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SECOND EDITION
GSP withdrawal
n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
European Union is not considering any change in the duty advantage that Bangladesh enjoys for the market. No tariffs, no taxes, no duty; goods from Bangladesh enter the European market without any restriction and that will continue to be the case, said EU Ambassador to Bangladesh William Hanna yesterday. The ambassador said neither the EUs official position stated by High Representative Catherin Ashton on January 9 nor the resolution of the EU parliament taken last week mentioned anything about changing the GSP facilities. Bangladesh currently enjoys duty-free and quota-free market access to European market under Everything but Arms initiative and over 50% of its total exports of about $30bn goes to the market. Any change in GSP facility will harm the over $20bn readymade garment industry and four million jobs in the sector. The ambassador categorically said sourcing from Bangladesh was also important for Europe. It is also important for Europe. We also want to continue to source here.
Our companies will continue to invest, he said. Hanna said there would be a review of GSP in the next couple of months and two specific areas needed to be improved. Slow process of recruitment of factory inspectors and developing a transparent factory database are the major concerns for European Union, Hanna said.
A team of Joint Forces relax on a street in Gaibandhas Sundarganj yesterday after they were rescued by another team of Joint Forces in the morning FOCUS BANGLA
OBHOYNAGAR FOLLOW UP
INSIDE
News
3 The BNP will hold a public rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan, excluding Jamaat to keep distance from it over criticism at home and abroad. 4 The home ministry directed seven divisional commissioners to increase intelligence vigilance in the violence-prone areas to prevent further attacks on minority people.
International
8 Iraqi forces launched a major assault on a Sunni Arab city partially in the control of antigovernment fighters in a bid to end a weeks-long crisis ahead of elections.
Op-Ed
Nation
11 Election games: Sheikh Hasinas plan for a second term started with the constitutional amendment on the caretaker government.
6 Potato seeds of grossly inferior quality, bought from a Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation dealer, have driven a number of farmers to ruin in several unions of Bhola sadar upazila.
Sport
13 A first-half goal by Ghanaian Osei Morrison was enough for Abahani Ltd to earn a vital 1 0 victory over arch rivals Mohammedan Sporting Club Ltd.
2
Suranjit admitted to hospital with chest pain
n Tribune Report
Senior Awami League leader and former minister Suranjit Sengupta was admitted to a hospital in the capital with chest pain last night. Suranjits wife Joya Sengupta told reporters that he had felt pain in the chest around 8pm while he was at office. As his condition deteriorated and he vomited, he came home and was taken to Lab Aid Hospital at Dhanmondi in the capital around 10pm. Dr Ziaul Kabir of the hospital said Suranjit was out of danger at the moment but they would take 24 to 48 hours to determine the nature of his illness. He said the Awami League leader had previously suffered from similar chest pain on several occasions. Awami League leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim visited Suranjit at the hospital and later told reporters that he was in a good shape. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
Members of a low-income family sit beside the Shaheed Asad Memorial Plaque, placed on the footpath in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday. The memorial was never completed and is often used as a place to dispose garbage NASHIRUL ISLAM
crimes against humanity during the countrys liberation war in 1971, Jamaat-Shibir men unleashed a reign of terror in Sunderganj. They attacked a police camp at Bamondanga and lynched four constables to death. Four more people were also killed in the violence. Police filed 32 cases in that connection and early Sunday we went to nab one of the mastermind Azadul, said Additional Superintendent of Gaibandha Mosharraf Hossain. He said sensing their presence Jamaat-Shibir men announced on the loudspeakers that a team of robbers have stormed into some houses. In response people from their houses came in hundreds with lethal weapons. The Jamaat-Shibir men then made the second announcement that we had gone there to nab Azadul and they urged villagers to resist us. As Sundarganj is a stronghold of Jamaat people
came out, he said. The Jamaat-Shibir men swooped on police with sticks and homemade bombs. They also fired from guns and exploded hundreds of cocktails before they pinned law enforcers down. Police also retaliated with shots. At one stage, Jamaat-Shibir activists torched a police pick-up van parked in Kanarmour area. As the cops could not find way out in the dark they opened fires in self defence, he said. An additional reinforcement of BGB, RAB and armed police battalion rescued them from Jamaat-Shibir clutch. UNO Abu Rafa M Arif and Additional Police Super Mosarrof Hossain also rushed to the spots around 3am. Later, the joint forces in the areas carried a second raid to nab the attackers triggering a further clash that continued till 8am. In the clashes, Jamaat-Shibir men hurled bricks at the joint forces
