SECOND EDITION

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 | Ashwin 14, 1422, Zilhaj 14, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 163 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

PASSPORT FEES TO BE DOUBLED SOON PAGE 5

SUNDARBANS AWAITS SAFE CHANNELS PAGE 32

PADMA BRIDGE SPENDING LOW, IMPLEMENTATION SLOW PAGE 3

PAGE 5Woman brutally tortured by husband, in-laws in Sreepur

PAGE 9 Obama prepared to work with Russia, Iran on Syria

PAGE 4Students renew medical question leak protests

PAGE 15Tax return deadline likely to be extended

PAGE 25BCB names unchanged Test squad

Making millions from dustbinsn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

During and after Eid-ul-Azha every year, many news reports are � led on the leather industry – one of the country’s major export sectors – as rawhide of sacri� cial animals is its main source of raw material.

But for decades, a parallel multi-million dollar informal export sector has been grow-ing in the country which also derives its raw materials from the remains of slaughtered cattle.

On an average, more than 1.2 million cattle are sacri� ced in Dhaka alone during Eid-ul-Azha every year, but very few of their own-ers know that cattle bones, hooves, horns, tails and even the cow penis – stu� s that they throw away – actually have a healthy demand.

They also do not know that every year thousands of tonnes of animal remains and wastes – scavenged from slaughterhouses and dustbins during Eid-ul-Azha – are informally recycled and exported.

According to the Export Promotion Bu-reau, in 2014-15 � scal year, Bangladesh ex-ported animal guts, bladders and stomachs – things that are almost always disposed o� as wastes – worth a staggering $14.71m (over Tk114 crore). That same year, export of cattle bones and horns fetched $3.38 million (over Tk26 crore).

What is more staggering is that all this is done without absolutely any � nancial or in-dustrial support from the government.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1A man carries a heavy load as he walks past rows of cow organ � esh laid out to dry in the sun in the courtyard of a meat by-product processing workshop in the Hazaribagh neighbourhood of Dhaka yesterday, as a woman leaves the area walking past a heap of bones and other non-� esh parts MEHEDI HASAN

Govt pledges VVIP security for Aussie cricketersn Minhaz Uddin Khan and Shohel Mamun

Bangladesh Cricket Board hopes that the Test series with Australia will take place as per scedule as the Home Ministry pledges VVIP security protocol for the Aussie cricketers.

Cricket Australia (CA) postponed the trip earlier this week following advice from their government’s Department of Foreign A� airs and Trade and national security organisation ASIO that there was “reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to tar-get Australian interests.”

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) CEO

Nizamuddin Chowdhury said yesterday that all guarantees and assurances were being given to the three-member CA security team which is in Dhaka for a series of meetings with the authorities.

The members of the team are CA Anti-Cor-ruption and Security Manager Sean Carrol, Bupa Support Team Manager Gavin Dovey and team Security Manager Frank Dimasi.

However, the CA have yet to decide wheth-er the Australia tour to Bangladesh couldproceed.

Meanwhile, expressing hopes that the PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

HAAB: 11 con� rmed Bangladeshi fatalitiesn Adil Sakhawat

Death of at least 11 Bangladeshis in the Mina stampede has now been con� rmed by the Mecca hajj mission of HAAB, which also ex-pressed fears that seven more unidenti� ed fatalities were also Bangladeshi nationals.

Ibrahim Bahar, president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), con� rmed the numbers to the Dhaka Tribune.

Expressing concerns that the real number of Bangladeshi fatalities might be much high-er, Bahar said that according to the HAAB’s list, around 90 Bangladeshi pilgrims are still

missing while 25 Bangladeshis are now under-going treatment at di� erent hospitals in Saudi Arabia.

The hospitals where Bangladeshis are cur-rently admitted includes Al Noor Hospital, King Abdullah Hospital and Mina Hospital, the HAAB chief said, adding that the Saudi government was not letting anyone enter those hospitals to collect information about the injured.

Asked whether there would be any com-pensation from the Saudi government to the families of the stampede victims, he said:

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Products 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015

Bones and Horns $1.06m $1.09m $1.48m $3.38m

Animal guts, bladders & stomachs $2.74m $2.93m $5.03m $14.71mSource: Export Promotion Bureau

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015NEWS2DT

Hasina meets Modi, Xi Jinping at UNGAn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is heavily en-gaged in bilateral diplomacy at the United Na-tions, a place for multilateralism, in addition to her regular engagement there.

She had bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

She is also scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Netherlands Premier Mark Rutte at the wee hours of Tues-day local time.

“The prime minister had very successful meetings with the Chinese president and her Indian counterpart,” Foreign Secretary M Sha-hidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune.

In the meeting with the Chinese president, both the leaders had substantive discussion, he said.

Asked when the Chinese leadership is com-ing to Dhaka, the foreign secretary said both the countries are trying to � nd out a date.

This year is the 40th anniversary of Bang-ladesh-China diplomatic relations and both the countries are celebrating the event with utmost interest.

The Chinese foreign minister has already visited Dhaka and Bangladesh has formal-ly invited the Chinese leadership to come to Dhaka this year.

Hasina at the UNGA participated in a Chi-nese event on gender equality and women empowerment on Sunday.

The meeting with Indian prime minister was productive, the foreign secretary said.

After the meeting of Bangladesh and In-dian prime ministers, Modi tweeted: “Yet another productive meeting with PM Sheikh Hasina. We discussed India-Bangladesh ties.”

This is their third meeting this year. l

UK alerts its citizens in Dhakan Tribune Report

The UK government yesterday issued an alert for its citizens living in Bangladesh.

It asked its citizens to remain vigilant in the wake of threat from terrorists.

In a message on its website it advised UK o� cials to limit their attendance at events where westerners may gather, for example in hotels or conference centres.

As of late September 2015, there is reliable in-formation that militants may be planning to tar-get western interests in Bangladesh, it warned. l

Making millions from dustbinsCleaned cow stomachs are used in the phar-maceutical industry. People in China, South Korea, Thailand and Japan make soup with cattle penis. Horns, hooves and teeth are used for making gelatin, camera � lm and sandpa-per, say people involved in this trade.

Hard substances such as teeth and bones are cut with machines to uniform sizes and sold. Local pharmaceutical companies use these to make the shell of capsules while some are exported to India. Hooves and horns are also exported and used for making combs, buttons and X-ray � lms.

Cow ears are used for making poultry feed. The ears are boiled and dried in the sun, ground into powder and sold to poultry feed traders. Bone dust is also mixed with poultry feed and fertilisers.

There is not a single research or study on this ever-growing informal industry, neither does the government have any information on how many people make a living out of this.

If backed by the government, could do wonders to the country’s economy, given the number of cattle that is slaughtered every year, say the traders.

What will catch one’s attention on a visit to Bhola Mia’s workshop at Hazaribagh that processes and recycles cattle remains is the unbearable stench from the decomposing re-mains of sacri� cial animals. For someone un-accustomed to this, burning eyes come along with the foul smell.

Understandably, three days after Eid, this is the busiest time of the year for some 200 workshops in the city that recycle the animal remains.

There is just one such workshop in Hazari-bagh; most of the rest are located in the capi-tal city’s Jatrabari area.

This reporter had a long conversation with middle-aged Bhola Mia, the owner of Abid and Brothers in Hazaribagh.

There is no reason to think that it is a large workshop building; it is just a tin-roofed hut. Most of the processing and recycling is done in the open air.

Workers, without absolutely no protective gear, could be seen processing the materials sitting on the banks of a narrow canal whose water has turned pitch-black from years of industrial pollution for which the Hazaribagh

area is infamous for.Bhola Mia, now in his sixties, told this re-

porter that he had got into this business as a child right after independence in 1971. Before that, the Marwaris used to control this busi-ness. He learned the tricks of the trade from them. Around 40 people work in his work-shop.

“Every part of a cow’s body is recycled. Nothing is thrown away unused.

“Many big businessmen are involved with this business. They buy the processed stu� from us. They have bank loan facilities, but we, the small businessmen, do not get any help from the government,” he said.

Bhola employs around 3,000 scavengers against advanced payments to collect animal remains from the dustbins in the capital city. Bones and penises are dried for � ve to six days before being sold to dealers.

“If we stop collecting bones and horns from the dustbins, just think what the scenar-io of the city would be. No one will be able to live in the capital city,” Bhola said.

When contacted, Abdur Rouf, director of the Export Promotion Bureau, told the Dhaka

Tribune yesterday: “Nothing [of a sacri� cial animal] is wasted, everything is exported. These have huge demand in the international market.”

AH Md Maqsood Sinha, executive director of an NGO named Waste Concern, said animal wastes are now being collected informally, but if the entire recycling could be done sys-tematically and scienti� cally, the environ-ment would bene� t.

“Land will not be polluted. Spread of dis-eases can be minimised and water will not be contaminated. If there were scienti� c slaugh-tering houses and people used them, then the collection process would be easier and a huge amount of foreign exchange could be earned. The government should formulate a policy guideline regarding this,” Maqsood said.

He also said that at present, around 30-40% of animal wastes get wasted; so, that could also be reduced.

“The government should promote this business. The Bangladesh Bank has a green banking project and this business can come under that project and � ourish,” Maqsood added. l

HAAB: 11 con� rmed Bangladeshi fatalities“We do not have any such information yet.”

Bahar added that all of the Bangladeshi victims would be buried in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s English-lan-guage daily Arab News yesterday reported that preparations have been made in six cem-eteries of Mecca to bury the stampede victims upon their families’ approval.

The authorities concerned, however, were also ready to deliver the bodies and all rele-vant assistance to families wishing to bury their relatives in their homelands, Arab News further reported.

Qulkhani for a Jamalpur hajiA family in Jamalpur has held the qulkhani for one of their relatives, who they claim was

killed in the Mina stampede.The family from Hatchandra village claims

that Firoza Khanam, a retired schoolteacher and mother of � ve, had gone to this year’s hajj with her son Khandaker Mozaharul Islam.

Mozaharul was with his mother when the stampede killed her, but Saudi police soon took away her body, said Firoza’s other son Khandaker Faridul Islam.

Since then, Mozaharul had been searching di� erent hospitals for his mother’s body, but to no avail, Faridul told our correspondent.

Two reported deaths in Sylhet family A family in Sylhet claims that one of their relatives had died in Thursday’s Mina crush, while another is also feared dead. Three more

of their relatives were also injured in the inci-dent, they further said.

The family from Sylhet city’s Syedanibagh said the body of one of their family members – Shaheda Begum – has been identi� ed, but another relative – Asma Begum – has been missing since Thursday’s stampede.

Syed Fazilat Hossain, brother-in-law of Shaheda, said � ve members of the family were together when the stampede took place. Asma’s husband Syed Shakhawat Hossain and Shaheda’s husband Sadeque Hossain lost con-sciousness during the crush and were rushed to local medical facilities.

After regaining consciousness, they set out to � nd their wives and identi� ed Shaheda’s body at a Saudi hospital on Saturday; even though

Asma could not be found, the family believes she had died, Fazilat told our correspondent.

Brahmanbaria haji identified by brotherA family in Brahmanbaria’s Kasba upazila says one of their relatives, Jahedul Islam Bhuiyan Shwapan, had died in the Mina stampede.

Jahedul’s elder brother Aminul Islam Bhui-yan said the news of the death was con� rmed on Sunday by another brother who had been accompanying Jahedul in the pilgrimage.

Quoting Khairul Islam Bhuiyan, the brother currently in Saudi Arabia, Aminul told our Brah-manbaria correspondent that Jahedul had been missing since the symbolic stoning of the devil. His body was later found at a morgue and identi-� ed using the identi� cation card on the body. l

Govt pledges VVIP security for Aussie cricketersseries would take place, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal an-nounced yesterday that visitors would be pro-vided with VVIP security.

He made the remark in a press brie� ng af-ter a meeting with Sean Carroll at the secre-tariat yesterday. BCB President Nazmul Hasan and representatives from law enforcement agencies were present in the meeting.

“I think they [Australia delegation] are as-sured of our security measures after the meet-

ing,” Kamal said.Australian High Commissioner in Dhaka

Greg Wilcock, who led the delegation at the meeting, said the message would be con-veyed to the Australia government.

In the meeting, the Bangladesh side want-ed to know the source of Australian security concerns, but the delegation did not disclose this, said Nazmul Hassan.

Asked about the tour schedule, BCB CEO Nizamuddin said: “You see there are many

factors attached to an international match. We will try to hold the two matches as sched-uled as you see an international game can never be set in a day or two. There are many issues such as broadcasting arrangements.”

He added that a venue change is unlikely. The CA proposed to change the venue of the � rst Test scheduled for the Zahur Ahmed Chow-dhury stadium in Chittagong from October 9. Nizamuddin said: “Change in venues has never been in the agenda, at least not until yesterday.”

According to a source close to the BCB, the entire series may get postponed by four days. The Australia team was due in Dhaka yester-day but according to the new plan, the visitors are expected to reach Dhaka on Friday night.

Dhaka Tribune understands that the tour-ists do not want to hamper their preparation.

In that case, the three-day tour match against a BCB eleven starting October 3 at the Fatullah stadium in Narayanganj near Dhaka might not be played on October 7. l

NEWS 3D

TTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Padma bridge spending slow, implementation lown Asif Showkat Kallol

Expenditure on the Padma Bridge project has been sluggish, with 34.86% spent in the last three years, and the implementation of the main bridge has been minimal at just 13.5% as of August 15, according to o� cial estimates.

But Padma Bridge Project Director Sha� qul Islam said the amount spent between FY2013 and FY2015 was not abnormal and matched up well with the amount of work done on the project.

He said he hoped the bridge would be ready for use by the middle of 2018.

A quarrel between the government and the World Bank over allegations of corruption, later proved wrong, delayed the project by three years between FY2009 and FY2012.

According to o� cial data, accumulated spending on the Padma Bridge hit Tk8,366.65 crore as of the middle of August this year.

In FY2015-16, the government allocated Tk7,400 crore for the project while the Bridg-es Division disbursed Tk1,796.02 crore as of August 15.

Total project costs increased to 24,000

crore from Tk20,507.20 crore, due to delays in implementing the project.

According to the Fast Track Project Mon-itoring Committee at the Prime Minister’s O� ce, about 13.5% of the main construction work of the Padma Bridge had been complet-ed.

The Fast Track Committee meeting, pre-sided over by Principle Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, was held on September 13 at the Prime Minister’s O� ce.

According to the meeting, work on the Mawa approach road, Jajira approach road, service area 2 and river training had imple-mentation rates of 48.5%, 50%, 46% and 8.5%, respectively.

According to the minutes from another meeting – a Bridges Division review of the project – the mobilisation work of the main bridge is currently being carried out. The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) procured has three Test Pile Drives, four Pile Testers and 18 Anchor Drives.

Some 12,400 tonnes of steel plate have been delivered to the project site, another 9,000 tonnes of it is scheduled to arrive short-

ly from Chittagong port and a further 7,000 tonnes is on its way from China.

River trainingAs of mid-August, the implementation rate of river training was at 8.5% in the Padma Bridge project.

According to a recent meeting of the Bridg-es Division, interim work at Magura point was completed during the rainy season to over-come setbacks due to � ooding. Dredging is being continued at Jajira point.

Rehabilitation programmeThe Bridges Division received an additional Tk537.18 crore to run its rehabilitation pro-gramme.

A total of 1,331 plots have already been dis-tributed to families a� ected by the construc-tion mega-project. Some 2,592 plots will be distributed under the Padma Bridge rehabil-itation programme.

Another 362 plots have been distributed among landless peasants.

The government has acquired 1,230.90 out of a proposed 1,599.85 hectares of land in

Munshiganj, Madaripur and Shariatpur. Land rights have been established over 1,115.44 hectares of the project site.

Environmental programmeAs part of the project’s environmental mit-igation e� ort, some 67,550 trees have been planted as of August and a contract will be signed between the Padma Bridge construc-tion authorities and the zoology department at Dhaka University to build a museum.

Bridges Division Secretary Khandokar Awarul Islam said the construction of the Padma Bridge will be completed within the time-frame set by the government.

He said an earlier problem with the reha-bilitation programme had been solved. “Con-struction of the main bridge will start full swing next summer,” he said.

The 6.15km long two-level Padma Bridge will be constructed of concrete and steel.

China Major Bridge Engineering Construc-tion Company was appointed to construct the main bridge. South Korea’s Korean Express-way and the Bangladesh Army are supervis-ing the work. l

Italian citizen shot dead in Dhakan Kamrul Hasan

An Italian national was shot dead in the capital’s Gulshan neighbourhood yesterday evening.

The deceased, Cesare Tavella, 50, was a technical director working at Nether-lands-based development organisation ICCO.

Acting Inspector General of Police Mokh-lesur Rahman, speaking to journalists at Unit-ed Hospital, said the killing appeared to be pre-meditated. He said preliminary investigation suggested Tavella was attacked by three armed assailants who escaped on a motorcycle.

Police sources said the victim was found with bullet wounds in jogging clothes around 6:15pm not far from the house of the governor of Bangladesh Bank near Road 90 in Gulshan 2.

Although the governor’s house is equipped with CCTV cameras, police said those facing the crime scene were not operational.

DMP Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Khan visited both the crime scene and the hospital.

Tavella was taken to United Hospital by a local resident, Mohammad Bilal, where doc-

tors declared him dead around 7pm. Bilal said Tavella had been at shot � rst by one assailant and then twice by the other two attackers.

Witnesses said the injured man attempted to outrun his assailants, leaving behind a trail of blood, before collapsing.

Another eyewitness, who asked not to be identi� ed, said the nearby street lights did not go on automatically at 6pm as they should have but came on ten or � fteen min-utes after the shooting. The witness could not say whether there had been a power outage.

ICCO’s manager for administration and hu-man resources in Dhaka, Alo Rani Dhali, said Tavella was in the habit of jogging home from his o� ce in Gulshan 1 to his home in Gulshan 2.

Police sources said the victim had sus-tained two bullet injuries to the abdomen and one bullet injury to the hand. They said there was no evidence he had been robbed, adding that his personal e� ects had been seized for further investigation.

Acting IGP Mokhlesur Rahman visited the crime scene as well as the hospital. He said the police were looking for clues and searching for possible CCTV footage of the incident. l

Sheikh Hasina receives Champions of the Earth awardn Tribune Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has received the “Champions of the Earth” award in New York, in recognition of Bangladesh's e� orts to combat the e� ects of climate change.

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner handed over the award at a gala reception on Sunday evening, UNB reports.

Sheikh Hasina was nominated in the Poli-cy Leadership category. The UNEP also hon-oured four others: the National Geographic

Society in the Science and Innovation cate-gory, Unilever CEO Paul Polman and Brazilian cosmetics � rm Natura in the Entrepreneur-ial Vision category, and South African Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit in the Inspiration and Action category.

The awards were hosted by UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors actor Ian Somerhalder and model Gisele Bündchen, as well as actress Nikki Reed.

Receiving the award, Hasina said: “As the world talks about a common future for all, we are ready to do our part ... to protect and nur-ture our planet.” l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina receives the Champions of the Earth award of the United Nations Environment Programme yesterday, in recognition for her outstanding leadership on the front line of climate change BSS

Students renew medical college question leak protests n Kamrul Hasan

In a new round of demonstrations yesterday, medical college applicants in Rajshahi de-manded the annulment of this year’s medical college entrance examination results and de-manded that fresh exams be held.

Several hundred placard-wielding protest-ers congregated on the footpath opposite the main gate of Rajshahi Medical College yester-day, where they formed a human chain be-tween 10 and 11am.

Around noon yesterday several hundred medical college aspirants in the capital be-gan a demonstration at Shaheed Minar on the Dhaka University campus, later moving to Shahbagh crossing.

Police blocked their path in front of the

National Public Library, where they staged a sit-in until around 2pm.

The aggrieved students said question pa-pers had been leaked on Facebook the night before and on the morning of the exam. Test-takers said the actual exam they took was identical to one of the leaked question papers, and demanded that the results be nulli� ed and fresh exams held.

Outrage over the question paper leak even prompted a prominent human rights organi-sation to jump into the fray.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman in a press release yesterday said the actions of the authorities had raised questions about the acceptability of the exam results, terming the action of the authorities “negligent.”

Such negligence would destroy the coun-try’s higher education system, the TIB press release said.

Earlier, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested several University Grants Commis-sion (UGC) o� cials, teachers and criminals for their alleged involvement in the question paper leak.

