13 April, 2015

CEC TO COPS: DON’T HARASS CANDIDATES PAGE 2

KSA DISMISSES YEMEN CEASEFIRE CALL PAGE 10

SOLAR PLANTS TO GET BENCHMARK TARIFF PAGE 32

MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015 | Chaitra 30, 1421, Jamadius Sani 23, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 3 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

Rival Dhaka north mayoral candidates Zonayed Saki, Mahi B Chowdhury, Annisul Huq and Tabith M Awal caught sharing a light moment at the KIB Complex yesterday after a meeting with the Election Commission MEHEDI HASAN

AG: More war crimes appeals cases to be settled this yearn Ashif Islam Shaon

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, the top law o� cer of the country, has expressed hope that several appeals moved by the convicted war criminals with the Appellate Division will be disposed of this year.

Currently, appeals of eight war criminals are pending with the Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha.

The appeals of Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, both given death penalty by the International Crimes Tribunal, are now on the cause list for hearing. Arguments on these appeals would begin within the next few weeks, he said.

The six other appellants are Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and its leaders

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla and Mohammad Jamil Khan

With just a touch over two weeks to go before the city polls in Dhaka and Chittagong, BNP-backed candidates, especially the ward coun-cillor aspirants, have yet to start full-� edged electioneering.

Many of them are facing criminal cases and arrest warrants, and they fear harassment by law enforcers if they come out in the open.

Their fears got reinforced after the De-tective Branch (DB) of police announced on Saturday that they are conducting a drive to arrest those aspirants who are facing criminal charges and have not secured bail.

Saturday was also the day when the com-missioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police as-sured a visiting delegation of pro-BNP lawyers that no BNP men would be illogically harassed.

Former chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said: “What can the Election Commission do? It actually has nothing to do. Police is looking for those people [facing cas-es]. If they come out then police will certainly arrest them.”

He also said that the BNP-backed candi-dates are at a clear disadvantage because the ruling Awami League-backed candidates are not having to face any such problems.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Arrest threat spoils level playing � eld

WB: Political unrest eats up$2.2 billion in third quarter n Tribune Report

Bangladesh’s growth story took a further hit yesterday as the World Bank expected the economy to grow at 5.6% this � scal year, down from 6.2% projected after the � rstquarter.

Political turbulence caused substan-tial � nancial losses in three months (Janu-ary-March) valued US$2.2bn, which is 1% of

GDP (gross domestic product), and dampened the economic growth projection, it said.

The bank’s latest growth forecast is much low-er than the government’s downward revision of 6.8% from 7.2% and Asian Development Bank’s 6.1% from 6.4% due to the continued

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

MUHITH REJECTS15

SECOND EDITION

WB: Political unrest eats up $2.2 billion in third quarterpolitical impasse that began early January.

In response to the WB’s projection, Fi-nance Minister AMA Muhith has categorically rejected the bank’s estimate saying, “I do not care about the multilateral agencies’ growth projection, but I think our growth estimate would be right.”

He said the growth rate projected by the Asian Development Bank is a little bit similar to the country’s current � scal projection.

The minister gave his reaction to a query of reporters after a meeting with the US Am-bassador, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, at his secretariat o� ce.

“Political instability holds back the eco-nomic growth of Bangladesh,” said Zahid Hussain, WB’s lead economist at Dhaka o� ce while brie� ng on Bangladesh Development Update at its o� ce yesterday. Without politi-cal turmoil, the growth could have been 6.6% in the current � scal year, he said.

Economic losses in January, February and March are likely to be more severe because of timing, duration, and the depth of uncer-tainty surrounding how the turmoil will be resolved, the report said.

It said the unrest this time came soon after the beginning of dry winter season, when the largest and highly input-intensive rice crop (boro) was being planted, tourism was sup-posed to peak, inter-district transport was usually in full swing, and construction acti-vates reached their peak.

“The unrest occurred during the part of the year when the country’s within-year busi-ness cycle, hitting the production hard,” said Husain.

Based on the assumptions about the benchmark growth rate, number of days ef-fectively lost due to strikes, blockades and violence, duration of turmoil and the propor-tion of losses, the economy appears to have

incurred a value added loss of about $2.2bn.About the growth forecast gap between

the WB and the government, the lead econ-omist said: “The o� cial growth estimate is unlikely to capture the production losses in construction, wholesale and retail trades, transport, storage and communication, and public administration, education, health, community and social services due to the political turmoil.”

He said the proxies and methods used by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics to esti-mate production and expenditures work well in a normal year, but fail to capture the im-pact of disruptions in an abnormal year. “So the forecast gap is not surprising.”

Bangladesh experienced a similar polit-ical turmoil in the last half of 2013. Yet, the preliminary estimate of GDP growth for � scal year 2014 was higher than the � nal estimate

of growth for � scal year 2013. Private consumption and private invest-

ments account for nearly 93% of GDP, but despite declining these two components, the growth was higher. “This raised a lot of eye-brows,” said Hussain.

On in� ation, the WB report said the 12-month monthly moving average in� ation decelerated to 6.8% in February 2015, com-pared with 7.6% in the same month a year ago. “The annual moving average in� ation rate appears on track to reach the monetary policy target of 6.5% by the end of June.”

About interest rate, the report said when one out of every ten taka in loans go bad, it is not possible to have single digit interest rate without hurting the solvency of the banking industry, it said. “Expansionary monetary policy is also needed for reducing interest rate.”

For accelerated, inclusive, and sustainable growth, the multi-lateral development part-ner said the biggest challenge is to ensure du-rable political stability.

Other challenges include preserving � s-cal space, ensuring exchange rate � exibility, improving � nancial sector accountability, boosting private investments, improving connectivity and easing barriers to women’s participation in organised sector for econom-ic growth.

About the impact of falling oil price in the global market, the WB said since the govern-ment is not showing any intention to adjust retail prices downward in the near term in order to recover some portion of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation’s cumulative losses, there would be no visible impact on in� ation and growth and the entire bene� t will accrue to the government through reduction in sub-sidy.

“Lower oil price brings opportunity for

Bangladesh to adjust energy import policy to pass the bene� t to the consumers,” said Johannes Zutt, WB bank country director for Bangladesh.

The WB noted that Buoyant imports and weak exports pushed the external current account into de� cit but foreign exchange reserves are still rising. “Undershooting of development expenditures and reduced sub-sidies due to lower oil prices have kept the � scal defect in check despite a signi� cant revenue shortfall.” l

MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CEC to cops: Don’t harass candidates n Munir Momtaj

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad has directed the police authorities not to harass the city corporation polls aspirants as well as the voters.

He made the order at a view exchange pro-gramme with the mayor and councillor can-didates vying in the upcoming Dhaka City Corporation polls at Krishibid Institute audi-torium in Farmgate in the capital yesterday.

CEC Kazi Rakibuddin also said they would

try their best to create a congenial electoral environment so that every voters can cast their franchise without any hindrance in the election that supposed to be held on April 28.

The CEC called upon all racers to extend their cooperation in its move.

BNP-blessed mayoral aspirant Tabith M Awal said his party men cannot take part freely in the election campaign in the face of harassment by the members of law enforcement agencies.

“Many candidates from the 20-party alliance are now in jail. They should be granted bail to en-

sure their participation as well.”“My supporters and I will feel comfortable

in the campaign if the election commission deploys army personnel on the eve of the elec-tion,” Tabith said in response to a question of reporters after coming out of the programme.

Ruling party Awami League-backed may-oral candidate Annisul Haq also demanded ensuring the level playing � eld.

Another mayoral candidate Mahi B Chowd-hury said the commission should cast a care-ful watch on the candidates’ expenditure.

Mayoral candidate Abdullah Al ka� alleged po-lice had raided his residence during the nomina-tion papers submission day without any reason.

Zunaid Abdur Rahman Saki, a mayoral rac-er, opined that making level playing � eld is constitutional duty of the commission.

Another mayor aspirant Nader Chowdhury alleged the election commission have no co-ordination in its tasks.

DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said they have been following all instructions of the EC to hold a free and fair election. l

0

2

4

6

8

FY12

6.3%7.0%11.2%6.7%

In�ation

Export Growth

Inport Growth

Remittance Growth

GDP GROWTH TREND (%)

OTHER INDICATORS’ PROJECTION FY15

FY13 FY14 FY15(Projection)

6.5 6.0 6.1 5.6

Arrest threat spoils level playing � eld“So, the discrimination is already evident and in this case, the Election Commission has noth-ing to do. If the BNP-backed candidates have huge popularity, they can win the polls if other things remain the same,” the former CEC said.

Dhaka south’s BNP-backed mayoral can-didate Mirza Abbas, also a member of the party’s standing committee, is facing 37 crim-inal cases and has bail in none of them. He has sought bail in three of those cases whose hearing might take place today.

He has been underground since January 3 to avoid arrest in the security crackdown; his wife Afroza Abbas has been canvassing on his behalf.

“There has yet to be a level playing � eld. My husband has not been granted bail in any of the cases against him,” she said during the campaign.

More than 60% of the BNP-backed councillor candidates are facing criminal cases with most of them either on the run or in jail.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is expected to take part in campaigning in favour of the party candidates but sources said she wants to � rst understand the government’s attitude before coming out for that.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday asked election

o� cials to carry out their duties without fear and favouring anyone.

The CEC also asked the law enforcement agencies to not harass anyone illogically and not carry out any illegal order so as to ensure a congenial atmosphere and festive mood for people to cast their votes.

Regarding BNP-backed candidates’ demand of army deployment during polls, the CEC said: “We have a scheduled meeting on April 19. We will � rst review the law and order situation and then make a decision.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked her cabinet colleagues to remain

alert about not breaching the electoral code of conduct. This warning comes after allega-tions of violating the code were raised against three ministers recently.

Seven mayoral and 250 councilor can-didates for the upcoming Dhaka North and South City Corporation polls are facing crimi-nal cases, police said.

Sajjadul Islam, criminal lawyer of the Su-preme Court, said: “The cases are weak and mostly politically motivated and being used for repressing opposition men. So, there is nothing to worry about because situation will change once there is a change in power.” l

AG: More war crimesMir Quasem Ali, ATM Azharul Islam and Ab-dus Subhan; expelled Awami League leader Mobarak Hossain; and former state minister of HM Ershad’s government Syed Mohammad Qaisar.

Mahbubey said the Supreme Court could not hear more appeals due to its long vaca-tion. He, however, expressed satisfaction over the current pace of disposals.

The special bench has so far disposed of three cases. Verdict in the last case, � led by executed war criminal Muhammad Kamaru-zzaman, was given on November 3 last year.

The attorney general welcomed the ex-ecution of Jamaat leader Kamruzzaman on Saturday night. “But, I feel sad for [Delawar Hossain] Sayedee’s verdict. We hoped that he would be sentenced to death. It happened due to weakness of the prosecution and the investigation agency,” he added.

Delawar Hossain Sayedee, another top leader of Jamaat was given death penalty by the tribunal. But the Appellate Division commuted his sentence to life-term impris-onment. Earlier, the bench upheld the death sentence of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla and he was executed on December 12, 2013. l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TMONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015

RMG bosses seek vote for their fellown Tribune Report

Notable RMG sector entrepreneurs and oth-er businesspeople yesterday urged Dhaka to vote their family member Annisul Haq for the mayor of Dhaka North City corporation.

FBCCI Prsident Kazi Akram Uddin and BG-MEA President Atiqul Islam led the call for votes speaking at “Current situation of RMG Sector and the way forward” – a meeting to exchange views organised be the BGMEA, BK-MEA and BTMA.

“Annisul Huq is a family member of the clothing industry, we must stand by him and extend our hands of cooperation,” said BG-MEA president Atiqul Islam.

FBCCI President Akram remarked that Annisul’s victory would mean victory for the business community as a whole, and said: “The government has met the demands of the business community; we will peruse the government to realise the businesspeople’s demands in the upcoming budget as well.”

“Annisul Huq has led the $30bn RMG in-dustry to where it is now, and if we elect him as mayor, he will lead Dhaka and make it the most liveable city,” said BKMEA acting presi-dent Aslam Sunny.

Annisul, on the other hand, took the op-portunity to reiterate his election promises and garner support: “Trust us, we business-people will work together to make Dhaka city green and clean. The business community is a family, and on behalf of the community I have taken the challenge to contest the poll. It is

also is a gift from the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”

“We oppose each other in BGMEA and FBCCI polls, but now we are a family and this solidarity is an example for the country’s poli-ticians,” Huq added.

At one point, the business leaders raised their hands showing their support for Annisul Huq.

The meeting also discussed the challenges and the ways forward for the RMG sector.

“On behalf of the RMG sector I have placed our demands to the Finance Minister AMA Muhith and he assured policy support to re-cover losses su� ered due to the political un-rest,” said Abduis Salam Murshedy, president Exporters Association of Bangladesh.

He also urged BGMEA president to handle the Accord and Alliance issues as they are continually coming up with new issues in the name of safety and rights.

The country’s RMG sector is now under

pressure due to the inspection of Accord and Alliance who are devising new issues that are di� cult for the industry to tolerate, said Sha� ul Islam Mohiuddin, former president of BGMEA.

“We have the capacity of exporting $50bn by 2021 as we have the potential and capaci-ty, but we need scope to work,” said Anwarul Alam Chudhury Parvez. “Accord and Alliance are not responding the our call on funding for remediation and we need follow up of inspec-tion for proper implementation,” he added. l

Khokon pledges healthy, corruption-free Dhakan Tribune Report

Sayed Khokon, Awami League-backed may-oral candidate for the Dhaka South City Corporation elections, has promised tomake the capital city free of corruption if he is elected.

He said: “I want to be a son of the city... I want to promote the use of technology in every sector. I will follow my father’s [former Dhaka mayor late Mohammad Hanif] model for a modern and digital Dhaka.”

He made the statement while unveiling his manifesto under the banner of citizen’s group “Shahasra Nagorik Samaj” meaning a society of thousand citizens.

The manifesto was unveiled at a press con-

ference held at the Diploma Engineers’ Insti-tute in Dhaka yesterday.

Khokon’s election coordinator Abdur Raz-zak, the citizen group’s convenor Syed Sham-sul Haque, Awami League leaders, university teachers, professionals and media personnel were present at the conference.

The manifesto comprises � ve key points including easing tra� c congestion; making Buriganga River safe and free of pollution; solving water, gas and power crises; build-ing a clean, pollution-free and healthy city; and eliminating corruption, terrorism and ex-tortion.

Khokon, who will be running

for the mayor in the south with symbol Ilish, also promised to ensure civic services such as healthcare and sanitation, develop infrastruc-ture and technological facilities, better waste management, control mosquito and promote recycling.

He also said: “We will make recreational places like Hatirjheel free of extortion, terror-ism and addicts.” lEasing tra� c congestion

Pollution-free and safe Buriganga

Solving water, gas, power crises

Clean, pollution-free, healthy city

Eliminating corruption, terrorism, extortion

KEY POINTSOF KHOKON’SMANIFESTO

Loopholes allow polls code violationn Shadma Malik

The Election Working Group has pointed out that city polls aspirants have violat-ed the code of conduct before and after nomination submission by taking advan-tage of the loopholes in the code.

EWG said that the legal framework does not say anything how returning and assis-tant returning o� cers are to be recruited and what quali� cations would they need to have for taking up the positions.

Yesterday, EWG Director Md Ab-dul Alim presented a proposal titled “Strengthening Bangladeshi Democracy” at the Cirdap Auditorium in Dhaka.

Many candidates put up billboards de-scribing their promises to the city dwell-ers and urging people to elect them as mayor or councilor in the upcoming city polls, the paper says.

Not only do these contravene the rele-vant law, money spent on these activities are not recorded and therefore circum-vent individual expenditure limits.

According to existing laws, gra� ti and posters can only be put up at plac-es speci� ed by the local authorities. The law provides an exception that any per-son can do these in the area other than the speci� ed places by giving fees as per regulations framed by the local authority.

Before the announcement of the elec-tion schedule on March 18, a large num-ber of billboards and banners of aspirant candidates in all three city corporations were visible.

Badiul Alam Majumder, standing committee member of EWG, said: “Histo-ry tells us that mayoral candidates are al-ways more dominant than the councilor candidates.”

For preparing this paper, the EWG ob-served each of the stages from collection and submission of nomination papers, scrutiny, appeals, and � nalisation of applications. They also monitored elec-tion-related violence. l

NEWS4DTMONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015

No bar to remanding Rizvi n Ashif Islam Shaon

The Supreme Court cleared the way for police to take BNP Joint Secretary General Rizvi Ahmed on remand yesterday for interrogation regarding a vandalism case.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Ku-mar Sinha stayed a High Court order that had halted a remand order for Rizvi. The Supreme Court came up with the order

in response to a government petition � led against the High Court order.

Additional Attorney Gen-eral Momtaz Uddin Fakir and Rizvi’s lawyer Sagir Hossain Leon told the journalists that the cops now can take Rizvi on the remand in the case.

Earlier on April 8, The High Court bench of Justice Md Nuru-zzaman and Justice Zafar Ahmed passed the order that stayed a Dhaka court’s remand order for the BNP leader for a month. l

Kamaruzzaman buriedn Our Correspondent,

Sherpur

Executed war criminal Mu-hammad Kamaruzzaman was buried at an orphanage and madrasa complex founded by the Jamaat-e-Islami leader in Sherpur’s Bajitkhila.

He was buried around 5am after a namaz-e-janaza attend-ed only by the relatives. The newsmen were barred from entering the area.

The janaza was adminis-tered by Kamaruzzaman’s brother-in-law and madrasa’s acting principal Abdul Hamid just before the Fajr prayers.

Earlier, the local freedom � ghters had vowed to prevent the burial in Sherpur. But they later backtracked upon re-quests by the district adminis-tration.

The Jamaat leader was hanged by the neck at 10:30pm on Saturday after following all

legal procedure.After his execution, two

ambulances – one carrying the body and other having his fam-ily members, two vans with 26 police members, and another with RAB personnel left the jail at 11:40pm for Sherpur.

On the day, respective dis-trict police units accompanied the vehicles carrying the body. They reached Bajitkhila Bazar via Sherpur town around 4am.

The newsmen were barred from going to the grave inside Bajitkhila Orphanage and Ma-drasa compound, around one kilometre o� the bazar and six kilometre from the town.

Kamaruzzaman was sen-tenced to death for the massa-cre at Sohagpur village – now known as “Bidhoba Palli” or the village of widows – in Nali-tabari upazila of Sherpur where at least 164 civilians had been killed and around 170 women raped on July 25, 1971. l

Masud Rana’s bail plea not heard n Ashif Islam Shaon

A High Court judge yesterday declined to hear the bail petition � led by charge-sheeted accused in Narayanganj seven-murder cas-es Lt Commander SM Masud Rana, who was sacked from the Rapid Action Battalion for his alleged involvement in the incident.

The sacked Navy o� cial’s petition was on the cause-list of the High Court bench of Justice Quamrul Islam Siddique and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore.

But one of the judges cited personal rea-sons and declined to hear the matter. The judge also asked lawyers concerned to go to another court for hearing, defence lawyer SM Abul Hossain said.

Deputy Attorney General Md Bashir Ullah stood for the state.

Rana, a former top o� cial of RAB 11, � led the bail petition on February 19.

He is one of the 35 people charged for the killings of seven people including ward coun-cillor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chan-dan Kumar Sarker in Narayanganj. l

BNP leaders question Election Commission’s rolen Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

BNP leaders in Chittagong have blamed the Election Commission for ignoring their com-plaints regarding violation of electoral code of conduct by the ruling party’s ministers and lawmakers.

