.

In Gainbandha, above 1000 families living on the bank of the Karatua, Teesta, Brahma-putra and Jamuna rivers have been passing their days amid great uncertainty as riverbank erosion gets a momentum despite improving the � ood state, reports our correspndent.

Earlier, the homesteads of 35 families in Kamarpara village in Phulchhari upazila and 10 families in Gubindi village in Saghata upazila vanished into riverbed of the rivers, pushing them to take shelter under open sky.

While visiting yesterday, the correspond-ent found the families along their belongings as well as their cattle have been miserably staying on the river protection banks. Severe drinking water, foods as well as fodder crisis

also appeared there.Riverbank erosion victims twice in one

year named Hossain Ali and Jobaier Hossain from Gubindi village blamed the assigned contractor for not starting the task in time.

On the contrary, Saghata UP Chairman Mo-sarraf Hossain Sweet blamed the board for not taking steps despite having necessary alloca-tion in the sector.

When contacted, Atikur Rahman, chief en-gineer (northern Rangpur) of water develop-ment board, said initially there was an alloca-tion of TK90 lakh to prevent the erosion and Tk2 cr more has been kept for the emergency fund in this regard.

Our Jamalpur correspondent says more than 100 families have been victim of the Ja-muna riverbank erosion in Belgacha union of Islampur upazila for last 15 days.

The erosion stretched for about 5m in the upazila, keeping the people living on the bank amid great uncertainty as no halt appears in it

despite improving the � ood state.Besides, famous Futail Bazar there faces on

the verge of extinction as several yards van-ished into riverbed last week.

Although the local water development board has started felling sacks � lled with sand on the erosion-prone bank with a cost of Tk1.58 lakh, the move failed to pull the dwell-ers from the tension.

Local businessmen named Barek, Kasim, Bimal, Niranjan, Debnath, Gias and Helal al-leged the authorities concerned have been felling jute sacks � lled with sand in lieu of geo-textile ones as the item is prone to rot, leaving no results in fact.

Jamalpur Water Development Executive Engineer Nabo Kumar Chowdhury said a Tk-207cr projects awaits permission to halt the Islampur erosion permanently.

About the allegation, the engineer said the jute sacks felling was just going on to check the unusual erosion initially. l

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:49PM SUN RISES 5:12AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

36.0ºC 25.0ºC

Rajshahi Rangamati

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 33 28Chittagong 33 26Rajshahi 32 27Rangpur 32 26Khulna 30 26Barisal 30 26Sylhet 33 26Cox’s Bazar 30 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:41am

Sunrise 5:11amZohr 12:00am

Asr 4:41pmMagrib 6:49pm

Esha 8:19pm

WEATHER

SUNDAY, JUNE 21

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Four jailers amongsix hurt in clashn Our Correspondent, Shariatpur

Six people, including four jailers of Shariatpur district jail, sustained injuries in a clash with locals over a tri� ing matter on Friday night.

They are Siddiqur Rahman Bepari, com-missioner of Ward 5 under Shariatpur munic-ipality, Majibur Rahman Talukder, and four jailers – Sujauddaulah, Shah Alam, Yakub Ali Mollah and Gias Uddin. Sujauddaulah is the chief jailer of the jail.

Of the six, Siddiqur, Majibur and Sujaud-daulah were sent to Dhaka for treatment and the others were admitted to Shariatpur Sadar Hospital.

Locals said the clash broke out after an altercation among two local men – Sha� q Kotwal and Masud – and two jailers – Sujaud-daulah and Yakub – when the latter went to have tea near the jail’s entrance after iftar.

More jailers arrived on the scene when the clash turned violent after a while. Police later came and calmed the two groups.

Shariatpur district jail’s Jailer Md Tariqul Islam � led a case with Palang police station against some 35 people, 10 of whom were named, yesterday morning.

Commissioner Siddiqur said he and sev-eral others went to mediate between the two groups but were injured by jailers. “Now the jailers want to harass us, which is why they named me and the others in the case.”

Rabeya Begum, wife of injured Majibur, also went to the police station to � le a case but police did not take it, saying the incident was false.

But Monirul Islam, o� cer-in-charge of Palang Model police station, said the case was not recorded as the initial inquiry proved that the incident was not true.

“The other case will be probed,” he said.l

MPs: Proposed budget to boost anti-poverty plansn BSS

Lawmakers from both the treasury and op-position benches yesterday highly appre-ciated the proposed budget for the 2015-16 � scal year terming it a big development plan, which would augment the anti-poverty pro-grammes of the government.

Taking part in the general discussion on the � scal plan in the Jatiya Sangsad, they said Bangladesh has achieved development in di� erent sectors as the Awami League-led government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier implemented six budgets in a successful manner.

The new budget, bearing the sign of eco-nomic emancipation of the common people, is possible to implement; if accountability and transparency can be ensured at all levels, they hoped.

They said the � scal measures indicate that Bangladesh is proceeding towards a tremen-dous development with the target of becom-ing the middle-income country by 2021.

The MPs said through implementation of six other pro-people budgets in a row the Sheikh Hasina’s government ensured tre-mendous progress of the country.

Trade and commerce have witnessed a re-markable development, the foreign exchange reserve increased signi� cantly, per capita in-

come has risen to a satisfactorily and employ-ment opportunities have become widened, they observed adding, a massive develop-ment is really visible in all sectors including, education, health, agriculture, infrastructure and ICT.

The lawmakers bitterly criticized the role of BNP-Jamaat saying that BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia ultimately refrained from unleashing terror in the name of hartal and blockade as the people rejected her agitation programme against an elected and democrat-ic government.

The lawmakers also praised Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Hasina for solving the longstand-ing enclaves issue through her farsighted di-plomacy and charismatic leadership.

Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowd-hury, State Minister for Women and Children A� airs Meher Afroz Chumki, treasury bench members Faruk Khan, Abu Syed Al Mahmud Swapon, Tipu Sultan, Mostaque Ahmed Robi, Mahbub Ali, Fazilatunnesa Bappi, Ha-bib-e-Millat and AKM Fazlul Haque, and op-position bench member - Nurul Islam Milon and Mamunur Rashid took part in the discus-sion with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaud-hury in the chair.

Finance Minister A M A Muhith placed a Taka 2 lakh 95 thousand 100 crore national budget for the � scal year 2015-16 (FY16) on

June 4 in parliament with a 7.0 percent GDP growth aiming at transforming Bangladesh into a developed country by 2041.

“The proposed budget is a big develop-ment budget, it is the � rst ever big volume budget as well. We will be able to implement the budget for 2015-16 like the previous ones,” Matia Chowdhury said while taking part in the discussion.

She said through this budgetary allocation it would be possible to achieve the MDGs tar-get and ensure the economic development of the country.

Matia said despite political unrest and destructive activities of BNP-Jamaat clique Bangladesh witnessed a GDP growth of 6.51 percent in the current 2014-15 � scal.

“The growth could have exceeded even 7 percent if a congenial political atmosphere prevailed in the country,” she mentioned.

The minister told the parliament that the country has already achieved a tremendous development in various sectors including investment, increasing foreign currency re-serve, achieving su� ciency in food produc-tion, satisfactory production of electricity, bringing down the poverty rate and increas-ing life

expectancy of the citizens.Referring to the Padma Multipurpose

Bridge, Matia said if the bridge is construct-

ed, the GDP growth would be increased by one percent.

She termed the Indian Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi’s visit to Dhaka a successful one in resolving the 68-year land boundary disputes with India and signing of 22 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and protocols.

Referring to BNP’s negative remark on re-gional connectivity that Bangladesh would not be bene� ted through it, the agriculture minister said, “BNP doesn’t know that no taxes are imposed when goods cross the ter-ritories member states within the European Union.”

State Minister Meher Afroz termed the budget a poor-friendly and development one and said this is sign of e� cient leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

She thanked both the Prime Minister and the � nance minister for placing a time-be� t-ting budget for the betterment of the mass people.

Faruk Khan said the proposed budget is pro-people, a role model of progress in the world and it would boost anti-poverty plans of the government.

He said Bangladesh has achieved develop-ment in various aspects due to the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who earlier implemented six budgets in a successful manner. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina exchanges greetings at an iftar hosted by her for the war-wounded freedom � ghters, orphans, physically-challenged children and Islamic scholars at her o� cial Ganobhaban residence on the second day of holy Ramadan yesterday BSS

Prime Minister hosts special iftar at Gonobhabann UNB

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday host-ed an iftar for orphans, physically-challenged children, war-wounded freedom � ghters (FFs) and alem-ulema (Islamic scholars) at her o� cial residence Gonobhaban.

Before the iftar, the Prime Minister went round di� erent tables set for the guests, ex-changed pleasantries with them and enquired about their well-being.

A special munajat was o� ered seeking con-tinued peace, progress and prosperity of the nation. Senior Pesh Imam of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque Maulana Mizanur Rahman

conducted the munajat.Prayers were also o� ered seeking eternal

peace of the departed souls of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rah-man, Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib and other martyrs of the August 15 massacre,four national leaders, martyrs of the War of Liberation and heroes of democratic move-ments.

Religious A� airs Minister Principal Motiur Rahman, Social Welfare Minister Mohsin Ali, Liberation A� airs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, PM’s Principal Secretary Md Abul Kal-am Azad and Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim were also present. l

NEWS 7D

T

WORLD8DTSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

‘Refugees welcome here,’ say Berlin demonstratorsn AFP, Berlin

Some 1,800 people took to the streets of Berlin yesterday to express their solidarity with migrants seeking refuge in Europe and against austerity measures in debt-ridden Greece, local police told AFP.

In a demonstration held on World Refugee Day by German opposition parties Die Linke (The Left) and Gruenen (The Greens), as well as several other leftist groups, protesters chanted: “No frontiers, no nations, stop de-portation!”

“Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are wel-come here,” cried others.

Marching from the bohemian Kreuzberg

district to Brandenburg gate, some of the protesters held up � ags of Greece and posters bearings slogans supporting Athens, as a criti-cal June 30 deadline in debt talks looms.

Should Greece fail to reach a deal with its international creditors to secure the last tranche of funds from its massive bail-out, it risks a catastrophic crash out of the eurozone.

This “technocratic, cold and neoliberal Eu-rope that is led by Germany is unbearable,” read one poster held up by a demonstrator.

Economic powerhouse Germany is seen by anti-austerity activists as taking uncompro-mising stances in the debt crises that have hit several European countries.

In Paris, hundreds including undocument-

ed migrants also demonstrated their solidari-ty with the thousands risking their lives in the Mediterranean, and with Greece, chanting “together, together, against austerity.”

In Rome too, scores of protesters braved the rain and gathered under the slogan “Stop the massacre now” to express solidarity with migrants risking their lives to sail across the Mediterranean Europe on rickety, overcrowd-ed boats. “We are here to save our Europe, which includes immigrants, refugees and Greece. Europe must belong to everyone, not just to the Germans and the banks,” said Lu-ciano Colletta, a 66-year-old pensioner, who stood along with the other protesters in front of the Colosseum. l

Polish opposition leader taps deputy for future PMn AFP, Warsaw

The leader of Poland’s conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, creat-ed surprise yesterday by nominating his dep-uty to become prime minister in the event of a conservative victory in autumn elections.

Addressing a PiS congress, Kaczynski said deputy president Beata Szydlo, 52, represent-ed the party’s best chance for “a big victory.”

Szydlo, who is also a member of parliament, managed the campaign of Andrzej Duda, a con-servative lawyer who staged an upset victory last month over popular incumbent Bronislaw Komorowski in presidential elections.

“If someone has to put together a team in the event of a win, it should be her,” Kaczyn-ski said, apparently renouncing the chance to head the next government if, as polls predict, PiS defeats the ruling centrist Civic Platform (PO) in the parliamentary vote.

Kaczynski, 66, served 16 months as pre-mier between 2006 and 2007.

Explaining his decision to let Szydlo take the reins in the event of an election win, he said: “Poland wants new faces and a new gen-eration. Beata Szydlo is both young and expe-rienced.” With just four months to go to the election polls show PiS pulling ahead.

A survey published by CBOS institute on Thursday found the party enjoying a 31 per-cent to 25 percent lead over Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz’s PO. l

Islamists kill 8 in attack on Somali police stationn Reuters, Mogadishu

Gunmen from the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab killed at least eight o� cers in a raid on a police station near the capital, police and the militants said yesterday.

Al Shabaab � ghters at about 1am local time stormed a police station on the edge of Afgoi town, 30km southwest of Mogadishu, kill-ing eight o� cers and stealing three pick up trucks, including one that had a machine gun mounted on it.

“Al Shabaab killed eight of my colleagues and took three of our cars last night,” Major Abdikadir Hussein, a police o� cer told Reu-ters from Afgoi. “We traced them this morning, killed 10 of them and secured our pick up car with a gun hooked on,” he added, saying the Islamists ran o� with the other two vehicles.

Al Shabaab, which wants to topple a West-ern-backed government in Mogadishu, has in the past stepped up the number of raids dur-ing the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Wednesday.

The group’s military operations spokes-man, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reu-ters his � ghters had killed 12 o� cers in the raid on the Afgoi police station and lost one gunman in the second battle.

“This morning the police attacked us and after a � ghting we burnt a police car. We left the pick-up car we had taken. One � ghter martyred from our side,” he said.

In the past, al Shabaab has exaggerated the number of soldiers it has killed, while o� cials have played down losses. l

Russia slams EU sanctions renewal as pointless ‘blackmail’n AFP, Moscow

Russia yesterday slammed the EU’s extension of sanctions over its annexation of Crimea as “blackmail” and vowed it would not be pres-sured into returning the peninsula to Ukraine.

“Crimea and Sevastopol are an integral part of the Russian Federation. It’s time to recognise this as a fact that cannot be changed with methods of economic and po-litical blackmail,” a statement by the Russian foreign ministry said.

Sanctions have “no prospects,” the state-ment said, further criticising the EU’s de-

cision Friday as “discrimination” and com-paring them with “historical examples of collective punishment of nations.”

Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014 fol-lowing the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych.

The Kremlin pointed to the results of a con-troversial referendum, which showed over-whelming support among Crimeans for a return to Moscow rule, as justi� cation for the move.

In response, the EU imposed asset freezes and visa bans on pro-Moscow rebel leaders and Russian � gures it said had conspired to strip Ukraine of Crimea.

As the Ukraine crisis deepened, the bloc widened the sanctions list over Crimea – while also imposing economic sanctions on Russia over its alleged involvement in an insurgency in Ukraine’s east – to include a ban on imports from and investment in the peninsula.

Friday’s decision covered the sanctions agreed in June 2014, which also included bans on cruise ships using Crimean ports and restrictions on exports of telecommunica-tions and transport equipment.

The measures will last until June 2016, the 28-nation bloc decided, condemning the “ille-gal annexation” of the Black Sea peninsula. l

Two demonstrators shake hands as they take part in a protest march against the British government’s spending cuts and austerity measures in London yesterday. Thousands of protesters marched through central London holding banners saying ‘End Austerity Now’ and ‘Defy Tory Rule’ AFP

WORLD 9D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Yemen hit by deadly car bomb as peace talks failn AFP, Sanaa

A car bomb near a mosque in Yemen’s capi-tal yesterday killed two people, as Saudi-led warplanes bombarded second city Aden, after peace talks in Geneva ended without agreement.

The explosion in Sanaa, controlled by Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels, went o� outside the Kobbat al-Mehdi mosque as Shiite Mus-lims emerged from midday prayers, witness-es and security sources said.

As well as the two dead, another 16 people were wounded, medical o� cials said.

The blast, which comes as Muslims ob-serve the fasting month of Ramadan, dam-aged the entrance of the mosque and shat-tered the windows of a nearby house, an AFP photographer reported.

The Islamic State group claimed responsi-bility for the attack, SITE Intelligence Group reported, the latest in a series that has target-ed Sanaa, which the Huthi rebels seized in September.