One medical college applicant, Jannatul Mawa, was seen weeping at Gabtoli Bus Termi-nal as she waited for a Jhenaidah-bound bus.

When asked what was wrong, she said: “If just anyone can cheat their way into medi-cal college, what is the point of studying so hard?”

“All the opportunity is for those who can pay big money; for the meritorious there is nothing.” l

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015NEWS4DT

BGB team in India to participate in � ring competitionn Tribune Report

A team of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) reached India yesterday morning to partici-pate in a � ring competition with their Indian counterpart Border Security Force (BSF).

Organised by the BSF, the friendly compe-tition was scheduled to start yesterday and will continue until Wednesday.

The 14-member BGB team is being led by Major Nur Uddin, sources at the BGB told the Dhaka Tribune.

BGB Public Relations O� cer Mohsin Reza said the team entered India through Chengra-bandha border check post in Cooch Behar, In-dia yesterday morning.

The corresponding point on the Bangla-desh side of the border is Burimari in Lalmon-irhat. l

PM: Biman to resume Dhaka-New York routen Tribune Report

The � ights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines on Dhaka-New York route will resume once the legal problems in this regard are resolved, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Sunday.

“Biman has enough modern Boeing air-crafts in its � eet. But, there are some legal complexities that need to be sorted before Biman can resume its � ight operation from JFK International Airport in New York,” she said while addressing a reception accorded to her by the US chapter of the Awami League at Hotel Hilton, the UNB reported.

The event was also addressed by US Con-gresswoman Yvette Clarke, Awami League central leaders Dr Dipu Moni, Dr Hasan Mahmud, Abdus Sobhan Golap, and Awami League US chapter’s General Secretary Sajjad Hossain and Organising Secretary Chandan Dutta, among others.

The event was chaired by Awami League US chapter President Siddiqur Rahman. l

Joint secretary killed under train wheelsn Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A joint secretary of the Primary and Mass Ed-ucation Ministry, Ranjit Chandra Sarker, was killed yesterday after being crushed under the wheels of a train in Mymensingh.

Ranjit was a passenger of the Haor Express, travelling from his ancestral home at Garaun village in Netrokona’s Mohonganj upazila to Dhaka. The top o� cial had got down at the Mymensingh rail station when he reportedly slipped and fell under the wheels while trying to climb back onto the running train.

The 50-year-old joint secretary, who was an o� cer from the BCS ninth batch, had only last week joined as a director at the Directo-rate of Primary Education.

Rabindra Chandra, the public relations of-� cer for the ministry, said they had no infor-mation regarding the death of Ranjit, who had very recently joined the directorate.

Primary and Mass Education Minister Mo-sta� zur Rahman has expressed grief at the death of the top government o� cial. l

Hasina’s 69th birthday celebratedn Abu Hayat Mahmud

The 69th birthday of Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was observed yesterday across the country.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now in New York attending the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The New York City Awami League and the party’s several central committee leaders celebrated her birthday at her hotel suite there.

On this day in 1947, Sheikh Hasina, the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Fazilatunnesa Mujib, was born at Tungipara in Gopalganj under Faridpur district.

Special prayers and milad mah� ls were or-ganised at di� erent mosques including Baitul Mukarram National Mosque to mark the day.

Special prayers were also o� ered at Dhake-shwari National Temple and other places of worship including churches and pagodas.

Dhaka City Awami League held a milad mah� l and discussion at the party central o� ce at Bangabandhu Avenue in the city at 4pm seeking a long life for the prime minister.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sayeed Khokon cut a 69-pound cake at the corporation to observe the day, says a press release.

Awami League presidium member and Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury yesterday said It’s a matter of pride for

Bangladesh that Sheikh Hasina will co-chair four meetings of the United Nations along with US President Barak Obama,” she said.

Minister Matia made the statement while speaking at a discussion followed by a doa mah� l organised by Krishak League at the National Press Club to celebrate Hasina’s birthday. Awami League Advisory Committee’s meeting

A meeting of the ruling Awami League will be held at 4pm at party President and Prime Minister Hheikh Hasina’s political o� ce at Dhanmondi in the capital today.

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif requested all the members of the advisory committee to join the meeting, says a press release. l

Medical admission seekers yesterday stage demonstration at Shahbagh in Dhaka demanding cancellation of admission test results MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

NEWS 5D

TTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Woman brutally tortured by husband, in-laws in Sreepurn Our Correspondent, Gazipur

A housewife has been brutally tortured by her husband and in-laws in Sreepur upazila, Gazipur for dowry – to the point that she is at risk of losing vision in her right eye.

The incident happened on Wednesday, just before Eid. The victim, Kulsum Begum, 19, is now bed-ridden in her father Alim Uddin’s house at Kapatiapara village in Sreepur, unable to even move without help.

“They have been torturing my daughter for dowry for months,” her father Alim Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune.

On Wednesday, Kulsum’s husband Poran Miah, 25, and his parents Intaz Ali and Su� a Khatun beat her with sticks and a hammer. Poran even hit her in the right eye, which is now causing her to have blurry vision.

She was taken to Sreepur Upazila Health Complex for treatment in a critical condition, where the doctors referred her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital or Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for better treatment of her injured eye.

However, being very poor, Kulsum’s family opted for local treatment options.

Poran has been missing since the incident, his family told the Dhaka Tribune.

Kulsum said she had � led a complaint in this regard against Poran and his parents with Sreepur police station.

Primary investigation revealed that Kulsum’s allegations against Poran and his family are true, said Sub-Inspector Abdus Salam.

The complained has yet to be documented since the OC is on Eid leave, he said.

However, Inspector Md Ali Jinnah claimed that no such complaint had been � led with the police station.

A gruesome marriageThough short in duration Kulsum’s marriage with Poran has been rocky and abusive from the beginning, said Kulsum’s father Alim.

Poran, from Dhanua village, started stalking Kulsum around a year ago and one day proposed to her in her house.

“Being a rickshaw van puller, I did not approve since Poran is from a well-o� and in� uential family. But he threatened to kill himself if I did not give my approval. When I informed his family, they stood by their son

as well.”Considering all options, Alim � nally

agreed to the marriage. At the wedding, he gave Tk1.5 lakh in cash and furniture worth around Tk2 lakh to Poran as dowry. “I had sell my homestead for that,” he said.

Six months later, Poran and his family demanded Tk2 lakh from Kulsum. When she refused to ask her family for the money, they started beating her, torturing her frequently.

In June this year, Kulsum even � led a case with Sreepur police station in this regard, but later withdrew in when Poran signed an agreement not to demand dowry any more.

The agreement was an eyewash, however, as Poran resumed torturing Kulsum a few days later.

“On Wednesday, when he was beating me, Poran told me he was going to kill me,” a traumatised Kulsum recounted to the Dhaka Tribune.

“He locked me in a room and went to � nd ropes and a kitchen knife, when a neighbour rescued me.”

Later, as Kulsum’s condition worsened, Poran shipped her o� to her relative’s house nearby, who later noti� ed Alim about his daughter’s condition.

“I am very poor. I don’t know how to deal with this situation. Poran’s family is very in� uential,” said Alim. “I just want justice for my daughter.” l

First return Hajj � ight of Biman delayed by 12 hoursn Adil Sakhawat

The � rst return � ight of Biman Bangladesh Air-lines bringing Hajj pilgrims back to the country was delayed by around 12 hours yesterday.

The � ight left Saudi Arabia around 2pm lo-cal time and landed at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 8:27pm. It was supposed to land at 9am.

The Biman authorities said the � ight was delayed as Hajj pilgrims had reported to the terminal late.

Biman’s Public Relations O� cer Tasnim Ak-tar said: “This is a regular scenario every year.

“The � ight left Saudi Arabia at 2pm for Bangladesh. The next � ights are expected to land on time.”

A total of 419 Hajj pilgrims have returned to the country by the � rst � ight of Biman Bangladesh.

Another � ight of the Biman is also sched-uled to arrive at the Shahjalal International Airport at 12:30am today with the same num-ber of Hajj pilgrims.

Biman will operate return � ights until Oc-tober 28, Tasnim said.

The Biman Bangladesh Airlines this year will operate 140 return � ights for the Hajj pilgrims which will carry 54,845 people from Jeddah to Dhaka.

Of the 140 � ights, 31 are regular � ights while the rest are special ones. l

Passport fees to be doubled soonn Adil Sakhawat

Fee and validity period of machine-readable passport (MRP) are going to be doubled within two or three weeks, said NM Ziaul Alam, director general of the Department of Immigration and Passport.

While talking to Dhaka Tribune yesterday he also said: “Until the circular is issued the fees will remain the same as earlier.”

The decision of doubling the fees and validity was made by the government and the proposal was submitted to the Home Ministry much earlier.

“But the circular will be issued very soon by the Home Ministry,” the DG said.

The present fee for the MRP including 15% VAT for new applicants are Tk3,450 (Regular) and Tk6,900 (Express).

The proposed fee for MRP is Tk6,325 (Regular) and Tk12,650 (Express).

And the validity period of the MRP would be doubled also in the next circular. The validity period will be 10 years in the proposed new rules which is now 5 years, DG Ziaul Alam.

However, the pages of the MRP which contains 48 pages will remain the same.

Asked why it was not proposed to increase the number of pages of the MRP, the DG replied: “The proposal is being scrutinised by the authorities concerned.”

A competent source in the Home Ministry said the ministry proposed increasing 33% fee of the MRP and sent it to the Finance Ministry.

But the Finance Ministry increased the fee by 83% to raise the revenue. l

The � rst group of Hajj pilgrims arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital yesterday. About 315 pilgrims reached the country by a special � ight in the afternoon RAJIB DHAR

The agreement was an eyewash, however, as Poran resumed torturing his wife Kulsum within a matter of just a few days

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015NEWS6DT

Roads in bad shape in Moulvibazarn Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar

Major roads under Moulvibazar Pourasava have been lying in poor condition for long causing inconvenience to the commuters and the inhabitants.

When visited, it was found that Syed Must-ofa Ali, Shah Mostofa , Kasinath, Madhyapa-ra, Gobindasree, Tilabari, Kazirgaon, Pur-basultanpur, Shekhergaon, Boroihat Madrasa, Borobari, Goalbari and Kalimabad roads un-der the pourasava have developed big pot-holes at several points.

Locals said though they had raised the is-sue with the concern authorities on various occasions, they failed to ensure the repair of the roads.

They said the condition of the roads were very poor from earlier period and recent con-tinuous heavy rain have added su� erings newly to the people. Vehicles cannot ply on the roads as potholes developed in maximum points.

They have also urged the local administra-tion to repair it soon.

A large portion of the road near Lakshmi-bala Government Primay School was dam-aged due to recent rain. Students of the school have to face critical situation.

Rainwater had � lled the pit on the Ali Am-jad Government Primary School Road in TC Market area.

Risatullah Road is totally damaged. Bricks and pit had been washed away of the road.

Abdul Haque, resident of Forest O� ce Road, said though the had been lying in poor state for several years, it had been washed way due to recent heavy rain.

“The road has not been constructed for long. We face a lot of inconvenience while us-ing it,” he said

“We have urged the concern authorities to repair the road, but they do not give any heed,” he added.

Recent continuous rainfall and subsequent waterlogging in the town have further deteri-orated the roads that were already in a sorry state due to downpours two months back. Pourasava

These roads littered with potholes are causing misery to commuters who are forced

to experience rough rides every day. Moreo-ver, the damaged roads are wearing down ve-hicles much quicker, said Soiful Alam of the municipality.

According to the municipality sources, a tender had been called to repair the roads. The World Bank would help � nancially to construct the roads.

A project at Tk9 crore had been begun for repairing 25 damaged roads under the munic-ipality, said the sources.

Abul Hossain, executive engineer of the municipality, said repairing works of the roads would be completed within one month.

Md Fayzul Karim Mayun, mayor the pourasava, said repairing work of 25 roads could not be completed due to fund crisis. l

Community healthcare providers form a human chain in front of civil surgeon o� ce in Patuakhali town yesterday demanding regularisation of their jobs immediately FOCUS BANGLA

Floods damage crops worth Tk902cr in Rangpur n Tribune Report

The recent � oods have damaged standing crops on 1.02 lakh hectares of land in Rangpur worth about Tk902 crore.

According to the Department of Agricul-ture Extension, the � oods have totally dam-aged T-Aman crops on 13,832 hectares of land causing losses of 37,737 tonnes rice produc-tion worth Tk120.76 crore a� ecting over 1.06 lakh farmers in Rangpur.

In Kurigram, the recent � oods have caused losses of over 1.80 lakh tonnes rice produc-tion worth Tk397.02 crore by totally damag-ing standing T-Aman crops on 44,085 hec-tares of land a� ecting over 3.11 lakh farmers.

The � oods have damaged standing T-Aman crops on 1,100 hectares of land causing losses of 2,958 tone rice production worth Tk8.87 crore a� ecting 8,340 farmers in Lalmonirhat.

Besides, the recent � oods have caused losses of 930 tonnes rice production worth Tk2.32 crore by totally damaging standing T-Aman crops on 332 hectares of land a� ect-ing 4,299 farmers in Nilphamari.

In the � rst phase, the � oods have com-

pletely damaged standing T-Aman crops on 79,787 hectares of land causing production loss of 2.68 lakh tonnes rice worth Tk709.75 crore a� ecting 5.61 lakh farmers in the region.

In the second phase, the � oods have totally damaged standing T-Aman crop on 22,725 hectares of land causing production loss of 70,148 tonnes rice worth Tk192.16 crore af-fecting 1.76 lakh farmers in the second phase in Rangpur.

In addition to this, the recent � oods in two phases have totally damaged standing T-Aman seedling on 322 hectares of land causing losses of Tk2.18 crore a� ecting 9,291 farmers in the agriculture region.

To recoup the losses in T-Aman rice pro-duction, the DAE with other agriculture-re-

lated organisations and institutions have al-ready distributing late variety Aman seedling among the a� ected farmers, reports BSS.

Rangpur Regional Additional Director of the DAE Mohammad Mohsin said that the farmers have been transplanting late variety Aman rice like ‘Naijarshail’, ‘Ganjia’, BRRI dhan46 and BR-22 on their land after reces-sion of water.

Besides, o� cials and experts of di� erent agriculture related departments, institutions and organisations have been suggesting the a� ected farmers for cultivating substitute crops on their totally and partially damaged croplands.

He asked the a� ected farmers for cultivat-ing early variety ‘mash kalai’ and vegetables after recession of � oodwaters and then mus-tard, vegetables, potato, wheat, maize and other crops on their lands to recoup crop loss-es they incurred during recent � oods.

Horticulture Specialist of the DAE Khond-ker Md Mesbahul Islam said the � ood-hit framers had already started their farm activi-ties anew in most places with DAE assistance after recession of � oodwater in the region. l

Man shot dead during clash in Narail n Our Correspondent, Narail

A young man was shot and 10 others were in-jured as two groups locked into a � erce clash over establishing supremacy at Ghagha village in Lohagora upazila of Narail yesterday morning.

The victim is Iqbal Somaddar, 25, son of Rupai Somaddar, a resident of Kotakul village.

Police and locals said Kotakul UP Chair-man Khan Jahangir Alam and the union’s former chairman Hemayet Hossain Himo had long been loggerheads over establishing dom-inance in the area. As sequel to the con� ict, their followers engaged in fatal clash with one another leaving Iqbal dead and 10 injured.

Police were compelled to � re 56 rounds of bullet to quell the clashing groups � nally.

The body of Iqbal who was from Himo group was sent to Narail Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy while the 10 got admitted to the local health complex.

When contacted, both groups blamed each other for igniting the clash.

Sub-inspector of Lohagora police station Simul said a case was registered. l

Youth hacked to death in Noakhalin Our Correspondent, Noakhali

A youth who was hacked indiscriminately on Thursday over love a� airs at Kadir Hanif vil-lage, Noakhali Sadar upazilla died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the early hours of yesterday.

Anowar Hossain, o� cer-in-charge of Sud-haram Model police station, quoting locals said victim Mizanur Rahman Raihan, 18, son of Md Yakub Ali, had devolved a relation with a girl, but her family was against the a� air.

On Thursday, Raihan was talking with the girl at Halim Chairman intersection, then Jib-on, brother of the girl, came to the spot with his three associates and locked into an alter-cation with Raihan.

At one stage of the altercation, Jibon hacked Raihan with a sharp weapon.

Locals rushed Raihan to Noakhali Abdul Malek Ukil Medical College Hospital from where he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. In the early hours of yesterday, Rai-han died at the DMCH. l

To recoup the losses the DAE has already distributing late variety Aman seedling among the a� ected farmers

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015NEWS 7

DT

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:48PM SUN RISES 5:50AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

35.3ºC 21.0ºC

Sayedpur Srimongal

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 35 26Chittagong 34 27Rajshahi 34 24Rangpur 34 23Khulna 34 25Barisal 33 25Sylhet 34 24Cox’s Bazar 32 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:35am

Sunrise 5:49amZohr 11:49am

Asr 4:14pmMagrib 5:49pm

Esha 7:04pm

WEATHER

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

PARTLY CLOUDY

Ilish netting continues defying bann Tribune Report

Random Ilish catching is continued in di� er-ent rivers in the coastal areas, defying a gov-ernment ban on its catching during the peak breeding period from October 15 to 24.

The government imposed a ban from Sep-tember 25 to October 9 on catching, selling and transporting hilsha in the coastal areas to ensure the safe spawning of this popular � sh during its peak breeding period.

On the � rst day of the ban period on Fri-day, � sheries o� cials with the help of police seized 12 maunds of netted Ilish fry on a road in Patuakhali district.

In Chandpur, two mobile courts on Sunday jailed eight � shermen in separate incidents of

violation of the on-going temporary ban on Ilish catching.

Mosharof Hossain, sub-inspector of Chan-dpur River police outpost, said police arrest-ed two � shermen – Mohammad Arif, 22, and Leyakat Hossain, 25 - from the Meghna river in Harina Ghat area of Sadar upazila at noon.

Later, they were produced before a mobile court led by executive magistrate Moham-mad Rashed which sentenced them to one year’s imprisonment each.

In another drive, police arrested six � sher-men - Mohammad Hossain,

35, Nekmat Hossain, 45, Ruhul Amin, 46, Ali Hossain, 18, Mohammad

Hasan, 18 and Nayan, 32 - from Char Bhora-bi area in Haimchar upazila around 5pm, said

Omar Faruk, sub-inspector of Chandpur River police outpost.

When the arrestees were produced before a mobile court led by executive magistrate Mohammad Saiful Islam, it sentenced them to one year’s imprisonment each.

In Bhola, at least 31 � shermen were arrest-ed for � outing the ban.

Of them, a mobile court gave one-year im-prisonment to 29 � shermen.

According to local sources, a team compris-ing Coast Guard and Fisheries department personnel conducted a drive at di� erent points in the Meghna River and arrested 31 people.

Later, they were produced before a mobile court which gave 29 of them one-year impris-onment. l

Man crushed under wheels of trainn Tribune Report

A man was crushed to death under the wheels of a train at Boalkhali upazila in Chittagong yesterday morning.

The deceased was identi� ed as Bitu Mallik, 38, hailing from Purba Gomdandi area of the upazila, said Sub-Inspector (SI) Jahir Ali of Government Railway Police (GRP) at Chit-tagong Railway Station Police Outpost.

Bitu had been su� ering from mentally disor-der while the incident took place in the area be-tween Gomdandi and Bengura Station on Chit-tagong-Dohazari railway track, said the SI. l

3 pirates arrested from Sandwipn Tribune Report

Rapid Action Battalion and Bangladesh Coast Guard East Zone in a joint drive detained three pirates with � rearms from Sandwip upazila in Chittagong yesterday.

The details of the detainees, however, could not be ascertained immediately.

RAB 7 Commanding O� ce Lieutenant Colo-nel Mifta Uddin Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that the law enforcers had conducted a drive in Haramia and Senerhat areas and arrested three people with di� erent native and foreign made � rearms including an AK-22 ri� e, � ve single barrel guns, � ve shooter guns, two foreign re-volvers and two pistols from their possessions.

Colonel Mifta said RAB suspected that the ar-restees had involved with local terrorist groups and used to commit robbery in the deep sea dur-ing Ilish season. Legislative measures were under-way against the three in this regard, he added. l

Toxic gas kills 3 workers at Bogra paper milln Our Correspondent, Bogra

At least three workers have died following inhaling toxic gas during cleaning a tank of a Paper Mill at Jogarapara in Kahalu upazila on Monday morning.