“The Election Commission centrally avoid-ed the allegations against the ruling party ministers and lawmakers while we are con-testing in the election in an adverse environ-ment without a level playing � eld,” claimed BNP Vice-Chairman Abdullah Al Noman at a press conference in the port city yesterday.

BNP’s Chittagong city unit President Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, also the chief election agent of mayoral candidate M Manjur Alam, said no fair election could be possible in an unequal situation.

The words from the EC was yet to be re-� ected in the works done by the commission,

claimed Khasru, who hosted the press brief at his house.

The press conference was held protesting an attack – allegedly by Awami League supporters – on a canvassing drive by BNP’s central leader

Syed Wahidul Alam and some BNP men in the city’s Sher Shah area on Saturday afternoon.

Also questioning the role of law enforcers, Noman said: “Police are arresting our leaders and activists without any allegation so that they cannot join in the election campaign.”

He also demanded that the army be de-ployed a week before the city elections to en-sure a free, fair and neutral election.

His views were also echoed by Khasru, who said: “A group is trying to grab [control of] the election by force. They are trying to create a fearful environment so that the voters cannot go to the poll centre. They are doing this as they think they will not get public support.”

Meanwhile, the BNP lodged a case with Bayezid police station against local Awami League men Mehedi Hasan Badal, Moinuddin and a further 50-60 unidenti� ed men regard-ing Saturday’s attack, said the station’s Of-� cer-in-Charge Babul Chandra Banik.

Khasru said they also lodged complaint with the EC o� ce in Chittagong. Following the complaint, Returning O� cer MB Abdul Baten directed Chittagong Metropolitan Po-lice Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal to take action in this regard within three days. l

‘Police are arresting our leaders and activists without any allegation so that they cannot join in the election campaign’

NEWS 5D


DANDY DYEING CASE

Khaleda to be summoned through newspaper notice n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered court o� -cials to publish a newspaper notice asking BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and three mem-bers of her family to appear in the Dandy Dye-ing loan default case by May 17.

The three are Khaleda’s son late Arafat Rahman Koko’s wife Sharmila Rahman Sithi and her daughters Za� a Rahman and Zahia Rahman, who are now in Malaysia.

Dhaka Artha Rin Adalat 1 (money loan court) Judge Fatema Ferdous passed the or-der.

The court ordered to publish the notice in two Bangla dailies - Kaler Kantho and Inqilab.

The order was given in response to a peti-tion � led by State-owned Sonali Bank’s coun-sel Md Jahangir Alam. He � led the petition as the previous summons order issued against the defendants was not received by them and returned to the court.

On March 16, the court granted a Sonali

Bank petition to include the four as defend-ants in the case on behalf of Koko, one of the directors of Dandy Dyeing, who died on Jan-uary 24.

Following Koko’s death in Malaysia, the Sonali Bank lawyer � led the petition on March 8.

The other defendants in the case are Dan-dy Dyeing directors Tarique Rahman, Khale-da’s eldest son, Giasuddin Al Mamun, his wife Shahina Begum, Nasrin Iskander, wife of late Sayeed Iskander, his sons Shams Iskander and Sha� n Iskander and daughter Sumaiya Iskander, Gazi Galib Abdus Sattar, Shamsun Nahar and Masud Hassan.

According to the case documents, on Oc-tober 2, 2012, Nazrul Islam, senior executive o� cer of Sonali Bank, � led a suit with the court as the defendants failed to repay the loan amounting to Tk45.59 crore.

Dandy Dyeing borrowed Tk12.16 crore from the bank’s principal o� ce in Dhaka on October 16, 2001. l

Volunteer for Bangladesh to launch exhibit on Dhakan Tribune Report

An exhibition titled “Oprottashito Dhaka,” as part of a campaign titled “I am Dhaka” by Volunteer for Bangladesh, will open at Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi, Dhaka on Thursday at 6:30pm.

The aim of this exhibit is to reach out to the mayoral candidates of the upcoming city cor-poration elections in Dhaka and show them the real picture of the city they want to take responsibility of, according to a press release issued by the organisation.

The youth wing of Jaago Foundation ex-pects the exhibition to be a platform for the candidates and voters for exchanging views and expectations in order to make Dhaka more liveable for everyone.

The campaign “I am Dhaka” - #IamDhaka on social media – focuses on the real, day-to-day face of the capital city through the eyes of its dwellers. Volunteer for Bangladesh is con-ducting the campaign in association with the Dhaka Tribune, the Daily Ittefaq, Dot 3 and Through the Lens.

The exhibition will run until Saturday. l

Jamaat-e-Islami activists vandalise a car yesterday as they brought out a procession protesting the hanging of party leader and convicted war criminal Mohammad Kamaruzzaman. The photo was taken at Dhanmondi in Dhaka MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU


Decrease salinity ASAP to save the Sundarbansn Abu Bakar Siddique

Ensuring freshwater � ow from the upstream is an urgent necessity mitigate increasing sa-linity in the South-west coastal region and save Sundarbans, speakers at a discussion held in the capital said yesterday.

They also said that due to reduction in wa-ter� ow in the Padma, that � ows towards the Sundarbans through the Gorai-Rupsa-Pashur and the Bhairab-Kobadak tributaries, saline water is entering the upper areas and hamper-ing agriculture.

“The mangrove ecosystem of the Sunda-rbans has the capacity of tolerating a certain level of salinity, but the reduced upstream water-� ow is increasing salinity is the lands, ultimately damaging the forest ecosystem,” said Dr Ataur Rahman, a professor of Water Resources Engineering at Bangladesh Univer-sity of Engineering and Technology.

The saline tolerance of Sundarbans is 10 to

15 ppt (Pats per thousand grams) while the cur-rent salinity level in the region is around 35 ppt.

He also said that the mangrove forest will be at risk in future if the salinity level cannot be reduced to a certain level soon.

Ishtiaq Uddin Ahmed, country representa-tive of International Union for the Conserva-tion of Nature Bangladesh, said that two im-portant factors – a certain level of salinity and siltation – are mandatory for the regeneration and sustenance of mangrove ecosystems, and while both factors are abnormal in the case of the Sundarbans in the Bangladeshi regions.

Besides the increased level of salinity, the Sundarban is being adversly a� ected by de-crease in siltation due to the unplanned estab-lishments of infrastructure like embankments in the coastal rivers, he added while address-ing a roundtable discussion titled Protect Sun-darban: Our Role, organised by Media Alliance for Sundarban. The program was held at con-ference room of the daily Bhorer Kagoj. l

Prime suspects denied bail for Ekramul murdern Ashif Islam Shaon

The Supreme Court yesterday scrapped a High Court bail granted to Mahtab Uddin Mi-nar, the prime accused of the Fulgazi’s Ekra-mul Haque murder case.

The Apex court also scrapped the bail of Zahid Chowdhury, a suspect in the same case, and asked him to surrender within a week.

A four-member bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order after hearing two government petitions against the HC orders.

Ekramul Haque, president of Fulgazi upazi-la unit Awami League, was shot and burnt alive in his car in Feni town on May 20 last year. His brother Rezaul Haque � led a murder case with Feni Model Police Station that day, accusing Minar and 30 to 35 unnamed people.

Detectives arrested Minar from a house in Kachukhet area of Dhaka on May 27 last year. He secured a permanent bail from the High Court on March 2. l

21 missing as trawler capsizes in Shitalakhyan Our Correspondent, Gazipur

At least 21 people went missing as a trawler car-rying 45 passengers capsized in the Shitalakhya River in Kaliganj upazila, Gazipur yesterday.

Locals said the Narsingdi-bound trawler, car-rying 45 workers of Pran-RFL Ltd from Muladi, Kaliganj, was going to Danga in Polash upazila.

When the trawler reached the Mulgaon area around 4pm, a sand-laden cargo hit the en-gine-run boat and it sank in the river instantly, said Tarikul Islam, sub-inspector of Kaliganj police station.

Around 24 passengers managed to swim ashore, but 21 remained missing when this re-port was � led around 10pm, locals said.

Receiving information, � re� ghters rushed to the spot and salvaged the trawler around 8:30pm. Police seized the sand-laden cargo.

Witnesses said the trawler was overloaded, that is why it sank as soon as the cargo hit it.

However, Pran-RFL Ltd Director Ilias Mri-da and Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Nurul Islam claimed that no worker of the company had gone missing in the capsize. l

NEWS 7D


WEATHER

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:19PM SUN RISES 5:39AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW35.8ºC 20.0ºC

Rangamari Sylhet

MONDAY, APRIL 13

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 33 26Chittagong 33 24Rajshahi 32 24Rangpur 32 23Khulna 32 23Barisal 33 24Sylhet 33 22Cox’s Bazar 32 24

PRAYER TIMESFajr 4:21am

Sunrise 5:39am

Zohr 11:59am

Asr 4:31pm

Magrib 6:19pm

Esha 7:37pm

All set to celebrate Pahela Baishakhn Tribune Report

All preparations have been taken to celebrate Pahela Boiskhak, the � rst day of Bengali month Baishakh, across the country.

Di� erent socio cultural organisations and educational institutions in the port city have completed all the preparations to celebrate Pahela Baishakh in Chittagong.

Like previous years, Sommilito Pahela Baishakh Udyapan Parishad has ogranised a two-day programme on DC hill premises in the city in a bid to farewell the old year and welcome the new year.

The programmes will feature folk songs, group dance, puppet shows, local drama, photo exhibition, Bangali fashion show and other events.

The Institution of Fine Arts of Chittagong University will bring out Mongol Shovajatra in the city.

This year, the theme of Mongol Shovajatra is “Baishakhe Chole Noborupe Jagi” will bring out from the institution’s premises at Chat-tesari road while another will bring out from the CU campus at the same time, said Nasima Akhtar, director of CU Fine Arts Institution.

While visiting the institution yesterday, the students were seen busy to paint and make their materials to celebrate the new year.

Condemning the political impasse, the stu-dents have made several masks which carry the sign of political violence.

Programmes displaying di� erent folk cul-tures like indigenous dance, folk songs and puppet shows will be held on District Shilpa-kala Academy premise while Central Railway Building (CRB) premises have also wear fes-tive looks.

Markets and shopping malls are colorfully decorated with various Baishakhi products and o� ers special discounts to their customers.

Hotels and restaurants also o� er special

packages on the occasion. In Sylhet, preparation is going on to ar-

range fairs on the premises of Shahjalal Sci-ence and Technology University, MCJ College and Street Sangskrito College.

The Sylhet City Corporation has arranged a fair where a good number of stalls have been set up.

Polimol Pal, a potter, said he had bought products of Tk1 lakh to sell in the fair.

On the occasion of Pahela Baishakh, a concert will be held on the premises of MCJ College.

In Barisal, preparations for ‘Chaitra Sang-kranti’ and ‘Pahela Baishakh’ with various colourful programmes and enthusiasm for bidding farewell to 1421 and welcoming Bang-la New Year 1422 is going on full swing.

Volunteers of Charukala are working 24-hour to organise traditional ‘Mangol Shova-jatra from Brojo Mohun Bidyaloy ground.

Charukala Barisal will also arrange a two-day folk cultural fair, painting competition at Barisal City College ground focusing on folk and heritage.

Udichi Barisal unit also arranged another ‘Mangol Shovajatra’ for the second time.

Shohidul Alam, deputy commissioner and Shoibal Kanti Chowdhury, Metropolitan Po-

lice commissioner of Barisal will also take part in the colourful procession.

In Khulna, elaborate programmes have been taken to celebrate the day.

The district administration, di� erent gov-ernment, non-government, socio-cultural, professional and other private bodies, educa-tional institutions, will celebrate the daylong programmes.

The programme will begin with a colourful ceremony welcoming Pahela Baishakh which popularly known as “Borshaboron with Rakh-ibondhon” in front of Khulna Circuit House in the morning.

The other programmes of the day include, colourful rally, Baishakhi fair, sports compe-titions, poetry recitation, discussion, cultural shows and musical soirees.

Khulna University (KU), Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Kuet), Khul-na Medical College, Di� erent Private Uni-versities, Sammilto Sangskritik Zote, Khulna Union of Journalists (KUJ) and other organi-sations will bring out Baishakhi processions with colourful festoons, placards, banners.

Later, they will organise discussion and cultural function to be followed by Bangalees traditional breakfast “Panta Ilish.”

Business establishments both in rural and urban areas will arrange traditional ‘Halkhata’ and distribute sweets among customers to re-new their old accounts.

JU arranges three-day festivalThe authorities of Jahangirnagar University (JU) have arranged a three-day festival from Tuesday till Thursday on the occasion of cel-ebrating the � rst day of Bangla New Year ‘Pa-hela Baishakh’.

Meantime, di� erent departments, insti-tutes and dormitories have individually ar-ranged di� erent events and programmes to celebrate Bengali New Year, source said. l

Five killed, 10 injured in road accidentsn Our Correspondent, Tangail

Six people died while 10 got injured in two separate road accidents in Mirzapur and Delduar upazila of Tangail yesterday.

The dead are Anisur Rahman, 52, of Ekdala village under Naogaon district, Abdul Kud-dus, 28, of Konail village, Sargeant Ashraful Islam, 36, of Khamarpara Soidullahpur vil-lage under Gaibandha district, cash o� cer of Bangladesh Bank Bogra branch Atoar Rah-man, 50, of Katoa Akkelpur village under Joy-purhat district, Jamir Ali, 35, of Dagor Mora village under Savar and a construction worker who could not be identi� ed.

Gorai highway police station O� cer-in-Charge Md Humayun Kabir said coming from Naogaon, a Dhaka-bound passenger bus Dip-jol Enterprise hit a potato-laden truck in Post-kumari Charpara area under Mirzapur upazila around 3:30am. The truck was wrecked after falling into the roadside ditch.

The accident left three passengers of the bus dead on spot while two more died after the injured were taken to Mirzapur Kumudini Medical College Hospital.

Meanwhile, a 35-year-old construction worker was crushed under the wheels of a truck on Dhaka-Tangail highway in Natiyapa-ra around 10:30am. l

A student of the Institute of Fine Arts in Rajshahi University yesterday gives � nishing touch to the colourful masks prepared for using in the Mongol Shobhajatra on Pahela Baishakh tomorrow AZAHAR UDDIN

The programme will begin with a colourful ceremony welcoming Pahela Baishakh which popularly known as ‘Borshaboron with Rakhibondhon’ in front of Khulna Circuit House in the morning

DRY WEATHER


Trauma centre in Comilla now a venue of kitchen marketn Mohiuddin Molla, Comilla

Shahidnagar Trauma Centre in Comilla, the Tk6-crore establishment which was built to treat the injured in the accidents on Dha-ka-Chittagong highway, has recently been turned into the venue of weekly kitchen mar-ket for the locals.

Sources said the 20-bed trauma centre had always been riddled with problems. Located in the district’s Daudkandi upazila, the hospi-tal was never fully functional. It was inaugu-rated on October 6, 2006 by then health and family planning minister Dr Khandaker Mos-harraf Hossain, but it took nearly two years for the hospital to get power supply, and it never got the gas supply.

In hopes of getting a fully operational hos-

pital, the government re-inaugurated it � ve years later, on April 30, 2010, by the hands of then health and family welfare minister Dr AFM Ruhul Haque.

However, the double inauguration did lit-tle to get things going in the trauma centre, and the service completely broke down when the power connection was cut o� last week.

Since then, the hospital premises has been turned into the extension of the nearby kitch-en market on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Sources said some local in� uentials are taking advantage of the hospital’s current situation and leasing o� the premises for the kitchen market.

Alam Miah, a local who came to shop at the market, said: “They inaugurated this hospital twice, but it is still far from providing proper

medical service. And now we have a market in-side the hospital premises to buy vegetables.”

Asked about the disconnection of pow-er supply, Ra� qul Islam, general manager of Comilla Rural Electricity Society 3, told the Dhaka Tribune that the hospital authorities never paid any electricity bills, which is why the connection was cut o� .

The Dhaka Tribune contacted Dr Md Mu-jibur Rahman, civil surgeon in Comilla, in this regard, who said steps were being taken to run the hospital properly.

“We have informed the UNO through the upazila health o� cer to remove the kitchen market. The Directorate General of Health Services has been contacted to get the hospi-tal fully equipped in order to provide quality medical service,” he said. l

Future of watermelon farmers in jeopardy n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

Despite a bumper harvest of watermelons in Kotalipara upazila of Gopalganj this year, fruits worth several crores of taka remain un-sold at the local wholesale markets, putting the future of farmers there in jeopardy.

Local traders claimed that unlike every other year, the number of wholesalers travel-ling to the district to buy products was slim – mostly because of the political instability and the ongoing non-stop countrywide transport blockade.

As a result, watermelon farmers are choos-ing to leave their harvest on the � eld for a few extra days in the hope that the trend would turn in their favour; however, if the crop is left on the � eld for a couple more weeks, the risk

of it rotting would also increase signi� cantly.The Kotalipara upazila agriculture o� ce

sources said around 910 hectares of land in the area was used to cultivate a target of 120,000 tonnes of watermelons this year. Local farm-ers, meanwhile, claimed that the total harvest would eventually exceed 150,000 tonnes.

With prospects gloomy for � nding buyers for their watermelons, the farmers are wor-ried how they would be able to repay the loans the had taken from locals banks, cooperatives and NGOs to invest in this year’s harvest.

Narayan Chandra Biswas, a farmer in Chi-tolia Beel area, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had taken nearly Tk14 lakh in loan from the Directorate of Cooperatives to cultivate watermelons on 25 acres of � eld; but all his hopes had now turned into frustrations in the

absence of buyers.Monimohon Ballabh, a wholesaler in Kali-

ganj Bazar, claimed during this time every year, the market daily sold around Tk2-3 crore worth of watermelon; but this year, the num-ber of wholesale buyers was only nominal.

Toha Mandal, a wholesale buyer who had been coming to Kaliganj from Kushtia to buy watermelons for the last ten years, admitted that hartals and blockade had made other wholesal-ers like him fearful to make the trip this year.

Upazila Agriculture O� cer Rathindranath Biswas, meanwhile, urged wholesalers from across the country to buy superior-quality watermelons from the markets of Kotalipara as it was more a� ordable than other places, while there was also banking facilities at the wholesale markets for the traders. l

28 rescued while being tra� cked to Indian Our Correspondent, Jessore

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh in a drive rescued 28 people, including women and children, while they were being tra� cked to India through Putkhali border in Sharsha upazila of the district yesterday.

They hailed from Narail and Bagerhat district.On a tip-o� , a team of BGB conducted a drive

in the area at night and rescued them while they were being sent to India throughout bor-der point, said Subedar Sho� Uddin Hawlader, camp commander of Putkhali camp. l

Injured BCL leader diesn Our Correspondent, Comilla

Comilla district unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League president who was injured during a factional clash on Saturday, succumbed to his injuries at a local private hospital yesterday.

The deceased was identi� ed as Md Saiful Is-lam, 36, son of Kalu Mian of Gobindapur area.

Sources said a clash had ensued between two groups of BCL in Kandirpar area of the district town on Saturday afternoon following a congregation of the organization.

Both the feuding groups blasted cocktails and opened � re, leaving � ve people, includ-ing Saiful, injured.

Later, he was sent to Moon Hospital in the town where he died in the morning. l

Jute mill workers on protest for 5-point demandn Our Correspondent, Khulna

Workers of the state-owned jute mills in the Jessore-Khulna region have took to the streets for their � ve-point demands, includ-ing payment of their dues.

Yesterday was the 11th consecutive days of their programmes. The Public Jute Mills CBA and Non-CBA Oikkya Parishad has called the programme. There are eight public jute fac-tories in the region. The workers separately around 9:30am took position in front of their respective factories on the demands and they later held rallies there. Many senior leaders of the organisation addressed the event.