Since then they have expanded their con-trol to other parts of Sunni-majority Yemen, including Aden in the south, forcing Presi-dent Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his gov-ernment to � ee to Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, at least 31 people were killed and dozens wounded in � ve simulta-neous bombings, also claimed by the rad-ical Sunni Muslim jihadist group at Shiite mosques and o� ces in Sanaa.

Yesterday’s car attack came hours after Saudi-led warplanes launched 15 strikes against Huthi targets in the port city of Aden.

A pro-government military source said the dawn strikes pounded the northern, eastern and western approaches to Aden, to isolate the Huthis and support forces loyal to Hadi.

Yesterday the rebels shelled several neigh-bourhoods of Aden, killing four people and wounding several others, the military source said, a toll con� rmed by hospital o� cials.

The violence came after UN’s special en-voy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed an-nounced Friday in Geneva that talks between the warring sides ended without agreement.

“I won’t beat around the bush. There was no kind of agreement reached,” the Maurita-

nian diplomat told reporters.Yemen’s rivals blamed each other for the

deadlock.“I am disappointed. We did everything to

make the talks a success but there were too many obstacles, especially the demand for a withdrawal,” rebel delegation head Hamza al-Huthi told AFP.

Yemen’s exiled foreign minister blamed the lack of progress on the rebel delegation.

“We really came here with a big hope... but unfortunately the Huthi delegation did not allow us really to reach real progress as we expected,” said Riad Yassin.

The government is demanding in line with a UN Security Council resolution that the re-bels withdraw from the territory they control, but the Huthis have called for an uncondi-tional halt to the air strikes before they con-sider a pause in � ghting. l

Mumbai liquor poisoning deaths rise to 74n AFP, Mumbai

The death toll from India’s latest incident of mass alcohol poisoning following the con-sumption of toxic homemade liquor rose to 74 yesterday, Mumbai police said.

Dhananjay Kulkarni, police deputy com-missioner in the western Indian city, told AFP the number who had died from drinking the moonshine had increased from 53 late on Friday.

“Seventy-four have now died and 21 are re-ceiving treatment in hospital,” he said, adding that the toll was expected to increase further.

Victims � rst started to fall ill on Wednes-day morning after consuming the illegal booze and patients were still being admitted to hospital yesterday, the commissioner said.

Five people have so far been arrested for distributing and selling the alcohol in a slum in the suburb of Malad West, in the north of the city.

Eight police o� cers have also been sus-pended for “negligence” for allowing the sale to take place on their patch, Kulkarni said.

An investigation is taking place on wheth-er high levels of methanol were present in the moonshine, often called “country liquor” in India. l

Election success depends on stability of Myanmarn Reuters, Yangon

Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday the country would need to be stable for an election due in November to be successful and urged her party’s candi-dates to be open about their assets.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to do well in the parliamen-tary election, which will be the � rst free and fair vote in Myanmar in 25 years.

Suu Kyi remains barred from holding the president’s o� ce by the 2008 military-draft-ed constitution, which does not allow for in-dividuals with children who are foreign citi-zens to become president. Suu Kyi’s two sons are British.

She told members of the NLD at a two-day party conference in Yangon that instability could threaten the voting process.

“Stability is very important for the election period,” she said. “Instability should not be the reason to stray from the way the country is going.”

She did not mention any speci� c source of instability but religious tensions simmered in Myanmar for almost half a century of military rule, before boiling over in 2012, just a year after a semi-civilian government took power.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said in April the violent combustion of Buddhist nationalism and anti-Muslim senti-ment “could happen again in the politically charged context of an election.”

The NLD won Myanmar’s last real election in 1990 by a landslide, but the military nulli-� ed the result. The party boycotted the 2010 poll, widely regarded as rigged. Suu Kyi and 42 other members of the NLD were elected to parliament in by-elections held in 2012.

Suu Kyi told the party that potential NLD candidates for November would need to be open about their personal assets.

The call for transparency appeared to be a challenge to the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, which consists of a num-ber of the country’s high-pro� le businessman and former members of the military.

Proposed changes to the constitution, in-cluding the section that bars her from becom-ing president, were submitted to parliament on June 10. They are scheduled to be debated next week. However, the proposed changes would still bar Suu Kyi from holding Myan-mar’s top political position as it would allow individuals with children married to foreign-ers to be president, but still block those with foreign children. l

Saudi Arabia warns citizens against sharing ‘faked’ documentsn Reuters, Riyadh

Saudi Arabia yesterday urged its citizens not to distribute “documents that might be faked” in an apparent response to WikiLeaks’ publication on Friday of more than 60,000 documents it says are secret Saudi diplomatic communications.

The statement, made by the Foreign Min-istry on its Twitter account, did not directly deny the documents’ authenticity.

The released documents, which WikiLeaks said were embassy communications, emails between diplomats and reports from other state bodies, include discussions of Saudi Arabia’s position regarding regional issues and e� orts to in� uence media.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the released doc-uments. The world’s top oil exporter, an ab-solute monarchy, is highly sensitive to public criticism and has imprisoned activists for publishing attacks on the ruling Al Saud dy-nasty and senior clerics. It maintains tight control over local media.

Yesterday’s statement is the only o� cial government response since the release. l

Yemenis surround the wreckage of a vehicle outside the Kobbat al-Mehdi Shiite mosque in the capital Sanaa yesterday, after a car bomb targeting the area killed two people AFP

WORLD10DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

175 exposed to Thailand MERS patientn Reuters, Bangkok

A total of 175 people were exposed to Thai-land’s only case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and the patient’s condition has improved, the health ministry said yesterday.

In a statement, the ministry said it had been in touch with all 175 and had instructed them to stay away from public spaces and for medical personnel to monitor their health.

In South Korea, the health ministry said that no new cases of the disease had been re-corded in the country for the � rst time in 16 days. Health authorities said on Friday the outbreak � rst reported on May 20 seemed to have levelled o� . South Korea’s health min-istry said later yesterday that a 63-year-old male MERS patient with an existing heart ailment and diabetes had died, becoming the 25th fatality in an outbreak that had spread through hospitals and infected 166 people.

The virus was � rst detected in Thailand in a 75-year-old man from Oman who travelled to Bangkok for treatment of a heart condition.

On Thursday, the man was moved from Bumrungrad International Hospital to an in-fectious diseases facility.

Three relatives of the man are also being kept in isolation rooms at the institute and had tested negative for the virus, Surachet Satiniramai, acting permanent secretary at the health ministry, said yesterday.

Doctors at Bumrungrad Hospital said on Friday that it quarantined 58 sta� members. l

Japan to resume whaling hunt despite IWC warningn AFP, Tokyo

Japan said it would resume its controversial annual whale hunt despite the International Whaling Commission demanding the country provide more information to prove the pro-gramme is really for scienti� c research.

The IWC said Friday that Japan had failed to provide enough detail to explain the scien-ti� c basis of its “NEWREP-A proposal,” which would target 3,996 minke whales in the Ant-arctic over 12 years.

Joji Morishita, Tokyo’s commissioner to the global conservation body, responded late Friday telling reporters that the country would answer the queries from the IWC but its intentions would not be altered.

“There has been no change to our plan,” Morishita said. “As far as scienti� c points be-ing raised (by the IWC), we would like to re-spond with sincerity as much as possible,” he said, according to Jiji Press.

Regardless of the ruling by IWC, Japan can still press ahead with the “lethal sampling” hunt in the Southern Ocean, scheduled to be-gin in December, as it is ultimately up to indi-vidual countries to issue permits for whaling on scienti� c grounds.

Japan believes the world’s whale popula-tion, especially the minke stock, is sizeable enough to accommodate a return to sustaina-ble whaling, putting it at odds with campaign-ers and anti-whaling nations. l

Families of US church massacre victims o� er forgivenessn Reuters, Chaleston

As the young white man charged with mur-dering nine people inside an historic black church in South Carolina stood silently and expressionless at a court hearing on Friday, relatives of the slain worshippers faced him one by one, o� ering tearful words of grief and forgiveness.

Dylann Roof, 21, who authorities say spent an hour in Bible study with parishioners at the nearly 200-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston before open-ing � re on them, appeared via video feed before Chief Magistrate James Gosnell who ordered him held without bond.

Dressed in a black-and-white prison uni-form and � anked by two guards in body ar-mour, Roof exhibited no visible emotion during the proceedings, even as he was ad-dressed by loved ones of the victims. He was formally charged with nine counts of murder and a weapons o� ence.

“May God have mercy on your soul,” said Felicia Sanders, whose 26-year-old son, Ty-wanza Sanders, was the youngest person to die in Wednesday’s rampage. “You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I know. Every � bre in my body hurts.”

Felicia Sanders was said by a family friend interviewed by CNN to have survived the shooting rampage by lying on the � oor and playing dead as she cradled another survivor, her 5-year-old granddaughter, while her son’s blood soaked her clothes.

According to friends and family, Tywan-za Sanders pleaded with the gunman as he paused to reload his weapon, saying, “You don’t have to do this,” to which the suspect re-

plied: “No, you’ve raped our women and taken our country. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.”

Roof stared blankly, and glanced down-ward occasionally, as Sanders and four oth-er family members of the gunshot victims spoke of how he had been welcomed into to the church by the nine people he has been charged with slaying.

President Barack Obama, addressing the US Conference of Mayors in San Francisco, said the latest shooting exposed the “blight” of racism still present in America, and he railed against critics who have accused him of politicizing a tragedy to talk about tougher gun laws.

“You don’t see murder on this kind of scale, with this kind of frequency, in any oth-er advanced nation on Earth,” he said.

The US Justice Department is investigating the attack as both a hate crime and potential act of terrorism, spokeswoman Emily Pierce said on Friday.

Roof said little during his initial court ap-pearance, except to answer, “Yes, sir,” or “No, sir” in response to questions from the judge, and to give his age.

The victims’ family members � led into the courthouse in twos and threes before Roof’s

appearance, appearing composed as they stared into the video monitor at the defend-ant, who was arrested without incident in Shelby, North Carolina, on Thursday after 14 hours at large.

Roof could be sentenced to death if he convicted, and South Carolina Governor Nik-ki Haley, a Republican, urged prosecutors to seek capital punishment.

Still, family members o� ered words of mercy during the brief court appearance.

“I will never talk to her ever again. I will never ever hold her again,” said Lance’s daughter, Nadine Collier, who went on to tell Roof, “You hurt a lot of people, but God for-gives you and I forgive you.”

The defendant’s relatives, in their � rst public comment since the shooting, issued a statement through Roof’s lawyer o� ering their “deepest sympathies and condolences” to the victims’ families.

“Words cannot express our shock, grief and disbelief as to what happened that night. We are devastated and saddened by what oc-curred,” the statement said.

The racially charged nature of the shoot-ing has had a special resonance in Charleston, once one of the largest ports for the US slave trade and the site of the � rst shots � red during the American Civil War, at the battle of Fort Sumter, a Union garrison in Charleston Harbor.

“This was not merely a mass shooting, not merely a matter of gun violence, this was a racial hate crime and must be confronted as such,” said Cornell William Brooks, presi-dent of the NAACP. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in 1909 to confront lynchings in the United States. l

Performers take part in the re-enactment of ‘The French Attack’ battle as part as the bicentennial celebrations for the Battle of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Belgium on June 19 REUTERS

11D

TEDITORIALSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

INSIDE

There is no excuse for the spillage of 90,000 litres of furnace oil into the Karnaphuli River near Chittagong on Friday.

A locomotive and three oil wagons derailed when the Number 24 Shakerpool bridge collapsed, injuring two drivers

and causing oil to spill into the river.Furnace oil has spread into farmland and water bodies several

kilometers away threatening � sh in the Balkhash Canal which links to the Karnaphuli’s waters. Urgent action is needed to clean up the contamination to bring back biodiversity to the river and protect local livelihoods.

Just as important, Bangladesh Railway needs to answer to the public how and when it will act to prevent repetitions of this type of accident.

The bridge in question was � rst identi� ed as a safety risk by Bangladesh Railway eight years ago, but there is no satisfactory explanation for why scheduled repair works were never completed.

The accident is a near-repeat of the rail accident two years ago, which caused 60,000 litres of furnace oil to seep into the Karnaphuli. A similar derailing also took place nearby at Fouzdarhat Railway Station in Sitakunda upazila last July, when � ve wagons carrying furnace oil and a locomotive derailed contaminating the waters of Bay of Bengal.

It is clear that lessons have not been learned from previous accidents. Recommendations made by the Department of Environment after the Kalurghat Bridge incident in 2013 for introducing oil wagons which would not spill if turned upside down, have not been followed.

The government must act to ensure that lessons are learned this time and recommendations and improvements are put into practice to improve railway safety practices.

Ensure Bangladesh Railway implements recommendations this time to stop preventable accidents

When will we learn?

Building a better city

Yoga for peacePracticing yoga revives our dormant en-ergy. These exercises rejuvenate tissues and help new cell formation

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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PAGE 14

What is the true spirit of Ramadan? With all the apparent piety shown during the days, the glaring hypocrisy of a society slip-sliding into a state of dead conscience is what shines the brightest

When a person spends 4-5 hours on the street just to cover 3-4 kilometres to go to work and return home, the basis of the governing system must be re-evaluated

DHAKA TRIBUNE

OPINION12DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

n SM Shahrukh

The holiest month in Islam has started; people are abstaining from food and drink from sun-up to sun-down, kneeling their heads to

the prayer mat in all earnestness, reading the holy book at every opportunity, prayer beads circling at whirlwind speed as the name of Allah is glori� ed, in prescribed form or personal ways -- not all are in the loop of solemnity, but many are.

As I walk past a mosque during Asr prayers, I notice throngs have accumulated to join the congregation, more than the people I prayed with during the weekly jumma prayers in my childhood; one has to consider the population boom too. Do I notice an extra fervour in performing religious rituals? Going the extra mile to get the attention and graces of God?

Do we see the re� ection of such piety in our regular lives during the other eleven months of the year? Or even during this holy month? I sigh in exasperation -- the moral turpitude shines in a dark gloom of blackness all year round!

The television channels are full of programs that extol the virtues of abiding by the rules of this special month, especially taking up the air time before iftar or the time of breaking the day-long fast. Clerics and other academics are speaking in forceful terms what the dos and don’ts are

of the month, or about the prayer that the abstention of the daylight hours constitutes.

Somber voices sing praises of the Almighty as special sections of the Qur’an are beautifully recited with meanings of the verses often shown in subtitles. Strong warnings are sounded out about the maintenance of religious diktats in the performance of one’s business and regular life.

I doubt very much if people keep such words in their hearts for long -- hypocrisy rules the day as depravity seems to climb new heights during this month.

The Dhaka Tribune reported the seizure of about 70 metric tonnes of expired and rotting dates. The trader in question had no qualms about putting new “dates of expiration” on the packages.

It begs the question as to how many tonnes of rotten, needless to say, harmful dates have already been consumed during the � rst day of Ramadan and would it ever be possible to catch all the adulterated foods from the markets?

The new mayor of Dhaka South sounded o� a warning to one and all about mixing arti� cial dyes and other harmful ingredients in the iftar items. Are the malcontents,

immersed in the making of a quick pro� t and taking advantage of the people’s needs, shaking in their boots? I don’t think so.

Prices of essentials skyrocket as the “glory and teachings of the holy month” are overlooked in a wholesale manner. Adulteration of foodstu� s will not shake the conscience of the unscrupulous; there will be no reining in the tendency to pro� t

in astronomical numbers, taking advantage of the special situation of the month. The demand-supply-price triangle will lose all meaning as, come what may, prices will spiral out of control to satiate the greed that is never in short supply, the teachings of God or the holy book kept in abeyance as � lling one’s pockets takes precedence.

Expensive cigarette packs will contain cheap cigarettes with more harmful cheap tobacco; bottles and cans of drinks of well renowned brands will contain liquids that will quench the thirst while damaging the insides; the oil used for frying food items, much in demand during the month, can quite often be called a toxic soup of impending doom; fruits and vegetables will contain ripening and preserving agents that one shouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole.

The clamour from all quarters is that of strict monitoring by all government agencies. Justi� ed? Very much so and quite expected, but one must remember that it is people that constitute such monitoring agencies and they are just as susceptible to human frailties (read: Greed or avarice).