The ill-fated workers are mill operator Hira, 25, son of Majed Ali, from Jhinai village, Ador Ali, 22, son of Abdul Karim, from Jog-arapara village in the upazila, and the rest is Shahadat, 19, son of Ejaruddin, from Kurahar village in Shibganj upazila.

Police recovered the bodies and sent those to the morgue of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

Witnesses and workers said Azad Pulp and Paper Mill reopened after the eid vacation today and its three aforesaid workers fell un-

conscious around 11am during a move to en-ter the tank of the factory by a ladder.

The trio were whisked o� to the hospital where physicians declared them dead.

On the way to hospital, a worker got in-jured when the truck carrying the workers head-on collided with a microbus at Godar-para.

When contacted, Bogra Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police (media) Gaziur Rah-man Sagar blamed the negligence of the mill authorities for the accident.

The factory remained closed for seven days and they should have examined the tank by experts whether any toxic gas stored in-side it, Gaziur Rahman Sagar continued.

Bogra Superintendent of Police Asaduz-zaman visited the spot. l

4 die in road accidentsn Tribune Report

Three people were killed and eight others injured in a road accident at Pahorchanda in Chakaria upazila on Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Highway yesterday.

One of the deceased was identi� ed as Kamol Talukdar, 45, hailing from Satkania upazila.

O� cer-in charge of Chakaria police station Probhash Chandra Dhar said the accident took place when a Dhaka-bound salt-laden truck from Teknaf collided with a Cox’s Ba-zar-bound microbus from Satkania around 1pm, leaving three microbus passengers dead on the spot and eight others critically injured.

In Gazipur, a motorcyclist was killed in Nayanpur Bazar area on the Dhaka-Mymens-ingh Highway in the afternoon. The deceased was identi� ed as Mostafa Kamal, 50. l

The government has imposed a ban on plying of three wheelers on highways to reduce road accidents, but the photo taken from Rajendrapur on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway shows some CNG-run autorickshaws are plying defying the ban. The photo was taken yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

India launches � rst Hubble-like space observatoryn Reuters, New Delhi

India launched its � rst space research observatory and several US satellites on Monday, part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to expand his country’s in� uence in the competitive, $300bn global space industry.

The observatory, named Astrosat, will help In-dian scientists intensify space exploration e� orts by studying distant celestial objects and conduct deeper analyses of star systems.

“This launch ... is important for astronomi-cal sciences,” Harsh Vardhan, India’s minister for earth sciences, said in a statement. “We look for-ward to prospective research.”

The simultaneous launch of six other satellites, four of which were for the US, came hours before a scheduled meeting between Modi and US Presi-dent Barack Obama.

Modi is bullish about India’s space research programme and has repeatedly lauded the e� orts of his scientists, who last year scored big on the global stage when their low-cost Mars mission entered the red planet’s orbit on its very � rst at-tempt.

Despite the recent successes, the growth of India’s space programme has been stymied by lack of heavier launchers and slow execution of missions - during 2007-2012, only about half of the planned 60 missions were accomplished.

In December, India successfully tested a new, more powerful rocket - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III - that can put heavier payloads into space, but it is

not yet operational.Astrosat is seen as a smaller version of Nasa’s

Hubble Space Telescope that was launched in 1990. It will be able to detect objects in multiple wavelengths such as X-rays, but with far lower precision than Hubble, said Mayank Vahia of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

“This will bring little commercial advantage but will show India’s new capability in space research,” said Vahia, whose institute made three of the � ve scienti� c instruments aboard Astrosat.

The Astrosat instruments will transmit data to a control centre in the southern city of Bangalore that will manage the satellite during its � ve-year mission life. l

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015WORLD8DT

Anti-India protests erupt in Nepal as fuel rationing bitesn Reuters, Kathmandu

Protesters marched in Nepal’s capital on Mon-day, carrying an e� gy of Indian Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi, accusing their giant neigh-bour of imposing an economic blockade and meddling in internal politics over the adop-tion of a new constitution.

Tension between the South Asian nations has spiked since Nepal adopted the charter last week. It has upset southern minority groups, who fear being marginalised in a new federal structure it lays out, dividing their homelands.

More than 40 people have been killed in protests in the landlocked Himalayan repub-lic since August. Indian oil trucks stopped crossing into Nepal because of protests in the south, prompting authorities to try to limit use of cars and save fuel.

Marchers in Monday’s protest in central Kathmandu carried an e� gy of Modi and shouted, “Down with Indian expansionism! Down with Modi!” before police scattered them and con� scated the e� gy.

“We are asking India, ‘Please, please open up the border and stop interfering in Nepal’s inter-nal issues,’” said nursing student Amrita Baral, who was among 130 protesters in a second march headed for the Indian embassy in Kathmandu.

A representative of India’s ministry of ex-ternal a� airs declined to comment on the new protests.

Nepal’s largest trading partner, India strongly denies a trade blockade, saying its trucks are unable to enter Nepal because pro-testers block the roads. l

INSIGHT

Abbas out of options, might go for severing o� cial ties with Israeln AFP, Ramallah

Mahmud Abbas heads to the UN this week for a speech expected to be closely watched for clues of his intentions at a time of growing despair among Palestinians, moribund peace talks and volatility in Jerusalem.

Abbas’ actions in recent weeks have spurred speculation ranging from whether the 80-year-old’s retirement is imminent to whether he intends to take the drastic step of dismantling the Palestinian Authority to re-energise the push for statehood.

A recent poll found that Palestinians are increasingly exasperated with his leadership and Israel’s right-wing government. A major-ity favour a return to armed uprising in the absence of peace talks and two-thirds want Abbas to resign.

Clashes in recent weeks between Israeli police and Palestinians at the sensitive al-Aq-sa mosque compound in Jerusalem have raised tensions further and prompted Abbas to warn of the risk of a third intifada if the vol-atility worsens.

If that were not enough, the Palestinian president’s speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday comes with much of the world’s

attention having drifted toward other concerns, such as combating Islamic State jihadists.

In the runup to the speech, there have been reports that Abbas would use the oppor-tunity to drop a “bombshell.”

Suggestions of what that could mean have included a complete withdrawal from the Oslo accords of the 1990s or the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority that those agree-ments created.

While such an announcement could po-tentially have a major impact, many analysts question whether Abbas would truly press ahead with it.

‘Who will make concessions?’The Palestinian Authority was intended to be a temporary arrangement to serve as a gov-erning administration over � ve years before negotiations leading to a � nal status, two-state settlement.

That of course did not happen, and peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians have been stalled for more than a year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu has sent mixed signals, ruling out the establishment of a Palestinian state while campaigning for March elections before

later backtracking. There is also a lack of trust between the

two sides regarding Jewish settlement expan-sion in the West Bank has continued.

Polls reflect disillusionOrganisers of a recent poll by the respected Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Re-search said for the � rst time in its surveys a majority called for the dissolution of the Pal-estinian Authority.

It also showed 57% of Palestinians support a return to an armed intifada in the absence of peace negotiations, up from 49% three months ago.

A recent leak of documents alleging cor-ruption among Palestinian o� cials has not helped matters.

Amid the turbulence, Abbas has raised the possibility of resigning as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation while re-maining Palestinian Authority president.

Abbas’s allies say such moves are part of e� orts to inject new blood into the Palestin-ian leadership.

Critics however argue that Abbas is manoeu-vring to empower his allies and marginalise opponents ahead of his eventual retirement. l

This handout photograph obtained from the Indian Space Research Organisation shows Astrosat AFP

Trump promises tax cuts and � rebrand diplomacy if elected n AFP, Washington, DC

Republican � rebrand Donald Trump has promised to scrap taxes for America’s poorest and o� er healthcare for all if elected presi-dent – paid for by renegotiating the Nafta ac-cords and picking a trade � ght with China.

The Republican presidential front-runner also promised to unveil this week what the na-tional economy would look like under a Presi-dent Trump. In an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” programme, he presented an outline of his manifesto, insist-ing he had a recipe for balancing the country’s books while cutting taxes across the board.

“There will be a large segment of our coun-try that will have a zero rate,” the real estate mogul said of his tax plan. “We’re talking about people in the low-income brackets that are supposed to be paying taxes – many of them don’t anyway,” Trump said.

Trump displayed little patience for the North American Free Trade Agreement (Naf-ta), which he vowed to do away with.

“We will either renegotiate it or we will break it,” Trump said, “because, you know, every agreement has an end.” Trump laid out an equal-ly mercurial approach to foreign policy, when asked how he would combat Islamic State group and deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Why aren’t we letting Isis go and � ght As-sad and then we pick up the remnants? Why are we doing this? We’re � ghting Isis and As-sad has to be saying to himself, ‘They are the nicest or dumbest people that I’ve ever im-agined’,” Trump said. l

Taliban seize half of major Afghan cityn AFP, Kunduz

The Taliban Monday seized half of an Afghan provincial capital, sending panicked residents � eeing as the hardline Islamists for the � rst time breached a major city since being ousted from power in 2001.

Marauding insurgents hoisted their � ag over the main square of the northern city of Kunduz, 250km north of Kabul, freed prison-ers from the local jail and set � re to the local intelligence agency headquarters, witnesses and o� cials said.

The Taliban’s incursion into Kunduz barely nine months after the Nato combat mission ended marks a major psychological blow to the country’s Western-trained security forces.

“Half the city has fallen into the hands of Taliban insurgents,” Kunduz police spokes-man Sayed Sarwar Hussaini told a news con-ference, adding local forces had not yet re-ceived promised reinforcements from Kabul.

Scores of bodies littered the streets after hours of heavy � ghting, Afghan media report-ed citing local residents, many of whom were making a hasty exit from Kunduz.

The city was swarming with Taliban � ght-ers who were racing police vehicles and had raised the � ag of the Islamic Emirate of Af-ghanistan (the group’s o� cial name) over the homes of government o� cials. Saad Mukhtar, head of a 200-bed government hospital, said the Taliban had control of the building and were hunting for wounded Afghan troops. l

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015WORLD 9

DT

CRUNCHING NUMBERS

Why Catalonia matters to Madrid?Pro-independence parties won an absolute ma-jority of seats in Catalonia’s parliament in a re-gional election on Sunday which they framed as a plebiscite on secession from Spain.

Catalonia is one of Spain’s most economically important regions. This is why:

Spain’s second-biggest regionCatalonia is home to 7.5m of Spain’s nearly 47m people, making it the second biggest region after Andalusia in the south with 8.4m. Nearly 73% of Catalonia’s inhabitants speak Catalan and around 15% are foreigners.

Highest GDPCatalonia accounted for 19%of Spain’s gross do-mestic product (GDP) last year, or nearly €200bn ($224 bn), making it the country’s richest region. Its GDP per capita has fallen slightly since the eco-nomic crisis erupted in 2008, but remains higher than the national average: just under €27,000 euros last year, according to the National Statistics Institute.

Large businessesOver 586,000 companies are based in Catalonia, most of them small and medium-sized businesses. It is home to nearly 2,150 bigger � rms employing more than 200 people, such as clothes giant Man-go and Gas Natural. Volkswagen has a factory in the region where it makes vehicles under its Seat brand.

Tourism heavenWith its capital Barcelona and Mediterranean

beaches, Catalonia draws more foreign tourists than any other Spanish region. Just over 16.8m foreigners visited last year, one quarter of Spain’s total.

Exports and investmentCatalonia accounted for 25% of all Spanish ex-ports last year, according to the economy min-istry. Since 2011 it has exported more products abroad than to the rest of Spain. It received 17% of total foreign investment in Spain last year, some €2.9bn. That � gure was down by nearly 16% from 2013 but picked up again in the � rst half of 2015.

Huge debtsCatalonia is the third most indebted of Spain’s 17 semi-autonomous regions. Its debt in the second quarter of 2015 was equivalent to nearly a third of its GDP, according to the Bank of Spain.

Low unemploymentThe unemployment rate in Catalonia in the second quarter of 2015 stood at 19.1%, extremely high but below Spain’s national average of 22.4% .

Major infrastructureCatalonia’s capital Barcelona is home to Spain’s second busiest airport, with 37.6m passengers last year, second only to Madrid. Its port is the nation’s third busiest after Algeciras and Valencia, accord-ing to the World Shipping Council. l

Source: AFP

Catalonia vote sparks political battles in Spainn AFP, Barcelona

Catalan separatists and their rivals sketched their battle plans Monday after the indepen-dence movement claimed victory in a divi-sive vote, plunging Spain into political uncer-tainty ahead of national elections.

Groups that want to break Spain’s richest region away as a new state in Europe won con-trol of the Catalan parliament in Sunday’s polls but won fewer than half the votes overall.

Opponents of secession said the result was a clear vote against independence and some called on regional president Artur Mas to resign.

But Mas hailed it as a victory and cele-brated, swigging sparkling wine in front of a cheering crowd to the sound of disco music.

Observers agreed the result left Spain in a complicated situation as it prepares for De-cember’s general elections.

Mas’s Together for Yes independence alli-ance and the smaller CUP, a radical left-wing group, won enough seats between them to control the parliament if they team up.

Both groups were due to make announce-ments early Monday afternoon, to o� er a glimpse of how they may seal a pact to push for independence.

Spanish media were divided over whether the separatists had won or lost.

“The Yes takes control,” said the conserva-tive Catalan daily La Vanguardia.

Centre-right Madrid daily El Mundo how-

ever stressed that “the majority of Catalans say no to independence.”

Spain’s top-selling daily El Pais said they had “won the election but lost the plebiscite.”

Tough talks aheadMas’ alliance faces tough negotiations to strike an accord with CUP, an anti-capitalist citizens’ group that does not want him to lead the separatist movement.

Mas and his allies “must be frightened at the mere prospect of that alliance,” El Mundo said in an editorial.

The result raised pressure on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who has � ercely resisted the drive for secession.

In its initial reaction to the vote on Sunday night, the PP showed no sign of softening its stance on independence, which it has reject-ed as illegal.

Political jockeyingOther parties jostling to oust the PP in Decem-ber’s election staked out their positions, say-ing the Catalan result supported their calls for political reform.

The main opposition Socialists denounced what their leader Pedro Sanchez called the “intransigence” of the PP against the separa-tists’ demands.

Spain’s left-wing protest party Podemos too cast the vote as a defeat for the PP, criticising its combative approach to the region. l

A swollen ‘supermoon’ is seen during the stages of a total eclipse in La Rochelle, southwestern France, early on September 28. For the � rst time in decades, the double spectacle of a swollen ‘supermoon’ bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse can be seen. The celestial show, visible from the Americas, Europe, Africa, west Asia and the east Paci� c, will be the result of the Sun, Earth and a larger-than-life, extra-bright Moon lining up for just over an hour AFP

Obama prepared to work with Russia, Iran on Syrian Reuters, United Nations

The United States is willing to work with Iran and Russia to try to end the Syrian con� ict, US President Barack Obama said on Monday but insisted there could not be a return to the status quo under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Obama described Assad as a tyrant and as the chief culprit behind the four-year civil war in which at least 200,000 people have died and millions have been driven from their homes internally or abroad as refugees.

However, he did not explicitly call for As-sad’s ouster and he suggested there could be a “managed transition” away from his rule, the latest sign that despite US animus toward the Syrian leader it is willing to see him stay for some period of time.

“The United States is prepared to work with any nation, including Russia and Iran, to resolve the con� ict,” Obama said at the annu-al gathering of world leaders. “But we must recognize that there cannot be, after so much bloodshed, so much carnage, a return to the pre-war status quo.”

In voicing a willingness to deal with Iran and Russia, both staunch backers of Assad, Obama was openly acknowledging their in-� uence in Syria and swallowing a somewhat bitter pill for the United States.

Tehran has armed the Syrian government and, through its backing of Lebanese Hez-bollah � ghter, has helped Assad � ght rebels seeking to end his family’s four-decade rule. Russia has recently engaged in a military build-up in Syria, where it has a naval base that serves as its foothold in the Middle East.

Obama is scheduled to meet Russian Pres-

ident Vladimir Putin later on Monday on the sidelines of the gathering, for talks that could provide some hint on how it might be possi-ble to end a con� ict that has de� ed years of diplomatic e� orts.

The United States has deep disagreements with Russia, notably over its March 2014 an-nexation of Crimea from Ukraine as well as its military support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The United States and Eu-ropean Union have imposed economic sanc-tions on Russia in response.

“We cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is � agrant-ly violated,” Obama said. “That’s the basis of the sanctions that the United States and our partners impose on Russia, it’s not a desire to return to a cold war.”

US o� cials say they believe Putin’s build-up of Russian forces, including tanks and

warplanes, in Syria mainly re� ects Moscow’s fear that Assad’s grip might be weakening and a desire to shore him up to retain Russian in-� uence in the region.

They also see it as a way for Putin to try to project Russian in� uence more widely, a goal he appeared to achieve on Sunday with Iraq’s announcement that Russia, Iran, Syria and the Iraqi government were sharing intel-ligence on Syria.

Later, China’s President Xi Jinping, while addressing the United Nations General As-sembly, said it will contribute 8,000 troops for a United Nations peacekeeping standby force.

Xi also said China would provide $100m in military assistance to the African Union in the next � ve years to support the establishment of an African standby force and to boost its capacity for crisis response. l

WORLD10DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

ANALYSIS

Iran-Saudi hajj row aggravates regional riftsn Reuters, Dubai

For regional adversaries at loggerheads over the crises in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, the disaster at the hajj is unlikely to be a game changer in the contest between Iran and Saudi Arabia, merely adding venom to their mutual acrimony.

But a deepening of already profound mis-trust between the conservative Sunni king-dom and the revolutionary Shia theocracy will make the task of stabilising the Middle East’s many trouble spots even harder to achieve than it already is.

While the Gulf rivals have managed to put aside bad blood after past � are-ups, such mo-ments of detente happened in a much more stable Middle East, years before turmoil in Iraq and Arab Spring uprisings unleashed sec-tarian hatreds across the region.

Today, Iranian and Saudi participation would be crucial in stabilising Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Lebanon, where the two sides back sectarian proxy forces that are either at dag-gers drawn or openly at war in con� icts kill-ing thousands each month.

Riyadh also accuses Tehran of fomenting

trouble in Bahrain and even Saudi Arabia it-self. Tehran accuses Riyadh of plotting its de-struction with Washington.

The animosity worsened in the wake of the deadliest disaster to befall the annual hajj pil-grimage in 25 years.

Iran says it lost at least 169 pilgrims when two large groups of pilgrims converged on Thursday at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilo-metres east of Mecca, on their way to perform the “stoning of the devil” ritual at Jamarat.

Iran demanded an apology. Demonstrators protested in Tehran, chanting “Death to the Saudi dynasty.” Saudis commentators insin-uated that Iranian pilgrims themselves were at fault.

“It’s a lie that Satan’s representative, Khamenei, mourns the Mina incident vic-tims,” Saudi prince Khaled Al Saud tweeted, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

‘Dirty hands’A cartoon published by Iran’s Tasnim news agency showed King Salman of Saudi Arabia as a camel trampling pilgrims.

Even before the hajj tragedy, prominent � gures in both countries exchanged critical tirades. In May, Khamenei denounced Saudi Arabia for its military campaign in Yemen by comparing the kingdom to the pagans who ruled the Arabian Peninsula before the ad-vent of Islam in the seventh century.

At the UN, Iranian President Hassan Rou-hani on Sunday lamented that Riyadh had re-bu� ed his repeated attempts at reconciliation since his election in 2013.

“We are disappointed about the cold rela-tions between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“Also when Saudis started killing people in Yemen, Riyadh drifted even further away from Iran and many other Islamic countries,” Rouhani told an audience of US think-tanks and journalists on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Analysts across the region agree the depth of the crisis may be determined largely by the results of the Saudi probe and how much is published.

‘Mismanagement’Saudi commentators point the � nger at Teh-

ran for the tragedy.Jamal Khashoggi, head of a Saudi news

channel, said investigators were looking at the actions of a large number of Iranian pil-grims who “happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time.”

“I think Saudi Arabia will speak very loud-ly on the issue when the result of the investi-gations come out. It seems that the Iranians will be blamed because they took their hajjis in the wrong direction at the wrong time,” he said.