prompting the law enforcers to retaliate by firing 1166 bullets including 755 rubber bullets and throwing a number of tear gas shells. During the clashes, a total of 22 policemen including SI Rajab Ali, ASI Neharanjan and ASI Mohirduddin were injured, said Officer-in-charge of Sundarganj Police Station M Mojazemmel Haque. The joint forces nabbed five activists of Jamaat-Shibir from the spots during their operations in the areas, he also said. Local people alleged that at least 30 Jamaat-Shibir men were injured in the clash with law enforcers. Of them, 20 suffered bullet injuries and seven of them were sent to different clinics and hospitals in Rangpur in critical condition. Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Police Super M Mofazzel Hossain said the law and order situation was brought under control about 10am. l
About the commitment made under the Sustainability Compact in July last year, Hanna said it covered three areas labour situation, laws and implementation. I think a number of measures have been put in place and some more needs to be done, he said. About his recent meeting with European buyers, he said they were putting money on the table to improve the conditions of the factories from where they buy products. And that is promising. They are going to carry out their inspections and they hope all the inspections take place in the next nine months, he said. It was very difficult to move around in Bangladesh for the last few months but the situation has been improved and it is expected that they would be able to carry out the inspection, Hanna said. l
people from post-election violence. Mofiz made the confessional statement on January 16 followed by Shihabs confession the next day. The two confessions contradict in naming the rest six, who were also involved in the incident. Mofiz named Uttam Das, 28, a barber by profession, as one of his six accomplices. However, Shihab told the investigators that Mofiz had come up with Uttams name because of previous enmity as he was not with them during the incident. Uttam is [a victims] uncle and I doubt his involvement in the incident, said the husband of one of the victims [we are not disclosing name]. My wife said she was brought up by Uttam since when she was a child. Uttam treated her like his daughter. Locals told the Dhaka Tribune that
Uttam was in his house at Rishipara that night. According to them, Mofiz implicated Uttam as they had dispute over some financial affairs. Uttam is married and a father of two sons. None of the three families, who deserted their houses in a date orchard a place few hundred yards away from Rishipara, returned until January 19. Three brothers had moved to the place after buying three kathas of land, which is out of Rishiparas periphery. Will we ever be able to live there? I think we should not stay there anymore, said a victims husband. Probing the rape incident seems highly unlikely as medical test did not find any evidence of rape. A Dhaka Tribune report ran on January 16 unveiled that the police had wasted three days before subjecting the victims to test. Even though
the police were informed the day the rape had taken place, the victims were not examined for evidence until January 11. Polices delay to undertake the medical test can only be explained by intentional destruction of evidence to prove that there was no rape at all, said Shahriar Babu, a local NGO activist providing legal aid to the victims. As per the first information report, the number of victims was three. Two other names surfaced from the footage recorded by local journalists and from the statement of a village police and a local union parishad member too. They moved from their first statement to a new one, changing the number of victims in the police station. Earlier, they told me there were more victims, said Afzal, a local union parishad member to whom the family of a victim had gone to meet before
Khagrachhari Sadar, Ramgarh, Matiranga, Panchhari, Manikchhari and Mohalchhari in Khagrachhari, Jenaidah Sadar, Kotchandpur, Shailakupa and Kaliganj in Jenaidah, Magura Sadar and Shreepur in Magura, Lalmohan in Bhola, Daulatpur, Singhair, Shaturia and Shibalay in Manikganj, Kapashia in Gazipur, Rajbari Sadar, Baliakandi and Pangsha in Rajbari, Panchagarh Sadar, Boda, Atwari and Debiganj in Panchagarh, Rangpur Sadar, Gangachhara, Taraganj, Mithapukur, Pirgachha, Pirganj, Kaunia in Rangpur, Bhurungamari, Fulbari and Ulipur in Kurigram, Saghata and Gobindaganj in Gaibandha, Sherpur, Sariakandhi, Dhunat, Nandigram, Dupchachia and Sonatola in Bogra, Nachol in Chapainawabganj, Singra in Natore, Rayganj, Ullapara, Kazipur and Sirajganj Sadar in Sirajganj, Meharpur Sadar, Kustia Sadar and Bheramera in Kustia, Kalia in Nara-
il, Jamalpur Sadar and Sharishabari in Jamalpur, Moksudpur and Kashiani in Gopalganj, Kalkini in Madaripur, Bhederganj, Damuda, Jajira, Goshairhat in Shariatpur, Doyarbazar, Chhatak, Dakkin Sunamganj in Sunamganj, Kulaura in Moulvibazar, Madhabpur and Bahubal in Hobiganj, Khaharol and Khanshama in Dinajpur, Dimla, Syedpur and Joldhaka in Nilphamari, Fulbari in Kurigram, Mahadevpur and Raninagar in Naogaon, Sathia, Atgharia and Sujanagar in Pabna, Obhoynagar in Jessore, Durgapur and Kendua in Netrokona, Bajitpur, Karimganj and Nikole in Kishoreganj, Dohar and Nawabganj in Dhaka, Palash and Belabo in Narsingdi, Biswanath, Jokiganj, Companyganj, Golapganj, Gowinehat and Jointapur in Sylhet, Hathajari and Mirshrai in Chittagong, Ashashuni in Satkhira, Mohanpur in Rajshahi, Digholia and Koyra in Khulna, Gouronadi and Bakerganj in Barisal. l
