MORE STORIESP3

16 pages with 8-page business tabloid plus 24-page supplement Avenue-T | Price: Tk10

Agrahayan 7, 1420Muharram 16, 1435Regd. No. DA 6238Vol 1 No 237 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

BusinessBaksaas: Telenor worried over ‘unrest-full’ situation

9 InternationalUnited Nations urges Myanmar to give the Rohingya citizenship

BNP plans to go tougher next weekn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The BNP is preparing to go for a series of tough programmes, such as shut-downs and blockades, again from next week if its demands submitted to Pres-ident Md Abdul Hamid are not met within a few days.

A number of BNP leaders said the party would wait a few days for the pres-ident’s response to their demand and also to allow their arrested � ve leaders to � le bail petitions on Sunday before enforcing any tough programmes.

The party is planning to enforce its next course of action from Monday to mount pressure on the government over its demand for the elections to be held under a non-partisan government.

However, many BNP leaders with whom Dhaka Tribune has spoken said there was the least possibility of any positive outcome from the meeting with the president, but the party want-ed to give the government some more time for arranging the talks.

On Tuesday, a 20-member delega-tion of the opposition alliance met the

president at Bangabhaban and urged him to take initiatives for a dialogue between the ruling Awami League and the BNP to end the present political stalemate over polls-time government.

“We will wait a day or two for the president’s response. If we do not get any response, we will announce our next course of action,” Khandakar Mos-harraf Hossain, a member of the party’s Standing Committee, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“It is not a matter of any date. If the government does not pay heed to our demand, we will enforce non-stop pro-grammes from early next week,” Abdus Salam, member secretary of Dhaka city unit BNP, told the Dhaka Tribune.

At the same time, if the Election Commission announced the polls schedule by next week, the BNP is planning to go for “non-stop blockade and siege programmes.”

Meanwhile, the Awami League is heading towards the elections, which

have to be held by January 24, forming an “all-party” polls-time cabinet.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yes-terday told parliament that the pres-ident had agreed to let her lead the polls-time cabinet.The BNP already declared it would neither join the interim government nor the up-coming election under that government.

After the meeting with the president on Tuesday, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia summoned the alliance leaders at her Gulshan o� ce and asked who among them got o� ers to join polls-time cabinet.

Meeting sources said BJP leader An-dalib Rahman Partha told Khaleda that o� ers came to many of them but none would leave the alliance.

LDP leader Oli Ahmed said a minister went to his home with an o� er to join the interim cabinet, but he refused that o� er.

The main opposition party enforced 204 hours of hartal in three spells in three weeks between October 27 and November 6. The party also kept its har-tal programme suspended this week be-cause of US o� cial Nisha Desai Biswal’s PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Hasina rings election bellShe says she will head interim government n Kamran Reza Chowddhury

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yester-day told parliament that she would head the polls-time interim adminis-tration as the president had assented to continue her government until the 10th parliamentary polls took place.

Urging the BNP-led opposition to participate in the upcoming election, the Awami League chief said no one could stop the polls, and called upon the people to take part casting their votes.

“There is no doubt the elections will take place; please take part in the polls. Those who will get people’s ver-dict will win the polls. As far as I am in chair, no rigging will take place. We have no intention to come to power by snatching people’s verdict,” Hasina told parliament in her 47-minute wrap-up speech.

Hasina said the interim administra-tion she formed must not take part in policy decisions during the election period, with the ministers concerned

being obliged to carry out the orders of the Election Commission. She an-nounced that Wednesday was the last day of the current ninth parliament.

“Unless any war-like emergency sit-uation arises, there will be no more ses-sion of this parliament,” Hasina said.

“The election is nearing. As the lead-er of the house, I have met [the presi-dent] and told him that we are ready for the polls,” she said.“He has permitted me to continue in the government during the polls,” Hasina said, amid desk-thumping from the at-tending MPs.

The premier said she had already formed an interim government com-prising representatives from the Jatiya Party, the Workers’ Party and the Jati-ya Samajtantrik Dal to aid the Election Commission in holding the next parlia-mentary polls, which must take place before January 24 next year.

“I have suggested that the president take measures for the polls.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Waste-product from an oil factory near the capital’s Kanchpur Bridge is being disposed in a water body which meets the Shitalakhya River, eventually polluting the river. The recently taken photo shows yellow leftovers of processed oil coming out of drainage, engul� ng the water body NASHIRUL ISLAM

Interim cabinet to take full shape todayPM to take charge of home ministry, senior ministers to exit

n Mohammad Al Masum Molla

Two days after the formation of the “all party” polls-time government, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has � nalised her plan to distribute portfolios among the new recruits, keeping a few of her most trusted old cabinet colleagues and taking the charge of home ministry in hand.

Sources in the Awami League, Jatiya Party and Cabinet Division said Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali may get the foreign ministry, Mujibul Haque the railways and the religious a� airs ministries, while Shahjahan Khan may be receive the shipping and the liberation a� airs ministries.

According to the sources, the prime minister herself would look after the home ministry. Current Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir may not have

a place in the shortened cabinet to run the government through the next polls.

State Ministers Shamsul Haque Tuku and Quamrul Islam may contin-ue with their current portfolios—home and law respectively, while Law Minis-ter Sha� que Ahmed may be appointed as an advisor to the prime minister. An-war Hossain Manju, chairman of Jatiya Party (Manju) may be handpicked as an adviser too, sources added.

A gazette noti� cation will be pub-lished today mentioning the portfoli-os of the polls-time cabinet members, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina an-nounced during the closing session of the ninth parliament yesterday.

Senior Awami League leaders told the Dhaka Tribune that among the rul-ing Awami League lawmakers, Tofail Ahmed might receive the industries PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Secretariat passinglazy days n Mohosinul Karim

O� cials and employees of di� erent ministries and divisions of administra-tion are confused and uncertain about what to do as portfolios of ministers of the polls-time government are yet to be distributed.

All of the o� cials and employees concerned are waiting for the � nal de-cision of the government.

Most of the o� cials are not working. They are attending their o� ces in time but doing nothing.

According to the security o� cials of the secretariat, a few ministers are attending their o� ces even after their resignation letters were submitted to the prime minister as they are still unsure if their resignations will be accepted or not.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Ag-riculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Education Minister Nurul Islam Na-hid, Labour Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju and Information Minister HasanulHaq Inu attended their o� ces on Wednesday.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Ershad pleads for acquittalin Manzoor murder case n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday set November 24 for hearing the argument of the prosecution in the Manzoor murder case in which former military ruler HM Ershad is an accused.

Ershad was present in the court as Dhaka First Additional District and Sessions’ Judge Hosne Ara Akter recorded the argument of the defence side.

The main accused in the case are HM Ershad, retired Ma-jor Emdadul Islam and retired Lieutenant Colonel Mostafa Kamal Uddin Bhuyain.

Ershad’s counsel Sheikh Sirajul Islam placed his argu-ment before the court. He said as the prosecution could not produce any evidence against Ershad the court should ac-quit Ershad unconditionally.

Ershad was included in the charge-sheet out of political vengeance. The counsel of Ershad said on October 2 last year Ershad defended himself in the court pleading not guilty.

Earlier, Ershad claimed that a news report published in the daily Azadi on June 4, 1981 headlined “Enraged armed people shoot Abul Manzoor dead and two cohorts during mutiny” was true.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

Ershad pleads for acquittal in Manzoor murder case PAGE 1 COLUMN 1Ershad told the judge that police handed Manzoor over to the army on the order of then acting president Abdus Sattar. Then home secretary Mahbubuzzaman told the investigation o� cer of the case in his statement.

Ershad submitted his statement to the special court in writing earlier.

General Manzoor was killed in 1981 after the assassination of former army chief and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman; the murder case was � led in 1995; subsequently, the charge-sheet was submitted to the court the sameyear.

In his defence Ershad told the court that he stepped down from power on December 6, 1990 in agreement with the “so-called” framework outlined by the then opposition.

“Regrettably I was implicated in

false cases one after another in violation of the pre-election agreements due to vendettas,” the former dictator said.

“The goal was to harm my dignity. It was intended to humiliate me socially and politically. This case is nothing but a sequel to that design.”

The trial related to the Major General Abul Manzoor murder case � led 17 years ago is being delayed as the prosecution has delayed in presenting its arguments.

Lt Col Mostafa Kamal in this argu-ments said: ‘‘Some enraged people tried to snatch Manzoor on the way that trig-gered shooting between them and the guards. At one stage Manzoor was hit by bullets and died on his way to hospital.”

The case is being held in a special court at Nazimuddin Road adjacent to Dhaka Central Jail. During the period of argument the accused were present be-fore the court.

According to the trial documents, 28 out of 49 witnesses, including investi-gation o� cer Abdul Kahar Akand, testi-� ed before the court.

The other charge-sheeted accused in the case were Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Shams and Major General (retd) Adbul Latif.

The court had previously granted bail to all of the accused.

On February 28, 1995, barrister Abul Monsoor Ahmed, brother of slain Abul Manzoor, lodged a case with Panchlaish Police Station in Chittagong accusing Major Emdadul of killing Manzoor.

On July 15, then assistant police su-per Abdul Kahar Akand submitted the charge-sheet to the court.

Then army chief Abu Saleh Md Na-sim and metropolitan judge Abul Hash-em gave testimony before the court on October 28, 2010. l

Secretariat passing lazy days PAGE 1 COLUMN 1Matia Chowdhury, Nurul Islam Nahid and Hasanul Haq Inu briefed the media on the political crisis while Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju presided over a meeting with the garment factory owners and la-bour leaders.Although Communications Minister Obaidul Quader did not attend the min-istry o� ce on Wednesday, he talked with the media at a press conference in the city organised to brief on his ministry’s o� cial activities.

Local Government Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Home Minister MK Alamgir, Jute and Textile Minister Ab-

dul Latif Siddiqui, Health Minister AFM Ruhul Haq, Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira, Law Minister Sha� q Ahmed, State Minister for Home Shamsul Haq Tuku, State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam and State Minister for Local Government Jahangir Kabir Nanak and most of the im-portant ministers did not go to the o� ce.

Earlier, Food Minister Abdur Raz-zaque, Cultural Minister Abdul Kalam Azad, Social Welfare Minister AH Mosta-fa Shahid, Fisheries and Livestock Minis-ter Abdul Latif Bishwas and State Minis-ter for Women Meher Afroz Chumki took farewells from the ministry o� cials.

Most of the o� cials and employees

of di� erent ministries like food, public works, health, home, land, law, local government, � sheries and livestock and social welfare ministry are passing lazy times.

The o� cials and employees said they were uncertain about their responsibility and what to do. They are waiting for fur-ther instruction.

They will start their work as usual af-ter the ministers get their o� ces. They are ready to welcome the new ministers, they added.

A few number of visitors and lobby-ists were found inside the secretariat on Wednesday. l

Tk8 expenditure per voter n Mohammad Zakaria

The Election Commission issued a cir-cular � xing the expenditure for candi-dates at Tk8 per voter for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The commission yesterday sent the circular to the Bangladesh Government Press for printing, Senior Assistant Sec-retary Farhad Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune.

According to the circular, a candi-date who will contest a constituency cannot spend above Tk2.5m. EC o� -cials said a candidate could spend the maximum amount of money as per the Representation of the People Order.

The maximum expenditure of can-didate was Tk1.5m in the ninth parlia-mentary polls and Tk5 per voter.

However, there was no expenditure limitation for the candidates in the par-liamentary elections earlier. l

JS session ends with series of records n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

The Awami League-led ninth parlia-ment ended yesterday, going into the record books for holding the highest number of sittings and enacting the highest number of laws.

The House wrapped up its 418 sit-tings yesterday, superseding the previ-ous record of 400 sittings by the BNP-led � fth parliament (1991-95).

Mostly amid opposition boycott, the current parliament passed 271 bills against the previous record of 191 bills enacted by the Awami League-led sev-enth parliament.

Leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia made history in parliament boycotts by attending the House for only 10 days. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina held the previous record of only 45 attendances, when she was the opposition leader in the eighth parliament.

As the opposition, the BNP also made history by boycotting 346 out of the total 418 sittings of the ninth par-liament. The BNP lawmakers attended only 76 days.

The previous record was set during the eighth parliament (2001-06), when

the then opposition Awami League boycotted 223 out of the total 373 sit-tings.

In her closing speech, Prime Minis-ter Sheikh Hasina said there would be no more session of this parliament un-less there was a war-like situation.

According to the constitution, the parliament’s last day is January 24 next year as the ninth Jatiya Sangsad had its � rst session on January 25, 2009.

The House started its scheduled business after 4:35pm, with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair. She suspended the scheduled ques-tion-answer hour for the ministers and notices of public importance.

The House passed seven bills on the last day of the session.

The bills were: International Mother Language Institute Bill 2013, Enrich-ment of Vitamin-A in Edible Oil Bill 2013, Bangladesh Handloom Board Bill 2013, Jessore Science and Technolo-gy University (amendment) Bill 2013, Barisal University (amendment) Bill 2013, Comilla University (amendment) Bill 2013, and Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies Bill 2013. l

Beirut blast injures 7 Bangladeshisn Tribune Report

At least seven Bangladeshis were injured in an explosion in Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut on November 19.

One of them was critically wounded and others had been receiving medical treatment, said a press release of the

foreign ministry.The Bangladeshi embassy in Beirut

has been looking after their welfare and were also in touch with the local Lebanese authorities to ensure their proper treatment.

The government has been closely following the developments since the incident. l

Hasina, family � y for Umrah todayn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

With the national polls ahead, Prime Minister Sheik Hasina along with her family members are set to � y for Saudi Arabia today to perform Umrah.

Following her visit, Hasina is likely to return on November 24 .

“The prime minister will be treated as a royal guest here,” Counsellor at Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia Mohammed Ayub told the Dhaka Tri-bune.

Royal Guest means from landing to departure, Saudi authorities will pro-vide local hospitality to high o� cials of the delegation. The authorities, howev-er, will not take care of travel expenses.

The delegation is will most probably be made of 40 people, and will travel via regular � ights.

Current opposition leader, Khaleda Zia back in 2006, undertook a similar visit to Saudi Arabia before the elec-tions. However, the election on Janu-ary 22, 2007 did not take place. l

Minor girl killed in city n Kailash Sarkar

A six-year old girl was killed yester-day by a young man, who claimed he “loved the girl,” at the T&T Colony in the capital’s Banani.

Tariqul Islam Raju, 20, confessed to the crime after being arrested last night, while the police also found the victim Julekha’s body inside Raju’s house.

Julekha, was the daughter of Jasim Sarkar, a rickshaw-puller and Mamataj Begum, a cleaner of the T&T.

Sub-Inspector Sharifuzzaman of Banani police station said Julekha fell victim to Raju when her parents were away. The child’s body has been sent to the Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy, he said.

“Although Raju claimed he strangled the girl to death by a scurf, it would be

veri� ed after the autopsy,” the SI said. Julekha and her parents were ten-

ants of Raju’s family, who owned sever-al other houses in the T&T Colony slum.

“After we arrested Raju, he admitted to the murder of Julekha, saying he had loved the girl. But he killed her as the girl did not agree to his perversion,” said SI Sharifuzzaman, adding that Raju had planned to move the girl’s body at night.

Julekha’s mother Mamataj said when she could not � nd her daughter, the neighbours informed that Julekha was last seen with Raju.

“When I asked for the whereabouts of my daughter, Raju told me he would give the trace of my daughter if we pro-vided him with Tk100,000 as ransom,” said Mamataj. Raju confessed to the killing after the police was informed, she added. l

Furniture of ministers are being removed from their o� cial residences in the capital’s Minto Road area yesterday Mahmud Hossain Opu

Housemaid’s death veiled in mystery n Mohammad Jamil Khan

The death of a domestic help in the capi-tal’s Shewrapara remains shrouded in mys-tery as police are yet to � le any case two days after the killing, even after arresting her employer.

Rita Akhter, who had been working as a domestic help at the house of Addition-al Superintendent of Police Kutub Uddin for the last four months, was found dead on the road in front of the building around 8:30am on Monday.

Soon after the incident, police detained Sonia Akter Munni, 26, wife of the ASP, who has been working in Sudan as part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission for one year. It was preliminarily suspected that the de-ceased might have been pushed from the rooftop of the eight-storey building. But police could not found blood on road when recovered the body from the spot.

An o� cial of Kafrul police station, who preferred to be anonymou,s said it was quite impossible to push a person from the rooftop under daylight. “We have got

some mark of blood injures inside the em-ployer’s � at.”

Nevertheless, the body was sent to DMCH morgue for autopsy after 14 hours of the incident. Asked about delay of sending the body to the morgue, Kazi Wazed Ali, o� cer-in-charge of Kafrul police station, said: “We sent the body in time after com-pleting some legal procedure. Police will � le a case in this regard after getting autop-sy report.” About Munni’s current position, he said they had placed her at court under section 54 after showing her arrest. l

Accidents kill 2 minors in Dhaka n Kailash Sarkar

A 12-year-old girl was killed when a piece of wood fell on her at a building site in the capital’s Tejkunipara, while another young boy was crushed to death under the wheels of a speeding van in Uttara.

The girl was identi� ed as Mariam, daughter of Md Khokan Miah, a secu-rity guard at the under-construction building of Zakir Enterprise and Devel-opers Ltd, where the accident occurred yesterday morning. Khokan said a log fell on his daughter from the third � oor of the building. Mariam died at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Mu-jibur Rahman, sub-inspector of Tejgaon Police Station said.

Meanwhile, Md Nuruzzaman, also aged 12, was killed instantly when a rashly-driven pick-up van ran him over early yesterday at the beribadh (em-bankment) in Uttara.

Saidul Islam, sub-inspector of Ut-tara East Police Station, said they had recovered the body and sent it to the morgue for autopsy. l

Armed Forces Day todayn UNB

Armed Forces Day will be observed across the country today with due so-lemnity and enthusiasm.

On this day during the 1971 Libera-tion War, the Bangladesh Armed Forces comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force came into being and launched an all-out attack on the Pakistani occupation forces.

President and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia have issued sep-arate messages to mark the occasion.

Tributes were paid to all martyrs of the liberation war, including all mar-tyred soldiers of the armed forces.

Today’s programme will begin with the o� ering of a special prayer after Fajr prayers at all mosques: seeking divine blessings for the army garrisons and naval and air force bases through-out the country.

The president and the premier will place wreaths at “Shikha Anirban” at Dhaka Cantonment to pay homage to the members of the armed forces who had em-braced martyrdom in the Liberation War.

Chief of Army Sta� General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, Chief of Naval Sta� Vice Admiral M Farid Habib and Chief of Air Sta� Air Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari will also place wreaths at “Shikha Anirban” on behalf of their re-spective services.

On this occasion, the premier will host a reception and meet the family members of the Bir Shresthas and oth-er gallantry award-winning freedom � ghters at the Armed Forces Division.

Receptions will also be held in Savar, Bogra, Ghatail, Chittagong, Comilla, Sylhet, Jessore, Rangpur, Khulna and Rajendrapur cantonments. l

Interim cabinet to take full shape today PAGE 1 COLUMN 2and the land ministries and Amir Hos-sain Amu might be put in charge of the public works ministry.

Among the Jatiya Party lawmakers, Rawshan Ershad is likely to receive the health ministry, Anisul Islam Mahmud the water resources ministry, Ruhul Amin Hawlader the civil aviation and tourism ministry, Salma Islam and Mu-

jibul Haque Chunnu might be appoint-ed as the state ministers for women and children a� airs ministry and youth and sports ministry respectively. Jati-ya Party lawmaker Chunnu con� rmed this to the Dhaka Tribune. He also said GM Quader will remain as the com-merce minister.

Workers Party lawmaker Rashed Khan Menon might receive the charge of

post and telecommunications ministry.Among the members of the previous

cabinet, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Ma-tia Chowdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam, AK Khandakar, Latif Siddiqui, Hasanul Haq Inu and Obaidul Quader are likely to continue at their ministries. Educa-tion Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will re-portedly get additional portfolio of pri-mary and mass education ministry. l

Five rental power plants get new lease of lifen Aminur Rahman Rasel

With the country unlikely to face any severe power demands in the coming months, the government has recently extended the contracts for � ve rental power plants with a combined capaci-ty of 370megawatt (MW) by � ve more years - and all at an exorbitant rate.

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on November 14 approved contract extensions and revised tari� s, after the power division sent a summa-ry to the cabinet committee arguing to extend the tenure of these plants, say-ing it would take at least nine months to install new ones.

A PDB o� cial seeking anonymi-ty, however, said the country’s pow-er generation capacity has reached 10,000MW, of which 1,500 to 2,000MW was left sitting idle due to a lack of maintenance and fuel shortages. Thus, there was currently no necessity to purchase power from rental plants.

The plants that received the exten-sion were the 110MW Bheramara die-sel-� red plant of Quantum Power Ltd, the 100MW Siddhirganj diesel-� red plant of Desh Energy Ltd, the 55MW Ashuganj gas-� red plant of Precision Energy Ltd, the 55MW Sikalbaha HFO-� red plant of Energies Power Corpora-tion Ltd, and the 50MW Thakurgaon diesel-� red power of RZ Power Ltd.

The tenure of all � ve power plants under the original contract was three years and contract dates for two of them were yet to expire; the three-year contracts with Desh Energy will expire on February 18, 2014 and with Quan-tum Power on December 31, 2013.

The government had earlier scrapped

a deal with the 55MW Sikalbaha rental power plant in Chittagong for discharg-ing ash that caused damages to a PDB power plant near the site.

In the meantime, the PDB has contin-ued to purchase electricity from RZ Pow-er and Precision Energy Ltd, although their contract period expired on August 2 and April 7 respectively.

An audit report by the O� ce of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 said due to the ine� ciency in using quick rentals, PDB faced losses of over Tk23bn. Ac-cording to a cabinet committee summa-ry, the � ve rental power plants have not reduced their rates during the renewal.

Professor Shamsul Alam, energy ad-visor of Consumer Association of Ban-gladesh, told the Dhaka Tribune the pro-duction cost of oil-based power plants was very high and the extension of these rental power plants would be “suicidal.”

“Not a single country in the world has succeeded in solving their electricity cri-sis through rental power plants,” he said.

He said the government could solve the power problem by repairing the exist-ing power plants and solving the gas crisis instead of opting for rental power plants.

Chairman of Desh Energy Limited, Annisul Huq, however, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The government was more in-terested than us to renew the contract. We have paid a Tk500m � ne as our power plant could not start production in time.”

About the e� ciency of their plants, he claimed: “The machines we use are brand new. There is no doubt about their quality.”

“We owe PDB Tk1.5bn, we have already given undertakings over it,” he said. l

BNP plans PAGE 1 COLUMN 4Saturday-Monday Dhaka visit and the armed forces day today.

The BNP-led 18-party alliance will stage a demonstration across the coun-try tomorrow. The BNP chairperson is angered over the “poor performance” of the party’s Dhaka city unit during hartals.

The party split the whole capital into eight zones, assigning eight senior lead-ers to make the party’s programmes successful. l

Hasina rings election bell PAGE 1 COLUMN 6The Election Commission will announce the polls date. Nobody has the power to cancel the elections,” said Hasina, assert-ing that her party wanted to “introduce a system of leaving no scope for unconsti-tutional forces to come to power through legal loopholes.”

Hasina met with President Abdul Ha-mid on Monday and talked to him on polls related issues. But neither the Prime Minister’s O� ce nor the president’s o� ce disclosed anything about the meeting.

The prime minister said the country would turn into a middle-income coun-try by 2021, provided that the democratic system continued.

“I also urge the people to enthusiasti-cally take part in the polls to continue the democratic system,” said Hasina.

She charted out the terms of reference

of the interim government. “There will be a small cabinet. The portfolios will be dis-tributed by tomorrow [Thursday].”

She said the interim government must not make any policy decisions, only look-ing after routine work and carrying out the decisions of the EC, which would han-dle the posting of all o� cials.

“Those in power will be obliged to re-spect the decisions of the Election Com-mission. I will also abide by its instruc-tions,” said Hasina.

She said ministers would behave like other contenders in the polls. She, how-ever, did not clear if the ministers would enjoy the privileges of their posts.

The premier said she called Khaleda Zia in the interest of the people. “Anyone other than me would have broken the telephone set observing the way she talk-ed,” said Hasina. l

News 3DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

Opposition chief Khaleda Zia celebrates her son Tarique Rahman’s birthday at her Gulshan o� ce yesterday (left); Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad inaugurates the party’s nomination form selling programme at the party’s Banani o� ce yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

EC o� cials demand appointment as returning o� cers n Mohammad Zakaria

The Bangladesh Election Commis-sion Services O� cers Association has threatened to stage a sit-in protest on December 1, unless the Election Com-mission meets its demand of appoint-ing EC o� cials as returning o� cers for the next parliamentary elections.

Sources said election commission-ers at a meeting recently decided to appoint deputy commissioners (DCs) as returning o� cers for conducting the elections, which must be held by Jan-uary 24.

On the other hand, EC o� cials want regional and district election o� cers to be appointed as returning o� cers for the upcoming polls.

EC Joint Secretary Jesmin Tuli, who is also president of the o� cers’ associ-ation, said it was a logical demand to appoint the commission’s own o� cials as returning o� cers.

“If the commission does not ful� ll our demand by November 26, the asso-ciation will hold a sit-in programme on December 1,” Tuli warned.

Election Commissioner Md Shah Newaz said the commission was con-cerned about the matter.

“If the demand is found logical, the commission must ful� ll it,” Newaz said.

Sources said the EC has already sent letters to the DCs, excluding district election o� cers, to prepare panels of poll o� cials, including presiding, as-sistant presiding and polling o� cers. Sixty-four returning o� cers would be appointed for 300 parliamentary con-stituencies.

M Sakhawat Hussain, a former elec-tion commissioner, said the previous commission had decided to appoint its own o� cials as returning o� cers, but the incumbent commission has opted to appoint DCs as returning o� cers.

He added that there was no alter-native to appointing EC o� cials as re-turning o� cers for holding free and fair elections. l

RMG UNREST

Govt warns of stern action against � rebrands n Tribune Report

The government yesterday warned of stern action against instigators that fuelled unrest in the readymade garment sector recently.

It also asked the law enforcement agencies to make a list of the � rebrands provoking discontent in garment indus-try and bring them to book.

“Are you leaders in paper only and are there any workers in your organisations?” Labour Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju poses posed a question.

The minister was speaking at a meet-ing with the leaders of di� erent organisa-tions of RMG workers at his ministry con-ference room at the secretariat yesterday.

The high o� cials from Rab as well as BGMEA leaders were also present at the meeting which was held in order to � nd out ways to overcome the unrest in RMG sector.

“Stop unrest; the detained leaders and workers would be released within 24 hours,” said Monno Jan Su� an, state min-ister for labour and employment in reply to the demand of the workers’ leaders.

If you maintained congenial environ-ment in the factory everything would be taken into consideration, she added.

The labour leaders should have clear knowledge about the labour law. If they do not have, they should give up their leadership, she said.

There might have demands and demonstration but it should not turn vi-olent, she noted.

“Convince your workers and send them to work and do not make anarchy in the sector for the sake of RMG as well as the country,” she said.

Raju said, “I am requesting you, Mr Montu Ghosh, president of Bangladesh Garment Sramik Trade Union Kendra, to accept the government proposal.” l

BNP: PM’s speech in parliament to deepen crisisn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The main opposition BNP rejects the prime minister’s speech in parliament saying it will further deepen the ongo-ing political crisis.

“It has become clear from the prime minister’s speech that they are moving toward a one-party elections,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, party’s acting secretary general, told journalists at the chairperson’s Gulshan o� ce in an instant reaction to Sheikh Hasina’s concluding speech in parliament yes-terday .

The BNP spokesperson warned that the government would have to bear the responsibility for any untoward sit-uation stemming from the blue-print to establish one-party rule.

Fakhrul said the opposition still wants a solution through compromise and talks.

Earlier at a discussion, he asked leaders and activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal to take to the street, say-ing a movement could not be waged by just vandalising some vehicles and cutting birthday cakes.

“Cutting a cake on Tarique Rahman’s birthday will not bring any result. The ongoing movement should be intensi-� ed to overcome the prevailing crisis,” he said, addressing a discussion at the National Press Club.

“A movement of vandalising one or two cars will not bring any result, too. Thousands of Chhatra Dal activists

have to take to the street,” said Fakhrul who had alleged a few days ago that “government agents” had been van-dalising and torching vehicles across the country during the opposition’s hartal and putting the blame on the opposition.

Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the stu-dent front of the BNP, organised the discussion to mark the 49th birthday of the party’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman. Mirza Fakhrul cut a cake at the event to celebrate Tarique’s birthday.

Fakhrul said if Chhatra Dal activists could free the “controlled democracy” through a movement, that would be a big gift for Tarique Rahman.

Reiterating the party’s stance over the all-party polls-time government, he said the BNP would not participate in any election under the restructured cabinet. l

Nizami’s war crimes case awaits verdictn Nazmus Sakib

The International Crimes Tribunal 1 yesterday ended hearing of arguments, last stage of the judicial proceedings, after the prosecution’s rebuttal in the case that indicted Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for crimes against humanity.

However, the three-member tribunal, led by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, kept the scope open for the defence to submit a written reply, if they wanted.

Against the defence’s claim that “incitement” was no war crimes, prosecutor Tureen Afroz yesterday referred to judgements of other war crimes tribunals around the world. She said Nizami’s address during the Liberation War had caused havoc upon the people of the country “is nothing but incitement – a separate o� ence which is punishable under the tribunal law as well as international laws.”

She mentioned that incitement was also connected with all types of crimes, not only with genocide. “It is not a new invention as it is included in the Penal Code of 1860 as instigation.”

On Monday, the defence claimed that Nizami had addressed “to protect his beloved country from enemy and it is a duty of every citizen to do so.”

The prosecutor urged the bench to consider the verdict in the case of Ali Ahsan Mujaheed, then chief of Islami Chhatra Sangha (Jamaat’s student wing) of Bangladesh chapter from October, for leading al-Badr force.

“As al-Badr was mainly formed by the Chhatra Sangha men and admittedly, Motiur Rahman Nizami was chief of the student wing of Jamaat before October in 1971 and became chief of all Pakistan Chhatra Sangha, he deserves death,” said the prosecution.

Tureen said: “According to the many judgements of many war crimes tribunal,

a leader has to address considering the consequences and how the audience will take the speech.” Since Nizami’s address had poisoned the brain of al-Badr men that resulted in atrocities on people in the name of protecting Islam, he could not evade his responsibility, she argued.

After her argument, defence counsel Tajul Islam alleged that the prosecutor had been trying to mislead the tribunal and the defence needed time to present the reality.

But the tribunal said they did not believe everything what both the sides presented their arguments. It also said there was no scope for the defence to place verbal contention by after the rebuttal of prosecution. “If you want to argue, submit in written form, and the hearing is closed,” said Justice Kabir.

Nizami was indicted on May 28 last year for committing crimes against humanity including murder, rape, arson and inciting violence in Pabna and Dhaka during the nine-month-long war when some three million people had been killed.

A total of 25 witnesses testi� ed against the war crimes suspect while four gave their depositions in favour of the Jamaat chief.

Contempt case against Khandker Mahbub Hossain  

The same tribunal yesterday set December 24 to hear the show cause notice served upon Bangladesh Bar Council Vice-Chairman Khandker Mahbub Hossain for his threat to prosecute the persons connected with the war crimes trial.

Also an adviser to the BNP chief, Khandker Mahbub on October 1, after the verdict that hanged BNP Standing Committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, made the remarks.

The tribunal � xed the date in response to a time petition by the accused through his lawyer Tajul Islam. l

‘Six killed on AKM Yusuf’s orders’n Nazmus Sakib

Abdur Rauf Mollik yesterday told the war crimes tribunal he had witnessed six people, including four freedom � ghters, being killed on the order of Jamaat-e-Is-lami leader AKM Yusuf.

Freedom � ghter Mollik, now 60, said the accused was appointed as the chair-man of Khulna district peace committee.

“Around 10am on June 7, 1971, AKM Yusuf, along with 10 to 15 razakars, searched various places of Rayenda Ba-zar for freedom � ghters. They entered the RKDS Girls High School and arrested Captain Anowar, Ismail Hossain Khan and Asmat Ali Munsi. They were killed on Yusuf’s instruction after inhumane torture,” Mollik told the second tribunal.

“I witnessed the incident while hid-ing in the garden of the school,” he said.

Mollik said he saw razakars killing Zainal Fakir and Basarat on the banks of the Balleswar River following Yusuf’s or-der on June 9, 1971.

“On July 29, Salam Khan, a source for freedom � ghters, was killed by razakars. His corpse was thrown into the Balleswar River on Yusuf’s order. I wit-nessed the incident.” l

VERDICT LEAK

SQ Chowdhury’s lawyer arrestedn Kailash Sarkar

Barrister Fakrul Islam Chowdhury, the main lawyer of convicted war criminal Sa-lauddin Quader Chowdhury, was arrested Wednesday afternoon from his o� ce.

He was arrested from the capital’s Kakrail area allegedly in connection with the leakage of a verdict of the Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

Detective Brancch (DB) of Police ar-rested him at around 3:30pm in connec-tion with the verdict leakage, around 50 days after the incident, Masudur Rahman Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metro-politan Police (DMP-Media) said.

“Barrister Fakrul has been taken to the DB headquarters at Minto Road,” he said. “He will be produced before the court to-morrow (Thursday).”

DB o� cial sources said Barrister Fakrul Islam Chowdhury has been arrest-ed after his direct involvement was found in the process of leaking the verdict, al-though his junior lawyer Mehedi Hasan,

who allegedly played the key role in the leakage, remains on the run.

A DB o� cial said they arrested bar-rister Fakrul through veri� cation of in-formation extracted from two detained ICT employees. “Barrister Fakrul was in-formed of every development regarding the process of the leakage of the verdict,” said a DB o� cial. “Even the verdict was stolen at his directives.”

Krishnapada Roy, DC of DB (South), who led the arrest, told the Dhaka Trib-une: “We are trying to arrest Mehedi Hasan, a junior to Barrister Fakrul Islam Chowdhury, who has been on the run since the verdict was leaked.”

Asked, the DC-DB (South) said they were trying to locate the whereabouts of fugitive Mehedi.

The ICT on October 2 sentenced SQ Chowdhury to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Lib-eration War in 1971. But night before the verdict, a major portion of the verdict was found available on various online portals.

On October 2, DB personnel arrested two ICT employees – Nayan Ali and Mo-hammad Faruq — who admitted to steal-ing the verdict’s copy using a USB drive from a personal computer at the ICT-1 of-� ces and supplying it to Barrister Fakrul’s apprentice Mehedi Hasan.

Sources say the ICT employees stole the verdict’s copy for a sum of money after being provoked by Fakrul’s lawyer.

DB o� cials on November 5 also � led a case accusing Nayan, Faruq, and Me-hedi by name and also against several unnamed others and raided the o� ce of Fakkrul’s chamber and seized various documents related to the verdict’s leak.

The computer from which the ver-dict’s copy was stolen was designated to the tribunal chairman, Justice ATM Fazle Kabir. Detained Nayan Ali also had access to the computer.

On November 5, Monirul Islam, Joint Commissioner of DB, said the leaked copy of the verdict was uploaded online from the UK where it was sent through emails. l

EC to announce polls schedule next weekn Mohammad Zakaria

The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the upcoming parlia-mentary polls next week.

“As per the constitution, we will an-nounce the polls schedule for the next general election soon since the commis-sion has too short a time,” Election Com-missioner Md Shah Newaz told reporters at his o� ce yesterday.

The commissioner, however, said there had been no talks with the president about the announcement of the schedule and possible dates for the election.

Sources said the commission might come up with the announcement be-tween November 24 and 28 and that polls might be held between January 9 and 16.

The EC met with President Abdul Hamid Tuesday to apprise him of its overall preparation for the next par-liamentary elections. The EC also in-formed the president that it wanted to hold the election with the participation of all registered political parties.