InfluenceNot only are the two competitors openly tussling for in� uence in Arab countries, but Saudi Arabia is worried that Washington has realigned with Tehran at Arab expense by backing a deal settling Iran’s long-standing nuclear dispute.

Alive to what he sees as a US-Iran detente, Saudi Arabia’s new monarch, King Salman, is pushing for Sunni Muslim Middle East coun-tries to set aside di� erences over political Islam and focus on what it sees as the more urgent threat from Tehran. l

11D

TEDITORIALTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

INSIDE

The government needs to answer questions about why the state-owned Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) is selling 57Gbps of bandwidth to an Italian company at a knock-down price far below the prevailing price in

Bangladesh’s market.With broadband uptake in Bangladesh sorely lagging behind other

countries, it makes no sense to export bandwidth at such low prices, when in other deals with India, BSCCl has achieved higher rates.

The latest report by the global Broadband Commission for Digital Development ranks Bangladesh as 149th in the world for active mobile-broadband subscriptions. With only 6.4% of inhabitants having such access, our rate is one of the lowest in Asia, and notably behind Saarc neighbours such as Bhutan and Nepal.

While we acknowledge the scheduled connection of a second undersea 1,400Gbps cable in 2016 allows some scope to allow sale of bandwidth, this should only be permitted at sensible market prices.

There is a pressing need for the government to prioritise making broadband Internet connections more widely available in Bangladesh. The bene� ts of increasing access to faster and more reliable broadband speeds are self-evident. Faster speeds for all are essential to optimise the bene� ts of Internet use and to properly enable Bangladesh to compete in the global knowledge economy.

As part of furthering the national vision of a Digital Bangladesh, growing broadband use is vital to help our burgeoning IT sector build on the country’s growing pool of IT professionals and increase ICT to 1% of total GDP within the next � ve years.

We cannot a� ord the opportunity cost of failing to maximise the use of our nation’s bandwidth capability.

The government should rethink its strategy on broadband capacity so that it puts more emphasis on consistently increasing uptake of, and access to, faster Internet speeds within the country, rather than on seemingly ad-hoc sales of unused capacity.

We cannot a� ord the opportunity cost of failing to maximise use of the nation’s bandwidth capability

Broadband policy should prioritise national needs

View from Tehran

Listen to your heartHeart disease has been identi� ed as the as the leading cause of death in the world. Every year, 17.3 million people die from this disease. On the other hand, about 3.8 million people die of malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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PAGE 14

Of cows and menAnimals eat other animals, don’t they? Are they morally defunct? If the argument against that is their inability to comprehend their own actions, to paraphrase Chomsky, should beings which do not have the capability for responsibility be allowed rights? They do not realise the very concept

Extremists are not religious. Extremists are political actors. They use religions in order to advance their political agenda

BIG

STO

CK

OPINION12DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

n SN Rasul

As the work week starts for some of us, the rituals of sacri� ce come to an end. Its remnants are still visibly smeared on the already desecrated

streets of our cities: Blood and feces lie scattered on the side-walks and one can still get a tinge of that nauseating concoction slicing through the as-of-yet empty Dhaka air. Our drains run red, into the rivers, and out into the world. Crows and dogs pick and � ght over the scattered scraps of cow and sheep guts.

Personally, the wretched remains are worth it if Dhaka remains as it is now: Empty of the majority of its inhabitants. But I do not wish to complain about the way these “sacri� ces” are carried out -- with no regard for proper Islamic “etiquette,” which involves things like not killing the animal in front of other livestock, giving too much importance to the price of the cows and the number,

actually caring about the being you are about to slaughter, among other things -- nor the way it is, year after year, dealt with with wanton disregard for the rest of the populace -- the slaughter is done on the streets, with no thought given to the sensitivities of other people, including children, or to the state of the streets once the deed is done.

More than 500 designated “slaughter spots” were set out for the act. A quick glance out the window reveals most, if not all, did not take their future meat to these grounds, with no heard-of intervention from the au-thorities. That, too, is for someone else, and for another time.

During the festival of sacri� ce, or, rather, more appropriately, the festival of the feast, analyses revolve almost exclusively from an introspective “human” viewpoint while dissecting the issue, which excludes how the animals feel from the process. This, I suspect, will be no di� erent, for it is truly impossible to know.

The most one sees is a call to show mercy to the animals. That is neither here nor there; that is merely an easy opinion to have. Yes, you feel bad, especially and only if you see them, and perhaps only if they’re cute. And the guilt ends there.

Animal rights activists, of course, come up to spew the other extreme -- some say reli-gion is incompatible with animal rights, some try to bring Islam into the mould and claim that it teaches us kindness towards animals and, as a result, must be against their slaugh-ter. The latter claim would be half right.

It is very possible for one to still believe in animal rights, to believe that they should be treated “humanely,” if there is such a

thing, and still let it be compatible with their consumption of meat, or using them as tools in farming or providing foodstu� s like milk. It doesn’t automatically make someone a hypocrite or a bad person; merely someone who believes that the human race is superior, or more worthy of life than other animals.

On the other hand, if one believes that killing any living being is wrong for one’s own sel� sh needs, then Eid-ul-Azha is not the platform to do it on, just because it places that cruelty on full display in front of us. An-imals are being exploited on a far larger scale and more cruelly behind the scenes, at farms and by fast-food chains.

But if one believes that, where do we draw the line? Are killing mosquitoes and cock-roaches wrong in this sense? Are vaccines and other medicines wrong because they, technically, take away life from living organ-isms? The counter-argument would bring up the existence, or lack thereof, of their ability to feel pain. Then what about trees and plants, which research has increasingly shown feel, at least, something? We wouldn’t be left with anything to eat.

Additionally, animals eat other animals, don’t they? Are they morally defunct? If the argument against that is their inability to comprehend their own actions, to paraphrase Chomsky, should beings which do not have the capability for responsibility be allowed rights? They do not realise the very concept. And we were “meant to” eat meat, weren’t we? It is our primary source of protein. “Meant to”? Is there such a thing?

Conversely, our rate of consumption of meat, coupled with the fact that it is an inef-� cient source of energy, makes it, objectively speaking, unsustainable. It is a better option to get our dietary requirements directly from the source, and with technology, such as the controversial genetic engineering, it is, in the long run, a far viable option. This plays well for the group that believes that meat should only be consumed when necessary. There are, after all, plenty of options available, for those who can a� ord it.

All of these trains of thought, these phi-losophies, pre-suppose an existing objective moral base on which they stand. In truth, such a platform doesn’t exist. All of these have valid points when taken properly into consideration. These are moot points that will forever be discussed and dissected and laws will continue to change and change again until the end of time, as it has always done before. But this is necessary, for the betterment of our species in the long run, if I may presume that momentary lapse of hubris.

For we may one day look back at this time, the same way we do on issues like slavery, and capital punishment, racism, and hom-ophobia in some parts of the world, and be shocked at the way we had behaved. We may remember the innocent blood that pooled on our streets, and watch a repugnant ritual of killing, and see it in complete black and white, wondering how this was an issue that was even up for debate. l

SN Rasul is a writer. Follow him on twitter @snrasul.

Of cows and menYou don’t have to be a vegetarian to believe in animal rights

Animals eat other animals, don’t they? Are they morally defunct? If the argument against that is their inability to comprehend their own actions, to paraphrase Chomsky, should beings which do not have the capability for responsibility be allowed rights? They do not realise thevery concept

Is there such a thing as humane slaughter? MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

OPINION 13D

TTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

n Gobinda Chandra Das

Today is World Heart Day, the world’s biggest intervention against cardiovascular disease. Devised by the World Heart Federation to

help people realise that the majority of such deaths could be avoided, the day is part of an international campaign to spread awareness about heart disease and stroke prevention.

Anxiety or mental uneasiness, aggression of emotion, excessive work-load, and the

various burdens of life increase the risk of heart disease. In our daily lives, continuous increase of demands, rush at work, and the daily stress of modern life directly a� ect the cardiovascular system of the human body -- if the heart is like a horse, then the mind is its rider.

So, when the mind increases the pace of run in life, then, naturally, it increases pressure on the mind, impacting the heart. Today, people are actively racing against time. Naturally, it is taking its toll. As a result, many are being a� ected by heart disease, and without any warnings, it can take a life away just like that.

People need food to live, and when they su� er from any kind of disease, they need

proper treatment. Two surgical processes are rather common when it comes to treating heart diseases: Bypass and stenting -- they are very expensive and risky procedures, of course. Though patients improve, they have to live on medication and with certain physical disabilities.

Heart disease has been identi� ed as the leading cause of death in the world. Ev-ery year, 17.3 million people die from this disease. On the other hand, about 3.8 million people die of malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuber-

culosis. These diseases are always presented as being more severe, but a vast campaign on the alarming state of heart disease should be given equal footing, if not more.

The risk of heart disease depends on one’s lifestyle: By keeping the body weight under control, it is possible to reduce the risk of heart disease. We say that children are the future of our nation, it is undeniable that, to keep this future alive, we have to keep an eye on their little hearts. In the same way, half of the population of our country is women. So, to bar women from movement and being active is not the wisest thing to do. To get rid of the silent killer that is heart disease, we have to introduce changes in our entire

lifestyle. To gain a healthy heart we have to take some measures.

The theme of World Heart Day 2015 is “creating healthy heart environment,” and it is quite relevant to Bangladesh. During the world health conference, making an action plan by identifying heart disease as one of the most dreadful non-contagious diseases and settling an objective of lowering the death rate caused by these diseases in 194 countries were actively recommended.

Celebrating this day will become successful only when lower-income classes of our country are able to come under the heart disease prevention umbrella. To that end, yoga has been recognised internationally as an alternative treatment for heart disease by the UN, as it had been previously observed on June 21, which is now International Yoga Day.

Any alternative treatments are referred to as holistic treatment. Holistic treatment is the combination of modern technology and proven natural methods. There are two key factors behind this treatment: Adopting a healthy diet and physical exercise. Daily food intake depends on a patient’s age, the state of the disease, and their present physical circumstances.

Meditation, when carried out properly, helps one pace the mind. Mental stress is the primary cause of any illness, after all. Proper and regular exercise can help quite a bit to improve the state of the mind and body. Yoga, pranayam, meditation, and neurobic exercises -- a combination that can do quite a lot to keep heart disease at bay.

In Bangladesh, we at the Holistic Healthcare Centre are doing our part to spread awareness in the following ways:• Conducting activities or creating

consciousness at schools to prevent heart disease

• Making those who are suff ering from regular mental stress, high blood pressure, or diabetes aware of the ways they can improve their lives

• Spreading the benefi ts of holistic treatment to those who are already a� ected by heart disease

• To make the alternative treatment process a viable option for those who are at risk of blockage, even after angioplasty or bypass surgery

Most people think that, once a block begins to build in the coronary artery, it cannot be reversed. They think that the only treatment is an angioplasty or bypass surgery. Millions of patients in our country, who have spent quite a lot on bypass surgery or those who go abroad for such, a heart disease-free life can be attained without spending a dime if they follow the advice chalked out here.

Since the treatment for heart disease is quite expensive, it is an impossible dream for the majority of the people in Bangladesh. Most of our populace are concentrated in the more rural regions, where communication is not nearly as developed. As a result, patients tend to die before they can even be admitted to a hospital. So, before the heart attack even happens, we should attack the heart attack. Keep your heart healthy and strong -- that is the mission statement for us at the Holistic Healthcare Centre.

On World Heart Day, we must listen to our heart more than ever. To keep the heart disease-free, we need to be more active. To get rid of cardiovascular diseases, we have to be conscious about the treatment. Every one deserves a healthy heart, not just those who can a� ord it. l

Gobinda Chandra Das is Director, Holistic Healthcare Centre.

Heart disease has been identi� ed as the as the leading cause of death in the world. Every year, 17.3 million people die from this disease. On the other hand, about 3.8 million people die of malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis

Listen to your heartThe best way to celebrate World Heart Day is by being active

Think about your heart, and take it easy on the post-Eid red meat BIGSTOCK

INTERVIEW14DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

It’s a great honour for me to have this op-portunity to meet the representatives of the press corps from the friendly country of Bangladesh.

Iran attaches great importance to expeditions with countries like Bangladesh, an active member of the United Nations and a prominent voice for moderation and co-operation at the international level.

Iran is eager to develop and enhance its relations where we can have co-operation in various areas including energy, textiles, man-ufacturing, industry, science, and technology.

Iran and Bangladesh also have deep historical and cultural ties. Persian is known by many people in the sub-continent and we continue to teach Persian in Bangladesh universities. And we can continue this type of co-operation in other � elds of science and technology. We can also have co-operation among our private sectors.

We also believe in co-operation between Iran and Bangladesh in the � eld of religion and religious studies and in � ghting extrem-ism and violence.

These are areas Iran and Bangladesh have commonality of interest and objective, and we can, in fact, join hands in dealing with these common challenges and opportunities.

What are your specific co-operation areas?We have a number of exchange visits in the near future so that experts can discuss specif-ics. One of the most important of those visits would be the visit of the minister of � nance of Bangladesh to Iran to discuss various op-portunities for co-operation. We discussed � -nancial arrangements to enable the business community to conduct trade and investment on both sides. That requires speci� c banking arrangements, particularly because of unjus-ti� ed economic sanctions that are imposed on Iran, and hopefully, through the imple-mentation of the agreement we achieved in Vienna, those sanctions will be lifted.

What is the role of Iran in the Syrian migrant crisis and the nuclear deal? Iran has been providing humanitarian assis-tance to the people of Syria for a long time. We provide wheat, foodstu� , and fuel. We have expanded our humanitarian assistance to Syria since the beginning of the crisis. Now the West is coming to see � rst-hand the consequences of short-sighted policies that have been followed in Syria. And it is important to address the root cause of the problem: Violence and extremism. What is necessary is to � nd a political solution. There are people who believe and continue to believe that there are military solutions to this crisis. Unfortunately, the same is going down in Yemen.

Each time there is an agreement within reach in Yemen, the party belonging to Mr Hadi withdraws from the negotiations as they did the day before yesterday because they believe in military onslaught. It is time for all of our neighbours to come their senses, to come to this humanitarian call to stop this bloodshed everywhere.

The only solution is a political solution. The political solution in Syria should be Syrian, the political solution in Yemen should be Yemeni-an. Nobody from outside Syria or Yemen can determine for the people of Syria or Yemen how their governments should work, who should govern them. What Iran has tried to do is to encourage dialogue and understanding among the people of these countries. In Syria, we have been talking to various groups. We have a peace plan that we have presented to various groups and we believe that if there is a will, then there will be a solution.

On the nuclear issue, we believe what we are able to achieve the result we achieve because we stood on our Islamic principles, because we resisted the pressure, because we said that if you want to impose economic sanctions on Iran in order to subvert the will of our people, you will not be able to. You will be able to sit down at a negotiating table with Iran based on respect and achieve out-comes that are mutually bene� cial. But if you want to impose your views, then the Iranian people have learned how to resist.

What we discussed was purely the nuclear issue and I am not saying they have to sur-render to us because negotiation is not about surrender, negotiation is about give and take. We agreed on a win-win situation where Iran preserved its program and provided guaran-tees that the program would remain peaceful. Because we believe nuclear weapons are both anti-Islamic and anti-human.

We have argued forever that nuclear weap-ons have no place in international relations and we need to abolish all of them. But the reason we are able to do that is because our people participated in an election. 73% of the population participated.

No negotiation produces a perfect result. We will have to live with that reality but I be-lieve it’s a victory for diplomacy and a victory for resistance.

What is the position of Iran on Rohingya people? Iran and other members of the OIC and other members of the international community have always called for respect for the rights of the Rohingya people and we have worked closely to make sure that their rights are respected.

And on US relations with Bangladesh on countering extremism?We do not normally interfere in the bilateral relations between various countries. But we are prepared to work with all countries with regard to extremism. We need to be clear about how we de� ne extremism. Extrem-ism is taking place where you have groups beheading innocent individuals, groups burning innocent individuals alive, and we are prepared to work with our friends throughout this region in order to deal e� ec-tively with that. It is important not to create new possibilities for recruitment, new foot soldiers for those demo-gods that are pursu-ing violent extremism.

And let me make my point clear. Extrem-ists are not religious. Extremists are political actors. They use religions in order to advance their political agenda. Being religious, believ-ing in the teachings of Islam, trying to imple-ment Islamic teachings and values is totally di� erent. Most Bangladeshis are Muslims and they know that extremism has nothing to do with Islam.

What are the root causes of extremism? There are many causes that give rise to extremism and an absence of democratic rule is one cause, economic deprivation is another cause, abuse of religious values by demo-gods is yet another cause, being mis-informed, lack of education about real Islam, and the real principles of Islam is another cause, trying to suppress the religious feeling

and sentiment of people is another cause. If you look at Western society, you see

that some of the extremists come from a very democratic system. You see that many people who are beheading innocent individu-als in Iraq and Syria speak English and French with a native accent. Why is that? Because they feel disenfranchised, they feel alienated, they feel their values are undermined, they feel their sanctity has disintegrated.

Why come to Bangladesh?Bangladesh has stood with Iran in international forums and we owe it to our friends to come to them when we reach a solution. So I wanted to be here, I wanted to make sure that I visit the friendly people of Bangladesh and the government to inform them of the achievement and also to explore with them possibilities on how to best use this achievement.

Will you co-operate with Bangladesh on an extremism and ISIL event hosted by US at the sideline of UNGA?We discussed the possibility of a common joint co-operation on extremism and we will look into the exact details of how we can do that.

On the meetings in which President Oba-ma will be chairing, we are not usually a par-ticipant because we believe that the policies of the United States in dealing with extrem-ism are not serious. We believe that they are based on double standards and that’s why they do not achieve results.

And energy co-operation? We will be welcoming and hosting the energy minister of Bangladesh in Iran soon. Iran is a reliable source of energy and we will be dis-cussing this with our Bangladeshi friends.

Will you recruit Bangladeshi workers, and are there any possibilities of signing a trade deal with Bangladesh? It is possible to sign a trade deal with Bang-ladesh. We are here working on a number of bilateral issues on avoidance of double tax-ation, easing visas for o� cial and diplomatic passports, and customs co-operation and these are areas that will help trade.

On the immigration issue, Iran has a very strong workforce with a huge number yet unemployed. But we are always prepared to engage with our friends in Bangladesh, with o� cials in Bangladesh. There are Bangla-deshi specialists working in Iran and there is a need in Iran for specialists.

When should the sanction be lifted?If everything goes according to plan, we believe that, before the end of November, everything should be ready for the lifting of all sanctions. So, sometime towards the end of December, at the latest, we believe we should look at those dates as the date of the sanction will be lifted. l

Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari is the Iranian Foreign Minister.

View from TehranAn excerpt from the Iranian foreign minister’s press brie� ng in Dhaka on September 16

REU

TER

S

15D

TBusiness TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Indonesia prays for Islamic banking boom17 Stocks open � at amid

thin trade19China sees economic growth of ‘around’ 7%

16 Customs, VAT o� cials asked to be regular in o� ce

20

Global currency war fears shake exporters n Kayes Sohel

Fear of global currency war might deepen woes of local exporters who are already reel-ing particularly from weakening euro coupled with the latest gas and power tari� hikes.

China’s recent series of Yuan devaluation has sparked fears of currency war, also known as competitive devaluation, across the world to shore up its teetering economy.

Currency devaluation will help competi-tors—China, Vietnam and India—take competi-tive advantage in EU and America, the two big-gest markets for Bangladeshi products, which make up around 85% of the country’s total RMG exports, trade experts and exporters say.

More than $25bn RMG industry is the mainstay of the country’s economy as it ac-counts for more than 80% of its total exports.

“Exports are already in red,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Exporters As-sociation of Bangladesh (EAB).

He said series of currency depreciation in the competitive countries, weakening Euro and lowering price by the buyers have threat-ened local RMG industry’s existence.

The euro, the o� cial currency of euro-zone, lost around 17% against taka in the last one year as it continued to weaken against dollar due to the Greek debt crisis.

Fall of euro against dollar means European buyers will put pressure on Bangladeshi appar-el makers for reducing prices of the products.

Over 55% of the country’s export earnings come from the EU countries, including Germa-ny, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Turkey.

China devalued its currency against dollar for the third straight day on August 13 to com-bat falling exports and economic slowdown,

which roiled the world’s � nancial markets. Vietnam devalued its currency by 1% on

August 19—its third adjustment so far this year.The Indian currency depreciated 5.3%

against dollar since January 2015 followed by Indonesia 12%, South Africa 13% and Malaysia 18%.

