MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016 | Jyoishtha 23, 1423, Shaban 29, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 4, No 44 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

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on remittanceBangladesh might lose Tk150cr a year because of a proposed 6% tax on remit-tance by expat workers. PAGE 32

Intl Tribunal examines Nikos corruption A tribunal will examine whether Niko procured agreements for Chattak, Feni gas elds through corruption. PAGE 5

Rajshahis empty zoo Empty cages welcome visitors everyday at the Rajshahi zoo, where people once ocked to marvel at the grandeur of Bengal tigers and lions. PAGE 7

SP's wife killedThe style bears the hallmarks of previous Islamist militant attacks n Anwar Hossain and FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

Three unidenti ed assailants took less than a minute to stab and shoot dead a senior police o cers wife in front of her child in Chittagong city early yesterday before leaving the scene on a motorcycle, police said after scrutinising CCTV footages.

Chittagong Metropolitan Po-lice o cials think that Mahmu-da Khanam Mitu, 32, was killed by professional militants for her husbands extensive activi-ties against extremist activities in the region to demoralise him and also to create panic among the members of the law en-forcement agencies.

Mitu, the wife of popular crime buster Babul Akhter who was recently promoted to su-perintendent of police and set to join o ce yesterday, was killed in the port citys GEC area around 6:30pm.

She was walking to the bus stop with her second-grader son Akter Mahmud Mahir to drop him for the school bus. The spot is only 100 yards from their house on OR Nizam Road. Their daughter Tabassum Taznin was at home.

Mitus father Mosharraf Hos-sain is a retired police o cer.

Babul was not in Chittagong PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

DhakaTribune has brought out a Ram-adan schedule for 2016. Please collect your copy today from your hawker.

IS claims murder of Natore Christian grocern K Kamal Mridha, NatoreA Christian grocery shopkeep-er was slaughtered by some criminals who came on a mo-torcycle to his shop in a locality that is thinly populated at Bon-para of Baraigram in Natore yesterday noon.

International militant group Islamic State claimed respon-sibility for the murder of Sunil Gomez, 60, according to US-based jihadist monitoring web-site SITE Intelligence Group. It is the 19th attack since IS made the rst claim in September last year after the murder of an Italian citizen in Dhaka.

IS said that their men had carried out the murder of ve people since April when the militant organisation claimed

that they had established a base in the country with a view to attacking India and Myan-mar to avenge the persecution on Muslims in the region.

The government, however, rubbishes the claim of IS activi-ties in the country, and instead blames local banned out t Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangla-desh (JMB) for the recent tar-geted killings of non-Muslims and non-Sunnis, and attacks on their worshipping places.

Sunil used to stay with his wife at Christian Palli and ran his grocery shop beside the house in the area which is thin-ly populated. The place is half a kilometre from Lalpur-Bon-para road. His only daughter Swapna Gomez lives in the

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Mahmuda Khanam Mitu

News2DTMONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

SPs wife killedwhen the murder took place. He left for Dhaka on Thursday as he recent-ly got promotion and attached to the Police Headquarters.

CMP Deputy Commissioner (north) Paritosh Gosh said: In the CCTV footage, we found that three assailants took part in the killing and con rmed death within one minute.

A person was talking over the mobile phone in front of Hotel Niri-bili on the opposite side of the mur-der spot. He crossed the road when a motorcyle carrying two oth-ers came to the spot and pushed Mahmuda from behind.

As she fell on the road, they stabbed her indiscriminately and later shot her in the forehead be-fore leaving the spot on the same motorcycle.

The o cial said that one of the killers was wearing a helmet and ed to the direction of the citys Golpahar area.

Paritosh said that the attackers stabbed on di erent parts of her body at least eight times with sharp weapons and shot in the forehead from a point blank range to con rm her death.

She was shot twice; one bullet pierced her head and the other was mis red. Two live bullets were re-covered from the crime scene after the murder, Paritosh said.

Talking to reporters at the crime scene, CMP Commissioner Iqbal Bahar said that they would collect all the available CCTV footage to unearth the mystery.

We hope that we will be able to nab the perpetrators within a very short time, he said, adding that they suspect militants for the murder since the police o cer had been credited with leading many a successful operations against the militants.

Attack on family members a new trendTalking to Dhaka Tribune, Addi-tional Commissioner Masud-Ul-Hasan said: We have seen that the police members came under militant attacks in the past. But we are not familiar with the new trend of militant attacks on their family members.

It was beyond our wildest im-

agination that the family members of the police o cers can be at-tacked.

The murder style resembles several recent killings conducted by militants. Babul Akters leading the port citys DB teams against banned out ts is another reason why the investigators smell mili-tant hand behind the murder.

Between October and December last year, Babul in drives arrested several leaders of JMBs Chittagong unit and also seized sophisticated arms and ammunition.

Meanwhile on yesterday noon, a Christian grocery shopper was hacked to death at Banpara in Christian Palli under Baraigram in Natore. International militant group Islamic State claimed re-sponsibility for the murder in the evening the 19th attack since its rst claim in September last year.

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcon-tinent (AQIS), which is believed to be represented by banned out t Ansarullah Bangla Team in Bangla-desh, claimed the murders of over a dozen secularists, teachers and LGBT rights activists, according to US-based jihadist monitoring ser-vice SITE Intelligence Group.

Refuting the claims as baseless and part of international conspir-acy, the government claims that the killings were perpetrated by local banned out ts like Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansarullah.

Additional IGP Javed Patwari also visited the crime scene. He said that they were investigating the murder taking all possible mo-tives into consideration.

At least 10 teams of the polices PBI, CID, DB, RAB and the Coun-ter-Terrorism and Transitional Crimes Unit are working on the case.

CMP strengthened security at the check posts of the city since morn-ing while the law enforcers were conducting operations to nab the suspected militants, said sources.

Witness statementsAnsar member Mujibur Rahman, who saw the killers eeing the scene, said that he heard two gun shots and when I opened the door, I saw three men on a motorcycle going towards the direction of Gol-

pahar on a motorcycle. One of them was wearing a helmet while anoth-er person had a T-shirt on.

During the incident, Mujibur was performing his duties at Premier Uni-versitys main gate which is around 30 yards from the murder spot.

Abdus Sattar, security guard of the building where the victim was living on the seventh oor, said that usually a constable takes the boy to his school, but no one came yesterday. So madam [Mitu] left home on foot to drop her son for the school bus.

I heard gunshots few minutes after she left the house. The son came to me crying and I went to the spot only to discover that she was lying in a pool of blood, Sattar said.

Locals, who were outside for morning walk, said that they had seen a blood-soaked woman in bur-qa lying on the street.

She was brought to Chittagong Medical College Hospital around 8:45am. Dr Aminul Haque Sark-er, emergency medical o cer, said that the bullet injury she had makes it clear that highly profes-sional killers shot her dead.

CMP Additional Commission-er (crime and operation) Debdas Bhattacharya told the Dhaka Trib-une that the killers used a 7.65 bore pistol in the killing mission.

Abu Jafar Md Omar Faruk, in-

spector of Police Bureau of Inves-tigation, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had prepared an inquest report after examining the body. The body bore marks of multiple stab injuries in the chest, hand, back and elbow, he said.

A three-member forensic team headed by Dr Syed Md Quasem, head of CMCH forensic depart-ment, performed a post-mortem examination on the body. The oth-er members were Dr Dev Pratim and Dr Jahanara.

The team, however, refused to make any comment on the matter.

Flanked by his colleagues, SP Babul came to CMCH at 10:40am. He broke into tears and fainted sev-eral times at the hospital. Later, he was sent to his house where he met his children.

Mitus parents also came to Chit-tagong to take her body for burial.

The rst namaj-e-janaza of the deceased was held at Dampara Po-lice Lines in the city attended by senior police o cials, city Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu MP, city Awami League Pres-ident and former mayor ABM Mo-hiuddin Chowdhury among others.

Soon afterwards her body was taken to Dhaka where some rela-tives live, for another janaza, Ma-jedul Islam, a cousin of Babul, told the Dhaka Tribune.

The family has not determined yet where she would be buried, he said.

It was part of the plotIGP AKM Shahidul Hoque in a statement expressed profound shock at the murder.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal claimed that militants had killed the wife of Babul Akter to dent his con dence and demor-alise him.

They [militants] might have carried out the murder for her hus-bands expertise in curbing mili-tancy, the minister told reporters at BGB Training Centre and School at Satkania in Chittagong.

The minister later visited the house of Babul Akter where he re-iterated that such types of target killings had been taking place one after another as part of a national and international conspiracy.

We will arrest the killers after investigation. The police have al-ready arrested many of the killers involved in targeted killings across the country, he claimed.

Earlier 37 similar types of mur-ders have taken place in the coun-try recently. We have been able to unveil the mystery behind 34 murders and arrested 144 persons while 49 of the accused have given deposition in the cases, the minis-ter added. l

IS claims murder of Natore Christian grocersame village with her husband.

SI Ashraf of Baraigram police said that they had detained one of the tenants of Sunils house, Sobuj, for interrogation. The other family residing at the house could not be traced.