It pains one at the state of moral degradation during this holiest of months. With all the apparent piety shown during the days, the glaring hypocrisy of a society slip-sliding into a state of dead conscience is what shines the brightest. l

SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

What is the true spirit of Ramadan?

With all the apparent piety shown during the days, the glaring hypocrisy of a society slip-sliding into a state of dead conscience is what shines the brightest

We may be praying more during Ramadan, but are we keeping its spirit alive? NASHIRUL ISLAM

OPINION 13D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

n Gobinda Chandra Das

The International Day of Yoga, proclaimed by the United Nations, is being observed across the world today, including in Bangladesh, to

raise awareness about the importance of yoga.

Recognising its universal appeal, the UN, on December 11, 2014, proclaimed June 21 as International Yoga Day by resolution 69/131. The day aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many bene� ts of practicing yoga.

Every person in this world is craving peace and happiness. Whatever we do, it is with the ultimate goal of achieving happiness. Not only individuals, but also every nation -- in fact, the entire world -- is praying for world peace. Every year, a person who has made a signi� cant contribution towards world peace is honoured with the Nobel Prize.

But nobody knows the way to bring this peace into the world. There are many solutions to these problems, but no agreement has been reached, and universal peace still remains a distant dream. Some people are of the opinion that a single religion for the entire world is the key.

Some people follow the ways of Christianity or Islam. On the other hand, some people swear by Buddhism or Jainism. India is over� owing with teachers and gurus who make tall promises of world peace.

But none of these religions or thought processes is broad enough to convince the entire population of the world with their philosophy. Each one has its own limitations. E� orts to spread one religion have always resulted in bloody wars and violence.

In short, solutions for world peace are failing, even though they are genuine because they lack vision and the potential to address all aspects of the problem. All these religions or cults promise you plenty, but fail to deliver “peace,” and one tends to fall prey to blind superstitions, myths, and wrong practices in the process.

A person gets entangled in the web of half-truths and moves away from reality. In this scenario, can’t we have a path that is free from any religious belief? Can’t we have a philosophy of life that a person of any religion or nationality can follow? Can the entire world join hands and walk on this path towards world peace?

What is this magical solution that will protect each individual’s national pride, religious belief, and is free from any sel� sh interest or greed? That promises individuals joy, peace, and prosperity in their personal lives and shows them a path to world peace that they can adopt fearlessly? Yoga.

Yoga gives us insight and helps us know more about the self. The dormant inner powers blossom to give complete bliss and an introduction to the true self. It enables one to meet the supreme soul and attain complete bliss.

Indian sages have prescribed many methods to achieve this goal. We will mainly follow the asanas and pranayamas given in Ashtang yoga (Yam, Niyam, Asan, Pranayam, Pratyahar, Dharana, Dhyan, and Samadhi) or the eight main aspects of Yog. We will also cover the six supporting actions or Shatkarma’s or Hatha Yog.

Practicing yoga (pranayam, meditation, neurobic acupressure) revives our dormant energy. These exercises rejuvenate tissues and help new cell formation. Light yogic exercises reactivate the nervous system, and regulate blood circulation. They reinstate fresh energy in the body.

According to the laws of physiology, when the body contracts and expands, energy is developed and diseases get cured. This can be achieved with the help of di� erent yogic asanas. With the practice of pranayamas and asanas, the glands and muscles of the body contract and expand, and diseases get cured naturally.

Yoga also keeps the veins healthy. It helps the pancreas to become active and produces insulin in the right quantity, which helps in curing diabetes and related diseases.

Health is directly linked with the digestive system. The improper functioning of the digestive system is the prime cause of most diseases.

On top of all that, yoga strengthens the entire digestion process, making every part of the body healthy and active. Fresh air enters the lungs, making them healthier, which keeps diseases like asthma, respiratory problems, allergy etc away. Fresh air also strengthens the heart.

Yogic exercises dissolve fat deposits which makes the body light, healthy, and attractive. Yog is bene� cial for a thin and lean physique as well.

Along with physical � tness, yog also a� ects the subtle senses, the intellect, and the mind. Yoga controls the working of organs and helps the mind to detach itself from worldly concerns.

The follower of Ashtang yoga passes with great ease from the darkness of ignorance towards a joyous, peaceful, and ever-illuminated existence by connecting with the supreme soul. Tada Drastuh Svarupe Vasthanam.

Thus, we can embark on the path of yoga and experience the inner happiness of connecting with the Supreme Being and attain physical, mental, intellectual, and spiritual progress. l

Gobinda Chandra Das is Director, Holistic Health Care Centre.

Yoga for peace

Yoga helps us know ourselves BIGSTOCK

Practicing yoga revives our dormant energy. These exercises rejuvenate tissues and help new cell formation

OPINION14DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

n M Siddique Hossain

There is a saying: “If you do not know where you are going, then it does not matter how you get there.” If the situation is like this, it is unsettling

to consider where we will end up. Dhaka city needs a master plan to solve the problems it is facing today.

Dhaka is a very messy city. Everywhere, some sort of development work is going on. The state of the city in terms of living standards, quality of services, and life is going from bad to worse. It is a problem that the Dhaka City Corporation and its associated authorities have created for its people over the last 60 years or so.

One will need to use a master plan to solve the problems of this city. It will be a di� cult idea for people to buy. Nothing is wrong with being an optimist, however.

The idea of a master plan is, I think, un-workable. The reasons are very clear. Firstly, Dhaka is one of the worst cities in the world in terms of quality of life. Secondly, Bangla-desh is one of the most corrupt nations on Earth.

As a result, a master plan will not work here to � x these grave problems. In order to invite real change and economic develop-ment for the bene� t of the masses, we need to attack the problems from many di� erent fronts simultaneously.

For example, today’s education system has been unproductive in many respects. It has not been producing quality graduates who are able to take charge of the responsi-bilities the nation needs to bestow on them. Many poorly quali� ed people are entrusted with heavy responsibilities.

This in turn has been creating huge ine� -ciencies and knowledge gaps in the govern-ing system. We know ine� ciency breeds corruption, which only breeds even more corruption. Corruption itself is � lthy, and it

keeps the surrounding environment � lthy as well.

Gradually, the governing system has been becoming dysfunctional. We are forgetting what government is, what the purpose of having a government is, and what the role of the people in the governing system is.

We need to reform our education system and declare an all-out war against corruption in order to bring necessary fundamental changes to the country. That reformed environment will allow us to produce quality and capable personnel for the nation, who are going to come up with new ideas and

solutions for existing problems that, not just Dhaka city, but the entire nation has been facing.

Once that environment for production of quality and capable personnel takes root, what we do and how much we spend to do something are going to have to be veri� ed, audited, and � nally certi� ed by one or many independent non-political institutions.

For example, whatever the government spends on its annual budget and the selected projects, the checks, balances, and auditing would be there to certify that the government has been spending taxes and revenues ap-

propriately following the rules, regulations, and laws of the country. Any discrepancy is going to be handled legally with appropriate and full measure of justice and punishment. Otherwise, everything we do is going to be counter-productive.

We, the ordinary citizens of Bangladesh, must learn how not to complain against the government, but how to come together outside of the party line and reform and modify a dysfunctional governing system into a solid, smoothly operational governing system and then, to keep it functional continuously.

We need to identify what should be the micro-basis and basic elements for a govern-ing system, how it should be devised, and how a government should come into exist-ence for ruling the people in the � rst place.

When a person spends 4-5 hours on the street just to cover 3-4 kilometres to go to work and return home, the basis of the governing system must be re-evaluated. Without the micro-basis and basic elements of governing, the governing system is going to rule people in a total chaotic, abusive, and intrusive manner and will remain dysfunctional.

Ruling people without having a � rm control over corruption and handle on the basic elements of governing, the � lth and corruption will always prevail. Dhaka city (or the whole nation) is not going to be free of internal domination and social oppression. The su� ering of the common people will continue unless we have a vision for major and realistic changes.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is a name that is inseparable from the identity of Bangladesh. Mujib Nagar was the � rst capital of this coun-try. This mess in Dhaka is an opportunity to build a new and modern city, Mujib Nagar, on the Bank of Shitalakkha. As a by-product of this endeavour, Mujib Nagar, Dhaka is bound to become a better city.

Look at America, and how they have paid tribute to George Washington. By building Mujib Nagar, this nation could display the most deserving gratitude to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and change the course of history by creating twin cities, one on the bank of the Buriganga, and the other on the bank of Shitalakkha. l

M Siddique Hossain is Director, MBA/EMBA Program, Eastern University.

The condition of our roads only goes from bad to worse SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

When a person spends 4-5 hours on the street just to cover 3-4 kilometres to go to work and return home, the basis of the governing system must be re-evaluated

Building a better city

15D

TBusiness SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Japan export slowdown could weigh on Q2 GDP growth

17Stock market stays � at with high volatility

19Euro zone sets emergency summit on Greece as money � ees

16Bank Division concerned about state banks’ performance

20

Leased aircraft eats up Tk100cr The damaged Biman airship is now ready to � y after three months’ remaining idle n Ishtiaq Husain

Boeing 777-200ER, a leased aircraft of Biman Bangladesh airlines, has incurred over Tk100 crore loss for having been grounded over the past three months due to engine damage.

The aircraft, however, is now ready to � y after its repairs in Egypt following a long pro-crastination.

The leasing airlines, EgyptAir, was dil-ly-dallying to replace the engine while Biman had to count Tk10 crore per month as rent. In addition, Biman will bear all maintenance cost of the aircraft.

EgyptAir was bound to carry out the task of engine replacement, according to the deed Biman signed with the airlines.

Meanwhile, the national � ag carrier had been incurring a loss Tk1 crore per day, as it was not � ying. The leased Boeing was in the hanger of Hazrat Shajalal International Air-port for about two months instead of making round commercial trip.

Moreover, at the end of May, EgyptAir took the aircraft to Egypt for its repairs and � nally it arrived at Dhaka yesterday after the engine replacement.

Asked, Biman Managing Director & CEO Kyle Haywood told The Dhaka Tribune that the aircraft is repaired and it has arrived at

Dhaka yesterday. He, however, didn’t answer about the loss

the aircraft incurred because of remaining grounded over the past three months.

The state-run airlines, Biman, leased two Boeing 777-200ER aircraft from EgyptAir to resume Dhaka-New York � ight.

An o� cial of engineering department

of Bangladesh Biman said one Boeing was grounded in early April while it was returning from Singapore.

These two aircraft were grounded at least 15 times in the last one year due to technical glitch. It was also grounded twice at Frankfurt in Germany. The Biman management planned to replace the engine of the Boeing aircraft as

it was fully damaged. Biman took the two aircraft for � ve years

on dry lease (Leasing aircraft without crew) at the beginning of 2014.

The national � ag carrier did so only to re-sume � ight on Dhaka-New York route as it is not allowed to land in US territory.

As EgyptAir falls under the category-1 air-craft list, Biman leased the aircraft from that country.

According to FAA rules, only category-1 air-craft can land in USA while Biman had been category-2 from a few years back.

The then managing director of Biman, Kevin Steele, also failed to resume Dha-ka-New York � ight.

Biman stopped operation on the route in 2006 because of a huge amount of loss.

Later, it leased Boeing 777-200ER in short haul route like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Middle East which is costly, according to Avi-ation experts.

It was not wise on the part of Biman to lease two Boeing 777-200ERs from EgyptAir since the aircraft are used for non-stop and long-haul � ights, an o� cial of Biman said, wishing anonymity.

It would have been much better if Biman had leased some planes suitable for short and medium haul � ights, he suggested. l

Alliance raises concern over Muhith’s criticism n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safe-ty has expressed its concern over the recent comments made by Finance Minister AMA Muhith regarding the activities of the North American RMG retailers’ group.

It also urged the government to clarify its position on both the work being performed and signi� cant � nancial contributions being made toward improving factory in RMG in-dustry.

Alliance and its member companies are concerned to see comments attributed to Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith criticising e� orts to improve safety in the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh, said the Alliance in a statement posted on its o� cial website on Friday.

“I am truly shocked that a member of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet would criti-cise e� orts aimed at enhancing safety in the ready-made garment sector, which employs more than 4m women and men and is one of

the largest contributors to Bangladesh’s grow-ing economy,” said Ellen Tauscher, independ-ent chair of the Alliance.

Tauscher said, “The Alliance urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government to clarify their position on the great work being done and signi� cant � nancial contri-butions being made toward improving facto-ry safety, and make clear their intentions to continue this work for the bene� t of factory workers, the garment industry and the coun-try as a whole.”

Comments like those attributed to the � -nance minister and other o� cials in Bangla-

desh raise serious and signi� cant concerns about the commitment of the government to this unprecedented and private sector-led and funded safety initiative, Tauscher said.

“I am hopeful that the government of Bang-ladesh will clarify its position and demon-strate unequivocal support for the Alliance and other initiatives working to improve the safety of its people and the sustainability of its economy,’’ said Tauscher.

On June 15, Muhith has termed the recent activities of the Accord and Alliance as ‘nooses’ in the growth of the country’s RMG sector.

Terming the directives of the Accord and Alliance ‘un-fortunate’ the minister alleged that this kind of activities are hindering the activities of the garment factories. Following the deadliest factory collapse in 2013, the Alliance commit-ted to invest $50m over a � ve

year period to upgrade member factories to meet international � re and safety standards and ensure garment workers are not risking their lives to earn a living.

The Alliance already has inspected 100% factories from which its members source and is working to implement corrective action plans (CAP) and assist factory owners with remediation e� orts. l

‘I am hopeful that the government of Bangladesh will clarify its position and demonstrate unequivocal support for the Alliance and other initiatives’

BUSINESS16DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Managing director and CEO of Green Delta Insurance Company Limited, Farzana Chowdhury has recently presented a paper on insurance at Harvard University, Boston. The topic of the paper was related to insurance being an integral partner for RMG sector of Bangladesh

Mercantile Bank Limited has recently completed implementation of a core banking software named Temenos T24 at all of its branches in Bangladesh. The bank, at the presence of its chairperson, Al-haj Akram Hussain Humayun has celebrated the occasion

Eurozone sets emergency summit on Greece as money � ees n Reuters, Athens

Euro zone leaders will hold an emergency summit on Monday to try to avert a Greek de-fault after bank withdrawals accelerated and government revenue slumped as Athens and its international creditors remain deadlocked over a debt deal.

Finance ministers of the 19-nation cur-rency bloc failed to make any breakthrough on a cash-for-reforms agreement at talks in Luxembourg on Thursday, just 12 days before Greece must make a crucial debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund.

“Regrettably ... too little progress has been made. No agreement is in sight,” Jeroen Dijs-selbloem, chairman of the Eurogroup, told a news conference. Ministers sent a strong sig-nal that it is up to Greece to make new propos-als, he said.

European Council President Donald Tusk said in a statement he had summoned heads of state and government of the euro area to meet in Brussels at 1700 GMT on Monday.

“It is time to urgently discuss the situation of Greece at the highest political level,” Tusk said.

German and EU o� cials dismissed a Ger-man newspaper report that the creditors were preparing a � nal o� er to extend Greece’s bail-out programme until the end of the year with-out IMF involvement, and let Athens use 10bn euros ($11.37bn) in aid earmarked for bank re-capitalisation to pay o� liabilities to the Euro-pean Central Bank and the IMF.

Dijsselbloem said if there was a last-min-

ute deal next week, there would have to be some extension of the current bailout to allow time for disbursement.

Greek savers pulled out some 2bn euros between Monday and Wednesday after week-end negotiations collapsed in Brussels, senior banking sources told Reuters. That is double the amount that the European Central Bank granted Greek banks in extra emergency li-quidity assistance (ELA) this week.

The IMF dashed any hope that Athens

could avert default if it fails to repay a 1.6bn euro ($1.8bn) loan by the end of June, piling pressure on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who shows no sign of yielding to the lenders.

If deposit � ight continues to outpace ELA, it could force Greece to impose capital controls, as Cyprus did in 2013, to ration cash withdraw-als and stop money � eeing the country.