“This is not the good news for the local RMG industry,” Policy Research Institute Ex-ecutive Director Ahsan H Mansur said.

He said Bangladesh will lose competitive-ness in eurozone and America where export-ing nations compete each other to sell their products.

On possible Yuan devaluation impact on

trade between Beijing and Dhaka, he said im-port from China might rise as its currency de-valuation has made their goods cheaper and on the other hand, export to China, which is recently rising, might slow down.

“This is not crisis for the Bangladesh econ-omy, but should be cautious as more or less all the countries of the world su� er exports due to economic slowdown in China.”

Mansur suggested devaluing taka to stay competitive. “It is time to think of lowering exchange rate at least to retain market share in the global market.”

Taka has remained stable at above 77 against US dollar over the last two years, ac-

cording to the Bangladesh Bank. Fear of losing out competitive edge to the

competitors comes on the heel of hiking elec-tricity and gas prices.

The government raised the gas and pow-er tari� s by 2.93% and 26.29% respectively on average at the consumer level with e� ect from September 1.

“This is like rubbing the salt into our wounds,” said Murshedy, also former BGMEA president.

“The decision is very upsetting, which will de� nitely increase the cost of production and make our products less competitive further in the global markets.” l

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BPC cash credit in Cr Tk (Left side axis) Oil price in USD/barrel (Right side axis)

TREND OF CRUDE OIL PRICE GLOBALLY AGAINST BPC SUBSIDY

Income tax return submission deadline likely to be extendedn Tribune Report

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to allow taxpayers two more months for sub-mitting their income tax returns till Novem-ber 30, following demands from various trade bodies and individuals.

The board is considering extending time period as there were public holidays for reli-gious festivals like Eid ul-Azha in September and will be for Durga Puja festival in October. In addition, many taxpayers were out of the city for performing Hajj, o� cials said.

Considering the issues and requests from trade bodies, tax lawyers and taxpayers, the board is likely to extend the time by two more months, they said, adding that the taxpayers can easily get two-month extension for � ling returns only if they apply.

The current deadline for income tax return submission will expire tomorrow on Septem-ber 30. According to the income tax act, tax-payers having income above Tk2.50 lakh have to pay tax. About 17 lakh people now holds TIN across the country although some 12 lakh � led their returns to NBR last year.

The NBR said it received poor response from those � ling returns, and therefore, took the decision. The tax authority is assigned to mobilise Tk1,76,370 crore revenue in this � s-cal while the lion’s share of Tk64,971 will be generated from income tax.

According to the income tax ordinance, the NBR can � ne Tk1,000 at a time and Tk50 for each day if any TIN holder fails to submit the returns within the deadline.

However, the ordinance allows taxpay-ers to seek extension for submission of the

returns subject to valid reasons. The deputy commissioner of Taxes can allow maximum two months to the respective taxpayers.

The new e-Tin holders will be penalised with the highest Tk5,000 if they fail to � le their returns by the deadline, according to a new section incor-porated in � nance bill 2015.

Usually the revenue watch-dog extends the deadline each year to entertain the requests made by taxpayers, especially trade bodies, and the tax law-yers’ association.

Although the original dead-line for submitting income tax return is September 30, the rev-enue authority had extended the deadlines thrice till Decem-

ber 31 in 2014. Apart from that, the deadlines for submitting tax returns were extended by 60 days in 2013, 45 days in 2012, 30 days in 2011 and seven days in 2010. l

BUSINESS16DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

CORPORATE NEWS

Chief Executive of Biswa Shahityo Kendro, Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed has recently conducted a session at Biswa Shahityo Kendro in Dhaka for the newly recruited management trainee o� cers of NCC Bank

China sees economic growth of around 7%n Reuters, Beijing

China’s economic growth will be largely sta-ble in the third quarter as the impact from a stock market plunge will be limited, the Na-tional Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

Bureau spokesman Sheng Laiyun also de-fended the accuracy of Chinese data - amid widespread scepticism - saying that the 7 percent growth pace reported for the � rst half was “generally in line with” changes in the country’s power consumption, rail freight and bank lending in that period.

Chinese o� cials have been trying to re-assure global markets that Beijing is able to manage the world’s second-largest economy, after a shock devaluation of the yuan and a stock market plunge fanned fears of a sharp growth slowdown.

Sheng said China’s economic growth in the third quarter will not derivate much from the 7% annual pace Beijing reported for the sec-ond quarter.

“Judging from indicators in July and August, we feel that the economic trend is still stable, there may be some deviation, up or down, but it won’t be big,” he told a brief-ing.

China’s economic growth remains within a “reasonable range” and the government will be able to achieve its annual growth target of

“around” 7% this year, despite some down-ward pressures, Sheng said.

Slowdown fearsA run of downbeat data, including factory output and investment, showed the economy may have lost further momentum in the third quarter, raising the possibility that full-year growth rate may fall below 7%.

Sheng said his “personal view” was that full-year growth between 6.5% and 7.5% would be considered as “around” 7%.

The bureau is due to publish third-quarter GDP data on Oct 19.

Sheng also said that China’s survey-based unemployment rate in August stood at around 5.1%.

Global investors and policymakers are on edge over China after the US central bank a week ago held o� from raising interest rates, saying it was unsure if international prob-lems, and China’s slowdown in particular, will hurt the US recovery.

An interest rate hike in the United States will have only limited impact on China, Sheng said.

He said China’s economic slowdown was partly due to weaker global demand and ex-pectations of the U S rate rise have contributed to the global � nancial market volatility.

“The United States should not exaggerate the impact of China’s growth slowdown on the global economy,” Sheng said. l

China consumers tighten belts, a red � ag for the global economyn Reuters, Shenzhen

The 32-year-old father-of-one invested 10% of his savings earlier this year in Chinese stocks. Now, with markets down around 40% since mid-June, he’s selling o� his portfolio at a loss.

Painful, but not a catastrophe - he says his colleagues lost more, and he earns well above the average wage.

But the equity market turmoil, coupled with signs the economy is slowing means Xu, and millions of other middle class Chinese consumers like him, is scaling back his spend-ing in an ominous sign for China’s policymak-ers and the global economy.

“This year’s economy has been uncertain,” he said.

“It’s not like before, where we just used to buy everything for our child. Now, we only buy and spend what we need”.

Xu earns 20,000 yuan ($3,140) a month as a product development manager for a Western headphone maker in Shenzhen.

A � at he bought in 2012 for 900,000 yuan, which he shares with his 4-year-old daughter, wife and parents-in-law, is now worth 2.5 mil-lion.

Still, he plans to keep his Apple iPhone 4 rather than upgrade to the latest iPhone 6S, and his next pair of trainers will be from the Chinese brand Anta Sports rather than his preferred Nike.

Xu’s worries are typical of middle class families - relatively minor compared with the millions of his compatriots who get by on low-er incomes.

But his belt-tightening jars with the Chi-nese government’s hopes that consumers will pick up the slack as exports fall and it tries to rebalance the economy away from a long-running reliance on trade and govern-

ment spending.Domestic consumption contributed 60%

of China’s economic growth in the � rst half of 2015, up from 51.2% in the whole of 2014, suggesting Beijing’s desired rebalancing is on track. But forward looking indicators and companies’ experiences in China are more worrying.

A China consumer con� dence index pro-duced by ANZ Bank and polling company Roy Morgan fell to a record low in August.

Car sales in China could drop this year for the � rst time in two decades, while smart-phone sales recorded their � rst fall in China during the second quarter, consumer research � rm Gartner said.

If that translates into a slowdown in over-all consumer spending, the impact will be felt beyond China.

Last week U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said concerns over a China slowdown were partly behind the central bank’s deci-sion to hold rates.

Global GDP growth, estimated by the IMF to be 3.3% this year, would be about half a per-centage point lower if there were a sharp fall in Chinese demand, according to study released this month by the OECD. The study projected that if domestic Chinese demand growth fell by 2 percentage points for two straight years, combined with a 10% fall in global equity markets, it would shave around 0.25 percent-age points o� the pace of US GDP, and more than half a percentage point o� Japan’s al-ready-sluggish growth by the second year.

Japan’s exports to China, its largest trading partner, are already � agging. They fell 4.6% in August from a year earlier, partly due to falling shipments of car parts to Chinese fac-tories, where activity has fallen to a six-and-a-half year low. l

China should press on with � nancial reformsn Reuters, Shanghai

China should continue with � nancial reform now, a senior Chinese central banker said on Friday, warning that costs will increase if re-forms are delayed.

Sheng Songcheng, director of the Survey and Statistics Department at the People’s Bank of China, said that recent volatility in Chinese stock and currency markets was not due to the opening of China’s capital account but that the slow pace of reform was to blame for leaving domestic markets vulnerable to global volatility.

“With � nancial reform and opening, you can’t release the bow then expect the arrow to come back, you can’t put o� reform oppor-tunity because of market volatility,” he told a

� nancial conference in Shanghai.“China’s � nancial market � uctuations in

recent years are the result of inadequate im-plementation of coordinated reforms.”

Sheng added that China was still attractive to long-term foreign capital, and that the gov-ernment had plenty of leeway to tinker fur-ther with economic policy, including further reform to the foreign exchange market given that domestic interest rates are on a down-ward trend.

China can fully liberalise domestic inter-est rates as � nancial institutions have now learned to manage risk, he said.

He said the downward pressure on the yuan was short term in nature and there was no basis for long-term depreciation, repeating what other o� cials said. l

A worker looks on as the dome roof of a generator unit is lifted to be installed, at Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China REUTERS

BUSINESS 17D

TTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Indonesia prays for Islamic banking boomn AFP, Jakarta

Indonesian teacher Nina Ramadhaniah hopes for “blessings from Allah” by opening a shar-ia bank account - the sort of pious customer the world’s most-populous Muslim-majority country is praying for as it launches an Islam-ic � nance drive.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest econ-omy, has a Muslim population of around 225 million but this huge number of faithful has not translated into success for sharia banks, institutions required to do business in line with Islamic principles.

Now regulators have launched a plan aimed at growing the sector, which currently accounts for less than � ve percent of banking assets, compared to a quarter in neighbour-ing, more developed Muslim-majority Malay-sia and around half in Saudi Arabia.

Authorities believe it is a good moment, with many Indonesians getting wealthier af-ter years of strong economic growth and an increasing trend towards piety across broad sections of society.

Many of those without bank accounts, es-timated at about 40% of the population, are soon expected to open one.

“The situation is an opportunity for the Is-lamic banking business to get bigger,” said Na-sirwan Ilyas, a senior o� cial from the Islamic banking division of the Financial Services Au-thority (OJK).

The OJK is spearheading the drive, and unveiled a � ve-year roadmap earlier this year that included plans to educate the public about sharia lenders and the establishment of an Islamic � nance committee to better man-age the sector.

‘Interest is haram’ Key features of sharia banking include the prohibition of interest on loans or customer deposits, and a ban on investing in “non-Is-lamic” businesses, such as those involving pork or alcohol.

For teacher Ramadhaniah, who has an ac-count with Indonesia’s biggest Islamic lender, Bank Syariah Mandiri, the ban on interest is a key attraction.

“Charging interest is haram (against Is-lam), ill-gotten gains that will not bring me any blessings from Allah,” the 44-year-old told AFP. “I don’t want to live in sin.”

Sharia accounts often work on a “pro� t-and-loss sharing” model, meaning customers get a windfall when the bank does well but

can lose out when it does badly.There are obvious disadvantages. Shar-

ia lenders generally o� er lower returns on investments and their modest size often means they provide fewer services than larg-er, conventional peers -- many shops are not equipped to accept their debit cards.

Nevertheless, Islamic banks have proven popular in recent years, with the sector ex-panding on average more than 40% a year between 2008 and 2012, according to the OJK.

The growth came after laws were changed to make it easier to establish an Islamic bank, and there are now a plethora of standalone sharia lenders, Islamic banking units attached to conventional banks, and smaller Islamic � -nancial institutions in the countryside.

Growth in the sector has lost steam due to a broader slowdown in the economy, which is expanding at six-year lows -- giving authori-ties another reason to launch their drive.

Islamic mega-bank Central to the overhaul is a plan to set up a Na-tional Islamic Finance Committee this year, to oversee the sector by bringing together repre-sentatives from di� erent government agen-cies and act as a contact point for potential foreign investors.

Currently responsibility for the sector is spread around di� erent bodies, such as the OJK, the central bank and the � nance minis-try, according to the OJK’s Ilyas.

It is modelled after similar bodies in other countries, such as the International Islamic Financial Centre in Malaysia, where the sector is already far more developed as the government started supporting it some years ago.

In addition to the OJK roadmap, the gov-ernment has announced plans to merge the Islamic banking subsidiaries of four state-owned banks to create an Islamic mega-bank,

which should be able to provide better servic-es than the current Islamic lenders.

While observers have broadly welcomed the plans, they concede that many di� culties remain.

Khalid Howladar, Moody’s global head of Islamic � nance, said it would be “quite a challenge” to grow the sector to a substantial level.

“The market is growing faster than con-ventional but from a very low base,” he said, adding Islamic banks in Indonesia did not o� er “substantive competition” to their non-sharia peers.

But for Ramadhaniah and a growing army of devout Indonesians with new-found spending power, Islamic banks remain the only choice.

“I really don’t care that I’m not earning an-ything or getting lower returns on my invest-ments,” she said. “I can live in peace.” l

Bank Indonesia mosque, pictured on the � rst day of the holy month of Ramadan, in Jakarta AFP

ECB’s Draghi says too early to decide on further stimulusn Reuters, Brussels

Risks to Europe’s in� ation and growth out-look have increased due to the emerging mar-ket slowdown but the European Central Bank needs more time before deciding on further stimulus, ECB President Mario Draghi said last week.

Draghi said price growth will take longer than previously expected to rise back to the ECB’s near 2% target and that the euro zone’s central bank is ready to beef up its 1tn euro plus asset buying programme if needed.

But it needs more evidence to conclude whether China’s slowdown, the euro’s rise and falling oil prices will divert in� ation from

its projected path.Draghi’s relatively hawkish comments con-

founded some market expectations that the ECB was close to expanding its asset buys and sent the euro slightly stronger.

“The asset purchase programme has su� -cient in-built � exibility,” Draghi told the Eu-ropean Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary A� airs. “We will adjust its size, composition and duration as appropriate, if more monetary policy impulse should be-come necessary.”

He said more time was needed to determine whether the slowdown in emerging markets is likely to be temporary or permanent and to assess the driving forces behind tumbling

commodities prices and recent turbulence in � nancial markets. The ECB targets in� ation of just under 2% but the bank has said in� ation could turn negative in the next few months before recovering later in the year.

China worriesDraghi’s comments come after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates on hold last week on concerns about China, though it left open the door to a hike later in the year, particularly as the US economy approaches full employment.

China’s economic slowdown was also one of Draghi’s main concerns on Wednesday and he said emerging market challenges would stay for “some time.”

PMI data on Wednesday showed activity in China’s factory sector unexpectedly shrank to a 6-1/2 year low in September, the latest in a string of weak data for the world’s sec-ond-largest economy.

China’s slowdown has depressed global commodity prices, a particular worry for the ECB as in� ation, now at a barely visible 0.1% could miss the bank’s target for years to come, possibly forcing it to expand its asset purchases.

Although economic data, particularly Sep-tember PMI data showed that European econ-omies remained relatively resilient to the turbulence, Draghi warned that growth in the second half would be “slightly” slower than in the � rst half. l

BUSINESS18DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 405.93 10.27 22.37 9.21 428.30 10.21NBFI 334.31 8.46 15.45 6.36 349.76 8.34Investment 47.81 1.21 2.23 0.92 50.04 1.19Engineering 598.52 15.14 41.22 16.97 639.74 15.25Food & Allied 206.89 5.23 5.99 2.47 212.89 5.07Fuel & Power 413.62 10.46 28.95 11.92 442.56 10.55Jute 3.77 0.10 0.00 3.77 0.09Textile 217.16 5.49 11.94 4.91 229.09 5.46Pharma & Chemical 600.10 15.18 24.54 10.10 624.64 14.89Paper & Packaging 7.18 0.18 0.58 0.24 7.76 0.18Service 283.27 7.17 22.87 9.42 306.14 7.30Leather 35.49 0.90 2.08 0.85 37.56 0.90Ceramic 32.35 0.82 3.63 1.49 35.98 0.86Cement 350.81 8.87 21.31 8.77 372.12 8.87Information Technology 14.44 0.37 1.06 0.44 15.50 0.37General Insurance 16.71 0.42 2.40 0.99 19.11 0.46Life Insurance 24.32 0.62 1.44 0.59 25.76 0.61Telecom 137.81 3.49 9.23 3.80 147.04 3.50Travel & Leisure 69.89 1.77 9.24 3.80 79.13 1.89Miscellaneous 152.39 3.86 16.39 6.75 168.78 4.02Debenture 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 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 disclosuresPREMIERCEM: The Board of Directors has recommended 20% cash dividend for the year ended on 30.06.15. Date of AGM: 29.10.2015, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: Auditorium of Chit-tagong Club Limited, S.S. Khaled Road, Chittagong. Record Date: 18.10.2015. The Company has also reported Pro� t after tax of Tk. 403.91 million, EPS of Tk. 3.83, NAV per share of Tk. 32.22 and NOCFPS of Tk. 3.73 for the year ended on 30.06.15 as against Tk. 504.15 million, Tk. 4.78, Tk. 31.34 and Tk. 0.48 respectively for the year ended on 30.06.14.NAVANACNG: Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB) has announced the entity rating of the Company as “AA3” with a Stable outlook based on audited � nancial statements up to March 31, 2015, bank liability position as on August 31, 2015 and other relevant quantitative as well as qualitative information up to the date of rating declaration.GPHISPAT: Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB) has announced the entity rating (surveillance) of the Company as “AA3” along with a stable outlook based on audited � nancial statements of the Company up to 30 April 2015, Bank Liability position as on 31 August, 2015 and other relevant quantitative as well as qualitative information up to the date of rating declaration.RENATA: Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB) has announced the entity rating (surveillance) of the Company

as “AA1” along with a stable out-look based on audited � nancial statements of the Company up to 31 December 2014, Bank Liability position as on 30 April, 2015 and other relevant quan-titative as well as qualitative information up to the date of rating declaration.SAIFPOWER: The Company has informed that they have signed a contract with Chit-tagong Port Authority (CPA) for �Appointment of Terminal Operator for Handling of Con-tainer and Containerized Cargo at Berth No - 2 and 3 of New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT)� for a period of 02 years. The value of the contract price is Tk. 49,87,33,000.00 only.Dividend/AGMBEACHHATCH: 5% stock, AGM: 08.12.2015, Record Date: 28.10.2015.SAIFPOWER: 29% stock, AGM: 12.11.2015, Record Date: 15.10.2015.APOLOISPAT: 3% Cash and 12% Stock dividend, AGM: 19.11.2015, Record Date: 14.10.2015.MATINSPINN: 27% cash, AGM: 27.10.2015, Record date: 08.10.2015.BSCCL: 10% stock, AGM: 18.10.2015, Record Date: 28.09.2015.MODERNDYE: 10% cash, AGM: 15.10.2015, Record Date: 23.09.2015.GPHISPAT: 17% cash, AGM: 08.11.2015, Record date: 20.09.2015.SAIHAMCOT: 5% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 28.10.2015, Record date: 17.09.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Premier Cement-A 14.45 10.23 85.88 89.50 91.90 80.00 6.002 3.83 22.4Shinepukur Cera-Z 7.89 6.85 12.16 12.30 12.50 11.70 0.919 0.30 40.5EBL NRB M.F.-A 6.82 6.58 4.70 4.70 4.70 4.70 0.000 0.41 11.5Delta Brac HFCL-A 6.37 4.27 99.84 101.90 99.00 101.90 0.350 6.04 16.5SAIF Powertec-A 6.02 3.22 86.18 88.00 88.40 83.60 13.373 3.07 28.1GreenDeltaInsu -A 5.69 7.61 53.90 53.90 53.90 53.90 0.000 1.80 29.9AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A 4.92 4.90 6.42 6.40 6.60 6.30 0.091 4.76 1.3LankaBangla Fin. -A 4.85 3.63 34.25 34.60 34.80 33.10 5.537 0.22 155.7BD Finance-B 4.39 3.95 11.84 11.90 12.00 11.50 0.994 0.06 197.3Da� odil Computers -Z 4.17 3.51 17.41 17.50 17.50 17.00 0.071 0.80 21.8