Shah Newaz said: “At our meeting with the president we have underscored the need for army deployment during the election as the polls of 300 parliamentary constituencies will be held in a day.” The president assured the EC that he would take necessary steps about the matter, he added. l

Ministers expect BNP in interim cabinet, polls n Mohosinul Karim

Several ministers of the government yesterday said they were expecting the BNP-led 18-party alliance would make up its mind up over the polls-time inter-im cabinet and participating in the next elections following their meeting with the President Abdul Hamid on Tuesday.

They said if the BNP joined the polls-time government, it would become an all-party government; otherwise it would remain a multiple-party government.

However, if they do not respond pos-itively, the elections would be held with-out them, as it is must be held, and none could resist it, they said.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowd-hury said although the government is hopeful of the main opposition’s partic-ipation in the upcoming national polls under an all-party government, the elec-

tions would be be held on time whether BNP joins or not.

Matia Chowdhury was speaking to the media at her secretariat o� ce yesterday. She said: “The government is still hope-ful that BNP will join the polls. But the polls will be held in due time regardless of their participation.”

Asked, she said: “The newly formed polls-time cabinet will be regarded a [multiple-party government], if BNP de-cides not to join. If BNP joins, the polls will be held under an all-party government.”

Mentioning that the government wel-comed BNP’s recent step of meeting the president, Matia said: “The president is the number one and most respectable person in the country. So, we take it posi-tively that BNP has asked for his initiative for reaching a political consensus.”

The government would decide about distributing the portfolios of the minister

only after watching the whole situation, she said.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu yesterday said: “This cabinet will be mul-ti-party without the BNP. But, with their participation it will be all-party. The door for BNP to join in the polls-time govern-ment is still open.”

“The government is prepared to sit for talks with them anywhere and anytime. But, before that, the polls-time cabinet must be � nalised,” he told reporters at a press conference at his o� ce in the secre-tariat premises.

He said the polls-time cabinet was “not a drama,” since the 15th amendment of the constitution permitted the prime minister to make changes in the cabinet anytime.

The nation is still waiting for the full and � nal interim cabinet that will guide the country through the upcoming na-

tional elections in January. The ministers have handed over their

resignation letters to the prime minister, paving the way for the polls-time cabinet.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over those resignation letters to President Abdul Hamid on Monday. The decision of accepting the resignation letters would be � nalised shortly, Inu said.

Regarding the political deadlock with the main opposition, the informa-tion minister said the government was in touch with the base of the BNP at all times. The minister also noted allega-tions of biasedness in the administration, saying: “Civil servants must carry out their responsibilities neutrally, or they will be sacked. The changes made recent-ly all followed due procedures.”

The press conference was held a day after the 18-party delegation met the president. l

Defence gets time to submit concise statement in Ghulam Azam casen Nazmus Sakib

The Appellate Division yesterday grant-ed 26 more days to the defence of Ja-maat kingpin Ghulam Azam to � le con-cise statement of his appeal against the 90-year jail he was given for war crimes.

The � ve-member top court bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain passed the order in response to a time-extension plea. A concise state-

ment includes facts and arguments re-lied upon by a party in an appeal case.

The court on October 8 ordered the de-fence and the government to lodge concise statements of their appeals by November 5. Though the government complied with the order, the defence did not, said Addi-tional Attorney General MK Rahman.

According to the Appellate Division Rules, 1988, the appellant party cannot start their appeal hearing until submis-

sion of the concise statement.On August 5, the Jamaat guru � led

his appeal seeking acquittal while the government � led an appeal on August 12 for gallows.

The appeals hearing in the war crimes case of death row convict Ja-maat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee has not started yet while reading out of the deposition of prosecution witness-es is underway. l

Vandalising vehicles and cutting birthday cakes only will not bring any result: Fakhrul tells Chhatra Dal leaders

RMG workers’ leaders’ divided over minimum wage n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Garment workers’ and leaders are di-vided into two groups over the mini-mum wage for the RMG industry as pro-government leaders support the proposal of Tk5,300 whereas anti-gov-ernment leaders oppose it.

The dispute among the union lead-ers came to light during a meeting with Labour Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, which was arranged to devise ways to overcome the ongoing unrest in the RMG sector.

“The minimum wage of Tk5,300 for garment workers is acceptable,” said Shamima Nasrin, president of Shadin Bangla Garments Sramik Karmochari Federation.

On the other hand, Abul Hossain, president of Textile Garment Workers Federation, opposed the government decision of setting Tk300 as basic and total salary of Tk5,300, saying that they did not accept the government intervention in setting the minimum wage and it was not legal.

Participants in the meeting al-leged they could not raise their voices against the government decision as the moderator of the meeting did not al-low them to speak.

“If there was no unrest or anarchy in the RMG sector, the factory own-ers would not care about us and that is why some unrest continues,” said a worker leader requesting anonymity.

He said the unrest over the

minimum wage would have already come to an end if the government did not interfere in the wage board’s decision.

On November 4, the new wage board, chaired by AK Roy, finalised the minimum wage at Tk5,300, but both the owners and the workers re-jected the proposed scale, with the owners offering Tk4,250 as minimum wages and the workers demanding Tk8,114.

Following the rejection by the fac-tory owners, RMG workers went on violent demonstrations in the last few days, compelling stakeholders to sit with the worker leaders to devise ways to resolve the unrest situation, o� cials said. l

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

City High LowDhaka 28.9 17.0Chittagong 26.4 19.0Rajshahi 29.0 14.2Rangpur 28.8 14.5Khulna 29.0 15.5Barisal 29.0 15.1Sylhet 29.4 15.5Cox’s Bazar 30.2 19.5

PRAYER TIMESFajar 4:59am

Sunrise 6:16amZohr 11:45am

Asr 3:35pmMagrib 5:11pm

Esha 6:30pmSource: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

Little change in temperature likelyn UNB

Rain or thundershowers is likely to oc-cur at one or two places over Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions until 6pm today.

Weather might remain mainly dry with temporary partly cloudy sky over the country, Met o� ce said.

Night temperature may rise by 1-2 degree Celsius and day temperature may fall slightly over the country.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:12pm today and rises at 6:18am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 30.2 degree Celsius was recorded at Cox’s Bazar and lowest 12.1 degrees at Sri-mangal yesterday. Highest and lowest temperatures recorded in some major cities yesterday were:

Bomb-making den busted in the capital, two Jubo Dal men held n Kailash Sarkar

Police yesterday busted a den in the capital’s Pallabi area and detained two Jubo Dal activists along with a lot of explosives and bomb-making materials.

The detainees are Md Swapan Khan, 24, a bus driver by profession, and Ra-jeeb Hasan, 26, a small business owner.

At least eight live crude bombs, 500 grams of gunpowder, several kilograms of various other powders and bomb-making items were seized during the drive.

Both the detainees belong to Jubo Dal, youth front of BNP, and had been using the house as a den for making bombs used during hartals, said police.

The detainees in collusion with some other gangs had been making bombs and supplying them at the di-rectives of a BNP leader in the area,

who used to � nance the gangsters to gain political interest, said Imtiaz Ahmed, deputy commissioner of po-lice, Mirpur Division.

The police o� cial, however, de-clined to disclose information about the BNP leader.

“We are interrogating the detain-ees to extract information about other criminals and involvement of the BNP leader,” he said.

According to some witnesses, the den was on top of a building located at Lane 7 on Block E of Pallabi under Mirpur.

Sub-Inspector Zahir Raihan of Pal-labi police station said, acting on a tip-o� , they conducted a raid on the house in the morning.

“During the drive we found only the two individuals as their other accom-plices had � ed the scene,” said Zahir.

Police were trying to arrest the other criminals and their godfathers, he added. l

Two arrested youths along with bomb making equipments from the capital’s Pallabi area yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Bangladesh Garment Sramik Shanghati organises a rally protesting killing of apparel workers in front of the National Press Club yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Students sit for the Primary School Certi� cate and its equivalent exams that began yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM

Teachers’ anarchy continues at JU They con� ne acting VC and pro-VC; oppose teachers’ representative election

n JU Correspondent

Teachers’ unrest continues to para-lyse the administrative and academic activities of Jahangirnagar University with almost the same group of teach-ers using di� erent platforms. This time the acting vice-chancellor has become their target, but the demand remains the same – stopping the teachers’ rep-resentative election.

A group of hardly 50 teachers, of-� cers and employees was enough to bring the functioning of the university administration to a total halt yesterday as they once again blocked the admin-istrative o� ce of the university. The unruly group also con� ned the acting VC and pro-VC (administration), pro-testing what they said violation of the chancellor’s directives.

These teachers and employees, now teamed up under the banner of Teach-ers-Students and O� cers-Employees’ United Forum, felt that the authorities had violated the chancellor’s directives by declaring a teacher representative election in the senate.

However, no students took part in the movement called by the forum.

Forcing the o� cials to stop adminis-trative activities, the teachers con� ned acting VC MA Matin and pro VC Afsar Ahmed, demanding the suspension of the teacher representative polls sched-uled on December 7.

JU Teachers’ Association Secretary Prof Sharif Uddin said: “Teachers are not willing to attend the teacher repre-sentative polls under Prof Anwar Hos-

sain and the authorities have to sus-pend the polls.”

Prof Kamrul Ahsan, secretary of the united forum, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Classes and examinations will remain out of the movement’s purview.”

Social Science Faculty Dean Amir Hossain said: “Although the chancel-lor asked the VC to arrange a VC panel election immediately, Prof Anwar Hos-sain declared a teacher representative election which is a direct violation of the chancellor’s instruction. The VC was also asked to withdraw the writ pe-tition against the teachers but he still hasn’t done so.”

The VC, meanwhile, claimed that President Abdul Hamid asked him to select the VC panel after reforming the current senate because some 83 senate members of this senate had expired.

In contrary, the anti-VC teachers claimed that the chancellor asked the VC to hold only the VC panel election as the expired senate remains activate until its successors come into power according to the Jahangirnagar University Act.

On November 6, President Abdul Hamid asked the JU VC to hold senate election immediately and select the VC panel through the senate in line with the Jahangirnagar University Act.

The VC was also asked to withdraw the writ petition against JUTA presi-dent, its secretary and social science faculty dean.

VC Prof Anwar Hossain could not be reached over his mobile phone for comment in this regard. l

ACC sees no improvements on major graft casesn Tribune Report

The Anti-Corruption Commission failed to come up with reassuring answers to queries on its major cases of corruption during a press brie� ng yesterday.

The meeting was organised to brief reporters on the commission’s monthly updates and works-in-progress. How-ever, ACC Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, who moderated the brief-ing, failed to show developments in the major cases including the Padma Bridge graft conspiracy case.

When asked about a court judge-ment acquitting BNP’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman of money laundering, he said the commission would appeal after receiving the full text of the verdict.

“As the complainant of the case, we have provided necessary evidence and documents related to the irregular-ity, but the court acquitted him of the charges. We will decide on an appeal after we receive the full verdict.”

“We will also see if there was any ne-glect of duty on the part of our lawyers.”

A Dhaka court on Sunday sentenced Giasuddin Al Mamun to seven years in prison and a � ne of Tk400m for laun-dering Tk204m to Singapore, but ac-quitted Tarique of the charges.

Replying to another query on drop-ping charges of extortion against DB Deputy Commission Mollah Nazrul Islam, the secretary said the ACC did that because of “insu� cient evidence”

to implicate his name in the case. “We have brought charges against only those whose involvement was proven.”

The commission on November 13 � led a case against two police o� cials for extorting Tk10m from a business-man, excluding the name of former Detective Branch o� cial Mollah Nazrul Islam, although his name was shown as an accused in the primary allegation.

Regarding the Padma Bridge graft conspiracy case, Faizur Rahman said the matter was now pending with a Ca-nadian court and “it is di� cult to get information from there.”

In response to another query, he said the ACC had not yet received a copy of the Anti-Corruption Commission (Amended) Bill 2013. “We will decide what to do after we have it. Right now, we are trying to convince the authori-ties concerned to reconsider the bill.”

The parliament on November 10 ap-proved the controversial bill further curbing the power of the already be-leaguered institution, with a provision that made it mandatory for the ACC to have “prior approval” of the govern-ment before � ling cases against judges, magistrates and public servants.

The secretary then shed light on the commission’s recent activities, which included the approval of decisions to � le 88 graft cases against 189 individu-als in September and October. Among the accused in these cases, 122 were gov-ernment o� cials, 21 businessman, nine public representatives and 37 others. l

Argument begins in 10-truck arms haul cases in Chittagongn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterday decided to start arguments in two cases related to the 10-trucks arms haul today.

The judge of Chittagong Special Tribunal-1, SM Mujibur Rahman, � xed the date for starting the argument af-ter hearing both sides, said Kamal Ud-din Ahmed, public prosecutor of the court.

Advocate Ka� l Uddin, counsel to former industry minister Matiur Rah-man Nizami, pleaded before the court for issuing summons to � ve defence witnesses on behalf of Nizami, but the prosecution opposed the plea terming it a violation of law.

On Tuesday, Nizami was examined by the court under section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code while his lawyer placed a list of � ve defence wit-nesses on behalf of Nizami before the court in the evening.

During the hearing, 11 accused in the cases, including former state minister Lufuzzaman Babar and Matiur Rahman Nizami were produced before the court.

On April 2, 2004, around 1,500 wooden crates containing submachine guns, AK-47 assault ri� es, sub-machine carbines, Chinese pistols, rocket shells and launchers, hand grenades and bul-lets were seized from two vessels at the jetty of CUFL.

Two cases were � led the next day with Karnaphuli police station under the Spe-cial Powers Act and arms act for smug-gling and seizure of arms. Trial of the cases were underway on November 29, 2011. l

New GB law shows nine directors the doorn Asif Showkat Kallol

Nine female members of the Grameen Bank board have lost their posts as the parliamentary a� airs ministry has published a gazette noti� cation on the passage of the Grameen Bank Act 2013, which replaces the 1983 ordinance.

An o� cial of the Grameen Bank said the bank would prepare for an election to the board after the Banking Division received the election rules from the ministry and in the meantime the three government members and chairman of the bank would operate the bank.

The election to the board has to be held within six months of receiving the election rules.

The law, justice and parliamentary a� airs ministry on Tuesday issued the gazette noti� cation on the new Gra-meen Bank law.

Tahsina Khatun, one of the nine fe-male members of the Grameen Bank board, alleged that the government was removing them from the board “forcibly” through the new law.

“We were elected to the board of directors for up to 2015 but the gov-ernment has done everything just to remove the poor women from the board,” she told the Dhaka Tribune. “It will be remembered in the history as an example of the government’s blunt in-tervention.”

Tahsina said the Grameen Bank board would not need the female direc-tors as the chairman and three govern-ment-appointed members would ful� l the board’s quorum.

The Grameen Bank ordinance used to require the chairman and four mem-bers of the board to ful� l the quorum.

Parliament passed the much-talk-ed-about Grameen Bank Act 2013 on November 5, elevating the govern-ment’s role in running the microcredit organisation without any increment of its ownership stakes. Finance Min-ister AMA Muhith last month said the nine “pro-Yunus” female directors of Grameen Bank would lose their posi-tions once parliament approved the relevant bill. l

Cyclone ‘Helen’ moves westwards n UNB

The cyclonic storm “Helen” is likely to intensify further over the west-central Bay area and move in a west-north-westerly direction, said a special bul-letin of the Met O� ce.

The maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Mongla have been ad-vised to keep hoisted distant warning signal number two. All � shing boats and trawlers over the North Bay have been advised to remain close to the coast. l

160,075 absent, three expelled on � rst day of primary terminal exam n Mushfi que Wadud

Around 160,075 students were absent on the � rst day of primary terminal and Ibtedayi examinations, according to the Directorate of Primary Education.

Three students were also expelled for cheating during the examinations, two from the madrasa education sys-tem and one from the school education system.

This year, a total of 2,950,193 exam-inees were registered to take the public examinations for Class V students. Of the 160,075 absent, some 113,507 were

school students while 46,568 were from madrasas.

Absenteeism is lower this year than in 2012, when over 214,000 examinees were absent on the � rst day of primary terminal and its equivalent madrasa ex-aminations. In 2011, more than 175,000 examinees were absent on the � rst day.

The examinees sat for Mathemat-ics examination on the � rst day. The examinations started at 11am in the morning with rumours that the ques-tions were leaked. Many guardians told the Dhaka Tribune that they had heard the question papers were leaked.

However, director general of the Directorate of Primary Education, Shyaml Kanti Ghosh, told the Dhaka Tribune they did not � nd any proof of the rumours. He said the examinations were held successfully.

This year, the duration of the exami-nation was extended by 30 minutes to two-and-a-half hours to allow for the introduction of the creative question system. Twenty-� ve percent of the questions will be competitive-based, with 79,000 teachers having already received training on the system. The ex-aminations will end on November 28. l

Versatility of a TIN n RaisuL Islam Sourav

TIN (Taxpayer’s Identi� cation Number) is a familiar term in tax regime. Disappointingly, most of us do not know the ac-tual worth of having a TIN. TIN is not a mere number; it has manifold functions. A popular misconception among many people is that if they have a TIN, a burden of paying tax would be imposed on them. However, the truth is persons having no taxable income under the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 is free from the lumber of paying taxes even if he/she has a TIN certi� cate.

How to get TINUnlike in the past, it is very easy to get a TIN certi� cate nowadays. National Board of Revenue (NBR) has introduced e-TIN registration system for the taxpayers. All new and ex-isting taxpayers have to register through www.incometax.gov.bd to get their new 12 digit e-TIN certi� cate by December 31 of this year. The existing 10 digit TINs will be invalid from January 1, 2014.

Where TIN is mandatoryTIN is required in some occasions of our daily a� airs. With-out TIN certi� cate one cannot avail his/her desired services. It is mandatory to present TIN certi� cate at the places which are stipulated in Section 184A of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984. The places at which a person is required to produce the TIN certi� cate are:

l Opening a letter of credit (LC) for the purpose of im-port or submitting an application for the purpose of obtaining an import registration certi� cate.

l Renewal of trade license in the area of a city corpora-tion or of a paurashava of a divisional headquarters or of a district headquarters.

l Submitting tender documents for the purpose of sup-ply of goods, execution of a contract or for rendering services.

l Submitting an application for membership of a club registered under the Companies Act, 1994.

l Issuance or renewal of license or enlistment of a sur-veyor of general insurance.

l Registration for purchase of land, building or an apart-ment situated within any city corporation, deed value of which exceeds one lakh taka. However, this is not applicable in case of registration for purchase of land, building or an apartment situated within any city cor-poration, by a non resident Bangladeshi.

l Registration, change of ownership or renewal of � t-ness of a car, jeep or a microbus as de� ned by the Mo-tor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983.

l Sanction of loan exceeding � ve lakh taka to a person by a commercial bank or a leasing company.

l Issue of credit card.

l Issue of practicing license to a doctor, a chartered ac-countant, a cost and management accountant, a law-yer or an income tax practitioner.

l Giving ISD connection to any kind of telephone.

l Registration of a company under the Companies Act, 1994 in respect of sponsor director.

l Submission of application for a license as a Nikah Reg-istrar under the Muslim Marriages and Divorces (Reg-istration) Act, 1974.

l Applying for or renewal of membership of any trade body.

l Submitting a plan for construction of building for the purpose of obtaining approval from Rajdhani Unnyan Kartipakkha (RAJUK), Chittagong Development Au-thority (CDA), Khulna Development Authority (KDA) and Rajshahi Development Authority (RDA);

l Issuance of drug license.

TIN certi� cate is the symbol of consciousness of the people of a nation. Payment of tax in due time is our solemn ob-ligation. If each and every quali� ed citizen of our country performs this obligation, the opulence of our country will grow expeditiously and the country will be able to o� er bet-ter services to its citizens. l

The author is an Advocate at Dhaka Judge Court and Senior Lecturer of Department of Law at Dhaka International University (DIU).

JurisDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013 5

HUMOUR

What every driver must known Md Raziur Rahman

The Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983 is the law that deals will all kind of tra� c issues in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is the

authority established under this Ordinance to oversee the implementation of the law.

Deprivation of driving licenceAccording to Section 164 of the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1983, one may lose his/her driving licence under the follow-ing circumstances:

(a) Driving against red light(b) Overtaking just before or on the pedestrian crossing

or where overtaking is prohibited(c) Driving on to a main road without stopping and ex-

ceeding the speed limit indicated on the road(d) Not giving way to other vehicle intentionally(e) Driving in opposite direction on one way road

Suspension of registrationSection 43 of the ordinance deals with suspension of regis-tration of motor vehicles under certain circumstances. The registration of a vehicle may be suspended:

(a) if the vehicle is in such condition that its use in a pub-lic place would constitute a danger to the public, or that it fails to comply with the requirements of the law

(b) if the vehicle has been or is being used, for hire or re-ward without a valid permit for being used as such, or has been or is being used without a valid certi� cate of � tness

Age of a driverSection 4 of the ordinance says no person under the age of 18 years shall drive a motor vehicle in any public place. It also says no person under the age of 20 years shall drive any motor vehicle as a professional driver in any public place.

Things a driver must carry with him/her while driving1. A valid driving licence2. Documents of registration of the vehicle 3. Document of insurance of the vehicle4. Tax token5. Fitness certi� cate6. Route permit (If applicable)

Ignorance of law is no excuse“Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” This is the standard re-ply motorists hear when they say they weren’t aware of the speed limit, meaning of a particular signal or any other traf-� c rule in the jurisdiction they happened to get arrested in.

Everyone is presumed to be familiar with the law when it comes to him or her for reciprocation.

We cannot ignore the law. We live in a society where ev-ery individual is bound to know the law and behave accord-ingly. As citizens, we are expected to know and obey all of

these laws, in addition to state and local statutes and the rel-evant court opinions that interpret those statutes. l

The author is Lecturer, Department of Law, Da� odil International University. raziur@da� odilvarsity.edu.bd.

General �ne for violatingany provision of this Ordinance

or of any rules or regulations

Tk200

137

Driving a motor vehiclewithout a driving licence

Tk500

138

Fitting and using of prohibitedhorns or other sound producing

device eg hydraulic horn etc

Tk100

139

Disobedience of orders,obstruction and refusal

of information

Tk500

140

Driving atexcessive

speed

Tk300

142

Driving recklesslyor dangerously

Tk500

143

Driving whileunder the in�uence

or drink or drug

Tk1000

144

Driving whenmentally or physically

un�t to drive

Tk500

145

Using of motor vehiclesemitting smokes which would

constitute a health hazard

Tk200

150

Using of motor vehiclewithout registration or

certi�cate of �tness or permit

Tk2000

152

Drivinguninsured

vehicle

Tk2000

155

Creating obstruction in publicstreet or public place using amotor vehicle or spare parts

Tk500

157

HERE IS A LIST OF THE FINESYOU NEED TO PAY IF YOU VIOLATE

ANY TRAFFIC RULE IN BANGLADESH

A H Mamun/DT Infographic

NO ANIMALDRAWN VEHICLES

NO PEDESTRIANS NO RICKSHAWS NO CYCLESNO TRACTORS OR

SLOW-MOVINGVEHICLES

NO VEHICLESCARRYING EXPLOSIVES

NO VEHICLES OVERLENGTH SHOWN

4.4

NO VEHICLES OVERHEIGHT SHOWN

NO VEHICLESOVER WIDTH SHOWN

NO VEHICLES OVERMAXIMUM GROSSWEIGHT SHOWN

AXLE WEIGHT LIMIT NO PARKING NO STOPPING NO OVERTAKING NO PASSINGWITHOUT STOPPING

NO RIGHT TURN

NO LEFT TURN NO U TURN NO USE OF HORN SPECIAL SPEED LIMIT NATIONAL SPEEDLIMITS APPLY

REFLECTION ENDS TEMPORARYSTOP SIGN

TEMPORARYGO SIGN

10 m m

2.4 417m T T

How safe are your telephone conversations?

n Law Desk

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia had a telephone conversation on October 26

to initiate dialogue to resolve the current political crisis over the polls time government. The audio record of the conver-sation was put on air by di� erent news media, both print and electronic.

While some ruling party leaders held that the publication of the conversation was made in public interest, the oppo-sition had expressed their discontent saying that the pub-lication of the conversation by the government – without the other party’s knowledge and consent – was illegal and immoral.

Quite coincidentally, the whole thing happened at a time when the world media is abuzz with the news of alleged wiretapping of several European leaders including German

Chancellor Angela Markel by the US National Security Agen-cy (NSA).

At this juncture, ordinary people have become very ap-prehensive about the con� dentiality of their telephone conversations. Many unanswered questions keep coming on their minds. Are their telephone conversations being re-corded? Will it get published in the media tomorrow or the day after? If that happens, what is the legal protection one has to � ght against any such an incident?

People start recalling the constitutional guarantee of pri-vacy of correspondence. It is stipulated in Article 43 of our constitution. It says:“Protection of home and correspondence: Every citizen shall have the right, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of the security of the State, public order, public morality or public health –

(a) To be secured in his home against entry, search and

seizure; and to the privacy of his correspondence and other means of communication.”

Legally speaking, this right to privacy is not an absolute right; rather it is a quali� ed right. And, the quali� cations at-tached to this right are so sweeping that the right becomes vulnerable.

Taking the advantage of the quali� cation provided in the constitutional provision, the then government in 2006 has made an amendment to the Telecommunication Act, 2001 drastically curtailing people’s right to privacy.

Section 71 of the original Telecommunication Act pro-vides that: “A person commits an o� ence, if he intentionally listens to a telephone conversation between two other per-sons, and for such o� ence, he shall be liable to be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a � ne not exceeding Tk50,000 0 or to both.”

The 2006 amendment has added an extra clause to this provision which reads: “Provided that nothing in this sec-tion shall apply to any o� cers of intelligence agencies, national security agencies, investigating agencies and law-enforcing agencies who are authorized by the government under section 97A.”

A writ petition was moved in the High Court Division seeking invalidation the amendment on May 18, 2006. The HCD issued a rule on the government to explain within three weeks the legality of the provisions that entitled the law enforcers and intelligence agencies to tap the telephone conversations of any individual. A HCD Bench consisted of Justice M Awlad Ali and Justice Zinat Ara also directed the Government to explain why the Bangladesh Telecommuni-cations (Amendment) Act, 2006 should not be declared un-constitutional and void. The hearing on the petition is pend-ing and the government has not replied to the rules.

Now the question is, under what ground the PM – Leader of the Opposition’s telephone conversation was recorded and publicised? Was it a question of state security, public order, public morality or public health? It was an imaginary � fth ground called public interest which our constitution frames could not contemplate. l

BIGSTOCK

RIO

SH

UV

O

6 NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

City dwellers reap little bene� t from split DCC over last two yearsResidents allege that potholes on city streets still have to be � xed, let alone measures to deal with the drainage system and mosquito menacen Abu Hayat Mahmud

It has been almost two years since the Dhaka City Corporation bifurcated on November 29, but little has been done to improve citizen services.

Split into two parts – Dhaka South City Corporation and Dhaka North City Cor-poration – the country’s largest and most important local government body has failed to live up to people’s expectations.

The city residents as well as urban planners say if such is the case follow-ing the bifurcation, it is unlikely that the future condition of the Corporation will be good.

The government divided the Dhaka City Corporation into the two parts on November 29, 2011.

Prof Nazrul Islam, president of Asi-atic Society of Bangladesh and chair-man of the Centre for Urban Studies, expressed concern over the lack of ser-vices provided to city dwellers.

“During bifurcation the govern-ment said citizen services would be increased, where is the change now?” he asked.

Prof Nazrul said no study or research was conducted on the merits and de-merits of the DCC before its split.

However, according to di� erent me-dia reports, city dwellers of both south and north city corporations hardly reaped any extra bene� ts over last two years, he said.

The Asiatic Society president came down hard on civil society members, saying they hardly reacted to the di-minishing role of the two city corpora-tions in providing citizen services.

He suggested that the government should not frequently transfer two ad-ministrators – one for DSCC and anoth-er for DNCC – every six months in ac-cordance with the city corporation act.

Top executives were transferred be-fore they could fully understand their roles in the city corporation, thus ulti-mately depriving the city residents of better services, he added.

Prof Dr Sarwar Jahan, head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Buet, said, because of the DCC’s bifurcation, citizen services had missed their mark.

Di� erent political parties and spe-cialists were opposed to the govern-ment’s initiative for the split of the country’s largest and most important local government body, he recalled.

Prof Sarwar held two factors respon-sible for the city corporation’s failed to meet the citizens’ demands.

The two are the bifurcation of DCC and an absence of public representa-tives in the two city corporations.

“If the government does not change its decision, the level of services will de-teriorate in the days to come,” he said.

Meanwhile, residents of di� erent areas in DSCC and DNCC alleged that it has been two years since the potholes on city streets have been � xed, let alone taking measures to deal with the drainage system, garbage management and mosquito menace.

With the advent of the dry season, mosquitoes are back in full force but the anti-mosquito drive of both city corpo-rations seems to be on the decline.

Moreover, collecting di� erent cer-ti� cates including birth certi� cates and TINs from a total of 10 zonal o� ces

under the two city corporations (each comprising of � ve zones) has become a tall task for the city dwellers.

O� cials and employees of the cor-porations allegedly force people to pay bribes for issuing them.

However, DSCC Administrator Mo-hammad Nazmul Islam denied the al-legation.

He told the Dhaka Tribune, after bifurcation, city dwellers were getting services easily and added that the qual-ity of services had also improved.

In regard to a question about the absence of public representatives, Nazmul said city residents were not facing any problems because of their absence.

“We have � ve zonal o� ces for city people to avail themselves of services very easily,” he added.

DNCC Administrator Akhter Hus-sain Bhuiya echoed the same view.

He said, “People are getting all our facilities very easily now. However, we are somewhat strict to issue birth cer-ti� cate because we need to verify in-formation regarding birth.” l

Shutting o� illegal gas lines prompts angry protests in Narsingdin Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

Thousands of people blockaded the Dhaka-Sylhet highway and vandalised at least 15 vehicles near the Chaitabo area in Narsingdi sadar upazila yes-terday, after authorities disconnected their illegal gas lines.

According to police and witnesses, the Narsingdi regional o� ce of Titas Gas, with the help of Executive Magis-trate Mahbubur Rahman, carried out a drive to disconnect illegal gas lines in the Chaitabo and Kabirajpura areas at around 10:30am.

Hearing about the main gas line be-ing disconnected, thousands of local villagers came out on the streets with locally made weapons and chased away the o� cials.

The agitated locals also vandalised 15 vehicles and blockaded the Dhaka-Sylhet highway by burning tires and wood on the road.

Bus communication between Dhaka and Sylhet, Maulvibazar, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Kishoreganj, Bhairab, Monohardi and Narsingdi remained

suspended for about three hours due to the demonstrations.

Locals withdrew their road-block-ade after Deputy Commissioner Obaidul Azam, along with Rab and po-lice o� cials, gave assurances that gas supply would soon resume in the area.

On November 4, authorities con-cerned held a meeting to discuss the necessary steps for tackling the illegal gas line business.

Speaking at the meeting, Titas Gas Deputy General Manager Sheikh Abu Raihan said 16 illegal gas supply lines, stretching a total 26,600 feet, had been identi� ed in the area, adding that the illegal lines were connected to di� er-ent households, mills and factories that had been active in for a long time.

Local residents accused dishonest billing supervisors, billing readers, ac-counts o� cers, linemen and contrac-tors of being involved in the supply of illegal gas lines. The linemen, billing readers and supervisors allegedly visit-ed the illegal gas users at the beginning of each month to collect huge sums of money. l

PM vows again to build poverty-free Bangladeshn BSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yester-day reiterated her � rm determination to build a hunger and poverty- free Bangladesh by 2021.

“We want to build a hunger and poverty-free Sonar Bangla as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We want to reach the fruits of independence to the doorsteps of the people,” she said

The prime minister said this while inaugurating nine development pro-jects of Chandpur district through videoconferencing from Gonobhaban yesterday morning.

The projects included a 160-MW combined cycle power plant, Hymechar Protection Embankment, Chandpur Ir-rigation Protection Embankment, Jah-mjhamia Bridge, Chandpur Regional Passport O� ce and newly-constructed building of Chandpur Press Club.

She also laid the foundation stones of three new projects to be imple-mented in the district. These included a coast guard station and Marine Tech-nology Institute

The prime minister reiterated her commitment to provide electricity to every house of the country if her party is voted to power again in the next gen-eral elections.

She also pledged to nationalise a college and a high school in every upa-zila and set up a central mosque with modern facilities in each district and upazila headquarters of the country.

Terming her government as people-friendly, Sheikh Hasina said the coun-try has achieved tremendous progress over the last � ve years as her govern-ment implemented various projects for the welfare of the people.

In this regard, she mentioned the stunning development in the sectors of agriculture, power, health, education, ICT and infrastructure sectors.

The people are now getting the ben-e� ts of the initiatives of her govern-ment, she said.

Referring to the inauguration of var-ious projects in Chandpur from Gonob-haban through videoconferencing, the prime Minister said it has proved that Bangladesh has much advanced in the IT sector. Sheikh Hasina urged the peo-ple to cast their vote for Awami League and help maintain the democratic trend and ongoing development.

Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Home Minister Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Chandpur District AL Presi-dent Dr Shamsul Haque Bhuiyan and AL central leader Sujit Roy Nondi also spoke through videoconferencing from Chandpur. l

Broom procession against Ershadn Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat

Activists of Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal in Lalmonirhat brought out a broom-pro-cession yesterday afternoon, protest-ing Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad’s involvement with the “all-party” polls-time government.

The procession was followed by a protest meeting held in front of the BNP o� ce at the BDR road of Lal-monirhat town.

Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal leaders Afroza Akhter, Shirina Begum and Babita Begum spoke at the meeting, amongst others.

They alleged that HM Ershad was a liar and said he would go down in

history as a liar. They claimed that Ershad had always deceived the na-tion with his false terms, adding that the Bangladeshi people would never trust him.

Contacted, Lalmonirhat JP Member Secretary Mahbubul Alam Mithu said the party’s chairman had done what was necessary because the nation wanted to see an election.

“All party leaders lie according to their agendas. Ershad just played a po-litical role in favour of the country but it is not the end,” he said adding that Ershad would play a very important role in bringing back peace to the na-tion through a free and fair parliamen-tary election. l

Agitated people con� ne Deputy Commissioner Obaidul Azam after Titas authorities disconnected the illegal gas lines in Chaitabo area under Narsingdi sadar upazila yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

CU reschedules admission tests n CU Correspondent

Chittagong University authorities have rescheduled admission tests of three units—H, G, and B— yesterday.

SM Akbar Hossain, deputy registrar and secretary of admission test com-mittee, told the Dhaka Tribune that intake tests of H unit under Biological Science Faculty and G unit under Insti-tution of Marine Science and Fisheries would be held on November 29, which were scheduled for November 18.

The admission tests for B2, B4, B5 and B6 of B unit under Arts and Hu-manities Faculty, will be held on No-vember 30, which were scheduled for November 25.

Farhad Hossain, deputy registrar at the information department, said the admission test centers and times would remain unchanged. l

DU ‘Ka’ unit admission test tomorrow n Tribune Report

The admission test of ‘Ka’ unit for the � rst year honours courses in Dhaka University for the academic session 2013-14 will be held tomorrow.

The seat plans have been published and available on the website www.ad-mission.eis.du.ac.bd.

Students will not be allowed to enter examination hall with electronic devic-es and mobile phones.

The admission test will be held be-tween 10am and 11:45am in 77 centres in the capital, including Du campus, said a press release. l

PROOFS to bridge gap between farmers and private sector, government agenciesn Mushfi que Wadud

A project to establish networking be-tween farmers and the private sector, � nancial institutions and government agencies in southern and northern Bangladesh was launched yesterday.

The project, called PROOFS, will em-power farmers with business skills and knowledge in areas such as marketing, management and � nance, so that small farms can become more pro� table and produce more food.

International development agencies ICCO Cooperation, iDE (International Development Enterprises) and BoP In-novation Centre will implement the 8.1m-euro project, with � nancial sup-port from the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka.

The project, expected to run for four years, will cover 80,000 farming households in seven districts: Barisal, Bhola, Patuakhali, Gaibandha, Kuri-gram, Nilphamari and Rangpur.

Under the project, reputable private companies will supply farmers with agricultural inputs, such as seeds and pesticides, and ensure their availability in the local market.