I saw seven young men coming out of the house of influential Jamaat leader Yusuf Maulana. One of them was his son Mehadi someone I knew by face. The rest looked like outsiders, said Biswajit. Explosions rocked the local polling centre around 10:30am. By then, the villagers had started tiptoeing to the centre in small groups. As police opened fire, the attackers retreated and turned towards the Malopara village, of which Biswajit is a resident. Kill me if you want, but spare my villagers, said Biswajit, circled by a group of 15-16 masked men allegedly BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men wielding hockey sticks, machetes, and iron rods. The first three cocktails hurled at him hit his left chest, but did not explode. But the attackers kept on hitting him with sticks and iron rods. That is all Biswajit can remember because soon he fell unconscious. My entire village was ruined; women had swim across a river for saving their lives, said Biswajit. Returning home after the days work around 4pm the same day, Sushil Sarker, 58, was about to have his lunch when he heard shouts that his village was attacked from a neighborhood in the north that was dominated by Jamaat-Shibir and BNP supporters. I was surprised to see that most of the over 200 attackers were just kids, less than 20 years old. Some women
were supplying them with bricks from behind, said Shushil. Shushil had a broken bone in his heel after being hit a big brick during the hour-long chaos. Maloparas Hindus have killed four Muslims. Come sharp and swoop on the village, a Jamaat-Shibir man could be heard speaking over mobile phone. Probhash Sarker, 60, and many women confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that they had heard him giving the message. Around 5:30pm, more than 500 men pounced on the village. Handmade bombs fell on our rooftops like hailstorm as the attackers shouted, Naraye Takbir, Allahu Akbar, said Probhash. The local Awami League supporters kept on calling the leaders and security forces for hours, but in vain. Over 700 villagers fled to Deya Para across the Bhairab River after the attack. Shreedharpur Union Parishad Chairman Habibur Rahman Bappi rescued the victims, and gave them shelter. The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that Bappi, a follower of SK Abdul Wohab, also coordinated the renegade Awami League leaders election campaign.
filed by Sub-Inspector Mohsin Howlader of the Obhoynagar police station, appears weak and contradictory. Claiming to reach Malopara at 6:15pm, the police statement in the twopage complaint contradicts the duration of the attack. In the first page, it is said the attack lasted for 30-35 minutes; but in the second page, the duration of the attack is said to be about 15-20 minutes. The FIR also completely ignored the two previous attacks on Hindus in the area. It also did not give any reason as to why it took them nine hours to reach the scene despite being informed time and time again since afternoon. Names of masterminds and Jamaat-Shibir criminals such as Yusuf Maulana, Taibar, Mahfuz, Mahmud, Ariful and Hasan come in much later in the list of accused.
ROLE OF POLICE
Although police claimed that they had reached Malopara at 6:15pm less than an hour after the village was attacked, witnesses said they did not come until 9pm. The first information report (FIR)
Awami League MP Ranajit Kumar Roy, who won in the January 5 poll, has emphasised, unofficially to journalists and officially to the district administration investigators, that his contender former Whip SK Abdul Wohab, who failed to get party ticket this time, was behind the attacks. The district administration, however, did not find the allegation true in its probe. Wohab incited the attack from behind, using Jamaat-Shibir and BNP men, Ranajit told this correspondent when he met him at his Nam residence in the capital in the second week of
January amid rising speculations that Wohab had had a hand in the attacks. Ranajit, however, could not substantiate his allegation with even a single evidence. He only sourced local Awami League leaders and the victims in favour of him claim. Wohab and Ranajit became rivals after the two parliamentary seats that they had been lawmakers to before, were merged into one for this election. Ranajit outsmarted Wohab in getting the Awami League ticket. The Dhaka Tribune has covered the Obhoynagar repression from the field and did not find evidence in line with Ranajits claim. Reports published in mainstream and social media could have been chiefly based on political rhetoric. This correspondent revisited the Obhoynagar area to investigate into the matter further. Union-level Awami League leaders, activists, police, district administration officials, intelligence, and Malopara victims, particularly those injured during encounters with the attackers in phases, were extensively interviewed. Wohabs name surfaced because his people threatened voters against voting for Ranajit, said Abdul Hoque, an elderly resident of a neighbouring village. Although it was quite clear that BNP and Jamaat-Shibir men were the ones who attacked the Hindus, Ranajit has only been interested in blaming his rival Wohab instead of ensuring a strong case and fair probe against attackers.