Members of polices Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Detective Branch (DB) are dealing with the case. Senior o cials of di erent law enforcement agencies

also visited the spot.Meanwhile, members of Hin-

du-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Pari-shad and other minority groups formed a human chain at Bonpara Bazar in the afternoon and issued a seven-day ultimatum for the arrest of the killers.

Family members and Chris-tian community leaders said that Sunil Gomez was a very gentle and peaceful person. He had no enemy.

According to locals, Sunil

opened his shop after returning from the nearest bazar with some goods. Later locals discovered him throat slit with sharp weapons.

There is a two and a half feet high wall in the shop. Sunil was found holding Tk83 in his st. For this, the investigators think that the kill-ers rst bought some products and then dragged him on the wall while paying the money to slit his throat.

A woman informed the locals about the murder while she was go-

ing to some place on a rickshaw van.The victims daughter Swapna

said that his father had no enmi-ty with anyone. She led a case against unnamed persons with Baraigram police around 10:30pm, OC (investigation) Imran Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bonpara municipality Mayor KM Zakir Hossain echoed Swapna. He demanded neutral investiga-tion into the murder and exempla-ry punishment to the killers.

Father Bikash Hubart Reberu, the priest at the Dharmapolli Church, said that it was beyond his imagina-tion why Sunil had been killed.

DB OC Abdul Hyi said that a wound of sharp weapon was seen on Sunils neck. He said that they had interrogated some locals over the matter but got no clue since no one witnessed the incident.

The body was sent to Natore General Hospital for a post-mortem examination. l

Chittagong Superintendent of Police Babul Akhter breaks down in tears after hearing the news of his wife being killed by unknown assailants in broad daylight in Chittagong city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

3DT

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

News

100,000 clerics sign fatwa against militancyn Mohammad Al-Masum MollaMore than 100,000 Islamic schol-ars, leaders, thinkers and Olemas have nalised a Fatwa of peace for human well-being to curb militan-cy in Bangladesh.

The Khatib of Sholakia Eidgah, who took the initiative last year, said more than 100,000 Islamic re-ligious scholars signed the ground-breaking fatwa against terrorism and militancy.

Last December, Fariduddin Masuud, secretary general of Ja-maat-e-Ulema Maulana, rst came up with the idea of using Fatwa to curb militancy and sought assis-tance from the police and other stakeholders.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune,

the Islamic scholar said the main theme of the fatwa was Fatwa of peace for human well-being.

Masuud said they would an-nounce the fatwa on June 18 through a press conference in Dha-ka city.

We have prepared the main part of the fatwa with 10 questions that had been raised by the mili-tant groups and we answered those

questions quoting the holy Qur'an and Hadith.

Masuud said 300 Olemas rst

nalised the draft. Then we nal-ised the copy and sent it to Olemas across the country and they sent

it back with their signatures. More than 100,000 Olemas signed the Fatwa.

The Khatib of the country's larg-est Eid congregation said the prima-ry target was to publish a pamphlet writing only the main part of the fatwa and to distribute it among 10 million people.

It is our primary target. But we will not seek any assistance from the government, but if government comes forward we will welcome it. If we can reach to 10 million people then it will reach 160 million people automatically, he said.

Masuud said the Olemas who signed the Fatwa would also preach it in their mosques and madrasas.

One cannot deny that in Bang-ladesh, Fatwas can have a tremen-dous impact. A statement against terrorism by clerics can be very ef-fective, he said.

The Khatib said online and social media would be used to spread the message and to sensitise the pub-lic. We will use Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and so on. Because the young generation gets so much mis-leading information on online plat-forms, to counter this, online media should be focused on more. l

Bernicat: Joint e ort to tackle climate change, terrorismn Shohel MamunThe US is ready to provide Bangla-desh the maximum support to ght terrorism and protect the environ-ment that is continuously being damaged, US Ambassador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat has said.

No nation can face climate change and terrorism alone. These issues do have not any border. Terrorism is a global crisis, to be solved by integrated initiatives. A joint e ort will be able to tack-le terrorism, she told journalists yesterday at the Independent Uni-versity, Bangladesh, where she was the guest of honour at an IUB Envi-ronment Club event marking World Environment Day.

Saying Bangladesh was particu-larly vulnerable to climate change, she said di erent natural disasters threatening the coastal zone were made worse by the changes in cli-mate. It is important to respond proactively to protect the people of Bangladesh and globe, she said. l

Have militants changed modus operandi?n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla and Adil Mahmood

Babul Akter, a decorated police o cer and a recipient of Bangladesh Police Medal in 2012 for bravery, was once introduced by the then inspector general of police at a government function as the most fearless and talented o cer in his force for leading a good number of counter-terrorism operations against homegrown militants.

But such accolades, high praise, honour, and his own dedication to his job were not enough to save his own family. Akter's wife Mahmuda Khanam Mitu was stabbed and shot dead on broad daylight in downtown Chittagong's busiest area yesterday, apparently in the hands of those same militants. Their seven-year-old son was a witness of the incident.

On the very same day, an elderly Christian shopkeeper was hacked to death in Natore's Banpara upazila, which has had a notorious history of militant activities for years.

Though the killing of the sexagenarian shopkeeper can be listed as one more tally in the ongoing killing spree, claimed by the so-called Islamic State or al-Qaeda in the Indian sub-continent (AQIS) operatives, but the 32-year-old Mitu's execution

came as a shock to many, for the inconsistency in the known modus operandi (MO) of the militants.

Thus far, writers, publishers, online activists, teachers, priests, imams, LGBT activists and foreigners have been targeted in the militant killings.

It is safe to assume that Akter, for his direct involvement as a crucial part of state machinery in rooting out militancy, will be considered a highly-valuable target for the militants. But the killing of his wife demonstrates that the militants' MO has taken a drastically di erent

and dangerous turn. They are not only working to spread fear among the population, but also they will not hesitate to take the path of retaliation by killing family members of policemen, ma a style.

Security analyst Maj Gen (retd)

AK Mohammad Ali Sikder said: Earlier, militants attacked police o cials, personnel but never a family member. It seems the militant groups have changed the nature of their targets. They are targeting the family members of the active and e cient police o cials to break their morale and to push forward their own agenda.

Mitu's execution method also sheds lights in other important factors. It cannot be considered a stray incident anymore, as the government mouthpieces prefer to put it, since the killers were apparently familiar with Mitu's routine.

This indicates that she was surveilled for days, probably weeks before the killers xed a particular time and place to make it happen. Such discipline demonstrates that not only the militants are highly-trained in modern-day covert operation techniques, but also have seriously high resources, hiding in plain sight, to conduct a long, wide surveillance operation on someone whose frequent movements are among the same group of people she and her husband belong, the police families.

Militants frequently change their strategies in order to survive in ever-changing and challenging environment. Our law enforcement agencies, sadly, are yet to detect a pattern, Ali Sikder said. l

v Does Islam support crime and terrorism?v Did prophets, particularly Muhammad (SM), take the barbaric

path to establish Islam?v Are Jihad and terrorism the same thing in Islam?v Does terrorism create a path to heaven or hell?v Will a suicidal terrorist's death be counted as martyrdom?v Is genocide allowed in the view of Islam?v Does Islam support the indiscriminate killing of people including

women, children, and the elderly?v What sort of crime is it to kill a person while they are oering

prayer?v Is it allowed to attack worship places of non-Muslims such as

churches, pagodas and temples?v Is it not the responsibility of all in the view of Islam to create

social resistance against criminals and terrorists?

100,000 ISLAMIC SCHOLARS SIGN FATWA AGAINST MILITANCYTHE QUESTIONS ADDRESSED BY THE FATWA:

A family member consoles the children of Mahmuda Khanam Mitu, wife of Chittagong SP Babul Akhter who was killed in broad daylight by unknown miscreants, at their residence in Chittagong yesterday RABIN CHOWDHURY

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

4DT News

Raushan: Instability a major barrier to budget implementationn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The Jatiya Party, on Sunday said that the government will not be able to implement the proposed budget for the scal year 2016-17.

Opposition leader Raushan Ershad said the current polit-ical instability and the lack of infrastructure are the major barriers to implementing the budget.

Last year, the government placed an ambitious budget that was attainable and this year the proposed budget is also highly ambitious which means the outcome will be the same, she told journalists at a press conference in the parliaments media centre on Sunday.

Just two days after the budget was proposed at the parliament, the opposition party, whose lawmakers are also in the cabinet, made a statement regarding their for-mal reaction to it.

She said the philosophy of the proposed budget is to

build a digitised Bangladesh and to turn Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021.

The former rst lady said the proposed budget has a huge de cit and she also said There is no balance in in-come and expenditure, and lacks clear explanation.

Raushan, wife of military dictator HM Ershad, ques-tioned how the targets of the budget can be met if there is no foreign or local investment. Foreigners are not investing, local investors do not trust the market. In such an environ-ment, how can the de cit be met? This is a big question.

Raushan said that although budget allocation has in-creased in the education and health sectors, it is still negli-gible.

The opposition leader also ciritcised the governments de-cision to raise the supplemen-tary duty on SIM card based services by saying that most of the mobile phone users are from middle and lower middle class sections of society. l

Licence cancellation of 20 pharmas soughtn Ashif Islam ShaonA human rights organisation yes-terday lled a writ petition with the High Court seeking directions to cancel the licences of 20 pharma-ceutical companies for producing substandard medicine.