The speakers urged upon the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) authorities to implement the demands on an urgent basis.

The demands include necessary allotment for the jute sector and ensure 20% dearness allowance for them. l

Robbers kill onen Our Correspondent, Comilla

Robbers looted valuables from a house killing a man and injured his wife in Malipara area in Nangalkot upazila early yesterday. The de-ceased was identi� ed as Abul Khayer, 50.

Local sources said a gang of robbers en-tered the house of Khayer around 3am and strangled him.

Later, they beat up his wife when came out to protect him.

They looted gold ornaments, cash Tk9,000 and a mobile phone. l

Students of Hujrapur High School attend classes yesterday under a treee in Godagari, Rajshahi, as nor’westers blew away the tin-sheds over their classrooms on Saturday. Even though classes were suspended for a day, they has to be resumed due to the inmending JSC exams. 400 students attended the classes in two shifts AZAHAR UDDIN

NEWS 9D


Patients su� er as healthcare centre remains unusedfor a decaden Our Correspondent, Sunamganj

A rented house is where Islampur union’s health and family welfare centre was relocat-ed a decade ago as the actual facility remains unused since then because of legal hassles, causing locals to su� er badly.

Back in 1990, the actual medical centre was built in Chhanbari Bazar of the union at a cost of Tk70 lakh to provide medical servic-es for around 15,000 people of nearby villag-es, including Chhanbari, Ratanpur, Gangpar, Rasnagar and Bahadurpur.

Ownership of the land where the facility was built on was the subject of a lawsuit and the court verdict went in favour of the owner, result-ing in the healthcare centre’s closure in 2002.

About � ve kilometres from the health and fam-ily welfare centre, a derelict building in Baishakan-di was then rented to relocate the facility.

But its surroundings have turned bushy and the exterior is heavily covered with moss, making it a rather eerie place. The doors and windows are also broken.

Binod Kumar Sinha of Rasnagar village said the union’s transport facilities are poor which is a key reason why reaching the new location

is a di� cult task. “Women and children are particularly bearing the brunt of the unsatis-factory communication system.”

Abdul Hannan, who lives in Nijgaon vil-lage, said Chhatak Upazila Health Complex is located 15 kilometres from his village and it takes three hours or more to reach there.

“This is risky especially for dying patients and pregnant women as the union health-care centre, which is nearer than the upazila health complex, is not easily reachable either because of poor transport systems,” he said.

The lack of access to medical care forces locals to hinge on quacks and midwives, said Abdul Khaleq of Gangpar village.

Ayesha Begum, a government o� cial who oversees operations of the health and family welfare centre, said medical services provided to patients at the rented building are limited.

“The original facility is a government prop-erty and it is not being used for long. That is why local people are not getting proper healthcare services,” she said.

Family Planning O� cer of Chhatak Upazila, Joynul Abedin, said the original facility can be reopened only if the owner of the land agrees to donate the plot to the health authorities. l

Lightning kills5 in two districts n Tribune Report

At least � ve people were killed in lightning strike in Moulvibazar and Kishoreganj dis-tricts yesterday.

Our Moulvibazar correspondent reports: Two women were killed as lightning struck them at Pashchim Hajipara village in Kulaura upazila. The deceased were identi� ed as Dulu Bibi, 53, and Suifa Bibi, 34.

Local people said thunderbolt struck Dulu Bibi and Suifa around 7:30am during rain, leaving them dead on the spot. UP chairman Mahmud Ali con� rmed the incident.

Kishoreganj correspondent said three peo-ple, including two siblings, were killed in sep-arate incidents of lightning strikes in Katiadi and Itna upazilas.

The deceased were identi� ed as Manjil,25, and his brother Ratan,27,residents of Sakua village in Karimganj upazila, and Amin,22, a resident of Katiadi upazila.

Itna police station O� cer-in-Charge Abdul Malek said a thunderbolt hit Manjil and Ratan while they were working in a paddy � eld dur-ing a storm at Shimulbagh haor in Itna upazila around 9:30 am, killing them on the spot.

Meanwhile, Amin was killed as a thunder-bolt struck him in a haor (wetland) while he was working in a paddy � eld during a storm in Katiadi upazila around 10am.

Nikli police station O� cer-in-Charge Mah-bubul Alam con� rmed the incident. l

Stagnation hits Kashipur Asrayan projectn Our Correspondent, Narail

The � lling up of Kashipur Asrayan 2 project area in the char of the Nabaganga River has stopped halfway towards the project’s com-pletion.

More than a hundred destitute families in Lohagara upazila, who were optimistic about getting housing facilities after the project’s completion, are now living with uncertainty.

In 2013, Land Assistant O� cer of Kashipur union land o� ce, Md Mosta� zur Rahman, submitted a report to the upazila assistant commissioner (land), which said the 6.83-acre land in the char could be used for implement-ing any development project. The site was lat-er selected for the Kashipur Asrayan 2 project.

The government allocated 169.334 tonnes of wheat and ordered to � ll up the project area with the money that will be obtained by sell-ing the wheat.

But Stagnation hit the project after 85 tonnes of the total wheat allocation was used.

On October 23, Lohagara Upazila Nirbahi O� cer Tahmina Khatun asked Kashipur un-ion parishad Chairman Md Matiar Rahman in a letter to suspend the project, saying that she had been instructed by the project director to stop the project.

But the suspension led to protests where some 3,000 local people called for resump-tion of the project.

They also submitted a memorandum to the prime minister, drawing her attention to the problem.

On April 3 this year, Director of the Plan-ning Ministry (works), ANM Rokon Uddin, visited the site and said he would submit a report to the higher authorities.

He also said the authorities would act on the report. Tushar Kanti Pal, assistant com-missioner (land) of Lohagara, said the pro-

ject’s fate would be decided by the authorities and steps would be taken according to their instruction. The Kashipur union parishad

chairman said the already used wheat allo-cation would be wasted if the project was not fully completed. l

Drug addict fatherkills daughtern Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

A drug addict father strangled his nine-month-old daughter in Shahartali area of Ja-malpur yesterday.

O� cer-in-Charge of Jamalpur police sta-tion Mujibar Rahman Majumdar said: “ Bi-pul Miah, a resident of Kompapur village in the town, wanted money to his wife Seema Begum for buying drugs. They locked into an altercation as she denied to pay the money.”

At one stage, he strangled their only daugh-ter Bithi, he added. On information, police re-covered the body. Police arrested Bipul Miah. l

Youth shot deadn Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

A youth named Mizanur Rahman, 30, was shot dead by a gang of robbers in Moheshakhali, Cox’s Bazar yesterday morning. The dead is the son of late Md Hossain hailing from Lo-hagora Dorbeshkata area in Chittagong.

Mizan was going to Moheshkhali from Shaplapur by a truck in the morning. When the truck reached Dharani area, a group of rob-bers came down from the roadside mountain and started � ring bullets that left Mizan dead on the spot. The truck driver managed to � ee.

O� cer-in-Charge of Moheshkhali police station Alamgir Hossain police had visited the spot and investigate was going on. l

The � lling up of Kashipur Asrayan 2 project area in the char of the Nabaganga River in Narail is suspended DHAKA TRIBUNE

WORLD10DT


Obama says Hillary Clinton would be excellent presidentn Reuters

Hillary Clinton would be an “excellent pres-ident,” US President Barack Obama said on Saturday, one day before his former secretary of state is expected to announce her cam-paign for the White House in 2016.

“She was a formidable candidate in 2008, she was a great supporter of mine in the gen-eral election, she was an outstanding sec-retary of state, she is my friend. I think she would be an excellent president,” Obama said during a news conference at the Americas summit in Panama City.

Obama said when Clinton makes her bid public, he expects “she will be very clear about her vision for the country moving forward.”

Obama o� ered a strong endorsement of her abilities and lauded her foreign policy as the top US diplomat during his � rst term in o� ce. l

Turkey anger at Pope Francis Armenian ‘genocide’ claimn BBC

Turkey has criticised Pope Francis for using the word “genocide” to describe the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule in World War 1.

Ankara immediately summoned the Vat-ican’s envoy after the Pope made the com-ments at a service in Rome.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister described it as “far from the historical reality.”

Armenia and many historians say up to 1.5 million people were killed by Ottoman forces in 1915. Turkey has always disputed the num-ber of dead.

The dispute has continued to sour rela-tions between Armenia and Turkey.

The Pope made the comments at a Mass in the Armenian Catholic rite at Peter’s Basili-ca, attended by the Armenian president and church leaders.

He said that humanity had lived through “three massive and unprecedented tragedies” in the last century.

“The � rst, which is widely considered ‘the � rst genocide of the 20th Century’, struck your own Armenian people,” he said, in a form of words used by a declaration by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

Pope Francis also referred to the crimes “perpetrated by Nazism and Sta-linism” and said other genocides had fol-lowed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.

He said it was his duty to honour the mem-ories of those who were killed.

“Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it,” the Pope added. l

Monitor says Syrian army bombs Aleppo schooln Reuters

A group monitoring the Syrian war said at least nine people including � ve children were killed in a Syrian army air strike on a school in a reb-el-held area of the country’s second city Aleppo yesterday, though the army denied the report.

A Syrian army source told Reuters the army had stepped up attacks on rebels since the insur-gents bombarded a government-held residential area in the northwestern city on Saturday. But he said the military was not targeting civilians.

Aleppo is a major frontline in the four-year-old Syrian civil war, a con� ict which the Unit-ed Nations says has killed around 220,000 people. The city, about 50 km (30 miles) from the Turkish border, is divided between gov-ernment and insurgent control.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Hu-man Rights, which tracks the war using a net-work of sources on the ground, said the death toll from the strike on Jamil al Qabani school would likely rise. l

Saudi dismisses Iran calls for Yemen cease� ren Reuters

Saudi Arabia dismissed Iranian calls to end air strikes on neighboring Yemen yesterday as Saudi-led attacks hit a military camp in the Yemeni city of Taiz, killing eight civilians ac-cording to a medical source.

Riyadh said Tehran should not interfere in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began air strikes against Iranian-allied Houthi militia � ghters over two weeks ago to try and prevent them making further advances.

The air raids on the central Yemeni city targeted a site held by soldiers loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh who have joined up with Houthi � ghters against local militias in the south, the source said.

“How can Iran call for us to stop the � ght-ing in Yemen?” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said in the Saudi capital Riyadh at a news conference with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius. “We came to Yemen to help the legitimate authority, and Iran is not in charge of Yemen.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday that the air strikes were a “crime and genocide” and Iran’s presi-dent Hassan Rouhani called for a cease� re and dialogue among Yemen’s factions.

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab al-lies bombing Yemen fear that Shi’ite Iran seeks hegemony by backing armed Shi’ite groups in the region, a charge the Islamic Republic denies.

Former president Saleh was forced to give up power in 2012 after mass protests against his rule, but his loyalists in the military re-

mained in place and now � ght alongside the Houthis.

The campaign has raised fears that a sec-tarian proxy war between rivals Riyadh and Tehran will further destabilise the Middle East and potentially destroy the Yemeni state.

Drone strikein a sign of the military’s weakening control, suspected Al Qaeda militants killed an army colonel in the central Shabwa province yes-terday, a local o� cial said.

Separately, an al Qaeda leader was killed in an apparent US drone strike on a group of mil-itants west of the port city of Mukalla on the Arabian Sea, residents told Reuters.

It was the � rst reported drone strike against the powerful Yemeni branch of the global militant group since the US evacuated about 100 special forces troops advising Yem-eni forces last month.

While the United States and its Sunni Gulf allies are worried about the threat from Sunni radicals such as al Qaeda, they also fear the war will increase Iran’s in� uence.

Saudi Arabia is concerned its war on the Houthis could spill over the border, but Iran has denied Saudi allegations that it has pro-vided military support to the group.

The Houthis also deny getting help from Iran and say their armed campaign is de-signed to stamp out corruption and Sunni al Qaeda militants.

According to the United Nations, the con� ict, in which the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in the north in September, has killed 600 people, wounded 2,200 and displaced 100,000 others. l

Obama says partisanship over Iran deal has gone too farn AP, Panama City

President Barack Obama said Saturday that partisan wrangling over the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran and on other foreign policy matters has gone beyond the pale, singling out two senior Republican senators for particularly harsh criticism. “It needs to stop,” he declared.

Obama complained that Sen. John McCain of Arizona had suggested that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s explanations of the frame-work agreement with Iran were “somehow less trustworthy” than those of Iran’s su-preme leader.

“That’s an indication of the degree to which partisanship has crossed all boundaries,” an exercised Obama said in a news conference at the end of the two-day Summit of the Amer-icas. “And we’re seeing this again and again.”

McCain returned the criticism, arguing in a statement that the discrepancies between the US and Iranian versions of the deal extended to in-spections, sanctions relief and other key issues. l

A young Nigerian refugee draws an attack scene on April 6, during a therapy program managed by UNICEF in a refugee camp near Baga Sola. Seven civilians were killed in an attack in Chad blamed on Nigerian Boko Haram rebels, o� cials said on April 6 AFP

WORLD 11D


France’s ultra-thin ideal is passe but not a problemn AFP, Paris

France’s waif obsession means its fashion sector snubs many women with bigger body types, but there is no need for a ban on ul-tra-thin models, said the patron of a plus-size Paris catwalk show under way this weekend.

“It’s a cultural blockage,” explained Clem-entine Desseaux, a 26-year-old French model who lives in New York.

The size-44 brunette gets year-round cat-alogue and campaign modelling work in the US, where she emigrated four years ago, com-pared to rare jobs in France as American de-partment stores recognise that most women aren’t slim, she says.

“In the United States, it’s a market apart. You can make a career as a plus-size model. In France, it’s not a career, it’s a hobby; there are no clients” Desseaux said.

But, she added, “it’s not for lack of de-mand: there are a lot of round women here. Parisian women are round, too. You mustn’t think they are all small and thin!”

The data back her up. According to the French Institute for Textile and Clothing, size 40 is the most-sold size in France, and 40% of Frenchwomen wear size 44 or over.

Third Pulp Fashion WeekIn an e� ort to rebalance the scales, Desseaux is the star model at the third Pulp Fashion Week, an event held over Saturday and yesterday in Paris that features larger women on the catwalk.

Twenty-four models will be walking the podium in some 20 labels to show that fash-ion is not only for the slimmest of customers.

Such initiatives are also held in the US, Britain and Germany, with greater success.

The organiser of the Paris event, Blanche

Kazi, said the refusal by major plus-size fash-ion labels was the main stumbling block.

“They are the ones who could really shake things up with big sponsor budgets and � nan-cial partnerships,” she said.

She and the models, though, are deter-mined to instil a sense of pride in plus-size women in France, and to push French cloth-ing stores to cater to larger sizes.

“Here, the image of big-size women is horri-ble. There’s a lot of work to be done,” Desseaux said. “I want to make things change. One day I’d like to return to Paris, but I’m not ready yet.”

In France, the model said, “I don’t � t into anything. And yet, I’m not huge. In the Unit-ed States, I � t into size M or L. There are a lot more sizes – nothing stops at size 42 in the US.”

Against ban on thin modelsFor all her morphological militancy, Desseaux is against France’s mooted legislation to ban ultra-thin models who are under a certain body mass index (BMI).

The measure was voted last week by law-makers in the French parliament’s lower house, and could well become law if the up-per house backs it.

Desseaux, like other professional models, believes that the natural thinness of many top catwalk models is being wrongly mixed up with the medical condition of anorexia.

“For me, it’s just as dumb to say you’re too thin as it is too say you’re too fat – it’s the same thing,” she said. l

Experts: India, France jet deal may fuel trade partnershipn AFP

India’s multi-billion-dollar deal to buy 36 � ghter jets from France will cement strategic political ties between the two countries at a time when both are looking to kickstart their economies, experts say.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his � rst trip to France, said Friday he had or-dered the 36 “ready-to-� y” Rafale jets as part of a push to modernise his country’s ageing warplane � eet.

The announcement put to rest intense speculation over the fate of the contract, which was � rst signed in 2012 but had been bogged down by questions of cost and New Delhi’s insistence on assembling a portion of the high-tech planes in India.

It also comes as Modi is seeking to curry up interest from investors during his maid-en trip to Europe, where he is seeking to re-write India’s reputation as a tricky place to do business.

“Such major deals are never purely com-mercial, they are a part of a larger govern-ment strategy,” Mrinal Sumant, a retired army major general and procurement specialist, told AFP.

“It’s a decision based on the geopolitical and strategic interests of the two countries.”

India, which has long been the world’s largest buyer of defence equipment, is in the midst of a multi-billion-dollar upgrade of its Soviet-era military hardware in the face of antagonistic neighbours Pakistan and China.

Several Western countries have been court-ing New Delhi for big-ticket military contracts as it goes on a defence shopping spree. l

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia sees � rst Koran reading in 85 yearsn AFP, Istanbul

A Muslim cleric has for the � rst time in 85 years recited the Koran in the Hagia Sophia, the world famous landmark of Istanbul which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque, reports said Saturday.

The Hagia Sophia was turned into a muse-um accessible to all by the secular founders of modern Turkey in the 1930s and secular Turks are wary of any moves to re-Islamise the building.

A passage from the Koran, the holy scrip-ture of Islam, was recited late Friday at a cer-emony in the Hagia Sophia to mark the open-ing of a new exhibition “Love of the Prophet.”

It was read by Ali Tel, imam at the Ahmet Hamdi Akseki Mosque in Ankara, the o� cial Anatolia news agency said.

The ceremony was attended by top Turkish o� cials including the head of the country’s reli-gious a� airs agency Diyanet, Mehmet Gormez.

Anatolia said it was the � rst recitation of the holy Koran in the Hagia Sophia for 85 years.

The exhibition inside the Hagia Sophia is a show of calligraphic work in devotion to the Mus-lim Prophet Mohammed and runs until May 8.

The magni� cent edi� ce was constructed in the sixth century as a church in the Chris-tian Byzantine Empire and was the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the former name of Istanbul. l

Obama meets Venezuela’s president on sidelines of summitn AP, Panama City

President Barack Obama met privately with his Venezuelan counterpart Saturday amid a bitter dispute between the two nations over recent US sanctions on seven senior Venezuelan o� cials.

The meeting between Obama and Presi-dent Nicolas Maduro took place on the side-lines of the Summit of Americas and lasted only a few minutes, according to a White House o� cial, who wasn’t authorised to com-ment by name.

The encounter comes after the Obama ad-ministration declared the economic and political crisis in Venezuela a national security threat for the US and froze the US assets of seven o� cials accused of human rights abuses tied to anti-gov-ernment protests last year in Venezuela. l

Revoke voting rights of Muslims, says Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rautn Agencies

Radical Indian polticlal out� t Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on yesterday waded into a controversy by saying the voting rights of Muslims should be revoked for some years to ensure the community is not used for vote bank politics.

In an article in the latest issue of the Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece Saamna, Raut compared All India Majlis-e-Ittihadul-Muslimeen (AIM-IM) leaders Asaduddin and Akbaruddin Owai-si to “poisonous snakes” who “exploit” the Muslim minority.

The Rajya Sabha member endorsed a call by late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, popu-larly known as Balasaheb, to revoke the vot-ing rights of Muslims.

“If Muslims are only being used this way to play politics, then they can never develop. Muslims will have no future till they are used to play vote bank politics and thus Balasaheb had demanded that the voting rights of Mus-lims should be taken away. What he said is right,” Raut wrote.

Raut reiterated in the article: “Balasaheb had said 15 years ago that if the voting rights of Muslims are taken away for a few years, then the vote bank politics will stop.”