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Premier Cement-A 19.08 14.93 88.06 91.10 91.80 81.00 98.852 3.83 23.0AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A 10.00 8.67 6.52 6.60 6.60 6.30 1.923 4.76 1.4Shinepukur Cera-Z 8.77 6.63 12.07 12.40 12.50 11.20 6.465 0.30 40.2United Insur -A 6.48 7.54 26.54 26.30 26.40 25.50 0.019 2.86 9.3Asia Insur. Ltd.-A 5.67 4.95 14.85 14.90 15.10 14.10 2.027 1.20 12.4SAIF Powertec-A 5.66 2.52 85.72 87.80 88.40 83.30 172.020 3.07 27.9Delta Brac HFCL-A 5.29 4.45 99.66 101.50 102.00 96.40 17.867 6.04 16.5Prime Islami Life -A 4.63 3.96 44.86 45.20 45.50 43.10 2.057 4.95 9.1BD Finance-B 4.39 3.58 11.86 11.90 12.00 11.50 7.356 0.06 197.7Phoenix Fin. 1st MF-A 4.35 3.26 4.75 4.80 4.80 4.50 0.278 0.65 7.3

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Dacca Dyeing-A -3.91 -2.94 17.16 17.20 17.40 17.00 0.340 0.84 20.4S.B. 1st M. F.-A -3.53 -2.96 8.20 8.20 8.20 8.20 0.001 1.41 5.8NLI 1st M F-A -3.37 -4.23 8.61 8.60 9.10 8.60 0.005 1.50 5.7PragatiLife Insu. -Z -3.28 -3.29 115.09 115.10 120.00 113.50 0.052 2.38 48.4Apex SpinningA -3.26 -1.93 80.11 80.10 82.50 79.00 0.252 2.52 31.8Pubali Bank - A -3.24 -2.61 23.92 23.90 24.80 23.80 0.862 2.84 8.4ICB Sonali Bank 1 MF-A -3.17 -2.70 6.13 6.10 6.20 6.10 0.018 0.97 6.3Al Arafa Islami B-A -3.08 -2.23 12.69 12.60 12.90 12.60 0.556 1.50 8.5Eastern Housing -A -2.95 -1.56 42.95 42.80 44.90 42.80 0.706 2.23 19.3IFIL Islamic M.F.1-A -2.94 -1.92 6.64 6.60 6.70 6.50 0.096 0.95 7.0

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Shampur Sugar -Z -5.41 0.00 7.50 7.00 7.00 6.90 0.006 -69.41 -veNorthern Jute -Z -5.08 -4.25 334.51 328.70 348.00 328.20 2.744 1.75 191.12nd ICB M F -A -4.68 -4.76 266.67 266.90 270.00 265.00 0.072 55.89 4.8Aziz PipesZ -4.08 -6.29 23.08 23.50 23.90 23.50 0.024 -2.12 -ve1st ICB M F -A -4.00 -3.98 1440.33 1440.00 1450.00 1440.00 23.378 142.00 10.1Zahintex Ind.-A -3.78 -1.02 23.25 22.90 24.40 22.70 3.101 1.03 22.6Prime Textile -A -3.63 -2.04 18.75 18.60 19.30 18.50 1.443 0.99 18.9Central Insur -A -3.31 -4.78 17.53 17.50 17.60 17.40 0.033 2.10 8.3Pubali Bank - A -3.28 -3.22 23.71 23.60 24.50 23.50 8.541 2.84 8.3ISN Ltd. -Z -3.28 -2.00 11.78 11.80 12.20 11.60 0.311 -0.20 -ve

DSE key features September 28, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

3,953.33

Turnover (Volume)

85,493,597

Number of Contract

83,386

Traded Issues 317

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

175

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

134

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,720.56

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.98

CSE key features September 28, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

242.91

Turnover (Volume)

6,978,687

Number of Contract

10,903

Traded Issues 225

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

109

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

112

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,612.63

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.67

BUSINESS 19D

TTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Stocks open � at amid thin traden Tribune Report

Stocks opened � at amid thin trade yesterday after a � ve-day-long vacation owing to Eid ul-Azha celebrations.

Before going holiday on September 23, the market witnessed a modest move for the four consecutive weeks, dominated by ex-tremely volatility.

The Dhaka Stock Ex-change benchmark index DSEX rose over 13 points or 0.2% to 4,866.

The Shariah index DSES inched around 2 points up to 1,192.

The blue chip comprising index DS30 gained margin-ally over 3 points or 0.2% to 1,863. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Catego-ry Index CSCX was up over 23 points to 9,070.

Since Eid holiday hang-over hits businesses, includ-ing stock market, turnover on DSE came down just be-low Tk400 crore market.

It stood at Tk395 crore, down 8.4% over the previ-ous session’s value.

The market ended the over one-year-long reign of tele-communication as the largest market capitalisation sector as developments like merger talk between Robi and Airtel and mobile number porta-bility signi� cantly threatens

the competitive advantage of telecom giant Gramenphone, which closed 24.7% lower than the year’s high.

The telecommunication sector was the day’s worst loser falling almost 2%.

Cement saw robust rally of 2.6%, driven by Premier Cement that surged around 20% ahead of its corporate disclosure.

Among other major sectors, food and allied, non-banking � nancial insti-tutions, banks and pharma-ceuticals increased margin-ally while power and textile declined marginally.

IDLC Investments said the market resumed after Eid, with a marginal gain on board and slow turnover as investors are yet to return to the bourse.

Lanka Bangla Securities said: “Coming back from the week-long festive mood, the early trading made signi� -cant move as investors re-newed buying interest to fo-cus on growth expectation.”

Lafarge Surma Cement topped the liquidity chart with turnover worth Tk17.7 crore. It was followed by BSRM Steel, the most trad-ed stocks with shares worth over Tk20 crore changing hands, followed by Saif Pow-ertec, Beximco Pharma and IDLC. l

Coming back from the week-long festive mood, the early trading made signi� cant move as investors renewed buying interest to focus on growth expectation

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 12911.61990 (+) 0.28% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1863.72303 (+) 0.18% ▲

CSE All Share Index: 14907.55010 (+) 0.26% ▲

CSE - 30 Index : 12911.61990 (+) 0.05% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 9070.97200 (+) 0.26% ▲

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

SAIF Powertec-A 155,181 13.37 5.51 88.00 6.02 83.00 88.40 83.60 86.18LafargeS Cement-A 111,332 12.39 5.10 111.20 2.39 108.60 112.90 109.50 111.26Beximco Pharma -A 139,723 10.16 4.18 72.30 1.12 71.50 73.30 71.50 72.73BSRM Steels-A 92,010 8.87 3.65 95.10 -0.73 95.80 97.50 94.90 96.41UNITED AIR-A 783,236 8.36 3.44 10.60 -0.93 10.70 10.80 10.60 10.68SummitAlliancePort.-A 135,605 8.14 3.35 60.50 3.95 58.20 61.00 58.80 60.03UCBL - A 309,383 6.83 2.81 22.10 1.84 21.70 22.20 21.70 22.07Aman Feed-N 101,191 6.74 2.77 66.00 -1.05 66.70 68.10 65.70 66.59BSRM Ltd. -A 46,943 6.49 2.67 137.20 0.00 137.20 142.00 136.30 138.23Premier Cement-A 69,890 6.00 2.47 89.50 14.45 78.20 91.90 80.00 85.88BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 190,711 5.95 2.45 31.00 0.32 30.90 31.60 30.80 31.19United Power-A 38,181 5.74 2.36 149.30 -0.80 150.50 152.00 147.10 150.39LankaBangla Fin. -A 161,627 5.54 2.28 34.60 4.85 33.00 34.80 33.10 34.25Islami Bank BD - A 165,834 5.11 2.10 30.70 2.68 29.90 31.30 30.00 30.80Grameenphone-A 16,942 5.03 2.07 296.40 -1.36 300.50 300.10 296.00 297.12

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

LafargeS Cement-A 1,585,540 176.42 4.46 110.90 2.50 108.20 112.80 108.50 111.27SAIF Powertec-A 2,006,667 172.02 4.35 87.80 5.66 83.10 88.40 83.30 85.72Beximco Pharma -A 2,193,894 159.60 4.04 72.40 0.98 71.70 73.40 71.80 72.75IDLC Finance -A 2,328,248 147.30 3.73 64.30 4.21 61.70 64.60 61.40 63.27BSRM Steels-A 1,262,554 121.92 3.08 95.50 -0.52 96.00 97.80 94.10 96.56Grameenphone-A 367,631 109.14 2.76 294.60 -1.77 299.90 302.00 294.00 296.88Olympic Ind. -A 347,039 106.84 2.70 301.40 -0.66 303.40 310.00 300.00 307.87Square Pharma -A 423,721 106.26 2.69 250.40 -0.28 251.10 252.00 250.00 250.77FAR Chemical-A 2,075,829 104.28 2.64 48.70 -1.02 49.20 53.00 48.40 50.24Premier Cement-A 1,122,578 98.85 2.50 91.10 19.08 76.50 91.80 81.00 88.06Islami Bank BD - A 3,193,297 98.84 2.50 30.80 2.67 30.00 31.30 29.70 30.95Brac Bank -A 2,396,168 95.81 2.42 40.10 2.04 39.30 40.20 38.20 39.98SummitAlliancePort.-A 1,581,220 94.72 2.40 60.50 3.77 58.30 60.90 58.40 59.90LankaBangla Fin. -A 2,369,138 81.14 2.05 34.50 4.23 33.10 34.80 33.30 34.25Ifad Autos -N 684,395 74.25 1.88 108.40 1.31 107.00 110.30 107.00 108.50

BUSINESS20DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Customs, VAT o� cials asked to be regular in o� cen Tribune Report

The National Board of Revenue has asked all its � eld-level o� cials under customs and VAT wings not to stay o� their respective o� ces without prior approval from top o� cials as the authorities found it necessary for achiev-ing the revenue target in the current � scal year.

The tax authorities recently issued an or-der to its � eld o� ces asking them to be reg-ular in the o� ces for smooth functioning of revenue collection for the FY2015-16.

Signed by NBR member (customs and vat administration) Sultan M Iqbal, the order were sent to all NBR members and � eld-level o� ces to follow the instructions with imme-diate e� ect.

The NBR took the decision following allega-tions that the divisional chiefs under both the wings remained absent in o� ces and stayed in Dhaka without any prior permission, which had a negative impact on the disciplinary sys-tem and the revenue collection works.

With its � ve-point orders, the NBR has asked the commissioners and all o� cials un-der � eld o� ces not to remain away o� their

o� ces until the end of � scal year.In case of emergency, the � eld-level o� -

cials will have to take permission directly from the NBR chairman. Only if the chairman is un-available, the regulatory o� cials concerned may approve the leave applications.

Except mandatory meetings and emergen-cies, the NBR members were requested not to invite any commissioner or � eld-level o� cial to headquarters for attending meetings. If re-quired, the members can do so with approval from the NBR chief. l

Banks asked to receive tuition fees from studentsn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has asked the sched-uled banks to receive tuition fees and other charges from the students.

In stead of the existing manual system, the central bank instructed the banks to deliver � nancial services to the students by introduc-ing online banking, mobile � nancial services, card base payment system and standing in-structions system for receiving tuition fees and other charges from the students.

“Banks will have to launch di� erent bank-ing systems for receiving all kind of charg-es including tuition fees from the students through signing agreement with di� erent educational institutions,” said a BB circular issued yesterday with an immediate e� ect.

According to the circular, the collection of tuition fees from the students will be execut-ed through opening school banking accounts for students aged between 6 and 18 and usual bank account for the students aged over 18 years old.

The new � nancial services, which may start initially at the educational institutions in district-level, may also be expanded at upazil-la and union level gradually.

“Bank account opening is not mandatory, excepting wallet account in case of using mo-bile � nancial services,” said the circular.

No service charge will be applicable against school banking accounts except government fees, reads the circular.

The decision was made for expanding � -nancial inclusion coverage with dynamism, explained the circular.

Banks also asked to innovate a new sys-tem of depositing money in student’s school banking account, collecting scholarship mon-ey from the scholarship providers.

Banks will provide sector-wise report of collecting tuition fees, dues from students and guardians as per requirement of educa-tion institutions.

Moreover, guardians will be informed au-tomatically about depositing tuition fees and other charges through mobile SMS by banks.

Banks can provide the services through es-tablishing booth near the educational institu-tions and premises or appointing agents.

Bank account of foreign students can be opened if educational institutions need but those will not be treated as school banking ac-count, added the BB circular. l

The National Board of Revenue headquarters in Dhaka DHAKA TRIBUNE

ADB to double climate � nancing to $6bn by 2020 n Tribune Report

Asian Development Bank President Takehiko Nakao has announced that ADB will double its annual climate � nancing to $6bn by 2020, up from the current $3bn, ADB said in a state-ment on Friday.

ADB’s spending on tackling climate change will rise to around 30% of its overall � nancing by the end of this decade.

ADB’s announcement comes against the backdrop of a promise by developed coun-tries to mobilize $100 billion every year from 2020 to counter climate change in developing countries.

Out of the $6bn, $4bn will be dedicated to mitigation through scaling up support for renewable energy, energy e� ciency, sustain-able transport and building smart cities while $2bn for adaptation through more resilient

infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture and better preparation for climate-related disas-ters.

ADB’s doubling of climate � nance’s re� ects its strategic priorities as well as the increase in ADB’s overall � nancing capacity by up to 50% due to a more e� cient use of its balance sheet by combining the equities of its Ordinary Cap-ital Resources and Asian Development Fund (concessional � nance window) in 2017.

“World leaders gathering in New York this weekend will commit to achieving 17 histor-ic Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and ADB stands ready to be an impor-tant part of global e� orts to � nance these goals,” Nakao said.

“Nowhere is tackling climate change more critical than in Asia and the Paci� c, where ris-ing sea levels, melting glaciers and weather extremes like � oods and droughts are damag-

ing livelihoods and taking far too many lives.”SDG 13 speci� cally calls for an urgent ac-

tion to combat climate change and its im-pacts. Also, mitigating and adapting to a changing climate are key to most of the oth-er goals including ending poverty, achieving food and water security, providing access to energy, and building sustainable cities.

Later this year, at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Con-vention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris, the international community is expected to � nalise a new global climate agreement and the way to � nance it.

In addition to scaling up its own climate � nancing, ADB will continue to explore new and innovative co� nancing opportunities with public and private partners. For exam-ple, ADB will seek to mobilise concessional � nancing from the Green Climate Fund. l

Policy soon on hiring agents for realising default loans n Tribune Report

A policy will be framed soon on appointment of agents for realising default loans in the coun-try’s banking sector. The Banks and Financial Institutions Division of the Finance Ministry are taking an initiative in this connection.

A decision to this e� ect was taken in the meeting on “Realisation and write-o� of de-fault loans in the banking sector” held at the � nance division auditorium at the secretariat on Sunday.

Banks and Financial Institutions Division Secretary Dr M Aslam Alam presided over the meeting also attended by the managing directors and representatives of state-owned

commercial and specialised banks and Bang-ladesh Bank.

M Aslam Alam told the Dhaka Tribune yes-terday, “In the banking sector, especially in the state-owned banks, the volume of default loans has increased to a great extent and it keeps bulg-ing. The volume of loans realised from them is very low and this is not satisfactory.”

“In the existing situation the banks are fail-ing to realise the default loans,” he added.

“The existing ways of realising default loans include contact with the clients and giving them reminders, � ling cases with the money loan courts and sale of mortgaged as-sets. It is no more possible to realise the de-fault loans by applying the existing strategies

for di� erent reasons,” he also mentioned.The secretary said: “So, a decision has

been taken to realise the default loans by appointing agents or in any other alternative way. A legal framework or a policy will be put in place with that end in view.”

“Once the initiative was taken earlier for real-ising default loans through agents, but it failed. But we have discussed in the meeting why the initiative failed. The case history of some of them has also been reviewed,” he mentioned.

“That time the Bangladesh Bank told the banks that appointment of agents would be al-lowed only for realisation of default loans. But there had been no guideline and policy in this connection. The banks framed their respective

policies on their own. As a result, there was some de� ciency and for that reason it failed. But this time a policy will be framed for them.”

“Meetings will be held in this connection with the private banks also,” he disclosed.

According to the Bangladesh Bank, the vol-ume of default loans in the country’s banking sector stood at Tk54,657 crore as of March last.

Of the amount, the four state-owned com-mercial banks – Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Ru-pali – accounted for Tk22,654 crore, 39 private commercial banks Tk22,747 crore, the state-owned specialised banks Tk7,417 crore and 11 foreign commercial banks Tk1,839 crore. As of March last, the volume of bad loans written o� stood at Tk37,252 crore. l

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Hot chick sel� esPhoto: Bigstock

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22app review2 apps to beatthe battle of the bulge

23EventWeaving another

24techBest smartphone camera

INSIDE

TechTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

T-JUNCTION22DT

n N Anita Amreen

MyfitnesspalIf there’s one free calorie counting app that has an inexhaustible database of food, it’s definitely Myfitnesspal. The reason this makes it to the top of our list is because it will never fail you. Whether you want to check the calories for a plate of Hyderabadi biryani or five aloo puris - they’ve got you covered. Unlike other apps, their database allows us to be able to track even the most minute Bangladeshi recipes that westerners may not be accustomed to. Even if you aren’t able to find the amount of calories for a particular dish, you can always create the dish virtually. This will let you calculate the total calories in the dish along with the calories per serving. Not only do they make calorie counting easy, they also have in place an easy to follow format. The app allows users to plug in their daily

The cabin air � lter is the � lter that cleans the air that comes into the interior through the ventilation of the air conditioning system. It prevents dust, pollen and other airborne materials from entering the cabin compartment of your car. This comes in handy particularly if you have allergies or other respiratory problems.

Some manufactures recommend that you get it replaced every 15,000 kilometres, while others say it will last more than 20,000 kilometres. But it all depends on how much you drive and where. For instance, if you drive in heavy tra� c inside Dhaka, the air quality is poor. In this case you might need to replace the � lter more often than

recommended. However, that also could be true during the dry weather when there is a lot of dust.

Some signs that you need a new cabin air � lter are persistent bad odours. Another sign is reduced air � ow through your air conditioning system, such as when you crank up the fan to maximum and you get more noise than results. Even if you don’t have these warnings, we recommend that you have the � lter checked at least once a year. Checking the � lter is a fairly easy process and you may be able to do that yourself.

All cars have their cabin air � lters placed behind the glove box and can be easily accessed once the glove box is freed from its

2 apps to beatthe battle of the bulge

What is a cabin air � lter and when should it be replaced?

Our top two picks of calorie counting apps

app review

autocorrect

Lose it!Number two on our list, Lose it! comes in close second to Myfitnesspal thanks to its built in pedometre and exercise log. Similar to Myfitnesspal, this app also makes users enter their weight, height and weight goals before making a daily calorie intake recommendation. What makes this app different is the interface. Each food is represented in the form of icons, with a calorie budget tracker set in the homepage. They’ve also installed a graph that tracks both your daily and weekly progress, all set in the homepage. If you’re someone that easily loses motivation, you can connect with Facebook to keep yourself motivated. Available on both Android and iOS. l

food intake (divided into lunch, dinner, breakfast and snacks), along with having a section that adjusts calories lost through exercise. Available on both Android and iOS.

fasteners. Most of these replacement � lters are inexpensive, as in Tk400 or more at an automotive parts store, and they will also install it for free of cost.

When your mechanic recommends you get a new cabin air filter, ask to see the current one. Depending on how long the

filter has been in service, you might be shocked to see what has been trapped in it: leaves, insects, soot and grime. Basically, anything that comes in contact with incoming air. Now, you will have a clear idea about when it’s time for a new cabin air filter. l

“I am a dreamer. I want to show the world the beautiful scenarios that I see in my dreams, the dreams that don’t let me sleep” - Jobayer Hossain Shuvo

Event T-JUNCTION 23D

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Weaving another

A group of professional wedding photographers from Bangladesh recently went to Malaysia to attend Wedding and Portrait Photographers of Asia (WPPA) event. It was a three-day-long programme that included a print photography competition, a seminar and a master class by internationally acclaimed wedding photographer LitoSy, Double Master (WPPI).