The petition led by The Hu-man Rights and Peace for Bangla-desh (HRPB) said that a committee of medicine experts had advised a parliamentary committee in Janu-ary this year to cancel the licences of these companies, but nothing has been done so far on this issue.

The companies are - Avert Pharma, Bikalpa Pharmaceutical, Dolphin Pharmaceuticals, Drug-land, Exim Pharmaceutical, Globe Laboratories, Jalpa Laborato-ries and Ka na Pharmaceuticals, Medico Pharmaceutical, National Drug, North Bengal Pharmaceuti-cal, Rimo Chemical, Rid Pharma-ceutical, Skylab Pharmaceutical, Spark Pharmaceutical, Star Phar-maceutical, Sunipun Pharmaceu-tical, Today Pharmaceutical, Trop-ical Pharmaceutical and Universal Pharmaceutical.

The organisations counsel Man-zill Murshid told reporters that the

petition was led on the ground that the companies had failed to produce standard medicine, threat-ening the right to life of citizens.

The petitioner also prayed to the High Court to direct the gov-ernment to stop 14 other drug com-panies from producing antibiotics.

On April 21, Health Minister Mo-hammed Nasim ordered the Direc-torate General of Drug Administra-tion (DGDA) to cancel the licences of these 20 companies, following a recommendation by the parlia-mentary standing committee on health ministry.

The panel made the recommen-dation after reviewing a report by an expert team that investigated the drug manufacturers.

The panel also recommended that licences of 14 companies to manufacture antibiotics (peni-cillin, non-penicillin and cepha-losporin groups) be revoked and permission of 22 companies to pro-duce drugs of penicillin and cepha-losporin groups be suspended.

The health minister ordered the directorate in a meeting to provision-ally accept the recommendations and implement them on review. The DGDA is yet to take any steps.l

HC freezes Morshed Khans bank accounts in Hong Kongn Asif Islam ShaonThe High Court yesterday, ruled to freeze the bank accounts of BNP Vice Chairperson and former for-eign minister M Morshed Khan, his wife and son in Hong Kong for ten days.

A High Court bench of Justices M Enayetur Rahim and Amir Hos-sain made the order and also issued a rule asking why the nal report which recommended their acquit-tal in a money laundering case should not be rejected and why a fresh investigation would not be or-dered in a money laundering case.

The Anti Corruption Commis-sion (ACC) led an application with the High Court against a lower courts admission of the nal re-port prepared by its investigators, which moved the court to issue the order and rule.

The court asked Morshed Khan, his wife Nasreen Khan, son Faisal Morshed Khan and the state to re-ply to the ruling within two weeks. The court will hold further hearing into the matter on June 15.

The ACC had prayed to the court to throw out the investigation re-

port and to start fresh probe into the money laundering case against the family.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told reporters that ACC led a case against the trio under the Money Laundering Control Act and led nal report in July 2015, saying no money laundering was involved. The trial court exempted them from charges on April 15 this year.

The Hong Kong police had sealed the Standard Charter Bank accounts in 2008 on money laun-dering charges and informed Bangladesh that they would allow reopening of the accounts in the absence of any further steps by the Bangladesh authorities.

ACC then initiated steps to re-vive the case and sought the trial courts permission for reinvestiga-

tion but their two petitions were rejected, which compelled ACC to move with the High Court.

The lawyer said that even though the ACC had submitted the report, they later found that there were materials which can be used to submit charge sheets against the family prompting the ACC to re-in-vestigate the case.

He said that the accounts holds 16 million Hong Kong dollars, which were laundered from Bang-ladesh.

This is the rst time the High Court has given an order to freeze any bank account held in a for-eign country. Our law authorizes the court to seal any property held in the country or abroad in con-nection with money laundering, Khurshid said. l

In 2008, Hong Kong police sealed the Standard Charter Bank accounts on money laundering charges and informed Bangladesh that they would allow reopening of the accounts if authorities do not take any step

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016News 5

DT

PRAYERTIMES

Coxs Bazar 32 27Dhaka 35 27 Chittagong 34 27 Rajshahi 37 27 Rangpur 33 26 Khulna 33 25 Barisal 34 27 Sylhet 34 25T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:44PM SUN RISES 5:10AM

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW37.4C 24.2C

Rajshahi RajarhatMONDAY, JUNE 6Source: Islamic Foundation

Fajr: 4:40am | Zohr: 1:15pmAsr: 5:15pm | Magrib: 6:50pmEsha: 8:45pm

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

International Tribunal examines Nikos corruption n Aminur Rahman RaselAn international arbitration tribu-nal - International Centre for Set-tlement of Investment Disputes (IC-SID) has issued an order on May 26, 2016 that it will examine, on a priority basis, whether Niko pro-cured a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) and a Gas Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Chattak and Feni gas elds through corruption.

ICSID is a part of the World Bank Group that facilitates the arbitra-tion of legal investment disputes between international investors and host states.

The three-member tribunal con-stituted in 2010 for this claim is pre-sided over by Michael E Schneider of Germany.

The tribunal suspended all fur-ther proceedings of two pending ICSID cases led by Niko Resources (Bangladesh) Ltd.

In 1997 Niko, a Canadian com-pany, rst participated in Bangla-deshs second round bid for Pro-duction Sharing Contracts (PSC) to develop oil and gas resources.

Niko was disquali ed since they

got the lowest marks for technical and nancial capacities. Having failed in the competitive process, Niko submitted an unsolicited pro-posal in 1998 which was rejected by the Bangladesh government.

However, Niko then allegedly proceeded to secure its business interests in Bangladesh by resorting to corruption.

Niko managed to secure a JVA for Chattak and Feni gas elds on October 16, 2003. When they start-ed drilling the Chattak gas elds, despite not having adequate tech-nical competence, two blowouts occurred causing signi cant loss and damages to the gas elds, to the environment, and to the health of the surrounding population.

Despite the blowouts, Niko also managed to secure a gas purchase and sale agreement with Bangla-desh Oil Gas and Mineral Corpora-tion or Petrobangla on December 27, 2006.

Canadian police conducted an investigation into Nikos activities and charged Niko with directly and indirectly providing improper ben-e ts to Bangladeshi public o cials

in order to further their business objectives.

In 2011, Niko entered into a plea bargain with the Canadian Crown Prosecution and admitted to some of the charges including proving a motor vehicle costing Canadian $190,984 to AKM Mosharraf Hos-sain, the former state minister for energy and mineral resources.

As part of the plea bargain, the Canadian authorities did not pur-sue other charges against Niko.

In 2010, in a writ petition led by Bangladesh Environmental Law-yers Association (Bela), the Bang-ladesh High Court passed a judg-ment directing Niko to compensate for the blowouts and restraining Petrobangla from making any pay-ments to Niko till settlement of the compensation claims.

In 2010, Niko led two ICSID arbitration cases - one for the pay-ment of gas supplied to Petrobangla and the other seeking a declaration of non-liability for the blowouts.

On March 25, 2016 Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Pro-duction Company Limited (Bapex) and Petrobangla gave ICSID the

evidence from the Canadian police that showed Niko had obtained rights in the Chattak and Feni gas elds through bribery and corrup-tion.

Furthermore, Bapex lodged a claim for US$137.4 million and Petrobangla sought US$1.05 billion as compensation for the blowouts caused by Niko.

As evidence of Nikos corruption, Bapex and Petrobangla led an a -davit from Corporal Duggan of the Canadian police who investigated Nikos activities in Bangladesh.

Corporal Duggans investigation uncovered that Niko Canada used bribes in order to secure the rights in the Chattak and Feni gas elds, to in uence an inquiry into the 2005 blowouts, and to further their other business interests in Bangladesh.

Bapex and Petrobangla also sub-mitted a copy of a pay order show-ing payment of bribes to an in u-ential lobbyist, who is currently serving a prison term for weapons smuggling.

The tribunals decided to make a full inquiry into Nikos corruption in Bangladesh by stating that it was

conscious of the seriousness of cor-ruption o enses.

The tribunal noted that as a prin-ciple of international public policy, the prohibition of bribery overrides the general principle of party au-tonomy otherwise widely upheld in international and comparative law.

Being mindful of its responsi-bility for upholding international public policy, the tribunal decided to examine the corruption charges against Niko.

Bapex and Petrobangla are being represented by Foley Hoag LLP, a law rm based in Washington DC, which successfully represented Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal maritime dispute arbitration cases with India and Myanmar.

The Bangladesh co-counsel in the ICSID arbitration cases, Bar-rister Moin Ghani, told the Dhaka Tribune, Substantial evidence of Nikos corruption has recently been submitted to the ICSID tribunal. This new evidence has prompted the tribunal to conduct a full in-quiry. I believe that the truth of Nikos corruption in Bangladesh will eventually be revealed. l

Monitoring by two ministries from FY17n Asif Showkat KallolFinance Minister AMA Muhith has said both Finance and Planning ministries will jointly monitor gov-ernment projects to increase the accelerate implementation rate.