The 2 billion euros taken out in just three days represents about 1.5% of total household and corporate deposits of 133.6bn euros held

by Greek banks as of end-April. A � nance ministry spokesman declined

comment on the latest capital out� ows. A government spokesman said on television late on Wednesday there was no plan to intro-duce controls.

Tsipras, elected on a promise to end aus-terity, is demanding a “political level” bargain in which European creditors promise Greece debt relief before he will make any more con-cessions.

But the deposit � ight and revenue slump may force him to climb down, with the Greek central bank warning of economic catastrophe if Greece defaults and leaves the euro zone.

Athens reported a steep 24.6% fall in its revenues in May, including a 50% fall in tax returns, even though the central government posted a primary surplus before debt service in the � rst � ve months of this year.

Finance ministry o� cials said it was main-ly due to a slump in tax payments by compa-nies, hard hit by a return to recession.

Escape hatch closed IMF boss Christine Lagarde closed one of Greece’s last potential escape hatches, declar-ing that the global lender would consider Ath-ens in default if it misses the June payment, despite reports there might be some leeway.

“It will be in default, it will be in arrears vis-a-vis the IMF on July 1, but I hope it is not the case, I really do,” Lagarde told reporters in Luxembourg. “There is no grace period or two-month delay, as I have seen here and there,” she said. l

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis talks to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde (right) during a euro zone � nance ministers meeting in Luxembourg REUTERS

IMF: Greece faces IMF default on July 1 without a deal n Reuters, Luxembourg

Greece will be in default with the Interna-tional Monetary Fund at the start of July if it fails to make a repayment on June 30 because there is no grace period or possibility to delay, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday.

“It will be in default, it will be in arrears vis-a-vis the IMF on July 1, but I hope it is not the case, I really do,” Lagarde told reporters following a meeting with the Luxembourg � -nance minister.

“There is no grace period or two-month delay, as I have seen here and there,” she said, speaking before a euro zone � nance ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

Lagarde said a reform of the Greek pen-sion system was critical to sealing a deal with Athens, although small pensioners should be protected.

“Everybody knows that. The Greek author-ities know that as well. They have to address all sorts of issues,” she said.

“It is not a question of cutting the small pensions, but the program of � nancing the pensions has to hold,” she said, adding that more than 16% of Greece’s economic output

went to pay pension bene� ts, which was “way more than the average, pretty much everywhere.”

She also defended the IMF program with Greece as “credible and � exible” and was supported by the many countries that made up the Washington-based lender.

Deal still possible Financial markets re� ected growing alarm about the risk of a Greek default. European shares fell and Greek shares .ATG hit a new three-year-low.

In a sign of growing nervousness among many Greeks about their country’s fate, pro-euro demonstrators planned a rally in central Athens, calling for an end to the dead-lock. The previous day, anti-austerity protest-ers rallied in support of the government and against policies set by lenders.

“I’m still convinced: where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Merkel told German lawmak-ers. “If those in charge in Greece can muster the will, an agreement ... is still possible.”

Merkel faces growing resistance in her rul-ing conservatives to granting Greece any more bailout money. A narrow majority of Germans now favour of Greece leaving the euro zone. l

BUSINESS 17D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Japan export slowdown could weigh on Q2 GDP growth n Reuters, Tokyo

Japan’s export growth slowed for a second straight month in May, with weak external demand now threatening to erode economic growth in the current quarter.

Ministry of Finance (MOF) data showed exports grew 2.4% year-on-year in May, less than a 3.5% gain seen by economists and a 8% rise in the prior month. Compared with April, exports fell 2.7%.

Export growth, in tandem with domestic demand, is seen as crucial for building on the momentum evident from recent data show-ing stronger-than-expected economic expan-sion - led by corporate capital expenditure at the start of the year.

The data will be scrutinised by the Bank of Japan, which is expected to keep its monetary stimulus programme unchanged at its policy review later this week, after having o� ered a

slightly more upbeat view of the economy last month.

“Exports are undoubtedly weak and the momentum is stalling due to slowdown in China,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

“Exports are likely to keep a drag on eco-nomic growth, which could grind to a halt or turn negative in the current quarter given weak private consumption and external de-mand.”

Shipments to China, Japan’s largest trad-ing partner, grew 1.1%, slowing from a 2.4% gain in April. China-bound car exports nearly halved from a year ago.

Exports to Asia, which account for more than half of Japan’s shipments, rose 3.3%, af-ter a 6% gain in April.

Exports to the United States, a key market for Japanese goods, rose 7.4% in the year to May, led by car shipments but slowed sharply

from the prior month’s 21.3% gain. US-bound export volume fell for the � rst time in six months.

Imports fell 8.7% in the year to May due to annual declines in energy prices, versus the economists’ median estimate for a 7.5% de-cline. That brought the trade balance to a de� -cit of 216bn Japanese yen ($1.75bn), roughly in line with a 226bn yen de� cit expected.

Revised gross domestic product data showed this month export growth slowed to 2.4% in January-March from 3.2% in the pre-vious quarter, re� ecting slowdown in the US and Chinese economies.

Imports outpaced exports, causing exter-nal demand to shave 0.2% o� � rst-quarter economic growth.

The Japanese currency hit a 13-year low above 125 yen to the dollar this month before gaining some ground, but is down about 20% for the year. l

A woman pushes a wheeled walker at a shopping street REUTERS

Trading illiquidity theories lack solid groundn Antony Currie

Trading illiquidity is the bugbear du jour for Wall Street and the City of London. Black-stone boss Stephen Schwarzman is just the latest � nancial bigwig to argue that the en-forced shrinkage of banks’ activities is hurt-ing liquidity so badly, particularly in bond markets, that it could fuel the next crisis. A look at how markets have changed – and how brokers actually behave – suggests otherwise.

The argument, which echoes others’ in-cluding JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs No 2 Gary Cohn, goes something like this. New regulations make it too expensive for middlemen like JP-Morgan and Goldman Sachs to keep as big an inventory of sovereign and corporate bonds as they used to. That means banks have less ability to step in and buy securities from cli-ents when markets get into trouble.

Data from the Federal Reserve con� rm that US primary dealers now hold around $50bnof corporate bonds, down 80% from a peak of around $250bn in 2007. Other information also suggests market depth has decreased – trading volume has increased but the dollar size of trades has fallen – making it harder for bond traders to buy or sell signi� cant blocks of securities without moving market prices. Tak-en as a whole, the logic continues, this means there’s a newfangled danger of a spiral of sell-ing that could make any crisis much worse.

Brokers are certainly more careful with their capital than they used to be. But the argument has enough holes to let a thou-sand-year � ood through, not least that the trend in the Fed data, at least, largely disap-pears if the starting point is set in less frothy 2003, say, than at the peak of the US mortgage bubble. Perhaps more importantly, though, there are plenty of things happening in � -nancial markets that are unrelated to brokers downsizing.

In corporate bonds, for example, the nature of the market is changing. Far more companies now sell bonds than at the time of the crisis. There has been a 71% increase in the number of issuers in the US high-grade market since 2009, according to JPMorgan. That gives bond-holders a better shot at diversi� cation, a signif-icant bonus from an investing point of view.

This change comes with a liquidity penal-ty, however. Bigger-sized bond issues, from prominent borrowers, have long been easier to trade than smaller ones. Yet because there are more issuers, the share of companies with debt that accounts for 0.5% or more of the US high-grade bond index has shrunk to around a third from 50% in the past six years.

The debt of those bigger issuers traded on average 31% more than other paper last year, according to JPMorgan – a trend the bank’s an-alysts say has persisted for a long time. They also reckon that the increase in more compa-nies borrowing smaller amounts accounts for almost 10% of the decline in high-grade bond turnover since 2006.

That doesn’t even address the increasing role played in the market by non-banks. Mu-tual funds and exchange-traded funds own far more bonds than they used to. The two classes of funds now hold 22% of US high-yield bonds, almost double the proportion nine years ago, according to Lipper. l

India’s economic growth potential higher than 7-7.5% n Reuters, New York

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thurs-day that economic reforms in the legislative pipeline can push India’s economic growth rate above the 7 to 7.5% range.

India’s economy, Asia’s third largest, is ex-pected to grow 7.5% this year, according to the latest World Bank forecast, which would make it the world’s fastest growing economy in 2015. The government has a growth fore-

cast of 8.1-8.5% while the central bank has a 7.6% gross domestic product growth target.

“Neither the government, nor the people, nor the industry whose representatives, some of whom are here, nobody is very excited about a 7-7.5% growth rate in India,” Jaitley said during a discussion with Timothy Geithner, president of investment � rm Warburg Pincus and a former U S Treasury Secretary.

“Because a series of reform � xes which are

in the pipeline and are to be implemented, we have now identi� ed all the problem areas, and I think one by one as we go resolving most of them, hopefully we should reach what our destination targets are,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one year in power, has sparked optimism that he can implement economic reforms and alleviate bureaucratic overload in India that is seen as a hindrance to attracting foreign investment and ultimately stronger economic growth. l

BUSINESS18DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 1143.70 5.82 65.01 3.21 1208.71 5.58NBFI 461.18 2.35 25.47 1.26 486.64 2.25Investment 142.03 0.72 9.03 0.45 151.05 0.70Engineering 2022.17 10.29 196.64 9.72 2218.82 10.24Food & Allied 1338.42 6.81 39.21 1.94 1377.63 6.36Fuel & Power 2837.41 14.44 243.80 12.05 3081.21 14.22Jute 29.29 0.15 0.00 0.00 29.29 0.14Textile 2982.68 15.18 341.47 16.88 3324.15 15.34Pharma & Chemical 2960.40 15.07 355.04 17.55 3315.44 15.30Paper & Packaging 57.52 0.29 8.88 0.44 66.40 0.31Service 816.92 4.16 46.83 2.32 863.75 3.99Leather 110.58 0.56 10.87 0.54 121.45 0.56Ceramic 399.56 2.03 16.38 0.81 415.94 1.92Cement 772.73 3.93 256.14 12.66 1028.87 4.75Information Technology 217.18 1.11 17.68 0.87 234.86 1.08General Insurance 85.53 0.44 3.13 0.15 88.66 0.41Life Insurance 280.14 1.43 21.10 1.04 301.23 1.39Telecom 1117.58 5.69 97.89 4.84 1215.47 5.61Travel & Leisure 1051.31 5.35 168.02 8.31 1219.33 5.63Miscellaneous 819.33 4.17 100.19 4.95 919.52 4.24Debenture 0.52 0.00 0.09 0.00 0.61 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 disclosuresASIAINS: The Board of Directors has recommended 10% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. Date of AGM: 11.07.2015, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: Kings Hall of Spectra Convention Centre Limited at House 19, Road 07, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212. Record Date: 23.06.2015. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 1.10, NAV per share of Tk. 17.11 and NOCFPS of Tk. 1.38 for the year ended on December 31, 2014.TOSRIFA: The Board of Direc-tors has recommended 5% cash and 7% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014. The Company has also reported net pro� t after tax of Tk. 104.43 Million, EPS of Tk. 3.03, NAV per share of Tk. 37.44 and NOCFPS of Tk. 3.90 for the year ended on December 31, 2014. The Board expressed their willingness to include the IPO Shareholders in the forthcoming AGM, so the Record Date, Venue and Date of AGM will be noti� ed later on after listing with the stock exchanges.Audited/unaudited Financial Reports: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 num-

ber 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.Fixed Assets/Right/Invest-ment:HAKKANIPUL: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the sanction of loan for Tk. 422.50 million only from Social Islami Bank Limited, Agrabad Branch to implement the BMRE and Tissue project to produce Glossy, O� set and quality Tissue paper. Production capacity will be increased about 60 ton per day.HAKKANIPUL: In connection to their earlier news (dissem-inated by DSE on 14th June, 2015) regarding Sanction of loan to implement the BMRE and Tissue Project, the Company 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.PRAGATILIF: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors has decided to purchase a land measuring area of 17 kathas (approximately) at 416/1, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1215 at a cost of Tk. 34.00 crore (approximately) subject to prior approval from Insurance Development & Regulatory Authority (IDRA).

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Hakkani P& Paper -B 59.90 55.40 31.36 32.30 32.30 22.20 3.051 0.29 108.1Rangpur Dairy-Z 24.04 22.77 12.78 12.90 13.00 10.10 1.881 0.80 16.0Dacca Dyeing-A 23.20 22.38 15.09 15.40 15.50 12.50 17.265 0.84 18.0Legacy Footwear -A 21.62 19.91 22.28 22.50 23.10 18.00 10.156 0.20 111.4Miracle Industries -B 15.08 15.68 14.61 14.50 15.00 12.50 1.944 0.36 40.6Beach Hatchery -A 14.29 10.27 18.68 19.20 19.40 15.60 6.181 1.29 14.5Ifad Autos -N 14.05 9.42 107.03 110.40 112.00 91.00 8.722 2.60 41.2BSRM Ltd. -N 13.62 11.16 75.12 75.10 76.80 63.40 62.389 0.73 102.9R. N. Spinning-Z 12.18 13.77 22.39 22.10 24.00 18.80 12.173 0.44 50.9Sa� o Spinning-A 11.76 10.01 16.92 17.10 17.40 15.20 1.630 0.60 28.2

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Hakkani P& Paper -B 53.37 48.85 31.05 31.90 31.90 22.40 19.762 0.29 107.1Rangpur Dairy-Z 25.23 23.14 13.09 13.40 13.50 10.40 45.595 0.80 16.4Al-Haj Textile -A 23.78 20.96 105.96 106.70 109.00 82.10 263.764 1.07 99.0Dacca Dyeing-A 23.58 22.70 14.97 15.20 15.30 12.50 123.410 0.84 17.8Legacy Footwear -A 23.37 19.78 22.04 22.70 23.20 18.00 23.192 0.20 110.2Atlas BD-A 19.46 20.11 122.97 122.80 124.70 97.50 27.181 -1.24 -vePrime Islami Life -A 15.82 12.09 46.27 47.60 48.00 40.00 54.631 4.95 9.3National Tubes -A 15.47 13.98 106.96 108.20 108.70 92.20 24.607 -1.36 -veMiracle Industries -B 15.08 14.50 14.61 14.50 15.00 12.40 24.944 0.36 40.6Beach Hatchery -A 13.69 10.70 18.73 19.10 19.30 16.30 41.291 1.29 14.5

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

National Tea -A -17.80 -17.72 621.22 620.60 626.00 616.00 0.249 -75.00 -veAsia Insur. Ltd.-A -14.07 -17.82 17.11 17.10 18.90 16.40 0.689 1.10 15.6UNITED AIR-A -13.04 -10.69 10.11 10.00 11.90 9.90 161.242 0.86 11.8Kay & Que (BD) -Z -9.68 -10.40 11.20 11.20 11.20 11.20 0.002 0.28 40.0ICB Emp. PMF-A -8.93 -7.94 5.10 5.10 5.40 4.70 0.538 0.61 8.4Eastern InsurA -8.71 -8.71 22.00 22.00 23.00 22.00 0.018 3.52 6.3AMCL 2nd MF-A -7.84 -4.65 4.72 4.70 4.90 4.50 0.116 0.71 6.6Kohinoor Chem -A -7.29 -7.29 315.20 315.20 315.20 315.20 0.032 8.25 38.2Prime Insur -A -6.90 -7.04 13.47 13.50 13.50 13.20 0.008 1.12 12.0PrimeFin. 1st MF-A -6.67 -6.67 11.20 11.20 11.80 11.20 0.020 0.40 28.0

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

BD Fixed Income MF-A -14.71 -13.80 5.81 5.80 6.20 5.30 1.161 0.51 11.4UNITED AIR-A -13.04 -10.93 10.11 10.00 11.90 9.50 944.468 0.86 11.8Samata LeatheR -Z -12.83 0.00 16.30 16.30 18.00 16.30 0.015 -0.05 -veAsia Insur. Ltd.-A -11.62 -12.70 17.32 17.50 18.00 15.90 11.476 1.10 15.7ICB Emp. PMF-A -10.34 -8.10 5.22 5.20 5.80 5.00 7.848 0.61 8.6Savar Refractories-Z -10.00 -10.00 38.70 38.70 38.70 38.70 0.000 -0.64 -vePragati Gen. I -A -8.89 -9.28 24.53 24.60 27.10 23.40 1.810 1.64 15.0Eastern Bank - A -7.55 -7.01 25.86 25.70 27.70 25.60 18.729 4.16 6.2Paramount Insur-A -7.46 -6.75 12.44 12.40 13.70 12.10 0.930 1.32 9.4Rupali Bank - A -6.90 -6.02 43.68 43.20 45.50 41.50 1.289 5.84 7.5

DSE key features June 14-18, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

19,362.13

Turnover (Volume)

547,908,094

Number of Contract

515,000

Traded Issues 321

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

152

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

164

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,533.92

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.71

CSE key features June 14-18, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

2,022.86

Turnover (Volume)

64,046,998

Number of Contract

88,082

Traded Issues 274

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

118

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

146

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

10

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2.458.45

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.80

BUSINESS 19D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Stock market stays � at with high volatility n Tribune Report

Stock markets stayed � at in the past week as investors were cautious against the market volatility that dom-inated the trading through-out the week.