The project will also provide sup-port to extend the supply chain to the village level, which will increase the market for local enterprises.

Inaugurating the project at a city hotel yesterday, Dutch Ambassador Gerben de Jong said the embassy was funding the project as food security was a priority area.

“Working with existing groups, linking farmers to markets and mak-

ing farmers business-oriented makes PROOFS promising,” Jong said.

Leonard Zijlstra, PROOFS project director, hoped that the project would help improve food security and pre-vent malnutrition, which are serious problems in Bangladesh.

The project also signed a memo-randum of understanding (MoU) with Metal Seed and Ispahani at yesterday’s event. Under the agreement, the two private companies will provide farmers with seeds and pesticides, with infor-mation on their proper use.

Business group AFTAB inked a simi-lar MoU with PROOFS earlier this year.

Addressing the programme, Fazle Rahim Khan, managing director of AFTAB, said the poultry sector was one of the key areas to ensure food security in the country, as it had achieved 200% growth in the last � ve years, creating 6m jobs.

“With these factors in mind, PROOFS and ABFL are hoping to im-plement syndicated semi-controlled environment farms belonging to farm business groups,” he said. l

Women take out a broom procession in Lalmonirhat yesterday, protesting participation of Ershad in the newly formed ‘all-party’ government DHAKA TRIBUNE

Inaugural ceremony of PROOFS’ ‘Innovative Project for Farmers’ Food Security’ is held at a city hotel yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM

Nation 7DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

Fair prices of Aman delight Sherpur growers n Tribune Desk

Farmers in Sherpur are delighted at the good yields as well as reasonable mar-ket prices of Aman paddy as harvesting of the crop is now being carried out in full swing everywhere in the district.

Growers and agriculture o� cials said a good Aman harvest was expect-ed this season in the district as weather conditions remained favourable, prices of fertiliser and other inputs were rel-atively low while pest attacks did not a� ect the crop.

According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) o� ce in Sherpur, a target was set to bring 87,393 hectares of land under aman farming in the district this season, reports UNB.

However, the cultivation acreage ex-ceeded its target as farmers grew paddy on more land.

About 1.86m tonnes of paddy and 271,500 tonnes of rice are targeted to be produced in the district this year.

Expressing happiness over the good output of the crop, farmer Abdul Jalil, 40, of Andarpara village in Nalitabari upazila said: “There’s been good produc-tion of the crop. We (farmers) are happy.”

Echoing the view of Jalil, farmer Sharif Uddin of the same area said, “We (farmers) have got good yield this time. There’s no pest attack.”

Asked about the production cost, another farmer Abdur Razzaque, 45, of Baromari village in the same upazila, said, “I cultivated Aman on four acres

(one acre=30 decimals) of land spend-ing Tk7,000-8,000 per acre. In return, I got 35-36 maunds (each maund is equivalent to 37.32kgs) of paddy from each acre.”

He said they spent less money for crop farming this year compared to the previous years as prices of fertilisers and agriculture inputs remained low.

About the market prices of the new-ly harvested paddy, Razzaque said new paddy is being sold at Tk800 per maund and he hoped to get a pro� t of Tk30,000-32,000 by selling his produce.

He added traders and wholesalers are now buying new paddy from their houses.

Agronomists said growers sowed high quality aman seeds and got better

output of BINA-7, BR-49 and local early variety Basmati Dhan.

Local DAE o� ce also played a role in achieving good output through pro-viding farmers with training and neces-sary instructions, they said.

Suvash Chandra Debnath, deputy di-rector of DAE in Sherpur, attributed the good yield of the paddy to favourable weather, availability of agriculture in-puts and crop � elds being free of pests.

Mentioning that farmers planted high yielding Ufshi paddy variety on 50,000 hectares of land out of the tar-geted 87,393 hectares, Suvash Chan-dra said Aman paddy has emerged as blessing for the farmers this year by helping them overcome the seasonal lean period. l

‘Criminal o� ences will be uprooted in future’ n Our Correspondent, Chandpur

All types of criminals activities will be uprooted from the country in future by protecting human rights, says Home Minister MK Alamgir.

The minister made the statement while talking to journalists at the o� ce of Chandpur district deputy commis-sioner yesterday.

Mentioning that the provisions of human rights will not be hampered while punishing criminals, he said: “We will remove all types of criminal o� ences from the country by ensuring full security.”

The minister further said: “We will make suitable environment for people by implementing our knowledge and wisdom so that people may live in peace.

People will elect me again in order to uphold the progress,” he added.

Earlier in the day, he joined a num-ber of inauguration programmes in dif-ferent part of the district. Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated nine projects in the district through video conference.

The minister also expressed hope that he would bring positive changes in the district under the leadership of the premier. l

Miscreants cut down 300 mango saplings in BagerhatMiscreants felled 300 mango saplings in a nursery at Khalishkhali village in Kachua upazila early yesterday. A� ected nursery owner Adhir Kumar Haldar said the mis-creants had cut down seedlings at ‘Haldar Nursery’ sometime after midnight. He informed police about the matter. The law enforcers could not ascertain the motive behind the incident. – UNB

Woman killed by husband in Rajshahi A husband allegedly slaughtered his wife in Deberpara village under Paba upazila on Tuesday night. The deceased was identi� ed as Shirina Begum, 27, wife of Obaidur Rah-man, who remains absconding since the killing, police said. Locals said Obaidur mar-ried Shirina about one year back and used to torture her demanding dowry worth Tk100,000 since their marriage. Failing to get the money he slaughtered her and sent the body to her parent’s house in the midnight. In the morning, police sent the body to hospital morgue for post mortem.

A case was � led with the concerned police station. – BSS

One held with hemp in Narail Police in a drive arrested a man and recov-ered one kilogram hemp from Mygram village under Lohagara upazila of Narail early yesterday. The arrested person was identi� ed as Babu Fakir, 30, of the same area. On a tip-o� , a team of police from the police station conducted a drive at the village and arrested Babu from his village and recovered the hemp after getting his confessional statement, police sources said. A case was � led with the police station in this connection. UNB

Four held with phensidyl in KhulnaPolice in a drive arrested four alleged drug peddlers along with 944 bottles of Phen-sidyl from Hugladanga area of Khulna city on Tuesday. The arrested were identi� ed as Masud of Uttarkhan and Mustafa of Haz-aribagh area of Dhaka and Abu Hanif and

Abdur Rab of Faridpur. Being tipped o� , a team of police searched a Dhaka-bound pri-vate car from Satkhira around 1:30pm and arrested the four, who were in the vehicle, along with the drugs, said Mamun Khan, of-� cer-in-charge of Harintana police station. A case was � led in this connection. UNB

1,258 tonnes boro seeds distributed in NarsingdiBangladesh Agriculture Development Cor-poration in Narsingdi has distributed 1,258 tonnes of boro seeds in the six upazilas of the district to make the boro cultivation pro-gramme a success. BADC o� cial sources said of the total seeds, 1,200 tonnes were dis-tributed through 92 dealers and 50 tonnes directly among the farmers at the rate of Taka 340 per bag (10kg). Mahmuda Begum, senior assistant Director of BADC, said that the local Agriculture Extension Department demanded 913 tonnes of Boro seeds for the district this year but BADC disbursed 1,258 tonnes of seeds. The BADC also distributed eight tonnes of SL-8H Super Highbred seeds, 7,300 kgs of mustard seeds, 3,000 kgs pulse among the farmers. – BSS

Kishoreganj growers set to reap pro� ts from early winter vegetablesAbout 7,000 hectares of land in the district have been brought under vegetable farming in the current season with a production target of 110,000 tonnesn Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj

Vegetable growers in Kishoreganj are set to reap high pro� ts from their produce as markets gear up to be swarmed with the early varieties of winter vegetables.

Almost all the upazilas of the district have witnessed large arrivals of winter vegetables even before the start of the season – with baskets, pushcarts and portable stalls of local marketplaces stu� ed with cabbages, cauli� owers, beans, gourds, balsam-apples, radish-es, eggplants and spinach.

Because of the positive yield trends, growers and traders are expecting to meet the local demand for vegetables, as well as that of consumers elsewhere in the country.

According to an o� cial estimate from the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), about 7,000 hect-ares of land in the district have been brought under vegetable farming in the current season, with a production tar-get of 110,000 tonnes.

Cabbage, though known as a win-ter vegetable, can be produced even during summer, autumn and spring.

Successful cultivation of the vegetable and other vegetables – as evidenced by records in the past few years – has

contributed to a gradual socioeconom-ic change for the district’s grassroots growers.

Most farmers in Pakundia, Katiadi, Bajitpur, Nikli, Kuliarchar, Bhairab, Karimganj, Tarail and Hossainpur up-azilas have turned to farming vegeta-bles because of positive output from the market. Most of them start sowing seeds of high-yielding varieties as soon as water recedes from their � elds, and have adequate knowledge to boost their production.

Already, a sizeable portion of their produce has been transported to Dha-ka, Faridpur, Kushtia and other re-gions, and a lot more will be transport-ed when winter begins.

Expressing satisfaction, several growers said they were getting “good prices” for their produce.

Abdul Hakim, a grower from Bish-wanathpur village in Hossainpur, pro-duced cabbages and cauli� owers on his one-acre � eld. He was approached by a local trader and o� ered Tk150,000 for

his entire produce but said he had been expecting a higher turnover. “I was hoping to make Tk250,000 from them.”

Md Kabir Mia, another grower of the same village, cultivated vegetables on his 1.5-bigha land and earned around Tk100,000 by selling them. Dwin Islam, a grower of Sukia village in Pakundia, said he had earned Tk30,000 from sell-ing beans and Tk20,000 from selling rad-ishes – all grown on his two-bigha land.

“Fortune smiled on the farmers in the district due to a bumper production of early winter vegetables. This is just the beginning. The prices of vegetables will increase as the season approaches, but will ultimately come down to a tol-erable limit. By then, the growers will have had their due pro� ts,” Md. Tam-jidur Rahman, a vegetable expert, said.

However, not all growers were hap-py. Growers from the remote upazilas of Kishoreganj, complained of being coerced into selling their produce di-rectly to local traders – who, they said, were controlling the market. l

Lalmonirhat farmers happy with Aman pricesn Our Correspondent, Lalmonirhat

Farmers of Lalmonirhat are overjoyed as they received a bumper production of Aman paddy as well as a good mar-ket price this year.

Growers thanked the favourable weather conditions for Aman in this re-gion, as farmers and their family mem-bers were seen busy harvesting in their � elds.

At present, 40kgs of Aman paddy sells at Tk640-710 at local markets, whereas the production cost of the same amount is Tk420-450, farmers said.

Lalmonirhat Department of Agricul-ture Extension (DAE) o� cials said this year Aman was cultivated on a total of 81,085 hectares, adding that the farm-ers produced at least 4.8 tonnes on each hectare.

The Deputy Director of Lalmonirhat DAE Abdul Mazid said growers were happy for the bumper production, and added that perfect rain at perfect time and absence of natural disasters like � oods or droughts resulted in the

bumper production.Anowar Hossain, a farmer at Kash-

inath village, said: “I cultivated high yielding � ood tolerant Aman paddy on 68 decimal of lands and I harvested 25kgs from each decimal, whereas the production was only 18kgs on the same land last year.”

“I was provided with seeds and tech-nical support from the IRRI-STRASSA Project of the NGO RDRS to cultivate such variety this year,” he said, adding he would cultivate this variety on more lands next year.

Agriculture and Environment Coor-dinator of the RDRS Mamunur Rashid told the Dhaka Tribune that farmers cultivated their lands following scien-ti� c methods and did not use exces-sive fertilisers and insecticides on the crops.

“We have provided the necessary support to cultivate high yielding � ood and drought tolerant Aman paddy in Lalmonirhat and other parts of the coun-try,” said the Development Programme Manager of RDRS, Ziaul Islam. l

Dalit community celebrates Nabanno Festival in Barisaln Our Correspondent, Barisal

Dalit Matua Community celebrated the Nabanna Utshab 1420, a new harvest-ing season, that starts late autumn, yesterday at Natun Bazar in Barisal.

“Do not be divided by religion, let’s be united by festivals” was the slogan of the festival.

Matua community, Farmers of Hindu Dalits community, agricultur-al workers and followers of Hari Guru Thakur, organized the festival.

The festival programme included colourful processions, religious rituals, farmer’s reception, discussions, a vol-untary blood donation camp, Nabanna Mela food festival, a cultural function, traditional games and special ‘Nabanna Feast’ on the city roads.

Participants of the festival stressed to eliminate communal discrimination and to uphold communal harmony in society.

“Nabanno Utshob” is a celebration of bringing in new harvests during the Bangla month of Agrahayan (Nov-

Dec). It is a festival of food; many local preparations of Bengali cuisine like pitha [homemade cakes] are cooked and o� ered.

The festival is a traditional Bangla-deshi festival that has a non-communal nature.

Rakhal Chandra Dey, president of Puja Udjapan Parishad, inaugurated the festival at Adi Shamshan Ghat in Natun Bazaar area of the city in the morning.

Prof Gandhi Boral, district president of Hari-Guruchand Matua Samprodaya Committee presided over the inaugura-tion programme, while Matua-acharya Shree Subrata Thakur and Shree Hari-das Sadhu Thakur conducted the ses-sions of religious rituals.

Several thousand Matuas have been living in the Barisal region for the past 200 years. The Matua sect engaged in most important jobs related with ag-ricultural farming, but were often vic-timised through negligence, hatred, discrimination and deprived of various basic human rights. l

Gaibandha farmers busy preparing boro seedbedsn Tribune Desk

Gaibandha farmers have started pre-paring seedbeds for boro cultivation in all seven upazilas of the district.

According to Department of Agri-culture Extension sources, over 121,258 hectares of land would be brought under boro paddy cultivation this year with a production target of 490,000 tonnes.

To cultivate the paddy, the seed-bed will be prepared on at least 6,000 hectares of land by sowing over 4,200 tonnes of seeds in the district this sea-son, DAE sources said.

Now, farmers are busy preparing seedbeds on the low land with hopes of growing healthy seedlings to trans-plant them later in order to bring in their desired production.

About 50% of seedbeds have already been prepared and the rest will be done by the end of this month, added the sources.

To make the programme a success, high quality boro paddy seeds are being distributed to farmers. l

Miscreants snatch auto-rickshaw killing drivern Our Correspondent, Tangail

A CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver was killed by miscreants’ yesterday morn-ing, allegedly in an attempt to steal his vehicle near Pathrail Bottola of Delduar upazila in Tangail.

The deceased Matiur Rahman, 23, was the son of late Mojibur Rahman from Goria village under Kalihati upa-zila of the district.

O� cer-in-Charge Md Chan Miah of Delduar police station said they went to the crime scene after being informed by the villagers. The body was recov-ered and sent to Tangail General Hospi-tal for autopsy, he added.

He said, “We suspect the killers might have been the victim’s passen-gers. When the vehicle reached an isolated spot, the killers may have strangled him by tying a piece of cloth around his neck and later made o� with the vehicle.” A case was yet to be � led with Delduar police station in this connection, he added. l

Youth beaten to death in Narayanganj n Tribune Desk

A young man, suspected to be a thief, was beaten to death in Deck Person-nel Training Centre area in Sonakan-da area of Bandar upazila on Tuesday night.

Police recovered the body of Al Amin, son of Nurul Islam of the area, yesterday morning from the spot.

Police said Nurul Islam, a night guard of DPTC under the Shipping De-partment, and several trainees caught Amin while he was roaming around on Tuesday night.

Later, they took him to the training centre and beat him mercilessly sus-pecting him to be a thief, leaving him dead on the spot.

When Nurul and others were trying to dump the body into the Shitalakkha River around 11 am yesterday, locals noticed it and informed police about the matter.

Later, the law enforcers rushed in, recovered the body and sent it to hospital morgue for autopsy, said o� -cer-in-charge of Bandar police station Aktaruzzaman.

Law enforcers also arrested DPTC night guard Asharaf Uddin for his al-leged involvement in the killing. l

View of a cabbage � eld DHAKA TRIBUNE

Candidates of Primary School Certi� cate take examination at centre in Khulna city yesterday FOCUS BANGLA

NEWS IN BRIEF

Thursday, November 21, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE InternationalDHAKA TRIBUNE8

Frenchman denied travel because of size Eurostar says it has refused travel on its train to a Frenchman who was earlier stranded in the United States because he was deemed too fat to fly home. The service that connects England to France and Belgium declined to allow Kevin Chenais o n board because of safety rules governing travel through the Channel Tunnel. Eurostar says provisions require all passengers to have the ability to be safely evacuated and Chenais’ immobility makes this impossible. The move piles on the woes for Chenais, who has been struggling to get home after being denied travel home on British Airways. He later flew to Britain on another carrier. Eurostar accommodated Chenais in London at the company’s expense and said Wednesday it is trying to help him get home as soon as possible.

India: Gold bars worth $1m found in plane lavatoryCleaners found a stash of 24 gold bars worth more than $1.1m hidden in an airplane lavatory after a � ight from Bangkok landed in eastern India, o� cials said Wednesday. The Jet Airways � ight had landed in Kolkata and was being cleaned before a scheduled � ight to Patna when the cleaners found two bags with the gold stashed inside, Customs o� cial Mona Priyadarshini said. Priyadarshini said the gold bars weighed around 1 kilogram each. Customs o� cials con� scated the stash and are investigating.

Man who faked his death to avoid prison imprisonedIn May 2011, Travis Scott pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering after � ling a false insurance claim. In order to avoid prison, he decided to fake his death. Scott ground up some of his teeth, ex-tracted pints of his own blood and pulled out pieces of his hair. He combined all of those pieces together in a stocking cap and shot them with a shotgun. He left the cap in a canoe on Lake Mille Lacs in September 2011, along with a suicide note saying he had weighed himself down in case he didn’t die from the shotgun blast. After leaving the cap and note, Scott, 36, � ed to Canada and was able to obtain the birth certi� cate of Paul Decker, a baby who had died at the age of 2. Scott acquired a driver’s license and was attempting to get a passport to travel when he was arrested for using fake prescriptions to get medicine. Police � gured out his true identity and discov-ered he was a wanted man.

Fire kills six in Vietnam A � re at a bar under renovation has killed six workers in central Hanoi, state media reported Wednesday. The Thanh Nien newspaper said that the six, including two couples, were renovating the bar when the � re broke out Tuesday. They died of su� ocation from the blaze that took � re � ghters nearly two hours to put out. The report quoted Hanoi deputy � re police chief To Xuan Thieu as saying welding sparks likely caused the � re.

WORLD WATCH

Iraq: Wave of attacks in Shia neighbourhoods kill 33 n AFP, Baghdad

A wave of attacks, most of them car bombs targeting Shia neighbour-hoods of Baghdad, killed 33 people on Wednesday in the latest bout of deadly violence to hit Iraq.

The bombings and shootings, which left more than 70 people wounded in all, come amid a protracted surge in bloodletting just months ahead of gen-eral elections that has forced Iraqi o� -cials to appeal for international help in combatting the country’s worst unrest since 2008.

At least eight explosions, includ-ing seven car bombs, went o� mostly against Shia Muslim neighbourhoods of the Iraqi capital from about 7:30 am (0430 GMT) onwards, leaving 28 people dead and more than 70 wounded, ac-cording to security and medical o� cials.

They come after similarly coordinat-ed bombings in Baghdad on Sunday eve-ning left 21 dead, and pushed the overall death toll for November above 300.

Wednesday’s attacks occurred in areas ranging from the city’s main commercial district of Karrada to the predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Shaab, as well as Sadriyah, one of Baghdad’s oldest districts.

One car bomb also went o� in the Sunni-majority neighbourhood of Ad-hamiyah in north Baghdad, the o� -cials said.

The blast in Karrada struck near a car dealership as Shias were gathering to mark the anniversary of the death of a venerated � gure in Shia Islam, when Sunni militants often step up their at-tacks.

“We were cooking and giving food on the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein,” said Ahmed Abu Ali, an employee of the Al-Baldawi car dealership.

“Many people were gathering at the dealership and suddenly a car blew up 20 metres away,” said the 40-year-old, clad in a traditional black Arab robe.

“Even if they bombed us and tried to stop us, we will not stop commemorat-ing the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.”

Security forces imposed tough mea-sures in areas hit by attacks, in many cases barring journalists from � lming video or taking photographs at bomb sites.

No group immediately claimed re-sponsibility for the violence, but Sun-ni militants linked to Al-Qaeda’s front group often set o� coordinated bomb-ings across Baghdad, typically targeting Shias, whom they regard as apostates.

In a separate attack in the normal-ly-peaceful northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, gunmen assassinated Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s chief bodyguard, according to a police spokesman. l

Yemen arrests suspected female militants n AP, Sanaa

Security o� cials in Yemen say they’ve arrested women suspected of being al-Qaeda militants after a security force operation in the country’s south that left four soldiers dea d.

The o� cials say that the women and a number of children were arrested in Hadramowt province early Wednesday. They say the arrests came after the sus-pected female militants � red assault

ri� es and rocket-propelled grenades at authorities in the city of al-Shahr.

O� cials say male militants on motor-cycles later joined the � ght. They say the clashes killed at least four soldiers.

O� cials say the women are believed to be Saudi nationals. They say the women were transferred to Sanaa, Ye-men’s capital, for further interrogation.

The o� cials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not au-thorized to speak to journalist. l

Indonesia suspends Australia cooperation n AFP, Jakarta

Indonesia’s president Wednesday sus-pended cooperation with Australia in the sensitive area of people-smuggling, denouncing Canberra’s “Cold War” be-haviour following allegations its spies tapped his phone.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also announced that cooperation would be temporarily halted in a number of oth-er areas, including military exercises and intelligence exchanges.

But the most important area for the new Australian government of Tony Abbott will be people-smuggling, as it tries to stem the � ow of asylum-seekers arriving by boat from Indonesia.

It was the latest angry outburst from Indonesia over reports, based on docu-ments leaked by US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden, that Australian spies tried to listen to the phone calls of the president, his wife and ministers in 2009.

Indonesia recalled its ambassador from Canberra earlier this week over the scandal and Yudhoyono has pub-licly lambasted Abbott on Twitter for what he called a lack of remorse.

Announcing the suspension of coop-eration Wednesday after a crisis meeting at the presidential palace, an angry Yud-hoyono said: “For me personally, and for Indonesia, the wiretapping by Austra-lia... is di� cult to comprehend. l

Suicide bombs hit Syria troops north of Damascus n AP, Beirut

Suicide bombers targeted Syrian troops and a hospital Wednesday in the rug-ged Qalamoun hills north of Damascus, where rebels are struggling to reverse government gains that threaten to cut one of their main supply lines, said ac-tivists and o� cials.

There was no immediate word on ca-sualties from the attacks in Nabak and Deir Attiyeh, part of a string of commu-nities lying along a route used by rebels to bring supplies from nearby Lebanon to opposition-held enclaves outside the

capital and in the central city of Homs.A suicide car bomber targeted a

checkpoint manned by Syrian soldiers while another blew up near a security headquarters, both on the edge of the town of Nabak, said Rami Abdurrah-man from the British-based Syrian Ob-servatory for Human Rights and anoth-er activist based near the town.

Syrian television reported that, in an-other incident, two Saudi citizens tried to blow up the hospital of Deir Attiyeh but they were pushed by army forces. Abdu-rrahman and the activists con� rmed the attack but had no further details. l

Sinai car bomb kills at least 10 Egypt soldiersn AFP, Cairo

A car bomb struck an army convoy kill-ing at least 10 soldiers Wednesday in the Sinai, where security forces have been repeatedly targeted since the ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president, the army said.

It said in a statement that 35 others were wounded, including some hospi-talised in serious condition.

The bomb struck near El-Arish, re-gional capital of North Sinai, a securi-ty o� cial said, adding that an explo-sives-laden parked car exploded as the convoy passed.

A bus carrying soldiers on leave took the brunt of the blast at around 7:45am (0545 GMT), the military said.

The bombing was the deadliest in the Sinai bordering Gaza and Israel since an August 19 ambush by gun-men on a convoy of security forces that killed 25 policemen in the North Sinai town of Rafah.

That attack was the bloodiest in the Sinai Peninsula in several years.

On September 5, a car bomb also tar-geted Egypt’s interim interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim in Cairo.

Dozens of soldiers and policemen have been killed in near daily attacks in Sinai, especially since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

Egypt’s army has poured troops and armour into the restive peninsula to crush militant activity.

Egypt’s security forces are also en-gaged in a sweeping crackdown on Isla-mist supporters of Morsi in other parts of the country.

The crackdown has resulted in more than 1,000 people being killed and more than 2,000 arrested nationwide since the middle of August.

Morsi himself and several of his aides and members of his Muslim Brother-hood movement have been put on trial.

Despite the crackdown, Morsi’s sup-porters, mostly from the Muslim Broth-erhood, have regularly staged protests in Cairo and other key cities against the ruling military-installed government.

They, however, did not participate in demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that turned violent late Tuesday when one person was killed by birdshot as riot police stormed the square.

Police backed by armoured vehicles � red tear gas and shots after clashes in the square to scatter protesters who had gathered to mark the anniversary of deadly November 2011 demonstra-tions.

The crowds were marking the anni-versary of protests against the military, which ruled Egypt between President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow and his

now deposed successor Morsi’s elec-tion in 2012.

Egypt is divided between Morsi’s supporters and those of the military that overthrew him, but Tuesday’s pro-testers accused both sides of betraying the goals of the 2011 uprising that oust-ed Mubarak.

In November 2011, at least 43 pro-testers were killed over several days of clashes with police in Mohamed Mah-mud street just o� Tahrir Square.

The November 19 clashes were the � rst serious revolt faced by the mili-tary junta that had taken charge after Mubarak’s resignation in Febr uary 2011.

The military handed power to Morsi in June 2012 but ousted him a year later following mass protests demanding his resignation.

Some of the protesters on Tuesday night had been enraged by a monu-ment inaugurated in the square on the eve of the anniversary.

They accused the government and police of revising the history of the Mo-hamed Mahmud carnage amid a wave of pro-military nationalism following Morsi’s overthrow.

Mahmoud Hisham, a 21-year-old stu-dent, said: “The revolution is still not over. In three years, we’ve had three sys-tems and three traitors – Mubarak, the military and the Brotherhood.”l

Syria’s chemical weapons may be destroyed at sean Reuters

Syria’s chemical weapons could be pro-cessed and destroyed out at sea, say sources familiar with discussions at the international body in charge of elimi-nating the toxic arsenal.

Four days after Albania rejected a US request that it host a weapons decom-missioning plant, Western diplomats and an o� cial of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons at The Hague told Reuters the OPCW was studying whether it might carry out the work at sea, on a ship or o� shore rig.

Con� rming the discussion, the OPCW o� cial stressed there had been no decision: “The only thing known at this time is that this is technically feasi-ble,” the o� cial said on Tuesday.

While other states, notably Japan, have dealt with chemical weapons at sea, mounting such a large and com-plex operation a� oat would be unprec-edented, independent experts said. 

But given the equally daunting chal-lenge of neutralising over 1,000 metric tonnes of material in the middle of a civil war, and the reluctance of gov-ernments like Albania to defy popular protests against hosting any facility, it is being considered.

“There are discussions about de-stroying it on a ship,” one US o� cial told Reuters. l

Venezuela congress gives decree powers to Maduro n AP, Caracas, Venezuela

The Venezuelan congress granted Presi-dent Nicolas Maduro emergency decree powers Tuesday that will strengthen the embattled leader’s hand as he goes after businesses the government accuses of sabotaging Latin America’s biggest oil economy. The National Assembly’s vote had been widely expected since Mad-uro requested a month ago to be given expanded power to enact laws without consulting congress for up to a year.

The same tactic was employed four times by Maduro’s mentor and prede-cessor, the late Hugo Chavez, to promul-gate dozens of laws that dramatically boosted state control over the economy.

But unlike the charismatic Chavez, who had near-absolute command over his party, doubts about Maduro’s lead-ership have risen since he defeated op-position leader Henrique Capriles by a razor-thin margin in April’s presiden-tial election. l

Rome frescoes add to debate on women priestsn Reuters, Rome

Proponents of a female priesthood say frescoes in the newly restored Catacombs of Priscilla prove there were women priests in early Christianity. The Vatican says such assertions are sensationalist “fairy tales.”

The catacombs, on Rome’s Via Salaria, have been fully reopened after a � ve-year project that included laser technology to clean some of the ancient frescoes and a new museum to house restored marble fragments of sarcophagi.

Art lovers and the curious around the world who cannot get to Rome can join the debate by using a virtual visit to the underground labyrinth by Google Maps, a � rst-time venture mixing antiquity and modern high technology.

Built as Christian burial sites between the second and � fth centuries and meandering underground for 13 km (8 miles) over several levels, the Catacombs of Priscilla contain frescoes of women that have provoked academic debate for many years.

One, in a room called the “Cubiculum of the Veiled Woman,” shows a woman whose arms are outstretched like those of a priest saying Mass. She wears what the catacombs’ Italian website calls “a rich liturgical garment. ” The word “liturgical” does not appear in the English version.

She also wears what appears to be a stole, a vestment worn by priests. Another

fresco, in a room known as “The Greek Chapel,” shows a group of women sitting around a table, their arms outstretched like those of priests celebrating Mass.

Organisations promoting a female priesthood, such as the Women’s Ordina-tion Conference and the Association of Ro-man Catholic Woman Priests, have pointed to these ancient scenes as evidence of a female priesthood in the early Church.

But the Vatican contests these inter-pretations which have also appeared in books on women in Christianity, such as the “The Word According to Eve” pub-lished in 1998.

“This is an elaboration that has no foundation in reality,” Barbara Mazzei of the Ponti� cal Commission on Sacred Ar-chaeology told Reuters at the presentation of the restoration on Tuesday.

“This is a fairy tale, a legend,” said Pro-fessor Fabrizio Bisconti, superintendent of religious heritage archaeological sites owned by the Vatican, including numerous catacombs scattered around Rome.

He said such interpretations were “sen-sationalist and absolutely not reliable.”

Bisconti said the fresco of the woman in a gesture of priest-like prayer was “a depiction of a deceased person now in paradise,” and that the women sitting at the table were taking part in a “funeral banquet” and not a Eucharistic gathering.

The Church teaches that women can-not become priests because Jesus willingly chose only men as his apostles. l

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro AP

Small boats sit on the shore of Guanabara Bay in the suburb of Sao Goncalo, across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday. The bay was home to a thriving artisanal � shing industry and popular palm-lined beaches as recently as the late-1970s, but has become a watery dump for waste from shipyards and two commercial ports AP

ALL WASHED UP

9Thursday, November 21, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE International

Malala receives EU Sakharov prizen AFP, Strasbourg

Malala Yousafzai was handed the EU’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize Wednesday in recognition of her crusade for the right of all children, girls and boys, to an education. To thunderous applause announcing the European Parliament prize, the assembly’s president Martin Schulz praised the 16-year-old activist as “a survivor, a heroine and an extraordi-nary young woman” and said: “You have given hope to millions of people.” Mala-la, dressed in orange and with her father at her right, became the 25th winner of the Sakharov prize at the ceremony sig-ni� cantly held on World Children’s Day, with 21 of the former winners present. l

Myanmar police uncover religious bomb plotn AFP, Yangon

Myanmar police said Wednesday they had arrested three people suspected of planning bomb attacks on mosques, as the country grapples with religious tensions after waves of anti-Muslim vi-olence.

The suspects are all Buddhist men from the western state of Rakhine, where two bouts of unrest last year left scores dead and some 140,000 dis-placed, mainly Rohingya Muslims.

“They were planning to plant bombs at mosques, after attending training on the border in Karen state,” a police o� -cial in Yangon told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the country’s eastern frontier.

He said authorities were continuing to investigate the “ongoing case.”

Myanmar remains tense after erup-tions of religious con� ict that have killed around 250 people and cast a shadow over much-praised political reforms.

A report in the state-run New Light of Myanmar Wednesday said an initial raid on a guesthouse in the Yangon area found one 34-year-old suspect “red-handed making bombs with gun-powder and related materials” on No-vember 13.

It said further investigations led po-lice to arrest two more suspects, aged 31 and 28, early Saturday.

The English-language newspaper said one of the men had received train-ing on the border and had received “two ready-to-use” mines and a pack of gunpowder.

It said the intended target was “re-ligious buildings” and police were still hunting further suspects.

Myanmar was rattled by a series of explosions in October that the United States denounced as “acts of terror, ” including one at the luxury Traders Ho-tel in Yangon that injured an American woman.

No group claimed responsibility but authorities said suspects arrested at the time were linked to ethnic Karen rebels.

There were two rounds of unrest in Rakhine in June and October 2012, with � ghting largely between local Buddhists and the Rohingya minority. Clashes were later reported in other areas.

Last week the arrival of a delegation from the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation for a tour of the country, in-cluding Rakhine, sparked protests led by Buddhist monks.

Humanitarian workers have faced threats and harassment for trying to help in Muslim camps.

Radical monks have been accused of fuelling the violence with anti-Mus-lim rhetoric, while witnesses to vio-lence in central Myanmar in March said some attackers were dressed in clerical robes.

Myanmar views its population of some 800,000 Rohingya as illegal im-migrants from neighbouring Bangla-desh and denies them citizenship.

They are considered by the United Nations to be one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.

Thousands of Rohingya have since � ed Myanmar, with many paying smugglers for passage on rickety and overcrowded boats to Malaysia or fur-ther south. Hundreds are believed to have perished at sea so far this year. l

Netanyahu heads to Moscow to discuss Irann AFP, Ben Gurion Airport

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net-anyahu took o� on Thursday for Russia in a last-minute bid to sway an emerg-ing deal with Iran over its contested nuclear programme.

Netanyahu is to meet Russian Pres-ident Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Wednesday evening to voice his con-cerns about the deal being hammered out at talks in Geneva. On Thursday, he will address members of the Russian Jewish community.

Russia is a member of the P5+1 group – alongside the United States, China, France, Britain and Germany – which has been struggling to reach a deal to freeze or curb Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for some relief

from international sanctions.Israel is staunchly opposed to the

mooted interim agreement, insisting it will give Iran vital sanctions relief while failing to halt Tehran’s alleged march towards a “breakout” nuclear weapons capability.

The P5+1 will meet with Iran on Wednesday in Geneva for talks on the programme, which Israel and the West suspect is aimed at developing a weap-ons capability but Tehran insists is en-tirely peaceful.

The last round of talks with Iran that ended on November 10 came tantalis-ingly close to a framework agreement that supporters say would bolster Iran’s new president, a reputed moderate, and buy time for negotiating a compre-hensive deal. l

Thai government dodges dissolution but stalemate drags onn Reuters, Bangkok

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawa-tra su� ered a blow on Wednesday when a court knocked back a consti-tutional amendment that could have strengthened her party’s legislative grip, a ruling that could cool tension that was close to boiling over.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court said moves to change the composition of the  Senate  were � awed, but stopped short of dissolving Yingluck’s rul-ing Puea Thai Partyfor fraud after sev-eral lawmakers had proxies cast their electronic votes for them during a Sept 28 house session.

The decision is the latest set-back for  Yingluck’s government  after the  Senate  last week rejected an am-nesty bill that critics say was designed to whitewash the crimes of her in� u-ential, self-exiled brother, former pre-mier Thaksin Shinawatra, to clear him to return home.

Nearly half of the members of the Senate are appointed and the pro-posed changes involved scrapping ap-pointed senators to create a larger, fully elected chamber.

But the judges ruled that the pro-posal would have allowed family members of existing lawmakers to win seats.

Yingluck’s party  dominates the elected lower house of parliament but has been unable to use its electoral strength to control the Senate fully. l

Rouhani defends Iran nuclear rights in Cameron calln AFP, Tehran

President Hassan Rouhani in a tele-phone call with British Prime Minis-ter David Cameron stressed Tehran’s � rm right to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme, Iranian media reported Wednesday.

Cameron’s call on Tuesday to Rou-hani, the � rst such high-level exchange in a decade, came on the eve of a new round of talks in Geneva between world powers and Iran on Tehran’s nu-clear programme.