The minister told reporters yes-terday after a meeting on the prob-lems of Sylhet Medical college and Hospital at nance ministry audi-torium.

He said the implementation of development projects and their performance were not good in the outgoing scal year.

The disbursement of funds to development projects is huge in the last two months.

Quality of the implementation of development projects have been falling each scal year despite the release of more funds, the minis-ter pointed out.

The planning minister is also concerned about the low rate of implementation in development projects, he said.

Muhith said the two ministries would jointly monitor develop-ment projects to enhance the im-plementation rate. l

Even before its construction is nished, people have started to gather at the site of an amphitheatre in Hatirjheel that is being built with the help of the army. The photo was taken yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

6DT News

AL wins 171 UPs, BNP 33n Tribune Desk Awami League-backed chairman candidates have clinched victory in 172 union parishads while contestants from its arch rival BNPs camp have won in 33 in the sixth and nal phase lowest tier lo-cal government polls.

Thirty four Awami League candidates were elected un-o cially in Comilla, 18 in Naogaon, 17 in Sunamganj, 16 in Tangail, 15 in Kishoreganj, 10 in Jhenidah, Savar, Pab-na and Sylhet each, nine in Gaibandha, eight in Narsing-di, seven in Rajshahi, three in Rangpur and Panchagarh each and two in Sherpur.

On the other hand, six BNP candidates were elected unof- cially in Kishoreganj and Su-namganj each, four in Rajsha-hi, Tangail and Naogaon each, three in Sylhet, two in Gaiband-ha and one in Comilla, Sherpur, Panchagarh and Pabna each.

Besides, 92 other chairman candidates won the elections in Narsingdi, Comilla, Ra-jshahi, Rangpur, Jhenidah,

Savar, Sherpur, Gaibandha, Panchagarh, Kishoreganj, Tangail, Naogaon, Pabna, Su-namganj and Sylhet.

Earlier, some 190 AL chairman contenders were elected unopposed in the rst ve phases of the vio-lence-marred elections begin-ning in March.

Some 3,200 candidates con-tested the election for chair-man posts, while some 30,000 others for member posts and reserved seats of the UPs.

In the wake of election violence that killed over 100 people in the ve phases of the UP polls, the EC had taken a few preventive measures for the nal phase election.

Voting in the 6th and nal phase election to 698 union parishads (UPs) of 82 upazilas of the countrys 64 districts was held on Saturday amid sporadic violence that left four people dead in Noakhali, Feni, Mymensingh and Suna-mganj districts.

The balloting began at 8am and continued till 4pm with-out any break. l

BCL block highwaysn Anisur Rahman Swapan, Barisal

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) unit in Barisal blocked roads and highways in several points of the district yester-day protesting the murder of an activist.

Sources said the BCL ac-tivists blocked the roads and highways at Goriar Par point on the Barisal-Madari-pur-Faridpur-Dhaka High-way, Karnakati point in front of Barisal University on the Barisal-Patuakhali-Kuakata Road and Kalijira point on the Barisal-Jhlakathi-Piro-jpur-Bagerhut-Khulna Road.

Due to blockade, passen-gers of di erent transports

su ered much in adverse weather condition on 12 local and regional routes.

Sumon Serniabad, district BCL president, alleged that some in uential corners try-ing to save the killers for us-ing them as cadres to stablish supremacy in local politics in lieu of blood of slain BCL ac-tivist Reza and his associates.

Azad Rahman, assistant commissioner of Barisal Met-ropolitan Police, said they were trying to arrest the accused.

According to sources, Re-jaul Islam Reja, the BCL ac-tivist, died after he and four of his friends were hacked in front of Barisal Polytechnic Institute around 9:30pm on May 27. A case was led. l

Indigenous sh disappearing in Bagerhatn SM Samsur Rahman, BagerhatIndigenous shes are disappearing due to manifold reasons from the water bodies in Bagerhat causing much worries to the local people.

According to sheries depart-ment sources, once the wetlands ful lled with 260 species of sh now have become the land of few kinds of shes.

Of the shes, many had disap-peared in the course of time, leav-ing 14-15 species on the verge of extinction.

Poor levels of water in rivers, construction of roads and houses by lling canals and water bodies and other human interventions, including use of harmful pesticides in farmlands and unplanned con-struction of dams and irrigation projects, and unplanned shing through use of ne nets are the main reasons behind the extinc-tion of the local sh species.

Besides, sh breeding is being hampered due to rampant netting of brood sh and sh fry.

A section of unscrupulous peo-

ple catch sh by mixing poison with water in Sundarbans area causing threat to the shes.

The shes facing extinction are mola, darkina, napit koi, gutum, baghagutum, baligara, chapila, gojar and pabda. The endangered species of sh are bagha, rita, nan-dia, aiyr and mohashole.

Now foreign and cultured spe-cies of sh are dominating the local markets. Mainly carp (oily freshwa-ter sh from the family Cyprinidae) shes are found in the markets now.

Only a handful shes from wa-

ter bodies are available in the mar-kets, which are also beyond the purchasing capacity of the com-mon people.

At least 21 rivers in the district had dried up after 1971. The land grabbers occupied the government land of 83 canals only in Rampal upazila.

According to the sources of the department, there are 41 rivers, 34, 565 ponds, 547 canals and 22 beels in the district.

On inquiry, it was found that a few local species of sweet water

sh are there in the water bodies.A total of 40,500 shermen de-

pend on the water bodies to lead their livelihood.

Total demand of shes in the district is 29,500 metric tonne. 26,910 metric tonne shrimps and 45,696 metric tonne white shes are produced where maximum of them are exported.

Narayan Chandra Mondol, dis-trict sheries o cer, said the sh-eries department has undertaken various projects to preserve the local varieties of sh. l

Empty cages of Rajshahi zoon Abdullah Al DulalEmpty cages welcome visitors everyday at the Rajshahi zoo, giv-ing them little reason to revisit the place where people once ocked to marvel at the grandeur of Bengal tigers and lions.

The sorry state of Rajshahi citys AHM Kamruzzaman Zoo has caused visitor numbers to gradual-ly dwindle over the years.

Instead of showcasing animals, many of the empty cages are now being used to store and manage food for what little number of crea-tures are left there.

Among its exhibits in 2003, the Rajshahi zoo had two lions and a Bengal tiger considered by many as the main attractions of the zoo; now there are no more left.

The number of other animals have also dropped drastically. Compared to 194 Chitra deers in 2003, there are now only 44 left.

I bought a Tk20 ticket to enter the zoo, but saw no tiger or lion. I had high hopes when I came here, but there is nothing worth see-ing here, said Sharmin Sultana, a class-ten student who was visiting from Joypurhat.

Several other visitors also ex-pressed their disappointment to the Dhaka Tribune, saying that no one would visit the Rajshahi zoo any more if the existing conditions persisted.

On May 18, the acting mayor of Rajshahi, Nizam-ul-Azim, made an unannounced visit to the zoo to in-vestigate long-standing allegations that the animals there were not be-ing fed adequately.

During the drive, Nizam sus-pended the zoo pharmasist for negligence after nding that adul-terated and rotten food was being served to the creatures.

He also issued a directive to can-

cel the work order for Sakib Enter-prise, which supplied food for the animals. Orders were also issued to cancel its licence and seize its secu-rity deposit.

Two ward councillors of Rajsha-hi Ward 4s Ruhul Amin Tunu and Ward 6s Nuruzzaman Tuku were also assigned to supply zoo food from now on.

Visiting the Rajshahi zoo recent-ly, the Dhaka Tribune found that most cages were empty.

The few exhibits that were still there for the visitors did not have any signs to display the identity or description of the caged animals.

The rabbit cage was found to be extremely dirty with the rabbits living in a lthy condition. There

was no food for the zoos solitary python inside its enclosure. The shing cats as well the horses and the donkeys were found to be in skeletal conditions.

Asked for comment, the zoos assistant acting o cer Abdul Hai said the rabbit cage was cleaned everyday, but the creatures them-selves made a mess again within half an hour of cleaning.

The python was fed two chick-ens every eight or ten days, he said, adding that zoo authorities ar-ranged for the food whenever the snake became hungry and slith-ered to the front of its enclosure as a sign of its hunger.

Dr Farhad Uddin, the acting of- cer of the zoo, said the mayor act-

ed after zoo authorities noti ed him that the contractors were supplying low-quality food for the animals. Now the animal food was above par as the city corporation itself was overseeing the supply, he added.

Asked why the zoo creatures were in such a famished condition, Dr Farhad said the size of the cages were inadequate and the animals did not have the necessary space to move around. As a result, the ani-mals seemed weak and starved.

Work on enlarging the enclo-sures, however, would begin soon, he added.

Dr Farhad also added that the nameplates describing the species were removed recently as they were faded because of exposure to

sunlight. New signs were now be-ing made and would soon go up in front of the cages.

The acting zoo o cer also said talks are going on to bring new spe-cies of animals to the Rajshahi zoo.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi City Cor-poration Chief Engineer Ashraful Haque told the Dhaka Tribune that work of a 2010 project was still go-ing on with work on cages and landscaping still left. However, a further Tk5 crore was needed to complete the project, he said.