During the week that ended Thursday, the bench-mark index DSEX was mar-ginally up almost 5 points or 0.1% to end at 4,519.

The blue-chip comprising index DS30 edged 1.7 points or 0.1% lower to 1,742. The Shariah index DSES shed 2.5 points or 0.3% to 1,101.

The Chittagong Stock Ex-change Selective Categories Index, CSCX moved up 18 points or 0.2% to close at 8,458.

Trading activities con-tinued to decline as average daily turnover was Tk387 crore, down 27.7% over the previous week, indicating that investors preferred to stay sideline due to the per-sisting volatility.

During the past week, investors concentrated on pharmaceuticals, textile and energy sectors, as these sectors together account-ed for almost 45% of total weekly turnover.

The gaining sectors in-cluded engineering, textile,

tannery, life insurance and energy while losing sectors included mutual fund and telecommunication.

Out of 325 issues traded in the past week, 154 ad-vanced, 139 declined, 28 re-mained unchanged and four were not traded.

IDLC Investments said market reached a blank spot in the past week, where im-pacts of budgetary bets and undervaluation were wear-ing thin, while year-end disclosures of June closing companies were yet to fuel expectations.

“In absence of any pow-erful motivations, the mar-ket slowed. Remembering the ruthless correction in major indices in recent time, investors panicked in expectation of slowdown.”

Tosrifa debuted in the past week under textile sec-tor. The company gained

37.3% from its issue price on the debut day.

United Airways was the week’s most traded stocks with shares worth Tk94.5 crore changing hands. It was followed by Grameen-phone, Khulna Power Com-pany Limited, Beximco Ltd, Familytex, Summit Power and Square Pharmaceuti-cals. l

Market reached a blank spot in the past week, where impacts of budgetary bets and undervaluation were wearing thin, while year-end disclosures of June closing companies were yet to fuel expectations

ANALYST

Weekly capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4519.85056 (+) 0.10% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1742.62379 (-) 0.10% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 13889.3214 (-) 0.10% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11178.3856 (+) 0.07% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 8452.4146 (-) 0.07% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

LafargeS Cement-Z 1,754,869 202.82 10.03 116.20 -3.09 119.90 121.00 110.00 115.18UNITED AIR-A 15,439,359 161.24 7.97 10.00 -13.04 11.50 11.90 9.90 10.11ACI Limited- A 208,017 105.00 5.19 494.90 -1.10 500.40 509.00 490.00 496.68Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 5,598,476 84.98 4.20 15.40 2.67 15.00 15.80 13.90 15.47BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 2,462,845 80.68 3.99 32.80 -3.24 33.90 34.10 31.50 32.76Tosrifa Industries -N 2,179,955 79.55 3.93 34.10 0.00 0.00 40.00 33.30 34.41FAR Chemical-N 1,818,143 77.13 3.81 44.40 3.74 42.80 45.40 39.20 44.21BSRM Ltd. -N 883,752 62.39 3.08 75.10 13.62 66.10 76.80 63.40 75.12United Power-N 366,419 58.39 2.89 156.70 -0.95 158.20 166.70 154.00 157.25Summit Power -A 1,399,928 56.98 2.82 41.10 3.79 39.60 42.50 38.30 41.00Grameenphone-A 153,405 51.11 2.53 327.90 -1.65 333.40 340.00 327.30 328.48BD Submarine Cable-A 341,627 46.78 2.31 136.50 0.22 136.20 143.60 131.20 137.02HeidelbergCement -A 80,948 46.60 2.30 570.40 1.31 563.00 595.00 537.00 571.78Moza� ar H.Spinning-A 1,103,650 39.77 1.97 36.10 3.14 35.00 36.60 35.40 35.96Square Pharma -A 138,612 35.22 1.74 255.10 0.12 254.80 258.80 250.10 254.16

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

UNITED AIR-A 90,456,737 944.47 4.88 10.00 -13.04 11.50 11.90 9.50 10.11Grameenphone-A 2,533,760 844.05 4.36 328.50 -1.50 333.50 340.00 328.00 329.54BATBCL -A 211,827 629.06 3.25 2920.00 -1.02 2950.20 2980.00 2905.00 2969.54Khulna Power-A 8,620,005 613.62 3.17 69.80 -0.43 70.10 73.70 68.50 70.00BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 18,620,168 609.79 3.15 32.80 -3.24 33.90 34.30 31.40 32.77Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 39,949,399 604.70 3.12 15.50 3.33 15.00 15.90 13.90 15.51Square Pharma -A 2,369,830 602.70 3.11 255.50 0.12 255.20 259.30 251.40 254.74SummitAlliancePort.-A 9,231,126 528.54 2.73 60.20 8.08 55.70 61.10 53.30 59.27Summit Power -A 11,643,004 478.07 2.47 41.40 4.02 39.80 44.60 38.30 41.34FAR Chemical-N 9,645,279 414.08 2.14 44.50 3.73 42.90 45.40 40.10 44.22HeidelbergCement -A 684,740 393.56 2.03 571.20 1.42 563.20 594.90 535.00 576.92RAK Ceramics-A 5,380,233 380.30 1.96 72.40 7.90 67.10 73.90 64.90 72.44United Power-N 2,307,188 367.62 1.90 156.80 -0.88 158.20 165.00 154.10 157.41ACI Formulations-A 1,442,126 327.12 1.69 225.50 -0.70 227.10 234.80 220.00 224.74Olympic Ind. -A 1,414,085 323.75 1.67 228.90 -0.82 230.80 237.60 225.10 228.63Ifad Autos -N 5,696,805 669.83 1.79 114.30 1.06 113.10 124.50 110.10 116.84

BUSINESS20DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Telephone Sangstha’s Tabs to hit market soon n Ishtiaq Husain

Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (TSS) Limited has planned to manufacture Tablet and Netbook on its own in a bid to facilitate building digit-ised Bangladesh.

The state-owned company has taken the initiative, considering the market demand of the devices. The price of the items will range between Tk15,000 and Tk18,000.

Primarily, 2,000 TSS tablet devices will hit the market while more products will follow suit based on the market demand.

Telephone Shilpa Sangstha aims to reduce the dependency of import through replica-tion of its diversi� ed work and wants to turn

out to be an electronic zone by producing dif-ferent types of Telecom and electronic items.

TSS Managing Director Asadul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune they will launch the new tablet within a very short time to give cus-tomers better experiences.

“In most cases, products of di� erent global brands are very costly. Considering this, we al-ways try to provide better product for our dear-est customers at an a� ordable price,” he added.

TSS acts as an auxiliary institution for dig-itisation of Bangladesh through its diversi� ed products, Asadul said, adding that environ-ment friendly technology would be used to manufacture products.

The prime minister launched the distribu-

tion of ‘Doel’, the � rst Laptop manufactured in the country in 2011.

TSS introduced Laptops of four models with price ranging between Tk10,000 and Tk26,000. A few months later it stopped man-ufacturing for having failed to produce quali-ty products.

Seeking anonymity, an o� cial of TSS said the Tablet price will go around Tk18,000 while the Netbook price is � xed at Tk15,000.

The equipment for both products will be imported from China.

Besides assembly, TSS would also produce a number of products including mother board and the cover of Laptop in its own factory, said the o� cial. l

IDRA suspends license of Standard Insurance n Tribune Report

Insurance Development and Regulatory Au-thority (IDRA) has suspended the license of Standard Insurance for three months as the company failed to comply with mandatory re-insurance of its three policies worth over Tk46 crore.

The authority had issued the suspension letter on Thursday, with an immediate e� ect from June 21 till September 21.

The company has also been asked to ex-plain why its license won’t be suspended or canceled within 30 days.

“If the explanation of the company failed to satisfy the authority then the license will be canceled as per law,” said IDRA Chairman M Shefaq Ahmed.

The regulator asked it to refrain from issu-ing any cover notes, insurance certi� cates or related new business during the suspension period.

Standard Group came in the light after a devastating � re in Standard garments in the year 2013 and the damage was estimated around Tk446 crore.

An allegation raised that the garments company took insurance coverage by making a policy in a back date with Standard Insur-ance, a sister concern of the Standard group.

In this perspective, IDRA formed an in-quiry committee and found the truth of the allegation.

The non-life insurance company is a listed company. l

ICT division to set up mobile ICT training centres n Tribune Report

The ICT division plans to set up mobile ICT training centre for the underprivileged peo-ple living in haor (Large water body) and char areas.

Initially, a total of four training centres equipped with 20 Laptops, internet and solar panels will be established in four remote are-as of the country.

The infrastructure facilities would be pro-vided by the Netherlands government while the ICT division will provide training.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been singed in this regard with the Neth-erlands government in a city hotel recently.

Despite 10,000 megawatt of power pro-duced in the last six years, 30% population are still deprived of electricity, according to the ICT division.

Besides, people in remote haor and char ar-eas are also deprived of ICT services.

Terming the MoU a milestone, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, said it will help reach the goal of building digitised Bangladesh.

The Netherlands ambassador to Dhaka, Garben De Jong, Melanie Schultz Van Haegen, infrastructure and environment minister of the country, ICT Secretary Shyam Shundor Sikder, Bangladesh Computer Council Execu-tive Director Ashraful Islam were present dur-ing the signing ceremony. l

Bank Division concerned about state banks’ performance n Asif Showkat Kallol

Bank and Financial Institutions Division is concerned about the performance of the state-owned commercial and specialised banks, said o� cial sources.

Low recovery of agriculture and SME loans and slow progress of dissolving departmental cases and audit objections are the reasons be-hind the concern.

The monthly coordination meeting attend-ed by heads of state-owned specialised banks and � nancial institutions discussed the issue, held at the � nance division’s auditorium re-

cently. Banking Division Secretary M Aslam Alam presided over the meeting.

Aslam Alam said the government has ap-proved the re-appointment of three managing directors of the state banks.

He said managing directors should respect their responsibility which they have been be-stowed upon.

Aslam told the MDs that their � tness would be evaluated on the basis of their per-formance in recovering default loans as per the performance contract.

According to the latest � gure, 19% of total loans of the state banks are defaulted.

At the end of June, total loan � gure of six state-owned banks stands at Tk1,18,800 crore while default loan � gure will be Tk22,600 crore.

At the end of June, default loans of Son-ali Bank will be Tk7,432 crore, Agrani Bank Tk3,590 crore, Janata Bank Tk3,370 crore, Ru-pali Bank 1,090 crore and BDBL Tk409 crore. BASIC Bank’s default loan stood at Tk6,710 crore as of March this year.

Under the performance contract, at the end of this year, Sonali Bank’s default loan will be Tk5,300 crore, Agrani Bank Tk2,700 crore, Janata Bank Tk3,000 crore and Rupali Bank Tk1,150 crore. l

Bike makers want to paint parts locally n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Motorcycle man-ufacturers have sought speci� c instructions in the

budget allowing them to paint parts of the imported Completely Knocked Down (CKD) motorcycles in local factories.

They claimed local painting factories maintained international standards and were capable enough to paint at least 5 lakh motor-cycle parts annually. Motorcycle Manufacturers and Exporters Association Bangladesh ( MMEAB) yesterday placed to Finance Minister AMA Muhith. The proposals were signed by association’s presi-dent Ha� zur Rahman Khan.

The government in the FY2015-16 budget proposed to increase supplementary duty on imported CKD motorcycles to 45% from 30%.

It has also proposed to impose a condition that all CKD parts of a motorcycle should be imported in unpainted condition.

Local makers said the local painting com-panies are able to meet the demand for next few years as the annual demand of motorcy-cles in Bangladesh is nearly 3 lakh.

They said if speci� c institutions from the government were provided, it would bene� t the CKD motorcycle importers.

The manufacturers said local painting fac-tories could reduce production cost through

achieving high production capacity if the fa-cility was given.

“We have painting factories. They can ren-der services to the importers and if they paint here, it will help save foreign currency,” Ha� -zur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune.

If the importers got their imported parts painted locally, they could o� er lower prices to the customers than that of other countries, he added. However, Bangladesh Motorcycle Assemblers and Manufacturers Association (BMAMA) has expressed the opposite view.

They said local factories were not of re-quired standard, so import of unpainted mo-

torcycles would result in the increased cost of production.

The country’s motorcycle market size is currently not enough to set up a painting fac-tory as it costs a huge amount of money, said BMAMA secretary Mohiuddin Ahmed.

“We import 90% of the parts and assem-ble motorcycles locally contributing a huge amount of revenue to the government ex-chequer,” he said.

“If we paint them locally, the government will lose the revenue. Besides, the quality of the local painting factories is not of the de-sired standard,” he added. l

The � le photo shows motorcycles at an outlet in Dhaka DHAKA TRIBUNE

21D

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SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015T-JU

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22newsBuy Samsung smartphone and win Samsung TVs!

23style sessionsBaby’s got back fattrendFashion fare

24his styleBlack-tie a� air

INSIDE

Krafty kidsPHOTO: KAY KRAFT

24wardrobe checkChilled out

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015T-JUNCTION News22D

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Celebrated beautician and Bangladeshi entrepreneur Naznin Jahan Ruma, owner of Ruma Beauty Saloon & Fashion house, launched a second outlet near the Serangoon Area, better known as the “little India” in Singapore on June 20. Added to this extended venture will be bridal photography as well as event management.

The grand inauguration of this newest outlet was held at 125A, Serangoon Road,

near Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple in Singapore. Wife of the Bangladeshi high commissioner in Singapore, Shehrin Murshed Zaman, graced the occasion as the chief guest and pronounce the launching of the outlet.Unique draw of the event would be the presence of Mrs. Beauty Queen Singapore 2015, Manjula Karthik. l

Grand inauguration of Ruma Beauty

Dream Weaver, one of the country’s most popular wedding photography and cinematography companies, has opened a new branch o� ce in Chittagong recently. A dedicated new branch o� ce at Modina Tower, GEC circle has opened up shop to serve Chittagong and surrounding neighbourhoods.

Managing editor of Azadi, Wahid Malek, managing director of Radisson Blu Chittagong Bay View Brigadier General Humayun Bakht, managing director of Eastern Group Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, owner of Six events Monjurul Hoque, president of Chittagong Photography Society Moudud Alam, general committee member of Chittagong Club Salauddin Ahmed, co-founder of Souls Shubrata Borua Rony and editor in charge of Swapno Nie Firoz Zaman Chowdhury inaugurated the

branch o� ce along with Dream Weaver CEO Jobayer Hossain Shuvo. Corporate a� airs and admin o� cer Na� s Fuad Shuvo, CFO Md Imran Shahed, quality control o� cer Md Mazharul Islam Ra� were also present.

Jobayer Hossain Shuvo, CEO of Dream Weaver said, “Walking against the wind is always di� cult. Despite being engineers, we the founders nurtured our passion for wedding photography and dreamt of an o� ce of our own where we could recruit photographers and give them suitable workstation to nurture their talent. Soon we will launch a youth academy to improve the wedding photography industry.”