Ranajits campaigner Biswajit also rejected any possibility that Wohab might have masterminded the attack. This is an effort to destroy the process of bringing the real culprits to justice. This simply proves the rivalry between leaders, said Biswajit. Iqbal Kabir Jahid, a politburo member of Bangladesh Workers Party, said he was sure about Wohabs instigation behind the attack. He, however, failed to give a single evidence in support of his statement. According to the local people, Wohabs men were seen with the attackers. It is a well-known thing that Awami League, BNP, Jatiya Party and Jamaat men join hands in driving the Hindus out of the area to grab their lands, said Iqbal. Interestingly, Iqbal, who also wanted to contest the poll from the constituency but was rejected nomination by the Awami League-led 14-party alliance, did not visit Malopara until January 17. Former whip Wohab, however, rejected the allegation that he had ever given any communal speech during his electoral campaign. The fact that the victims had not complained against me proves that all the statements that were given against me, are invalid, Wohab said. None of these people, who are accusing me, stood by the victims at times of need. It was my people who gave them shelter, security and food, Wohab said. l
BNP leader would have to surrender, he added. Khurshid said: After receiving notice the lower court that acquitted Tarique on November 17 last year will send all documents of the case to the concerned section of the High Court. Then the section will scrutinise the documents. After that the paper book of the money laundering case will be prepared. In reply to a question he said he did not know how much time would be needed to complete the procedure. During the order, Tariques lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali asked the court not to give the order to surrender, to which the court replied that according to law, when it admits an appeal for hearing, the acquitted person has to surrender before the trial court. On Thursday, the High Court started hearing on whether it could accept the appeal for hearing, and adjourned the case to yesterday. In the hearing, the ACC counsel said if the trial court had considered the witnesses properly, the result of the case would have changed. He told the High Court that the lower court had wrongly interpreted the definition of money laundering. The trial was concluded in absence of Tarique. The court sentenced Tariques friend Giasuddin Al Mamun to seven years imprisonment and fined him Tk400m. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at Ziaur Rahmans grave in the capitals Sher-e-Bangla Nagar yesterday, on occasion of his 78th birth anniversary RAJIB DHAR
n Nazmus Sakib
The chamber judge of the Appellate Division yesterday stayed the High Court order that halted the vote casting at two polling centres of Kurigram 4 constituency. After this order, there are no legal bars to holding vote in the centres, said Additional Attorney General MK Rahman. The Election Commission had scheduled January 16 for vote but due to a High Court order on January 15 that was stopped. Then the EC and Ruhul Amin, the candidate of JP (Manju) filed petitions with the chamber judge to stay the order that the High Court had passed in response to a petition of Awami League candidate Zakir Hossain. MK Rahman stood for the EC while Rokanuddin Mahmud contended for the JP candidate in the court of Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, the chamber judge. l
HC grants bail to Hall-Mark chair Witness: Yusuf, his accomplices killed 65 Hindu villagers
n Nazmus Sakib
The High Court yesterday gave anticipatory bail to Hall-Mark Chair Jasmine Islam for four weeks in connection with a case filed for not submitting her property details to the Anti-Corruption Commission. The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed passed the order in response to a plea lodged by the accused. Jasmine was present during the bail hearing. Barrister Rafique-Ul Huq contended for the Hall-Mark chair while ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan opposed the bail. Khurshid told the Dhaka Tribune they would file a petition to stay the HC order. Earlier on November 13 last year, the ACC asked Jasmine to submit her wealth statement. The anti-graft body extended time for one week, but she did not comply with the ACC order. Later, the Anti-Corruption Commission registered a case against Jasmine with Ramna police station on December 12. l
n Udisa Islam
The war crimes tribunal yesterday recorded testimony of the 21st prosecution witness in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf. Dilip Das, 65, gave his deposition on the killing of 65 Hindu villagers of Ranjitpur in Bagerhat. Before his deposition, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 recorded the evidence of a seizer list witness, Md Ezabuddin Mia, a Bangla Academy librarian.
Dilip said on May 13 of 1971, the locals had been preparing to save the village from attack of razakars. That day Yusufs accomplices came to their
Yusuf was not in the dock as he had been excused from physical presence at the tribunal
village and set fire to houses. All of them who were on duty to protect the village from any attack retreated as they were not well prepared.