Ashraful added that the city cor-poration did not have enough fund to bring new exciting animals from abroad. However, like in the past, they would try to bring new ani-mals from Dhaka zoo. l

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016News 7

DT

The photo which has been taken recently shows empty cages at Rajshahi zoo DHAKA TRIBUNE

BAN ON ISSUANCE OF PASS PERMIT

People depend on Sundarbans for livelihood su eringn Md Hedait Hossain Molla, Khulna

People who depend on Sundarbans for livlihood are su ering imense-ly as forest department has placed a ban on issuance of all types of pass permit for general people, on forest resource collection and on entry to the forest by all like sher-men, mowal and bhawali.

The ban came into e ect on April 29 and will remain in force until further notice.

The fourth re incident in four weeks at Chandpai Range in Sha-rankhola upazila of the Sundarbans has prompted the authorities con-cerend to impose the embargo.

But local people alleged that police were harrasing them as they were arresting people randomly. Consequently, fearing arrest peo-ple specially male persons have ed from villages.

Union Parishad Member of Ut-tar Rajapur Md Jkir Hossain said a section of in uencial quater was setting re to the Sundarbans to do brisk bussines by illegal shing, but general people were su ering a lot for their misdeeds.

People whoever are trying to destroy the mangorve forest should be brought to the book, he said.

He said i uential people who were engaged in shing often set re to bushes and plants of the Sundar-

bans mangrove forest under Chand-pai range as they thought that ashes of plants would attract more shes.

The quarter torches bushes and plants of Chandpai range as this por-tion of the forest remains under wa-ter during the rainy season so that the ashes bring in more shes in the area.

A freedom ghter who pre ered to be unnamed said: I have been collecting honey from the forest for long. But recently authories put an embargo on our movement in the forest area and they are not issuing pass to us, and that's why I am with my family are su ering a lot.

Abul Aslam Tuhin Boyati, presi-dent of People's Forum, a paltform of Sundarbans professional, told

the Dhaka Tribune that the gov-ernment should form a taskforce to patrol the Sundarbans.

Jakir Hossain, a sherman, said they were always with the law en-forcement agencies and still they were helping them.

Saiful Islam, a o cer of East Zone, said they would not allow anybody to the forest untill the si-tutation became normal.

He said: Law enforcers are ac-tive to stop subersive activities in the mangrove forest and local peo-ple are also helping them.

O cer-in-Charge of Swarankhola police station Md Shahalam Mia told the Dhaka Tribune that police only trying to arrest culprits and innocent

people should not a aid of the drive. We will not arrest people with-

out any speci c chahges, he said. People who go to Sundarbans to

livelihood are now frusted, but the situtation will be improve soon.

The Sundarbans, the worlds largest mangrove forest and a Un-esco world heritage site, saw four re incidents in April.

On April 30, another re broke out in the area and re ghters managed to douse the re after alomost two days' e orts. Following the re incidnet, a station o cer of Chandpai range in Sundarbans has been suspended.

Three cases were led against 22 people in connection with the re incidents. l

8DT WorldMONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

Taliban attack kills 7 at Afghan courtTaliban gunmen stormed a court complex in a city south of Kabul Sunday, killing at least 7 people in the insurgents third so-called revenge attack for last months execution of Taliban-linked prisoners. The head of the court Mohammad Akram Nejat was among those killed in the attack. The attack in Pul-i-Alam, cap-ital of volatile Logar province, also left 23 prosecutors wounded. -AFP

INDIAIndia, Qatar sign 7 agreements to boost bilateral tiesIndia and Qatar on Sunday signed 7 agreements, including one on nance intelligence to check money launder-ing and terrorism nancing. Cooper-ation and investment in areas of skill development and education, health, tourism and sports between the two countries were the other agreements signed by Indian and Qatari o cials in the presence of Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi and Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. -HT

CHINAChina hopes for counter-terrorism intel sharing with FranceChina hopes to establish coun-ter-terrorism intelligence sharing with France as the Asian giant seeks greater international support for its anti-terror ght. Hundreds of people have been killed in the past few years in Chinas western region of Xinjiang, home to the mainly Muslim Uighur people. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFIC

Philippine president urges public to kill criminalsThe Philippine president-elect has encouraged the public to help him in his war against crime, urging citizens with guns to shoot and kill drug deal-ers who resist arrest and ght back in their neighbourhoods. In a nationally televised speech late Saturday, Rod-rigo Duterte told a huge crowd in the southern city of Davao celebrating last months presidential victory. -AP

MIDDLE EAST

Iran rejects terror charges in US reportIran rejected terrorism charges raised against it in an annual US State Depart-ment report, Iranian media outlets reported on Sunday, saying the Islamic Republic merely supported nations ghting for freedom. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari in turn condemned US military inter-ferences and destructive support for terrorist groups in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Yemen. -REUTERS

INSIGHT

Diplomatic tag as countries nd new ways of standing up to Chinan Reuters, SingaporeWhen US Defence Secretary Ash Carter spoke at a key Asian summit at the weekend, he used the word principled 38 times, oating his vision of a US-backed security net-work of countries in the region.

Several delegations were quick to respond to the idea at the an-nual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singa-pore, but it seemed to evolve into a form of diplomatic tag-team wres-tling as a loose coalition of nations lined up to criticise China.

Nations including Japan, In-dia, France and Vietnam joined calls for greater respect for inter-national law to resolve worsening tensions over the South China Sea, a dig at Beijing which has said it will not accept any ruling by a UN-backed court on the dispute.

Chinese o cials, meanwhile, stressed Beijings commitment to being a peaceful, lawful and inclu-sive nation but said it would not be bullied.

No one has the right to point their ngers at China, said Admi-ral Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the joint sta department of Chi-nas Central Military Commission, as he faced a string of questions at one public forum at the summit on Sunday.

Concern at Chinas assertive-ness over the vital trade route was deepening, several envoys said on the sidelines of the summit, particularly given the prospect of Chinese military facilities on new arti cial islands built by on reefs in the South China Sea.

Those concerns were forcing re-gional countries to band closer to-gether to nd new ways of stand-ing up to Beijing.

Carters urging of greater re-gional e orts, particularly from China, to create his principled se-curity network was underpinned by warnings that China risked iso-lating itself by its actions on the seas, in cyberspace, and in the re-gions airspace.

Many militaries in the region, he said, were working closer to-gether, both among themselves and with the United Sates.

Japans defence minister, Gen Nakatani, said Japan would seek to participate annually in naval exercises together with the US and India, similar to drills due to take place o the Japanese port of Sase-bo later this week.

Great Wall of isolationCarters warnings that China faced a looming Great Wall of isolation were rejected by Chinese o cials,

but some analysts said an us ver-sus them divide may suit Beijing in current circumstances.

Major General Yao Yunzhu, of Chinas Academy of Military Sci-ence and prominent gure during the weekend sessions, acknowl-edged perceptions that some na-tions might be ganging up on China but said this did not repre-sent objective reality.

The South China Sea is not the only security issue in the region, and events like this one are not quite full reality, she told Reuters. Each nation has to think of its bi-lateral relations with China as well, and many other security issues, that pull us closer together.

Malaysia defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein spelt out the costs to smaller regional coun-tries if great power rivalries esca-late, however.

Whatever happens between major powers must not leave us on the beach when the tide goes out. l

ANALYSIS

Spooked by BB heist, Asian security summit works on cybersecurityn Reuters, SingaporeThe South China Sea dispute and worries about North Korea domi-nated an Asian security summit at the weekend, but cybersecurity was also in focus as regional o cials sought to improve coordination amid a rise in high-pro le hacks.

Alarmed by the theft of $81m from Bangladeshs central bank in February, one of the worlds biggest ever cyber heists, cybersecurity was among the top concerns discussed at Singapores annual Shangri-La Dialogue. For the rst time, the con-ference allotted one of its six special sessions to cybersecurity.

It was indicative that cyber has converted from being a logical threat to a physical threat, said William Saito, special adviser to the Japanese cabinet on IT strategy. For Japan, safeguarding critical infra-structure was imperative, especial-ly since it is the host for the 2020 Olympics, and cybersecurity was a large part of that e ort, he said.

Cyber, because it is so cross-cutting, will just make exist-ing threats worse, Saito said.

Cybercriminals, whether from criminal gangs or rogue nations, usually operated beyond borders, the meeting was told.

Where restrictions di er, they exploit these di erences in order to take advantage of our national systems, said David Koh, chief executive of the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore.

We cannot defend or view cyber threats or issues within any national borders or within a regional border.

In the February heist, hack-ers stole money from Bangladesh Banks account at the New York Fed-eral Reserve. One transfer to a Sri Lankan entity was reversed, but four transfers for $81m went to the Phil-ippines and wound up with casinos and casino agents there.

Most of the money remains missing and the identity of the hackers is unknown.

India, with nearly 500m inter-net users, is preparing to set up an army of 500,000 cybersleuths within ve years, a delegate from New Delhi said at the conference.

That can provide a bulwark for global cybersecurity e orts, said

Santosh Jha, joint secretary for cyber issues at the Indian external a airs ministry.