Address:Madina Tower (Level 7), 805/A, CDA Avenue, Chittagong, BangladeshPh: +8801670 078953

Dream Weaver opens new branch office in Chittagong

To make the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr more joyous, Samsung Mobile Bangladesh has come up with an exciting o� er for their customers. Now with the purchase of selected Samsung smartphones, customers can win a Samsung 32” LED TVs everyday.

Under this month long campaign, with every purchase of Samsung Z1, Galaxy Ace NXT, Galaxy Grand Prime and Galaxy S Duos 3, three customers will get the chance to win a Samsung 32” LED TV everyday. Apart from that, all the customers will receive a sure shot discount of Tk1,000 on every purchase.

With every single purchase of any of the mentioned Samsung devices, customers will need to SMS the serial number to 6969. In the reply SMS, he or she can win a TV. There is also a sure shot cashback of Tk1,000 for all

customers. The o� er is available across the country.

Samsung Z1 is the � rst Tizen powered smartphone for Bangladesh that o� ers exclusive bene� ts for localised websites and a simple user interface that makes mobility easier and more enjoyable. The Samsung Z1 is now priced Tk6,900, Galaxy Ace NXT is at Tk7,990, Galaxy S Duos 3 is now Tk9,900 and Galaxy Grand Prime is now priced at Tk19,900. Customers can avail Tk1,000 cashback on the purchase of all these devices, along with a chance of winning a TV.

To know more about this month long o� er, interested customers can call at 09612-300-300 or visit the nearest Samsung stores. l

Buy Samsung smartphone and win Samsung TVs!

Buckle up BrightsFashion house Buckle up has a special limited edition collection for summer. With soothing colours for their menswear line, and bold print mixing in their women’s couture, this collection promises casuals with a touch of whimsy.

TrendingT-JUNCTION 23D

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SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

trend style sessions

Fashion Fare Baby’s got back fat

My sedentary work style is beginning to catch up with me. I need some style tips to help me hide my back fat

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

First up, while dressing right can help disguise the problem to some extent, please remember to compensate for all the sitting you’re doing at work by getting up every twenty minutes or so to stretch your arms and legs, or back fat will be the least of your health issues before you’re even aware it happened.

Moving on to style matters, here are three ways to approach the problem:

Wear clothes in the size that you are at nowForget vanity sizing. Just because you can still squeeze yourself into the clothes you wore � ve years ago doesn’t mean that you should. Ever tried stu� ng a pillow into a pillow cover that’s too small? The same thing is happening to your body, and it’s hell on your self-esteem. Spare yourself the agony and just go up a few dress sizes until your body can comfortably slide in or out of your out� t.

Innerwear issuesThe biggest cause of back fat even in women who don’t have it is an ill-� tting bra. Do yourself a solid and get � tted for a bra by a professional, and then buy only the innerwear that � ts you. If you’re a bit on the busty side, opt for full coverage to further prevent the dreaded “double bubble” at the back.

Consider shapewearAs a general principle, stick to simple silhouettes that minimise the chances of bulging. On occasions that demand a slinky, body-hugging number, consider shapewear, which reins you in on a more uniform scale, preventing un� attering pockets of chubby chubs. l

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Kicking it o� with something for the little ‘uns, Kay Kraft’s kids collection for the festival season is pretty festive indeed. With both the deadly heat and the the fact that it is an Islamic festival in mind, the collection this year is inspired by centuries of Islamic architecture.

Expect to � nd Greek and Byzantine motifs, Turkish-style � orals, Mughal silhouettes, and embroidered Chinese calligraphy in the designs. The colours are on the brighter end of the cool colours spectrum, all in heat-friendly, breathable fabrics to allow your precious munchkins to run around and play on the special day without getting hot and sweaty.

With Ramadan here, design outlets have already begun unveiling their Eid collections. Watch this space as we bring you sneak peeks into what various houses have in store for you. This week its Kay Kraft Kids.

T-JUNCTION Tailored24DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

n Mahmood Hossain

Not too long ago we discussed the top, trusty picks of summer scents. But there are more than exceptional choices regarding formal events. Whether it’s a gentleman with a con-servative nature or possesses incredible � air, there is a fragrance that rightfully belongs in the echelon of formalwear scents. Conserv-ative or liberal, all that matters is getting in touch with your inner bourgeoise. Minus the political implications of course.

Green Irish Tweed by CreedLike the rest of the scents on this list, you’ll

have to fork over a few more bucks than usu-al. These are premium fragrances that should be applied for formal events only. This scent is a timeless fougeres, which means fern-like fragrances powered by herbaceous ingredi-ents. This fragrance has top notes of iris and lemon verbena that are given a richer edge with a sandalwood base note. To put it lightly, and to the point, it’s the James Bond of fra-grances - classic, smooth, and masculine.

Haitian Vetiver by Ermenegildo ZegnaWould you believe this scent has a vetiver that is exclusively grown for Zegna? You will

l i t e r a l l y standout in a crowd be-cause there is no scent like it in the same room. Well, that’s only if you are the only gentleman in the room with this scent. This f r a g r a n c e is almost a r e f l e c t i o n of what Er-

menegildo Zegna is about. It’s down to earth, crispy yet bold. There’s almost a di� erent class solely made for this fragrance.

Pour Monsieur Concentree by ChanelThe boldest in the lot, this fragrance packs a punch so don’t go overboard with the sprays.

Let the woody scent with a huge hit of citrus do its job with a couple of sprays. It’s dom-inated by lavender, orange and carda-mom, and backed up with oakmoss, petitgrain, and a rich lather of creamy vanilla. This scent will ac-tually last for quite some time so you don’t need to worry about the after-af-ter party. Even if your lady friend

wishes to smudge it out, she’ll have failed.

Valeninto UomoNot every fragrance requires a certain mas-culinity, there is no need to address the world of how manly you can smell. The current trend follows the in-gredients in this particular scent. It’s nutty and rich with s w e e t n e s s . There are hints of chocolate, co� ee, leath-er and cedar. What better way to seduce an attractive woman than to be the object of desire, who happens to smell as sweet as her � rst taste of chocolate? And let’s forget the new all-black bottle. How very ap-propriate.

Velvet Desert Oud by Dolce & GabbanaWhat we have here is a nice little mix of to-day’s trend and clas-sic upbringing. The Sicilians have decid-ed infuse smoky, rich notes of dark wood and deep amber. It’s musky but there’s a slight twist, extract-ing sweetness from almonds and dashes of rose. The latter keeps the strength at bay so it doesn’t smell overpowering.

Eau Suavage Cologne by Christian DiorThe original 1966 formula will always remain a classic, but this 2015 version is a clever mix of the appropriate season and given occa-sion. You might say it’s the perfect scent to have during a summer formal event. There’s

a signi� cant amount of lime, mandarin, pe-titgrain, and the grapefruit notes are mixed with vetiver and pepper. It has the lighter cit-rus scents of warmer days and enough power to last an evening out. It’s investment worth making, being an enhanced version of the original ’66 version.

Tuscan Leather by Tom FordYou really didn’t think we’d leave Tom Ford out of the list, did you? The award-winning designer has knowledge of fashion (and everything in it) like no other. The man

knows his scents, he makes it his business to produce the best of the best. His entire collection, for both men and women, are of premium quality, never compromising the ingredients. The leather and wood in this fragrance are mixed with raspberry, sa� ron and jasmine. It’s a nice balance between smoky and sweet. l

n Baizid Haque Joarder

Summer without breathable fabrics is already hard to imagine but as we cele-brate the holy month of Ramadan dur-ing the humid season this time, such fabrics are vital to ensure your comfort.

If you are fasting and have to get out under the harsh sun, make sure you think twice about the material you are about to put on. Popularly used in the clothing scenario, the combination of polyester and cotton, known as mixed or 70-30 or 65-35, fails to provide prop-er circulation of air like that of cotton. This results in sweat, dehydration and even irritation. The more you sweat throughout the day, the more fatigue you’ll feel.

100% breathableNatural � bres like cotton and linen are truly gifts from God. Used for centu-ries, the soft texture and breathability quotient of cotton feels like a blessing in this heat. Linen, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly popular among brands around the world. Characteris-tics include better breathability than cotton itself, the wonder cloth keeps you warm during winter and comforts you with a cool feeling, every time your skin comes in contact with it.

Summer-proof panjabisThe demand for panjabis increase during this time of the year. Not just for the festivities of Eid but also for everyday use, and it’s practicality dur-ing summer. For instance, it can get quite crowded during Tarawih prayers and if your local mosque doesn’t have air-conditioning, you’d be in trouble without a comfortable panjabi. Proper cotton panjabis may be a tad bit expen-sive but the comfort that comes with it is priceless. Try Aysha complex in Mali-bagh for relatively cheaper ones. While you’re there, you can also look for the khaddar panjabi, a favourite at T-Junc-tion.

No matter what you opt for, remem-ber to ask yourself whether you’re comfortable in it. Otherwise, your fast during this Ramadan, may seem excep-tionally long! l

Black-tie affairCertain occasions require a certain scent

his style wardrobe check

Chilled outStay cool this Ramadan

25D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

MURRAY WANTS TO LEARN FROM MOURINHO

26 2928

Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro, a former US Open champion, has

pulled out of Wimbledon after having a third operation on his left

wrist, organisers said on Friday

GAME OVER

Sport‘NOT FAVORITES, BUT WE ARE CONFIDENT’

BRAZIL SHOCK AS NEYMAR BANNED, CHILE POWER ON

Nine in a row, long way to gon Reazur Rahman Rohan

Bangladesh have de� ned all odds and won nine matches on the trot at home soil as India became their latest victim on Thursday. The Tigers den is no place for any foreign poachers as Mashrafe bin Mortaza and his troop look to repeat their feat at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today in the second one-day inter-national of the three-match series against the two-time world champions India.

It all started back in November last year when Bangladesh thumped lower ranked Zimbabwe 5-0 and maintained the home domination through dry-washing Pakistan 3-0 in April-May this year. The 79-run victory over the full strength India side on Thursday extended the winning run at home for Bang-ladesh who have grown in to be the worst nightmare for a visiting team.

The performance also saw Bangladesh move to No 7 in the rankings table as they are now above once powerhouse West Indies and Pakistan. Given the results Bangladesh accu-mulated, they can also be termed as the sec-ond best team in Asia currently and the only nation to challenge India whose supporters rate them as cricket Gods.

However, nor the players neither the coach-ing sta� are relaxed with such big achieve-ments as they are focused to lift Bangladesh’s standard much higher and handing India their second defeat in a row today and securing the bilateral ODI series will be just another suc-cess story along the destination. l

Bangladesh’s home ODI series winsOpposition Series Margin YearZimbabwe 3-2 (5) 2005Kenya 4-0 (4) 2006Zimbabwe 5-0 (5) 2006Scotland 2-0 (2) 2006Ireland 3-0 (3) 2008Zimbabwe 2-1 (3) 2009Zimbabwe 4-1 (5) 2009NZ 4-0 (5) 2010Zimbabwe 3-1 (5) 2010WI 3-2 (5) 2012NZ 3-0 (3) 2013Zimbabwe 5-0 (5) 2014Pakistan 3-0 (3) 2015

Bangladesh’s nine consecutive home ODI winsOppos Margin Venue DateZim 87 runs ZACS Nov 21, 2014Zim 68 runs ZACS Nov 23, 2014Zim 124 runs SBNS Nov 26, 2014Zim 21 runs SBNS Nov 28, 2014Zim 5 wickets SBNS Dec 1, 2014Pak 79 runs SBNS Apr 17, 2015Pak 7 wickets SBNS Apr 19, 2015Pak 8 wickets SBNS Apr 22, 2015India 79 runs SBNS Jun 18, 2015

Top: (L-R) Fast bowlers Musta� zur Rahman and Rubel Hossain get ready for some spot bowling as Soumya Sarkar, Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rahman head for the net session during Bangladesh’s practice session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday

Bottom: India’s Ambati Rayudu, Umesh Yadav and Suresh Raina laugh on a joke at the background as their skipper MS Dhoni tries to control the ball during their training at the SBNS yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Sport26DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Rohit forecasts di� erent Indian Mazhar Uddin

The 79-run loss in the � rst of the three-match one-day international series against Bangla-desh has worked as a shock-treatment for the visiting Indian side as opening batsman Rohit Sharma informed that they will be more ag-gressive and it will be a di� erent Indian side in the second match.

“From our point of view it’s very important that we stick to our game plan. We knew what went wrong in the � rst match. We will think about it and when we come back and play the second ODI it will be a di� erent Indian side,” Ro-

hit said during the pre-match media session at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

“Obviously we were trying our best in the � rst game as well but things didn’t work out. We have got certain plans coming their way hopefully we will try and execute those plans and things will work in our favour,” added the right-handed batsman, who has two ODI dou-ble centuries beside his name.

The 28-year old, the highest scorer for India with 63 runs in the � rst match, informed they have to be more careful and more prepared for the second encounter today as Bangladesh have nothing to lose and will go all in.

“They like to play on that wicket like that (attacking) and they have got nothing to lose. India have got everything to lose. We have to be extra careful. We understand that coming to their territory we expected them to play this way. I am sure we will be more prepared in the next game,” he added.

When asked whether he believes Bangla-desh are capable of winning the series, Rohit said, “Yeah they can, why not? We have to be at our best, as simple as that. They are playing some good cricket of late, we can’t take any team for granted. With the current form they are in we have to be at our best.” l

‘Not favorites, but we are con� dent’n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Bangladesh stepped into the three-match one-day international series with a lot to prove as a unit. They had beaten Pakistan 3-0 and Zimbabwe 5-0, but the winning run was said to come against a lower-ranked Zimbabwe and a transitional Pakistan side. However, the Tigers trounced heavyweights India by 79 runs a couple of days ago to end all confusion. Bangladesh proved that the winning streak is no � uke as they are the team to watch out for in Asia at the moment.

Apart from the players, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who took charge exactly a year ago when an un-der-strength India toured Bangladesh, de-serves majority of the credit behind the huge transformation. The former Sri Lankan literal-ly started from scrap and turned myths into realities.

Who would have thought Bangladesh, a spin-dependent nation, would play four gen-uine fast bowlers in a game? The planning has been exceptional while the freedom given to the players is paying rich dividends now.

“The best example is that India is sending their strongest team. It speaks for itself, how far we have come from that series (against In-dia in June 2014). It is always good to gauge your success or what you are doing, by how your peers are looking at you. I think it is a big rap for our boys that India came with their full strength. Our con� dence is high, the way we are playing is a bit di� erent and good for us that it is getting us results,” said Chandika during a press conference at the Sher-e-Bang-la National Stadium yesterday.

“I have been here for one year now. You will probably guess some of the things that we do. We always try to do best for our team. We might come up with a di� erent plan af-ter these six one-dayers,” he added. “We are happy to see the young fast bowlers coming

through. During the World Cup, we managed to keep three bowlers on the park. A lot of credit goes to the strength and conditioning coach, bowling coaches and physios to keep them on the park and developing these young fast bowlers through our Academy system. I think we are in good hands.”

The coach, however, is not content with their performance as he believes they have more room for improvement. “I am not happy at all with the last game. That’s the scary part: we still can improve in all departments. We played better against Pakistan. I think we are looking to improve from the next game.

“At this stage, we are 1-0 up. We are looking for tomorrow’s (today’s) game. We are not fa-vourites, but we are con� dent,” he said.

Earlier, Bangladesh were dependent on particular players to win a match but that is past now. Three below-par games for Mush-� qur Rahim does not create panic nor does the team get dismantled after losing quick wick-ets. Chandika believes high-� ying Musta� zur Rahman will be challenged as he expects the Indians to come hard in the game today.

Chandika also shed light on Mashrafe bin Mortaza’s character and said, “He played a very important role. He is the person who everyone looks up to. He commands respect in the dressing room. And also, leads from the front on the � eld as well. He played a huge part in transforming the way we have been playing.”