He said Rajjab Ali with Siraj master, Akiz Uddin and Ishaq had attacked in a planned way. When they started shooting, all of them gave slogan saying Pakistan Jindabaad and Yusuf Bhai Jindabaad. Dilip said he had been hiding in a bush during the attack. When the attackers left the area, the locals found 65 bodies including 25 of that particular village. After the incident, the witness said he had left Bangladesh and went to India where he attained training at Tetta
camp. After finishing the training, he came back to Bangladesh on June 1971. His testimony was incomplete as the tribunal adjourned the proceedings until today. Yusuf is facing 13 counts of crimes against humanity including genocide, murders, arson attacks, abduction, torture in confinement, and forced conversion and deportation of Hindus at different places of the district. For the first time, Yusuf was not in the dock as he had been excused from physical presence at the tribunal. l
4
Shibir leaders body found in Ctg n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong
Police recovered a bullet-riddled body of a local Islami Chhatra Shibir leader from Sitakunda point of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in Chittagong yesterday. The deceased, Mosharraf Hossain, 22, hailing from Kedarkhil village of the upazila, was the general secretary of Ward No. 2 Chattra Shibir in Sitakunda Municipality, confirmed Iftekhar Hasan, officer-in-charge of Sitakunda Police Station. He said the body was recovered from the west side of the highway at the middle point between Choto Darogarhat and Teriail at around 11:30am, after being informed by locals. The dead body was sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital for autopsy, he added. Meanwhile, Mohammad Sahadat, a relative of the deceased, claimed that a group of people, identifying themselves as members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-7), picked up Mosharraf from his residence the previous night. When contacted, Rab-7 Commanding Officer Mifta Uddin Ahmad refuted the claim and said no raids were conducted at the upazila since last week. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
Activists of Ganajagaran Mancha at a rally in Thakurgaon yesterday, protesting the recent attacks on Hindus. The rally was organised as part of its road march programme
DHAKA TRIBUNE
The clash took place following an altercation between supporters of Awami League leader Abdul Malek and Fursundi UP Chairman Shahid Sikdar at Tikari Bazar
confirmed the news of the deaths and said no case was filed yet in this connection. Shah Alams body was sent to the morgue of Magura general hospital for postmortem examination. Of the injured, six were taken to Jhenaidah general hospital, while the remaining eight to Magura general hospital. l
A child is awarded at the closing ceremony of Rivers of the World, a public artwork exhibition which started on Thursday, at Rabindra Sarobar yesterday SADIA MARIUM am very happy to participate in the programme and receive the prize. Ohona expressed her excitement after receiving the prize and said she would participate in such programmes in future. Shahriar Karim, chief news editor of the Dhaka Tribune said: This sort of initiative would help the children and the young generation to learn about the environment through play. Robin Davies, director of Partnerships and Programmes Project of British Council Bangladesh said the world would become better if children could go ahead this way. This opportunity enriches the understanding of the children. Again, they can be more aware about river pollution, he added. He also said 150 schools from the UK and 150 schools from Bangladesh would be connected through Connecting Classrooms Project by 2015 which
WEATHER
PRAYER TIMES
Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha 5:24am 6:42am 12:09am 3:59pm 5:35pm 6:54pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
5
Key accused gives confessional statement
n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
A Dhaka court yesterday recorded the confessional statement of Humayun Kabir, the detained driver of veteran photojournalist Aftab Ahmed who was brutally killed at his residence on December 25. Metropolitan Magistrate SM Ashiqur Rahman recorded the statement after Sub-Inspector Ashik Iqbal of RAB 3, also the investigation officer of the case, produced the accused before the court with a plea to record the confessional statement. On January 12, RAB personnel arrested five individuals from Dhaka and Gazipur. The four others are Belal Hossain Kislu, Habib Hawlader, Raju Munshi and Sabuj Khan. Later, a Dhaka court placed them on a five-day remand. Aftab Ahmed was found dead with his hands and legs tied with a rope at his Rampura residence in the capital. Aftab, a recipient of the Ekushey Padak, had captured several historic moments including the surrender document signed by General Niazi accepting defeat at the hands of the joint command of the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini. Aftabs family claimed that he had been murdered for his money. Driver Humayun, the main suspect, had been on the run since the murder. l
The buses are so crowded that it becomes impossible for older people, women or children to obtain a seat inside a bus. Consequently, these vulnerable groups of people do not have access to bus services during rush hours
Moinul Hossain, another passenger from Tejturipara of Farmgate area, said EnaParibahan, which charged Tk 10 a few days back for travelling from Karwan Bazar to Purana Paltan, was now charging Tk 12. Moinul also claimed that the transport owners hardly maintained the quality of services against non-stop and sitting, for which they charged
`The average turnout up to the 10th parliamentary poll was 65%, but this time it was different; the country witnessed the lowest ever turnout.