Trust factorBuilding a transnational cybersecu-rity defence system is hampered by di erences between countries and a lack of trust, delegates said. For in-stance, Western nations were focused on safeguarding the infrastructure of cyberspace while China and Russia were concerned about content.

Also, rival nations use cyber techniques for espionage and po-tentially for sabotage. After years of acrimony and allegations of

cyber-spying, senior US and Chi-na cyber o cials held their rst meeting last month since the two countries struck an anti-hacking agreement in September.

You have permanent mem-bers of the UN Security Council coming to the table with funda-mentally di erent objectives, it probably isnt a surprise that the accomplishments to date have been modest, said Sean Kanuck, a former US National Intelligence O cer for Cyber Issues.

No country can achieve cyber-secruity on its own, Singapores Koh said. l

BIGSTOCK

BIGSTOCK

9DT

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016World

USATrump shifts position on LibyaDonald Trump reversed himself again on Libya on Sunday, saying in an interview that he would have au-thorised a surgical strike to take out Muammar Gadha , after months of telling voters the country would have been better o if the dictator were still alive. Trump has spent most of the 2016 campaign contending that a bungled Obama intervention in Libya is proof that the US shouldve stayed out altogether. -POLITICO

THE AMERICASPeru votes in tightening presidential race Peruvians were choosing between two conservative candidates in a tight presidential election on Sunday that has become a referendum on the legacy of imprisoned ex-Presi-dent Alberto Fujimoris iron-hand-ed rule in the 1990s. Recent polls showed former World Bank economist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski having erased the lead held by Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Perus ex-President Fujimori. -AP

UKSadiq Khan could face Boris Johnson in EU debate Sadiq Khan could go head to head with his predecessor as London mayor, Boris Johnson, at the biggest EU referendum debate, just 48 hours before polling day. Labour remain campaign boss, Alan Johnson, con rmed Khan would be making the case for the UK to stay in the EU, in front of an audience of 6,000 at Wembley Arena on 21 June. -THE GUARDIAN

EUROPERussia: US refuses talks on missile defence The US has refused Russian o ers to discuss Washingtons missile de-fence programme, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Anatoly Antonov said on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin last month warned Romania and Poland that they could nd themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of the missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security. -REUTERS

AFRICAWest African leaders discuss setting up anti-extremist forceWest African leaders discussed set-ting up a force to combat extremists in the region and will send an ob-servation mission to Gambia before elections, the regional economic body said Saturday. The decisions were announced after presidents from Ivory Coast, Niger and Mali, met in Dakar at the Economic Com-munity of West African States. -AP

INSIGHT

Brexit debate has echoes of 1975 referendum

n AFP, LondonIts a snapshot from another po-litical era. Forty-one years ago, in Britains last referendum on Europe, Margaret Thatcher hit the campaign trail clad in a wool-ly jumper emblazoned with a Union ag.

But the 1975 poll, which saw Britain embrace membership of what was then the Common Market, has plenty in common with the current bitter and close-ly-fought debate.

It also carries lessons for poli-ticians ahead of the June 23 vote on whether to stay in or leave the European Union -- not least that the referendum may not resolve the issue for long.

Labour prime minister Harold Wilson called the referendum on June 5, 1975, as a way of trying to appease the eurosceptic wing of his fractured party, and urged Britons to stay in after securing concessions from Brussels.

This time around, it is Conserv-ative premier David Cameron who is holding a vote to try to heal par-ty splits, and who is campaigning to Remain on the basis of a rene-gotiated EU settlement.

For Tim Bale, politics professor

at Queen Mary, University of Lon-don, the lesson of the past is that a referendum cannot guarantee to put a contentious matter to rest.

It will fail utterly to settle the Europe question once and for all, Bale wrote in a blog post.

As to whether, in a democracy, that kind of never-ending uncer-tainty is necessarily a bad thing, who knows? he said.

Wilson secured 67% support for staying in the European Eco-nomic Community (EEC), which Britain had joined two years ear-lier -- a result Cameron would be very happy with.

Opinion polls currently show the race is close, although the Re-main camp has a slender lead.

Back then, the left wing of Wil-sons Labour party wanted to leave the Common Market, among them current leader Jeremy Corbyn -- who now advocates staying in.

Meanwhile Thatcher, newly elected as leader of the opposition Conservatives, strongly defended British membership of the EEC, saying the country was inextrica-bly part of Europe.

She would later become a her-oine to Conservative eurosceptics due to her visceral declarations of opposition to Brussels when she became prime minister.

Not what we voted for Many older Britons who want to leave the EU argue that todays bloc is not the same entity as the EEC they supported joining in 1975.

When we voted in the Com-mon Market, this isnt what we voted for, Lynn Everett, 62, who runs a football merchandise stall in Birmingham, said.

I voted in. It was a totally dif-ferent thing. If we dont leave this time, Im nished with politics.

The Brussels landscape has changed in the last four decades as economic union has evolved into stronger political ties, al-though Britain has not joined the single currency, the euro.

The EEC had six founding mem-bers and membership had risen to nine by 1975. The present-day EU has grown to 28 members, with others knocking on its door.

The end of the Cold War in 1991 and the lifting of the Iron Curtain paved the way for eastern Europe-an countries like Poland and Hun-gary to join in 2004.

The free movement of EU cit-izens means many thousands of eastern Europeans have since come to Britain to seek employment, with no need for a work permit.

Over three million people born in other EU countries are now thought to live in Britain and im-migration is one of the most con-troversial issues in the current referendum.

Cameron argues that Britains economy bene ts from EU mi-grants who work and pay taxes.

But he has pledged to restrict welfare payments to some mi-grants under a renegotiated mem-bership deal with Brussels.

Amid such a complex and changing picture, some argue that the premier faces a more di cult task than Wilson did in 1975. l

UK Common Market referendum 1975

NOYES 67.2% 32.8%

Do you think the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?

Ocial referendum results, 5 June 1975

17 DAYS TO GO

ADVANCER

California or bust? Clinton hopes to strike gold in pivotal voten Reuters, California If Hillary Clinton ends up losing California to Bernie Sanders, it will be because of voters like Na-llely Perez.

Perez personi es what a Clin-ton supporter was supposed to look like: a 24-year-old Latina who grew up idolising the former rst lady as a groundbreaking woman in politics. But when she votes in Californias Democratic pres-idential nominating contest on Tuesday, Perez will be supporting Sanders.

California is the nal big con-test in the long, bitter ght for the Democratic nomination. Opinion polls show the Democratic race there tightening in recent weeks. Where Clinton, a former secretary of state, once held a big lead over Sanders, a US senator from Ver-mont, the two now are nearly tied.

A University of Southern Cali-

fornia/Los Angeles Times poll re-leased on Friday showed Sanders with a one-percentage-point lead over Clinton in the state, 44% to 43%, a swing from March when Clinton held a nine-point edge.

Clinton would like to go to the nominating convention with the wind at her back and tamp down the perception that she doesnt excite Democrats, said Rodell Mollineau, a Democratic strategist in Washington.

A Sanders victory will not clear the way to his nomination unless it triggers a defection by scores of superdelegates - party o ce-hold-ers and o cials - from Clintons camp, an unlikely outcome.

Sanders has vowed to use Cali-fornia as a springboard to the par-ty convention in Philadelphia in July. A win, especially a big one, would validate the self-described democratic socialists decision to stay in the race to the end and give

him leverage to in uence Clin-tons policies and cabinet picks.

At California events, Clinton has been careful to focus her criticism on Trump, not Sanders, while talk-

ing up her national security experi-ence. She will almost certainly need the support of passionate Sanders backers to defeat the outspoken Trump in November. l

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign stop in San Bernadino, California on Friday REUTERS

10DTMONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

WorldINSIGHT

Saudi Arabia expands its anti-Iran strategy beyond Middle Eastn Reuters, RiyadhUnder King Salman, Saudi Arabia is expanding its confrontation with Iran well beyond the Middle East, no longer relying heavily on West-ern allies to smother Tehrans ambi-tions outside the Arab world.

Since Salman came to power early last year, and Tehran struck a nuclear deal with world powers, Riyadh has adjusted its strategy for countering the e orts of its Shia-Muslim rival to build in uence in Africa, Asia and even Latin America.

Most notably, the Sunni power has used Muslim networks to push states into cutting o contacts with Iran, including by creating an Is-lamic Coalition against terrorism without inviting Tehran to join.

Iran is the one that isolated it-self by supporting terrorism, For-eign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a recent news conference. That is why the world reacted to Iran, and particularly the Islamic world, and basically said enough is enough.

Tehran denies it sponsors ter-rorism, and points to its record of ghting the Sunni Muslim militants of Islamic State through backing for Shiamilitias in Iraq and President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Riyadh is alarmed by Tehrans support for the Shia Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, and cut o military aid to the Beirut govern-ment after it failed to condemn at-tacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran. Likewise, Saudi forces have launched a war on Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen.

But all this is part of its long-standing diplomatic, eco-nomic and military e orts to con-tain what it sees as a pernicious expansion of Iranian activity in Arab nations. Now it is attempting to orchestrate support elsewhere, including from countries such as Pakistan and Malaysia through its creation last November of the coa-lition against terrorism.