He added: “Vote bank politics is being played in the name of � ghting against the injustice meted out to Muslims. Their edu-cational and health status is being used po-

litically. This politics was once played by the Congress and now every other person calls himself secular.”

The “secular masks” of so-called secular political parties will be gone once the voting rights of Muslims are withdrawn, he said.

Raut claimed that earlier the Imam of Jama Masjid had assumed the right to guide Mus-lim votes but now the Owaisis had taken on this role. This, he added, should be an “alarm bell” for Muslims.

He referred to AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi as “Owaisi bhai from Hyderabad” and said: “By saving the hiding place of snakes, you cannot kill them. Owaisi and his party are like a snake which, if fed, will do no good to the nation. AIMIM is an old snake.”

He also responded to an attack on the Shiv Sena by Akbaruddin Owaisi, who had, during a rally in Mumbai earlier this week, dared Sena president Uddhav Thac-keray to come to Hyderabad, a stronghold of the AIMIM.

Raut said, “Owaisi dares us to come to Hy-derabad. But we want to ask him if Hyderabad is in India or in Lahore, Karachi or Peshawar. The pride of Marathis is known in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kandahar as well.”

Raut’s article came a day after a leader of the Hindu Mahasabha stoked a controversy by saying Muslims and Christians must undergo sterilisation to restrict their growing popula-tion, which was posing a “threat” to Hindus. l

Gunmen attack South Korea embassy in Tripoli, two guards killedn Reuters

Unidenti� ed gunmen � red shots at the South Korean embassy in the Libyan capital Tripo-li yesterday killing two local security guards, South Korean and Libyan o� cials said.

Militants claiming loyalty to Islamic State said they were behind the attack, according to a statement on social media. It was not possi-ble to verify the authenticity of the claim.

The gunmen � red from a car at the em-bassy compound, killing two security o� cers who were Libyan government employees and wounding another, Tripoli security spokes-man Essam Naas said. l

French plus-size model Clementine Desseaux poses in Paris on April 9 AFP

EDITORIAL12DT


We are concerned by reports that senior members of the Barisal district bar association attacked a peaceful demonstration by local Christians protesting the encroachment of church property to

construct a court building.There can be no excuse for legal

professionals behaving lawlessly. Some 14 people including ten women taking part in a human chain around the church and a journalist were injured when lawyers allegedly snatched their banners and attacked them.

Although police were called after the protestors took shelter inside the church, no one has been arrested and the land dispute at the heart of the matter remains unresolved.

Barisal Saint Peter’s Church was constructed in 1849 on 1.5 acres of land and has always included a large pond which is used by local people as well as the congregation.

The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association District Coordinator says the local court compound already has su� cient land to construct a new building and on the face of it, � lling in the water body used by the public is a violation of the Environment Act and public interest.

The government needs to look into this matter. If as locals claim, court authorities have instructed Barisal Public Works Department to begin � lling in church property without proper authorisation and compensation, this needs to be investigated thoroughly. It is especially important because the appearance has been given that authorities have trampled on the rights of a minority community.

Save Barisal church from encroachment

No justi� cation for trampling on minority’s rights

We hope this week’s signing of performance contracts between the government and 14 state-owned banks and � nancial institutions will improve its ability to ensure accountability and transparency in

the state-controlled � nancial sector.Bangladesh Bank has strongly criti-

cised the culture of constant churning of large loans and defaults in the state banking sector. Its investigations report provision shortfalls of Tk2,442cr during 2014 in the country’s four main state-owned banks.

Although it is welcome to see both the government and central bank take a more pro-active approach to ensuring discipline in the state sector, this is undermined by the continuing preva-lence of politically connected appointees on boards and the government’s willingness to bail out state-owned banks.

If the government had not set aside Tk5000cr ($625m) to support state banks this year, the sector would be completely bankrupt.

The litany of poor performance by state banks contrasts sharply with privately run banks in the nation, which are successfully managing to keep bad loans down at less than a � fth of the rate su� ered by state-controlled institutions.

Most indicators suggest state banks have inadequate capital and management to be able to root out bad performance in an acceptable time period. The government should think beyond merely managing the situation and look for an exit strategy to end the endemic losses su� ered by the taxpayer.

It should move towards either closing down or privatising state-con-trolled banks. Their assets and loans can be better managed by private organisations.

End the endemic losses su� ered by the taxpayer

No more blank cheques for state banks

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207Email [email protected]

Send us your Op-Ed articles:[email protected]

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Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207Email [email protected]

Send us your Op-Ed articles:[email protected]

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Democracies at war over genocideMarch 28

UrmeeKhan Blood should be a bigger hero. But he is dead and Kissinger is still alive. I know he is old but why is he still treated reverently by the world media, where is justice?

TazneenAhmadUrmeeKhan: He’s clever that’s why. But the truth has always haunted Kissinger. Don’t give up chasing him to answer for his crimes.

MImam Genocide gave India cause to help Bangladesh, but made America more determined to help Pakistan. Its a paradox.

GuntherS Human rights are inviolable. I am glad more experts are writing about Archer Blood. It is moving to learn more about ordinary people and extraordinary diplomats like Blood who stand up for humanity even when their governments collide with murderers. RIP Archer Blood.

ShireenSounds intriguing, will be buying a copy.

OsmaniaGood review of an interesting and important book. Is it nonsense that democracies are always on the same side in wars (a fashionable globalist view) or was 1971 an exception to the rule?

TushuOsmania: Both, I think! The cover-up aspect is really interesting because America was on the wrong side. Spreading ideas like democratic states don’t go to war against each other was very big in the 90s but overlooked the Bangladesh case -- deliberately/inevitably as Chomsky would say.

JWillisOsmania: Doesn’t answer your question, but “1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh” by Srinath Raghavan (Kings London) adds to the picture and came out around the same time as Bass’s book.

DTYouths rescue girl from rapists,

then rape her themselvesApril 4

Shelly JohoraWhat a shame!

Shamima YeasminAutorickshaw also involved. I am worried

about the young generation’s mentality and thinking.

Zannatul FerdousThis is insane.

Saif KamalGaining trust and then raping the vulnera-

ble ... god save the world.

WeMen for WoMenShocking! However, as the rapists were

named, it’s time to arrest them!

Hang Oyasiqur killers, demand bloggersMarch 31

Dev SahaA quick trial should be followed by quick hangings, period!

FugstarDev Saha: But doesn’t that assume that we are being told the truth here?

Dev SahaFugstar: The truth is not what you are really concerned about, are you? These thugs were caught red-handed right after the crime had been committed and that is not good enough for you?

FugstarDev Saha: It’s hard to take that report at face value.

OPINION 13D


n William B Milam

Readers will understand that I am exer-cising heroic self-restraint by limiting my remarks on the recently complet-

ed Nuclear Framework Agreement to two paragraphs. It is, to quote London’s Financial Times, a “singular” achievement, and in my view another possible in� ection point in the modern history of the Middle East.

The mood is upbeat -- the agreement was greeted rapturously by Iranian crowds, and President Rouhani of Iran voiced hopes that the agreement was but the � rst step of a rapprochement between Iran and hostile nations in the West. President Obama spoke of similar hopes and warned his domestic critics not to try to block a � nal agreement. I wonder if this accord has not become “too big to fail”?

This accord is much written about, but perhaps a similar gamble that is not so much in the news except in the country in which it seems to be occurring -- Bangladesh. It cer-tainly is important in South Asia and to the 160 million Bangladeshis. It is, in substance, more reminiscent of Blaise Pascal’s celebrat-ed 17th century philosophical wager on the

existence of God and an afterlife. Unlike Pas-cal’s unworldly wager, this wager, if it comes o� , involves life and death in the uncertain here and now.

While our attention has been on the negotiations in Lausanne, all signs point to the BNP making a risky but potentially life-saving or death-dealing wager with the people. With the strong encouragement of a group of civil society leaders. This strategy has given the AL one-party government the excuse to do what it probably intended to do anyway -- squeeze the political space of the opposition down to a sliver of what it was. Without the constraint of a real opposition, even a very small one, the AL has acted as one would have expected a Bangladeshi political party to act in the zero-sum mindset of Bangladeshi politics -- it has moved expeditiously to eliminate the opposition party.

In spite of this, the BNP appears ready to go to the polls and try to operate as a normal party. The BNP leaders must know that, if the government turns loose all of its malevolent street elements against the BNP during the election, they risk losing most, if not all, of their front-line party street workers to arbi-trary arrest, extra-judicial murder, and other

strong-arm methods. These are the work-ers who must be available at election time to turn out the vote bank, to try and stop skullduggery at the polls, and the other nit-ty-gritties of election work. In other words, they risk destroying the party. This is a huge gamble given the realities, incentives, and perversions of Bangladeshi politics.

Given the unpopularity of the govern-ment, the BNP could win the elections if it is left to campaign in a normal election en-vironment (normal in Bangladesh would be somewhat more risky than most countries), which would mean the party worker cadres at risk escaped serious damage. This would amount to a win/win outcome. Or they could lose the elections but still keep the remaining party cadres intact, a lose/win result. Lastly, they could lose the party workers and of course the elections, ie lose/lose.

The � rst two of these would still be a win for the country as it would signal a return to more normal politics, and give hope for a two-party national election sooner rather than later. The third would be a disastrous loss for the party and the country as it would leave the AL as the only de facto major party, soon to be de jure, I suspect.

Why are the BNP leaning strongly this way? First, I guess is pressure from the civil society, which is desperate for an opposition and totally unable to mount one apart from the existing parties. The so-called “third force” continues to be an impossible dream. Second, I suspect, the total bankruptcy of BNP's strategy for the past 18 months must be clear to most of its leaders. On my last visit to Dhaka, most of those that I talked to claimed they had argued for participation in the January 2014 election.

For some, this may be 20-20 hindsight, but for many, I suspect they saw the futility of using 20th century street strategy in today’s Bangladesh. Third, I hope (and this may be really wishful thinking) that India has begun to understand that stability on its Eastern border, in Bangladesh, requires that both ma-jor parties have a shot at the economic rents of governance, and has begun to exercise its signi� cant in� uence to stabilise Bangladesh politics. l

William B Milam is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC, and former US Ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh. This article was previously published in The Friday Times.

Pascal’s wager in real time

n Towheed Feroze

Sometime in the mid-90s, living in Lon-don, news about a Bangladeshi diplo-mat getting caught at a central London

Marks & Spencer outlet while trying to walk out without paying, created uproar within the large Bangladeshi British community.

As far as memory serves, the man appre-hended by the police was not a junior o� cer, but someone who had worked in government service for at least 15 years. Later, the person in question was released, and since that was

the time way before the social media revolu-tion caught on, most people in Bangladesh never knew about it.

Come to 2015 and we have another such in-cident, this time in The Hague, where a young Bangladeshi o� cer of the foreign ministry was caught red-handed trying to do some-thing nasty in an electronics shop. The feeling of dismay turns to utter despair when the said person, under interrogation by the Dutch police, admitted that he had followed in the steps of some of his colleagues who had also pilfered items from the store successfully.

The universal rule is: The one who is caught usually bears the brunt of the punish-ment, and, reportedly, the young o� cer will be dismissed. However, we have also noticed, with a degree of amazement, how certain e� orts were made to hush up the episode and save the guilty person.

Maybe this would have worked 20 years ago, but in a time when social media hawks are everywhere, with the art of concealment getting di� cult by the day, any attempt to save the man in question would have raised queries as to the morals on which the foreign service is based.

Now, going beyond the black and white de� nitions of what is right or not, the fact of the matter is, since a person has been found to be engaged in an act which severely dents the image of the country, action must be tak-en as to whether the diplomat has political backing or not.

Within the country, there are countless incidents where government o� cers face allegations of misdemeanour are saved by the system and later given promotions, plus many episodes where police o� cers � lmed to be using excessive force on helpless people have received kudos, but the norm here can-not be practiced in another nation.

Since the Dutch government has ex-pressed grave concern over the issue, we

are hearing that strong steps would be taken -- but will terminating one o� cer change the mindset? What is most disturbing is the observation of the o� cer that some his col-leagues had done something similar without getting caught. In plain language, those who were not found out for improper conduct are within the Foreign Service team that went to The Hague.

The one who was caught by the police was following what others did -- which means the act of shoplifting was discussed among them -- possibly with notes of encouragement. Sad-ly, this incident does not tarnish that speci� c service but the whole system in the country plus a society which has silently nurtured the insidious culture of simply resorting to unfair means to get what one wants.

Going to a larger canvas, I feel somewhat sorry for the young diplomat -- after all, this means a rocky time ahead for a bright, young lad. However, time heals everything and hopefully he has learned his lesson.

What the government, and more impor-tantly our families, need to address is the entrenchment of a toxic ideology which is driven fully by exploitative behaviour and a reckless grabbing culture.

Dhor maar khaa, in English this would translate into … “grab, kill, steal” seems to be interwoven delicately into modern-day life lessons. This is of course layered by a veneer of hollow rhetoric replete with ethics, patriotism, and ideals. I am not exaggerating when I say that such vile ideals are openly � aunted by many well-established political leaders. With impunity that is. What can young o� cers learn when they see in real life -- money can settle all issues with no ques-tions asked about the provenance of wealth.

With rules bent at every level, the crony culture becoming a priority, and an en-trenched social concept glibly accepting the institutionalisation of underhanded dealings

as ways of life, it’s only natural that young people will take the � rst chance at breaking the law. We need to look into our society � rst to scrutinise core moral lessons that are being imparted at the family level.

Sadly, what I notice is that when parents look for grooms for their daughters, their � rst preference is wealth, though no one ever asks how that a� uence was achieved.

If the groom’s father is an MP or a retired customs police o� cer, then the common feeling is “gold has been struck” -- with the natural assumption being that there would never be paucity of money. This is indirect acceptance of wealth that has, in many cases, come from dubious engagements.

Being practical, no society can ever be perfect since corruption always simmers at some level or the other. What can be done is to uproot basic venal impulses.

From time to time, diplomats posted abroad have been found to be transgressing certain moral or professional lines, though in many instances diplomats have also been made victims of some vendetta, but instead of getting into all that career related shenanigans, a lesson has to be taken from the current episode. Future foreign service o� cers should be extra cautious as to how they behave in a di� erent land.

Everything said and done, the prospect of a young man keeps coming back, and though I do not know the diplomat who was caught in The Hague, suspension along with punish-ment may perhaps teach him a lesson while also saving his career in the long run. Also, others in the group who were not caught need to be identi� ed and dealt with accord-ingly. Many a grave fault of political leaders are forgiven, so maybe a second chance after a period of repentance can be considered. l

Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Delinquent diplomats

BIGSTOCK

OPINION14DT


n Md Atiqul Islam

The rise of the RMG industry in Bangladesh and its ultimately becoming the second largest ready-made garment exporter in the world

within just three decades, is just short of a miracle. However, was there any magic wand through which this miracle was performed? The answer is a simple no. Our achievements did not come on a silver platter, the relentless e� orts of both entrepreneurs and workers have led our RMG industry to where it is today.

In its journey of three decades, the indus-try has faced umpteen challenges in the way of securing a strong foothold in the global ap-parel market. It is our unbeatable adaptability that has helped us conquer these hurdles.

Child labour elimination in 1994, the con-tinuity of export growth after the MFA Quota phase-out, and the global recession are a testimony of our ability to become successful in any situation. After the building collapse in 2013 that gave our RMG industry a big jolt, we have transformed the industry, turned around, and have again proved our resilience to any odds.

The twin tragic incidents were the most unfortunate happenings in the history of our industry. Yet, these two incidents were signif-icant wakeup calls for us, a call for a turn-around and for rebuilding the industry, a call for ensuring the safety of our workers and ourselves. There has been a paradigm shift in the mindset of entrepreneurs -- tremen-dous progress has been achieved in safety inspection, awareness, and other occupa-tional safety and health issues. Our industry is undergoing transformation in a way that can be iconic for any other textile and apparel industry in the world.

After the tragic building collapse in 2013, it was thought that most of the Bangladeshi garment factories were vulnerable. But after inspection by local and foreign engineers

under the initiatives of Accord, Alliance, and National Action Plan (NAP), it was found that less than 1.5% of the factories were in immi-nent danger, and those facilities were imme-diately shut down -- 32 out of 2,325 inspected factories. Both Accord and Alliance complet-ed inspection at all of their listed factories.

The government has contracted two private sector � rms (TUV - SUD and VEC) to complete inspections under NAP by April 2015. Around 20% of the safety issues in the Corrective Action Plans of Accord factories have been remediated.

Alliance has also completed follow-up visits in 60 factories to check the progress of CAPs. When all the inspections are over and the vulnerable factories are dropped out, and other factories complete their CAPs, Bangla-desh’s RMG sector can obviously be regarded as the safest industry in the world, inspected by the foreign experts and buyers under the close observations of the government. Moreover, all the inspection reports of the factories are now available at the Fair Factory Clearinghouse (FFC) and the Inspector General of Factories websites. This makes our progress transparent and credible.

Over the past two years, a number of good things have happened in Bangladesh, and globally as well, in the area of responsible supply chain. The collaborative approach of the stakeholders has been the key behind all the success we achieved -- and this is our key

lesson. The joint initiative of the government, industry associations, and labour federations facilitated by ILO called “NAP,” was further complemented by buyers’ engagement through Accord and Alliance.

Brands and retailers who compete in the corporate world every day are working hand-in-hand for the cause of decent working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry. The declaration of Sustainability Compact, its follow-up, and the unparalleled engagement of the diplomatic community, the major support from the donor agencies -- these are

all parts of our strength.The government is also playing a critical

role in strengthening the inspection mecha-nism -- the Chief Inspector of Factories and Establishments has been upgraded to the Directorate of Inspection for Factories and Establishment (DIFE). The government has also allowed duty-free import of � re safety equipment. BGMEA has also taken a num-ber of steps to augment workplace safety e� orts by forming a team of 35 � re trainers in December 2013. This team has trained 83,678 workers and sta� in 2,386 factories so far. BGMEA conducts a Crash Program on � re safety, and so far 20,188 personnel from 2,342 factories have been trained.

Knowledge, awareness, and rights issues are also important for sustaining our progress – areas where we’re also seeing signi� cant improvements. The government amended

the Labour Law within just 90 days of the building collapse, making it more favourable for the workers. This resulted in dramatic progress in new trade union registrations. Until 2012, there were only 138 trade unions in the RMG sector, and since January 2013 till now, 291 trade unions have been registered.

The minimum wages of the garment work-ers has been increased by 219% over the past � ve years, our wages are now comparable to those of our competitors. The Better Work Program launched by ILO and International Finance Corporation (IFC) has also started its operation, and already 21 factories have enrolled.

BGMEA has been arranging regular training programs on worker-management relations and labour laws for both factory manage-ment and workers to educate them. Already, around 914 workers and mid-level manage-ment sta� have been trained. We are training 100 people every month. In addition, the Bangladesh Employers Federation, BGMEA, and BKMEA, with the support of ITC-ILO, have trained 100 senior master trainers. These 100 master trainers will train 7,500 su-pervisors, and subsequently, the supervisors will train an estimated 750,000 workers.

The transformation that our apparel industry has undergone in the areas of work-place safety and workers’ welfare issues in the last two years will certainly play a crucial role in changing the future course of the industry, turning it into a sustainable sector.

We � rmly believe that the day is not far when the RMG industry, which is a path to better living for millions of people in Bangladesh, will be regarded not only as the second largest but also as the safest garment industry in the world as it would be the only industry inspected by foreign experts and buyers. l

Md Atiqul Islam is the President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

Safety is a game-changer

The transformation that our apparel industry has undergone in the areas of workplace safety and workers’ welfare will play a crucial role in changing the future course of the industry

15D

TBusiness MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015

Buoyed by QE’s solid start, ECB policymakers set to meet

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DSEX falls to 15-month low 17 1916

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ICT sector for tax holiday till 2024 20

Experts: ‘International factoring’ for payment to increase e� ciency in foreign traden Tribune Report

International factoring mechanism will help the country increase e� ciency in its foreign trade raising export volume and lowering cost of import, said experts at a seminar yesterday.