On the first day, more than 200 photographers from Malaysia, China, Philippines, Singapore, India and Bangladesh participated in the WPPA Print Competition 2015. Four photographers from Bangladesh, including Prito Reza, Jobayer Hossain Shuvo, Nafis Fuad Shuvo and Mazharul Islam Rafi submitted their photos.

Under the wedding photography segment, there were seven categories. After the preliminary selection, 22 of Jobayer Shuvo’s photos, six by Mazharul Islam Rafi and five photos by Nafis Fuad Shuvo were selected for the final round. 30 photos were chosen for each category.

The final round was judged by LitoSy, ZungHeng, Mathew Tan and two other international wedding photographers. From the final category, Jobayer won three international awards for traditional ceremony photography. He also won the second prize from the group and bridal category and third prize in wedding journalism. He is the first Bangladeshi to be awarded for all three categories.

On the second day of the event, photographers from around the world took part in a conference. Jobayer spoke about South-Asian wedding traditions, business strategies, branding and marketing in the wedding photography business.

When he was asked about his achievements, he replied, “When my name was announced for the first time, I was joyous. But when they called my name for the second time, I was beyond surprised. Then when I was called on stage to get the certificate for the third time, I felt like I was living a dream. It was really great to represent my country on an international stage. My photos have been appreciated by world class photographers and I really feel like I’ve learned a lot from the grand masters at the workshop. These experiences will surely help me improve in the future.”

Jobayer Hossain Shuvo is a wedding photographer and entrepreneur from Bangladesh. He has been in the field for five years and is also an engineer. A self-taught photographer, he is inspired by the bustling life around him. Interestingly, he studied mechanical engineering but his passion for photography led him to taking this career path up as a profession.

Shuvo is the founder of the company

Dream Weaver Wedding Photography and Cinematography. Over the past three years, the company has been hired to document more than 3,200 wedding assignments. He started the company when he was a graduate student at Islamic University of Technology (IUT) with three of his schoolmates. As of today, he has a team of 45 young, educated and professional wedding photographers in his company. l

Another stepping stone for photographer Jobayer Hossain Shuvo

TechT-JUNCTION24DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

n Mahmood Hossain

Well, the Apple iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are � nally out. It’s been a few days and most users with the new devices have spent quality time with it. We also know how important taking pictures on smartphone has become for users all over the world. So which � agship smartphone has the best phone? We observe the iPhone duking it out with the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the LG G4.

Micro shotsThe iPhone lineup has always had a bit of di� culty when it comes to these particular micro shots. The closer you are to a subject, you’ll see a signi� cant blur. At times, even tapping the focus feature doesn’t really help in producing sharper, closer images. LG G4, on the other hand, does have a clearer image of closeup shots. However, the colors come out duller, unlike the richness of the iPhone. And possibly the winner, the Samsung Galaxy S6 has the perfect balance

from its competitors’ cameras. The colours are spot on and portrays a wonderfully sharp, crisp and clean image on your display. The depth and clarity of this kind of shot goes to the S6.

Further backTaking a photo of more than just a single subject changes signi� cantly. A shot of a lovely garden, for example, is better produced on the iPhone 6S. The Galaxy S6? Not so much. In fact, things look a tad chaotic with arti� cial colouring, making it too crisp. The Galaxy S6 seems to overdo it on the shadows and sharpening. We’re guessing taking shots of a busy area isn’t going to look great. The LG G4, unfortunately, likes to do what the Galaxy o� ers. Too harsh to the eyes, its output of a busy image is unfavourable.

Who’s in the portrait?A normal, daylight portrait shot of someone actually looks better on the Galaxy S6. The iPhone 6S tends to wash out the details and colours. It seems the facial recognition has a more realistic touch on the G4 and S6. Although, the G4 is actually somewhere in between - not as washed out as the iPhone 6S, but not as sharp as the Galaxy S6. And the slight change in aperture goes against the iPhone’s (f/2.2 aperture) images. More depth is found in the other two Android phones. So again, Galaxy takes the win on this one too, as the saturation and details are spot on.

Into the nightNow for those low-light or night time shots. Strangely, but not surprisingly, the iPhone 6S tends to over� ow the exposure on the subject in front of the camera. It’s a tad harsh and it has this nagging green tint, which seems to be in all the portrait images. The

Galaxy S6 didn’t fair too well either. While it looks like it has better detail, the colours are manipulated in producing a detailed image. In reality, when zoomed in, you’ll see that the image is actually over saturated and smeared. Hands down, the winner of this is the LG G4. No over-exposure, no over-saturation and has the perfect blend in details. You’ll have to thank the optical image-stabilisation in the G4 for this win; it’s in a di� erent class on its own.

The night-time landscape shots di� er in warmth and coolness. The iPhone 6S taking the roll of the latter. It’s almost a bit too cool, no warmth at all really doesn’t capture the real-time colours. And this is the complete opposite for the G4, which is too warm and seems to have done plenty of processing after the initial snap has been taken. However warm, the G4 still has the sharper image of the two. And surprise, surprise! The Galaxy S6 is the perfect balance of the two. Not too hot and not too cold. Just right, Goldilocks. The details and balance of colours in a night-time landscape shot on the Galaxy is absolutely brilliant, if you compare it to the other two.

VerdictYou’ve read the experience, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Yes, it may seem that the Galaxy S6 is the clear winner, but di� erent photos of di� erent subjects will clearly be seen better in one phone over the other. And the di� erences between the cameras aren’t incredibly far. In some cases, one smartphone simply does a slightly better job. All three phones have amazing cameras, don’t get that wrong. But it all depends on what you want out of a camera on your smartphone. Although, we recommend you hold onto your DSLR and mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. They won’t be replaced anytime soon. l

Quick clickComparing the cameras of the leading smartphones is inevitable

25D

TTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

MOURINHO GOES BACK TO PORTO

SOUTH AFRICA BANK ON IPL SKILLS FOR INDIA TOUR

26 2827

Steven Gerrard ended his scoring droughts as LA Galaxy defeated FC Dallas 3-2 on Sunday. He delivered

his � rst goal since his MLS debut more than a month ago, a 57th-

minute strike that put his side 3-1 up

FINALLY!

SportBANGLADESH-AUNDER HUGE PRESSURE

n Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced an unchanged Test squad from their previous South Africa series for the � rst of the two-match Test series against Australia.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam fully recov-ered from jaundice, which he contracted last month, and retained his place in the 14-mem-ber squad that had no surprise. Premier

all-rounder Shakib al Hasan will be support-ed by young leg spinner Jubair Hossain in the spin department while Musta� zur Rahman, Rubel Hossain and Mohammad Shahid will take care of the pace bowling arena.

Australia were scheduled to arrive in the capital yesterday but delayed their journey citing security concerns. BCB top o� cials along with the government high-ups have been in constant touch with Cricket Australia

to settle the issue and it is expected that the tour will begin four days from the scheduled time.

Steven Smith’s side was earlier scheduled to take part in the � rst Test against Bangla-desh from October 9 in Chittagong followed by the second and � nal game in Dhaka from October 17. The visitors were also scheduled to face the BCB XI in a three-day warm-up game in Fatullah from October 3. l

SQUADMush� qur Rahim (C), Tamim Iqbal,

Imrul Kayes, Jubair Hossain, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Shahid,

Mominul Haque, Musta� zur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shakib al

Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam

BCB names unchanged Test squadBangladesh Test captain Mush� qur Rahim (R) completes his batting session while Shakib al Hasan (L) and coach Chandika Hathurusingha speak at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MI MANIK

Sport26DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Bangladesh A 1st innings 228 all outSabbir 122, Shuvagata 62, Jayant 4/28, Aaron 4/45INDIA A 1ST INNINGS R BA Mukund b Shuvagata Hom 34 78S Dhawan lbw b Saqlain Sajib 150 146SS Iyer b Nasir Hossain 38 55KK Nair b Jubair Hossain 71 97V Shankar b Jubair Hossain 86 110NV Ojha not out 25 32Extras (b 4, lb 2, nb 1) 7 Total (5 wickets dec; 86.1 overs) 411FoW: 1-153, 2-220 , 3-232, 4-340, 5-411 BowlingSha� ul 3.2-1-10-0, Rubel 2.5-1-16-0, Soumya 2.5-0-9-0, Shuvagata, 19-2-106-1, Saqlain 26-2-121-1Jubair 12.1-0-76-2, Nasir 20-2-67-1BANGLADESH A 2ND INNINGS R BAnamul Haque c Nair b Pandey 0 9Soumya Sarkar c Nair b Yadav 19 23Mominul Haque not out 9 22Liton Das not out 7 12Extras (b 1) 1 Total (2 wickets; 11 overs) 36FoW: 1-4, 2-21 BowlingPandey 3-2-4-1, Mithun 4-1-21-0, J Yadav 3-0-8-1, Jadeja 1-0-2-0

Bangladesh A trail by 147 runs

SCORECARD, DAY 2

Bangladesh A under huge pressuren Mazhar Uddin

Bangladesh A are facing another defeat in their 18-day tour to India as they were under a pile of pressure at the end of day two of their three-day game against India A at the M Chin-naswamy Stadium in Bengaluru yesterday.

Skipper Mominul Haque and Liton Das were the unbeaten batsmen on nine and seven respectively after the visitors lost two wickets for 36 runs in their second innings. The home side, resuming the day on 161 for one, declared their � rst innings on 411 for � ve with a healthy lead of 183 runs.

India A captain Shikhar Dhawan began the day where he left as he dominate the Bangla-deshi bowlers with utmost ease before � nally falling for 150 runs o� just 146 deliveries that included 18 fours and three sixes.

Dhawan's departure, however, made little di� erence to the visiting side who were later battered by Vijay Shankar (86) and Karun Nair (71).

Leg spinner Jubair Hossain bagged two for 76 while Nasir Hossain, Saqlain Sajib and Shu-vagata Hom picked a wicket each for Bangla-desh A.

Anamul Haque (zero) and Soumya Sarkar (19) continued their dismal tour as Mominul and Liton will look to bat as long as possible and earn a draw in the last day today. The vis-itors now trail by 147 runs. l

Uzbeks arrive today for AFC quali� ers n Tribune Report

Dhaka will once again be the center of Asian football events as the participating nations in the Group A of the AFC Under-19 Championship quali� ers are arriving in the capital. After Bhutan reached Dhaka on the second day of Eid-ul-Adha, Saturday, group favourites Uzbekistan is scheduled to land today noon. The other participant in Group A, Sri Lanka, are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

Bangladesh have high hopes for the � ve-day tournament which will kick o� on October 2 with the game between Uzbekistan and Bhutan followed by the hosts taking on Sri Lanka at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Along with the respective group champi-ons, the top � ve runners-up will also get the ticket to the � nal round that will be held in Bahrain next year.

The Bengal Tigers, who staged a prom-ising display in the recently concluded Sa� U19 Championship before getting knocked out by India in the semi� nals, have a decent opportunity of � nishing in the top half of the four-nation group.

Bangladesh U-19 also exhibited tough char-acter in their practice game with the national side a week back and the home side fans can expect a positive result given that players like Mannaf Rabby, Rohit Sarkar, Masuk Mia Joni, Bappi and Biplu continue their good work on the pitch. l

Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates scoring against Darmstadt their Bundesliga match in Germany on Sunday REUTERS

Record-breaking Aubameyang on � re but Dortmund heldn Reuters, Berlin

Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck twice against Darmstadt 98 on Sunday to become the only player in Bundesliga history to score in the � rst seven matches of the season but a late Aytac Sulu goal spoiled his afternoon as the visitors res-cued a 2-2 draw.

Aubameyang drilled in from close range in the 63rd minute to cancel out an early Marcel Heller goal for the visitors and quickly add-ed another goal eight minutes later to take his season’s tally to nine. But a 90th minute equaliser from Sulu after Dortmund failed to clear the ball in the box stunned the 80,000 crowd in the Signal Iduna Park with Dort-mund having now failed to win their last two matches after kicking o� the season with � ve victories on the trot.

Dortmund have 17 points, four points be-hind leaders Bayern Munich, who won on Saturday, and one ahead of third-placed Schalke 04. Bayern and Dortmund will meet in a mouthwatering derby next week where Aubameyang will be up against Bayern’s in-form striker Lewandowski, who has netted seven goals in his last two matches. l

BUNDESLIGAEintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Hertha BerlinMeier 22 Darida 82

Borussia Dortmund 2-2 DarmstadtAubameyang 63, 71 Heller 17, Sulu 89

Pellegrini sure Man City will win Champions Leaguen Reuters, London

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini switched his focus to conquering Europe on Sunday after his side’s Premier League ambi-tions took another dent at the weekend.

City’s barnstorming start to the English soccer season, producing � ve straight wins, is in danger of becoming a fading memory af-ter consecutive defeats by West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur allowed Manchester United to knock them o� the top of the table.

Those two defeats were preceded by a jolt-ing home loss to Juventus in City’s Champions League opener, but Pellegrini is convinced the club will recover and soon triumph in Eu-rope’s blue riband competition.

“I am sure that Manchester City will win the Champions League in the future because the whole club works well,” the Chilean was quoted as saying in the Manchester Evening News.

“We are younger than the teams who nor-mally win the Champions League over the last 10 years. Our team has only arrived in the last few years and we are improving every season.”

City’s huge transfer spending to become established as one of the Premier League pow-erhouses has not translated into any great im-pact on the European stage. They reached the last 16 of the Champions League in the past two seasons and failed to progress beyond the group stage in the previous two attempts. l

Sport 27D

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Albie Morkel replaces Wiese for T20 series South Africa all-rounder Albie Morkel has been called up for a three-match Twenty20 (T20) series in India starting next Friday after David Wiese withdrew with a hand injury. T20 skip-per Faf du Plessis told reporters that 34-year-old Morkel was a welcome inclusion.

AFP

Roma lose Dzeko, Totti for up to a monthRoma will be without Edin Dzeko, Francesco Totti and Seydou Keita when the Italians face BATE Borisov in the Champions League on Tuesday after the trio were ruled out through injury on Sunday. The trio all hobbled o� during a 5-1 romp over Serie A newcomers Carpi on Saturday.

AFP

Lacazette blasts Lyon president and coachLyon star Alexandre Lacazette has hit out at club president Jean-Michel Aulas and coach Hubert Fournier for criticising the striker over a poor start to the season. Speaking to L’Equipe newspaper, the France international said he had been hurt by Aulas’s criticisms and felt unfairly treated by his president’s decision to publicise the details of their contract negotiations.

AFP

Goal against City will ‘shut up’ critics, says KaneScoring his � rst Premier League goal of the season will silence the critics who have tried to saddle him with a “one-season wonder” tag, Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has said. The England international broke his sea-son-long drought for his club when he clipped in a rebound after Christian Eriksen’s free kick struck the crossbar in their 4-1 drubbing of Manchester City on Saturday.

REUTERS

‘Domestic battle hurts English teams in Europe’The physical and competitive “rat race” that is the Premier League will hurt English clubs’ chances of progressing in the Champions League, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has said. United welcome German side Wolfsburg in Europe’s top competition on Wednesday having lost their opening encounter 2-1 to PSV Eindhoven, with Arsenal and Manchester City also losing their opening games to Dinamo Zagreb and Juventus, respectively.

REUTERS

$10 million man Spieth on top of the worldJordan Spieth capped an epic season with a Tour Championship victory that boosted him back to number one in the world and took his 2015 winnings to more than $22 million. The 22-year-old Texan, whose � ve wins this season included the Masters and US Open, � red a � nal round 69 for 271 and a four-shot win over Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, New Zealand’s Danny Lee and England’s Justin Rose.

AFP

QUICK BYTES

South Africa bank on IPL skills for India tourn AFP, New Delhi

South Africa hope their players’ experience in the Indian Premier League will enable them to turn the tables on their hosts at the start of a gruelling 10-week tour of India, coach Rus-sell Domingo said Monday.

The tourists are due to play three Twen-ty20 internationals and � ve one-day matches up until October 25, before starting a four-Test series on November 5.

Ten members of their Twenty20 squad turn out for various franchises in the glitzy cash-rich IPL, and Domingo said that will ben-e� t his wards.

“We are fortunate to have quite a few play-ers who know Indian conditions because of the IPL,” Domingo told reporters in New Del-hi. “They understand what is required to play in these conditions.

“We expect tough and uncompromising cricket during the tour. That is also how we play. The players are used to tough places.

“South Africa is not for sissies. We enjoy di� erent cultures. We enjoy meeting and mix-ing with new and di� erent people.”

South Africa have separate captains for all three formats, with Faf du Plessis leading them in Twenty20 cricket, AB de Villiers in one-day internationals and Hashim Amla in Tests.

Du Plessis insisted the arrangement worked perfectly for the Proteas.

“The three of us play all formats and when one is not the captain, we can enjoy cricket without the extra responsibility. This way we are always fresh. It has worked really well for us. It’s never been an issue, we continue to learn from each other and support each other.”

Domingo justi� ed the decision to rest pace spearheads Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel from the Twenty20 games to keep them fresh for the one-dayers and the Tests.

The tourists will play a practice Twenty20 match in New Delhi on Tuesday before trav-elling to Dharamsala for the � rst T20 interna-tional on Friday.

T20 Squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Marchant de Lange, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, Eddie Leie, David Miller, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Al-bie Morkel, Khaya Zondo.

ODI Squad: AB de Villiers (capt), Kyle Ab-bott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quin-ton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Mor-ris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Khaya Zondo, Dale Steyn.

Test Squad: Hashim Amla (capt), AB de Vil-liers, Temba Bavuma, JP Duminy, Faf du Ples-sis, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Stiaan van Zyl, Dane Vilas. l

South Africa’s T20 captain Faf du Plessis plays a shot in the nets during a training session for the practice match against the Indian Board President’s XI in New Delhi yesterday AFP

‘No regrets’ says Li Na, one year after retiringn AFP, Wuhan

China’s two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na said Monday she had “no regrets” about her career, a year after her abrupt retirement from professional tennis.

Li was addressing reporters in her home-town Wuhan in central China during the sec-ond edition of the Wuhan Open, which was launched last year on the back of her success.

The 33-year-old has rarely appeared in public since she tearfully retired on the eve of the inaugural Wuhan Open last year, and later gave birth to a baby girl.

“Honestly, I have no regrets as a profes-sional player,” she said. “Especially in the last few years I felt that I ful� lled all my dreams and goals.

“Looking back on my full tennis career, I’m very satis� ed. So even though it’s not a smooth career, all the dreams and goals have been achieved due to hard work, so I feel proud of myself.” l

Strauss was right to leave me out: KPn Reuters, London

Kevin Pietersen says England cricket director Andrew Strauss was right to overlook him for this year’s Ashes test series victory over Aus-tralia. The controversial South African-born batsman, speaking to 200 delegates at a Sports Industry Breakfast Club meeting on Thursday, was asked if his former captain Strauss made the correct move in leaving him out.

“Absolutely,” replied Pietersen. “It seems to be the right decision at the moment and good luck to him.

“He’s done OK. Some of the stu� he has done with the England team and with getting past players back in the dressing room is bril-liant,” added the country’s � fth highest Test run-scorer. There is so much knowledge out there which we missed out on in the last three or four years of my career where we could have had that impact.”

Pietersen was sacked by England last year following a number of incidents that culmi-nated in the 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia. Asked on Thursday if he thought the door was now � rmly bolted shut on a return, the 35-year-old replied: “If it is, it is. I’m not sit-ting here worrying about what has happened. I’m living my life”.

The two men fell out spectacularly dur-ing the 2012 Test series against South Africa when Pietersen sent provocative texts about then-captain Strauss to opposition players. The animosity between them was re-ignited last year when Strauss made o� ensive comments about his former team mate while broadcasting for Sky Sports. l

28DT Sport

Mourinho goes back to Porton AFP, Paris

Bayern Munich (GER) v Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)Both sides are looking to build on wins in their opening matches as they clash at the Allianz Arena, but anything other than a convinc-ing Bayern win would be a major surprise. The German champions are in rampant form, having won nine games in a row in all compe-titions, scoring 29 goals in the process. They beat Olympiakos 3-0 in Greece in their Group F opener and won by the same scoreline at Mainz in the Bundesliga on Saturday. For Pep Guar-diola’s side this game comes ahead of a huge clash with Borussia Dortmund next weekend, but he will not be able to rotate his squad too much with the likes of Medhi Benatia, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery on the sidelines.