In many ways the dimensions of the competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia are beginning to go beyond the Middle East. This is an interesting development that historically hasnt been the case, said Mehran Kamrava, a professor at Georgetown University-Qatar.

Old order deadThe strategy partly responds to im-plementation of the nuclear deal in January. Riyadh fears this will give Iran more scope to push its inter-ests internationally by releasing it from many of the sanctions which have crippled its economy.

With even the US now saying

Western banks can resume legit-imate business with Tehran, the Saudis believe their main Western ally is gradually disengaging from the region.

They understand the old in-ternational order is dead and they have to take responsibility, said a senior diplomat in Riyadh.

But the strategy is also driven by King Salmans belief that Iranian in- uence has grown only because no-body has stood up to it, said Musta-fa Alani, an Iraqi security expert with close ties to the Saudi interior ministry.

The coalition against terrorism falls into this context. When chiefs of sta from 34 Muslim states met after a joint military exercise in late March, a cartoon in the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat, owned by the rul-ing family, showed a bomber drop-ping lea ets with a no-entry sign onto Iran.

The coalition, which caused some confusion as to its scope and membership when Riyadh rst an-nounced it, is now moving forward and work to establish a coordina-tion centre may be formalised dur-ing the Muslim holy month which starts shortly.

The next step is the meeting of defence ministers, perhaps dur-ing Ramadan. At the same time we prepare a coordination centre in Ri-yadh, said Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asseri.

This centre will have permanent sta members from each participat-ing country, Asseri said, and would be a place where states could either request help in dealing with mili-tancy or o er military, security or other aid.

Taking the flagAlthough not explicitly aimed at countering Iran, the coalition in-cludes neither Tehran nor its allied government in Iraq. The alliance also aims to counter comment in some Western media that while Iran and its Shia allies are ghting Islam-ic State, Sunni Saudi Arabia supports jihadist militancy on some levels.

This new coalition is basically to get the worldwide Islamic sup-port for Saudi Arabia to lead the ght against terrorism and take the ag from Iran, said Alani.

Whether the coalition members see it that way is another matter.

Mohammad Nafees Zakaria, spokesman for Pakistans Foreign Ministry, praised Riyadh for setting up the coalition and said Islamabad would be happy to share expertise.

But he also said the arrange-ments would take time to develop and added that Pakistan sought

brotherhood between Islamic states and was therefore concerned about the escalation in tension be-tween Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Beyond the coalition initiative, Riyadh is trying to win the support of India and encourage it to isolate Iran. So far it has achieved mixed results. After Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi visited both countries last month, Saudi energy sales to India grew but New Delhi also agreed to build a port in Iran.

Riyadhs hosting of a summit of South American and Arab League states last year was also partly aimed at pushing back Iran, said a Saudi analyst who sometimes car-ries out diplomatic functions for the government.

Former president Mahmoud Ah-madinejad visited Venezuela, Nic-aragua, Cuba and Ecuador in 2012 seeking diplomatic support from the left-wing states, with little ap-parent success.

African riftSome African countries have fol-lowed many Arab League states in recent months in cutting diplomat-ic ties with Iran. This followed the storming of Riyadhs Tehran em-bassy in reaction to Saudi Arabias execution of a Shia cleric in January.

On Monday, Zambias president appeared in Riyadh on an o cial visit soon after speaking out against Tehran.

Iran has devoted money to win-

ning friends across Africa, invest-ing in local industries and paying to spread its Shia version of Islam in Muslim states. Playing on its an-ti-imperialist credentials, Tehrans goal appeared to be winning wider support at the United Nations.

Not only is soft power at stake. In 2012 two Iranian warships docked at Port Sudan, just across the Red Sea from the Saudi coast, following years of close ties between Khar-toum and Tehran.

Since then Riyadh has invested around $11bn in Sudan and ignored international arrest warrants on President Omar al-Bashir to allow him to visit the kingdom. In January, Khartoum cut o ties with Tehran.

Djibouti and Somalia did the same. A document revealed in January showed Mogadishu had received an aid package of $50m shortly beforehand. But Djibouti denied in February that its break was motivated by money and ac-cused Tehran of spreading sectari-an tension in Africa.

Overall, Riyadh believes its ap-proach is succeeding. Iranian ex-pansionism is almost stopped, an adviser to Deputy Crown Prince Mo-hammed bin Salman said last month.

But at Georgetown Universi-ty-Qatar, Kamrava said its too early to declare winners and losers.

In international relations you can rent friends but you cant buy them. For Saudi Arabia the long-term e ectiveness of this policy is questionable because these allianc-es are based on purely tactical or commercial relations, he said. l

THE SAUDI ROYALS THE IRANIAN POWER HOUSE

Saudi King Salman

Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Hasan Rouhani

An Iranian cleric walks past the co ns of victims killed in Saudi Arabia in a stampede at the hajj pilgrimage last year, during their funeral in Tehran. More than 464 Iranian nationals were killed in that disaster in Mina, which also became a pivotal issue of the degredation of Saudi-Iran reltiosnhip since then REUTERS

11DT

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

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12DT BusinessMONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Capital market snapshot: SundayDSE Broad Index 4,425.9 -0.5%

Index 1,088.5 -0.8%

30 Index 1,747.3 -0.8%

Turnover in Mn Tk 3,078.7 -37.6%

Turnover in Mn Vol 93.3 -38.6%

CSEAll Share Index 13,616.9 -0.5%

30 Index 12,502.9 -0.5%

Selected Index 8,284.5 -0.5%

Turnover in Mn Tk 215.5 -44.3%

Turnover in Mn Vol 8.9 -31.8%

Businessmen warn of tougher programme if package VAT not restored Business people yesterday threat-ened to resort to tougher pro-gramme if previous package VAT is not restored to small enterprises. PAGE 13

Oil price plasters over OPEC rifts for nowOPEC looks to be in a happier place with oil prices recovering, but its inability to agree an output ceiling to restrain the ow of crude be-trays lingering divisions that could spell trouble ahead, analysts warn. PAGE 14

TOP STORIES

Job creation hits over a decade low n Jebun Nesa Alo Job creation in the private sec-tor slumped to over a decade low due to steep fall in private sector projects registered with the Board of Investment (BoI), according to the latest data of Bangladesh Eco-nomic Survey (BES).

The number of new employ-ment generated from the projects registered with (BoI) dropped to 1,46,353 as of February of the current scal year (FY) 2015-16, a sharpest fall against 2,26,411 gen-erated in FY2014-15 and lowest since FY2001-02, according to the available data.

After picking up employment generation in FY2010-11 with the total number of 5,03,662 new jobs, the growth continued to fall since then.

The countries various think tanks including CPD (Centre for Policy Dialogue) recently criti-cised the government for the fall-ing trend in job creation while the country is experiencing a robust GDP growth of over 7%.

Employment is generated through industrialisation but all the business activities still re-mained almost stagnant in recent years amid political volatility, said a senior executive of Board of In-vestment (BoI).

Moreover, foreign investors were reluctant to invest in Bangla-desh due to lack of infrastructure which also hurts the employment generation badly, he said.

He said: Many foreign inves-tors came up with investment pro-posal but did not start to work due

to lack of land, gas and electricity supply. As a result, the actual for-eign investment fell to half in the current scal year.

The actual foreign and joint venture investment dropped by over 47% to $223 million as of Feb-ruary of this scal year compared to $422 million in the last scal year, according to the report.

Country experienced sharp fall by 80% in foreign investment in scal year 2014-15 from US$2.12

billion in the previous scal year. However, proposal for regis-

tration of foreign investment was Tk29,619 crore as of February of the current scal year, far below from Tk80,619 crore in last scal year.

The lion share of foreign in-vestment came in the service and engineering sectors which was 34.73% and 28% respectively.

The most of the foreign and joint venture investment projects came from East Asian countries. Invest-ment from China was $20 million in the current scal year compared to $25 million in the last scal year fol-lowed by Japanese investment of $6.8 million, which was $7.22 mil-lion in the last scal and the South Korea invested $6.76 million in the current scal year, higher from $4.5 million in last scal year.

The investment from neighbor

country India and Thailand also dropped to $30 million and $15.62 million respectively in the current scal year compared to $34 mil-lion and 18.66 million in the last scal year.

The largest Bangladeshi labour market Saudi Arab invested $4.24 million in the scal year 2015-16 which was zero in last three scal years.

The investment from America in Bangladesh saw a sharp fall by 88% to $14.633 million in the cur-rent scal year compared to $121 million in the last scal year.

The local investment in the pri-vate sector sees moderate growth by 13% to Tk53,680 crore as of February of current scal year compared to Tk47,245 crore in the last scal year, according to the government data. l

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TREND OF EMPLOYMENT GENERATION FROM PROJECTS REGISTERED WITH BOI

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Various think tanks including CPD recently criticised the government for the falling trend in job creation

Business 13DT

MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Businessmen warn of tougher programme if package VAT not restored n Tribune Business Desk Business people yesterday threat-ened to resort to tougher pro-gramme if previous package VAT is not restored to small enterprises.

They also demanded that the government incorporate the package VAT in the VAT act 2012 and make it permanent for small entrepreneurs.