They said letter of credit, traditionally used as a system for payment in international trade, is gradually losing its acceptability.

Non-LC mechanism, particularly open account trade payment and documentary collection, also have many barriers includ-ing time consuming process of payment, the speakers said.

The seminar styled as “International Fac-toring for Foreign Trade” was jointly organ-ised by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Factor Chain International (FCI), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Bangladesh In-stitute of Bank Management (BIBM) at a city hotel.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed was present as chief guest, welcoming the interna-tional factoring mechanism as a “great initia-tive” for the country’s foreign trade payment.

“But as a number of issues are related with this, we will have to discuss further about the mechanism to bring a fruitful outcome in the country’s export-import trade payment,” he, however, said.

ICC, Bangladesh president Mahbubur Rah-man presided over the seminar.

“International factoring provides a simple solution to problems in case of such non-L/C trade payment,” he said.

Mahbubur Rahman said under the system the export factors/banks collect money from abroad by approaching importers through im-porters’ banks/factors in their own country, in their own language and in the locally accept-ed manner.

“An import factor/bank provides exporters with 100% protection against the importer’s inability to pay. Exporter’s bank also � nances 80% of the invoice value to the exporter im-mediately after shipment.” ICC,B president added.

ADB Bangladesh senior � nancial sector specialist Bidyut Kumar Saha said although the international factoring is not a popular

method in the country, it would be a new and alternative � nancing tool to increase international trade more smoothly and more safely.

FCI chairman Daniela Bonzanini said: “Asia is the largest market for international factoring mechanism. As economy in Bangladesh has been rapidly developing with growing GDP rate, so this trade payment mechanism would be a better option for all stakeholders.” l

‘Japan interested in Matarbari deep seaport project’ n Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Japan is “very much interested” to build the proposed deep seaport at Matarbari in Moheshkhali upazila of Cox’s Bazar.

After Japan’s interest, China has decided not to compete with Japan in bidding process for the work.

“China is not now interested in the project as Japan has shown the interest. The Chinese authorities do not want to take part in the bidding race against Japan,” � nance minister told reporters yesterday after a meeting with Chinese ambassador in Bangladesh Ma Ming-qiang.

Muhith said the ambassador was “happy since they got the construction work of Pad-ma bridge and are looking for investment opportunities in Bangladesh telecommunica-tion sector.”

“The winning of Karnaphuli tunnel con-struction work has also made them satis� ed,” he added.

Muhith said the government had already submitted 15-point proposals to the Chinese authorities about � nancing the projects.

He said China had been asked to reduce the proposed interest rates as they were higher compared to other development partners.

He also � nancial o� ers should be placed � rst rather than technological o� ers for the Chinese development projects.

“The ambassador (of China) said he would discuss the matter with the Chinese govern-ment high-ups,” Muhith said.

In February, chief executive o� cer of Deep Seaport Cell Captain Shariful Ahsan along with then secretary of Prime Minister’s O� ce visited Matarbari to get an idea whether the area can be selected for the proposed project.

During the visit, they also checked the land records of the site.

In January, the PMO decided to examine the possibility of selecting Matarbari as an al-ternative site for the much-talked-about deep seaport project. Earlier, Sonadia in the same district was selected as the site for the port. l

Muhith rejects World Bank’s growth projection in FY15 n Tribune report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has rejected the World Bank’s projected growth rate of 5.6% in current � scal year of the country.

He said the growth rate would near 7% de-spite political turmoil.

The � nance minister made the remark yesterday while replying to a question from a reporter after meeting with the US Ambas-sador, Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, at his secretariat.

The minister also said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) always looks upon the country’s growth rate in a conservative way.

The growth rate projected by the Asian Development Bank is a little bit similar to the country’s current � scal projection, he added.

“I do not care about the multilateral agen-cies’ growth projection, but I think our growth estimate would be right.”

Earlier in the day, the World Bank report on Bangladesh’s development update revealed 5.6% growth rate from projected 7.3% in current � scal year due to prolonged political unrest.

The global lender revealed the � ndings yesterday at a programme that launched the

Bangladesh Development Update Report 2015 at its Dhaka o� ce.

Unveiling the report, WB’s Chief Econo-mist Dr Zahid Hossain said: “The country in-curred a huge � nancial loss of around US$2.2 billion (approximately Tk17,150 crore) in the last three months due to political turmoil.”

The � nancial loss in January, February and March this year is more than that in the � rst three months in 2013, he said.

Citing the three months as dry season, Za-hid said: “Since it was the dry season, the loss incurred was huge as the three months were the peak time for production.” l

BUSINESS16DT


Buoyed by QE’s solid start, ECB policymakers set to meet n AFP, Berin

The European Central Bank’s decision makers meet Wednesday buoyed by the successful debut of a mass bond-buying spree designed to kickstart growth and will likely quash talk of it wrapping up early.

Analysts say ECB chief Mario Draghi is ex-pected to give short shrift to any suggestion of a premature end to the quantitative eas-ing (QE) programme, the long-awaited and controversial gambit launched by the central bank last month.

Amid ongoing uncertainty about cash-strapped Greece, the � rst volley of the ECB’s 1.1tn euro ($1.2tn) scheme o� ered some good news, getting o� to a solid start by meeting its target.

That has fed speculation that the anti-de-� ationary policy of buying around 60 billion euros of public and private bonds each month could be stopped before its planned Septem-ber 2016 end date.

But RBS economist Richard Barwell said he doubted Draghi would follow such a course as con� dence in the ECB’s future actions was so crucial to the current markets.

“We should therefore expect the driver’s determination to complete the journey to be a central theme in the ECB’s communication strategy,” he said, ahead of the regular pol-icy-setting governing council’s meeting in Frankfurt this week.

Launched on March 9, the strategy behind the ECB’s QE programme is akin to those of the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England to pump money into the eurozone

with massive purchases of debt to bring down borrowing costs and in turn foster easier credit.

“A success,” remarked Berenberg bank economist Christian Schulz after nearly 61 bil-lion euros in government and corporate debt was purchased in the � rst round, despite fears of a possible shortage of assets to buy.

“The operational implementation has been smooth and the policy e� ectiveness probably exceeded the ECB’s own expectations,” he said.

‘Still sorely needed’ Jennifer McKeown, analyst at Capital Eco-nomics, said she believed that a “premature tapering”, or phase-out of the bond-buying programme, was not the way to go.

“We still think that the policy is sorely needed,” she said, voicing expectations that Draghi would stress this week that most of the ECB’s governing council members still want-ed to apply it in full.

A measure of its success has been a de-cline in government borrowing rates, with the biggest drop for France and Germany whose costs were already relatively low, while Bel-gium, Portugal and Ireland in particular have also bene� ted.

The fall in the euro’s value against the dol-lar, also a consequence of QE, sits well with the ECB’s goals.

A weak euro favours exports by eurozone companies, thus encouraging growth, and makes the cost of buying goods abroad more expensive, driving up in� ation.

Since the start of the year, the single cur-

rency has lost 11 percent of its value. Some have begun to fear however that the

euro’s weakness could propel in� ation higher than 2.0 percent, or slightly beyond the ECB’s target.

More, not less QE? “When does the exit begin?” asked Germany’s Handelsblatt business daily on Thursday.

ECB executive board member Yves Mersch addressed the issue of a possible “overdos-ing” on QE this week.

He insisted that if in� ation expectations grew above the ECB’s current forecast of 1.8 percent in 2017, “it would, of course, be ap-propriate to consider whether we need to ad-just our plan”.

The latest data, however, shows that risk is still far o� .

Prices in the 19-nation single currency bloc were down 0.1% in March, less than the drop in January and February but still a long way from the ECB’s target of just under 2% annual in� ation.

For Jonathan Loynes, of Capital Econom-ics, the eurozone will probably need more QE rather than less to reboot the economy. “In short, the ECB still has a lot more work to do,” he said.

And Berenberg’s Schulz said it was up to eurozone governments “to underpin the upswing with further structural reforms”, a message Draghi is likely to reiterate at Wednesday’s meeting.

The meeting is being held a day earlier than normal to enable central bankers to attend an IMF gathering in Washington starting Friday. l

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi arrives at a meeting of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary A� airs Committee in Brussels REUTERS

Twitter, YouTube, Instagram work on stealth advertising n Reuters, Paris

The quandary for those who run social net-works is how to monetise activity on them without antagonising and thus losing users through distracting ads?

The answer, for Twitter, YouTube and Ins-tagram, is to slip in some stealthy ads camou-� aged to look like posts from listed contacts.

Each of the networks has in-house teams whose job is to think up ways to advise brands on how to sneak their marketing into mem-bers’ feeds.

At YouTube, owned by Google, the e� ort is called “Zoo”. Instagram uses the “Creative Shop” of its parent company Facebook. Twit-ter’s name for it is the relatively straight-for-ward “Brand Strategy”.

The strategies adapt to the speci� c require-ments, formats and behaviour on each of the social networks.

Hiding in plain sight In the case of Instagram, the four-year-old site which boasts 300 million users world-wide who share � ltered photos and videos, the advertising push has now extended to France.

The network long resisted introducing sponsored messages, aware that many of its fans were creative types - artists, photogra-phers, architects - against having screens of pure images corrupted by tawdry commercial intrusions.

But after Facebook bought it for $715m in 2012, Instagram started putting in ads. They started in 2013 in the United States, then Aus-tralia and Canada in late 2014 and, from mid-March this year, in France.

They hide in plain sight: presented in the same square format, with the same “vintage” � lter as user-generated pictures. Only the mention “sponsored” reveals that it’s there to sell, not share.

“The brand has to express itself as if it’s a person and respect the community,” ex-plained Cedric Atlan, of Facebook’s Creative Shop.

“You have come upon the brand the same way you would a friend or someone from your family. The advertising needs to be integrated and not disturb the user.”

Teams scattered around the worldThe specialist teams are experienced, well versed in advertising and marketing, often having been snapped up from ad agencies. Each count around 100 employees, scattered around the planet. The job requirement is to have a deep and nuanced knowledge of local markets and to stay abreast of the latest trends.

“There are no borders. It’s a global team that communicates from everywhere in the world, 24/7. If you want to know what’s hap-pening with mobiles in Asia in such and such an area, we can get an answer in an hour,” said Mailine Swildens, director of YouTube’s Zoo for southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In 2014, Zoo lent its talents to the Italian fashion company Fendi and the result was the � rst fashion show � lmed with drones and broadcast live on YouTube.

“There are innovative areas where you can mix geolocalisation, mobiles, technology,” Swildens said. l

BUSINESS 17D


Flipkart ties up with Mumbai ‘dabbawalas’ to navigate city streets n Reuters, Mumbai

India’s biggest e-commerce company, Flip-kart, has tied up with Mumbai’s lunchbox delivery men, famous for navigating cramped and confusing streets, as it tries to smooth the often di� cult last stretch of its delivery to customers.

Dabbawalas have for decades collected hot lunches from customers’ often distant homes and, using a complex delivery system and overladen bicycles, carried them to o� ces and schools across the city.

“Their unique delivery system has been smooth, reliable and has survived the test of time - even under extreme conditions,” Neer-aj Aggarwal, senior director for last mile deliv-ery at Flipkart said in a statement on Thurs-day evening.

Under the deal - part of a plan by the e-commerce � rm to explore new delivery channels - dabbawallas will make deliveries assigned from a Flipkart hub while collecting hot meals from customers’ homes.

Privately held Flipkart leads India’s e-com-merce industry, selling everything from cellphones to suitcases and competing with Amazon’s India unit and other home grown rival Snapdeal for a chunk of the fast growing industry.

Online retailing is growing at a break-neck pace in India, which has the world’s third-largest population of Internet users even with only a � fth of its population online.

Mumbai’s dabbawalas - often semi-liter-ate deliverymen from rural Maharashtra, the state where Mumbai is located - deliver about 200,000 “ti� n,” or lunch, boxes every day,

according to their website. Their coding system has been recognized

with the Six Sigma level of accuracy, mean-ing they make only one mistake in 6 million

chances, attracting them admirers from Brit-ain’s Prince Charles to entrepreneur Richard Branson.

Flipkart said the dabbawalas had un-

dergone training at the company’s delivery centers and would start with a paper-based tracking system, moving on to apps and wear-able technology. l

Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Atlantic, sits amid Mumbai’s lunch couriers, known as ’dabbawalas,’ at a railway station in Mumbai REUTERS

Samsung, Apple clash with rollout of new products n AFP, New York

Apple gave consumers their � rst hands-on look at its smartwatch Friday pushing into wearable tech just as rival Samsung rolled out its new � agship smartphones.

With the world’s two biggest gadget makers vying for consumer attention, Apple scored points by apparently selling out of the Apple Watch as quickly as it opened pre-orders.

Customers ordering the watch, due to go on sale April 24, saw messages saying deliveries now were being pushed back into June or later.

“I really debated if I should buy the thing,” said Eric Angelosanto, one of the customers looking to try the smartwatch at a New York Apple store, who indicated that he had al-ready placed an order online.

“It’s tremendously overpriced, but a treat.” The Apple Watch starts at $349, with a lim-

ited-edition gold version priced at $12,000. Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice pres-

ident of retail and online stores, said she ex-pects “that strong customer demand will ex-ceed our supply at launch.”

Some analysts were not so sure about pros-pects for the new wearable device.

“The watch’s success is anything but guar-anteed,” said Roger Kay, analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

“Most people I’ve talked with are not ready

to buy one. It seems expensive, redundant and perhaps invasive.”

In Paris, at the company’s � agship store by the Place de l’Opera journalists outnumbered customers, with Apple encouraging custom-ers to place orders online and with stores of-fering only demonstrations. Would-be early buyers queued for a “trial � tting” at the Apple store in Tokyo’s chic Omotesando area.

“I’m very keen to buy it,” said Kazuki Mi-ura, a 43-year-old technology writer, as he slipped the device onto his wrist.

Apple’s device, which connects to the iPhone to facilitate messaging, calls and apps geared toward health and � tness, is a latecomer to the smartwatch market, and follows launches from Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, LG and others in-cluding the crowd-funded Pebble watch.

And not only tech companies: last month luxury Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer an-nounced it was joining forces with Google and Intel to develop a rival to the Apple Watch.

But because of Apple’s devoted customer base, analysts expect the new watch to quick-ly take the lead and sell millions.

Samsung’s Galaxy S6 debutsMeanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and its curved-edge variant, the Galaxy S6 Edge, went on sale in South Korea, home of the electronics giant, as well as Europe, the Unit-

ed States and markets in the Asia-Paci� c such as Australia, Singapore and India.

Samsung, laboring under successive quar-ters of plunging pro� ts and booming sales of Apple’s iPhone 6, is hoping the new phone will reverse its fortunes.

“Given the response from the market and clients... we expect the S6 to set a sales record for all Galaxy models,” Lee Sang-Chul, the vice head of Samsung’s mobile unit, told reporters.

Joo Seung-Bin was one of the � rst in line to buy an S6 in Seoul on Friday morning.

“It’s a great design, and it’s just got a great feel,” the 23-year-old said.

“It’s not cheap, but then I’m not one of those people who upgrades their phone every year. There’s been a lot of buzz about this model, so I thought I’d check it out,” Joo said.

The S6 retails at around 858,000 won ($800) in South Korea, while the S6 Edge comes in at 979,000 won, broadly in line with their Apple counterparts.

Both models are powered by Google’s An-droid operating platform and, in a break from their-plastic-backed predecessors, feature metal and glass bodies.

“Demand for the new Galaxy model is con-siderable,” said a spokeswoman in Germany for Media Saturn, the largest electronics re-tailer in Europe, although she said stocks had not been sold out. l

Pakistan approves $1.02bn HBL divestment n AFP, Karachi

Pakistan on Saturday approved divesting all of its state-owned shares in top private bank HBL for $1.02bn, in what o� cials said is the country’s largest-ever equity o� ering.

The government received $1.6bn of of-fers for its 41.5% in HBL during three days of book-building at London, New York, Singapore and Dubai, the privatisation commission said.

“The (cabinet) committee has approved the selling of whole lot of its shares at 168 ru-pees a share,” Minister for Privatisation Mo-hammad Zubair told AFP after the meeting.

“It was the largest-ever equity o� ering out of Pakistan and largest-ever equity o� ering in Asian frontier markets, which fetched de-mand of $1.6bn.”

The Privatisation Commission of Pakistan said in a statement $1.02bn of bids were ac-cepted of the total $1.6bn of o� ers.

HBL, formerly known as Habib Bank Limit-ed, was part-privatised in 2004, with the Agha Khan Foundation buying the bulk of the shares.