The session was part of a project of Change Makers aimed at raising awareness among first-time voters and was preceded by another session on December 12 last year. In this regard, SM Shiblee Rahman, programme officer of the organisation, said: We will hold similar sessions in five other constituencies of Dhaka and another five outside the capital. We will try involve with the process as many voters as possible. Among others, EMK Centre Director MK Aaref and Change Makers President TanbirUl Islam Siddiqui also participated in the programme. l
Sales persons show jewellery items to customers at Dhaka Trade F air yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
A street vendor of winter clothes removes his makeshift shop from a footpath in Rajshahi city yesterday. Police evict street vendors often to free the footpaths, but the vendors complain that such drives are affecting their livelihood DHAKA TRIBUNE
An Awami League activist was stabbed during an argument between two groups over sitting at a welcoming programme organised for Sirajganjs newly elected lawmaker. The reception for Hasibur Rahman Swapan was held on Saturday in the districts Shahjadpur upazila. The injured was identified as Iran, 28. Local Awami League sources said activists of two groups led by Swapans two followers Ekramul Haque Rizvi and Shahin were engaged in an altercation over sitting at the reception. At one point, Rizvis followers stabbed Iran, who was a follower of Shahin. The injured activist was first taken to a clinic but as his condition deteriorated, he was sent to Sirajganj Sadar Hospital. Following the incident, Swapan asked the officer-in-charge of Sirajganj Sadar police station to arrest the perpetrators immediately, police sources said. OC Habibul Islam said no case was yet filed regarding the incident. He said his forces were trying to arrest the perpetrators according to the list given by the lawmaker. l
n Mushque Wadud
Although the Directorate of Primary Education had supposedly arranged for an information sharing meeting with journalists, the meeting ultimately turned into a flattery session. The meeting titled Progress in Last Five Years on Primary Education and Future Plans was held at the directorate in the city yesterday. Unfortunately, very few words were discussed about the problems of the primary education sector and the ways to resolve them. It seemed that officials had only one goal in mind: how to sugar-coat words to please their bosses. Mostafizur Rahman has been entrusted with responsibility of Primary and Mass Education Ministry. As we have a new minister, we need to introduce ourselves to him. That is why we arranged this meeting. This is more like an introductory meeting, a senior official of Directorate of Primary Education, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune. The Awami League formed a 49-member cabinet led by Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina on January 12. In the immediate past tenure, Awami League leader Afsarul Ameen was in charge of primary and mass education minister. Before joining the ministry, Mostafizur Rahman was state minister for land. After you (Mostafizur Rahman) were made primary and mass education minister, we have discussed about you with our colleagues and everyone said that you are a good person. We are lucky that we have got a minister like you, said SM Mesbahul Islam, additional director general at DPE. The honorable minister said that he knew nothing about this ministry, but the experience he learnt in his life is more than enough to run the ministry, said DPEs Director General Shyamal Kanti Ghosh. In reply to their praises, the minister said, Please do not hesitate to tell me if I make any mistakes and let me suggest how we can take good initiatives to achieve our goal. The minister said education was a core sector that can help the country to become a middle-income country by the governments targeted time. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Nation
The United Peoples Democratic Front holds a rally in Khagrachhari yesterday, condemning the attack on minority people across the country DHAKA TRIBUNE
Schoolboy rescued after 5 hours of n Tribune Report abduction There is a festive mood in Godagari upazila of the district recently. n Tribune Report Farmers, labourers and traders in
Five hours into his kidnapping from the classroom, police rescued a schoolboy following a gunfight with kidnappers in Pahartali area of Coxs Bazar town yesterday. The rescued is Saddam Hossain, a Class VII student of Coxs Bazar Technical School and College.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Youth arrested with ammo Two meat sellers fined Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a in Meherpur
youth with 34 bullets and a magazine in Hazra area under Natore Sadar upazila yesterday. The arrested was identified as Belal Hossein, 35, son of Jafar Ullah of Islabari Khamar village under the upazila. Rab sources said, on information, a team of Rab-5 had conducted a raid in the area and arrested him with the ammo. Our Correspondent A mobile court yesterday fined two meat sellers Tk40,000 for selling dead cows meat in the market. The court gave the penalty to Israil Hossain and Mintu Ahmed, both meat traders. Police said being informed, a team of police force led by sub-inspector Kamal Hossain of sadar thana raided the market and arrested them at about 11am. Later, assistant commissioner of mobile court Saem Monaem Majumdar fined them at noon. BSS
Outraged by the incident, students of the institution blocked the road in the area and vandalised several passing vehicles
School sources said a gang of 10 armed criminals, belonging to Rocky Bahini, had stormed into the educational institution at South Rumaliarchhara in the town around 9am and kidnapped Saddam from the classroom at gunpoint. Outraged by the incident, students of the institution blocked the road in the area and vandalised several passing vehicles. On information, police rushed in and launched a drive to rescue the schoolboy. The law enforcers rescued Saddam from the Pahartali area around 2pm after a gunfight with the kidnappers when the schoolchild and his brother Mahbub sustained injuries. However, no one was arrested in this connection. Mohammad Jasim Uddin, officerin-charge of Coxs Bazar Sadar Model police station, said Rocky, the ringleader of Rocky Bahini, and his cohorts including Dilu, Rafique, Hossain are wanted in several cases of murder, robbery and abduction. l
Local people roam around the house of a BNP leader yesterday, which was set on fire by miscreants following the death of a Jubo Leugue leader in Sitakunda on Saturday DHAKA TRIBUNE
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Long Form
The CEC inspecting polling facillities to conduct a free fair election, the CEC needs superpowers like horeos in comic strips