Several business leaders from di erent associations came up with the call at a press brie ng un-der the banner of Baboshayee Oik-kya Forum in capital yesterday.

The brie ng was arranged to tell the media about their reaction on the proposed budget for the scal year 2016-17.

The newly formed Forum is a platform for several associations that aim at putting pressure on the government to realise their de-

mand for the package VAT. If the government does not meet

our demand by June 20, all business people will take to the street, keep-ing their business establishments closed, said Abu Motaleb, general secretary of the Forum.

Terming the proposed budget completely unfriendly to business as well as industry, Motaleb said 16 crore people of the country would be a ected due to the budget for what he said the unusual propos-al for VAT that would lead to hike in commodity prices.

They claimed that the govern-ment has implemented around 80% to 90% provisions of the new Value Added Tax and Supplemen-tary Duty act 2012 under the pro-posed budgetary measures.

During the FY17 proposed budget, the government has pro-

posed to raise turnover of Tk36 lakh as VAT-free while 3% VAT will be imposed on turnover between Tk36 lakh and Tk80 lakh.

The businessmen demanded to raise the VAT-free limit to Tk1.5 crore.

However, it would be tough to get any business for those that will have turnover below the limit of Tk80 lakh, they said.

The government has followed a tricky system to implement the new VAT law in indirect measures, they claimed.

They termed the new system faulty and disastrous for small busi-nesses as the small traders have to pay apparently 15% VAT due to pay-ment of doubled package VAT rate from the next scal year.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) will call for

a National Dialogue in presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Busi-ness people will raise their concerns to the premier during the meeting.

At the dialogue, FBCCI on behalf of small traders will place demands of small and medium entrepre-neurs to the prime minister regard-ing the package VAT and turnover ceiling, said Monjur Ahmed, advis-er to the apex trade body.

The proposed budget is neither business friendly nor investment and industry friendly, he claimed.

He added that the nance minis-ter did not include the recommen-dations of the NBR-FBCCI commit-tee in the budget.

The committee recommended increasing VAT-free turnover ceil-ing to Tk36 lakh from Tk24lakh, and setting turnover VAT at 3% for turnover up to Tk1.5 crore. l

B2B e-commerce site sindabad.com launched n Tribune Business Desk Zero Gravity Ventures Limited, an e-commerce company, has launched the countrys rst B2B e-commerce websitesindabad.comto provide one stop purchasing solutions to all businesses in Bangladesh, the com-pany said in a statement yesterday.

It is one of the concerns of the countrys business conglomerates,

Ananta Group. sindabad.com is an online shop

where o ces, factories or any busi-ness organisations can purchase their regular consumptions simply by a few clicks, anytime, from any location, at their own convenience. Orders are delivered at their o ces or factory premises by sindabad.com on time.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid

Ahmed Palak inaugurated the web-site and said the government has taken a number of steps and pro-jects to turn the IT sector into a $5 billion industry.

Local e-commerce growth will greatly contribute to this journey, and with B2B sites like sindabad.com, businesses can bring far more e ciency, saving operational cost and enhancing skills.

The site currently hosts nearly 6,000 products of ve categories. Business Customers can purchase stationary, o ce supplies, house-keeping items, electrical items, IT equipment, safety and security items from sindabad.com at retail as well as wholesale prices. More products and categories will be added in coming months, the in-vestors mentioned. l

Budget fails to cheer investorsn Tribune Business DeskStock fell on the rst trading day of the week as investors reacted neg-atively to the national budget an-nounced on Thursday afternoon, the nal trading day of the week.

Some analysts interpret the fall as a re ection of disappointment of stock investors toward the budget while others contend that correc-tion was due to pro t booking mentality of investors.

After losing over 50 points in the morning, the Dhaka Stock Ex-change (DSE) benchmark index, DSEX, lost 20 points or 0.5% to close at 4,425 at the end of the day.

The key index gained marginal-ly in previous two sessions.

Some investors still preferred to stay on the sidelines as it was indicated in the shrinking volume of trade.

The DSE turnover stood at around Tk300 crore, sharply down more than 37% over the previous session. Fuel and power sector had the highest contribution of 22% in turnover.

DSEX failed to cheer trading following the budget proposal for FY17, said Lanka Bangla Securities.

It said the market sentiments might have turned weak as inves-tors expressed their concern over the 1.5% Tax at source on export proposed in the national budget for the new nancial year.

Stocks responded to the pos-sible impact of major changes pro-posed in this budget. l

DSE, CSE unhappy over proposed budgetn Tribune Business DeskThe countrys two boursesDhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchangewere unhappy with the pro-posed new budget that failed to meet their demands fully.

Our demand was not tak-en into account fully, said DSE Director Shakil Rizvi while giving formal reaction to the budget on the DSE premises yesterday.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday un-veiled the proposed national budget for the next scal year beginning from next month in the Parliament.

However, the budget has allocation for infrastructure development, which will help make the stock market vibrant.

DSE Chairman Siddiqur Rahman Miah urged the gov-

ernment to re-consider at least two of their demands to bring dynamism to the stock markets.

The two demands include giving a ve-year tax holiday for the post-demutualised stock exchanges and cutting tax at source on TREC holders share transaction to 0.015% from the existing 0.05%.

Later in the afternoon, CSE in its reaction called for re-consideration of its budgetary proposals. It also sought policy support to bring back con dence in the stock market.

The stock market is now passing a hard time. So, it needs some short-term and long-term incentives to re-store con dence, said Saifur Rahman Mazumder, newly appointed managing director of CSE.

Other than the above two

demands, the DSE and CSE put forward a number of pro-posals for re-consideration, including raising the tax-free dividend income to Tk1 lakh from the existing Tk25,000, withdrawal of stamp duty provision during transferring shares of demutualised stock exchange, bringing change to the de nition of earning year and lowering corporate tax to 32.5% for listed banks, insur-ances and nancial institu-tions and 37.5% for non-listed rms from the present 42.5%.

The national budget for the nancial year (FY) 2016-17 has proposed no changes to existing tax provisions for the capital market.

The nance minister, how-ever, has proposed to waive income tax charged on mar-gin loans, including interests, up to Tk10 lakh for small in-vestors. l

Business14DTMONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

Oil price plasters over OPEC rifts for nown AFP, ViennaOPEC looks to be in a happier place with oil prices recovering, but its inability to agree an output ceiling to restrain the ow of crude betrays lingering divisions that could spell trouble ahead, analysts warn.

Meeting in Vienna on Thursday, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries expressed con dence that the crisis of the past two years that saw prices plunge and splits emerge was now over.

It said that since December, crude oil prices have risen by more than 80%, supply and demand (has been) converging and oil and pro-ducer stock levels in the OECD have recently shown moderation.

According to Helima Croft at RBC Capital Markets, the mood at the bi-annual gathering was a lot more upbeat than the acrimoni-ous last meeting in December.

Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khaled al-Falih, newly appointed by the kingdoms dynamic Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sal-man, went on a charm o ensive to mend fences, Croft said.

This was helped by the fact that

OPECs Riyadh-driven strategy of keeping pumping oil at high levels in order to maintain market share and squeeze competitors despite low prices appears, at last, to be working.

With dozens of US shale oil pro-ducers going bankrupt, non-OPEC output is forecast to fall and pric-es have recovered to around $50, a six-month high, having tumbled from over $100 in 2014 to almost

$25 in January.At the same time, the Interna-

tional Energy Agency predicts the stubborn global supply glut - which sparked the vicious price collapse - would shrink dramatically this year. Demand also looks healthy.

This recovery is coming just in time, too, with years of low prices having hit investment in new wells and technologies, creating con-

cerns about possible supply prob-lems in the future.

You have to have stronger oil prices. Investment is so low now, it has been shrinking for two years. This has never happened before, Bill Farren-Price of Petroleum Pol-icy Intelligence (PPI) told AFP.

No dogfightThe meeting also saw regional ri-vals Saudi Arabia and Iran - which is ramping up output after nuclear sanctions were lifted this year and adding to pressure on the price - appearing to bury the hatchet, in Vienna at least.

Saudi Arabia made it very clear that they have no intention of swamping the market with oil as a means of hurting Iran economical-ly through a lower oil price, said Bjarne Schieldrop at SEB Markets.

This signalled that there is no internal dog ght, Schieldrop said.

I believe that this time there was a very good unity between OPEC members, Irans Oil Minis-ter Bijan Zanganeh said, with no signs that any members would do something against each other to destabilise the market. l

Saudi Arabias Energy Minister al-Falih talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna REUTERS

Palak: Government plans to formulate e-commerce policy n Tribune Business Desk State Minister for ICT Division Zu-naid Ahmed Palak yesterday said the government plans to formu-late a comprehensive e-commerce policy to re-shape the traditional e-commerce system of the country.

The junior minister came up with the remark at a seminar on Opportunities of e-commerce for small traders and wholesalers organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the cap-ital yesterday.

Since the e-commerce is grow-ing very fast in the country, the government is planning to formu-late a comprehensive international standard e-commerce policy to re-shape the traditional e-commerce system, said Zunaid while address-ing the seminar as the chief guest.

If we can bring businesses of old part of Dhaka into the e-commerce system, it will save a huge working hours and cost of doing business.

In the last