The current o� ering is Pakistan’s largest pri-vatisation deal since 2006, when the then gov-ernment raised $712m from selling its stake in Oil and Gas Development (OGDCL). l

BUSINESS18DT


SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 143.58 4.96 9.73 3.58 153.31 4.84NBFI 73.50 2.54 5.97 2.20 79.47 2.51Investment 8.50 0.29 0.75 0.28 9.25 0.29Engineering 353.53 12.20 40.14 14.77 393.66 12.42Food & Allied 146.20 5.05 8.27 3.04 154.47 4.88Fuel & Power 781.77 26.99 89.08 32.78 870.85 27.48Jute 1.63 0.06 0.00 1.63 0.05Textile 378.44 13.06 36.24 13.34 414.68 13.09Pharma & Chemical 457.24 15.78 23.61 8.69 480.85 15.18Paper & Packaging 11.24 0.39 1.26 0.46 12.50 0.39Service 73.11 2.52 2.86 1.05 75.97 2.40Leather 9.63 0.33 1.52 0.56 11.14 0.35Ceramic 5.62 0.19 0.59 0.22 6.21 0.20Cement 71.04 2.45 5.76 2.12 76.80 2.42Information Technology 50.33 1.74 3.64 1.34 53.97 1.70General Insurance 10.55 0.36 0.46 0.17 11.01 0.35Life Insurance 35.37 1.22 1.55 0.57 36.92 1.17Telecom 93.94 3.24 16.29 5.99 110.23 3.48Travel & Leisure 112.83 3.90 11.16 4.11 123.99 3.91Miscellaneous 76.65 2.65 12.82 4.72 89.46 2.82Debenture 2.03 0.07 0.06 0.02 2.08 0.07

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to [email protected] or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

News, analysis and recent disclosuresIFIC: 15% Stock dividend, AGM: 17.06.2015, Record Date: 20.05.2015. EPS of Tk. 4.71, NAV per share of Tk. 27.18.MERCINS: 10% cash dividend, AGM: 09.06.2015, Record Date: 22.04.2015. EPS of Tk. 1.51, NAV per share of Tk. 16.15.NORTHRNINS: 10% stock divi-dend, AGM: 13.06.2015, Record Date: 22.04.2015. EPS of Tk. 2.02, NAV per share of Tk. 20.70.CITYGENINS: 10% stock divi-dend, AGM: 15.06.2015, Record Date: 22.04.2015. EPS of Tk. 1.59, NAV per share of Tk. 16.10.SHASHADNIM: 20% cash and 15% stock dividend, AGM: 21.05.2015, Record date: 23.04.2015. EPS of Tk. 3.64, NAV per share of Tk. 59.32.POPULARLIF: 40% Stock dividend, AGM: 11.06.2015, Record Date: 23.04.2015. EPS of Tk. 4.05, NAV per share of Tk. 659.10.BGIC: 12% cash dividend, AGM: 11.06.2015, Record date: 23.04.2015. EPS of Tk. 1.31, NAV per share of Tk. 19.63.RSRMSTEEL: Emerging Credit Rating Limited (ECRL) has assigned the Company as A+ in the long term and ECRL-2 in the short term along with a stable outlook to the Company based on audited � nancial statements up to June 30, 2014.IDLC: The Company has informed that the shareholders of the Company in its 30th AGM dated March 30, 2015, has decided to issue Bonds (Zero Coupon/ Fixed/ Floating Rate Coupon) to the extent of Tk. 500 Crore, in di� erent phases, for the tenure ranging from

3 to 7 years, through private placement, to meet its ongoing � nancing requirements subject to the approval of the regulato-ry authorities.LANKABAFIN: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on December 31, 2014 to the respective shareholders BO Accounts. Cash dividend and sale proceed of fractional stock divi-dend will be distributed shortly.IPO Subscription: Olympic Ac-cessories Limited Subscription 19.04.2015 TO 23.04.2015, NRB UPTO 02.05.2015. O� er Price per share Tk. 10.00, Market Lot (Shares) 500.Dividend/AGMDHAKABANK: 14% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 13.05.2015, Record date: 21.04.2015. NITOLINS: 15% stock, AGM: 09.06.2015, Record Date: 26.04.2015.SQUARETEXT: 20% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 16.06.2015, Record Date: 20.05.2015.ILFSL: 5% cash, AGM: 07.05.2015, Record Date: 20.04.2015.BDLAMPS: 20% cash, AGM: 05.05.2015, Record Date: 16.04.2015.STANDBANKL: 15% stock, AGM: 14.05.2015, Record Date: 16.04.2015.ARGONDENIM: 20% stock, AGM: 30.04.2015, Record date: 15.04.2015.NHFIL: 15% cash, AGM: 12.05.2015, Record Date: 15.04.2015.JAMUNABANK: 19% stock, AGM: 04.05.2015, Record date: 15.04.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Keya Cosmetics -A 10.00 9.07 17.55 17.60 17.60 17.00 0.380 2.02 8.7National Feed-N 10.00 5.51 21.46 22.00 22.00 20.30 3.240 1.37 15.7United Power-N 9.94 3.38 154.84 159.30 159.30 144.00 57.211 7.11 21.8BD. Thai Alum -B 9.79 9.64 35.81 35.90 35.90 34.00 1.379 1.09 32.9Fu-Wang Food A 9.28 5.85 20.80 21.20 21.30 19.70 1.400 1.82 11.4Khan Brothers-N 8.90 4.63 20.34 20.80 21.00 18.80 2.116 1.18 17.2Bangladesh Welding -Z 8.67 9.52 16.34 16.30 16.50 16.00 0.213 0.44 37.1Imam Button -Z 8.05 7.89 9.43 9.40 9.50 9.00 0.063 -1.48 -veKhulna Printing-N 6.21 3.74 16.93 17.10 17.30 16.00 1.261 1.96 8.6Shurwid Ind. -N 6.04 4.16 19.28 19.30 19.80 18.00 1.399 0.72 26.8

DSE GAINER


Aver-age (%

Change)


in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

United Power-N 9.98 3.06 154.57 159.80 159.80 144.00 377.594 7.11 21.7National Feed-N 9.90 5.18 21.51 22.20 22.20 20.30 17.089 1.37 15.7Progressive Life-A 9.86 9.94 79.10 79.10 79.10 79.10 0.004 2.30 34.4BD. Thai Alum -B 9.47 10.43 36.41 37.00 37.10 34.00 32.334 1.09 33.4Keya Cosmetics -A 9.43 8.23 17.36 17.40 17.40 17.10 3.021 2.02 8.6Imam Button -Z 8.33 8.46 9.10 9.10 9.10 9.10 0.018 -1.48 -veKhan Brothers-N 8.29 4.38 20.48 20.90 21.00 18.90 13.886 1.18 17.4Fu-Wang Food A 8.16 3.10 20.62 21.20 21.30 19.80 40.059 1.82 11.3Shurwid Ind. -N 6.04 2.22 18.91 19.30 19.70 17.70 7.335 0.72 26.3Standard Ceramic -A 5.62 5.72 35.70 35.70 35.70 35.70 0.004 0.52 68.7

CSE LOSER


Aver-age (%

Change)


in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Shahjalal Islami -A -10.00 -9.75 9.90 9.90 9.90 9.90 0.552 1.02 9.7ICB Sonali Bank 1 MF-A -10.00 -9.67 5.42 5.40 5.70 5.40 0.029 0.98 5.5Islamic Finance-A -9.92 -9.94 11.78 11.80 12.00 11.60 0.040 1.60 7.4Prime Insur -A -9.77 -9.77 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 0.000 2.41 5.0Aziz PipesZ -9.19 -8.00 17.02 16.80 17.20 16.80 0.007 -0.37 -veAsia Insur. Ltd.-A -6.85 -6.52 13.63 13.60 14.00 13.40 0.037 2.17 6.3Power Grid Co. -A -6.81 -6.96 30.10 30.10 30.10 30.10 0.017 -1.66 -veApex Tannery -A -6.31 -4.80 111.52 109.80 115.00 109.30 1.349 3.38 33.0Islami Ins.BD-A -6.17 -6.17 15.20 15.20 15.20 15.20 0.006 1.48 10.3Pragati Gen. I -A -6.06 -6.06 31.00 31.00 31.00 31.00 0.002 2.47 12.6

DSE LOSER


Aver-age (%

Change)


in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Northern G Insur-A -10.33 -8.70 16.68 16.50 17.20 16.00 0.324 2.02 8.3Shahjalal Islami -A -10.00 -9.67 9.90 9.90 10.00 9.90 6.542 1.02 9.7Modern Dyeing -Z -8.10 33.12 70.06 70.30 77.50 70.00 0.022 -0.50 -veMercantile Bank -A -7.69 -6.28 10.90 10.80 11.60 10.60 11.385 1.71 6.4Islamic Finance-A -6.98 -10.52 11.82 12.00 12.00 11.50 2.480 1.60 7.4Pragati Gen. I -A -6.65 -6.70 29.39 29.50 29.60 29.50 0.043 2.47 11.9Popular Life Insu. -A -6.33 -4.26 155.47 151.00 169.00 148.10 15.463 4.05 38.4Peoples Insur -A -6.21 -4.74 16.90 16.60 17.30 16.60 0.266 2.25 7.5AB Bank 1st Mutual Fund-A -5.56 -5.00 5.13 5.10 5.30 4.90 0.034 0.68 7.5Quasem Drycells -A -5.48 -3.41 50.66 50.00 52.00 49.40 5.082 2.16 23.5

DSE key features April 12, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

2,895.69

Turnover (Volume)

63,047,525

Number of Contract

84,841

Traded Issues 300

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

70

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

226

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,460.14

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.82

CSE key features April 12, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

271.74

Turnover (Volume)

6,564,845

Number of Contract

13,651

Traded Issues 226

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

67

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

157

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

2

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,380.18

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.85

BUSINESS 19D


DSEX falls to 15-month low n Tribune Report

Stocks fell yesterday, a day after execution of a war criminal Jammat leader, as investors were cautious to notice the impact of the ex-ecution.

The market opened pos-itive as usual but started to dip till close of the session, as investors dumped their holdings to save their in-vestments, dealers said.

The benchmark index DSEX lost over 40 points to 4,305 – its lowest since Jan-uary 6 last year.

The Shariah Index DSES was marginally down near-ly 9 points or 0.9% to 1,056. The comprising blue chips DS30 declined 12 points or 0.8% to 1,659.

Chittagong Stock Ex-change (CSE) Selective Cat-egories Index, CSCX, settled at 8,018, shedding 72 points.

All the sectors su� ered except power which gained by almost 1%. The � nancial sectors experienced major correction with non-banking � nancial institutions tum-bling 1.9%, followed by banks nearly 1%, pharmaceuticals 1.3% and food & allied 0.9%.

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange came below Tk300 crore-mark after a week, as most worried inves-tors remained inactive. Turn-over stood at Tk290 crore, which is 21.2% lower form the previous session’s value.

United Power Generation and Distribution Compa-ny Limited continued to be the most traded share for the � fth consecutive ses-sion with a turnover worth Tk37.8 crore.

Lanka Bangla Securities said after execution of a war crime verdict, the investors were a bit cautious to trade.

The Jamaat-e-Islami senior assistant secretary general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman was hanged for his 1971 war-time atrocities at 10:30 pm yesterday.

The benchmark DSEX index fell below the 4,300 level, but got support at that level and closed just above the mark at 4,305, Lanka Bangla said.

IDLC Investments said the World Bank has estimat-ed that a quarter-long politi-cal turmoil incurred a loss of 1% of GDP to the economy. In response, capital markets were naturally over adjust-ed, eroding equity capitali-sation of DSE by Tk259 core during the same period. l

The World Bank has estimated that a quarter-long political turmoil incurred a loss of 1% of GDP to the economy. In response, capital markets were naturally over adjusted, eroding equity capitalisation of DSE by Tk259 core during the same period

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 4305.26646 (-) 0.93% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1659.17667 (-) 0.72% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 13198.31190 (-) 0.83% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 10962.77360 (-) 0.98% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8013.44660 (-) 0.96% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

United Power-N 369,483 57.21 21.05 159.30 9.94 144.90 159.30 144.00 154.84Ifad Autos -N 258,098 19.02 7.00 74.80 5.80 70.70 76.50 70.60 73.69MJL BD Ltd.-A 119,451 15.40 5.67 129.60 1.73 127.40 130.90 126.50 128.90Moza� ar H.Spinning-A 402,328 13.49 4.96 35.60 2.30 34.80 35.70 33.50 33.53Grameenphone-A 23,886 8.28 3.05 346.60 -0.72 349.10 350.90 345.50 346.82BD Submarine Cable-A 69,927 8.01 2.95 113.70 -2.57 116.70 118.00 112.50 114.48Beximco Pharma -A 150,411 7.50 2.76 49.70 -4.61 52.10 51.60 49.00 49.87BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 222,818 6.66 2.45 29.80 -1.97 30.40 30.40 29.50 29.90Unique Hotel RL - A 127,867 6.46 2.38 50.50 -4.72 53.00 51.90 49.50 50.53Shasha Denims -N 150,851 6.16 2.27 40.00 -2.20 40.90 42.70 39.60 40.83Square Pharma -A 18,494 4.89 1.80 263.90 -0.30 264.70 266.50 263.50 264.55BD Building Systems -A 123,750 4.85 1.78 39.20 -2.49 40.20 40.30 39.00 39.19CVO PetroChem RL-A 11,789 4.49 1.65 373.70 -2.94 385.00 395.00 370.00 381.20Bangas -A 11,710 4.42 1.63 380.60 3.37 368.20 385.00 370.00 377.58WesternMarine -N 100,278 4.11 1.51 41.00 -0.73 41.30 41.60 40.60 40.96

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW Avg-Price

United Power-N 2,442,835 377.59 13.04 159.80 9.98 145.30 159.80 144.00 154.57MJL BD Ltd.-A 1,463,253 188.41 6.50 129.70 1.65 127.60 130.90 126.40 128.76Ifad Autos -N 2,139,418 155.77 5.38 74.20 5.10 70.60 74.90 70.90 72.81ACI Limited- A 244,159 135.17 4.67 553.40 -1.16 559.90 563.80 546.00 553.63Shasha Denims -N 3,099,592 126.70 4.37 40.20 -3.13 41.50 43.00 39.90 40.88Unique Hotel RL - A 2,054,357 103.95 3.59 50.40 -5.44 53.30 53.30 49.50 50.60Moza� ar H.Spinning-A 2,841,166 97.77 3.38 35.70 2.29 34.90 35.80 33.80 34.41Grameenphone-A 216,000 75.35 2.60 348.20 -0.40 349.60 351.70 347.20 348.85Square Pharma -A 254,431 67.30 2.32 263.80 -0.72 265.70 267.00 263.20 264.52Bangas -A 166,238 62.68 2.16 381.00 3.98 366.40 385.00 367.00 377.07Beximco Pharma -A 1,011,233 50.82 1.75 50.00 -4.03 52.10 52.40 49.00 50.25LafargeS Cement-Z 444,252 50.51 1.74 113.30 -0.26 113.60 115.50 112.90 113.70Shahjibazar Power-N 322,484 49.77 1.72 153.10 -3.77 159.10 160.00 151.10 154.32Pharma Aids A 146,535 44.14 1.52 298.50 -2.86 307.30 310.80 296.90 301.20SAIF Powertec-N 620,952 40.63 1.40 65.10 -1.36 66.00 66.90 64.50 65.43

After execution of a war crime verdict, the investors were a bit cautious to trade

BUSINESS20DT


ICT sector for tax holiday till 2024 n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Information and Communication Technology sector demanded tax holiday facility be ex-tended till 2024 so it could boom its growth like the country’s largest ready-made gar-ment industry.

Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) and Bangladesh Association of Software and In-formation Services (BASIS) submitted their budget proposals to Finance Minister for the upcoming 2015-16 � scal year yesterday.

State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and ICT Secretary Shyam Sundar Shikder

were also present during the submission of the budget proposals at the � nance minister’s Secretariat o� ce.

BSS and BASIS demands also include with-drawal of value added tax from all kinds of e-commerce products for three-� ve years, withdrawal of 4.5% Vat from the ICT servic-es and automation of Vat payment system for the large tax paying industries.

They also favoured imposing high tax on imported customised operating system and da-tabase software to protect the local developers.

But the organisations refrained from de-manding withdrawal of Vat from internet uses

though it has remained a major burden for the end-users.

“We asked � nance minister for giving us (budget) facilities for next 10 years. We can change the whole country through the de-velopment of ICT sector,” BSS president Abu Hanif Md Mahfuzul Arif told Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.

“Finance minister listened to us and prom-ised that he would do something as the gov-ernment plans to build digital Bangladesh. He told us that he also wants to give a big surprise to the ICT industry and the whole nation in his June budget speech,” Abu Hanif said. l

BUILD calls for business policy reforms n Tribune Report

The seventh Private Sector Development Pol-icy Coordination Committee (PSDPCC) yester-day said emphasis should be given to reform-ing tea sector, seed, cold storage and Solar Pico PV market expansion.

The committee made the emphasis at a meeting with Md Abul Kalam Azad, principal secretary at Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO).

The Business Initiative Leading Develop-ment (BUILD) placed four reform policy pa-pers including reforms of � nancial policy of tea industry for attaining competitiveness, inclusion of seed as a trust sector in the com-ing Industrial Policy, expansion of Solar Pico PV market and production of solar energy and reshaping the policy of cold storage.

The BUILD recommended reduction of tax rates for Pico PV solar lantern and extension ERQ for pharmaceuticals.

BUILD Chairman Asif Ibrahim requested Abul Kalam Azad to set a speci� c time line for implementing each proposal placed by them.

He sought support from PMO for organis-ing a Regional Policy Conference in the mid of June of this year. Asif also called for simpli� -cation of all the policy issues.

Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayat Ul-lah Al Mamuoon and Planning Secretary Md Sha� qul Azam were present at the meeting. l

China premier says economy faces growing downward pressure n Reuters, Beijing

China’s economy faces increased downward pressure as the country prepares to announce � rst-quarter economic growth.

The government must “stand up to the downward pressure,” Premier Li Keqiang said late on Friday, to avoid an impact on employ-ment and incomes, according to a statement on the government’s website.

“At this time, the national economy is run-ning smoothly, but downward pressure con-tinues to grow,” Li said.

Li also called for speeding up reforms in the northeast, a centre of mining and heavy industry that has been lagging in growth.

The central government will funnel more support to the region for infrastructure, agri-culture and equipment export, he said.

Known as China’s rust belt, the northeast was plagued by widespread layo� s in the 1990s, when the government forced state factories to shut en masse to cull ine� cient industry.

Li called for the timely launch of major infrastructure projects in the region in are-as such as transport and water conservation with the support of � nancial institutions. l

British American Tobacco holds 42nd Annual General Meetingn Tribune Report

The 42nd Annual General Meeting of Brit-ish American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited was held at the Pan Paci� c Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.BATB chairman Golam Mainuddin presided over the meeting, said a press release.A large number of shareholders attended the meeting and unanimously passed the Ac-

counts for the year ended 31 December 2014, Directors’ Report and the Auditor’s Report. The shareholders also approved the proposed dividend of Tk 55 (including Tk10 per share as interim cash dividend) per share. In 2014, the company contributed Tk9,932 crore as value added tax, supplementary duty and other taxes to the national exchequer. This contri-bution makes BATB as the highest taxpayer � rm in the country. l

Directors attend 42nd annual general meeting of British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Limited in the city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

A farmer looks at his mobile phone in rural Bangladesh. The country’s ICT sector wants budget facilities to grow like as RMG industry DHAKA TRIBUNE

DSE website takes a new look n Tribune Report

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has launched updated version of its website to make it more user-friendly and informative.

The new website was also launched in line with its ongoing automation project expected to be completed by July next.

DSE Chairman Siddiqur Rahman Miah opened the website at the DSE o� ce yesterday.

DSE Managing Director Swapan Kumar Bala said the new website is rich in informa-tion, which might be helpful for investors.

“Any investors can easily know current share value and history of prices of any scrips just by a click. This was absent before.”

The DSE hopes that the website will be more informative if its automation project is completed by July next. Mobile apps and on-line payment gate-way service will be intro-duced soon, it said. l

Earthquake warning on your smartphone? There could be an app for that n Reuters, London

Countries looking for cheap earthquake warn-ing systems might want to try apps and smart-phones after scientists discovered smartphones could be used as an a� ordable alternative to so-phisticated earthquake monitoring networks.

The Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in smartphones could detect earthquakes and trigger warnings seconds before the strong-est waves from the quake begin, researchers wrote in Friday’s American-based journal Sci-ence Advances. l

21D

TMONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015T

-JUN

CT

ION

Bag of tricksPhoto: Sumi Mahmud

22school survival

Getting into the writing zone

23wellbeing

Best foot forward

24health

Posture perfect!

Pits of darknessDiscover easy natural cures for dark underarms and pigmentation

Hygiene decodedThe ultimate washing guide for towels, bedsheets, hair and undergarments

INSIDE

MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015T-JUNCTION Schoologistics22D

T

Do you feel ‘beautiful’ or ‘average’? About 96% of the women around the world would choose “average” to answer this question. When women look and feel their best, it enhances their con� dence and happiness. However, majority of the women would not use the word beautiful to describe how they look. Our tendency to not “choose beautiful” is challenged by the

new Dove “Choose Beautiful” short � lm that invites women to believe that feeling beautiful is a personal choice they can make every day.

To watch the video please visit: http://bit.ly/1a1thTy l

news

school survival

The write timeCarving out time to get your writing done

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Whether you have college application essays coming up, or practicing for your O levels, or even just daydreaming of becoming a famous novelist, between coaching classes and school, and of course, a happening social life, it’s hard to get into the zone and write. Here are three ways to make time for your writing.

PlanningIt’s much easier to bang out a piece once you know the bare bones of what you’re going to write. So way before you actually sit down to write your thing, create an outline for what you’re going to write. This could be in the form of bullet points saved on your

phone, or index cards, if you’re an organisation freak like yours truly, or even a “murder board” (a time-line of events sketched out on a white board pinned up over your workstation). What you need for your outline is a decision on a beginning, a middle and an end for your piece. The rest is just details. You can plan your outline while sitting in a jam, or even while you’re singing in the shower, and once you have that in your head, writing the main thing is just a breeze.