“As Iran is determined that its nu-clear activities will remain peaceful, it will strongly defend its nuclear rights,” the o� cial IRNA news agency reported Rouhani as telling Cameron.

“We will accept no discrimination on this issue. The language of respect must replace that of threats and sanc-tions,” he added.

Downing Street con� rmed that Cameron and Rouhani had discussed the talks between world powers and Iran on Tehran’s nuclear programme, the next round of which starts in Gene-va on Wednesday.

Cameron “underlined the necessi-ty of Iran comprehensively address-ing the concerns of the international community about their nuclear pro-gramme, including the need for greater transparency,” a Downing Street state-ment said.

IRNA said Rouhani also held talks on the telephone with Chinese Presi-

dent Xi Jinping, telling him Tehran was seeking “an accord which preserves its rights and shows that the Iranian nu-clear programme is totally peaceful.”

He called for China to oppose “ex-cessive demands of certain countries,” referring to France which took a tough stand at the last round of talks in Gene-va at the start of November.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani, meanwhile, insisted in a speech to MPs that the Islamic republic would fully defend “its nuclear rights” in Geneva.

And before leaving Rome for Gene-va, Iranian Foreign Minister Moham-mad Javad Zarif told reporters that a deal “depends to what degree (world powers) are ready to respect Iran’s rights.” l

Election o� cials begin counting votes in Nepal n AP, Kathmandu

O� cials began counting votes on Wednesday that were cast during elec-tion for a special assembly to draw up a long-delayed constitution and pick a new Nepal government.

Election Commission o� cial Bir Ba-hadur Rai said the counting started in several districts and that boxes � lled with ballot papers had reached count-ing centres in at least 20 districts.

In the capital Kathmandu, election o� cials opened ballot boxes collected from all 10 constituencies at the Inter-

national Convention Centre and began counting the thousands of ballot papers.

Rai said arrangements were being made to � y ballot boxes from some mountain areas by helicopter because snow had blocked roads.  Nepal  has 75 districts of which most of them are moun-tainous. More than 70% of the 12 million eligible voters cast their votes during Tuesday’s election in Nepal to choose the 601-member Constituent Assembly that would double as the parliament.

First results are expected by late Wednesday and � nal results are going to take at least a week. l

United Nations urges Myanmar to give the Rohingya citizenship n AP, United Nations

The General Assembly’s human rights committee passed a resolution urging Myanmar to give the stateless Rohing-ya minority equal access to citizenship and to crack down on Buddhist vio-lence against them and other Muslims in the southeast Asian nation.

The resolution, passed by consen-sus Tuesday, received mixed reaction in Myanmar.

The director of the president’s of-� ce, Maj Zaw Htay, said steps were being taken to address the issue, and the opposition party headed by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi accused the rights committee of “interfering” in the country’s internal a� airs.

Under General Assembly rules the body will unanimously pass the reso-lution later this year.

Myanmar emerged from a half-cen-tury of military rule in 2011, but its transition to democracy has been marred by sectarian violence that has left more than 240 people dead and sent another 240,000 � eeing their homes, most of them Rohingya. Some say the inter-communal violence pres-ents a threat to Myanmar’s political re-forms because it could encourage secu-rity forces to re-assert control.

In 1982, Myanmar passed a citizen-ship law recognizing eight races and 130 minority groups – but omitted the nation’s 800,000 Rohingya, among Myanmar’s 60 million people. Many Myanmar Buddhists view the Rohing-ya as interlopers brought in by British colonialists from modern-day Ban-gladesh, but many Rohingya say they have lived in the country once known as Burma for hundreds of years.

Suu Kyi, who has expressed interest in being the next president of Myan-mar, has had little else to say about

Rohingya rights. She declined to meet with an Organisation of the Islamic Conference delegation visiting Myan-mar this week to look into the plight of the religious minority.

A spokesman of her party, Nyan Win, slammed the decision by the rights commission.

“Even the United Nations is inter-fering in Myanmar’s internal a� airs,” he said. “Anyone who is eligible to be-come a citizen will get citizenship, but they cannot become ethnic nationals.”

He did not elaborate.Zaw Htay, the director of the pres-

ident’s o� ce, meanwhile, denied the Rohingya minority are stateless.

“These people are either Bangla-deshis or Myanmar. We are not denying their right to citizenship. They will be given citizenship according to the law.”

He called on the OIC and the inter-national community to help with the process, while stressing elements both inside the country and out are fanning the problem.

Myanmar had been ostracized by most of the world for 50 years after a coup that instituted military rule. But in recent years the nation has been cautiously welcomed into the interna-tional community after it freed many political prisoners and ended the house arrest of Syu Kyi and instituted

reforms. President Barack Obama vis-ited the country last year on an Asian tour, as a hallmark of Myanmar’s reha-bilitation.

The General Assembly resolution welcomed a statement by Myanmar’s president that “no prisoners of con-science will remain in prison by the end of the year.” Myanmar released 69 political prisoners last week.

But it also “expresses concern about remaining human rights violations, in-cluding arbitrary arrests and detentions of political activists and human rights defenders, forced displacement, land con� scations, rape and other forms of sexual violence and torture. l

Vietnam � oods toll rises to 42n AFP, Hanoi

Vietnamese authorities on Wednesday raised the death toll from severe � oods that swept central provinces to 42, with � ve people still missing.

Nearly 430,000 houses have been inundated, damaged or destroyed, the � ood and storm control department said in an online report, adding rains have now slackened and water has re-ceded in some areas. Local authorities had described the � oods – that hit the UNESCO-listed town of Hoi An and the former imperial City of Hue, along with other areas – as the worst for over a de-cade, saying they had caused tens of millions of dollars worth of damage. l

‘They were planning to plant bombs at mosques, after attending training on the border in Karen state’

Nepal voter ‘overwhelmed’ to give birth in polling stationn AFP, Kathmandu

A Nepalese woman, excited to be voting for the � rst time, told Wednesday how she went into labour and gave birth at a polling station during elections in the Himalayan nation.

Parbati Bhandari told AFP she was so keen to take part in polls on Tuesday to elect a constituent assembly that she walked 30 minutes to a polling station just six days before her due date.

“As this was my � rst time, I was excited to vote, but about an hour after I reached the polling station I had sudden pain in my lower belly,” the 20-year-old housewife said by phone.

Fortunately the polling booths were set up inside local government o� ces in the midwestern district of Myagdi that included a small health centre. Bhandari gave birth at the centre to a healthy baby boy on Tuesday afternoon – then she cast her vote.

Bhandari said she was “over-whelmed” to have become a mother on the same day as elections for the assembly charged with writing Nepal’s post-war constitution and aimed at ending years of political instability.

Her migrant worker husband has sug-gested she name their son, “Nirwachan” (Nepali for election).

“I was extremely happy to give birth on this historic day,” she said.

“But seeing a constitution complet-ed...will make me even happier,” she added. l

Report: Iran deporting Afghan refugees n AP, Kabul

A new report says Iran is forcefully de-porting Afghan refugees by the thou-sands — contrary to its international ob-ligation to protect refugees. A Human Rights Watch report released Wednesday includes stories from dozens of refugees who tell of being forcibly deported. The report includes stories of fathers deport-ed without being given a chance to tell the families they leave behind. Another is of a 12-year old boy left without money at the border, forced to beg for bus fare to Afghanistan. While there are more than 800,000 Afghans registered as refu-gees in Iran, the report says there are roughly another 2 million unregistered Afghan refugees in Iran who are subject to abuse and forced deportation.

Iranian o� cials could not be imme-diately reached for comment. l

India women’s body to probe Modi spyingn AFP, New Delhi

India’s top women’s rights body said Wednesday it would investigate alle-gations that a former close con� dant of prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had ordered police illegally to spy on a woman.

The National Commission of Wom-en (NCW) said it would take up claims by local media that a former junior home minister from the western state of Gujarat ordered police to conduct surveillance on the woman in 2009.

Amit Shah was a minister in the state government led by Chief Minister

Modi, who is a leader of the main op-position Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is now its can-didate for national elections due next year.

“We will be writing to the state home minister about the act done by the then-home minister (Shah)....and at whose instance he has done it,” Nir-mala Samant Prabhavalkar, a member of the government-funded NCW, told reporters.

She said the state government must answer “under what authority” it used “this kind of interception” on the woman. l

A Rohingya family prepares a meal inside their tent at and Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp on the outskirts of Sittwe AFP

A Nepalese man sits with a huge Nepali � ag near a polling station in Kathmandu AP

The TorchNovember 13

Nusrat KhondakerFiction is something that you can digest and enjoy, but when you know what you are reading is reality not fiction, only then does it pierces your heart. It’s not easy to share your deepest emotion and sadness with everyone. Thanks for sharing this piece with us, Nuhash.

SaintThanks for telling your story with the same kind of patience your father had. Of course, your love can’t be taken away and he lives in you genetically.

NadiaIt was alright. I understand emotions and all, but unlike the translated version, this seemed quite lax to me. It didn’t grip me. The English isn’t top notch either. Just mediocre.

That being said, it’s a nice gesture to write for your own father. I guess someone as amazing as Mr Humayun Ahmed is a hard person to live up to. Continue working on your writing, maybe you’ll mature with time.

rA Nadia: Disagree totally. The English doesn’t have to be top notch for a piece to be good. There are things such as typos anyway. The article is extremely honest and shows exactly the con� icting emotions that he felt for his father. And that’s what made it great.

This is an autobiographical piece and I don’t

think he was aiming to show off his writing style. And about living “up to” Humayun Ahmed, why? Nuhash can be his own person. Having his genes, he is naturally inclined towards the same things, but he doesn’t have to be a carbon copy. It would be refreshing only if he is his own self.

Waliul Haque KhondkerAs I � nished reading “The Torch,” there was an echo within myself, “Humayun Ahmed is not dead, quite yet!” Humayun Ahmed’s lucid storytelling was vividly present in Nuhash Humayun’s storytelling as well. The ease, with which he told us the story of his life, was a pleasant presentation, which could only be matched by his illustrious father, Humayun Ahmed!

Dear Nuhash, please don’t deprive us of your storytelling abilities, albeit acquired genetically, so that we don’t miss your father much.

A modest suggestion: Please try and grab a page in the Weekend Tribune, give it a title, “Storyteller,” then tell us a story every Friday. I’m sure all those who loved your father would love you as much, with time to come. Godspeed Nuhash!

rA So well-written! It’s hardest to tell the story of your own life. You are your own man Nuhash. I salute your courage.

shahriarDark, but not depressing.

Bangladesh comes second in Chinese arms purchase last yearNovember 12

Faizul Alam 1.3% on military? Who are we going to war with?? :S

Farabi Rahman A small percentage of the military expenditure of BD is on weapons. Most is wasted on high amounts of rations and really unnecessary facilities.

Raisa Momin So that we can attack ourselves? No other country is interested in attacking us, I’m sure!

Jim Jubabir As you know, Bangladesh is a geopolitically-bless-ed country that oversees the Bay of Bengal. The fact is, because of this very reason, we are exposed to outer threats.

Montu: ‘I’m � nished’November 12

RoNy Paul May God bless him.

Xiao Xing May Allah reduce his pain soon. I don’t understand why normal people are being burnt killed and tortured! What the hell is this?? I hope people stop hurting each other this way. Poor man. May Allah help him.

Javed Arun Zaman What is this? It’s inhumane and insane. These perpetrators should be tried for arson and ter-rorism. Who on earth would pour petrol on a bus packed with passengers and set it on � re? What is going on?? Why didn’t the AL government pass a bill in the legislature giving death sentences to such murderers during the last � ve years? And why doesn’t Khaleda Zia ask her followers not to burn people alive and destroy public and private property in the name of hartals?

Funding clean water is not a luxury

The Dasherkandi sewage treatment plan was introduced to treat the waters of the Hatirjheel-Begunbari canal, but work on the plant is being delayed due to a fund

shortage.Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) has

already received $76m from the World Bank to improve the city’s water supply and sewerage management – with the pos-sibility of an additional $200-300m for the development of the sector, if the money was spent properly – so it makes no sense that this project is reported to be at a standstill.

Work was scheduled to begin in January 2011 with completion this December but o� cials are blaming a funding shortage for a lack of progress on implementing a plant to treat the tannery waste-infested water of the Hatirjheel-Begunbari canal before it � ows into the Buri-ganga.

This is unacceptable. Clean water is indispensable to our daily lives and the pollution of canals and rivers which is plain for all to see, also puts the lives of the residents of Hazaribagh at jeopardy, since it is used daily for cooking, cleaning, drinking, and bathing.

Modern water treatment plants are vital to WASA’s duty of keeping the water supply clean. It is not good enough to pass the blame for not building and opening new plants more onto funding delays. Such hold ups should not occur and obstacles should be foreseen better in the planning process.

Government has a duty to ensure funding to clean the wa-ter on which so many people depend. There is no reasonable excuse to delay improvements to WASA’s capacity to treat and clean the city’s polluted rivers and waters.

IT innovations in law enforcement

The Uttara division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, has recently started to work with local citizens and IT experts to improve their response time to criminal

incidents. By making better use of communications technology, the

local police have increased their connectivity with citizens. This initiative from the Uttara police division is a refreshing example of how improving IT and transparency can have a big impact in improving public service delivery.

The initiative reportedly originated with a Facebook page opened by the assistant commissioner of police patrol in early September, which received a lot of attention. In response to public demand a quick response team was set up which enabled o� cers to reach any location in Uttara within minutes of receiving a distress report.

The Uttara police division collaborated with two former BUET students to develop a smartphone app, which can be used to locate nearby po-lice stations and lodge complaints. It also includes contact numbers of police o� cers, including high-ranking o� cials, who can be contacted in case of emergency. Thus far both the Facebook page and the app have received strongly positive response from local citizens and some success stories have already emerged.

Similar initiatives, which engage citizens and utilise innovation could help many areas of public service delivery. Technology is not a single bullet panacea but the Uttara police example shows that much can be done with the new tools that are now at our disposal if the willingness exists.

Editorial10

www.dhakatribune.com

DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

LETTER OF THE DAY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

Letters to the Editor

Improving IT and transparency can have a big impact in improving public service delivery

Capacity to treat and clean the city’s polluted rivers and waters must be properly funded

Hartal � re on running bus burns 10 in cityNovember 14The opposition is clearly in a state of war with the rest of the country. The trouble on the street during hartals can be compared with the terror attacks on the streets in, say, Iraq. The people of Bangladesh need protection. And if the government is unwilling or incompetent to deliver that protection, the army should step in.

Vikram Khan

Fire at Qatar Airways building in GulshanNovember 12

Will this incident a� ect the passengers and their � ight bookings in the coming weeks?

Protik Rahman

Crossword

Sudoku

CROSSWORD CODE-CRACKER YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS1 Exploit (3)6 By way of (3)7 Fasteners (4)9 Consumer (4)10 Conceals (5)11 Of the kidneys (5)12 Liable (3)14 Worth (5)17 Endures (5)20 Lyric poem (3)21 Declined inpower (5)23 Fanatical (5)25 Stagger (4)26 Soon (4)27 Spanish nobleman (3)28 Agitate (4)

DOWN1 Prudently sparing (6)2 Wards o� (6)3 Weary (4)4 Wet, soft earth (3)5 Donkey (3)7 African river (4)8 Lukewarm (5)10 Poor actor (3)13 Heathen (5)15 Gnawing (6)16 Bank employee (6)18 Counterpart (4)19 Sorrowful (3)22 Love god (4)23 Male sheep (3)24 Serpent (3)

Be HeardWrite to us at: Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C PanthapathSukrabad, Dhaka-1207

Email us at: letters@dhakatribune.comSend us your Op-Ed articles:opinion@dhakatribune.com

Visit our website: www.dhakatribune.comCome join our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

n Mamun Rashid

My belief that Bangladesh will never lose track comes from its growth record, despite

frequent visits by natural calamities. It comes from our rising entrepreneur-ship and increasing harvests, despite a reduction in cultivable lands, our increased foreign currency earnings through exports and remittances from non-resident Bangladeshis, our demo-graphic dividends, from a reduction

in the population growth rate, from increasing numbers of women joining the workforce, from the massive rise in education focused on foreign language and IT literacy, from the steady reduc-tion in poverty, and most importantly, from the increasing number of people struggling day and night for a better tomorrow.

This morning when I was leaving my house for a jog in the nearby park,

my security guard saluted me with warmth. He had read my article in a daily. I asked him what class he stud-ied up to, he replied class eight.

When I asked him about his child, he said his only daughter was doing her BA. When I asked our security supervisor at Gulshan Club the same question, he said his � rst daughter was a doctor at a government hospital in Comilla, and his second daughter was studying medicine at Pabna Medical College.

His only son had just graduated from BUET, and was waiting for a teaching assistantship at a US university. When I asked my maid, she said: “Sir, my daughter is brilliant, please pray for her.” Then she said: “I want to teach her music, sir.”

My chau� er has been pleasantly threatening me, saying he has saved up some money and set up a poultry farm back home. He is planning to

borrow some money from a bank and leave this job. He does not like Dhaka city life, and is eagerly waiting to go back to a rural place.

Harry K Thomas, the former US am-bassador, was a good friend. He intro-duced me to few trade policy analysts at the US State Department. The issue of duty free access to Bangladesh as an LDC came up in our discussion. One lady told me that since Bangladesh was merrily competing with India, Vietnam, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, all these being non-LDC countries, she did not think of Bangladesh as an LDC.

I hear high praise about BUET grad-uates from resource managers at IBM or Intel in the US. An accompanying IT solutions manager with Sysco in a Los Angeles-bound � ight was telling me about how he respects a Bangladeshi colleague for the constant care he provides his mother back home.

My Asean CEO at Citibank once told me he wanted to recruit more Bang-ladeshis for expanding the Citigroup network. He said: “They are honest, quali� ed, and less demanding. You can get anything out of them by giving them a pat on the back.”

Go to the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait. They are all issuing work permits to Bangladeshi drivers and replacing the Pakistanis with them. Ask any Arab, they would say Bangladeshis are very polite,

humble and God-fearing. Many Euro-pean force commanders in Africa had a lot of praise for the Bangladesh armed forces personnel for their IT knowledge and constant eagerness to learn more.

Recently, I was very saddened by speeches from two former Indian high commissioners in Bangladesh. They thought Bangladesh might become a terrorist country if the opposition came to power. 42 years have passed since independence, and I have not seen any terrorism in Bangladesh.

Even the major Islamist parties never spoke loudly against scienti� c education policy, the increasing num-bers of women joining the workforce or taking senior positions in economic management, or the political hierarchy.

On the other hand, look at India, termed the worst place in the world for women. I still can’t forget the horrify-ing scenes of the Mumbai bomb blasts or the terrorist activities in India.

Bangladesh will move on no matter who is in power, or who is coming for-ward to help them. Yes, our 1971 mar-tyrs dreamt of a better Bangladesh with more social progress, political inclusive-ness, and justi� ed access to national wealth. But Bangladesh is changing, climbing up the ladder into a dynamic world, though the pace could be much faster. We are waiting for our political masters to fasten their seatbelts. l

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

11Op-Ed Thursday, November 21, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Esam Sohail

The conviction earlier this month of two expatriate collaborators from the War of Independence under-lines the stark chasm of hu-

bris that separates emotionalism from reality when it comes to the ongoing war crimes trials.

One of the convicts is an American citizen now, while the other is a British subject today, facts which essential-ly ensure that they will never face the punishment that was awarded to them by a tribunal that the entire international community has found woefully lacking in basic due process safeguards.

Those who wanted to go full steam ahead with trials, disregarding consid-ered international opinion from friends, are the only ones to blame from this miscarriage of justice which will likely see two people accused of the most

heinous crimes live happily ever after.Any criticism of the due process

standards of the trials is invariably met with the nonsensical “where were they when …” line of argument, followed by the “well, it is our court and our law …” line of reasoning, and ending with some silly analogy to Nazis, Nuremberg, and Israel.

Fine and good, but that is exactly the de� nition of hubris that impresses nobody except the echo chamber of sincere but unrealistic, like-minded intellectual types. The painful reality is that Bangladesh is a small country whose democratic antecedents and judicial independence are, at best, not fully established in the court of inter-national opinion.

That fact alone should have prompted those with common sense to make the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) above reproach, rather than the caricature it has unfortunately become.

When the government unilaterally appoints the judges, the prosecutors, the investigators, and some of them go on to seek the ruling party’s parlia-mentary nomination, only the most partisan or ignorant will term that set-up a symbol of due process.

Add to that the political reality that there was never any doubt as to what verdict was expected in each case, and that the choice of counsel for each of the accused was limited by the government.

The question was not whether horrendous crimes were committed or not. It was not even if many of the accused were involved or not. Rather, the only question was if we were going to come into the 21st century and prove their guilt beyond doubt in a court of law whose proceedings were beyond reproach.

In our rush to satisfy emotional cravings and political expediencies, we woefully failed to answer in the a� rmative to that only question that mattered about the ICT. The price we pay will range from the apparently mundane (stigma for the judicial pro-cess and endless deadlocked appeals) to the heavy (expatriate convicts never being extradited).

If the goal was to feel emotionally vindicated, we succeeded handsome-ly. On the other hand, if the goal was to punish the perpetrators, we have

likely failed, at least partially. The issue is of particular resonance

to me because long before the ICT was a cause célèbre of the present regime, I was writing in the international press about the abject necessity of holding these trials to come clean with history.

The present government’s reckless politicisation of the trials and the sycophancy of the ruling party’s allies in the intelligentsia are disappointing to many of us who long wished to see a judicial reckoning of the crimes of 1971, but now get to see only an emotive and politicised farce that is beneath the dignity of a proud and fair people.

We deserved better. We still do. l

Esam Sohail is an educational research analyst and college lecturer of social sciences. He writes from Kansas, USA.

BIGSTOCK

The question was not whether horrendous crimes were committed or not. The only question was if we were going to come into the 21st century and prove their guilt beyond doubt in a court of law whose proceedings were beyond reproach

If the goal was to feel emotionally vindicated, we succeeded handsomely. If the goal was to punish the perpetrators, we have likely failed, at least partially

T H I R D E Y E

Can we get back on track?

Bangladesh will move on no matter who is in power, or who is coming forward to help them. Yes, our 1971 martyrs dreamt of a better Bangladesh with more social progress, political inclusiveness, and justi� ed access to national wealth. But Bangladesh is changing

Occupy and hartal: Worlds apartn Luke Swanson

The tra� c in Gulshan whirrs and hums in a similar way to most days, but today I am receiving

a number of texts, calls, and noti� ca-tions of violence brimming in the city’s borders. Politicians are being put on death row and workers are � ghting for higher wages. The country’s political parties lie at a crossroads, with neither willing to yield or discuss to reach an agreement that will end these con� icts and better the people of Bangladesh.

While these events are happening here in Dhaka, I am half a world away from my country, the United States, but I see constant similarities in these two countries’ landscapes. Politicians are removed, playing with the people as pawns and trying to make moves to grab power without thought or consid-eration for those who are working day in and day out for the right to survive.

They think little of the rami� ca-tions of their actions, and they give empty promises to pile on to the oth-ers, long unful� lled, of a better future and pure democracy with the right of each to build a future for themselves.

Many in this country hold Ameri-ca in a high regard, as a place that is orderly, where business and a proper life can be easily conducted. However, I cast my memory back to the Occupy movement two years ago and see humanity uniting in a global struggle for a voice.

This week marks the two year anniversary of the west coast Occu-py movement. The � ame began on Wall Street and spread like wild� re from coast to coast before jumping across oceans and around the world. It seemed temporary at � rst, grabbing headlines and a wild� re of sensation-alist media, but gradually it began to grow into something real.

It was 2011, 40 years after our cul-tural revolution, and we as a country were apathetic. This apathy annoyed us all, got under our skin, itching and disturbing us as we noticed it. It came out often in years previous, in dinner conversations, college seminars, and any place where conscientious people came together.

Many have criticised the Occupy movement for its lack of focus. How-ever, we were a generation unhappy with too many aspects of the current system to be pinpointed. Our goal was freedom and equality for all.

If they said we could not demon-strate as was our constitutional right, then we must demonstrate. Every vio-lent act committed by the government

only fanned the � ames of non-violent resistance. I was brought into the movement when I checked my email one morning and saw a video showing a recent military veteran, Scott Olson, being shot with a gas canister.

Tears came to my eyes as I realised that I could no longer sit idly by and let my brothers and sisters stand for freedom on American soil. I joined Occupy Oakland that evening, met by cold eyes from the policeman as I walked and sat down, uneasily, with others in the encampment. Some days passed uneventfully, working my job and going to the plaza where Occupy was located.

Others ended with tear gas, batons, and rubber bullets as policemen chased us away again and again, in-juring those who were � ghting for the very constitutional rights they were hired to defend. These events con-tinued for months, eventually fading away from sight, but forever leaving the imprint on the world that people are ready to stand up for their rights.

Now, two years later, I sit in Dhaka, and news of a rejuvenation of the Occupy movement is coming to my inbox. I am contemplating these past events as I see another revolution un-fold around me. I see police violence against the poor alongside the mind-less mob attacks. I see poor workers standing for their rights as human beings with a voice. I see confusion, violence, and a fractured political sys-tem. I see politicians using the poor as pawns for their own political gain.

I do not defend those looting in the streets, harming the innocent, and burn-ing factories. On the contrary, I stand with those who are working for peaceful, meaningful change for this country. I stand with those who are urging politi-cians to work together so that the poor are not the ones who will su� er.

I stand with those who are working for equality for all, for the right to work, earn, and build a good life in safe conditions with the dignity each human deserves. l

Luke Swanson is an environmental scientist.  

I see confusion, violence, and a fractured political system. I see politicians using the poor as pawns for their own political gain

The ICT: We deserved better

SYED

ZA

KIR

HO

SSA

IN

Pater Gaan Banglar BaghWhen mighty Bengal tigers become people’s friends

n Shadma Malik

An array of spectacular and vibrant scroll paintings (Pata Chitra) portraying the national animal the Royal Bengal tigers engaging in many interesting activities with human beings are being displayed at Gallery Cosmos-2. The 10-day long solo art exhibition titled Pater Gaan Banglar Bagh by Nazir Hossain will continue on till November 24. The collection of dazzling and lively artworks present the wild and ferocious tigers of Bengal as friends of the com-mon people.

In Nazir’s artworks, the tiger has roles from being a haul-er to a musician and in one piece, the tiger is seen celebrat-ing the liberation of the country by waving the national � ag. The tigers in his artworks are naïve and friendly with humans.

The display has an attractive animated quality about it as it is composed of mainly vivacious colours in the shades of red, blue, green and yellow. All of the pieces re� ect Nazir’s respect and understanding of rural Bangladesh and show-cases stories of lifestyle in the rural regions.

On his artworks, the artist states: “Bagh, Tiger is a heroic symbol in my artworks. The regal beast rep-resents victory and the joy that comes hand in hand.The tiger is one of the most common animals that appear in the folklore of the country time and again. In my works, one can notice, tiger enjoying and cherishing with human beings.”

Nazir is leaving his marks in the art arena of Bangladesh as an arcadian artist who is carrying the rich heritage of the traditional folk art of the country, Pata Chitra.

For thousands of years, the age old art form, scroll paint-ing has existed in Bangladesh and is a lively way of depict-ing scenes of cultural myths and themes from life in rural Bangladesh. To preserve the legacy of scroll paintings in Bangladesh, Nazir’s artistic endeavours and creativity bring out the origin of the rural element in the exhibition.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Shiro Sadoshima, Ambassador of Japan in Bangladesh as chief guest,along with Moinuddin Khaled as the guest of honour.Eminent artist Biren Shome was also present at theshow. l

EntertainmentDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 201312

ON TV

MOVIES6:30pmStar MoviesThe Avengers11:00pm Zee StudioI Am Number Four

DRAMA6:05pm RTV Shopner Patshala 9:45pm Banglavision Batighor

COMEDY1:00pm Comedy CentralWhitney8:30pm Z CafeThe Big Bang Theory

NEWS8:00pm ATN NewsPrime News Bangla9:00pm Desh TvNews

MISC11:00am Travel XPBest From The Rest10:30pm National GeographicSupercars

Artworks by artist Nazir Hossain

Minus-e Minus-e Prem airs tonight n Entertainment Desk

The tele� lm Minus-e Minus-e Prem will air todayat 8pm on Maasranga Television. Directed by Shawkaat Ali Rana, the tele� lm features Anisur Rahman Milon, Tisha, Shahidul Alam Shacchu, Masum Aziz, Dilara Zaman and others.

The story opens by showing two homely neighbours in-terested in extending their friendship to being family mem-bers by marrying their o� spring. Shamsuddin’s son Johnny lives in London with his uncle. Habiba and Johnny have nev-er met in person but agrees on marrying each other to satisfy their parent’s wishes.

They see pictures of one another and immediately both party develops a dislike for the other. They get married over the phone and shortly afterwards starts to have frequent dis-agreements over phone. Gradually the phone relationship reaches such unpleasantness that Johnny comes to Bangla-

desh to get a divorce from the unpleasant entrapment of his marriage. But their determined families goes on plotting to keep them together. l

Milon and Tisha in Minus-e Minus-e Prem

n Rubaiyat Kabir

It was upon hearing Eddie Vedder yell “sometimes you � nd yourself hav-ing to put all your faith in no faith” in the opening track Getaway that I inadvertently let out a tiny squeal of excitement. The past few years have seen Pearl Jam become a bit of a ro-nin of a band, a rebel without a cause as they say. As songwriters, Vedder and his cohorts are at their element when there’s something worth rant-ing about, and by that measurement Lightning Bolt, the band’s tenth studio album, is their strongest record since 2002’s Riot Act.

With Lightning Bolt, Pearl Jam brings in some of the ferocity of their earlier records (most notably Vitalogy and Yield) and melds it with their newfound sense of comfort and accessibility. In some ways the album is quite similar to the band’s last record Backspacer, from the economical runtimes to the recruitment of Brendan O’Brien as producer, and much like the 2009 record the album starts o� with a one-two-three punch in the tracks Getaway, a tight arena rock track that brings to mind classics such as State of Love and Trust and Hail Hail, the album’s � rst single Mind Your Manners, a punk-infused number in the vein of Spin the Black Circle and

My Father’s Son, a dark but � ery track that wouldn’t have felt out of place as a Riot Act deep cut.

It’s expected then that the album pace itself a bit after assaulting the ears with a barrage of angry rock, which is why it feels like the much hyped Sirens was carefully placed as the follow-up. An irrefutably radio-friendly ballad, Sirens is a bit too long for pop and really doesn’t make much of an impression upon � rst-listen, but after subsequent plays you start noticing each individual member coming into their own within the song, from Je� Ament’s soulful bass to Stone Gossard’s ambient guitar playing and Mick McCready’s wailing guitar solo, giving some credibility to all the pre-release hype.

The album hits a crescendo in title track Lightning Bolt, an ode to Vedder’s love for sur� ng, before moving onto the much calmer Infallible and brooding Pendulum. From there the album falls into a period of sincerity, starting with the excellent Swallowed Whole, where Vedder’s singing is at its most earnest,followedby the bluesy stomp of Let the Records Play and Sleeping By Myself, a carryover from Vedder’s 2011 solo record Ukulele Songs that the band manages to make its own here. The album comes to an end with Yellow Moon and Future Days, the

former a contemplative and (for want of a better term) “breathable” song which, much like Sirens, showcases the band getting comfortable within their de� ned roles and is undeniably the highlight of the record, while the latter is a four minute acoustic track that sees producer Brendan O’Brien join in on the piano, deeply personal and uplifting while being somewhat melancholic at the same time. The songs provide an appropriate � nale to an album that starts o� sounding like it’s ready to take on the world.

Pearl Jam is now considered to be the elder statesmen of rock and roll, a fact hinted at by the serenity and joy of Backspacer and now cemented by the appropriately titled Lightning Bolt. As a songwriter and musician Eddie Vedder is wiser and more battle-hardened than he was ten of twenty years ago and the rest of the band has adapted to that, no more apparent is that than in drummer Matt Cameron’s chameleon-like playing, who is fresh from the calculated odd-time beats of Soundgarden’s excellent King Animal from last year. Lightning Bolt is Pearl Jam’s most complete record since 1995’s No Code, it lacks the focus of either of their last two albums but it a� ords them a more varied sonic palette that the band doesn’t waste. l

A closer look at Pearl Jam’s Lightning Bolt

The members of Pearl Jam, from left-to-right: Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Eddie Vedder, Je� Ament and Stone Gossard

Prachyanat staged its acclaimed play Raja Ebong Onyanyo at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy yesterday. Adapted from Tagore’s play Raja and directed by Azad Abul Kalam, the experimental production gives a new approach to the original story by satirising the socio-political context of today’s world AMIRUL RAJIV

I never had issues with Katrina’s height: Aamir n Entertainment Desk

Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif are working togeth-er for the � rst time in Dhoom 3, an action-thriller which will hit theatres next month.

Aamir Khan, who is credited with giving several memorable hits, was e� usive in praise for new-age star Katrina Kaif, saying she has acquired a reputa-tion of delivering super hit � lms.

“If Katrina is there in a � lm then it has to be a super hit. When I was signing Dhoom 3 I was told about this,” Aamir said on Tuesday.

Katrina, who has created a niche for herself after her entry in Bollywood over a decade ago, appears tall in front of Aamir, but the senior actor

isn’t complaining about it.“I never had issues with her height, did not ask

her to remove heels. I love tall women,” Aamir said.

“Initially, I was skeptical to work with Aamir Khan because of his planned and meticulous na-ture...so I was nervous. But when we started work-ing I found him amazing. He is a genius actor and treats his co-stars well,” Katrina Kaif said at the game launch of Dhoom 3.

The 30-year-old popular star has worked with all the leading Khans of Bollywood and felt all of them are talented in their own way. “They all share the same surname but they are di� erent actors and have di� erent style.” l

Madonna tops the 2013 Forbes list of highest-paid musiciansn Entertainment Desk

The queen of pop is still on top, as Madonna earns the title of world’s highest-paid musician of 2013.

According to Forbes Magazine, the 55-year-old diva earned $125 million from June 2012 to May 2013 thanks to her highly-successful MDMA Tour.

Madonna easily surpassed singer Lady Gaga and veteran rockers Bon Jovi in Forbes list.

“Madonna is living up to her nickname: the Material Girl tops our list of the top-earning mu-sicians by a wide margin,” Forbes said.

Second-place Lady Gaga, 27, earned $80 mil-lion and Bon Jovi, came in third with $79 million.

Like Madonna, 55, they all had heftyearnings from tours. Lady Gaga’s latest tour brought in $168 million before it was cut short due to her hip injury that required surgery. Bon Jovi’s concerts gross more than $3 millionper city.

Forbes compiled the list of the 25 high-est-paid musicians by estimating income for the 12 months between June 2012 and June 2013 using data from the trade publication Pollstar, trade organisation RIAA, and information and sales tracking system Nielsen SoundScan. The magazine also consulted with industry lawyers, managers and some of the musicians.

Ticket sales, royalties, merchandise sales and business ventures were included in the estimat-ed pre-tax income before deductions for agents, managers and lawyers. l

Mohammedan v Sheikh JamalMohammedan 165/10 in 46 oversMashrafe Mortaza 49, Muktar Ali 26Subashis Roy 30/4, Tanveer Haider 26/3Mush� qur Rahim 44 not out, Jahurul Islam 33, Rahmat Shah 38/3

Sheikh Jamal 167/6 in 34.2 overMush� qur Rahim 44 not out, Jahurul Islam 33, Rahmat Shah 38/3

Sheikh Jamal won by four wickets

Gazi Tank v Kalabagan CAGazi Tank 337/4 in 50 overRaqibul Hasan 98, Imrul Kayes 64, Ryan ten Doeschate54

Kalabagan CA 195/10 in 45.3 oversArafat Sunny 45/3 Rubel Hossain 14/2

Gazi Tank won by 142 runs

Prime Doleshwar v Prime BankPrime Doleshwar 244/7 in 50 overMehedi Maruf 49 Farhad Reza43 not out, Dawid Malan 40Enamul Jr 53/3 Shehan Jayasuriya 41/2

Prime Bank CC 188/10 in 49.3 overShehan Jayasuriya 45 Mahmudul Hasan 34Farhad Reza 33/3, Sabbir Rahman 31/2

Prime Doleshwar won by 56 runs

BRIEF SCORES

14

13DHAKA TRIBUNEThursday, November 21, 2013

SportDid you know?