When asked if the Bangladesh-India rivalry can turn out to be the greatest in Asia, Chan-dika, who served Sri Lanka in 26 Tests and 35 ODIs, expressed: “It is very hard to compare eras of teams. That time Sri Lanka were a very experienced side before the 1996 World Cup, I think that was the time when it all began. This (Bangladesh) is a very young team and they have got a very long way to go. But there are some world-class players in this team who are making the di� erence.” l

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha and ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan comfort rookie Liton Kumar Das before the nets yesterday. Liton, who made only eight on his ODI debut on Thursday, is rated a very promising batsman and the home side will bene� t big if the 20-year old right-handed batsman can play to his potential today MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

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Ctg Abahani make most of transfer windown Shishir Hoque

The second and last inter-club players’ trans-fer window of the Manyavar Bangladesh Pre-mier League season 2014-15 closed yesterday with 10 clubs combined to rope in 23 players to bolster their respective squads.

Sheikh Russel made the most promising and talked about transfer during the time as they managed to sign Bosnian striker Damir Ibric who played for Bosnian Premier League club FK Mladost Velika Obarska. The 31-year old tall striker played for numerous clubs in Europe since 2003 and represented Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 national team six times in 2005. Russel also signed former Team BJMC Cameroonian forward Jean Jules Ikanga.

Meanwhile, Abahani Limited was not able to live up to the fans expectation as the sky blues � ew in former Mohammedan SC striker

Sunday Chizoba along with Gambian forward Abdou Darboe to strengthen their forward line after the departure of Szabolcs Csorba, one of the three Hungarians they signed be-fore the season.

Sunday, the Nigerian striker also played for Sheikh Jamal while his last club in Bangladesh was Muktijoddha SKC last season before he joined I-League’s Churchil Brothers. The 24-year old Abdou Darboe is also a striker who played in Norway and Sweden before coming to Dhaka. The striking duo arrived in Dhaka on June 16.

Newly re-appointed Sheikh Jamal’s Nigeri-an coach Joseph Afusi also brought a new for-ward along with him, Kabiru Abdullahi Musa. Mohammedan completed the signing of two new Cameroonian while Chittagong Abaha-ni signed the most number of player during the window. They recruited four foreigners alongside two local booters. l

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Trippier leaves Burnley for Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur on Friday completed the signing of Burnley defender Kieran Trippier on a � ve-year contract. The 24-year-old right-back, who is believed to have had a £3.5 million ($5.6m, 4.9m euros) release clause, moves to north London after spending four years at Turf Moor.

AFP

Marta ready to inspire Brazil against MatildasSuperstar forward Marta returns as Brazil bid to maintain their winning momentum at the Women’s World Cup against Australia on Sunday, with France and Canada also in action in the last 16. Third-ranked France will be up against South Korea in Montreal while hosts Canada play Switzerland over on the west coast in Vancouver.

AFP

Lyon ready to o� er Lacazette bumper new dealLyon are ready to o� er a new deal with an an-nual salary of at least four million euros ($4.5m, 2.9m pounds) to star striker Alexandre Laca-zette in an attempt to keep him at the club. “Alexandre wishes to be the number one and receive the biggest salary at the club, which is absolutely understandable. He will earn at least four million euros a year,” said Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas on Friday at the site of the club’s new stadium, which is due to open early in 2016.

AFP

Dynamo Moscow banned from Europa LeagueRussian club Dynamo Moscow have been banned from participating in next season’s Eu-ropa League for breaking UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. UEFA con� rmed the punishment on Friday due to losses made by Dynamo in each of the last three years.

AFP

Dempsey suspended three games, � ned by MLSSeattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey has been suspended for three games and � ned an undisclosed amount for an incident in a U.S. Open Cup match, Major League Soccer said on Friday. The decision will allow the US national team captain to return for the Gold Cup in July.

Reuters

Allegri con� rms Mandzukic, puts hopes on PogbaJuventus coach Massimiliano Allegri hopes new signing Mario Mandzukic can settle quickly at the club and has called on French star Paul Pogba to see out another title-winning season in Turin. With striker Carlos Tevez rumoured to be on his way to Boca Juniors, reports have claimed Mandzukic has agreed terms to join Juventus from Atletico Madrid on a four-year deal worth 18 million euros (£12.9m, $20.4m).

AFP

QUICK BYTES

Sheikh Jamal DCKabiru Abdullahi Musa, NigeriaAbahani LimitedSunday Chizoba Nwadialu, NigeriaAbdou Darboe, GambiaMuktijoddha SKCVasseba Toure, GuineeMd Monowar Hossen (Arambagh KS), BangladeshMohammedan SCYonta Michael, CameroonBlanchard Belinga Ambara, CameroonSheikh Russel KC LimitedJean Jules Ikanga, CameroonDamir Ibric, BosniaTeam BjmcBayebeck Fombagne Esaie, CameroonEleta Kingsley Oshiokha, Nigeria

Mahadi Hassan Royel (Baddha Jagarani), BangladeshCtg Abahani LimitedChuka Charles Unoneme, NigeriaAgbulu Inalegwu, NigeriaYoko Samnick, CameroonSylla Mohamed Lamine, GuineeNahid Uddin (Muktijoddha SKC), BangladeshChoumrin Rakhine (Muktijoddha SKC), BangladeshSoccer Club FeniGolam Mostafa Toyan (Muktijoddha SKC), Ban-gladeshRahamatganj MFSLamine Camara, GuineeDevine Lucky, NigeriaFarashganj SCUnwana David Udoh, NigeriaPasbon Molla, Bangladesh

BANGLADESH V INDIA2ND ODI, MIRPUR

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Musta� zur RahmanPlaying role: Left-arm medium pacerThe 19-year old roared boisterously in his maiden one-day international last Thursday following his inclusion as the fourth seamer in the playing XI. His element of surprise, especially the slow o� -cutters, blew away the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up. In the � rst ODI against India, he regis-tered his � rst � ve-wicket haul using the same mantra. Rohit Sharma, Ajink-ya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had no answers to his bagful of tricks as the two-time world champions crashed against the wall, su� ering a 79-run thumping defeat.

Given that the Satkhira cricketer is just two internationals old and yet to be researched thoroughly by the opposition, the home fans are expecting him to continue weaving his magic on the visitors.

Virat KohliPlaying role: Right-hand batsmanThe tourists’ pride is very much on the line today. A defeat will ensure In-dia’s � rst ODI series loss against the Tigers. The Indian batsmen, who were tottering at 195/8 at one stage in the � rst ODI, were the chief culprits and they will no doubt be under severe pressure to do their job today. And hard-hitting batsman Kohli should play the role of the aggressor and lead from the front if they are to avoid failure yet again. Expectations will be high on the 26-year old to come good today as he has been unable to shine against the Tigers recently, especially in his last two ODIs against them. The Delhi cricketer posted miserable scores of one and three in his previous two ODIs against Bangladesh so the onus will be on him to break the run-scor-ing drought.

TRANSFER WINDOW PURCHASE LIST

Sha� q, Sarfraz give Pakistan control against Sri Lankan Reuters

Asad Sha� q’s seventh hundred and a bel-ligerent 96 from Sarfraz Ahmed helped give Pakistan a sizeable lead against Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the opening Test at Galle on Saturday.

Sri Lanka had hoped for quick wickets in the morning when Pakistan resumed on 118 for � ve but a sixth-wicket stand of 139 be-tween Sarfraz and Asad Sha� q (131) put paid to their chances.

Another 101-run stand for the ninth wicket between Sha� q and Zul� qar Babar (56) gave the visitors the upper hand in the match. Pakistan were � nally all out for 417 with a � rst-innings lead of 117.

Pakistan then piled on the pressure and picked up two wickets in the remainder of the day’s play as Sri Lanka reached stumps on 63-2 in their second innings, still trailing by 54 runs.

Kaushal Silva (� ve), a centurion in the � rst innings, and the experienced Kumar Sanga-kkara (18) were the batsmen out.

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne (36) and nightwatchman Dilruwan Perera (nought) were at the crease for the hosts.

Earlier, wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz caused disarray in Sri Lanka’s disciplined attack with his innovative batting and hit 13 fours in his 86-ball knock. His downfall came when he tried an unorthodox sweep against fast bowler Dhammika Prasad, with the ball catching the inside edge and going on to hit the stumps. l

BRIEF SCORESri Lanka 300 and 63 for 2 (Karunaratne 36*) Pakistan 417 (Sha� q 131, Sarfraz 96, Zul� qar 56, Dilruwan 4-122)

Sri Lanka trail by 54 runs

Sport28DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

Chile forward Alexis Sanchez (in red) heads to score past Bolivia goalkeeper Romel Quinonez during their � rst round Copa America 2015 match at the National Stadium in Santiago, Chile on Friday REUTERS

Brazil shock as Neymar banned, Chile power onn AFP, Santiago

Brazil superstar Neymar was dramatically thrown out of the Copa America on Friday as Chile shrugged o� the drunk-driving contro-versy surrounding Arturo Vidal to power into the quarter-� nals.

Neymar’s participation in the South Amer-ican footballing showpiece came to an abrupt end after a disciplinary hearing slapped him with a four-match ban for headbutting a Co-lombian opponent.

The punishment deprives the tournament of one of its most recognizable stars and leaves Brazil in turmoil as it contemplates the remainder of the tournament without their captain and best player.

Neymar’s fate had been in the balance after he was given a red card for headbutting an op-ponent during a post-match brawl that erupt-

ed after Brazil’s 1-0 upset loss to Colombia in Group C on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old superstar was already ruled out of Brazil’s � nal group game against Venezuela on Sunday after collecting a second yellow card of the tournament against the Co-lombians.

Neymar, who was also � ned $10,000, can appeal the punishment. But unless the ban is reduced it means he has played his last game of the Copa, with Brazil having at most four games left.

Alberto Lozada, a member of the discipli-nary committee, revealed Neymar had re-ceived a heavier punishment because he had abused match o� cials in the tunnel following his dismissal.

“Worst of all was that after the match he waited for the referee in the tunnel and insult-ed him, which aggravated the matter and led to

the longer ban,” Lozada told Brazilian media.“This constituted an act of aggression which

required punishment of more matches.”Colombian player Carlos Bacca, who

shoved Neymar following his butt on goal scorer Jeison Murillo, was suspended for two games.

Neymar’s shock early departure marks a stunning fall from grace for the young for-ward, who had been carrying his nation’s hopes as they chased a � rst Copa America crown since 2007.

There was already bad blood between Ney-mar and the Colombian team heading into Wednesday’s match.

The Brazilian su� ered a tournament-ending fractured vertebra during a stormy World Cup quarter-� nal battle with Colombia last year.

The Brazilian was in sparkling form against Peru in his country’s opening game of the tournament, scoring one goal and setting up an injury-time winner for the � ve-time world champions.

On the pitch Friday, hosts Chile, rocked by the arrest for drunk-driving of star mid� elder Vidal earlier in the week, turned on the style to ensure quali� cation for the quarter-� nals as group winners with a 5-0 demolition job of Bolivia.

Both Chile and Bolivia had already been as-sured of a place in the last eight after Ecuador’s 2-1 victory over Mexico earlier in the day. l

Maksimovic gives Serbia historic U-20 World Cup winn AFP, Wellington

Serbia pulled o� a historic 2-1 win in extra time to beat heavily favoured Brazil in the � -nal of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Auck-land on Saturday.

The scores were locked at 1-1 at the end of regulation play and the creative Nemanja Maksimovic put away the winner with two minutes remaining in extra time.

He pushed a through ball from Andrija Zivkovic past Jean to bring success for Serbia who were in the tournament for the � rst time as an independent nation, although their Yu-goslavian predecessors had won in 1987.

The gentle tap left the Brazilians in despair,

with their dreams of atoning for an embar-rassing 2014 -- when they su� ered a record 7-1 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-� -nals -- left in tatters.

Maksimovic had earlier set up Serbia’s opening goal in the 70th minute with a cross ball to Stanisa Mandic who slammed a close-range shot past Jean. But they had little time to celebrate that goal as Brazil struck back al-most immediately with a brilliant solo e� ort by substitute Andreas Pereira. l

Maradona welcomes Tevez ‘home’n Agencies

Boca Juniors legend Diego Maradona has wel-comed Carlos Tevez to the club with rumours the Juventus striker could return to La Bombonera.

Tevez, 31, struck 20 Serie A goals last season and has also been linked with Liverpool, Atlet-ico Madrid and Paris St-Germain. The striker, who is currently with Argentina at the Copa America, played for Boca from 2001 until 2004.

“Welcome home Carlos Tevez,” Maradona posted on Facebook.

Maradona was vice-president of Boca in 2005 and also managed Tevez during his spell as Argentina manager between 2008 and 2010. Boca would be likely to have to pay a substantial fee as the former West Ham, Man-chester United and Manchester City player is under contract at the Champions League � -nalists until next summer.

Tevez, who has won three league titles in England and two in Italy, scored 38 goals in 110 games during his � rst spell at Boca, where he won the league in 2003 and was voted South American Player of the Year for three straight seasons. He left for Brazilian side Cor-inthians before the 2005 season, and moved to West Ham the following year. l

Serbia players celebrate after their Fifs Under-20 World Cup � nal win against Brazil yesterday AFP

RESULTBrazil 1-2 SerbiaA. Pereira 73 Mandic 70, Maksimovic 118

COPA AMERICAChile 5-0 BoliviaAranguiz 3, 66, Sanchez 37,Medel 80, Raldes 86-OG

Ecuador 2-1 MexicoBolanos 26, Valencia 57 Jimenez 64-P

Sport 29D

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Gazi TV, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 32:55 PMIndia Tour of Bangladesh 2nd ODI Star Sports 22:00 PMWomen’s FIH Hockey World League Semi FinalsStar Sports 45:55 PMFIA F1 World Championship Main Race : Austria Grand PrixTen Sports 06:00 PM ATP: Aegon Championships FinalTen Action5:00 PMATP World Tour : Gerry Weber Champion-ships Final Ten Cricket10:15AM Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 1st Test, Day 5 Sony Six1:50 AMCaribbean Premier League T20 Red Steel vs. Zouks Sony Six HD12:45 AMCopa America 2015Colombia v Peru 3:15 AMBrazil v Venezuela

DAY’S WATCH

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

TROUBLED YEAR FOR TIGER2014

t May 28 - Still recovering from the back surgery that forced him to miss the Masters, he an-nounces he will miss the US Open at Pinehurst

t July 20 - Finishes 69th in the Open at Hoylake, his worst 72-hole � nish in a major as a pro

t August 3 - Withdraws during the � nal round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in clear pain after hitting a shot.

t August 8 - Misses just his fourth cut in 66 majors as a professional after as back trouble strikes again at the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

t August 14 - Announces he does not wish to be considered for the Ryder Cup team due to a back injury

t August 25 - Ends professional relationship with swing coach Sean Foley.

t November 22 - Appoints Chris Como as swing coach.

2015t January 9 - Con� rms he will start his 2015

season at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

t January 30 - Endures the worst round of his professional career with an 11-over par 82 in the second round of the Phoenix event.

t February 5 - Withdraws from his next event, the Farmers Insurance Open, during the � rst round because of back pain.

t February 11 - Takes an inde� nite break saying he needs to work on his game

t March 30 - Drops out of the world’s top 100 golfers for the � rst since 1996.

t April 3 - Announces that he will compete at the Masters.

t April 13 - Finishes joint 17th at Augusta after a closing 73. Woods went into the � nal round in a tie for � fth with Rory McIlroy.

t April 24 - Announces he will return to the PGA Tour at the Players Championship on May 7.

t May 3 - Announces his relationship with Lind-sey Vonn is over.

t June 6 - Shoots a career-worst 85 - 13 over par - in the third round at the Memorial Tour-nament in Ohio.

t June 18: Shoots his worst round at the US Open - a 10-over par 80 - in the � rst round at Chambers Bay.

t June 19: Misses the cut at the US Open for just the second time in his career. He is ranked 195th in the world.

Wounded Tiger tumbles out of US Openn AFP, Tacoma

Tiger Woods carried the scars of another failed campaign with him on Friday as he headed for home following another horror show at the US Open.