Shut it outIf there’s anything that gets in the way of finishing your writing project – or any project, really, it’s the distraction of the virtual world. So turn off Facebook, get off Tumblr, put your phone on mute,

and then get down to it. The proof that going on virtual lockout actually works is in the paper you’re holding in your hands right now. You’ll be surprised at just how much you get done when you’re not scrolling through 9gag for an hour or so.

Just chillSurprised? You’ll also get more writing (and other work) done if you take regular breaks. The trick is to schedule your breaks, and to stick to them. For every hour that you put into your work, take 15 minutes off to do what you like to de-stress, and get back to it. It’ll keep you motivated, and productive, and those essays and articles will get done in no time. l

Tempt T-JUNCTION 23D

T


And how to lighten up

Putting your worst foot forward

Pits of darkness

Sandal scandal

beauty wellbeing

Photos: Bigstock


Let’s put aside the fairness cream controversies for a minute and talk actual skin care for a minute, shall we? Sure, bleaching your underarms and nether regions to fit someone else’s perception of what is attractive is outrageous. But neglecting, and abusing your own body isn’t really helping you either. So if your pits are looking dark, dry and unloved, here are some ways to brighten things up.

Don’t leave me dryWe’ve all been there. Too impatient to wait for the hair to grow out between waxes, the hot weather making sleeveless kameezes less fashionable and more a necessity, we’ve all tried to save time with a quick shave. While there’s absolutely nothing long with a shave per se, many of us even skip the shaving foam and shave dry, and that’s a serious no-no. Razor burns, nicks and bumps are just not a good look for your skin, wherever it’s located. Soap and water isn’t a good substitute either. If you must shave, just do yourself a solid favour and use an actual shaving foam.

Sunshine in my pocketRub a lemon wedge over the darkened area before you step into the shower. Halfway through the shower, rub a paste made from lemon juice and raw honey. Wait for a few minutes (or concentrate on something else, like shampooing), and then rinse off before you step out. Finish off with a moisturiser with sunscreen, and you’re protected and pampered all at once. l

n Sabah Rahman

Sandal season is definitely in full swing. The handsome Mahmood Hossain, the men’s grooming expert in the T Junction team has often pointed out how men should not flaunt their neglected, crusty feet. Women can be just as guilty of this unappealing crime. Pay attention:

You’re claws are showingSometimes it’s hard to wrap our heads around the fact that some ladies actually think long, claw-like toe nails are

acceptable and even fashionable. News flash! They are absolutely revolting. We’re not talking about nails that have missed a weekly trim. You’ve seen them: the long pointy eye-sores that look straight up dangerous. We’re not sure if the bright red painted version is any better than the unpolished ones. Cut those nails, ladies. They serve no purpose, unless you’re into scratching your partner’s legs up in bed.

Hanging on for dear lifeYou’ve seen these too. Feet in open toed heels that slip forward to the point where your toes look like they’re literally grasping the front of your shoes. This usually happens if you’re sporting the wrong size. Toe cleavage maybe sexy, but this certainly isn’t.

Dirty deedsWe understand that you may be too busy to get regular pedicures. We also understand your decision to not paint your toes. What we don’t get is why you would expose your nails when there is accumulated dirt underneath. It’s enough to make us gag. You shower every day, (we hope) how hard is it to scrub under those nails with a brush while you’re at it? And don’t think you can get away with toe jam if your nails are indeed polished. You don’t need that kind of bacteria in your life. l

T-JUNCTION Take Care24DT


health

n Farhana Shahnaz

We are all guilty of spending a fortune on how we look in an attempt to create a stellar impression. Be it shoes, clothes or accessories – we spare no expense. What we do not acknowledge is the importance of our posture. No matter how many high end brands you flaunt, nothing will look flattering if you don’t have the right frame to pull those clothes off.

What posture generally defines is the way your body is positioned when you are sitting or standing. Good posture is the position wherein your body is aligned and all your joints are in order. You might wonder why maintaining proper posture is so important. Studies reveal that our posture loosely affects how people see us. Moreover, bad posture also has adverse, long term effect on our health. Some studies even show that

it leads to neck pain, back pain and fatigue. Read on to find out a few tips to get your stance right.

Stand tallBad posture can be taken care of with a little dedication and effort. As for your standing posture, make sure you stand upright with your shoulders squared. Your feet should be kept about shoulder width apart. However, do not stand too rigidly and follow the natural contour of your body.

Seat yourself rightFor those who have to sit in a chair for extended periods, it may be a good idea to get an ergonomically designed chair. While sitting, align your whole body to the chair and make sure your elbows are positioned at a 75-90 degree angle. Take frequent breaks to stretch and exercise a little. Good posture at work is believed to

improve performance and reduce fatigue. The same basic principle of good sitting posture applies to driving as well. Good sitting posture can also drastically reduce impact if an accident occurs.

Sleep your way through itYou can work on your posture while sleeping too! This is as simple as sleeping on a firm mattress and sleeping on your back instead of on your sides or stomach.

Maintaining proper posture may seem like a lot of hard work, but a little dedication can go a long way. Now that you know all about maintaining good posture, get your swag on and strut away like you own the place! l

teen health

The wash listHygiene decoded


TowelsAfter every 3-4 usesEvery time you use a towel, you’re depositing your facial oils, make-up remnants and dandru� on it. Combined with the dampness of a used towels, this creates the ideal breeding ground for fungi and bacteria. These are then transferred back to your skin when you re-use them, leading to a host of skin issues.Make sure you hang your towel in a sunny, airy place after every use to minimise fungal growth.

Bed sheetsEvery weekFacial oils, make-up residue, dead skin, dust, mold, there is a whole host of nasties that get deposited onto your sheets, leading to allergies and worse if left in too long. In addition to weekly washes, do ensure that your bed gets dusted daily, and that your mattress and pillows enjoy a few hours in the sun every couple of months.

Your hairVariesThe Internet has been blowing up with debates about this, with some people swearing by the daily shampoo, while others going for the “no poo” movement. The answer isn’t as simple as picking one or the other. Your hair is unique, and what works for someone else might not work for you. Consult with a dermatologist to � nd out what’s your ideal shampoo schedule.

BrasEvery 3-4 wearsIf you think that’s gross, consider that you shouldn’t wear the same bra two days in a row. Have at least two pairs which you alternate, giving each about 24 hours to air out and for the elastic to stretch back. And then, after each bra has gotten in 3-4 wears, hand wash them. lPHOTOS: BIGSTOCK

The art of good postureA go-to guide to remove your backward hunch

25D


PSG RETAIN LEAGUE CUP, NEXT UP BARCA

AZHAR PROMISES TOUGH FIGHT IN BANGLADESH SERIES

MAHMUDULLAH CALM AS USUAL

26 2927The family of cricket icon Richie

Benaud has declined the o� er of a state funeral, Australia’s Prime Min-

ister Tony Abbott said on Sunday

NO STATE FUNERAL

Sport

TIGERS IN BCLName Played Runs Wickets

Mashrafe 3 119 4

Mush� qur Rahim 4 129 NA

Tamim Iqbal 2 15 NA

Mahmudullah 3 46 1

Rony Talukdar 3 45 NA

Mominul Haque 4 92 4

Nasir Hossain 4 231 4

Sabbir Rahman 4 105 0

Taskin Ahmed 2 0 5

Abul Hasan 4 90 7

Rubel Hossain 3 0 9

Arafat Sunny 4 45 13

Shakib Al Hasan Absent

Soumya Sarkar Absent

An ecstatic Abul Hasan (R) punches the air in celebration with Arafat Sunny after Islami Bank East Zone beat BCB North Zone in an intense Bangladesh Cricket League one-day tournament � nal at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

BCL FINALBCB NORTH ZONE R BMahmudul c Tasamul b Asif Ahmed 107 132Zunaid c Nabil b Abu Jayed 5 8Naeem c Liton b Abul Hasan 1 7Mush� qur c Liton b Mominul Haque 31 37Nasir c Tasamul b Asif Ahmed 96 84Sabbir Rahman run out Arafat Sunny 3 4Ariful Haque c & b Arafat Sunny 17 18Forhad c Tasamul b Nabil Samad 1 2Delwar c Asif b Arafat Sunny 17 9Sanjamul Islam not out 0 0Extras: (W 12, NB 1) 13Total: (9 wkts, 50 overs) 291

Fall of wickets1-23 (Zunaid), 2-24 (Naeem), 3-88 (Mush� q), 4-228 (Mahmudul), 5-248 (Sabbir), 6-260 (Nasir), 7-266 (Forhad), 8-291 (Delwar), 9-291 (Ariful)BowlingAbul 6-0-40-1, Jayed 6-0-45-1, Arafat 10-0-51-2, Nabil 10-0-52-1, Mominul 6-0-33-1, Kapali 4-0-20-0, Asif 8-0-50-2ISLAMI BANK EAST ZONE R B(Target 278 in 46 overs)Tamim c Taijul b Forhad Reza 5 7Liton st Mush� qur b Taijul Islam 50 37Mominul run out Sabbir Rahman 78 77Tasamul lbw Taijul Islam 11 21Alok Kapali b Forhad Reza 13 18Asif c Sanjamul b Taijul Islam 46 52Nazmul c Taijul b Delwar Hossain 8 16Abul Hasan not out 39 35Arafat Sunny not out 18 7Extras: (W 7, Byes 6) 13Total: (7 wkts, 45 overs) 281

Fall of wickets1-5 (Tamim), 2-107 (Liton), 3-133 (Tasamul), 4-160 (Alok), 563 (Mominul), 6-186 (Nazmul), 7-241 (Asif)BowlingDelwar 7-0-40-1, Forhad 9-1-58-2, Mahmudul 10-1-44-0, Taijul 8-0-56-3, Sanjamul 5-0-24-0, Nasir 6-0-53-0Result: Islami Bank East Zone won by three wicketsMan of the Match: Abul Hasan

Tailenders steer East to BCL titlen Minhaz Uddin Khan

A nailbiting chase, led superbly by tailenders Abul Hasan and Arafat Sunny, guided Islami Bank East Zone to a thrilling three-wicket win over BCB North Zone in the � nal of the � rst ever Bangladesh Cricket League one-dayers at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

Seamer-allrounder Hasan’s blazing un-

beaten 39 and Sunny’s undefeated 18, cou-pled with Asif Ahmed’s 46 earlier, piloted East Zone’s chase as they reached their re-vised target of 278 with an over to spare.

The competition was introduced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s tournament com-mittee to allow the national cricketers some match practice ahead of the upcoming bilat-eral home series against Pakistan which will

start with three ODIs with the � rst match tak-ing place this Friday.

Among the national batsmen, North Zone captain Nasir Hossain topped the run-scorers chart with 231 runs at an average of 57.75. His highest score of 96 came yesterday as North Zone posted a competitive 291/9 on the board.

However, it was opener Mahmudul Hasan’s 107 o� 132 which laid the platform. Nasir and Mahmudul added 140 runs for the fourth wick-et to give the lower middle order the launchpad for the death overs. Mush� qur Rahim made 31 to � nish with 129 runs in the tournament.

East Zone’s Sunny and Asif bagged two wickets apiece. Sunny had a stellar tourna-ment, picking up 13 wickets to top the highest wicket-takers’ chart.

In reply, East Zone were in early trouble as opener Tamim Iqbal was dismissed for � ve. Liton Kumar Das (50) and skipper Mominul Haque (78) though repaired the early damage, putting on 102 runs for the second wicket. Liton struck half a dozen boundaries and two sixes while Mominul smashed 10 boundaries. East Zone were once again in trouble after the fall of a couple of wickets in the middle overs but Asif, Hasan and Sunny hammered some lusty blows at the end to propel their side to the title. l

Sport26DT


Enamul carries Reds, Abahani ride on Hungariansn Shishir Hoque

Former national striker Enamul Haque continued his � ne form in the Man-yavar Bangladesh Premier League as his brace helped Muktijoddha SKS to a 2-1

win over Chittagong Abahani at Bangaband-hu National Stadium yesterday.

Enamul, who also netted against Soccer Club in their opener, guided the Reds to the summit with maximum six points while Chit-tagong Abahani su� ered their second consec-utive defeat.

Meanwhile in the day’s other match, Aba-hani returned to winning ways after drawing their opening game 2-2 against Rahmatganj MFS as the Sky Blues put four past Soccer Club without reply at the same venue. Abaha-ni’s Hungarian recruits Szabolcs Csorba and Gabor Demjen continued to impress as they shared three goals between them.

The four-time professional league champi-ons began their campaign with a disappoint-ing draw but they did not take long in putting

behind their frustrations as Csorba put Aba-hani ahead in the 22nd minute. An unmarked Csorba received a pass from Pranotosh Ku-mar, dribbled past a defender and tapped home past Soccer Club goalkeeper Ahsan Habib.

Demjen doubled Abahani’s lead on the stroke of the � rst half whistle, placing home from inside the box after a cutback from Ko-mol Majumder.

Csorba grabbed his second and his side’s

third in the 75th minute. Demjen teed up Csorba with a square pass and the latter made no mistake slotting home past Habib.

Defender Mamun Miah completed the rout in time added on with a � ne solo e� ort. Ma-mun guided home after brilliantly anticipat-ing a cross from almost the halfway line.

Elsewhere, Enamul scored both his goals in the second half, allowing the Reds to come from behind and earn a 2-1 victory. Enamul is in magni� cent form as his brace took his sea-son tally to eight, more than any other player.

The veteran forward scored � ve times in the season-opening Federation Cup and im-pressed again yesterday, much like the open-er against Soccer Club.

However, it was the visitors, Chittagong Abahani, who went ahead just before the � rst half whistle courtesy Sumon Ali’s strike from a goalmouth melee.

Enamul though equalised quickly after resumption which was followed by some in-tense pressure from the Reds. And seven min-utes from the � nal whistle, Enamul sealed the fate of the match with a superb volley from the edge of the box. l

Unoccupied Tigers begin home series preparationn Mazhar Uddin

Seven of the Bangladesh cricketers began the short preparation camp for the home series against Pakistan under Chandika Hathurusin-gha at the Mirpur indoor facilities yesterday.

“We have enjoyed the training session. Al-though we don’t have enough time, we are con� dent of preparing well within this time,” said Soumya Sarkar, who attended the training alongside Mahmudullah, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and rookie opening batsman Rony Ta-lukdar. Skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza was also present but he did not sweat it out in the nets.

The remaining Tigers members were occu-pied in the Bangladesh Cricket League one-day tournament � nal at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium while Shakib al Hasan was in India playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. The premier all-rounder returned to the capital yesterday to join the national camp.

Mush� qur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Abul Hasan, Arafat Sunny, Nasir Hossain and Mominul Haque were the crick-eters engaged in the � nal match at Mirpur.

The full squad are expected to start train-ing from today with the Pakistan team arriv-ing on the same day. The � rst of the three-match ODI series will be played on April 17 at SBNS. Pakistan, with three di� erent captains in three formats, will also play a Twenty20 in-ternational followed by two Tests.l

Mahmudullah calm as usualn Minhaz Uddin Khan

The upcoming bilateral series against Paki-stan will be competitive and it will be the home side that will be wearing the favourites tag, feels Mahmudullah. The resurgent No.4 batsman echoed the tones of his teammates Shakib al Hasan and Rubel Hossain, who ear-lier expressed their con� dence, and informed that the positive World Cup campaign made all the di� erence.

Mahmudullah, who usually batted at No.7, fully utilised his opportunity of batting at the top and his calm approach saw him return from Australia-New Zealand as the most suc-cessful Bangladesh batsman with 365 runs under his belt. Bangladesh’s � rst World Cup centurion, Mahmudullah struck back-to-back hundreds in the mega event and overnight became one of the superstar in the country.

Scan Cement signed the 29-year-old as their brand ambassador yesterday where Mahmudullah expressed his con� dence for the coming series.

“Our performances in the World Cup have boosted our con� dence. We played consistent cricket and this will give us the courage in the Pakistan series. We will go into the series as favourites.”

Pakistan team contains world class fast-bowlers like Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Mohammad Irfan and the trio will be a head-ache for the home side batsmen. In order to prepare fully couple of left-arm seamers we called to bowl in the Tigers net yesterday that also included Abul Hasan Rony.

“We have few left-arm pacers in the nets and at the same time we played Pakistan in a World Cup warm-up match so we have some idea about them,” Mahmudullah said adding that he is not basking on the glory. l

Nasir Hossain congratulates BCB North Zone teammate Mahmudul Hasan after the latter reached 100 against Islami Bank East Zone in the BCL one-day � nal at SBNS yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

TODAY’S MATCHESSheikh Russel vs Brothers Union 4:15pmTeam BJMC vs Mohammedan 6:30pm

RESULTSMuktijoddha 2-1 Chittagong AbahaniEnamul Haque 53, 83 Sumon Ali 45

Abahani 4-0 Soccer ClubSzabolcs Csorba 22, 78 Gabor Demjen 45+1Mamun Miah 90+1

Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, MirpurGallery ODIs/T20I Test Hosp/Corp Box 3000 1000BCB Hosp Lounge (North) 2000 1000Grand Stand 1000 300VIP 500 100Shahid Mushtaque/Jewel 300 75Northern/Southern 150 50Eastern 100 20

Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, KhulnaGallery TestBCB Corporate Box 1000Grand Stand West/East 300International West/East 100Club House West/East 75Western 50Eastern 20

* All tickets exclusive of tax

United Commercial Bank Limited branches in Dhaka:Bijoynagar (UCash), Bashundhara (UCash), Mirpur Road (UCash), Mirpur

Uniter Commercial Bank Limited branches in KhulnaMain branch (UCash), Khan Jahan Ali Road

Tickets go on sale this Wednesday

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‘Perfect run’ only way for Arsenal to win title: WengerArsene Wenger has said his Arsenal side need a “perfect run” to have any chance of catching Premier League leaders Chelsea. Saturday’s 1-0 win away to Burnley made it eight league wins in a row for the Gunners for the � rst time since the ‘Invincibles’ season of 2003/04. Chelsea are four points in front with two games in hand ahead of their match away to relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers on Sunday and the title is now theirs to lose. But London rivals Arsenal have emerged as their closest challenges due to a superb run of form. However, cautious Arsenal manager Wenger said after his side’s latest triumph at Turf Moor: “Nothing has changed, we need a perfect run and we need a non-perfect run from them (Chelsea) but we can’t master that, we can only master our own position. “We want to keep winning because we have to look behind us as well at Manchester United and Manchester City,” the veteran French boss added. “I think we have won 15 of last 17 so we are consistent.

–AFP

‘Financial Fair Play designed to subdue new investment’Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany believes UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules (FFP) are designed to subdue teams with recent investment, such as his club, and prevent them from competing with the long-established giants of European football. Since Sheikh Mansour bought the club in 2008, City have invested heavily in an attempt to break into the European hierarchy - winning the Premier League in 2012 and 2014 - but have since been punished for failing to comply with the regulations. UEFA said their FFP regulations were designed to limit reckless spending and ensure clubs operated within their means. Last May, City were handed a � ne of 60 million euros ($82.23 million) and had restrictions placed on their European squad and transfer dealings and Kompany said the rules only serve to maintain the status quo. “That’s how I look at it anyway,” he told the Sunday Telegraph.

–Reuters

Real � red up for Atletico revenge: AncelottiReal Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has said his side will be out to avenge the humiliation of their 4-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in February when the sides meet in the Champions League quarter-� nals on Tuesday. Los Blancos beat Atletico 4-1 after extra time to win their 10th European Cup in last season’s � nal, but the La Liga champions have turned the tide in the Spanish capital this season with four wins and two draws in six previous meetings this campaign. The most recent of those matches was the most embarrassing for Real as Atletico outplayed Ancelotti’s men from � rst minute to last to seal their biggest win in a Madrid derby for 28 years. “The last result against Atletico is a motivating factor for us. It will be a di� erent game, but di� cult as it always is against Atletico,” said Ancelotti after his side closed to within two points of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win over Eibar on Saturday. “We come into the game in good form, we are motivated and we will give everything we have.”