14 15 Con� dent England eye fourth Ashes series win in a row

The most sixes scored by an individual

batsman in a Test match innings is 12 by Wasim Akram in

a total of 257 not out against Zimbabwe at

Sheikhupura, Pakistan, on 17-21 October 1996

‘Chile killer’ Robinho gives Brazil 2-1 win

France, Portugal reach World Cup after heroics

Gazi Tank batsman Raqibul Hasan hits a boundary over mid-wicket during their Dhaka Premier League match against Kalabagan CA at the SBNS yesterday MUMIT M

Abahani, Jamal kick-o� season todayn Raihan Mahmood

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi and Dhaka Abahani, the two powerhouses of local football, take the � eld in the very � rst day of the new season against rank outsiders Uttar Baridhara and Rahmatganj in the inaugural match of the Walton Federation Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium at 3:45 and 6:00 pm today.

The proverb of “Morning Shows the Day” probably will be the best tag to describe Sheikh Jamal and Abahani’s procedure. How they fare in their re-spective opening matches will demon-strate their character and the shape of the team. The presence of nine nation-al players for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi announces their intention of winning all four titles this season. Jamal was the second best in three tournaments, in-cluding the league, last season and this time they are looking to go one better. Sheikh Jamal bolstered their squad by signing 15 new players, including Hai-tian international Sony Norde, the wily marksman who steered Sheikh Rus-

sell towards the treble of silverwares. He will be partnering with compatriot Wedson to form a lethal force.

Jamal in fact has all the ingredients to post their supremacy with national skipper Mamunul Islam, mid� elder Sohel Rana, winger Mobarak Hossain, striker Sakhawat Hossain Rony , centre-back Kesto and forward Toklis Ahmed.

However Josef Afusi, the Nigerian coach of Sheikh Jamal was taking nothing for granted. “We want to prove ourselves in the � eld, there is nothing to be called as the best on paper. We are a good team and we want perfect teamwork to win the titles this season,” said Afusi.

Afusi wanted to take the � ghting way. “We have been practicing for the last two months and the combinations and the formations are set, but it’s our � rst competitive atmosphere and in a tournament anything can happen. We have to be at our best,” said the Nigerian.

Abahani meanwhile, with a mixture of experience and youth will be

relying on their new foreign signings Brazilian born Italian attacking mid� elder Andre Luis De Souza and Luiz Rumolo De Castro, forwards Mbenoun Ekele Patrick (Cameroon) and Onyekachi Daniel (Nigeria). They have not considered Lucky Paul Otofe for the Federation Cup and opted for long serving Awudu Ibrahim and Samad Yusif. Ghanaian striker Osei Morrison, the forward who played for Mohammedan last season, is also in the sky blue tent.

However the new Aussie coach Na-than Hall who took the charges about three weeks ago, was still to knit the team into a unit and Abahani su� ered a humiliating 5-1 defeat against Sheikh Jamal in a practice match recently.

Manager Satyajit Das Rupu, how-ever, wanted to focus on the future. “Abahani has the power to arrive as the champions. It takes time to settle and the players have realized their tasks, with the perfect knitting of the team Abahani de� nitely will prove its worth. We are looking forward to a bright sea-son,” said Rupu. l

Doleshwar and Gazi remain on topn Mazhar Uddin

Subashis Roy’s four wicket helped Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to reg-ister their � rst win in the super league against Mohammedan Sporting by four wickets at the BKSP 2 ground yesterday.

In the other matches of the day played at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Na-tional Stadium, national discard Roqibul Hasan’s blistering 98, along with Ryan ten Doeschate’s quick 54 runs secured a comfortable 142 run win over Kalabagan CA. While Prime Dholeshwar remained top of the table after beating Prime Bank CC by 56 runs at the Khan Shaheb Os-man Ali.

Sheikh Jamal vs MohammedanOpting to bat � rst, Mohammedan skip-per Mashrafe Mortaza had to face some early wickets at the start of the innings before the skipper top scored with 49 to go along with Muktar Ali’s 26 and English cricketer Samit Patel’s 23 as Mohammed-an were bundle out for 165 in 46 overs.

Young pacer Subashis Roy picked up four wickets, while leg spinner Tanveer Haider bagged three and left arm spinner Elias Sunny took two wickets for Jamal.

In reply, national captain Mush� qur Rahim’s unbeaten 44 and national dis-card opener Jahurul Islam scored 33 runs to guide Jamal to the target for the loss of four wickets and 16 overs to spare. Afghan leg spinner Rahmat Shah picked up three wickets and Habibur Rahman took two while national crick-eter Mashrafe Mortaza remained wicket less.

Gazi Tank vs Kalabagan CAGazi skipper Mahmudullah won the toss and elected to bat and both the openers, national discards Imrul Kayes and Aftab Ahmed, smashed � fties before the latter was out for 53. Imrul went on to make 64.

But the star of the match was another national discard, Raqibul Hasan who missed a century by just two runs, but not before striking ten fours and � ve sixes. In company with Netherland’s Ryan ten Doeschate’s big hitting, Roq-ibul guided Gazi to 337/10 after 50 over.

In reply, Kalabagan CA were in all sorts of trouble as they cut down to 26/4 and never recovered. Wicket keeper batsman Saghir Hossain remained not out on 70 and skipper Sharifullah scored a half century as Kalabagan � nished

their innings on 195/9 with Dewan Sab-bir not batting due to injury. Left arm spinner Arafat Sunny bagged three wickets while national pacer Rubel Hos-sain took two wickets for Gazi.

Prime Doleshwar vs Prime Bank CCAt the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, after being put in to bat, Prime Dolesh-war posted a challenging total of 244/7 in 50 overs where opening batsman Mehedi Maruf top scored with49 runs while Farhad Reza remained not out on 43 and English cricketer Dawid Malan smashed 40.

Skipper left arm spinner Enamul Haque Jr picked up three wickets and Sri Lankan o� break bowler Shehan Jayas-uriya took two wickets for Doleshwar.

Chasing the target, Prime Bank never looked con� dent as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and only their foreign recruit Shehan Jayasuriya’s 45 stood out as they were bowled out for 188 in 49.3 overs.

Doleshwar captain Farhad Reza, who picked up three wickets, was named man of the match as Doleshwar re-mained on top of the league table along with Gazi Tank. l

Raqibul presses claim for national recalln Minhaz Uddin Khan

National discard Raqibul Hasan’s unbeat-en 98 o� 64 balls aided Gazi Tank in post-ing a mammoth total and begin the Super Six phase in the Dhaka Premier League on a winning note as they defeated Kala-bagan Cricket Academy by 142 runs. 

Lost form saw Raqibul lose his place from the national squad in 2011, but after much hard work, the right-hand batsman is showing signs of good form. 

Raqibul has scored 428 runs in 11 matches in the DPL so far including � ve half-centuries, at an average of 47.56. 

“So far the tournament has been good for me. Thanks to the almighty and hope that I will be able end this season on a higher note,” said Raqibul to the media after the Kalabagan game at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. 

“I always try to play according to the situation and always look forward to perform according to the team’s de-mand. Have worked hard on my batting in last few months,” said the 26-year old. 

With Sri Lanka due to tour in a couple of months, his recent form will surely catch the attention of the selectors. However, Raqibul informed he was only thinking of improving his batting.

 “I want to thank Fahim Sir (Nazmul Abedin) for helping me develop my batting skills. Earlier I had to bat at the opening position and after that, I started batting in the middle order, so I have to change my batting approach according to the situation. 

“At the moment, I am not thinking about anything else and concentrating on my batting and team and the rest is up to the selectors,” he said. l

Hall gone, Parmoslemi duen Shishir Hoque

It has been only been 32 days since Na-than Hall arrived in Dhaka to � ll the va-cant head coaching position at Abahani Limited but the four-time professional football league champions sacked the Australian coach yesterday before he feature in any professional game.

Abahani’s former Iranian coach Ali Akber Parmoslemi is set to replace Hall and rejoin the Bangladesh Pre-mier League giants during the Federa-tion Cup, con� rmed Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu yesterday. Rupu also claimed the Parmoslemi has already given the green signal and agreed to join the Sky-blues soon.

According to the club o� cials, the Australian coach failed to handle the team professionally which is one of the main reasons behind showing Hall the exit just a day before the Federation Cup kicks o� . Creating discrimination among the foreign players of the club and lack of true professional approach are the other reasons behind sacking of the 29-year-old.

“After having a meeting with the team management and o� cials, we agreed to sack Hall. I informed him it yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. We thought he is not the right man to man-age a club like Abahani as he failed to handle the team, especially his judg-ment about the foreign players,” Rupu told the Dhaka Tribune at the club yes-terday.

It was also learnt that Hall rated the Brazilian coaches more than the Afri-can players which could demotivate

the current foreign players. Abahani appointed Hall on October

19 after an unproductive spell with an Iranian coach. Before Abahani, Hall was the head coach of Indian I-League club United Sikkim.

Abahani, who will play Rahmatganj in the Federation Cup opener today, has not won a title in the last two seasons under Iranian coaches Ardeshir Pournemat. The year before that, Iranian Ali Akbar led them to the league title.

“We’ve already got our replacement for Hall. Ali Akbar will take the charge of the club. I talked to him today and he has given his agreement to join the club. I hope he will arrive soon,” added Rupu.

Meanwhile Nathan Hall expressed anger before his departure. “I have found a non-professional approach in Abahani, the way they run the club does not go with modern football. I found it hard to cope with the environ-ment and the o� cials did not cooper-ate with me. I was not comfortable there,” said the Australian. l

After having a meeting with the team management and o� cials, we agreed to sack Hall. I informed him it yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. We thought he is not the right man to manage a club like Abahani as he failed to handle the team, especially his judgment about the foreign players

The foreign recruits of Sheikh Jamal DC share a light moment with skipper Mamunul Islam during a training session at the club ground yesterday MUMIT M

Sri Lanka arrives on January 24n Minhaz Uddin Khan

The Bangladesh Cricket Board con-� rmed the itinerary of Bangladesh’s next home assignment against Sri Lan-ka in January 2014.   

The Sri Lanka national team will reach Dhaka on January 24 and during the month long tour, will lock horns with the Tigers in two Tests, three One Day Internationals and two Twenty20s. 

The bilateral series will begin with the � rst Test at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS) on January 27.

The team will next move to the port-city for the second Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium from February 4.  

The two Twenty20 games will also be held in ZACS on February 12 and 14.

The games will be important to both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for it will be an opportunity for the sides to assess the conditions ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 in March. 

The � rst ODI will be held at Sylhet

Divisional Stadium on February 17. This will be the maiden international game for the venue, which will later hosts matches in the Twenty20 World Cup. 

The second and third ODI will take place at SBNS on February 20 and 22 respectively. All the three ODIs will be day-night games and the tour will have no warm-up matches.  

Sri Lanka will stay in Bangladesh to participate in the Asia Cup 2013.  

Bangladesh will face Pakistan in the opening game of that tournament on February 20. 

The visit will be Sri Lanka’s � rst full tour of Bangladesh since 2008. The Tigers lost the two matches Test series 2-0 but later had put on a good show in the Tri Nation Cup against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

In the tournament, Bangladesh faced Sri Lanka in the � nal and lost narrowly two wickets. The last time Sri Lanka was in Bangladesh was the Asia Cup 2012 and the islanders lost all three of their games. l

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 201314

FRIENDLY RESULTSEngland 0-1 Germany Mertesacker 39

Poland 0-0 Republic of Ireland

Austria 1-0 USAJanko 33

Slovenia 1-0 CanadaBirsa 53

Belgium 2-3 JapanMirallas 16, Kakitani 37, Alderweireld 79 Honda 53, Okazaki 63

Turkey 2-1 BelarusUmut Bulut 4, Rodionov 10Yilmaz 89

Australia 1-0 Costa RicaCahill 69

Gibraltar 0-0 Slovakia

Norway 0-1 Scotland Brown 61

Russia 2-1 South KoreaSmolov 12, Shin-Wook Kim 6Tarasov 59

Netherlands 0-0 Colombia

Advantage Germany after poor England defending

n Reuters, London

Germany continued their World Cup preparations with a win and main-tained their long unbeaten run at Wembley Stadium when they took advantage of some poor defending to beat England 1-0 in a relatively low-key friendly on Tuesday.

The decisive goal came when Ger-many skipper Per Mertesacker out-jumped Chris Smalling to powerfully head in a cross from Tony Kroos after 39 minutes and again expose a weak-ness at the heart of the home defence, for so long a strength of the England team.

Ange Postecoglou enjoyed a win-ning start to his tenure as Australia coach with a 1-0 win over Costa Rica and Russia saw o� South Korea 2-1 in a friendly in Dubai.

In a landmark friendly, Gibraltar drew 0-0 with Slovakia on Tuesday in Portugal in their � rst match since being admitted to UEFA, Europe’s governing soccer body. l

Peralta hat-trick takes Mexico to World Cupn AFP, Wellington

An Oribe Peralta hat-trick � red Mexico into their sixth successive World Cup on Wednesday, as El Tri downed New Zea-land 4-2 to end a roller-coaster quali� ca-tion campaign on a high.

Peralta, who also scored two when Mexico trounced the All Whites 5-1 at home in last week’s � rst leg, e� ectively killed o� the return leg before the break, with Carlos Pena making the aggregate score 9-3 at the death.

Victory in the intercontinental play-o� means Mexico have now reached 15 of the last 20 World Cups, making them one of the most consistent teams in international football. But the 24th-ranked team have endured a rocky qual-i� cation road to Brazil, scraping to an embarrassing fourth place in the North and Central America and the Caribbean confederation (CONCACAF),

They also allowed the unfancied All Whites to claw back two late goals in Wellington, prompting coach Miguel Herrera to say they were not yet the � n-ished article.l

France, Portugal reach World Cup after heroicsn AFP, Paris

An electric performance by France and a hat-trick by Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal lifted the two European football heavy-weights across the line in

the race to qualify for next year’s World Cup on Tuesday.

A gripping conclusion to European qualifying also saw Croatia and Greece secure their passages to the 2014 � nals in Brazil. France took on Ukraine at a tense Stade de France, the scene of the hosts’ 1998 World Cup win, with their backs to the wall after last week’s 2-0 � rst leg defeat in Kiev.

But Les Bleus banished the blues that had descended on their supporters with a remarkable show of resolve.

Didier Deschamps’ men took the lead on the night midway through the � rst half through Mamadou Sakho and lev-elled the tie on aggregate when Karim Benzema netted from an o� side posi-tion on 34 minutes.

That strike came shortly after the Real Madrid man had seen a perfectly good goal disallowed, and the contro-versy continued as Ukraine defender Yevhen Kacheridi was sent o� early in the second period. France made their one-man advantage count as an Oleg Gusev own-goal put them ahead in the tie for the � rst time in the 72nd minute and they saw out the rest of the game to win 3-2 on aggregate.

Deschamps told French television: “Four days ago, we were in a bad posi-tion but the players were fantastic to-night.

“I didn’t have doubts but we played a huge match and this quali� cation is very important for French football.

“It’s a bit of a tradition that when French teams have their backs against

the wall, they perform and we had a lot of heart and determination today.

“Now we’ve quali� ed, we’re capable of some great things.”

Over in Solna it was a case of Ronaldo taking on Sweden’s star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ronaldo had given Portugal the edge with the only goal in last week’s � rst leg, and he put them into the lead � ve min-utes after the restart.

Ibrahimovic rattled o� a quick � re double to set the tie alight only for Ron-aldo to hit back with two more goals to steal the show. Portugal coach Paulo Bento praised Ronaldo who became his country’s all-time leading scorer with a tally of 50 goals.

“A player who scores a hat-trick in a game of this dimension of course that has an e� ect that is very in� uential on

the � nal result,” he said.In Zagreb, Croatia ended Iceland’s

hopes of becoming the smallest ever na-tion to dine at the World Cup table with goals from Mario Mandzukic and Darijo Srna.

Croatia made it hard for themselves when Mandzukic got sent o� for a dan-gerous tackle not long after his goal.

Croatia, prevailing 2-0 on aggregate, are appearing at their fourth World Cup � nals after the editions of 1998, 2002 and 2006.

In Tuesday’s fourth play-o� Greece faced Romania in Bucharest with one foot in the World Cup door after last week’s 3-1 � rst leg win. And the 2004 European champions duly � nished o� the job, with a 1-1 draw for a 4-2 aggre-gate win to seal their ticket to a third World Cup after 1994 and 2010. l

Algeria, Ghana complete Africa’s � ag bearers for 2014 World Cupn AFP, Abuja

Algeria and Ghana on Tuesday completed the � ve African quali� ers for next year’s World Cup, joining Nigeria, Camer-oon and Ivory Coast, who

all quali� ed at the weekend.This quintet is identical to Africa’s

ambassadors at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Algeria did just enough to book their ticket to their fourth World Cup by beat-ing Burkina Faso 1-0 to go through on the away goals’ rule after the � rst game ended 3-2 in favour of the west Africans.

It needed a scrambled e� ort in the

49th minute by skipper Madjid Bough-erra for Algeria to book their � ight to Brazil next year.

Burkina Faso, beaten � nalists at this

year’s Africa Cup of Nations, were reso-lute in defence, but o� ered very little going forward.

Despite losing 2-1 in Cairo, the Black

Stars of Ghana quali� ed for a third successive World Cup, 7-3 on aggregate.

Egypt could not overcome the 6-1 humiliation they su� ered at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi last month.

The Pharaohs, who last appeared at the World Cup in 1990, scored through Amr Zaki and Mohamed Gedo in either half, before substitute Kevin-Prince Boateng pulled a goal back for Ghana late on. Ghana became only the third African team to reach the last eight of a World Cup four years ago,

And they will again be fancied to do well in Brazil with the return of several of their top stars like Michael Essien, Kevin-Prince Boateng and the Ayew brothers, Andre and Jordan.l

‘Chile killer’ Robinho gives Brazil 2-1 winn Reuters

Robinho came o� the bench to head home the winner in Brazil’s 2-1 vic-tory over Chile on Tuesday, taking his personal tally to nine against their South American rivals and boosting his chances of playing at next year’s World Cup � nals.

Robinho, who has now scored one more goal against Chile than Pele, was recalled for this month’s friendlies against Chile and Honduras after two years in the international wilderness.

He appears to have taken his chance and his performances in both games sug-gest he will make it into Luiz Felipe Sco-lari’s squad for next year’s World Cup.

“I always had luck against Chile,” Robinho said after the � nal whistle at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

“I didn’t know I had the record against Chile until just now. What was important was that we played well.”

Both teams struggled on an im-provised surface of moveable grassy squares that rose up with alarming fre-quency, but it was Brazil who opened the scoring in the 14th minute when Oscar threaded a perfect pass to Hulk, who lashed home a venomous shot from 12 yards.

Neither side was able to impose themselves on the match and Chile, coming o� a 2-0 win over England at Wembley, grabbed a deserved equal-

iser in the 70th minute when Eduardo Vargas picked up a fortuitous knock down and stroked the ball past Julio Cesar from 25 yards out.

However, Brazil took the lead again 12 minutes from time thanks to Robin-ho. Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo completely missed Maicon’s cross and the AC Milan striker was on hand to bullet a header home from point-blank range.

The result ended Chile’s 10-game unbeaten run and took Brazil’s string of unbeaten matches to six.

Brazil are expected to play one more friendly, against South Africa in Johan-nesburg in March, before Scolari an-nounces his World Cup squad.l

Ronaldo steals show from Ibrahimovic in titanic clashn Reuters, Stockholm

It was billed as a clash of the titans with Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the starring roles but at the end of the night Portugal’s captain took the plaudits as his stunning hat-trick clinched a World Cup spot.

The drama took a long time coming but it was worth waiting for the second act with Ronaldo putting the visitors ahead after the break only for Sweden skipper Ibrahimovic to score twice before the Portuguese had the last

word with two more goals.Ronaldo’s heroics secured a 3-2

win on the night and, after his goal in Lisbon, a 4-2 aggregate playo� victory to secure a place at next year’s � nals in Brazil. Ronaldo also equalled Portugal’s all-time goalscoring record of 47 held by Pauleta.

“I know Portugal needed me in these matches and I showed that I am here,” he told Portuguese TV after the game.

Despite indi� erent performances by both captains in the � rst leg, it was Ronaldo who dived among the � ying boots late on in the � rst leg to give his country a precious 1-0 lead.

With the return being played at a stadium dubbed ‘the Zlatan Arena’, Ibrahimovic had it all to prove and he did his best, sending a corner � ying into the net with a glancing header before smashing home a free kick from the edge of the box.

But, in the end, Ronaldo was the di� erence.

When the Portugal skipper netted his third goal, even Ibrahimovic was applauding and Ronaldo later complimented his great rival, saying: “Zlatan is a fantastic player, and when you feel great support from your team, it’s great.”

Ibrahimovic, at 32, now faces the harsh reality that he will end his career without scoring at a World Cup � nals while the 28-year-old Ron-aldo can look forward to gracing the greatest soccer show on earth next June in Brazil. l

RESULTSRomania 1-1 GreeceTorosidis 55-og Mitroglou 23

Greece qualify 4-2 on aggregate

Croatia 2-0 IcelandMandzukic 27, Srna 47

Croatia qualify 2-0 on aggregate

Sweden 2-3 PortugalIbrahimovic 68, 72 Ronaldo 50, 77, 79

Portugal qualify 4-2 on aggregate

France 3-0 UkraineSakho 22, Benzema 34, Gusev 72-og

France qualify 3-2 on aggregate

RESULTSEgypt 2-1 GhanaZaki 25, Boateng 89Gedo 84

Ghana qualify 7-3 on aggregate

Algeria 1-0 Burkina FasoBougherra 493-3 on aggregate. Algeria qualify on away-goals

TEAMS QUALIFIED FOR WCEUROPE

Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, England, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, FranceASIA

Japan, Australia, Iran, South Korea(Jordan involved in a two-leg play-o�

with Uruguay. Uruguay won � rst leg 5-0)SOUTH AMERICA

Brazil (hosts), Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador (Uruguay involved in a two-leg play-o� with Jordan. Uruguay won � rst leg 5-0; 2nd leg on Wednesday. Win-ners will qualify)CONCACAF

United States, Costa Rica, Honduras, MexicoAFRICA

Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Algeria

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring at the Friends Arena in Solna, near Stockholm during their Fifa 2014 World Cup playo� match on Tuesday AFP

France's national team coach Didier Deschamps and team mates celebrate after winning their 2014 World Cup qualifying second leg playo� match against Ukraine at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis near on Tuesday REUTERS

Sweden's forward Ibrahimovic takes o� his captain band at the Friends Arena in Solna, after their Fifa 2014 WC playo� match against Portugal on Tuesday AFP

15SportDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

Fed Cup co-sponsors announcedBangladesh Football Federation (BFF) o� cially introduced the co-sponsors of the Federation Cup at the BFF House yesterday. Walton is the title sponsor of the season’s � rst professional tourna-ment, while the co-sponsors are Amber Group, DBL Group and Pragati Insurance Limited. BFF senior vice president and professional football league committee chairman Abdus Salam Murshedy intro-duced the sponsors’ representatives to the media. Walton’s Games and Sports additional director Iqbal Bin Anwar, Am-ber Group’s Sales and Marketing director Aktaruzzaman, Chairman of DBL Group Abdul Wahed and deputy managing director of Pragati Insurance Limited K H Zafor Sadeque were present on the occasion. Iqbal bin Anwar at the press conference announced to a life-time sponsorship program and assistance for deprived but talented players.

–SH

Belgium get World Cup reality check in loss to JapanBelgium’s World Cup ambitions received another reality check on Tuesday when they su� ered a second defeat in � ve days with a 3-2 loss to an impressive Japan in a friendly in Brussels. Belgium, who have climbed to � fth in Fifa’s world ranking after an unbeaten qualifying campaign, were undone by a 44th-ranked Japanese team that exposed the hosts’ defensive frailties. Marc Wilmots’s side, who will take their place in Brazil next year for their � rst World Cup � nals in 12 years, lost 2-0 to Colombia last Thursday. For Japan, due to make their � fth consecutive World Cup appearance, it was proof of further progress after they produced some e� ective one-touch football to come from two goals down and draw with the Netherlands on Saturday.

–Reuters

Deschamps contract extended to 2016The contract of France coach Didier De-schamps has been extended through to 2016, the French Football Federation’s president announced on Tuesday night. Deschamps’ existing deal had been due to expire after next year’s World Cup, but Noel Le Graet con� rmed in the wake of the win against Ukraine at the Stade de France which secured their place at the � nals that he would be staying for an extra two years. “Didier had my full con� dence and he will continue with Les Bleus until Euro 2016,” Le Graet told press at the Stade de France. Des-champs had hinted that he would step down if France failed to reach the World Cup, but Tuesday’s 3-0 win against Ukraine saw them reach the 2014 tour-nament in Brazil with a 3-2 aggregate victory in their decisive play-o� . He will now stay to lead the team into the 2016 Euros, which France will host.

–AFP

Hummels out for months, Schmelzer misses derbyBorussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels will be out until January while Marcel Schmelzer will miss Saturday’s Bundes-liga clash with Bayern Munich after they were injured in Germany’s 1-0 win over England on Tuesday, the club said. Hum-mels picked up a heel bone injury in the friendly at Wembley and has been ruled out for the rest of the year while fellow defender Schmelzer su� ered a calf mus-cle injury and will be sidelined for three weeks, Dortmund said on Wednesday. The Bundesliga club are already without long-time injured mid� elder Ilkay Guendogan as well as central defender Neven Subotic, who will be missing for six months with a knee injury. Defender Lukasz Piszczek has only just returned to training after his own long injury absence following hip surgery.

–Reuters

Referees chief ‘sorry’ over Chelsea penaltyThe Premier League’s refereeing organisation has apologised to West Bromwich Albion over a penalty awarded against them in their recent match at Chelsea, manager Steve Clarke revealed on Wednesday. West Brom were denied victory at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea were controversially awarded a stop-page-time penalty when Ramires went down in the box following a collision with visiting defender Steven Reid. Eden Haz-ard scored from the spot to earn Chelsea a 2-2 draw, much to Clarke’s annoyance, but he says that Mike Riley, head of the Professional Game Match O� cials Board (PGMOB), subsequently called West Brom to say sorry. “We’ve had a phone call from Mike Riley to apologise,” Clarke told the club website.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES Australia delays naming team to play Englandn AFP, Brisbane

Captain Michael Clarke kept everyone guessing Wednesday about the � nal makeup of the Australia team for the opening Test against England, saying the selectors were still discussing it. Most interest centres on whether spinner Na-than Lyon will play ahead of bowling allrounder James Faulkner in the � nal 11.

Lyon is favoured given the strong re-cord of spinners at the Gabba, but Clarke said selection debates were still going on. Faulkner was a stand-out for Austra-lia in their last Ashes Test at The Oval in August. Clarke, who is no longer a selec-tor, said he knew the batting order for the top seven, but would not be disclos-ing it until just before Thursday’s start of the Gabba Test in Brisbane.

“The selectors are probably talking about it as we speak so it’s probably a question for those guys,” Clarke told his Test-eve media conference.

“I can’t talk about the selection part of it, because I’m not having that con-versation right now with the selectors but the wicket looks fantastic.

“I think it looks a really good pitch, I think it’s going to o� er pace and bounce for the bowlers and that includes spin.”

He continued: “The Gabba is one of the best Test wickets in the world to play, it... always keeps the bowlers inter-ested and once you’re in, it’s as good a place to bat as anywhere.” l

546 o� 330 balls!Indian schoolboy plays miracle inningsn AFP, New Delhi

A 14-year-old Indian batsman smashed an astonishing 546 o� 330 balls in a school match in Mumbai, recording the third highest score in any form of crick-et, media reports said on Wednesday.

Prithvi Shaw, playing for Rizvi Spring� eld school, compiled the huge score against St Francis school in the Harris Shield, a tournament that brought batting icon Sachin Tendulkar into the limelight more than two de-cades ago.

Shaw hit 85 boundaries and � ve six-es, surpassing the previous best score in the competition of 498 by Armaan Ja� ar, nephew of former Indian opener Wasim Ja� ar, two years ago, the Times Now and CNN-IBN channels said.

Shaw’s innings was spread over two days after he was unbeaten on 257 on Tuesday evening.

“I am feeling good,” the youngster

told Times Now. “It is a good score for me and my team. Our coach just asked

me to concentrate on every ball. The only plan was to score as many runs as we could.

“I want to continue like this in fu-ture also.”

Indian statistician Mohandas Me-non tweeted that Shaw’s e� ort was the third-highest recorded score behind the unbeaten 628 by Englishman Ar-thur Collins in 1899 and 566 by Charles Eady of Australia in 1901.

It was in the same Harris Shield com-petition that Tendulkar and Vinod Kam-bli struck a 664-run partnership for their school in 1988, with both batsmen re-turning with unbeaten triple-centuries.

Tendulkar retired last week as the world’s top-scorer in both Test and one-day cricket and the only man to compile 100 international centuries.

West Indies’ star Brian Lara holds the individual innings record of 400 not out in Tests and 501 not out in � rst-class cricket.l

Scott headlines new-look World Cupn AFP, Melbourne

This week’s reformatted World Cup of Golf could witness the bizarre sce-nario of Adam Scott � ghting Australian teammate Jason Day for victory in the $8 million event at Royal Melbourne.

In contrast to the full two-man team format over the past six decades, this year’s � eld features 52 players in two-man teams from 26 countries.

But it also has another eight players, including Belgian-born Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts, Fiji’s Vijay Singh and Welshman Jamie Donaldson, teeing o� on their own to make up a � eld of 60.

While 52 players will � ght for the $1 million � rst place team prize, the other eight “single country” players will be ineligible. However, all 60 are eligible

for the $1.2 million � rst prize cheque for the individual champion.

The revised format is a prelude to the one that will be used when golf re-enters the Olympics in 2016 in Brazil, although England, Wales and Scotland, who are competing individually this week, will come under the Great Brit-ain umbrella in Rio.

Unlike all prior World Cup’s since the inaugural event in 1953, teammates will compete in di� erent groups over the � rst two days, with world number two Scott paired with American Matt Kuchar and Italy’s Matteo Manassero on Thursday .

If they should be grouped together over the weekend then under the new rules neither player can o� er advice to the other or be able to concede any putts.

“The new format is a little strange,” said Scott, who is in red-hot form after winning back-to-back tournaments in Australia over the past fortnight.

“I was kind of hoping I would be spending the four days playing along-side Jason as I thought that would be good for both of us but then this event is trying to � nd a new identity, I guess.

“So we are running with this new format this year ahead of taking it to the Olympics in 2016, so we will see how it pans out.”

Kuchar teamed with countryman Gary Woodland to capture the last World Cup two years ago in China, but this time he pairs with Kevin Streel-man, a winner this year of the Tampa Bay Championship and runner-up in the Players Championship. l

England eye fourth Ashes title in rown Reuters, Sydney

The second leg of an Ashes double-header unique in the 131 years of such contests gets underway in Brisbane on Thursday with everything bar the eter-nal optimism of the Australian nation pointing to a fourth successive England triumph.

With the dominant 3-0 success on home soil still fresh in the memory, England can justi� ably approach a trip Down Under with more con� dence than at any time since the 1970s, when World Series cricket tore the heart out of the home side.

The core of an England side un-beaten in tests this year has very happy memories of their last trip in 2010-11, when they hammered Australia 3-1 to win the Ashes on foreign soil for the � rst time in 24 years.

That feeling has been compounded

by the conviction that they won in Eng-land with something to spare and their vaunted batting line-up can only do bet-ter than they did in the � ve home tests.

“I think Australia will suit our bats-men a bit more than English condi-tions,” England paceman Stuart Broad said last week.

“We had these sort of slow, turning wickets that are quite hard to score on and we’ve got guys who cut and pull, free-scoring players, and I think our batsmen are very excited to play here and will thrive in the Australian condi-tions.”

And yet, despite losing seven of their last nine tests and drawing the other two, there is also a growing feel-ing of con� dence in Australia.

The hosts feel the series in England was closer than the scoreline suggest-ed, their batting line-up is more settled than it has been for a while and that if

their quick bowlers can � re on the hard home decks, they can really trouble England.

There was little chance that their preparations for the second series could be disrupted as much as those for the � rst, when coach Mickey Arthur was sacked and opener David Warner was stood down for punching Eng-land’s Joe Root in a bar.

The excellent bowling performance of Ryan Harris in England was one rea-son for the growing optimism and the injury-prone paceman articulated the feeling of the Australia camp after the squad was announced for the Gabba.

“It’s time we brought the urn home and we know that,” he said. “You al-ways have pressure at this level and there is extra after not winning the last few series.

“But if we play our best cricket we will win. We believe in each other.”

Australia have been forced by injury to take a gamble on pace bowler Mitch-ell Johnson recapturing his best form after four years of erratic performances which have made him the favourite tar-get of England’s Barmy Army of fans.

In addition, Harris’s fragile frame is unlikely to last the full � ve tests so Australia will be hoping the recupera-tion of James Pattinson and Jackson Bird continues to go well.

Another gamble was on the un-capped George Bailey for the vacant number six batting spot and while the 31-year-old does not have great red ball pedigree, he has shown a remarkable ability to step for his country in Twen-ty20 and one-day internationals.

All-rounder Shane Watson’s talent is in no doubt but a hamstring injury has disrupted his preparations and the de-cision over whether he will be able to bowl in the � rst test is likely to be taken

on the � rst morning at the Gabba.Despite those small � ies in the oint-

ment, Australia captain Michael Clarke has been trumpeting the new optimism like a politician on the campaign trail.

“I think the team is in a fantastic place and the feeling in the group is outstanding,” he said in Sydney last week.

“I think the boys are � ying. They’re all looking forward to Thursday week.”

The Australian weather means England’s preparations have not been perfect but, apart from a calf injury to wicketkeeper Matt Prior, they have not seen much to darken their collective mood. Australia, though, has never been an easy place to tour for any Eng-land side.

Their last win at the Gabba came in 1986 and their most recent victory in Perth, venue for the third test, goes even further back to the 1978-79 tour.l

Australia's cricket team captain Michael Clarke (R) poses for a photograph as he holds a replica Ashes trophy with England's team captain Alastair Cook at the Gabba cricket ground in Brisbane yesterday REUTERS

South Africa shock world champions Spainn AFP, Soweto

World champions Spain su� ered only a second loss in 17 matches this year after losing 1-0 to South Africa in a friendly international on Tuesday.

Mid� elder Bernard Parker scored the early second-half winner, chipping goalkeeper Victor Valdes from close range and a desperate lunge from a de-fender could not keep the ball out.

Spain rarely threatened to equalise until Alvaro Arbeloa came close deep in stoppage time at the Soccer City sta-dium where they defeated the Nether-lands 1-0 to win the 2010 World Cup.

The shock defeat came � ve months after the only other reverse for La Roja (The Red Fury) this year -- a 3-0 hiding from hosts Brazil in the Confederations Cup � nal.

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque, who signed a two-year contract exten-sion until 2016 last week, o� ered no excuses after only his eighth defeat in 83 matches.

Spain brought seven of the team that started in the World Cup � nal and they all began against Bafana Bafana (The Boys).

Striker David Villa had the ball in the South African net twice within seven minutes of the kick-o� , but the assis-tant referee correctly ruled o� side on each occasion.

The world champions dominated possession in the opening stages with goalkeeper Iker Casillas often the lone � gure in the Spanish half.

But South Africa nearly snatched the lead on 18 minutes when a long-range Manyisa shot went over o� the top of the crossbar after taking a de-� ection.

However, that was forgotten 11 min-utes into the second half when slick Rantie and Manyisa passes left Parker facing substitute Valdes. The diminu-tive mid� elder, who has played for Dutch, Serbian and Greek clubs, calmly chipped the ball over the shot-stopper and the ball landed in the net. l

Spain's coach Vicente Del Bosque (L) walks o� the pitch after his team lost a friendly match against South Africa at the Soccer City Stadium in Soweto on Tuesday AFP

Prithvi-Shaw

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 21, 2013

Permanent pay commission on holdn Asif Showkat Kallol

The Permanent Pay Commission for government employees looks set to remain a high-sounding promise as four issues including legal complica-tion have virtually stalled the initiative taken at the end of the present govern-ment’s tenure.