NP now dreams of another election If not today maybe tomorrow, at best day after tomorrow. Awami Leagues dream, on the other hand, is to complete its full tenure. However its leaders have themselves said that they had to hold the 10th elections to fulfill a constitutional obligation. They were also assured that a dialogue with BNP would take place after the 10th election, and this dialogue would pave the way for the 11th elections. It is certain that the third term of Sheikh Hasina will not be short. It is also unlikely that the government will be able to complete its full five-year tenure. However diplomatic pressure, especially from the west, is piling up, seeking an inclusive election in which all parties participate. They also desire that BNP deserts their combine with Jamaat-e-Islami, which once again has proved that they are a brutal entity. Perhaps, Begum Khaleda Zia now understands that her dependence on Jamaat-Shibir was not the right choice to make, but still she appears to be in a dilemma: to say good-bye to Jamaat, which had unleashed a reign of terror in an attempt to foil the trial of 1971 war criminals, or to maintain the alliance. Begum Zia had thought her demand for an election under a non-party government could be attained through Jamaat-Shibirs mission to destabilise the country. The result is a big naught, as anarchy by Shibir overshadowed her demand. As a result, her party too, failed to build any momentum In fact, Khaleda Zias original sin was failing to comprehend that after Sheikh Hasinas triumph in the December 29, 2008 elections, Bangladeshs politics in the coming years would be centered over the trial of war criminals. Soon after that election, she had an opportunity to oust Jamaat-e-Islami from her alliance, and
identify that the new generation voted for the war criminals trial. It would have also helped her to shoulder the responsibilities of the huge defeat in that election. Khaleda Zia even failed to anticipate
turned out to be a nightmare. Yes, one can raise questions about the morality of the present government, but there is no question of legality, as the constitution doesnt impose any condition of turnout on
Khaleda Zias original sin was failing to comprehend that Bangladeshs politics in the coming years would be centered on the trial of war criminals
the course of political developments when Sheikh Hasina killed her own idea of the non-party caretaker government, and amended the constitution to hold general elections under an interim government, like in other parliamentary democracies in the world. Obviously the government was mindful of the possibility that if Khaleda Zia continued her alliance with Jamaat, her movement for voting rights would get mixed up with Jamaat-Shibirs bid to protect the war criminals. And the governments prediction came true through the anarchy unleashed by Jamaat-Shibir. This is the reason why Khaleda Zia, to many, emerged as the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami. Development partners are now urging her to call off her relations with Jamaat. The BNP Chairpersons misreading of politics continued further when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called her to initiate dialogue on the election issue within the ultimatum given by Khaleda Zia herself, but subsequently the opposition leader failed to respond positively. In fact, her daydream that Jamaat-Shibir would realise her demand, and that she would be the Prime Minister for the fourth time,
It is also true that we are not so civilised that a party in government will ensure an impartial election takes place devoid of undue influence
the elections. Begum Khaleda will need quite a long time to wage a huge movement against the government from the moral high ground. But what would happen if the BNP had taken part in the 10th parliamentary elections? Partys top brass, in the highest party forum, argued: a) That BNP announces participation in the election to regroup its leaders and activists in all spheres in an organized way, and if the question of boycott comes up the party will be able to wage a huge movement; b) That BNP takes part in the election, observes until the voting is over, and if there is massive rigging, an immediate mass movement will be possible as tens of thousands of BNP activists will be in and around the polling centers. Neither Begum Khaleda Zia nor the London-based party decision maker Tarique Rahman accepted the argument, and relied instead on Jamaat-Shibir anarchy. The end result is that the party, which was dreaming of assuming power in early 2014, may need to wait for an election in another five years. Peace seemingly having been restored, people are not talking about another round of elections so early. BNP aside, the headache now, seems to be the west. But the time of the next election will depend on the extent of any movement, if BNP can create it, and the governments ability to tackle it. On the other hand, if BNP (with Jamaat or without Jamaat) wages a movement, their demand will not be an early election only, but also the holding of the election under a non-partisan, neutral government. Apart from denying the first demand, the Awami League government will again rule out the second one. The re-
sult will be a repeat of the same chain of events we witnessed before and after the 10th parliamentary elections. So, whenever the election is held, answers to many questions need to be found much earlier. Talks may begin tomorrow if we want to avoid further clashes and bloodshed over the election issue. The first and foremost question is ensuring a free, fair, and impartial election. It is true that holding the elections under a government of unelected people is unconstitutional and against the spirit of democracy. It is also true that we are not so civilised that a party in government will ensure an impartial election takes place devoid of undue influence. So, we have to find a solution, and it lies with a really strong Election Commission.
election time government, are there any other major political differences between the two parties?
Independent candidature
Like in case of scrapping the no vote system, BNP remained silent when the government scrapped another rule that meant one person needed to be affiliated with a political party for at least three years to be eligible for candidature from that party. Here the interest of both the parties is the same. It means they want to enjoy the liberty to make anyone their candidate any time. But, the scope of independent candidates, or someone leaving a party to be a candidate, has been limited by the mandatory clause that an independent candidate has to submit the signatures of one percent of the voters in a constituency. It is further proof that the two parties consider the country as their zamindari. The polling rooms are the places for exercising the right to franchise. Why should voters be exposed before the election by putting down their signa-
Reintroduction of no vote
BNP has been involved in an anarchist movement for a caretaker government for the last few years, but did not raise its voice when the no vote provision was scrapped. It is another sign that there is no difference between the two parties apart from the question of who will be in power. Again, Begum Zia here failed to see that Sheikh Hasinas government by scrapping the no vote is going to hold an almost one-party election. They had an apprehension that there will be a big scandal if there is a no vote system, and an organised campaign could have made the no vote box heavier than the others. Bangladesh needs to reintroduce the no vote system to avert one-party
Bangladesh needs a majority vote clause. If there is a constitutional clause that an election will require a minimum 51 percent turnout, the possibility of an election keeping major parties sidelined will lessen
election in future. Both parties should understand that it is also required for their own interest. If any of the parties boycott an election for pragmatic reasons, the no vote will keep some room for them, and the voters could say no to the incumbent alongside denying unfit candidates in an ideal poll.