The fallen great made for the exit door after a struggling second round score of 76 failed miserably to repair the damage done by a hor-rendous opening 80. That e� ort - his worst at any US Open and the fourth worst of his pro career - left the sport’s former dominant force with a mountain to climb just to make the cut.

He never looked like doing that“I wanted to shoot 5 or 6 today. But I want-

ed to be on the other side of it,” he said.“But I hit a little bit better today. But, again,

I made nothing today. I didn’t make any putts the � rst two days. I hit it better today. Hitting some spots where I could hit some putts. I made nothing.

Things quickly went from bad to worse at Chambers Bay early in the day as the 39-year-old American, whose last major title came in this same tournament seven years ago, bo-geyed the 10th, his opener. l

Murray wants to learn from Mourinhon AFP, London

Andy Murray says he wants to learn the se-crets of Jose Mourinho’s success as the former Wimbledon champion � ne-tunes his chal-lenge to regain the All England Club title.

Murray battled to a three-set victory over Gilles Muller in Friday’s quarter-� nals of the Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen’s Club and then caught up with Chelsea manager Mourinho for a quick chat and a picture that he posted on his Instagram account.

The 2013 Wimbledon champion has be-come friendly with Mourinho since using Chelsea’s training ground, which is near his Cobham home, during his recovery from back surgery last year.

And given Mourinho’s vast success, includ-ing leading Chelsea to the Premier League ti-tle and League Cup last season, it is little sur-

prise that Murray is keen to get a few tips from the Portuguese coach.

“I haven’t met him long enough or in a situ-ation where I could do that,” Murray said.

“But I’d love to chat to him about those things to understand what it is that makes him great. The consistency of his success is pretty incredible really.”

Murray was below his best against Muller, but he admitted he was still relieved to have put on a winning performance in front of Mourinho after falling � at the last time he was in attendance.

While Murray has a good rapport with Mourinho, he stopped short of grilling the boss about transfers, in particular Chelsea goal-keeper Petr Cech’s proposed move to Arsenal.

“It looks like that’s pretty much done now. No, I actually didn’t ask him about that!” Mur-ray laughed. l

‘I have never doped’, insists under-� re Farahn AFP, London

Britain’s double Olympic and world champi-on Mo Farah insisted Friday that he had never taken performance-enhancing drugs amid al-legations that his coach had practised doping techniques on American training partner Ga-len Rupp.

“I have never taken performance enhanc-ing drugs in my life and I never will,” said Farah, who skipped an outing over 1500m at the Birmingham Diamond League earlier this month to return to the United States to con-front coach Alberto Salazar over doping alle-gations.

“Over the course of my career I have taken hundreds of drugs tests and every single one has been negative,” the Somali-born Briton said in a statement.

The Daily Mail also reported Thursday that Farah had missed two drug tests in the run-up to the 2012 London Games, where he won double gold in the 5,000 and 10,000m.

“I’ve fully explained the only two tests in my career that I have ever missed, which the authorities understood, and there was nev-er any suggestion that these were anything more than simple mistakes,” Farah said.

UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) rules state an ath-lete who misses three tests in any 12-month period (reduced from 18 months since 2013) can face a ban of up to four years. l

Tiger Woods reacts on the 2nd green in the second round of the 2015 US Open golf tournament at Chambers Bay on Friday REUTERS

Andy Murray in action during his quarter� nal match at the Aegon Championships in Queens Club, London on Friday REUTERS

DOWNTIME30DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 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 1 represents L so � ll L every time the � gure 1 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Reality (4) 4 Seraglio (5)9 Frozen treat (3) 11 Swelling (4) 12 Play for time (5)13 Merriment (4)14 Fasting period (4)15 Wear away (5)19 Presentation (5)21 Send out (4)25 Separate (4)26 Felony (5)28 Spoken (4)29 Solemn promise (3) 30 Dogma (5)31 Tidy (4)

DOWN1 Clenched hand (4) 2 Perform (3)3 Stop (5)5 Fisher (6)6 Acting part (4)7 Paradise (4)8 Encounters (5)10 Joint (5)16 Disconcert (6)17 Social event (5)18 Storehouse (5)20 Impel (5)22 Female horse (4)23 Country (4)24 Salamander (4) 27 Extinct bird (3)

SUDOKU

n Sadia Khalid

Visitors at Jurassic World are bored with regular dinosaurs a decade after John Ham-mond’s vision became a reality. The theme park is engineering genetically modi� ed di-nosaurs to spike its pro� ts. When one such creation, the Indominous Rex, escapes cap-tivity, over twenty thousand people’s lives are at stake.

After the phenomenal success of Juras-sic Park (1993) and the equally phenomenal failure of its two sequels, Jurassic World took up the impossible task of matching the im-possibly high standards set by the original movie. And the fact that millions of fans of the franchise eagerly waited 14 years for this movie- wasn’t helping. The good news, the

movie is utterly entertaining from beginning to end. The bad news, however, is that there are such serious � aws in the plot that anyone who hasn’t yet learned how to shut o� one’s brain before entering a movie theatre, will be disappointed, again.

Of course we were delighted to see a bunch of vicious dinosaurs snacking on in-nocent people, but the fundamental ques-tion remains, is it advisable to open another live dinosaur theme park after the catastro-phes portrayed in the � rst three � lms? The harsh truth is that a few deaths here and there never shut down any multi-billion dol-lar theme park, and Jurassic World is no dif-ferent. However, the movie fails miserably to make us feel for the characters. There is a lot of unnecessary back-story of the two young

boys who come to visit the park. They take up a lot of screen time, yet we never really fear for their lives or for any other characters’ lives for that matter.

The dinosaurs were the real stars of the � lm. Nevertheless, Chris Pratt (Guardians of The Galaxy), the Raptor whisperer, brought his A-game. His chemistry with co-star Bryce Dallas Howard was somewhat overshad-owed by his chemistry with the raptor pack beta, Blue. Howard keeps her high heels on throughout the � lm, which is not the best footwear when running for your life. The movie, conversely, has many merits to out-shine the demerits. If you like a good ac-tion-packed monster movie, you de� nitely don’t want to miss this. l

SHOWTIME 31D

TSUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

WHAT TO WATCH

X-Men Origins: WolverineStar Movies 7:30pmA look at Wolverine’s early life, in particular his time with the government squad Team X and the impact it will have on his later years.Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds

The Dark KnightWB 9:30pmWhen the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, the caped crusader must come to terms with one of the greatest psychological tests of his ability to � ght injustice.Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

The TerminalZee Studio 6:55pm An eastern immigrant � nds himself stranded in JFK airport, and must take up temporary residence there.Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chi McBride

CELEBS ON SOCIALClawing into the park

Lilly Singh@IISuperwomanIII continue to be my own friend. The closest one I have. Traveling the world and whispering all my…instagram.com/p/4Iib5_n6r4/ 

Marc Jacobs@marcjacobs retweeted @wwd@marcjacobs celebrated his new fragrance with @AdrianaLima

Jimmy Fallon@jimmyfallonCongratulations to Alex Rodriguez on 3,000 hits! #AROD3K

“Bhaab” featuring “Gaan pagol” at Jatra Birotin Saima Alam Prima

Bangla folk music night titled “Bhaab” was held on Thursday, June 18, setting out the three-day recreational event hosted by Jatra Biroti every week.

This week’s “Bhaab” (Jatra Biroti’s weekly folk music night) featured the recent band Gaan Pagol, inspired by eastern classical music and the deep folk traditions of Bangladesh. Mohammad Shoeb, the lead classical singer, along with his instrumental team, Sheuli on violin, cello and mando-lin, Amit on violin and djembe, Mehedi on violin and ghatam, Arif and Apel on classical guitars, Monoj on � ute, Philip on khamak, Raju on chajon, and Are� n on bass guitar delivered a great performance for the audience.

In a city with little recreational opportu-nities, Jatra is de� nitely a must visit, spend-ing quality time with friends and family. The ambiance of the beautiful rooftop setting, decorated with little lights and � oor cushions in the most homely fashion, cou-pled with the melodious folk music takes spectators to spiritual bliss.

They also hosted “Open Mic” on June 19 and Electro/Acoustic, featuring Don Donadoni and The Speakeasy Orchestra on June 20.Entry fee for Jatra Biroti events is Tk500 each day. including free phuchka and tea. Keeping Ramadan in mind, the gates open at 7pm sharp after iftar and entertain music lovers till 11pm. l

n Showtime Desk

Just recently, actress Taraji P Henson had shared her current state of mind and physical illness on Instagram. A spokes-woman for Henson says the actress had su� ered from exhaustion. After co-star-ring in the Fox hit drama Empire, as the character Cookie, Taraji has been taking on more and more responsibilities.

With success comes a whirlwind of attention and aiming to work harder in show business. It’s natural for actors in the � lm and TV industry to get carried away with the overwhelming attention and personal goals. Staying mentally and physically healthy is a di� cult task when you are no longer keeping your feet on the ground. Fortunately for Taraji, she’ll make a speedy recovery over her short stay at the clinic.Her Instagram post reads: God has a way of saying “you’re doing too much!” “SAT DOWN SOMEWHERE”. I’m listening Father!!! I am taking several seats!!! Don’t worry y’all I’m a tough cookie! HA! I will be just � ne. My momma and best friends are � ying in to check on me. I AM FINE!!!!!!! Just need to SAT ALL THE WAY DOWN for a bit. #listentoyourbody. l

Cookie nearly crumbling

BACK PAGE32DT

SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015

NINE IN A ROW, LONG WAY TO GO PAGE 25

CLAWING INTO THE PARK PAGE 31

LEASED AIRCRAFT EATS UP TK100CR PAGE 15

‘MVAs to face � nancing, technical challenges’n Tribune Report

Implementation of the recent BBIN-Motor Ve-hicle Agreement (MVA) would face a number of challenges like � nancing, regulatory and technical, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said yesterday.

Standard operating procedures, weight of vehicles, axle load and dimension, road de-sign and construction standards, prescribed routes, commodity classi� cation system, rates of taxes and fees, and transits should be detailed out in line with the global practices during the next six months, according to an analysis of the civil society think-tank.

As follow-up actions since the BBIN-MVAs was signed by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) on June 15, preparation of multi-lateral protocols is supposed to be held in July, MVA formalisation in August, negotiations and approvals in September, BBIN Friendship motor vehicle rally in October and preparato-ry work to be completed in December.

The analysis said the road maintenance fees levied by the host country on vehicles en-gaged in cross-border tra� c (both transit and inter-state) should be commensurate with the road maintenance fees levied by the host country on its domestic vehicles.

“It’s not enough to design the implementa-tion modalities to ensure win-win outcomes. It’s also equally important that this is per-ceived to be so by the citizens,” CPD Executive Director Prof Musta� zur Rahman said in his presentation on Trade Facilitation in South Asia Through Transport Connectivity: Oper-ationalising the Motor Vehicle Agreements (MVAs) in the city yesterday.

CPD Chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan

chaired the event with Road Transport and Bridges Minister M Obaidul Quader attending.

Professor Rahman said MVAs should be ex-amined in view of other recent developments to deepen economic relations taking place at bilateral, sub-regional and regional levels in South Asia.

The CPD analysis said all the relevant doc-uments, including the BBIN-MVAs, protocols, permit forms, information about fees, sur-charges and user-fees should be freely availa-ble on dedicated websites to ensure transpar-ency in all steps.

It recommended setting up a national com-mittee in each of the four countries to co-ordi-nate the issue.

The CPD executive director said various co-

operation are now going on – in investment, special economic zones, development of roads – but all these should have to be inte-grated. Earlier, these were so much disjoined. “Because of this, Bangladesh failed to take full advantage earlier.”

“Transport and investment should be very much coordinated and should be re� ected in the seventh � ve-year plan,” said Professor Rahman.

“If we have the MVA, obviously there will be lot of problem in terms of crossing the boarders. These will have to be decided, ne-gotiated and consulted up front. Otherwise, we will have same problems as boarders are control points not crossing points.”

Laying importance on transport connec-

tivity for the economic development, Rah-man said South Asia has till date continued to remain the most disconnected region in the world, with high cost of doing business and missed opportunities.

Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Pankaj Saran said the main message of the agreement is that the countries are ready to help each other in areas – water, transit and trade – going beyond seminars and confer-ence rooms.

Identifying land scarcity to implement the agreement, he said the point of agreement could not be limited only to land as land ac-quisition is a real problem that hugely could have impact on road constructions.

On fees and charges, he said: “I think it is necessary to recognise that every single agreement that we have signed including this one, there are speci� c provisions which are mutually agreed on charges, fees and so on.

“When you about the transit and fee, you have to look at the market and stakeholder. We should keep in mind that total population in North East is 40 million. Economic activi-ty of transit will generate transit business in Bangladesh to be seen in perspective. If you are talking of extracting the maximum bene� t from the transit activity in Bangladesh, you have to keep in mind that who are the cus-tomers.”

He said the projects under second credit line will get priority in infrastructure devel-opment, education and health sectors devel-opment.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Matlub Ahmad said regional connectivity will bring huge bene� t for this region. l

Wait for China funding in Padma bridge rail trackn Shohel Mamun

Bangladesh Railway is yet to con� rm any funding for Padma Bridge rail tracks that en-sure communication between Faridpur and the capital via Mawa-Jajira.

Finally the railway has been waiting for the Chinese investment to implement the project as it earlier failed to manage loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Interna-tional Cooperative Agency (JICA).

Railway Minister Mujibul Haque while vis-iting Gandariya rail station yesterday told the reporters: “We are looking for funds and we have sent letters to China embassy for loans or donations for the project. The 82km rail track requires Tk17,000 crore.”

However, the cost saw a signi� cant rise from Tk12,814 crore only � ve months ago.

Being failed to draw attention from the ADB and JICA, the state authorities have con-

tacted the China government for � nancial and technical support for the project.

Though Railway signed MoU with China Railway Group (CRG) on January 24 this year to get technical support, the fund crisis put a bar to reach a � nal agreement with CRG.

On the contrary, the feasibility study and site selection works have already started without the fund con� rmation. Sources said the government is expected to sign a loan agreement soon with the Chinese govern-ment for this project. The 44.32km rail track is to connect Dhaka from the bridge and 6.15km is to span the bridge while 31.85km for con-necting Bhanga of Faridpur to the bridge.

However, Mujibul Haque said: “We are hopeful of having completed the rail tracks with the completion of Padma Bridge.”

The government expects to inaugurate the much-awaited Padma Multipurpose Bridgeby 2018. l

Unmet pledges make last two tranches of IMF’s loan doubtfuln Asif Showkat Kallol

Global lender IMF may not release the last two tranches – worth $280m – of its Extend-ed Credit Facility, unless Bangladesh executes two pledged reforms, sources have said.

Seeking anonymity, Finance Division of-� cials said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is particularly unhappy with the performance of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and the government’s fail-ure to enact VAT law.

They also said the lender might cancel the release of the last two tranches if Bangladesh fails to carry out the reforms by the end of June – the last month of the outgoing 2014-15 � scal year.

A high o� cial of the Finance Division said: “It is frustrating that the country’s lone fuel oil importer BPC has never prepared a balance sheet in the last 45 years. Allegations also have it that there has been a misappropriation

of public fund when BPC bought fuel oil from abroad.”

As international oil prices decline to a � ve-year low, the BPC has managed to earn a pro� t for the � rst time in 14 years. The corporation is also expected to earn a healthy pro� t in the outgoing � scal year.

However, Finance Division Senior Secre-tary Mahbub Ahmed is con� dent that they will able to get the last two tranches of the IMF loan released.

He told the Dhaka Tribune last week that they had taken all measures necessaryfor ful� lling the conditions of the Extend-ed Credit Facility (ECF) by the end of thismonth.

An o� cial said that the BPC and VAT law issues will be placed in parliament during the ongoing budget session to ful� ll the pledges made to the IMF. He however could not con-� rm exactly when the issues would be raised in the house. l

Chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Rehman Sobhan, second from right, addresses a seminar on trade facilitation organised by CPD at Brac Centre Inn in Dhaka yesterday RAJIB DHAR

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