Forming a permanent commission to routinely adjust public servants’ pay to annual in� ation and rises in living costs is one of the pledges of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, repeated by Finance Minister AMA Muhith several times. Last week the � nance minister had announced that a permanent pay commission would come into being by November 15.

But o� cials now say a new law - or at least an ordinance - will be needed to make this happen. They see little chance of having such a law or ordi-nance at this time as the last session of parliament can end any day and the in-terim cabinet is set to take over and will

run the routine works only.“A permanent pay commission can-

not be constituted without settling four issues. The government is in a dilemma whether it will be a permanent or a temporary pay scale,” a senior o� cial of the implementation division of � -nance ministry told the Dhaka Tribune.

Finding a chairman of the proposed permanent pay commission and con-vincing the secretaries and the services commission are also among the hur-dles identi� ed by the Implementation Division of the ministry.

The implementation division also pointed out that the government had al-ready o� ered former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin and former � nance secretary Musta� zur Rahman to head the proposed perma-nent commission, but neither agreed.

Finance Minister Muhtih also admit-ted that legal complication stood in the way. “There is no law in hand right now to constitute a permanent pay commis-sion,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Regarding the person to appoint the chairman of permanent pay commission, he also said after enacting the law of the permanent pay commission there is no problem of selecting a chairman of the proposed permanent pay commission.

We hope that permanent pay com-mission will form within this week, he pointed out.

Last week, the � nance minister said a permanent pay commission would be formed by November 15 which would formulate the new pay structure for the government sta� within six months.

The proposed permanent pay com-mission would have been comprised of two members and backed by another pay and service commission, he added. India got such a permanent commis-sion a few years ago, but that body has no longer been permanent. Salaries of government o� cials in India are ad-justed once a year in line with in� ation-ary trends, the � nance minister said.

The country’s food in� ation rose in October on the back of political turmoil

that disrupted the supply chain at times.It stood at 8.38% in contrast to 7.93%

recorded in September, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data revealed. Life in urban areas is worse hit by soaring food and non-food prices.

Considering the hardship of � xed-income group people, the prime minister unveiled plans to form a per-manent pay commission with just three months to go before the next gen-eral elections.

The government issued a gazette noti-� cation granting the dearness allowance with retrospective e� ect from July 1.

The seventh pay commission was formed in 2007 during the caretaker government regime and the present government raised the wages of the government employees on July 1, 2009 as per the Commission’s suggestion.

Pay commissions were formed at irregular intervals, ranging from four years to 12 years since 1972.

Currently, the number of public ser-vants is about 1.3 million. l

2 more minors hurt in ‘red ball blast’n Mohammad Jamil Khan

Two more minor boys yesterday fell victims to bomb-throwing dirty politics of the country as they are now su� ering in hospital beds with serious wounds.

Mohammad Lokman, 10, and his friend Tofazzel Hossain, 11, received in-juries to their hands and bodies around 1:45pm as they tried to play with a crude bomb mistaking it for a red ball as it was wrapped in red scotch tape.

The bomb was lying abandoned in the � eld of Civil Aviation Sta� Colony.

Tofazzel, a class three student of

Civil Aviation Sta� Colony, received wounds to his hands while Lokman, who left school because of bad results, received injury to his left hand.

Both minors were � rst rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where the on-duty doctors transferred them to National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Reha-bilitation (NITOR) for better treatment.

Tofazzel, son of Mohammad Jamal Hossain and Farida Begum live in a tin-shed house at the colony while Lokman, son of Mohammad Akkas and Ratna Be-gum, reside at � at number S/22 of the

colony. Both their parents are fourth-class employees at the Civil Aviation.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune Jamal said they had seen them playing with a red ball at noon. Suddenly the red ob-ject went o� and hit the two.

Contacted, Abed Hossain, on-duty doctor of emergency unit of DMCH, said the condition of Tofazzel is not good as both his hands were badly hit. Lokman is much better as the bomb hit only one of his hands.

“Tofazzel’s right hand might be damaged; we have sent them to NITOR for better treatment,” he said.

Earlier, on October 29, nine-year-old Rahima Akhter su� ered splinter injuries following a cocktail blast in the capital’s Jurain area while she reportedly had mistaken the cocktail for a plaything and begun to unwrap its’ tape right be-fore its explosion on that fateful day.

Rahima, daughter of Sobahan Mia, lost one of her eyes.

Besides, on November 1, Murad, an-other 10-year-old boy, su� ered splinter injuries when he tried to play with the cocktail taking it for a ball at the city’s Panthapath area. He received injuries to both of his hands and is still su� ering. l

UN CLIMATE CONFERENCE

Bangladesh disappointed, but still hopeful n Probir K Sarker from Warsaw

The Group 77 and China staged a three-hour walk out at the negotiations table on loss and damage mechanism at the Conference of Parties (COP19) early Wednesday. But Bangladesh, a mem-ber of the group, is still hopeful that there will be a concrete decision on the issue during this conference that ends tomorrow.

In parallel with the negotiations, the group members are now holding bilateral meetings with the developed nations and blocs who are “sympathet-ic” about the su� erings of the climate vulnerable countries, most of who are poor.

At a press conference yesterday, the Bangladesh delegation gave mixed reaction about the � rst week’s nego-tiations and possible outcomes of the summit, saying that a lot to be done in the last two days and a sense of urgen-cy was needed.

Some countries like Australia are opposing the formulation of the loss and damage mechanism, some say it should be brought under the adapta-tion fund while the US favours giving

aid only. This is a stark shift in stance by the countries even though they had agreed in Doha conference last year about the new mechanism to help the poor and vulnerable countries.

The G77 and China staged the walk out as there was no progress in the talks and the language proposed by some countries which were not acceptable. They were suggesting that the mecha-nism be kept under the purview of di-saster risk reduction mechanism, said Kamrul Islam Chowdhury, a key nego-tiator of the government delegation.

“Last night [Tuesday], we all agreed that there will be a mechanism and it will deal with adaptation and beyond that. But later they [several developed nations] took a new stance and tried to insert some texts which were not in line with the position of the G77 and China, the LDCs and Bangladesh. So the walk out was staged.

“But later behind the scene talks were on and we returned to the nego-tiation table,” said Kamrul, who is the president of Bangladesh Environment Journalists’ Forum. “Now we are dis-cussing the functions and modalities of the mechanism,” he added. l

Violence � ares up again in Sitakunda n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Jamaat-Shibir men again rampaged through Sitakunda on the Dhaka-Chit-tagong highway yesterday afternoon after the police recovered a bullet-hit body, claimed to be a missing local Ja-maat leader.

At least 17 houses, including the one of Barabkunda union parshad chair-man and local Awami League leader Sadakat Ullah, and four vehicles were torched during the violence.

Protesters also vandalised at least 20 vehicles on the highway, said police and local sources.

Clashes between Jamaat-Shibir men and law enforcing agencies at the upazi-la’s Barabkunda area resulted in suspen-sion of vehicular movement on the high-way from 3:30pm for hours, creating

30-km tailback on both sides, said Syed Zakir Hossain, o� cer-in-charge (OC) Baro Awalia Highway Police Outpost.

The highway could not be cleared for tra� c until � ling of this report at about 7:00pm.

Earlier, police recovered a body of a male with bullet wounds in the head and mouth from the upazila’s Sheikh-para area at around 1:30pm.

Police could not identify the body immediately, but local Jamaat men claimed it was of local Jamaat leader Aminul Islam, who had been missing since Sunday night.

Later, police ascertained that it was Aminul’s body and sent it to Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy, said Mohammad Shahidullah, additional superintendent of police (north) in Chittagong.

Jamaat-e-Islami, Chittagong region in a statement signed by Mohammad Ullah, publicity secretary of the city unit of Ja-maat, claimed that Aminul was nabbed by some plainclothes people Sunday night from Chowddagram of Comilla dis-trict when he was returning to Sitakunda along with his family members.

Aminul had been missing since then and his dead body was found yester-day, said the statement, blaming upazila chairman and local Awami League lead-er Abdullah Al Baker Ullah for the killing.

Aminul was general secretary of Barabkunda union unit of Jamaat.

Sitakunda Police refused to lodge any case when Aminul’s family ap-proached them, Jamaat alleged.

Refuting the allegation, the addi-tional superintendent of police (north) Shahidullah told Dhaka Tribune that

no law enforcement agency arrested Aminul Sunday night. Police is looking into the matter, he said.

After hearing the news, several hun-dred Jamaat-Shibir men set � re to the houses of local Awami League lead-er Sadakat Ullah and his associates at around 3:00pm, said Abdullah Al Bak-er, upazila chairman.

17 houses and a private were burnt, said Jashim Uddin, deputy assistant di-rector of Fire Service and Civil Defense Headquarters in Chittagong.

The Jamaat-Shibir men put barri-cades on the highway at Barabkunda area from 3:30pm and rampaged on the highway, said OC SM Badiujjaman of Si-takunda Police Station.

They blasted some crude bombs while police opened tear shells and rub-ber bullets to disperse them, he said. l

1,025kg of explosives found in Jamaatman’s warehousen Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Rapid Action Battalion 7 seized 21 sacks of materials used for the purpose mak-ing explosives, 97.6% of which are Sul-phur, from a warehouse in Chittagong city’s Chowmuhoni yesterday in an over-night drive.

The elite force also nabbed three workers of the warehouse while the owner of the warehouse, Sagir Hossain, 25, a known Jamaat-e-Islami supporter, was on the run, Rab 7 o� cials said.

The arrested workers of the ware-house are Suman Basak, 21, Md Monir Hossain, 23 and Lipan Chandra Nath, 26.

The arrestees could tell nothing about the materials, said Command-er M Sahed Karim of Rab 7, at a press conference in the port city’s Patenga

around 2pm.Acting on a tip-o� , a team of Rab

7, led by the Camp Commander Ma-jor Jahangir Hossain, conducted the drive at 6pm Tuesday to 6am yes-terday and seized around 1,025kg of explosive-making materials, h said.

In the primary investigation, the elite force found the materials were brought illegally into the country al-legedly for use in subversive activities in Chittagong, he added.

Rab 7 was continuing their drives to nab Sagir, said Commander M Sahed.

The arrestees were handed over to Double Mooring police station and a case was lodged in this re-gard, said Squadron Leader Nazmul Hossain, second-in-command ofRab 7. l

Two children, Tofazzol and Lokman, injured themselves when they mistakenly picked up hand grenade in the capital’s Shahinbagh area yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Fire � ghters trying to douse � ames as at least four vehicles were set on � re during clashes between Jamaat-Shibir men and police at Sitakunda of Chittagong DHAKA TRIBUNE

Left out parties plan to form alliance without Ershadn Manik Miazee

The Jatiya Party’s plan to bring some political parties under its umbrella by forming a new alliance has been thwart-ed as its probable partners cannot trust HM Ershad anymore as his party joined the “all-party” polls-time government.

The parties of the planned alliance are now considering to � oat the com-bine without the Jatiya Party.

The former military dictator and Jati-ya Party chairman had planned to form a new alliance with parties other than the BNP- and Awami League-led alli-ances only a few of days before his party leaders took oath in the new cabinet.

On November 13, Ershad, Bikalpad-hara Bangladesh President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, Krishak Sra-mik Janata League President Kader Sid-dique and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) chief ASM Abdur Rab held a meeting on formation of an alternative alliance.

The next day, Ershad announced that his party would declare the new alliance “to save the people from the hands of the two parties within one or two days.”

But Ershad changed his mind and announced his intention to partici-pate in the election and join the Awa-mi League-led polls-time government without consulting any of the leaders he was about to form the alliance.“We are now planning the new alliance without Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad. He was not consistent in his position

and joined the all-party cabinet with-out thinking of the country’s people,” said Abdul Malek Ratan, general secre-tary of a faction of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD).

Kader Siddique told the Dhaka Tri-bune yesterday: “On November 14, Ershad wanted to join our alliance. We told him that his party would be includ-ed in our alliance after he left the grand alliance. But now Ershad has perma-nently joined the grand alliance and got seven positions in the government.

“So, there is no question of forming an alliance with Ershad.” He accused Ershad of not keeping his word just as in the past.

On November 16, Jatiya Party Secre-tary General ABM Ruhul Amin Howlad-er said Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain would be in the alliance. But, Gono Forum’s Executive President Subrata Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune: “Possibilities of joining HM Ershad-led alliance are very slim.”

When contacted, Ruhul Amin yes-terday said: “Now we are not busy forming any new alliance.”

The party’s youth front Jatiya Jubo Sanghati President Rezaul Islam Bhui-yan said: “Our plan to form an alliance no more exists.”

Bikalpadhara Bangladesh chief Badruddoza Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune: “Ershad is not a part of our alliance. We are planning to make the new alliance without him.” l

Nationwide transport strike todayn UNB

Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation (BRTWF) will enforce a 24-hour transport strike across the coun-try today demanding the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s Special Assistant Shimul Biswas.

The transport strike will begin at 6am

today and end at 6am on Friday, said BRTWF General Secretary Osman Ali.

Police arrested Shimul Biswas, who is also joint general secretary of BRTWF, from in front of the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan residence in the early hours of November 9. The strike was announced at a press conference of the federation in the capital on November 17. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

Businesswww.dhakatribune.com/business THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

CCCI: Free supply line of Sitakund from anarchy

Formal jobs: A challenge for LDCs

B3

B2

Baksaas: Telenor worried over ‘unrest-full’ situationGP may introduce smart handsets in Bangladesh only at $40n Muhammad Zahidul Islam, from

Thailand

Telenor Group President Jon Fredrik Bak-saas is apprehending a negative impact on their earnings from Grameenphone due to the ongoing political “unrest-full” situation in Bangladesh.

“We are very concern about the current political situation in Bangladesh,” he told a group of journalists from Bangladesh on the sidelines of the ITU Telecom World 2013 that started in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday.

He said the unrest might badly a� ect the revenues of Grameenphone as well as the economy of Bangladesh. “The current un-rest-full political situation will also shortly a� ect the foreign direct investment, but un-likely in the telecommunication sector.”

“In the sense that the political parties are searching solution of political problems … this is the way which way stimulate the country’s growth,” said the president of Grameenphone’s parent organisation, Tel-enor, having 55.8% stake.

Grameen Telecom has 34.2% shares in the leading mobile phone operator and the remaining owned by public.

Replying to a question, Baksaas said in

strike days people are more reluctant to par-ticipate in the activities of their daily life. It a� ects the revenues of mobile operators, and if the telecom sector is a� ected, it would hit the other sectors as well.

In that situation, he said, Grameenphone is very supportive with its customers as it is getting 500 to 1,000 3G customers every day in Bangladesh.

About 2600 MHz band spectrum alloca-tion process, he said: “Though we have tak-en to the government, but here the principle does not meet international set up for the allocation.”

The spectrum is a part of LTE (long-term evolution), a fourth generation mobile broadband communication standard, which Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is going to allocated for a Wi-Max operator, ollo.

Baksaas, recently became the Chairman of GSMA, said ITU has a spectrum set-up policy where 2600 band is for commercial use of mobile operators. From ITU, there is a request to clear regulatory environment and create level playing � eld for the operators.

“If the policy makers take the right deci-sion about spectrum, the foreign operators may attract investment in the country,” he

said. He stressed on developing the ecosystem

of � ourishing the 3G in Bangladesh and said: “Local content in Bangladesh still to be re-solved. We don’t have su� cient contents. But still we have � nancial, agriculture and health services contents. And I think a big potential deeper in education sector.”

But, he added, it depends on how we are able to create platform of co-operation be-tween the authorities and the operators. “No doubt there is a big potential for 3G market compared to 2G.”

About their recent o� oading of 51% share in GPIT to Accenture – a global management consulting, technology services and out-sourcing company - Baksaas said Telenor was not in the position to commercialise the GPIT and decided to sell it to Accenture hav-ing much customer base potential.

He informed that they have a plan to bring reasonably good quality smart handsets for Bangladesh market. “We are in a position to work with a vendor to bring handsets within the price of around US$40 each. It may re-duce to $25 later like feature phones.”

A couple of years ago we launched feature phone with Grameenphone and that might happen again in Bangladesh. l

Telenor Group President Jon Fredrik Baksaas speaks to Dhaka Tribune NASHIRUL ISLAM

Stocks record-breaking rally continues n Tribune Report

Stocks continued to break their previous records as the benchmark DSEX climbs to a new high for the second consecutive ses-sion, spurred by fresh buying spree.

Flow of new funds also helped turnover to cross Tk8bn mark after a gap of four months with textile and banking stocks dominating the trade.

The benchmark index ended at 4,440 with a sharp rise of more than 58 points or 1%, extending the rally for the sixth consec-utive session.

The blue chip DS30 index added 26 points or 1.7% to settle at 1,557. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Categories Index, CSCX, also gained steeply over 142 points to 8,715.

Strong buying binge has pushed the turn-over to stand at Tk8.9bn.

It was the highest turnover since July 17 last and nearly 13% higher over the previous session.

“Investors are probably expecting a solu-tion to current political chaos and they are expecting a bullish market once political power changes hand peacefully. They want to book a place this ride,” said Lank Bangla Securities.

Gainers outpaced losers as out of 287 issues traded, 215 gained, 54 declined and 18 remained unchanged on the primebourse.

“Leaving sector speci� c movements be-hind, the market has entered into a time of market wide surge, driving stock prices to envious levels,” said IDLC Investments.

Although, it is too soon to tell, wheth-er the market has returned to its natural rhythm, for which investors have been wait-ing for years, it is certain that with DSEX crossing 4,400 points level for the � rst time ever.

The rally is intensely encouraging for in-vestors and alluring for additional funds, it said.

Telecommunications was the market mover as it posted a gain of about 4%, fol-lowed by pharmaceuticals that rose 2%, banks over 1% and � nancial institutions 0.5%.

However, fuel and power edged lower on pro� t booking.

Grameenphone was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk415m changing hands, followed by United Commercial Bank Ltd, United Airways and RN Spinning.

Rupali Life Insurance was the day’s high-est gainer, posting a rise of nearly 10%, while Northern Jute Manufacturing wasthe day’s worst losers, slumping by nearly 10%. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE Business2 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

CCCI: Free supply line of Sitakund from anarchyPolice advises transport workers to keep sticks to protect vandalism n Tushar Hayat , Chittagong

The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry yesterday demanded immediate mea-sures against the people responsible for con-secutive torching of vehicles and vandalism at Sitakund of Dhaka-Chittagong highway for the past few days.

“Otherwise it will not be possible to con-tinue export activities through the Chittagong Port when industrial production will also be hampered due to the lack of raw materials,” CCCI President Mahabubul Alam told a meet-ing with law enforcing agencies here.

He said 69 vehicles were set on � re and sev-eral hundred others vendalised on the 37-kilo-meter stretch of the highway in last couple of weeks, demanding highest degree of security measures to put an end to such anarchic situ-ation.

“The exporters were losing orders for being failed to maintain the shipment dates while prices of food items increasing alarmingly due to the interruption in supply chain,” he said, adding that industries at di� erent parts of the country were not getting raw materials on time.

Nawsher Ali Khan, deputy inspector gener-al of police in Chittagong range, said they had been taking all out measures to ensure safety on the highway. He, however, urged the trans-port workers to keep sticks to protect the at-tackers.

“The miscreants are not more than seven to eight in numbers and they will not dare to torch or vendalise vehicles if the transport workers start protecting them,” he said.

Sha� qul Islam, commissioner of the Chit-tagong Metropolitan Police, said 700 police personnel were deployed at Sitakund for the past few days and insisted that none would dare to torch or vendalise the vehicles if the

transport workers join police with sticks in their hands.

AKM Ha� z Akter, superintendent of police,

Shahed Karim, commander of RAB-7, Abu Mo-hammed Mohiuddin, commanding o� cer of BGB, Mahabub Ul Alam, commander of Ansar

and VDP, Nurun Newaj, senior vice president of CCCI, and Sayad Jamal Ahmed, vice presi-dent of CCCI, were present at the meeting. l

DCCI concerned over workers unrestn Tribune Business Desk

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) has expressed its deep concern over the current spell of labour unrest and vio-lence in garment factories.

It said the unrest has been taking a heavy toll on the country’s prime export earning sector.

A press release said NEO Zipper Company Ltd situated in Tongi came under attack yes-terday like many other factories in the areas including Savar, Tongi, Ashulia and Gazipur.

DCCI fears losing foreign direct invest-ment (FDI) if there is no end to violence as orders from international buyers may shift to alternative destinations.

“As RMG industry falls in peril, it will bring misery to both factory owners as well as workers. It will hamper the con� dence level of entrepreneurs,” said DCCI.

The chamber demands taking stern legal action against the people who are engaged in vandalism to salvage the remaining of the industry. l

Dollar slips in Asia after Bernanke speechn AFP, Tokyo

The dollar slipped back below 100 yen in Asia yesterday after US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke indicated the bank’s stimulus programme would remain in place until the economy was back on track.

The greenback bought 99.97 yen in Tokyo midday trading, down from 100.13 yen Tues-day in New York before Bernanke’s comments.

The euro bought $1.3554 compared with $1.3535, while it was also at 135.51 yen against 135.53 yen. Traders sold the dollar as the outgoing Fed chief assured markets that interest rates would remain low “well after” the jobless rate hits 6.5% , said Kengo Suzuki, forex strategist at Mizuho Securities.

Bernanke gave no speci� c indication of when the Fed might start pulling back on its monetary easing, which keeps interest rates low by spending vast sums of cash on Treas-ury bills to keep yields down.

“His comments were initially perceived as dovish, leading to broad dollar-selling,” Su-zuki told Dow Jones Newswires. l

Japan envoy praises EPZ environsn Tribune Business Desk

Japan has appreciated prevailing environ-ment in Bangladesh’s export processing zones (EPZs) describing it as “peaceful and produc-tion-oriented.”

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Shiro Sadshima made the appreciation at an inau-gural function of a Japan-Bangla joint venture Gunze United Ltd in the Dhaka EPZ in Dhaka yesterday.

The Japanese Ambassador expressed his satisfaction over the potentiality of EPZ’s workforce, said a press release.

Shiro Sadshima said: “I appreciate the Bangladeshi labour forces as they are hard workers and have huge potentials.”

He hoped the working environment would make strong relationship between the two countries to shore up a congenial investment climate in the EPZs.

The ambassador pleased about the number of Japanese companies which have established their respective base of operation in EPZs.

The number has been increasing signi� -cantly over the past few years. Hope, the part-

nership will enhance further, he added.BEPZA executive chairman, Maj Gen Md

Habibur Rahman Khan welcomed Gunze United Limited.

Gunje United may produce garment accesso-ries, which will invest $5m and will create 285 Bangladeshi nationals.

In his speech, Habibur Rahman said: “Ja-pan is a very potential and new investors to us and United Power Generation and Distribu-tion Company has already set up their power plants in the EPZs.”

BEPZA chief also mentioned EPZs scenario is shining due to low cost peaceful production oriented investment despite various adverse situations in industrial sector of the country.

He added: “EPZs are operating with the ob-jectives of industrial friendly atmosphere and ensuring congenial investment climate.” l

‘Japan is a very potential and new investors to us and United Power Generation and Distribution Company has already set up their power plants in the EPZs’

Miscreants set ablaze two trucks in Sitakund of Dhaka-Chittagong route yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE 3THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

Formal jobs: A challenge for LDCsNew UNCTAD report says new comers in Bangladesh job market to peak at 3.1m by 2020n Tribune Report

Bangladesh would see new entrants in its la-bour market to have peaked at 3.1m by 2020 and would face, like other poorest nations, a major challenge of providing them with sustainable jobs, said a new UNCTAD report.

It urged the nations to act decisively to upgrade national infrastructure, greatly expand credit, improve education, and es-pecially unleash the potential of domestic � rms and entrepreneurs, so the jobs are cre-ated.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the report in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a civil society think tank, presented the report at a press brie� ng in Dhaka.

The report says the number of younger people of working age in 49 least developed countries (LDCs) is increasing by 16m per year, and in each one of the 11 such countries it would climb by at least half a million an-nually.

About Bangladesh it says the country had 2.9m new entrants in 2005 and the � gure will peak at 3.1m by 2020, and decline thereafter.

The report cautions that while LDCs en-joyed relatively high growth in gross do-mestic product (GDP) during 2002-2008, the economic progress did not translate into correspondingly increasing levels of em-ployment.

Indeed, the countries with faster GDP growth had relatively lower employment creation.

In 2000-2012 period, LDC employment growth was 2.9% per annum – a rate slight-ly above the population growth rate of 2.3%, but well below LDC’s average GDP growth of 7%.

The report subtitled “Growth with Em-ployment for Sustainable Development” views that demographic trends in the LDCs are such that millions of new jobs will have to be created every year over the coming decades.

During the rest of the current decade, the poorest countries would have to create around 95m jobs to absorb new entrants to the labour market, and another 160m in the 2020s.

If this employment challenge is not met, the world risks being confronted with grow-ing poverty in LDCs, social unrest, and mass international emigration, the report con-tends.

It says the economic policies pursued by most LDCs and their development partners to date have focused on macroeconomic stability, economic e� ciency, and liberali-sation.

But the approach has failed to generate jobs in the quantity and quality needed by LDCs’ increasing populations.

Job creation was disappointing even those “boom” years from 2002 to 2008, when the LDCs enjoyed an average growth of 8%.

The report stresses that the LDCs need to

enact a new generation of policies to foster the development of productive capacities in such a way as to obtain “job-rich” growth.

It notes vulnerable employment – jobs without formal arrangements, decent work-ing conditions, and adequate social security – still accounts for about 80% of total em-ployment in LDCs.

The report says the globes poorest coun-tries should take steps to improve GDP growth via the generation of decent employ-ment and investment to develop productive capacities.

UNCTAD points out that the LDC popula-tion is not only growing rapidly, but is quick-ly urbanising.

This combination of factors makes the current decade critical for rectifying the em-

ployment situation in LDCs.A major problem with the current process

of structural change is that it cannot provide the surplus population released from agri-culture with productive employment else-where, the report notes.

CPD Research Director Dr Fahmida Khatun and Additional Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem spoke at the press brie� ng.

They, however, said the recurring politi-cal turmoil after every � ve years in Bangla-desh would cast a long-term impact on the country’s economy.

Such recurrence of political instability would weaken the country’s economic foun-dation and pose a threat to achieve sustaina-ble growth, they added. l

LDC fact sheet

EmploymentPopulation

GDP 2000-2012

Yearly growth

2.9% 2.3% 7%

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Research Director Dr Fahmida Khatun presents UNCTAD’s LDC report 2013 in Dhaka yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Bangladesh Handloom Board Bill 2013 passedn Tribune Business Desk

Parliament yesterday passed the Bangladesh Handloom Board Bill 2013 providing for de-veloping and expanding the handloom in-dustry by scrapping the existing law.

Jute and Textiles Minister Abdul Latif Sid-diqui moved the Bill in the House, which was passed by voice vote amid absence of the op-position.

The objective of the Bill stated that the Bangladesh Handloom Board Ordinance, 1977 was promulgated during the martial law period.

Later, the government issued a gazette noti� cation for the Bangladesh Handloom Board (Amendment) Act, 1990 to make the Ordinance more time be� tting.

It said that the age old law was not appro-priate to address the present day necessity.

It also mentioned that if the Handloom Board is constituted as per the new bill it would help a lot to develop and expand the handloom industry in the country. l

Oil prices � rm ahead of Iran nuclear talksn AFP, Singapore

Oil prices rose in Asia yesterday after US President Barack Obama said he was not sure a deal could be reached this week on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.

New York’s main contract, West Texas In-termediate (WTI) for December delivery, was up 31 cents at $93.65 while Brent North Sea crude for January added 32 cents to $107.24.

“We may attribute the rise of crude oil to a pent-up risk premium as Iranian nuclear talks resume, with market watchers doubting an ease in sanctions anytime soon,” CMC Mar-kets analyst Desmond Chua said in Singapore.

Prices rose despite expectations that an upcoming US Energy Department report will show crude stockpiles gained for the ninth week in a row.

Iran, a major oil producer, has expressed optimism that a deal could be achieved in Geneva with negotiators from the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany - known collectively as the P5+1 group.

The talks aim to convince Iran to roll back its nuclear programme, which Tehran is ac-cused of using to build nuclear weapons, a charge it denies. In exchange, they are o� er-ing relief from sanctions.

“I think there is every possibility for suc-cess,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said after meeting his Italian coun-terpart Emma Bonino in Rome on Tuesday.

“I go to Geneva with the determination to come out with an agreement at the end of this round,” Zarif said. But Obama struck a cautious tone, insisting any relief from sanc-tions - which include a ban on oil exports - under an interim pact was limited.

“I don’t know if we will be able to able to close a deal this week or next week,” he said at a Wall Street Journal CEO forum.

Obama has asked key senators to delay imposing new sanctions on Iran during the n egotiations, said White House spokesman Jay Carney. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE Business4 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

China for faster currency reformn Reuters

With a shift in tone and language, China’s central bank governor has dangled the prospect of speeding up currency reform and giving markets more room to set the yuan’s exchange rate as he underlines broader plans for sweeping economic change.

The central bank under Zhou Xiaochuan has consistently � agged its intention to liberalize � nancial markets and allow the yuan to trade more freely, even before the Communist Party’s top brass unveiled late last week the boldest set of economic and social reforms in nearly three decades.

But since the 60-point reform plan was released, Zhou has suggested urgency in pushing for change, although he has not provided any speci� c timetable. He promised on Saturday to “pull out all stops to deepen � nancial sector reforms”.

Dariusz Kowalczyk, an economist at Credit Agricole in Hong Kong, said the governor’s comments could mean that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will widen the trading band of the yuan in the near term.

“That probably means there is more upside for the renminbi,” he said. The yuan, also known as the renminbi, has risen this year to 6.09 per dollar from 6.23 at the end of 2012 and hit a record high of close to 6.08 in October.

However, there was little evidence of any new found freedom for the yuan in trading on Wednesday. On the one hand, the central bank set its daily � xing for the starting point of yuan trade at a record high, but dealers said open market gains were checked by state-run banks selling the currency, probably on behalf of the central bank.

In addition, the daily � xing has been consistently weaker than the spot market, indicating the central bank is trying to rein in the currency’s strength.

“The PBOC is still intervening heavily to prevent the CNY (yuan) from appreciating more,” said RBS economists Louis Kuijs and Ti� any Qiu in a client note, referring to dollar trade in� ows and speculation that are putting the yuan under pressure to rise.

“Freeing up the currency would imply a very large appreciation versus the USD (dollar), something for which we believe there would not be appetite right now.”

‘Basically’Zhou’s latest comments were released as part of a public guide book to the Communist Party’s reforms, on sale in bookshops for 30 yuan ($5).

At more than 300 pages, it provides the full text of the Communist Party’s blueprint and an explanation of the changes by President Xi Jinping. It includes articles by top o� cials, such as Zhou.

In the guide book, Zhou says the central bank would gradually expand the yuan’s trading band to help make the currency more � exible and market-driven - comments that repeat a long-standing central bank position.

“We will widen the � oating range of the yuan exchange rate in an orderly manner and increase the two-way � exibility of the currency,” Zhou was quoted as saying.

To that end, the People’s Bank of China will “basically” exit from regular intervention on the currency market, he said, going slightly further than in previous comments when he had said it would reduce intervention.

For years, the central bank has bought up foreign exchange, mostly dollars, to curb strength in the yuan fuelled by the country’s export engine, building the world’s biggest currency stockpile of $3.66tn.

Such currency intervention has been a key driver of money and credit expansion, fanning in� ationary risks and housing bubbles.

The yuan’s trading band was last widened in April 2012 to allow the exchange rate to rise or fall 1% either side of the midpoint � xing announced daily by the central bank.

“We must seize the favourable time window to quicken the pace of realizing yuan convertibility in capital account,” Zhou said.

Full convertibility would allow the free movement of capital across China’s borders, a demand of many of China’s trading part-

ners. The central bank has pledged to make the yuan “basically convertible” by 2015, but it has not made clear what that means.

Some analysts caution against high expectations for the speed of � nancial reform, noting some policymakers fear allowing the currency to move freely too quickly could expose the economy to volatile capital � ows, such as the ones blamed on the US Federal Reserve’s economic stimulus program.

Analysts expect the central bank to unveil a long-awaited deposit insurance system by the end of this year or early in 2014 to pave the way for freeing up bank deposit rates, which are now subject to administrative caps.

Such a scheme would protect depositors as Beijing is concerned some smaller lenders could go under as banks compete for deposits in a more open regime. Earlier this year, the central bank removed controls on lending rates.

“We will choose a time when conditions are ripe to life controls on deposit rates, which we think is the � nal step of liberalizing interest rates,” PBOC Vice Governor Hu Xiaolian told a forum in Beijing on Wednesday.

‘Favourable window’The reforms are aimed at helping Beijing engineer a shift in the giant economy away from investment- and exports-led growth to activity fuelled more by consumption and services.

The OECD, in forecasting China’s eco-nomic growth would pick up to 8.2% in 2014

from 7.7% this year, urged Beijing to quicken its reforms while growth is holding steady.

“There is now a favourable window,” the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said in an update of its global forecasts.

While the Communist Party leaders set the direction for reform in a four-day conclave that ended last week, it will be up to government ministries and agencies to put them into e� ect.

The head of the country’s top economic planning agency promised fast results in an interview with the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s o� cial newspaper.

“We should quickly launch a batch of projects in � nancial, oil, power, railway, telecommunications, resource exploration, public utilities to attract private-sector investment,” Xu Shaoshi, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission said.

Another senior o� cial, Yang Weimin, vice head of the O� ce of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic A� airs, told a news brie� ng that reforms would help ease local government debt, although he didn’t explain how.

An explosion in local government debt accompanied Beijing’s response to the global � nancial crisis and many analysts see it as a major risk hanging over the economy.

Yang said the reforms would include more tax revenues for local governments, allowing quali� ed localities to sell bonds, and setting up a new policy bank to fund urban infrastructure and housing projects under Beijing’s urbanization drive. l

A man looks at the Pudong � nancial district of Shanghai REUTERS

‘We should quickly launch a batch of projects in � nancial, oil, power, railway, telecommunications, resource exploration, public utilities to attract private-sector investment’

BusinessDHAKA TRIBUNE 5THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013

Japan economy gets fresh impetus Exports log biggest rise in three yearsn Reuters

A surge in car shipments spurred Japanese exports to their biggest annual increase in three years in October, suggesting a gradual pick up in global demand will help underwrite a sustainable recovery in the world’s third-largest economy.

The 18.6% increase in exports in the year to October blew past the median market forecast for a 16.5% rise and accelerated from a 11.5% gain in September, data by the Ministry of Finance showed yesterday.

Signi� cantly, exports also rebounded in volume terms, rising 4.4% from a year earlier, in a sign the global economy is gradually recovering mainly on strength in advanced nations.

Sluggish exports have been a source of concern for policymakers as shipment volume has struggled to pick up despite a weak yen this year due to slowdown in emerging economies, which faced capital out� ows on expectations the US Federal Reserve would soon roll back its massive monetary stimulus.

While the yen has fallen around 14% against the dollar in 2013, exports growth has largely disappointed early expectations.

The Japanese economy has been humming along nicely this year on the back of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s massive monetary and � scal expansionary policies, dubbed Abenomics. Still, headwinds from weak capital spending and depressed global demand have somewhat clouded the outlook.

The October data should provide some relief for the government, which is hoping a recovery in overseas demand will cushion the blow from a sales tax hike next April, which could crimp private consumption

“US private-sector demand remains

strong and European economies appear to be bottoming out. If advanced economies recover, Japanese exports can rise more,” said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo.

The volume of exports to the United States and European Union grew 5.3% and 8% year-on-year in October respectively, while Asia-bound shipments rose just 2%, highlighting a two-track recovery in the global economy.