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

England Head Coach Peter Moores hits a ball to Gary Ballance during nets at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua yesterday REUTERS

Azhar promises tough � ght in Bangladesh seriesn AFP, Lahore

Newly appointed Pakistan one-day captain Azhar Ali Saturday said his team will not take Bangladesh lightly after their strong World Cup performance, promising a tough � ght from his young players next week.

Ali will lead the team for the � rst time on tour starting with the � rst of three one-day internationals in Dhaka on Friday.

He replaced Misbah-ul-Haq, who retired from one-day cricket after Pakistan slumped out of this year’s World Cup, co-hosted by Aus-tralia and New Zealand, in the quarter-� nals.

Ali, 30, said his team is ready for Bangladesh, who shocked England to also reach the World Cup quarter-� nals, where they lost to India.

“Bangladesh’s performance in the World Cup was good and they looked a much-im-proved side. They are also tough in their con-dition, so we are no way going to take them lightly,” Ali told reporters on the last day of the training camp.

“There will be two teams � ghting and I be-

lieve my young boys will perform well,” said Ali about the tour where Pakistan will also play a Twenty20 international followed by two Tests. Ali said his young team, including new uncapped opener Sami Aslam, will pro-gress with time.

“I understand cricket has changed a lot and obviously we do have to take our cricket forward in a positive way. But if you expect a sudden change that is not going to happen as rather breaking in the race we should gradu-ally bring on a change.”

Ali said he was inspired by former captain Misbah, who is still leading Pakistan’s Test side.

“I have a big example of Misbah who led Pakistan in tough times and positively. Being a team member I saw a lot of good things in him, how he handled the situations so this is going to help me.

“There are a lot of great captain around the world, but for me Misbah is the best captain I have played with.”

Ali hoped his under-performing batsmen will show improvement.l

Windies, England seek fresh startn AFP, North Sound

West Indies and England face-o� in the � rst Test of a three-match series on at the Sir Viv-ian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Monday, with both sides involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation following a wretched few months.

Facing the wrath of the Indian authorities following an unprecedented abandonment of the tour there last October and with several of their star players either overlooked by the se-lectors or unwilling to represent the regional

team, there is considerable trepidation over the prospects of the West Indies in the open-ing � xture, notwithstanding the ground’s reputation as a batting paradise.

Chris Gayle, who led the West Indies to an upset 1-0 triumph the last time the English played a Test series in the Caribbean in 2009, announced his unavailability for the assign-ment, although he is turning out for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the lucrative Twen-ty20 Indian Premier League.

Dwayne Bravo, captain of the squad who walked out of the Indian campaign, appears

to be paying the price for his role in that � as-co, although the o� cial line from the selec-tors, headed by outstanding former captain Clive Lloyd, is that they are looking to young-er players to try to take the team forward.

However the game unfolds, England and their army of travelling supporters are antic-ipating at least one moment of celebration as experienced seam and swing bowler James Anderson needs four wickets in his 100th Test to surpass celebrated all-rounder Ian Botham’s tally of 383 - the most by an Eng-land cricketer in Tests. l

Surrey batsman Kevin Pietersen plays a shot at The Parks, Oxford on Saturday. Pietersen scored 170 on his return to County cricket REUTERS

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Sony Six8:30PM Indian Premier League Bangalore v Hyderabad Ten Action2:30PM ATP 1000 Masters Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Round 1 Star Sports 41:00AM English Premier League Liverpool v Newcastle United

DAY’S WATCH


Paris St Germain players celebrate with their trophy after winning the French League Cup � nal against Bastia at the Stade de France on Saturday REUTERS

PSG retain League Cup, next up Barcan AFP, Paris

Zlatan Ibrahimovic inspired holders Paris Saint-Germain to the � rst of a potential four tro-phies this season with a 4-0 win over 10-men Bastia in the League Cup � nal on Saturday.

In a repeat of the 1995 � nal, a � rst half brace by the Swedish star, completed by Edin-son Cavani’s second half double, kept Ligue 1 leaders PSG in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple.

The win teed up Laurent Blanc’s side nicely for Wednesday’s visit to Barcelona in the Champions League quarter � nal � rst leg with Auxerre awaiting them in next month’s French Cup � nal.

“It’s our � rst title, it was our aim. We are very happy,” club president Nasser Al-Khelai-� told France 2 television.

“We are also happy because we didn’t have any new injuries. We are ready for Barca.”

Paris Saint-Germain, however, must tackle Barcelona without Ibrahimovic. The tempes-tuous striker is suspended for the Nou Camp trip after his sending o� against Chelsea

in the last 16. He is also now starting a four match domestic ban following his infamous anti-France rant.

It took Blanc’s men just 21 minutes to � nd the back of the net after Bastia defender Se-bastien Squillaci was harshly sent o� for tak-ing Ezequiel Lavezzi down inside the box, with Ibrahimovic converting from the spot.

The Swedish forward scored his tenth goal in just � ve games a few minutes before half-time, controlling Mathieu Peybernes’ poor headed clearance before lashing a shot inside the bottom corner. Cavani added a third with a superb header, � nding himself at the end of Serge Aurier’s cross.

The Uruguay striker grabbed his 20th goal of the season and put the � nal nail in the Cor-sican side’s co� n in injury time thanks to a

brilliantly-timed pass by Ibrahimovic that sent him through on goal.

“They are a big team with big players. The referee took a major decision after just 20 minutes with the red card and the penalty,” Bastia defender Francois Modesto said.

“It really is a pity. The sanction is harsh but Paris deserve their win. We had a good run and presented a good image of Corsica.”

Against a team currently sitting in 14th, � ve points above the relegation zone, PSG secured their � fth win in the competition af-ter lifting the trophy in 1995, 1998, 2008 and 2014.

With no time for celebrations, PSG will now turn to Barcelona, whom they host at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

They can then focus on national duties as they top Ligue 1 with seven matches to play and face Auxerre in the � nal of the French Cup on May 30.

The victory was marred when 15 police-men su� ered minor injuries in skirmishes in Paris between police and Bastia fans before kick-o� . l

Rosberg accuses Hamilton of sel� sh behaviourn Reuters, Shanghai

Nico Rosberg accused Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton of sel� shly com-promising his race as old tensions between the Mercedes team mates � ared up at the Chi-nese Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton led from start to � nish, with Ros-berg � nishing second, but there more recrim-inations than celebrations afterwards.

After accusing Hamilton in a news con-ference of “just thinking about yourself” as

he controlled the pace, Rosberg said his af-ternoon had been compromised by his team mate driving too slowly.

“Did Lewis do it on purpose or not? I don’t know. I can’t answer that,” the German fumed to television reporters afterwards. “But he said in the press conference he was just think-ing about himself. That’s an interesting indi-cation, an interesting statement.”

Hamilton, who can smile after winning two of the three races this season to open up a 13 point lead, shrugged o� the criticism.l

Spieth leads by four at drama-� lled Mastersn AFP, Augusta

Jordan Spieth held at bay a gallery of gol� ng greats at the Masters for most of Saturday’s third round before a nervy � nish opened the door slightly for his closest rivals.

Leading by a record-equaling � ve shots at the halfway stage of the year’s � rst major, Spi-eth had already felt the heat from the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods even before he teed o� at Augusta National.

Then Phil Mickelson entered the fray with a triple-birdie blast early on that hauled the three-time former winner into � rm conten-tion. Finally, England’s Justin Rose came at him late in the day. But they all needed Spieth to falter and he gave few signs of doing that before coughing up a double-bogey at the 17th.

By the end of the day, Spieth, with a two-under par 70 for a Masters-record 54-hole total of 200, was four ahead of Rose, who had birdies at 16 and 18 for a 67.

Mickelson, who also had a 67, was alone in third on 205 with fellow American Charley Ho� man a further stroke back after a 71.

Woods and McIlroy were on 210, 10 shots o� the lead along with Dustin Johnson (73), Kevin Streelman (70) and Kevin Na (70).

“Felt a little di� erent because I played in the morning yesterday. I had a long time. I had 24 hours from the time I � nished to the time I teed o� . That’s a long time to sit on a lead like that,” he said.

Spieth had set Augusta National alight with opening rounds of 64 and 66 that saw him record 15 birdies against just one bogey.

In so doing, he became the youngest player to lead the Masters after the � rst round, and his 130 halfway total was the lowest-ever in 79 editions of the year’s � rst major.

A slippery � ve-footer brought a birdie at the second, but he misread his short putt at the fourth to record just his second bogey of the tournament.

A superb 22-footer for birdie at the par-three sixth was then followed by a poor bun-ker shot at the next that handed him a sec-ond bogey. Hardly the kind of play that had stunned the galleries and his rivals in his su-perb opening rounds, but at that stage he was still where he was when he started the day -- � ve shots ahead of the � eld.

Woods, Mickelson and McIlroy all went out in 32 and the steady Ho� man was stubbornly holding on with a run of pars.

But Spieth kept them at arm’s length and then birdies at the 12th and 13th going around Amen Corner moved him further clear.l

FRENCH CUPPSG 4-0 BastiaIbrahimovic 21-P, 41, Cavani 80, 90+2

DOWNTIME30DT


CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 13 represents F so � ll F every time the � gure 13 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Supreme happiness (5)4 Strange (3)6 Crustacean (4)8 Adult insect (5)9 Assumed attitude (4)11 Chime (4)12 View (5)15 Insigni� cant (5)18 Meat dish (4)20 Yield (4)21 Big (5)22 Singing voice (4)23 Spirit (3)24 Tendency (5)

DOWN1 In� amed swellings (5)2 Silly (5)3 Tally (5)4 Musical instrument (4)5 A� air of honour (4)7 Fruit (5)10 Old sailor (4)13 Quote (4)14 Stair handrail post (5)15 Airman (5)16 Concise (5)17 Surrender (5)18 Cicatrix (4)19 Dutch cheese (4)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D


Bappa brings us a Tagore album

WHAT TO WATCHTELEVISION

Seinfeld FX 11:30amTake a trip down memory lane with your favourite cast who participate in a show about absolutely nothing.

Boom BoxB4U 4:30pmAn exciting collection of international as well as Bollywood tracks, this show should get you out of your mid-afternoon slump.

Movie Awards 2015Vh1 9:00pmCatch the 24th installment of this fantastic award show, hosted by actress, comedian and writer, Amy Shumer.

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

Ellie Goulding @elliegouldingGoodbye Lon-don I will miss you

Pharrell Williams @Pharrell Thanks for having me on your show @sethmeyers. Watch @LateNightSeth tonight on @nbc #LNSM

Sunidhi Chauhan @SunidhiChauhan5 19 years!!! WOW! Can’t thank you enough and JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH love.. Always!

n Showtime Desk

Bangladeshi musical sensation, Bappa Mazumder has released a new album on the occasion of Bangla New Year which is the � rst complete Rabindra Sangeet album in his career.

Mazumder’s 11th solo till date, called Bendhechi Amar Pran, included a launching ceremony which was held yesterday at a restaurant in the capital’s Bailey Road area.

Song titles on the album include “Amaro Parano Jaha Chay,” “Aami Chini Go Chini,” “Tumi Kon Kanoner Phool,” “Bhalobese Sokhi,” “Emano Dine Tare Bola Jay,” “Ami Tomar Songe Bendhechi Amar Pran,” “Purano Sei Diner Kotha” and “Mone Ki Dwidha.” The singer him-self has composed music for all the songs.

Regarding this album, Bappa said: “I have composed the music of Tagore songs for several artists on various occasions previously. I had a wish to make a complete Tagore song album as well and I am delighted to make it feasible.”

Dedicating the album to his musi-cian parents he added, “My mother would be happy if she saw me releas-ing this album. She had a wish as well that I bring out an album on Tagore songs.”

The album, presented by Brac Bank Limited and marketed by Girona Bangladesh, is available at outlets of Deshal and also at rokomari.com l

Turn it up

We were wondering what Dio Haque, the drummer of Nemesis, the beloved band that needs no introduction was listening to. Here is what’s on his playlist:1. U2 - Even better than the real thing. My

biggest in� uence, this particular track was a huge change from their 80's sound and one of my all time favorites!

2. Coldplay – Talk. Although not one of their popular numbers, I love the spacey feel of this one.

3. Metallica - Enter sandman. What can I say? That intro is just pure goose bumps.

4. Incubus - Are you in? One of the funki-est songs from one of my favorite bands.

5. Radiohead - All I need. A perfect song

for a chilled out evening.6. Je� Buckley – Last goodbye. Another

genius gone too soon. You can hear his sadness in this one.

7. Gorillaz - Tomorrow comes today. An underrated band, in my opinion. This one is a classic.

8. Bob Marley – Exodus. Those who think reggae is all soft and happy, this one’s for you.

9. MGMT - Electric feel. This song gives you exactly that.

10. Bruno mars - Uptown funk. One of the most talented musicians right now. It doesn’t get funkier than this.

Sound bytes

What's hot abroadn Showtime desk

A new journeyIn case you didn't know, Avril Lavigne has been battling Lyme Disease and eager to help spread awareness of this ailment. Releasing on April 16th, her new single “Fly” is the anthem song for the 2015 Special Olympics.

What if?TWC Dimension and Jon Bon Jovi announce the release of a new reality series titled “If I wasn’t a rock star”. Fans of Mr. Bon Jovi are stoked that they’ll be able to see him on a regular basis.

This show will see famous musicians go back to their roots, to their hometowns without their entourage of publicists and agents and see how di� erent life could have been. Sadly, the air date has not been released yet. l

BACK PAGE32DT


MUHITH REJECTS WORLD BANK’S GROWTH PROJECTION IN FY15 PAGE 15

BAPPA BRINGS US A TAGORE ALBUM PAGE 31

ENAMUL CARRIES REDS PAGE 25

Solar power plants to get benchmark tari� n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The government has initiated a move to � x a benchmark tari� for electricity that can be added to the national grid from solar-based independent power producer (IPP) plants and rooftop solar systems.

“We are trying to � x a benchmark tari� considering expenditure of technology cost of renewable energy, its international mar-ket price, investment cost, in� ation, current exchange rate, project operating and manage-ment cost, project life, capital return, govern-ment’s target and economic abilities,” Power Division Joint Secretary Siddique Zobair told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Zobair, also a member of the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Authority (SREDA), said the � xed tari� will be applicable for a certain period and a certain capacity of elec-tricity, after which the tari� will be re-� xed.

Two meetings have already been held on this regard, he said, adding that the issue would be � nalised as soon as possible after another meeting.

SREDA was formed as a nodal agency to promote, facilitate and disseminate sustaina-ble energy, covering both the areas of renewa-ble energy and energy e� ciency to ensure the country’s energy security.

About the concept of benchmark tari� , Zo-bair said the success of conventional electric-

ity generation has prompted the government to take a similar move in the non-conventional renewable energy like solar and wind power.

Zobair said one of the substantial condi-tions of accepting any solar-based IPP plants and rooftop solar systems was for the private � rm to have its own land to set up the solar plant. Because managing a clean and undis-puted land emerges to be a big issue prior to setting up a solar plant as it needs a large piece of land, he added.

The electricity distribution agencies under the Power Division would buy electricity from these IPP plants and solar systems for the na-tional grid on a long-term basis but the bench-mark tari� would be � xed separately, the joint

secretary said.Currently, di� erent ministries and depart-

ments, including the Power Development Board, the Rural Electri� cation Board, the Local Government Engineering Department, autono-mous bodies like Infrastructure Development Company Limited and also the private sector are working on renewable energy projects.

The government had earlier announced a renewable energy policy and also plans to in-crease its share in power generation to 5% by the end of 2015 and 10% in 2020.

If the target is achieved, the country’s renewable energy production will go up to 650MW this year, while the total power pro-duction in 2015 is expected to be 13,000MW. l

Muhith: Grameen Bank MD to be appointed soonn Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said the Grameen Bank Board of Directors is going to appoint a new managing director for the bank soon, as a case against that appointment had recently been resolved.

“We have failed to run Grameen Bank smoothly because of intervention by Profes-sor Yunus and we have now almost cleared the obstruction to arrange an election [for the board of directors],” the � nance minister told journalists after a meeting with US Ambas-sador Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat at his secretariat o� ce yesterday.

The government wanted Grameen Bank to grow its own way without any type of outside intervention, he claimed.

The members of the commission that would hold the election for the Grameen Bank have already been selected, but a district judge who will act as the chief election com-missioner was yet to be selected, Muhith said.

Law Minister Anisul Huq will select the chief election commissioner for the Grameen Bank election, Muhith said, adding that the appoint-ment would be made after his return from the World Bank and IMF’s Spring meeting.

Grameen Bank used to cover 95% of the coun-try’s micro-credit sector in 1986-87, a � gure that was now only 25%, Muhith also pointed out.

Meanwhile, Tahsina Khatun, a woman di-rector of the Grameen Bank board, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that if it was under the Grameen Bank’s power, then a new polls committee would have already been selected and the election would have taken place.

“We do not know about the fate of the case regrading the appointment of Grameen Bank MD, but it is true that without a selection committee [for picking an MD], the govern-ment itself will appoint the new MD.

“We will again protest about the matter as the government will form its selection com-mittee with its own sympathisers,” she said. l

Security beefed up ahead of Pahela Baishakhn Kamrul Hasan

Law enforcement agencies are ready to beef up their security measures ahead of the Pahe-la Baishakh celebrations that would usher in the Bangla year 1422 tomorrow.

As the celebrations in the capital are fo-cused mostly on Ramna Batamul and Ra-bindra Sarobar, the police have made their security strategy surrounding those areas.

DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah along with other senior DMP o� cials briefed the media yesterday, saying there would be eight entry points for reaching the Ramna Batamul, while arrow signs would be put up to clarify the entrances and exits.

The DMP boss requested everyone not to

carry any handbag in crowded areas, as well as urging all not to be panicked if any rumour is spread intentionally to induce chaos.

He also advised organisers of all cultural pro-grammes to wrap up their events by 5:30pm.

CCTV surveillance would cover Ramna Batamul, Shahbagh, the TSC and Suhrawardi Udyan, Asaduzzaman said, adding that there will be seperate checkpoints to search every-body coming to join the celebrations.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police would also impose tra� c restrictions by setting up 12 road diversions as well as designating � ve car parking sites for the day.

As part of their plans, the DMP would put up barricades at Shahbagh, Nilkhet, Palashi, Bakshibazar, Chankharpool intersection and

near the High Court area today afternoon, as well as setting up 27 more barricades adjacent to the Ramna Park tomorrow. Ten more barri-cades would also be set up tomorrow near the Rabindra Sarobar in Dhanmondi.

Meanwhile, addressing reporters at the Ramna Batamul yesterday, RAB chief Benazir Ahmed said the elite force would start imple-menting its own security measures from to-day morning.

RAB would assist other law enforcement agencies to secure some 250 to 300 sites where Pahela Baishakh celebrations would take place.

Helicopters of RAB would also patrol from the sky tomorrow,while both uniformed and plainclothes RAB members would cover the ground. l

Preparations to celebrate Pahela Baishakh are in full swing at the faculty of � ne arts in Dhaka University. As part of that preparation, a � ne arts student creates a painting based on the designs of the traditional Nakshi Kantha. The photo was taken yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

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: [email protected], [email protected], Website: www.dhakatribune.com

13 April, 2015

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