Arsenal (ENG) v Olympiakos (GRE)Arsenal head into their home clash with Greek champions Olympiakos buoyed by a superb 5-2 victory at Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday but with little margin for error in Group F after their shock 2-1 reverse in Zagreb two weeks ago. Alexis Sanchez scored a hat-trick against Leicester and, with Olivier Giroud suspended, Arsenal will look to the Chilean to lead them against an Olympiakos side who were beaten 3-0 at home by Bayern in their group opener. “Mathematically we can qualify without any problem if we can produce our performances that we want at home,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

BATE (BLR) v Roma (ITA)Roma are the favourites heading into the game in Belarus, although the Italian side make the trip without Edin Dzeko, Francesco Totti and Seydou Keita, who are all injured. Roma

coach Rudi Garcia also has bad memories of meetings with BATE -- they beat Lille when he was in charge of the French side in the 2012/13 group stage. Nevertheless, the Giallorossi are fresh from a 5-1 win against Carpi in Serie A at the weekend and are now looking to build on an encouraging 1-1 draw with Barcelona.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) v Dynamo Kiev (UKR)Maccabi host a Champions League group game for the � rst time since 2004 and do so looking to bounce back from a 4-0 loss at Chelsea in their Group G opener. Dynamo, meanwhile, come into the game after draw-ing 2-2 with Porto in their � rst match and are unbeaten since going down to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukrainian Super Cup in July. The Israeli club are hosting group games at the ultra-modern Sammy Ofer stadium, 100 kilometres up the Mediterranean coast from Tel Aviv in Haifa. It was there that Slavisa Jokanovic’s side beat Maccabi Haifa 2-0 in their domestic league at the weekend.

Lyon (FRA) v Valencia (ESP)In arguably the most open group of all, there is little margin for error for either Lyon or Valen-cia as they meet at the Stade de Gerland. Lyon were held by nine-man Gent in their Group H opener and lost 3-1 in Bordeaux in Ligue 1 at the weekend. Coach Hubert Fournier could al-most � eld an entire team of injured players just now, with the outstanding Nabil Fekir leading the long list of absentees. Valencia were beaten by Zenit St Petersburg in their � rst outing and, while they beat French opposition in Monaco in the play-o� s, they have struggled domesti-cally so far. That has increased the pressure on coach Nuno Espirito Santo, although they did beat Granada 1-0 on Friday.

Barcelona (ESP) v Bayer Leverkusen (GER)Barcelona are reeling from the blow of losing Lionel Messi for up to eight weeks with knee ligament damage as they prepare to welcome Leverkusen to the Camp Nou. The Argentine, who became the � rst player to score � ve goals in a Champions League game when Barca crushed Leverkusen 7-1 in the round of 16 at the Camp Nou in 2011/12, came o� early in Barca’s 2-1 win over Las Palmas in La Liga on Saturday and will be missed as the reigning European champions seek a � rst win in Group E. However, it was Luis Suarez who scored

in their 1-1 draw at Roma two weeks ago and the Uruguayan also got both goals against Las Palmas. The Catalans are also without the in-jured Claudio Bravo, Thomas Vermaelen and Ra� nha, reducing Luis Enrique’s squad to just 15 � t out� eld players.

FC Porto (POR) v Chelsea (ENG)There is no shortage of sub-plots surround-ing this encounter at the Estadio do Dragao. Above all, sees Chelsea manager Jose Mourin-ho returns to face the club he led to Champi-ons League glory in 2004. He has been back since -- in his � rst season at Chelsea, the Lon-don club lost 2-1 at Porto in the group stage, while they drew 1-1 there in the last 16 in 2006/07. But there is increased pressure on Mourinho just now -- they eased past Mac-cabi Tel-Aviv 4-0 in their Group G opener but a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United on Saturday continued their sluggish start in the Premier League. Porto, meanwhile, could only draw 2-2 at Moreirense on Friday but they are top of the Portuguese league and remain unbeat-en. And in Iker Casillas they have a goalkeep-er who would surely love to get one over on Mourinho, the two not enjoying the best of re-lationships with one another at Real Madrid.

Zenit St Petersburg (RUS) v Gent (BEL)In such a close section, Andre Villas-Boas’s Ze-nit can take a big step towards quali� cation by beating Gent. The Russian side drew 2-2 with Spartak Moscow on Saturday and are third in their domestic Premier League, eight points be-hind leaders CSKA Moscow. However, in Hulk they have one of the most potent forwards in the competition -- he scored two thumping goals in the win in Valencia two weeks ago and was also on target against Spartak. l

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Champions League

Barcelona’s Neymar gestures during his team’s training session on the eve of their Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen in Barcelona yesterday REUTERS

Sport 29D

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

Ten Cricket5:30PM Pakistan Tour of Zimbabwe 2nd T20 Ten Sports12:45PM Uefa Champions League Arsenal v Olympiacos Ten Action4:00PM FFA Cup 2015Heidelberg United v Melbourne City FC 12:45PM Uefa Champions League FC Porto v Chelsea FC

DAY’S WATCH

LA LIGASporting Gijon 1-2 Real BetisCarlos Castro 17 Joaquin 46, Ruben Castro 57

Deportivo la Coruna 3-0 Espanyol Alvaro 14-og,Lucas Perez 27, 47

Getafe 3-0 LevanteVazquez 81, 90+1,Emi 90

Real Sociedad 0-0 Athletic Bilbao Fiorentina forward Nikola Kalinic (C) vies for the ball with Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and defender Joao Miranda during their Serie A match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan on Sunday AFP

Kalinic hat-trick stuns 10-man Intern AFP, Milan

A hat-trick by Croatia striker Nikola Kalinic in-spired Fiorentina to a stunning 4-1 win at the San Siro that ended Inter Milan’s 100% start to the campaign and sent La Viola top of Serie A for the � rst time in 16 years on Sunday.

Inter, who have not won the scudetto since their treble-winning feat of 2010, had boosted their early-season hopes by racing to a 10-point lead over defending champions Juventus after winning their opening � ve games.

Inter had conceded only one goal in their opening � ve games but by the 23rd minute goalkeeper Samir Handanovic had picked the ball out of his net three times.

The bulk of the damage had been done, said Inter coach Roberto Mancini, even before then. It is the � rst time Fiorentina have been top in Italy since February 1999, when AC Mi-lan went on to beat Lazio to the title.

“The biggest satisfaction is seeing how well the lads played,” said Sousa, who was quick to shoot down suggestions Fiorentina would challenge for the title.

“Let’s be realistic. There are teams who have a lot more quality and who have invest-ed a lot in players. We have to keep on � ghting with the team we have.”

Thanks to La Viola’s superior goals di� er-ence, they went top ahead of Inter, who also have 15 points, with Torino two points o� the pace in third. l

Moyes’s Real Sociedad draw another blankn AFP, Madrid

Former Manchester United manager David Moyes’s Real Sociedad side failed to score for the fourth time in six La Liga games this sea-son as they were held 0-0 in the Basque derby by Athletic Bilbao.

A point takes Moyes’s side up to 12th, while a draw was enough to move Athletic out of the relegation zone.

Elsewhere, Deportivo la Coruna moved up to sixth as they eased past 10-man Espanyol 3-0 thanks to two goals from Lucas Perez.

Real Betis came from behind to win 2-1 at Sporting Gijon as Joaquin grabbed his � rst goal since returning to his boyhood club before Ru-ben Castro struck a spectacular winner. l

Marseille woes go on with Angers defeat, St Etienne losen Reuters, Paris

Olympique de Marseille’s shambolic start to the season continued on Sunday when they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by promoted Angers while Hatem Ben Arfa inspired Nice to a 4-1 win over high-� ying St Etienne.

Angers, who had not won at the Stade Vel-odrome since 1978, prevailed thanks to goals by Thomas Mangani, with a penalty, and Ro-main Thomas. Michy Batshuayi reduced the de� cit with a late spot-kick for Marseille.

The result lifted Angers to � fth place with 15 points from eight games while Marseille, who have lost four league matches, are 14th on eight points. Second-placed St Etienne lost the chance to narrow the gap on leaders Paris

St Germain when Nice’s Ben Arfa got his sec-ond double in two games before the Azureans went down to nine men as Nampalys Mendy and Maxime Le Marchand were sent o� . l

SERIE AGenoa 1-0 AC MilanDzemaili 10

Torino 2-1 PalermoGonzalez 44-og, Benassi 48 Gonzalez 71

Verona 1-2 LazioHelander 33 Biglia 63-pen, Parolo 86

Sassuolo 1-1 ChievoDefrel 3 Paloschi 24

Bologna 1-2 UdineseMounier 31 Badu 61, Zapata 85

Inter Milan 1-4 FiorentinaIcardi 60 Ilicic 4-pen, Kalinic 19, 23, 76

Palace up to sixth after victory at Watfordn Reuters, London

Crystal Palace moved into the Premier League’s top six by winning 1-0 away to Watford on Sunday -- record signing Yohan Cabaye sealing the points with a calmly-con-verted a penalty.

The French mid� elder’s 71st minute spot kick, awarded when Cameroonian fullback Allan Nyom fouled substitute Wilfried Zaha, was the � rst goal conceded by Watford at Vic-arage Road in four games since being promot-ed from the Championship.

Most of the excitement in the � rst half came in the opening few minutes when Pal-ace’s Yannick Bolasie, who has just signed a new three-and-a-half year contract, raced through straight from the kick-o� to shoot over the bar. l

LIGUE 1Marseille 1-2 AngersBatshuayi 79-pen Mangani 38-pen, Thomas 70

Guingamp 3-3 MonacoPrivat 30, Silva 14, Benezet 65, 89 Raggi 45, Dirar 71

Montpellier 2-1 Lorient Bensebaini 6, Martin 57 Abdullah 48

Saint-Etienne 1-4 NicePerrin 19 Koziello 5, Ben Arfa 39, 45+1, Seri 53

France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga holds his trophy after defeating France’s Gilles Simon in the ATP Moselle Open � nals on Sunday AFP

DOWNTIME30DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 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 6 represents G so � ll G every time the � gure 6 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 Not retained (4)5 Coarse � les (5)8 Tempt (6)9 Faculty head (4)10 Newt (3)12 Enigma (6)13 Made level (6)15 Unexpected (6)18 Much ornamented (6)20 Stain (3)21 Eternal city (4)23 Checked (6)24 Lively frolic (5)25 Refuse to admit (4)

DOWN1 Flat shelf of rock (5)2 United (3)3 Raised platform (5)4 Metal (3)5 That remaining (7)6 Snow vehicle (4)7 Location (4)11 Run away (4)12 Put back (7)14 Diversify (4)16 Male honey-bee (5)17 Poor (5)18 Probability (4)19 Nigh (4)21 Disencumber (3)22 Adults (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TTUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

WHAT TO WATCHFinal Destination7:38pm HBOAfter a teenager has a terrifying vision of him and his friends dying in a plane crash, he prevents the accident only to have Death hunt them down, one by one.Cast: Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith, Kristen Cloke, Daniel Roebuck

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines11:20pm Movies Now

A cybernetic warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a 19-year old drifter and his future wife from a most advanced robotic assassin and to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes

Home Alone5:30pm Star Movies

An 8-year old troublemaker must protect his home from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during Christmas vacation.Cast: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard

Kill Bill Vol . 15:30pm WBThe bride wakens from a four-year coma. The child she carried in her womb is gone. Now she must wreak vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her - a team she was once part of. Cast: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans9:30pm Z StudioAn origins story centered on the centuries-old feud between the race of aristocratic vampires and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. Cast: Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen, Rhona Mitra, Kevin Grevioux

Open the � ood gates

n Mahmood Hossain

It’s autumn and that means a whole landslide of new television shows, and new seasons of currently running shows, have made their debuts. However, this time around we’re giving the returning shows, with the newest seasons, a proper grade before we can dive into the new shows on the block.

The Big Bang TheoryGrade: BIf this show isn’t already on top of your best list, it should be. Just about a week ago it had its season nine premiere. And, as expected, the quick, sharp and intelligent comedy hasn’t faltered. The audience left with a few character issues that will keep us hooked until the end of the season. It’s one of those shows, you rather not see end. But

after eight, solid and funny seasons, it’s the right time to bow out. We’ll see what those brilliant minds at The Big Bang Theory has in store for the coming episodes.

GothamGrade: B+The cape crusader is still a kid. Gordon is still trying to get back into a position he desires, and the lunatics have been released yet again. Sounds bland, yes? All these comic book movies and shows can get a little overwhelming to a certain point. Keeping things fresh and alluring can be a di� cult job. Fortunately, the folks at Gotham have done a wonderful job introducing new characters and developing the plot line to extend their run. The premiere episode did a solid job in keeping up with the high standards it left in its � rst season.

ScandalGrade: C+This has a really good following out there with avid TV watchers. Some may even consider this show as a guilty pleasure. It’s political intrigue tossed with some soap opera elements. And let’s face it, it’s more about the latter than anything else. As a fan of this show, the premiere episode of the � fth season was sort of a let down. It tackled a subject that is overdone, and it received a lukewarm reception. Hopefully the rest of the season will carry more scandalous weight.

How to Get Away with MurderGrade: AOh, boy! What a ridiculous twist on this fascinating and thrilling show! The � rst season is absolutely binge worthy, every episode has you sitting at the edge of your seat. Just as we thought this show couldn’t get any darker or sexier, the premiere episode has treated the audience with one hell of a start to season two. Trying to hide one murder, leads the group into a new heap of trouble. This season will surely keep those eyes glued to the screen.

EmpireGrade: DWhy such a low grade? The premiere had plenty of expectations, after the record breaking � rst season. I almost forgot how cheesy this show can get. Terrible writing, the music was below par and placing Chris Rock as a cannibal in prison was laughable. Perhaps that was the intention? It wasn’t that Rock was playing a “serious” role but because he had no real threat to any of the characters. This was a very disappointing episode, regardless of the high viewership ratings. Hopefully, it can bounce back with the upcoming episodes.l

Gods and Beasts running at Bengal Art Lounge n Showtime Desk

Gods and Beasts, an ambitious solo exhibition of paintings, installations and video work by Ronni Ahmmed is on view at Bengal Art Lounge until Saturday, October 17. Renowned for his colourful depiction of imaginary worlds and fantastic creatures, Ronni Ahmmed has long been preoccupied with the mythical texts that serve as foundations to human civilisations. In a gallery space completely remodeled for the occasion, Gods and Beasts takes Ahmmed’s inquiry a step further. The exhibition echoes many of the great religious and spiritual traditions that have crossed Bengal at one point or the other, in particular Buddhism, Hinduism and Su� sm.

Viewers are plunged into frenzied depictions of religious scenes (Ganesha writing the Mahabharata, Lord Buddha attaining the Nirvana, etc), often rendered with a colour palette reminiscent of the American comic books of the mid-20th century. Far from being an obstacle to accessing the superior meaning of these celebrated scenes, Ahmmed’s “cosmic comic” aesthetics lay it bare.

The exhibition is open daily from 12-8pm. l

BACK PAGE32DT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

OPEN THE FLOOD GATES PAGE 31

FEARS OF GLOBAL CURRENCY WAR SHAKE EXPORTERS PAGE 15

BANGLADESH A UNDER HUGE PRESSURE PAGE 26

Failure to open safe waterway leaves Sundarbans vulnerable n Abu Bakar Siddique

The government’s failure to reopen the Mong-la-Ghasiakhali channel to large ships and oil tankers is forcing large vessels to continue to travel through the Sundarbans, threatening the ecology and biodiversity of the mangrove forest.

On a recent visit, the Dhaka Tribune found many large vessels still plying the Sela River, although use of the waterway was supposed to have stopped on June 1.

On May 12, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said the Mongla-Ghasiakhali channel would open to river tra� c on June 1 and the Sela River route would be closed.

Ashraf Hossain, superintendent engineer of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) in Mongla, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the Sela River route was not closed on schedule because the Mong-la-Ghasiakhali channel was still being dredged.

The o� cial in charge of dredging the chan-nel, Forhaduzzman, said that lighter vessels with up to 8 feet of draft had been using the channel since May. He said the channel could not yet handle vessels with a deeper draft.

He estimated that the channel would be ready within the next two to three months.

Dredging began on July 1 last year to allow deeper draft vessels in the channel.

Due to poor navigability, the original Mongla-Ghasiakhali route was shut down in 2010, forcing vessels to use the Sela River in-stead.

The issue came under the spotlight last December 9 when an oil tanker capsized and spilled more than 80,000 litres of furnace oil

into the Sela River.The oil spill resulted in a temporary sus-

pension of services on the Sela River route.Use of the route was resumed on January

6, with the government promising to ready the Mongla-Ghasiakhali channel for opera-tions by midyear. l

Public servants’ salary records go digital n Asif Showkat Kallol

Public sector employees will soon use a self-service online form to submit their per-sonal data into a database that will allow their salaries, under the National Pay Scale 2015, to be � xed and con� rmed online, o� cial sources said.

The proposed database and online � xing of salaries is being described as a boon to trans-parency and an aid to record-keeping.

The compilation of a database of the coun-try’s 2.1 million public sector employees and online � xing of their salaries was approved by Finance Minister AMA Muhith before he left for World Bank–IMF meetings in Washington, DC and Lima, Peru, a Finance Division o� cial said.

The � nance minister’s summary of the proposal called the database an “excellent system … [that] will make the government more accountable and transparent.”

“The new system also creates a good data-base of civil servants and I enthusiastically approve the online � xing of public servants’ salaries,” the summary read.

“We have procured two servers to create more data storage space and software is cur-rently being developed to handle public serv-ants’ salary data online,” the Finance Division o� cial added.

According to the proposal signed by Senior Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, civil serv-ants will have to � ll out an online form and post their personal data into the database.

The required � elds include the o� cial’s name and position, site of employment, join-ing date of current job, promotion date, pres-ent salary grade and basic salary.

The system does away with common da-ta-entry errors, according to the proposal.

The information submitted online will then be veri� ed by accounts o� ces, which will then � nalise and � x civil servants’ sala-ries and inform them online.

Public servants in remote parts of the country will have to send their information via the internet, according to the proposal.

Under the World Bank-funded “Strengthening Government Expenditure Management System Project,” some 450,000 civil servants’ personal data has already been entered into a government database, but the list contains errors.

The proposed database is expected to aid government accountants because informa-tion about salaries, allowances, pensions, loans and advances will be easily accessible.

Additional funds will be needed to train accountants, o� cials and government sta� to use the new system, the proposal added. l

Nasa � nds evidence of liquid water on Mars

n Agencies

Liquid water has been observed on the planet Mars, the US space agency Nasa said Monday.

“Mars is not the dry, arid planet we thought of in the past,” Jim Green, Nasa’s planetary science director, told a press conference.

“Under certain circumstances, liquid water has been found on Mars.”

Scientists have long believed that water once � owed freely across the red planet and was re-sponsible for forming its valleys and canyons.

Major climate change about three billion years ago is believed to have changed all that, Green said.

“Today we’re revolutionising our understanding of this planet,” Green said.

“Our rovers are � nding there’s a lot more humidity in the air.”

The rovers searching the planet’s surface have also found that the soil is much more moist than anticipated. Dark streaks running down slopes on the Martian surface were observed about four years ago.

Scientists did not have proof, however, that these streaks -- which would form in spring, grow by summer and then disappear by fall -- were actually water.

But after careful study and analysis, they are ready to say that these streaks are, in fact, water.

Nasa’s ongoing Mars rover Curiosity has found evidence that Mars had all the ingredients and suitable habitats for microbial life to exist at some point in its past.

Scientists have been trying to � gure out how it transformed from a warm, wet and likely Earth-like planet early in its history into the cold, dry desert that exists today.

Billions of years ago, Mars, which lacks a protective, global magnetic � eld, lost much of its atmosphere. Several initiatives are under way to determine how much of the planet’s water was stripped away and how much remains locked in ice in underground reservoirs. l

Five large commercial river vessels are seen on the Haritana River in the Sundarbans. Although use of the river has been approved by the government, environmentalist activists oppose its use as a commercial shipping channel, saying this may endanger the protected mangrove forest SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

A handout Nasa image shows dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks called recurring slope lineae � owing downhill on Mars, inferred to have been formed by contemporary � owing water AFP

The database will aid accountants by making information about salaries, allowances, pensions, loans and advances accessible

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