Car shipments rocketed 31.3% on-year in October, making the biggest contribution to the value of exports in the month, while

they also rose a strong 7.5% in volume terms.

Highlighting brisk demand in the United States, Toyota Motor Corp is racking up strong sales in the US market and closing in on a record pro� t set before the Lehman crisis, while reaping the bene� ts of a weak yen that has boosted its pro� t margins.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, exports rose 1.5% in October from the previous month.

Trade deficitSoft exports - particularly to emerging

economies - have been a key concern for Bank of Japan policymakers, who meet on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss monetary policy and the economic outlook. The bank is widely expected to keep monetary settings unchanged.

The Japanese economy, the fastest growing in the developed world this year, slowed in July-September from the previous quarter as domestic private demand moderated and exports weakened.

Growth is expected to accelerate again in the current quarter helped by a recovery in exports as well as brisk private consumption ahead of the sales tax hike.

Sparking in� ation and putting the economy on a sustainable footing over the long run is Abenomics’ ultimate goal, and analysts expect a healthy global economy to ease the path ahead.

Recovering demand for Japanese goods would also help address another concern -- persistent red ink in the trade balance.

The de� cits have raised concerns about Japan’s ability to � nance its debt in the long term, as they weigh on the country’s balance of payment and add to strains caused by its debt burden, the worst among industrial nations.

Japan logged a trade de� cit of 1.09tn yen ($11bn) in October, a record for the month, more than a median forecast of 813.5bn yen, as imports rose 26.1% on the back of expensive fuel purchases to make up for nuclear plants shuttered since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The October imports was also bumped up by a 67.8% spike in crude oil imports, which re� ected a big drop a year before due to an oil tax hike aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, � nance ministry o� cials said. l

Bitcoin value jumps, after US authorities appear positiven AFP, Washington

Call it a speculative bubble or the rise of a cur-rency of the future: the bitcoin jumped in value Tuesday after US authorities appeared to give the virtual money their blessing.

The electronic currency that is suspected of being used for illicit transactions on the Internet reached a value of $900 for the � rst time on spe-cialized currency exchange websites.

But it is highly volatile, and a few hours later it was down to $700, according to Mt GOX, which manages trading done in bitcoin. Back in April it was worth just $200.

At a Senate hearing, the bitcoin was “seen in a way more positive than the market had expect-ed because I think the market anticipated almost by de� nition the authorities would be negative,” said Steve Hanke, a professor applied economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

In an email to the Senate Homeland Security

and Governmental A� airs Committee, the chair-man of the US Federal Reserve central bank, Ben Bernanke, e� ectively welcomed the potential of the bitcoin.

He said that “while these types of innova-tions may pose risks related to law enforcement and supervisory matters, there are also areas in which they may hold long-term promise, particularly if the innovations promote a faster, more secure and more e� cient payment sys-tem”.

Born after the � nancial crisis as the invention of mysterious computer guru who goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the bitcoin is both a currency generated by computer code which restricts the amount of units created, and a payment system with no centralized structure.

Virtual currency systems “are appealing be-cause they provide cheap, convenient, e� cient means to transfer currency,” Mythili Raman, Act-ing Assistant Attorney General at the US Justice

Department, told the Senate panel.Demand for bitcoin is strong because of

regulations designed to block many kinds of � nancial transactions as part of sanctions, Hanke said.

An alternative to transferring moneyThanks to its anonymity and lack of commis-

sion costs, the bitcoin is “seen more and more as a viable means of payment,” Hanke said.

The value of the bitcoin might also be fueled in the future by China “because Chinese people are savers, and more people are seeing bitcoin as a way to store and invest their money,” Linke Yang, vice president of BTC China, told AFP on the sidelines of a conference in Singapore.

BTC is the largest bitcoin trading platform in China. Its value on BTC has quadrupled in a month to $400 in mid November.

Although bitcoin usage does not fall under the monitoring of central banks because it is not issued by a bank, that may not last for long.

A recent Fed study said that “should bitcoin become widely accepted, it is unlikely that it will remain free of government intervention, if only because the governance of the bitcoin code and network is opaque and vulnerable.”

The author of the study, Francois Velde, said the bitcoin “represents a remarkable conceptu-al and technical achievement, which may well be used by existing � nancial institutions (which could issue their own bitcoins) or even by gov-ernments themselves.”

“If bitcoin become competitive and grows it will become under the control of the authorities, who will try to regulate it,” Hanke said.

But as seen by it wide swings in just one day, the new currency is risky and used often for short-term speculation.

In April it su� ered its � rst mini-crash, losing three quarters of its value in two days.

“The high price will attract competitors. It could collapse easily,” Hanke said. l

A man rides a bicycle past containers at a port in Tokyo REUTERS

BANKABBANK | 2.95 | 32.60 | Vol. 937367 D: 28.60 ⇑ 1.78% | 28.80 | 30.00 / 25.50 C: 28.70 ⇑ 2.50% | 28.67 | 29.00 / 28.00CITYBANK | 1.15 | 25.97 | Vol. 4905550 D: 22.80 ⇑ 3.17% | 22.79 | 23.20 / 20.00 C: 22.90 ⇑ 3.62% | 22.73 | 23.10 / 22.00IFIC | 1.10 | 18.34 | Vol. 2585356 D: 35.90 ⇓ 0.55% | 36.21 | 36.90 / 33.50 C: 35.90 ⇑ 0.84% | 36.11 | 36.70 / 35.60ISLAMIBANK | 3.78 | 27.16 | Vol. 718454 D: 36.70 ⇑ 0.82% | 36.70 | 37.00 / 33.00 C: 36.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 36.56 | 36.80 / 36.30NBL | 1.05 | 15.76 | Vol. 5050657 D: 13.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 13.19 | 13.30 / 12.00 C: 13.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 13.16 | 13.30 / 12.90PUBALIBANK | 1.92 | 21.18 | Vol. 617757 D: 32.20 ⇑ 0.31% | 32.15 | 32.70 / 29.00 C: 32.20 ⇑ 0.31% | 32.13 | 32.60 / 31.60RUPALIBANK | 6.70 | 64.27 | Vol. 96000 D: 68.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 68.79 | 69.60 / 68.10 C: 69.00 ⇓ 2.68% | 68.94 | 69.50 / 68.20UCBL | 1.90 | 21.72 | Vol. 13150737 D: 26.60 ⇑ 5.98% | 26.23 | 27.00 / 23.00 C: 26.70 ⇑ 6.37% | 26.20 | 26.90 / 25.20UTTARABANK | 3.42 | 26.97 | Vol. 872424 D: 33.20 ⇑ 0.30% | 33.35 | 33.80 / 30.00 C: 33.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 33.51 | 33.90 / 33.20ICBIBANK | -1.60 | -13.03 | Vol. 579500 D: 6.40 ⇑ 1.59% | 6.46 | 6.60 / 6.30EBL | 3.91 | 28.22 | Vol. 360690 D: 29.80 ⇑ 2.05% | 29.75 | 30.40 / 27.50 C: 30.00 ⇑ 0.33% | 30.11 | 30.30 / 29.50ALARABANK | 2.03 | 14.91 | Vol. 5267526 D: 21.20 ⇑ 1.92% | 21.12 | 21.50 / 19.00 C: 21.20 ⇑ 1.44% | 21.12 | 21.40 / 20.80PRIMEBANK | 2.89 | 22.40 | Vol. 477485 D: 25.40 ⇑ 2.01% | 25.45 | 26.50 / 23.00 C: 25.40 ⇑ 1.60% | 25.39 | 25.60 / 25.30SOUTHEASTB | 1.89 | 22.66 | Vol. 1773056 D: 19.30 ⇑ 1.05% | 19.32 | 19.50 / 17.50 C: 19.30 ⇑ 0.52% | 19.32 | 19.40 / 18.00DHAKABANK | 1.46 | 18.08 | Vol. 1594626 D: 20.80 ⇑ 1.96% | 20.54 | 21.00 / 19.00 C: 20.90 ⇑ 2.96% | 20.67 | 20.90 / 20.40NCCBANK | 1.90 | 15.88 | Vol. 2513085 D: 15.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 15.08 | 15.30 / 13.50 C: 15.10 ⇑ 1.34% | 15.13 | 15.30 / 14.90SIBL | 2.05 | 14.47 | Vol. 2883827 D: 15.00 ⇑ 3.45% | 14.94 | 15.20 / 13.10 C: 15.00 ⇑ 4.17% | 14.80 | 15.10 / 14.50DUTCHBANGL | 11.57 | 54.27 | Vol. 54660 D: 101.8 ⇑ 0.10% | 100.95 | 103.0 / 96.00MTBL | 1.17 | 17.27 | Vol. 237530 D: 16.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.64 | 17.00 / 15.00 C: 16.70 ⇓ 0.60% | 17.11 | 17.50 / 16.70STANDBANKL | 2.33 | 14.41 | Vol. 1545114 D: 16.00 ⇑ 2.56% | 15.98 | 16.50 / 14.30 C: 16.20 ⇑ 2.53% | 16.11 | 16.40 / 15.20ONEBANKLTD | 2.35 | 15.34 | Vol. 4292008 D: 17.70 ⇓ 0.56% | 17.85 | 18.20 / 16.20 C: 17.90 ⇑ 0.56% | 17.93 | 18.20 / 17.70BANKASIA | 1.35 | 20.80 | Vol. 462620 D: 19.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 19.84 | 20.00 / 18.00 C: 19.90 ⇑ 0.51% | 19.98 | 20.30 / 19.60MERCANBANK | 2.07 | 16.59 | Vol. 6277551 D: 17.40 ⇑ 0.58% | 17.51 | 17.80 / 16.00 C: 17.60 ⇑ 0.57% | 17.58 | 17.80 / 17.40EXIMBANK | 1.80 | 14.31 | Vol. 2119847 D: 13.90 ⇑ 0.72% | 13.94 | 15.10 / 12.50 C: 14.00 ⇑ 0.72% | 13.95 | 14.20 / 13.00JAMUNABANK | 2.47 | 18.56 | Vol. 452898 D: 16.70 ⇑ 1.21% | 16.67 | 16.80 / 15.00 C: 16.70 ⇑ 1.21% | 16.73 | 17.00 / 15.00BRACBANK | 1.51 | 24.87 | Vol. 982970 D: 33.50 ⇑ 1.52% | 33.55 | 34.00 / 30.50 C: 33.50 ⇑ 2.76% | 33.44 | 34.00 / 32.90SHAHJABANK | 2.61 | 14.47 | Vol. 1264448 D: 18.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 18.53 | 18.80 / 16.70 C: 18.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 18.70 | 18.90 / 18.50PREMIERBAN | 1.18 | 13.95 | Vol. 1398872 D: 12.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 12.81 | 13.00 / 11.60 C: 12.70 ⇓ 0.78% | 12.78 | 13.00 / 12.00

TRUSTBANK | 0.50 | 18.00 | Vol. 253877 D: 20.50 ⇓ 0.49% | 20.63 | 20.90 / 19.00 C: 20.60 ⇓ 1.44% | 20.49 | 21.00 / 20.30FIRSTSBANK | 1.85 | 13.89 | Vol. 3584327 D: 17.10 ⇑ 1.79% | 16.98 | 17.40 / 15.20 C: 17.20 ⇑ 1.78% | 16.94 | 17.40 / 15.50

NON BANKING F IIDLC | 4.43 | 29.18 | Vol. 262604 D: 63.30 ⇑ 0.48% | 63.65 | 65.00 / 58.00 C: 64.40 ⇑ 1.58% | 64.37 | 65.00 / 63.50ULC | 1.80 | 14.90 | Vol. 574256 D: 31.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 31.80 | 33.00 / 29.00UTTARAFIN | 7.16 | 41.54 | Vol. 304565 D: 84.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 85.31 | 86.40 / 77.00 C: 85.10 ⇓ 0.12% | 84.20 | 85.20 / 83.40MIDASFIN | 0.16 | 10.21 | Vol. 3000 D: 31.20 ⇑ 0.32% | 31.50 | 31.50 / 31.00 C: 30.00 ⇓ 0.33% | 30.00 | 30.00 / 30.00FLEASEINT | 2.34 | 13.93 | Vol. 1185555 D: 32.30 ⇓ 1.52% | 32.93 | 33.60 / 31.00 C: 32.40 ⇓ 1.52% | 33.40 | 34.40 / 32.30PLFSL | 1.37 | 17.48 | Vol. 1884250 D: 25.50 ⇓ 1.16% | 25.83 | 26.30 / 23.50 C: 25.70 ⇓ 0.77% | 25.87 | 26.40 / 25.40PRIMEFIN | 0.87 | 17.88 | Vol. 498185 D: 26.00 ⇑ 0.39% | 26.10 | 26.50 / 24.00 C: 26.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 26.02 | 26.50 / 25.80PREMIERLEA | 0.10 | 11.37 | Vol. 319794 D: 10.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 10.39 | 10.50 / 9.50 C: 10.50 ⇑ 0.96% | 10.57 | 10.70 / 10.40ISLAMICFIN | 1.03 | 15.48 | Vol. 1985980 D: 17.60 ⇓ 1.68% | 17.94 | 18.50 / 17.00 C: 17.90 ⇓ 0.56% | 18.11 | 18.40 / 17.80LANKABAFIN | 1.61 | 31.07 | Vol. 1250157 D: 58.10 ⇑ 0.87% | 58.48 | 59.50 / 52.00 C: 58.00 ⇑ 1.05% | 58.32 | 59.10 / 57.70BIFC | 0.15 | 18.58 | Vol. 268842 D: 17.40 ⇑ 1.16% | 17.46 | 18.00 / 16.50 C: 17.20 ⇑ 0.58% | 17.45 | 17.80 / 17.00IPDC | 1.23 | 19.43 | Vol. 366532 D: 19.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 19.91 | 20.30 / 19.30 C: 19.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 19.84 | 20.00 / 19.50UNIONCAP | 0.54 | 17.85 | Vol. 64639 D: 29.80 ⇑ 1.71% | 29.55 | 30.00 / 27.50 C: 30.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 29.98 | 30.00 / 30.00BDFINANCE | 0.57 | 14.77 | Vol. 311683 D: 19.40 ⇑ 2.65% | 19.33 | 19.50 / 17.50 C: 19.30 ⇑ 1.05% | 19.12 | 19.30 / 19.00ILFSL | 0.35 | 12.19 | Vol. 844360 D: 15.60 ⇑ 0.65% | 15.67 | 15.90 / 14.90 C: 15.80 ⇑ 1.28% | 15.82 | 16.50 / 15.40PHOENIXFIN | 2.46 | 19.39 | Vol. 662278 D: 35.40 ⇓ 0.28% | 35.67 | 36.40 / 32.00 C: 35.30 ⇓ 1.12% | 35.64 | 36.30 / 35.10FASFIN | 0.19 | 13.56 | Vol. 9662826 D: 14.40 ⇑ 1.41% | 14.04 | 15.00 / 14.00 C: 14.60 ⇑ 2.10% | 14.55 | 14.80 / 14.30DBH | 4.47 | 21.27 | Vol. 68000 D: 57.80 ⇓ 0.34% | 58.01 | 58.80 / 57.50 C: 57.00 ⇑ 2.89% | 57.00 | 57.00 / 57.00NHFIL | 0.57 | 12.70 | Vol. 520907 D: 32.50 ⇑ 0.31% | 33.00 | 34.00 / 29.80 C: 32.50 ⇑ 0.93% | 33.11 | 33.50 / 32.20BAYLEASING | 0.72 | 25.55 | Vol. 672752 D: 30.80 ⇓ 0.32% | 31.11 | 33.00 / 28.40 C: 31.20 ⇑ 0.32% | 31.52 | 31.70 / 30.90ICB | 89.23 | 607.74 | Vol. 6850 D: 1621 ⇑ 0.73% | 1625 | 1642 / 1612GSPFINANCE | 1.63 | 22.23 | Vol. 267821 D: 27.30 ⇑ 0.37% | 27.47 | 27.80 / 24.50 C: 27.80 ⇑ 1.83% | 27.63 | 28.00 / 27.00FAREASTFIN | 0.68 | 13.64 | Vol. 1353000 D: 14.60 ⇑ 2.10% | 14.50 | 14.80 / 14.30 C: 14.60 ⇑ 2.10% | 14.51 | 14.70 / 14.20

INVESTMENT2NDICB | 44.10 | 253.11 | Vol. 350 D: 253.7 ⇑ 2.88% | 254.29 | 255.0 / 251.03RDICB | 26.16 | 235.16 | Vol. 450 D: 201.3 ⇑ 0.10% | 202.22 | 209.9 / 196.25THICB | 23.45 | 188.92 | Vol. 4700 D: 149.9 ⇑ 2.04% | 149.57 | 155.0 / 149.06THICB | 10.99 | 60.14 | Vol. 42600 D: 55.10 ⇑ 3.96% | 54.79 | 55.70 / 53.60

7THICB | 13.53 | 98.60 | Vol. 3080 D: 86.70 ⇑ 5.73% | 86.49 | 87.90 / 80.008THICB | 12.47 | 70.07 | Vol. 26500 D: 53.40 ⇑ 1.14% | 53.74 | 55.00 / 53.00AIMS1STMF | 3.02 | 15.70 | Vol. 584250 D: 40.90 ⇑ 0.49% | 40.93 | 41.30 / 40.50 C: 41.10 ⇑ 2.49% | 41.11 | 41.50 / 40.30ICBISLAMIC | 2.21 | 26.81 | Vol. 44000 D: 19.40 ⇑ 2.65% | 19.57 | 20.60 / 18.20GRAMEEN1 | 6.26 | 33.23 | Vol. 384000 D: 46.50 ⇓ 0.85% | 46.93 | 47.60 / 46.00 C: 46.20 ⇓ 1.28% | 46.37 | 47.00 / 46.00ICB1STNRB | 4.06 | 35.31 | Vol. 4000 D: 26.60 ⇓ 0.75% | 26.75 | 26.70 / 26.60ICB2NDNRB | 2.49 | 16.24 | Vol. 178500 D: 10.50 ⇑ 1.94% | 10.58 | 11.10 / 10.50 C: 10.90 ⇑ 4.81% | 10.80 | 10.90 / 10.60GRAMEENS2 | 2.17 | 16.41 | Vol. 1113800 D: 17.00 ⇑ 0.59% | 17.11 | 17.30 / 16.00 C: 17.20 ⇑ 1.18% | 17.20 | 17.30 / 17.001STPRIMFMF | 0.64 | 11.63 | Vol. 1017000 D: 23.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 23.17 | 23.50 / 23.00 C: 23.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 23.05 | 23.50 / 22.60EBL1STMF | 0.55 | 12.62 | Vol. 374299 D: 7.20 ⇑ 1.41% | 7.25 | 7.30 / 6.50 C: 7.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 7.20 | 7.30 / 7.10ICBAMCL2ND | 0.60 | 12.12 | Vol. 137000 D: 6.20 ⇑ 3.33% | 6.26 | 6.40 / 6.10 C: 6.40 ⇑ 3.23% | 6.51 | 6.70 / 6.40ICBEPMF1S1 | 0.52 | 11.32 | Vol. 215500 D: 6.30 ⇑ 1.61% | 6.34 | 6.40 / 6.30 C: 6.50 ⇑ 1.56% | 6.55 | 6.80 / 6.40TRUSTB1MF | 0.75 | 11.65 | Vol. 1220572 D: 7.80 ⇑ 1.30% | 7.83 | 7.90 / 7.00 C: 7.80 ⇑ 1.30% | 7.85 | 7.90 / 7.80PRIME1ICBA | 0.42 | 11.18 | Vol. 189500 D: 5.80 ⇑ 3.57% | 5.78 | 5.90 / 5.70 C: 5.90 ⇑ 1.72% | 5.88 | 5.90 / 5.80DBH1STMF | -1.12 | 10.15 | Vol. 590500 D: 6.10 ⇑ 3.39% | 6.08 | 6.20 / 6.00 C: 6.10 ⇑ 1.67% | 6.10 | 6.30 / 6.00IFIC1STMF | 0.83 | 11.88 | Vol. 549586 D: 7.10 ⇑ 2.90% | 7.11 | 7.20 / 7.10 C: 7.20 ⇑ 1.41% | 7.22 | 7.30 / 6.50PF1STMF | 0.51 | 11.11 | Vol. 298000 D: 6.10 ⇑ 1.67% | 6.09 | 6.20 / 6.00 C: 6.10 ⇑ 1.67% | 6.06 | 6.10 / 6.00ICB3RDNRB | 0.00 | 10.60 | Vol. 656500 D: 5.70 ⇑ 1.79% | 5.74 | 5.80 / 5.60 C: 5.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.69 | 5.80 / 5.601JANATAMF | 0.78 | 10.68 | Vol. 946000 D: 6.40 ⇑ 1.59% | 6.49 | 6.60 / 6.40 C: 6.40 ⇑ 1.59% | 6.47 | 6.60 / 6.40GREENDELMF | -0.82 | 9.72 | Vol. 1369500 D: 5.80 ⇑ 5.45% | 5.78 | 5.90 / 5.70 C: 5.90 ⇑ 5.36% | 5.72 | 5.90 / 5.60POPULAR1MF | 0.77 | 11.38 | Vol. 2205069 D: 6.50 ⇑ 3.17% | 6.52 | 6.60 / 6.00 C: 6.50 ⇓ 1.52% | 6.55 | 6.60 / 6.50IFILISLMF1 | 0.00 | 10.45 | Vol. 685500 D: 6.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.19 | 6.30 / 6.10 C: 6.10 ⇑ 1.67% | 6.15 | 6.30 / 6.00PHPMF1 | 0.63 | 10.92 | Vol. 2091500 D: 6.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.07 | 6.20 / 6.00 C: 6.10 ⇑ 1.67% | 6.10 | 6.20 / 6.00AIBL1STIMF | -0.07 | 9.25 | Vol. 148500 D: 7.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 7.11 | 7.20 / 7.00 C: 7.20 ⇑ 2.86% | 7.18 | 7.20 / 7.10MBL1STMF | -0.16 | 9.08 | Vol. 329500 D: 6.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.65 | 6.70 / 6.60 C: 6.50 ⇑ 3.17% | 6.50 | 6.50 / 6.50SEBL1STMF | 0.94 | 11.85 | Vol. 603000 D: 8.30 ⇑ 2.47% | 8.33 | 8.40 / 8.30 C: 8.50 ⇑ 3.66% | 8.36 | 8.50 / 8.20EBLNRBMF | 1.07 | 10.88 | Vol. 115500 D: 7.40 ⇓ 3.90% | 7.44 | 7.80 / 7.40RELIANCE1 | 0.95 | 10.33 | Vol. 756000 D: 9.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 9.19 | 9.30 / 9.10 C: 9.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 9.15 | 9.20 / 9.10ABB1STMF | 0.92 | 10.63 | Vol. 1260000 D: 7.70 ⇑ 4.05% | 7.63 | 8.00 / 7.50 C: 7.90 ⇑ 8.22% | 7.90 | 7.90 / 7.90NLI1STMF | 1.17 | 12.22 | Vol. 1007650 D: 9.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 9.54 | 10.00 / 9.00 C: 9.50 ⇑ 0.00% | 9.52 | 9.70 / 9.40

FBFIF | 1.30 | 10.27 | Vol. 5500 D: 8.90 ⇑ 3.49% | 8.91 | 9.20 / 8.80NCCBLMF1 | 1.16 | 10.48 | Vol. 55500 D: 8.70 ⇓ 2.25% | 8.77 | 9.00 / 8.70ICBSONALI1 | 0.00 | 10.39 | Vol. 915000 D: 8.60 ⇑ 1.18% | 8.59 | 8.80 / 8.40 C: 8.80 ⇑ 2.33% | 8.66 | 8.80 / 8.50EXIM1STMF | 0.00 | 10.91 | Vol. 11000 D: 8.10 ⇓ 1.22% | 8.18 | 8.20 / 8.10

ENGINEERINGAFTABAUTO | 4.29 | 52.65 | Vol. 936335 D: 108.7 ⇓ 3.81% | 110.26 | 114.5 / 102.0 C: 108.9 ⇓ 3.46% | 110.06 | 113.0 / 108.1AZIZPIPES | 0.39 | -42.04 | Vol. 22350 D: 17.60 ⇑ 2.33% | 17.61 | 17.80 / 17.40 C: 17.60 ⇑ 0.57% | 17.59 | 18.50 / 17.40OLYMPIC | 7.85 | 22.10 | Vol. 1028157 D: 225.0 ⇑ 2.69% | 223.81 | 226.5 / 210.0 C: 225.3 ⇑ 2.64% | 224.33 | 227.5 / 222.0BDLAMPS | -5.31 | 37.07 | Vol. 16268 D: 138.2 ⇑ 1.77% | 139.24 | 141.0 / 135.0 C: 137.8 ⇑ 2.76% | 138.11 | 138.9 / 135.0ECABLES | 2.04 | 18.87 | Vol. 32800 D: 80.90 ⇑ 0.50% | 80.95 | 81.10 / 78.50 C: 72.20 ⇓ 9.30% | 72.20 | 72.20 / 72.20MONNOSTAF | 5.31 | 44.78 | Vol. 1550 D: 328.5 ⇑ 8.17% | 327.74 | 330.2 / 319.5SINGERBD | 9.99 | 45.74 | Vol. 151012 D: 204.5 ⇑ 0.00% | 205.49 | 209.0 / 197.0 C: 205.6 ⇑ 0.34% | 206.49 | 209.0 / 204.0ATLASBANG | 9.14 | 222.05 | Vol. 127562 D: 174.1 ⇑ 1.04% | 176.33 | 181.0 / 156.0BDAUTOCA | -0.43 | 5.68 | Vol. 68250 D: 31.20 ⇓ 0.95% | 32.41 | 33.50 / 31.00QSMDRYCELL | 1.06 | 52.31 | Vol. 673955 D: 36.60 ⇑ 2.23% | 37.04 | 38.00 / 32.50 C: 36.90 ⇑ 1.37% | 36.98 | 37.80 / 36.00BDTHAI | 0.43 | 39.35 | Vol. 488520 D: 27.80 ⇑ 0.36% | 28.35 | 29.00 / 27.00 C: 27.80 ⇓ 0.36% | 28.04 | 28.80 / 27.70ANWARGALV | 0.52 | 8.10 | Vol. 273000 D: 24.20 ⇓ 2.42% | 24.71 | 25.50 / 24.00 C: 24.50 ⇓ 0.81% | 24.66 | 26.30 / 24.20KAY&QUE | -3.89 | 6.03 | Vol. 10000 D: 16.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.00 | 16.10 / 16.00RANFOUNDRY | 2.84 | 18.62 | Vol. 71000 D: 90.10 ⇑ 0.11% | 90.82 | 93.00 / 88.00 C: 89.50 ⇑ 4.19% | 89.76 | 92.00 / 89.10SALAMCRST | 3.31 | 20.00 | Vol. 1062750 D: 44.60 ⇑ 0.90% | 44.98 | 45.60 / 42.00 C: 44.60 ⇑ 0.22% | 44.85 | 45.30 / 44.20GOLDENSON | 3.70 | 28.70 | Vol. 3631298 D: 52.00 ⇑ 4.00% | 52.45 | 55.00 / 45.00 C: 52.10 ⇑ 4.62% | 52.38 | 54.10 / 51.00BSRMSTEEL | 3.06 | 19.53 | Vol. 877373 D: 76.70 ⇑ 0.92% | 75.60 | 79.00 / 69.00 C: 76.10 ⇑ 0.26% | 75.40 | 77.00 / 74.90NAVANACNG | 4.09 | 27.04 | Vol. 248528 D: 67.80 ⇓ 1.02% | 68.31 | 75.00 / 62.50 C: 68.10 ⇓ 0.58% | 68.78 | 69.90 / 67.70DESHBANDHU | 0.26 | 10.67 | Vol. 715200 D: 18.60 ⇑ 2.20% | 18.55 | 19.00 / 17.50 C: 18.70 ⇑ 1.08% | 18.64 | 19.00 / 18.00GPHISPAT | 2.11 | 15.27 | Vol. 445650 D: 47.90 ⇓ 0.21% | 48.43 | 49.50 / 43.50 C: 48.00 ⇑ 0.63% | 48.19 | 48.90 / 48.00BENGALWTL | 3.85 | 24.30 | Vol. 2412200 D: 57.90 ⇑ 7.02% | 57.62 | 59.50 / 54.10 C: 57.90 ⇑ 8.43% | 57.50 | 58.70 / 54.00BDBUILDING | 1.33 | 12.70 | Vol. 2344500 D: 59.70 ⇑ 9.54% | 58.65 | 59.90 / 56.00 C: 59.40 ⇑ 9.59% | 58.90 | 59.60 / 56.20NPOLYMAR | 2.38 | 32.89 | Vol. 236917 D: 51.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 51.30 | 52.40 / 50.00 C: 51.30 ⇓ 0.58% | 51.32 | 53.00 / 50.30

FOOD & ALLIEDAPEXFOODS | 2.54 | 90.81 | Vol. 47600 D: 95.40 ⇓ 0.21% | 96.01 | 97.80 / 94.70 C: 96.00 ⇑ 2.67% | 95.92 | 97.00 / 93.80BANGAS | 7.20 | 50.27 | Vol. 56960 D: 431.2 ⇑ 1.84% | 430.63 | 437.9 / 410.0 C: 430.6 ⇑ 1.15% | 431.07 | 440.0 / 423.2

BATBC | 65.69 | 117.22 | Vol. 3700 D: 1704 ⇓ 0.01% | 1713 | 1760 / 1701GEMINISEA | 10.88 | 9.69 | Vol. 1550 D: 186.1 ⇑ 5.26% | 186.45 | 190.0 / 182.2NTC | 29.88 | 110.05 | Vol. 1100 D: 817.0 ⇑ 0.37% | 817.27 | 820.0 / 815.0ZEALBANGLA | -28.94 | -221.34 | Vol. 1000 D: 8.20 ⇑ 2.50% | 8.00 | 8.30 / 8.20AMCL(PRAN) | 6.85 | 57.14 | Vol. 120000 D: 200.4 ⇑ 4.81% | 199.05 | 204.5 / 193.1 C: 200.4 ⇑ 4.43% | 200.14 | 204.0 / 195.0SHYAMPSUG | -45.77 | -396.49 | Vol. 100 D: 7.30 ⇓ 5.19% | 7.30 | 7.30 / 7.30MEGHNAPET | -0.50 | -1.52 | Vol. 8500 D: 6.60 ⇑ 6.45% | 6.49 | 6.80 / 5.60MEGCONMILK | -7.48 | -23.70 | Vol. 35500 D: 7.20 ⇑ 1.41% | 7.32 | 7.60 / 7.00BEACHHATCH | 1.01 | 12.48 | Vol. 959866 D: 21.40 ⇑ 1.42% | 21.48 | 21.70 / 20.00 C: 21.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 21.56 | 21.90 / 21.20FINEFOODS | 0.05 | 10.63 | Vol. 419500 D: 17.40 ⇑ 0.58% | 17.47 | 17.70 / 17.20 C: 17.50 ⇑ 0.57% | 17.52 | 17.80 / 17.00RDFOOD | 0.91 | 16.84 | Vol. 1539334 D: 23.80 ⇑ 2.59% | 23.72 | 24.00 / 21.00 C: 23.80 ⇑ 2.15% | 23.76 | 24.00 / 23.40GHAIL | 2.31 | 24.36 | Vol. 1148070 D: 40.60 ⇑ 2.27% | 40.94 | 41.70 / 36.50 C: 40.80 ⇑ 2.26% | 41.06 | 41.90 / 39.60RUPONOIL | 0.11 | 32.14 | Vol. 0 C: 16.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 14.06 | 0.00 / 0.00

FUEL & POWERLINDEBD | 31.71 | 144.00 | Vol. 14250 D: 638.7 ⇓ 0.56% | 648.42 | 659.0 / 633.0PADMAOIL | 27.62 | 79.74 | Vol. 400884 D: 336.9 ⇓ 1.35% | 337.86 | 346.2 / 330.0 C: 336.7 ⇓ 0.65% | 336.81 | 342.2 / 332.0EASTRNLUB | 5.33 | 71.01 | Vol. 950 D: 347.2 ⇑ 4.36% | 347.37 | 348.5 / 340.0BDWELDING | 0.33 | 16.82 | Vol. 917587 D: 22.20 ⇑ 1.37% | 22.23 | 22.70 / 20.00 C: 22.20 ⇑ 0.45% | 22.39 | 22.70 / 22.00SUMITPOWER | 3.17 | 19.26 | Vol. 1693007 D: 38.90 ⇑ 1.57% | 38.84 | 39.40 / 35.00 C: 38.90 ⇑ 1.57% | 38.96 | 39.50 / 38.20DESCO | 2.34 | 31.27 | Vol. 397925 D: 61.70 ⇑ 0.16% | 61.91 | 62.80 / 56.00 C: 61.90 ⇑ 0.81% | 62.30 | 63.50 / 61.20POWERGRID | 2.19 | 63.69 | Vol. 561952 D: 57.20 ⇑ 5.54% | 56.02 | 58.00 / 52.00 C: 56.00 ⇑ 3.51% | 56.48 | 57.90 / 54.00JAMUNAOIL | 22.78 | 50.24 | Vol. 877343 D: 244.0 ⇓ 0.93% | 245.04 | 249.0 / 235.0 C: 243.7 ⇓ 1.10% | 244.99 | 249.4 / 240.0MPETROLEUM | 25.61 | 71.11 | Vol. 882513 D: 287.4 ⇓ 0.93% | 288.74 | 292.9 / 265.0 C: 288.0 ⇓ 0.55% | 288.40 | 292.5 / 286.1TITASGAS | 9.20 | 46.26 | Vol. 1284146 D: 77.70 ⇓ 1.40% | 77.92 | 78.80 / 71.00 C: 77.90 ⇓ 0.89% | 77.76 | 79.00 / 77.40KPCL | 4.73 | 15.86 | Vol. 403506 D: 51.30 ⇓ 0.58% | 51.58 | 52.00 / 48.00 C: 51.20 ⇓ 0.97% | 51.32 | 51.90 / 51.10BEDL | 1.48 | 19.43 | Vol. 2145156 D: 32.70 ⇑ 5.14% | 32.44 | 33.40 / 28.00 C: 32.80 ⇑ 4.79% | 32.30 | 33.00 / 31.30MJLBD | 2.73 | 30.24 | Vol. 231845 D: 76.40 ⇓ 2.68% | 77.51 | 79.80 / 71.00 C: 77.00 ⇓ 1.28% | 77.40 | 78.80 / 76.80GBBPOWER | 1.86 | 22.63 | Vol. 2248847 D: 30.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 30.74 | 32.00 / 27.60 C: 30.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 30.74 | 31.20 / 30.40SPPCL | 3.81 | 23.34 | Vol. 2127530 D: 63.20 ⇓ 0.78% | 64.05 | 65.70 / 58.00 C: 63.50 ⇓ 0.31% | 64.30 | 66.00 / 62.80

JUTEJUTESPINN | -48.14 | -39.89 | Vol. 13050 D: 86.00 ⇑ 9.97% | 86.00 | 86.00 / 86.00NORTHERN | -9.98 | -18.22 | Vol. 400 D: 25.80 ⇓ 9.47% | 25.80 | 25.80 / 25.80SONALIANSH | 5.54 | 218.80 | Vol. 11000 D: 145.9 ⇓ 1.02% | 147.27 | 151.8 / 145.1

6 DHAKA TRIBUNE Share THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE Share6

DSE Broad Index: 4439.60 ⇑ 1.33%, Turnover: 8890.05 M.Tk ⇑ 12.83%, PE: 13.55 Turnover: 9,781.97 MTk . ⇑ 13.16% 20 November 2013 MarketCap. 2,139.00 BTk. ⇑ 1.32% CSE All Share Index: 13773 ⇑1.54%, Turnover: 891.91 M Tk. ⇑ 16.31%, PE: 13.34

Combined Turnover Leader Vol. TO M.

Tk.% of TTL Avg. P

Grameenphone-A 2061200 436.99 4.47 212.01

UCBL - A 13150737 344.93 3.53 26.23 Generation Next Fashions-A 9267884 314.92 3.22 33.98

UNITED AIR-A 17382606 304.95 3.12 17.54

R. N. Spinning-A 7949410 285.97 2.92 35.97

DSE Gainer C % A % CP

Rupali Life Insur.-A 9.98 8.94 108.00

Jute Spinners-A 9.97 10.19 86.00

PragatiLife Insu.-A 9.92 10.80 144.00

BD Building Systems -N

9.54 8.69 59.70

Progressive Life-A 9.22 8.05 116.10

DSE Loser C % A % CP

Northern Jute-Z -9.47 -11.03 25.80

Delta Life Insu.-Z -8.74 -8.74 320.50

Shampur Sugar-Z -5.19 -5.19 7.30

Berger Paints-A -4.37 -3.10 867.10

JMI Syringes MDL-A -4.25 -4.02 195.90

CompanyCode | EPS | BV | Volume Traded (Share)DSE/CSE: ClosePrice ⇓/⇑ Chn % | Avg.Price | Hi / Lo

TEXTILEAL-HAJTEX | 2.22 | 16.53 | Vol. 247506 D: 92.80 ⇑ 0.65% | 91.87 | 93.60 / 89.00RAHIMTEXT | 4.65 | 56.68 | Vol. 4800 D: 246.0 ⇓ 3.94% | 245.83 | 251.1 / 241.2SAIHAMTEX | 2.75 | 29.50 | Vol. 1557700 D: 29.10 ⇑ 1.04% | 29.24 | 29.60 / 28.80 C: 29.40 ⇑ 1.73% | 29.62 | 30.00 / 29.10MODERNDYE | 0.91 | 10.37 | Vol. 5250 D: 81.10 ⇑ 1.50% | 80.00 | 82.00 / 76.10DSHGARME | 0.88 | 12.12 | Vol. 83900 D: 68.40 ⇓ 4.20% | 69.07 | 71.30 / 67.70DULAMIACOT | -1.90 | -29.70 | Vol. 15100 D: 7.60 ⇓ 2.56% | 7.68 | 7.80 / 7.60TALLUSPIN | 1.75 | 16.17 | Vol. 3761236 D: 38.70 ⇑ 3.20% | 38.45 | 39.40 / 35.00 C: 38.60 ⇑ 2.66% | 38.04 | 39.90 / 37.20APEXSPINN | 2.01 | 49.32 | Vol. 6800 D: 78.60 ⇑ 2.48% | 78.68 | 81.60 / 75.10MITHUNKNIT | 2.87 | 20.53 | Vol. 162292 D: 77.70 ⇑ 3.88% | 77.52 | 79.70 / 71.00 C: 77.40 ⇑ 2.25% | 77.89 | 79.80 / 76.70DELTASPINN | 3.06 | 26.84 | Vol. 1285400 D: 32.40 ⇑ 2.21% | 32.23 | 32.60 / 31.50 C: 32.40 ⇑ 2.53% | 32.24 | 32.80 / 31.10SONARGAON | 0.27 | 34.50 | Vol. 340155 D: 17.80 ⇑ 3.49% | 17.76 | 18.20 / 17.20 C: 17.60 ⇑ 0.57% | 17.99 | 18.30 / 17.30PRIMETEX | 1.21 | 59.34 | Vol. 432250 D: 25.70 ⇑ 1.98% | 25.68 | 25.90 / 25.30 C: 25.60 ⇑ 0.39% | 25.64 | 26.10 / 25.20ALLTEX | -1.26 | 8.10 | Vol. 429500 D: 7.50 ⇑ 1.35% | 7.44 | 7.60 / 7.40 C: 7.40 ⇑ 2.78% | 7.25 | 7.40 / 7.20ANLIMAYARN | 1.36 | 11.99 | Vol. 326000 D: 27.70 ⇓ 1.07% | 27.93 | 29.40 / 27.50 C: 28.00 ⇓ 2.10% | 28.79 | 29.00 / 28.00HRTEX | 2.08 | 14.92 | Vol. 200300 D: 37.20 ⇑ 1.09% | 37.24 | 37.80 / 36.50 C: 37.40 ⇓ 2.60% | 37.35 | 38.60 / 36.70CMCKAMAL | 1.37 | 19.31 | Vol. 2427059 D: 32.40 ⇑ 0.31% | 32.85 | 33.70 / 29.30SAFKOSPINN | 0.95 | 21.78 | Vol. 621210 D: 25.70 ⇑ 1.58% | 25.91 | 26.50 / 23.00 C: 25.60 ⇑ 1.19% | 26.03 | 26.40 / 25.50SQUARETEXT | 4.32 | 31.82 | Vol. 156958 D: 94.10 ⇑ 0.64% | 94.72 | 95.40 / 89.00 C: 94.10 ⇑ 1.84% | 94.55 | 95.00 / 93.90METROSPIN | 0.56 | 17.71 | Vol. 1848828 D: 20.70 ⇑ 8.95% | 20.25 | 20.90 / 17.30 C: 20.80 ⇑ 9.47% | 20.33 | 20.90 / 19.00MAKSONSPIN | 0.16 | 20.55 | Vol. 4612553 D: 17.50 ⇑ 4.17% | 17.39 | 18.00 / 15.20 C: 17.60 ⇑ 3.53% | 17.39 | 18.00 / 16.90DACCADYE | 1.02 | 28.44 | Vol. 1075248 D: 28.20 ⇑ 2.17% | 28.07 | 28.50 / 25.00 C: 28.30 ⇑ 1.43% | 28.12 | 28.50 / 27.80RNSPIN | 2.80 | 16.58 | Vol. 7949410 D: 36.60 ⇑ 6.71% | 35.94 | 37.50 / 31.00 C: 36.70 ⇑ 6.69% | 36.17 | 37.80 / 34.40BXSYNTH | 0.93 | 25.42 | Vol. 1480720 D: 18.20 ⇑ 4.00% | 18.30 | 18.80 / 16.00 C: 18.30 ⇑ 3.39% | 18.33 | 18.70 / 17.50MALEKSPIN | 2.81 | 43.48 | Vol. 6430460 D: 31.30 ⇑ 3.99% | 31.21 | 32.10 / 27.50 C: 31.40 ⇑ 3.29% | 30.99 | 32.00 / 29.50ZAHINTEX | 1.20 | 31.07 | Vol. 958950 D: 27.20 ⇑ 2.64% | 27.38 | 28.00 / 25.00 C: 27.50 ⇑ 2.61% | 27.46 | 27.90 / 27.00SAIHAMCOT | 1.92 | 23.62 | Vol. 1696750 D: 26.70 ⇑ 1.91% | 26.56 | 27.00 / 25.70 C: 26.50 ⇑ 1.15% | 26.58 | 26.90 / 25.80GENNEXT | 1.68 | 15.15 | Vol. 9267884 D: 33.60 ⇓ 0.59% | 33.99 | 34.90 / 31.00 C: 33.60 ⇓ 1.18% | 33.91 | 34.90 / 33.30ENVOYTEX | 3.19 | 39.00 | Vol. 2451740 D: 58.90 ⇑ 1.55% | 59.25 | 60.80 / 52.20 C: 58.90 ⇑ 1.55% | 59.27 | 60.50 / 58.20ARGONDENIM | 1.89 | 38.86 | Vol. 862105 D: 67.40 ⇓ 3.44% | 69.05 | 70.40 / 63.00 C: 68.10 ⇓ 3.54% | 68.68 | 70.00 / 67.20FAMILYTEX | 3.72 | 14.68 | Vol. 983500 D: 54.90 ⇑ 2.04% | 55.23 | 56.00 / 54.50 C: 54.40 ⇑ 1.87% | 54.91 | 55.80 / 54.10PTL | 2.25 | 21.72 | Vol. 4405250 D: 48.80 ⇑ 7.02% | 46.87 | 49.80 / 44.80 C: 48.80 ⇑ 6.09% | 46.95 | 49.90 / 45.00

PHARMACEUTICAL & CHEMICALAMBEEPHA | 3.94 | 26.15 | Vol. 10189 D: 266.6 ⇑ 0.38% | 269.20 | 273.4 / 265.0 C: 269.6 ⇑ 2.67% | 265.82 | 271.9 / 265.0

BXPHARMA | 3.77 | 52.55 | Vol. 871293 D: 48.90 ⇑ 0.41% | 49.34 | 50.30 / 44.00 C: 49.10 ⇑ 0.61% | 49.55 | 50.50 / 48.90GLAXOSMITH | 20.25 | 123.32 | Vol. 1650 D: 992.6 ⇑ 0.03% | 992.73 | 1020 / 949.5ACI | -5.82 | 126.42 | Vol. 43524 D: 174.9 ⇓ 1.69% | 178.79 | 182.0 / 168.0 C: 175.0 ⇑ 0.69% | 175.06 | 176.9 / 173.0RENATA | 33.57 | 138.83 | Vol. 13300 D: 746.3 ⇑ 0.40% | 749.77 | 759.9 / 744.5RECKITTBEN | 27.16 | 78.89 | Vol. 1750 D: 902.1 ⇑ 5.97% | 902.29 | 909.0 / 899.0PHARMAID | 1.39 | 26.19 | Vol. 39750 D: 165.9 ⇑ 1.28% | 165.33 | 167.0 / 164.0KOHINOOR | 14.33 | 19.99 | Vol. 1500 D: 407.3 ⇓ 3.00% | 407.33 | 421.0 / 400.0IBNSINA | 3.44 | 34.02 | Vol. 86070 D: 107.7 ⇓ 2.62% | 109.55 | 112.0 / 102.0 C: 108.4 ⇓ 1.72% | 109.97 | 113.0 / 107.0ORIONINFU | 1.27 | 7.00 | Vol. 426500 D: 45.10 ⇑ 4.64% | 44.60 | 45.70 / 43.40 C: 44.90 ⇑ 2.98% | 44.92 | 46.00 / 44.50SQURPHARMA | 6.93 | 37.18 | Vol. 942316 D: 194.4 ⇑ 3.57% | 193.78 | 196.0 / 175.0 C: 193.7 ⇑ 3.25% | 192.84 | 194.5 / 187.5IMAMBUTTON | -1.51 | 4.16 | Vol. 24500 D: 7.70 ⇓ 2.53% | 7.76 | 7.90 / 7.50 C: 8.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 7.55 | 8.00 / 7.40KEYACOSMET | 1.55 | 21.54 | Vol. 3042912 D: 27.40 ⇑ 2.24% | 27.56 | 29.00 / 25.00 C: 27.40 ⇑ 1.48% | 27.57 | 28.00 / 26.00BERGERPBL | 32.46 | 100.20 | Vol. 1100 D: 867.1 ⇓ 4.37% | 867.27 | 870.0 / 865.0ACIFORMULA | 3.33 | 38.08 | Vol. 66100 D: 78.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 78.70 | 80.60 / 78.10 C: 79.40 ⇑ 1.53% | 79.54 | 80.00 / 78.50MARICO | 27.53 | 62.47 | Vol. 12250 D: 774.8 ⇑ 3.14% | 763.44 | 784.0 / 750.0 C: 780.0 ⇑ 2.05% | 780.00 | 780.0 / 780.0BEACONPHAR | 0.04 | 12.01 | Vol. 610050 D: 12.20 ⇑ 1.67% | 12.19 | 12.30 / 11.00 C: 12.30 ⇑ 0.82% | 12.14 | 13.00 / 11.50ACTIVEFINE | 3.23 | 13.89 | Vol. 1129961 D: 88.40 ⇓ 2.64% | 90.53 | 94.80 / 84.00 C: 88.80 ⇓ 2.42% | 90.19 | 93.00 / 88.00SALVOCHEM | 0.68 | 10.57 | Vol. 1095404 D: 21.80 ⇓ 1.36% | 21.93 | 22.20 / 20.00 C: 21.90 ⇓ 1.35% | 21.99 | 22.20 / 21.70GHCL | 2.14 | 57.31 | Vol. 988000 D: 54.70 ⇓ 3.36% | 55.46 | 57.50 / 54.30 C: 54.90 ⇓ 3.68% | 55.78 | 58.00 / 54.40ORIONPHARM | 5.02 | 68.68 | Vol. 2121420 D: 61.20 ⇑ 4.79% | 60.95 | 62.20 / 53.00 C: 61.30 ⇑ 4.25% | 61.08 | 62.40 / 55.50JMISMDL | 1.12 | 12.83 | Vol. 229500 D: 195.9 ⇓ 4.25% | 199.36 | 210.0 / 195.2 C: 196.6 ⇓ 3.72% | 198.73 | 208.0 / 193.1CENTRALPHL | 1.62 | 12.24 | Vol. 1596500 D: 32.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 32.61 | 33.70 / 31.80 C: 32.20 ⇑ 0.31% | 32.86 | 33.80 / 32.00

PAPER & PACKAGINGHAKKANIPUL | 0.51 | 31.01 | Vol. 64500 D: 28.60 ⇑ 2.51% | 29.10 | 29.80 / 28.50 C: 28.90 ⇑ 4.33% | 29.37 | 30.40 / 28.50

SERVICESAMORITA | 3.24 | 74.65 | Vol. 100500 D: 124.4 ⇑ 0.81% | 122.97 | 124.9 / 120.0 C: 123.3 ⇑ 5.29% | 123.44 | 124.5 / 123.0SAPORTL | 1.23 | 38.39 | Vol. 1905238 D: 30.90 ⇑ 7.67% | 30.72 | 31.50 / 26.50 C: 31.00 ⇑ 6.90% | 30.71 | 31.50 / 29.10EHL | 2.81 | 18.44 | Vol. 885266 D: 52.40 ⇑ 0.58% | 52.82 | 54.00 / 50.00 C: 52.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 52.93 | 54.00 / 52.30

LEATHERAPEXTANRY | 6.57 | 69.38 | Vol. 129000 D: 124.6 ⇓ 1.74% | 125.95 | 128.7 / 122.0 C: 123.7 ⇓ 2.60% | 125.27 | 127.0 / 123.1BATASHOE | 49.12 | 135.53 | Vol. 6300 D: 736.2 ⇑ 0.63% | 739.05 | 749.9 / 730.0APEXADELFT | 23.01 | 203.26 | Vol. 68000 D: 399.1 ⇑ 0.25% | 401.18 | 409.0 / 396.0 C: 390.0 ⇓ 1.27% | 398.60 | 401.0 / 390.0SAMATALETH | 0.22 | 12.93 | Vol. 11500 D: 14.00 ⇑ 0.72% | 14.09 | 14.40 / 13.90LEGACYFOOT | 0.63 | 17.19 | Vol. 426075 D: 34.30 ⇓ 1.72% | 34.87 | 35.90 / 31.50 C: 34.50 ⇓ 1.43% | 34.88 | 35.50 / 34.40

CERAMICMONNOCERA | 0.35 | 95.30 | Vol. 79627 D: 33.20 ⇑ 3.75% | 33.09 | 33.50 / 32.40 C: 33.40 ⇑ 2.14% | 33.16 | 33.50 / 32.90STANCERAM | 1.12 | 15.49 | Vol. 13500 D: 39.20 ⇓ 3.69% | 39.28 | 40.70 / 38.80 C: 38.60 ⇓ 1.03% | 38.60 | 38.60 / 38.60FUWANGCER | 0.65 | 12.70 | Vol. 844600 D: 18.80 ⇑ 1.62% | 18.81 | 19.00 / 17.00 C: 18.80 ⇑ 1.62% | 18.78 | 19.00 / 18.40SPCERAMICS | 0.62 | 30.92 | Vol. 1304442 D: 18.90 ⇑ 5.59% | 18.77 | 19.10 / 16.50 C: 18.90 ⇑ 5.00% | 18.77 | 19.00 / 18.00RAKCERAMIC | 1.98 | 16.76 | Vol. 469231 D: 53.80 ⇑ 0.56% | 54.24 | 55.00 / 48.50 C: 53.80 ⇑ 0.75% | 54.05 | 54.80 / 53.50

CEMENTHEIDELBCEM | 22.85 | 111.50 | Vol. 131030 D: 402.9 ⇓ 0.32% | 407.61 | 415.0 / 401.0 C: 402.2 ⇓ 1.16% | 404.93 | 412.0 / 401.0CONFIDCEM | 6.23 | 90.76 | Vol. 338529 D: 129.2 ⇓ 0.84% | 130.31 | 133.5 / 128.0 C: 129.4 ⇓ 0.92% | 130.57 | 133.0 / 129.0MEGHNACEM | 6.28 | 33.81 | Vol. 241800 D: 136.2 ⇑ 3.10% | 137.30 | 140.7 / 134.2 C: 137.9 ⇑ 3.06% | 137.88 | 142.0 / 135.0ARAMITCEM | 3.03 | 14.65 | Vol. 174710 D: 76.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 77.17 | 79.50 / 70.00 C: 77.20 ⇓ 1.40% | 77.65 | 80.90 / 76.00LAFSURCEML | 1.60 | 7.22 | Vol. 782000 D: 32.40 ⇑ 0.93% | 32.53 | 32.90 / 32.00 C: 32.80 ⇑ 1.86% | 32.77 | 33.40 / 31.50MICEMENT | 4.48 | 37.67 | Vol. 337800 D: 88.20 ⇑ 0.11% | 89.11 | 90.20 / 82.00 C: 88.50 ⇑ 0.68% | 89.10 | 89.80 / 87.50PREMIERCEM | 5.00 | 32.60 | Vol. 658000 D: 106.4 ⇓ 1.66% | 108.92 | 113.0 / 105.6 C: 106.5 ⇓ 1.57% | 109.06 | 112.8 / 106.0

IT IINDUSTRIESISNLTD | 0.28 | 17.31 | Vol. 385344 D: 19.00 ⇑ 8.57% | 18.72 | 19.20 / 16.00 C: 18.70 ⇑ 8.09% | 18.49 | 19.00 / 17.70BDCOM | 1.40 | 14.41 | Vol. 657744 D: 27.40 ⇓ 1.44% | 27.81 | 28.20 / 26.30 C: 27.20 ⇓ 1.09% | 27.92 | 29.40 / 27.10INTECH | 0.94 | 10.08 | Vol. 733857 D: 16.80 ⇑ 7.01% | 16.68 | 17.20 / 14.60 C: 17.00 ⇑ 8.28% | 16.60 | 17.20 / 14.90AGNISYSL | 0.96 | 14.90 | Vol. 601031 D: 22.20 ⇑ 2.30% | 22.08 | 22.40 / 21.00 C: 22.20 ⇑ 0.91% | 22.29 | 22.90 / 21.80DAFODILCOM | 0.85 | 10.99 | Vol. 1240040 D: 14.10 ⇑ 4.44% | 14.00 | 14.30 / 13.70 C: 14.30 ⇑ 5.93% | 14.10 | 14.40 / 13.00AAMRATECH | 1.33 | 19.91 | Vol. 1208950 D: 33.10 ⇑ 2.48% | 33.09 | 33.50 / 32.10 C: 33.10 ⇑ 1.85% | 33.05 | 33.50 / 32.50

GENERAL INSURANCEBGIC | 1.65 | 20.33 | Vol. 119367 D: 31.60 ⇑ 1.61% | 31.54 | 31.80 / 30.70 C: 31.20 ⇑ 0.65% | 31.29 | 32.00 / 31.00GREENDELT | 4.05 | 64.44 | Vol. 106690 D: 83.50 ⇑ 2.20% | 84.55 | 86.00 / 75.00 C: 84.40 ⇑ 1.81% | 84.84 | 86.00 / 84.00UNITEDINS | 2.47 | 21.04 | Vol. 17700 D: 45.10 ⇑ 0.89% | 45.31 | 45.80 / 44.40PEOPLESINS | 2.05 | 20.72 | Vol. 359215 D: 35.70 ⇓ 0.83% | 36.44 | 37.20 / 35.20 C: 36.20 ⇓ 1.36% | 36.16 | 36.30 / 36.10EASTERNINS | 2.22 | 35.88 | Vol. 60291 D: 40.50 ⇑ 4.11% | 40.08 | 40.80 / 38.90 C: 39.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 38.00 | 39.90 / 39.90JANATAINS | 0.78 | 17.07 | Vol. 337520 D: 29.10 ⇑ 2.46% | 29.06 | 29.50 / 26.00 C: 29.40 ⇑ 2.80% | 29.27 | 29.50 / 28.30PHENIXINS | 2.70 | 20.96 | Vol. 111911 D: 46.10 ⇑ 0.88% | 46.02 | 46.90 / 42.00 C: 46.70 ⇑ 1.97% | 46.65 | 47.30 / 46.00EASTLAND | 4.06 | 23.29 | Vol. 393460 D: 51.90 ⇑ 2.77% | 52.00 | 52.70 / 45.50 C: 51.90 ⇑ 3.80% | 52.22 | 53.00 / 51.60CENTRALINS | 1.54 | 19.04 | Vol. 119648 D: 32.00 ⇑ 2.24% | 32.11 | 32.70 / 30.20 C: 32.00 ⇑ 5.26% | 32.00 | 32.00 / 32.00KARNAPHULI | 1.56 | 19.42 | Vol. 220380 D: 26.10 ⇑ 3.98% | 26.02 | 26.30 / 25.60RUPALIINS | 2.76 | 23.38 | Vol. 345460 D: 35.60 ⇑ 2.89% | 35.60 | 35.80 / 33.00 C: 35.70 ⇑ 2.00% | 35.56 | 35.70 / 35.10FEDERALINS | 1.10 | 10.98 | Vol. 670911 D: 26.60 ⇑ 1.92% | 26.43 | 27.00 / 24.00 C: 26.80 ⇑ 1.90% | 26.49 | 26.80 / 26.10RELIANCINS | 3.93 | 61.52 | Vol. 8310 D: 75.40 ⇓ 0.53% | 75.21 | 75.50 / 69.00PURABIGEN | 1.05 | 18.71 | Vol. 607045 D: 25.60 ⇑ 1.99% | 25.71 | 26.20 / 23.00PRAGATIINS | 2.01 | 50.30 | Vol. 68533 D: 61.50 ⇑ 1.49% | 61.31 | 62.80 / 58.00PRIMEINSUR | 2.14 | 14.14 | Vol. 153497 D: 34.30 ⇑ 1.18% | 35.19 | 35.90 / 33.00PIONEERINS | 3.11 | 23.84 | Vol. 175372 D: 72.40 ⇑ 4.02% | 72.02 | 73.00 / 69.00MERCINS | 1.53 | 14.50 | Vol. 395218 D: 29.10 ⇑ 0.34% | 29.41 | 30.00 / 26.10 C: 29.50 ⇑ 2.08% | 29.48 | 30.00 / 29.10AGRANINS | 1.73 | 14.39 | Vol. 160168 D: 28.40 ⇑ 2.16% | 28.35 | 28.90 / 26.90GLOBALINS | 1.09 | 11.78 | Vol. 83638 D: 30.60 ⇑ 0.99% | 30.85 | 31.40 / 29.00NITOLINS | 2.59 | 15.41 | Vol. 52946 D: 36.00 ⇑ 1.12% | 35.98 | 36.80 / 33.00ASIAPACINS | 1.84 | 13.76 | Vol. 78000 D: 32.10 ⇑ 2.56% | 32.31 | 32.80 / 31.30 C: 32.00 ⇑ 0.31% | 32.09 | 32.60 / 31.30SONARBAINS | 1.68 | 13.38 | Vol. 192710 D: 27.00 ⇑ 3.85% | 26.99 | 27.30 / 25.00 C: 27.10 ⇑ 5.04% | 27.02 | 27.30 / 26.20PARAMOUNT | 1.26 | 13.19 | Vol. 304800 D: 26.20 ⇑ 0.77% | 26.45 | 27.20 / 24.00 C: 27.10 ⇑ 3.44% | 26.95 | 27.40 / 26.90CITYGENINS | 1.65 | 14.26 | Vol. 161308 D: 30.60 ⇑ 1.66% | 30.86 | 31.30 / 28.00 C: 30.70 ⇑ 4.07% | 30.71 | 31.40 / 30.00CONTININS | 1.41 | 15.68 | Vol. 327577 D: 32.70 ⇑ 1.55% | 32.99 | 33.60 / 32.20 C: 32.50 ⇑ 1.56% | 32.98 | 33.30 / 32.50TAKAFULINS | 2.19 | 15.17 | Vol. 581997 D: 43.00 ⇑ 2.38% | 43.28 | 43.70 / 41.00 C: 43.20 ⇑ 1.89% | 43.51 | 44.00 / 42.50STANDARINS | 2.58 | 13.99 | Vol. 22143 D: 41.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 41.54 | 42.90 / 38.00 C: 40.00 ⇓ 5.88% | 40.00 | 40.00 / 40.00NORTHRNINS | 1.77 | 11.15 | Vol. 113827 D: 44.80 ⇑ 1.82% | 44.74 | 45.30 / 40.00 C: 44.40 ⇑ 0.91% | 43.15 | 44.40 / 42.10REPUBLIC | 2.14 | 12.42 | Vol. 361919 D: 45.70 ⇑ 1.56% | 46.10 | 46.70 / 44.00 C: 45.80 ⇑ 1.55% | 45.75 | 46.10 / 45.00ASIAINS | 1.56 | 17.34 | Vol. 159778 D: 29.50 ⇑ 3.15% | 29.54 | 30.00 / 27.00 C: 29.30 ⇑ 1.03% | 29.60 | 30.00 / 29.00ISLAMIINS | 1.29 | 11.96 | Vol. 427239 D: 36.70 ⇓ 3.42% | 37.51 | 40.40 / 34.80 C: 37.90 ⇑ 4.70% | 37.90 | 37.90 / 37.90

PROVATIINS | 1.90 | 14.30 | Vol. 91500 D: 31.00 ⇑ 1.97% | 31.08 | 31.60 / 30.20 C: 30.90 ⇑ 0.98% | 30.90 | 31.00 / 30.70DHAKAINS | 2.84 | 18.02 | Vol. 402000 D: 45.80 ⇑ 6.76% | 45.09 | 46.30 / 40.00 C: 45.70 ⇑ 6.78% | 45.32 | 46.90 / 44.40

LIFE INSURANCENATLIFEINS | 12.34 | 80.99 | Vol. 16676 D: 260.6 ⇑ 2.76% | 262.47 | 269.0 / 250.0 C: 261.0 ⇑ 1.16% | 262.50 | 269.0 / 260.0DELTALIFE | 38.53 | 189.40 | Vol. 16350 D: 320.5 ⇓ 8.74% | 320.50 | 320.5 / 320.5 C: 340.6 ⇓ 7.70% | 340.16 | 350.0 / 336.8SANDHANINS | 2.39 | 28.22 | Vol. 92303 D: 75.50 ⇑ 2.58% | 75.44 | 76.90 / 70.00 C: 75.50 ⇑ 4.43% | 75.46 | 76.00 / 70.00POPULARLIF | 3.70 | 715.41 | Vol. 112297 D: 246.8 ⇓ 0.80% | 245.04 | 260.0 / 230.0FAREASTLIF | 9.21 | 60.79 | Vol. 145080 D: 98.90 ⇑ 2.59% | 99.86 | 102.6 / 90.00 C: 100.1 ⇑ 2.35% | 101.01 | 99.80 / 100.0MEGHNALIFE | 10.82 | 48.87 | Vol. 336650 D: 114.6 ⇑ 4.95% | 114.19 | 116.2 / 110.0 C: 111.3 ⇑ 1.64% | 112.68 | 115.4 / 111.3PROGRESLIF | 2.30 | 31.45 | Vol. 44510 D: 116.1 ⇑ 9.22% | 114.90 | 116.9 / 107.0PRAGATILIF | 0.60 | 30.15 | Vol. 218204 D: 144.0 ⇑ 9.92% | 140.67 | 144.1 / 120.0PRIMELIFE | 5.51 | 27.10 | Vol. 57707 D: 101.8 ⇑ 5.38% | 100.27 | 104.9 / 90.00 C: 102.0 ⇑ 5.05% | 100.36 | 99.90 / 100.0RUPALILIFE | 3.75 | 31.25 | Vol. 345280 D: 108.0 ⇑ 9.98% | 106.19 | 108.0 / 96.20 C: 108.3 ⇑ 9.39% | 108.03 | 108.9 / 100.1PADMALIFE | 1.63 | 25.76 | Vol. 121320 D: 61.00 ⇑ 3.21% | 60.56 | 61.40 / 57.00 C: 61.30 ⇑ 3.55% | 60.58 | 61.80 / 59.90SUNLIFEINS | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 328400 D: 59.00 ⇑ 2.43% | 59.38 | 60.30 / 52.00 C: 59.20 ⇑ 3.14% | 59.23 | 60.00 / 58.50

TELECOMGP | 12.96 | 26.26 | Vol. 2061200 D: 215.3 ⇑ 4.26% | 212.01 | 216.5 / 207.0 C: 214.4 ⇑ 3.78% | 211.90 | 215.9 / 207.0BSCCL | 5.82 | 26.38 | Vol. 646120 D: 184.7 ⇑ 0.76% | 185.35 | 190.0 / 171.0 C: 185.0 ⇑ 0.82% | 185.43 | 190.0 / 180.0

TRAVEL & LEISUREUNITEDAIR | 1.10 | 12.87 | Vol. 17382606 D: 17.70 ⇑ 6.63% | 17.55 | 18.00 / 15.20 C: 17.80 ⇑ 7.23% | 17.53 | 18.00 / 16.00UNIQUEHRL | 4.02 | 86.29 | Vol. 879535 D: 86.00 ⇑ 2.38% | 85.93 | 86.80 / 75.60 C: 85.80 ⇑ 1.90% | 85.87 | 86.60 / 84.60

MISCELLANEOUSARAMIT | 16.07 | 99.93 | Vol. 42400 D: 358.1 ⇓ 3.09% | 365.25 | 379.0 / 356.1 C: 360.0 ⇑ 0.00% | 360.00 | 360.0 / 360.0BSC | 1.77 | 565.82 | Vol. 136565 D: 468.3 ⇑ 4.00% | 460.46 | 480.0 / 450.3 C: 469.8 ⇑ 4.28% | 460.91 | 478.0 / 447.0GQBALLPEN | 6.55 | 250.45 | Vol. 79850 D: 148.3 ⇑ 0.75% | 149.97 | 152.5 / 147.7 C: 147.7 ⇑ 1.16% | 148.78 | 151.5 / 147.4USMANIAGL | 3.45 | 27.20 | Vol. 121134 D: 136.8 ⇑ 4.59% | 135.88 | 139.0 / 126.0 C: 136.5 ⇑ 3.88% | 135.88 | 137.5 / 134.0SAVAREFR | 0.14 | 10.57 | Vol. 300 D: 56.50 ⇑ 2.54% | 56.67 | 58.00 / 56.00BEXIMCO | 3.24 | 86.74 | Vol. 6639867 D: 38.10 ⇑ 7.63% | 37.77 | 38.90 / 32.00 C: 38.10 ⇑ 7.32% | 37.65 | 38.50 / 36.00SINOBANGLA | 1.75 | 21.01 | Vol. 237000 D: 22.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 22.09 | 22.40 / 21.90 C: 22.30 ⇑ 0.90% | 22.25 | 22.50 / 21.90MIRACLEIND | 0.09 | 14.41 | Vol. 795000 D: 16.30 ⇑ 3.82% | 16.06 | 16.30 / 15.20 C: 16.30 ⇑ 3.82% | 16.19 | 16.50 / 15.70

BONDIBBLPBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 315 D: 985.0 ⇑ 0.82% | 983.87 | 987.8 / 980.3 C: 961.0 ⇑ 0.73% | 961.00 | 961.0 / 961.0ACIZCBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 36 D: 884.5 ⇑ 0.11% | 888.89 | 890.0 / 880.0

ShareDHAKA TRIBUNE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013 7ShareDHAKA TRIBUNE 7

November 20, 2013 Sectotal Index: BANK: 39,842.10 ⇑ 1.27% NBFI: 21,697.38 ⇑ 0.47% INVS: 4,995.23 ⇑ 1.17% ENGG: 6,441.58 ⇑ 0.93% FOOD: 9,730.31 ⇑ 0.68% F&P: 10,743.24 ⇑ 0.09% TEXT: 3,538.70 ⇑ 2.47% PHAR: 18,378.54 ⇑ 2.07% PAPR: 1,061.32 ⇑ 3.90% SERV: 3,163.85 ⇑ 4.82% LEAT: 5,282.61 ⇓ 0.90% CERA: 531.95 ⇑ 1.73% CMNT: 4,458.67 ⇑ 0.38% INFO: 7,578.05 ⇑ 2.24% GINS: 9,667.53 ⇑ 1.54% LINS: 128,541.54 ⇓ 0.91% TELC: 1,427.50 ⇑ 3.10% MISC: 6,894.33 ⇑ 3.36%

Bernanke says economy ‘still far’ from idealn AFP, Washington

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday the economy remains far from where the Fed wants to see it and that the US central bank is still committed to its stimulus policies.

Bernanke gave no hint as to when Fed poli-cymakers might begin cutting back its $85bn a month in asset purchases, saying they remain “committed to maintaining highly accommo-dative policies for as long as they are needed.”

“The economy has made signi� cant pro-gress since the depths of the recession,” he said in a prepared speech to be delivered to a group of economists on Tuesday evening.

“However, we are still far from where we would like to be, and, consequently, it may be some time before monetary policy returns to more normal settings.”

In the speech to the National Economists Club about the Fed’s attempt to better com-municate its policies, Bernanke said investors overreacted earlier this year when they sent US interest rates sharply higher.

That came in May and June after Bernanke spelled out the Federal Open Market Commit-tee’s tentative plans for cutting its stimulus be-ginning late this year and ending it entirely by mid-2014.

The rise in rates at that time “was neither welcome nor warranted, in the judgment of the FOMC,” he said.

“This change in expectations did not cor-respond to any actual lessening in the FOMC’s commitment” to support growth.

That misinterpretation led to the shock in September when the FOMC went against ex-pectations and did not begin the taper of the stimulus program.

But Bernanke said that only forced inves-tors and traders to pay more attention to the FOMC’s stated forecast to hold interest rates ultra-low through 2015.

Now, he said, rates are in line with mone-tary policy.

“In particular, following the decision, longer-term rates fell and expectations of

short-term rates derived from � nancial market prices showed, and continue to show, a pattern more consistent with the guidance.”

Bernanke, with about 11 weeks left in his eight year tenure as Fed chair, reiterated the FOMC’s commitment in its easy-money stance in precise parallel with what his designated successor, Fed vice-chair Janet Yellen, told a

Senate panel last week.The Fed believes that on balance the asset

purchase program is helping economic growth, even if the impact lessens over time, he said.

In addition, even if the $85bn a month pro-gram is ended over the next year, the Fed is like-ly to hold interest rates ultra-low for longer, un-til it sees growth is � rm and self-sustaining. l

8 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE Business

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

SouthAfrica

Russia

Indonesia

India

China

Brazil

Turkey

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

GDP in percent. change on previous year

Source: OECD, AFP

OECD growth forecasts: emerging countries

3.7

2.9

5.7

5.7

7.5

2.5

4.1

3.6

0.7

6

9.6

5.2

6.2

-7.8-7.8

11.211.2

1.6bn people on social networks: studyn AFP, Washington

An estimated 1.61bn people, more than one in � ve globally, will log in to social networking sites at least monthly this year, the research � rm eMarketer said Tuesday.

The study said the number was up 14.2% from a year ago and growth will push that number up to 2.33bn by 2017.

The highest penetration of social net-work users, according to eMarketer, is in the Netherlands, at 63.5%. Norway was second at 63.3%, followed by Sweden (56.4%), South Korea (54.4%), Denmark (53.3%), the United States (51.7%) and Finland (51.3%).

A majority of residents were also on so-cial networks in Canada (51.2%) and Britain (50.2%, according to the report based on data from research � rms, government agencies, media outlets and company reports.

The 1.61bn � gure represented 22% of the world’s estimated population, the survey said.

The report said India is seeing the high-est growth this year of 37.4%, though only 7.7% of the population uses social networks. Indonesia’s numbers will climb 28.7% and Mexico will grow by 21.1%, eMarketer said.

All three of those countries are also high-growth areas for Facebook, the world’s largest social network with more than one billion users. l

US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke addresses the National Economists Club annual dinner at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington REUTERS