tures for an independent candidate? It is also contrary to the provision of a secret vote. Moreover, it enables the ruling party to cancel the candidature of an independent candidate, through the returning officer, in the name of signature forgery. The one percent signature provision is clearly a black law. It has to be scrapped to allow any fit person to be a candidate in the national elections.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
International
A large section of Ramadi and all of Fallujah fell from government control late last month Ki-moon have urged Baghdad to pur- by the Iraqi security forces to describe n AFP, Ramadi sue political reconciliation to under- militants.
Iraqi soldiers take position in a street of the city of Ramadi, west of the capital Baghdad, during a military operation against antigovernment fighters AFP
A police lieutenant colonel and an AFP journalist in Ramadi both confirmed the operation had begun. All of the neighbourhoods targeted lie in the south or centre of the city. The operation will seek to take back momentum from anti-government fighters, who have expanded their hold on Ramadi in the past week after police and allied tribesmen trumpeted gains there earlier this month. A large section of Ramadi and all of Fallujah, both former insurgent bastions close to Baghdad, fell from government control late last month. It was the first time anti-government fighters have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of 2003. l
Mali arrests judge accused of role in Islamist occupation n AFP, Bamako n Reuters, Tripoli
The Malian army on Friday arrested a judge accused of being a key figure in the brutal 2012 Islamist occupation of the countrys northern desert, the government said. Houka Houka Ag Alfousseyni, who is said to have sat in the ancient caravan town of Timbuktu during the occupation, was taken into custody at midday and handed over for questioning, government spokesman Youssouf Toure said in a statement. The arrest comes three weeks after Aliou Mahamar Toure, the former chief of the Islamic police in Gao, Malis largest northern city, was taken into custody by the army. Toure is accused of presiding over numerous rights abuses as a key member of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, commonly known by its French initials MUJAO. Thus, less than a month after the arrest of the former Islamic commissioner of Gao, the armed forces have just neutralised the threat of another influential member of the terrorist groups that prevailed in the north of the country, Toure said. He did not indicate the charges that Alfousseyni may face. MUJAO was one of several Islamist militias linked to al-Qaeda which occupied Gao, Timbuktu and northern Malis other towns and cities for nine months in 2012. The groups exacted a brutal version of Islamic Shariah law characterised by amputations, beatings and executions before they were ousted by a Frenchled military intervention launched 12 months ago. Toure said the government was encouraging Malians to help security forces conduct a relentless struggle against all forms of extremism. l
Women and children carry water from a water point, in Minkammen 25km south of Bor
AFP
n AFP
South Sudanese soldiers have recaptured the key town of Bor, defeating an army of thousands of rebels, an army spokesman said. Today the gallant SPLA forces entered Bor, they have defeated more than 15,000 forces of (rebel leader) Riek Machar and frustrated his plans to attack Juba, Philip Aguer, army spokesman, told reporters on Saturday. Ateny Wek Ateny, spokesman for President Salva Kiir, said the troops had been congratulated for a job well done. He also said the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) would observe international rule of law, a day after a top United Nations rights envoy reported that the conflict has been marked by mass killings, extrajudicial killings, widespread destruction and looting. If there are people captured they should be kept in regards to the international law, the spokesman said.
Bor is the capital of Jonglei state and is situated 200km north of the capital Juba. The town has changed hands four times since the conflict in the worlds youngest nation began five weeks ago. Government troops were battling rebel forces on Saturday for control of the key oil town of Malakal, the army said, though it admitted having trouble contacting its commanders on the ground. Communication is still difficult. We will find out today how the fighting ended yesterday. We still feel were still sharing Malakal with the rebels, but by the end of the day (the army) must clear the rebels from Malakal, Philip Aguer, army spokesman, told AFP news agency. The United Nations says 468,000 people have fled their homes because of the fighting, which has spiralled into ethnic killings between members of Kiirs Dinka people the countrys largest group and Machars Nuer. Up to 10,000 people are believed to have been killed so far in the conflict. l
A PACKED RIDE
A car full with people and their belongings in the PK 9 district flee from Bangui on January 5. A grenade attack on a Bangui market left four injured, including two women and a Burundian soldier from MISCA AFP
DHAKA TRIBUNE
International
9
India reassures African nations after women confronted in Delhi n AFP, New Delhi
Indias foreign ministry said Sunday it has reassured ambassadors of some 20 African nations that authorities are not targeting their nationals, after an incident over a suspected prostitution ring. A senior ministry official met the ambassadors Saturday night over the incident in which a Delhi state minister and his supporters reportedly confronted four Ugandan women in the capital on suspicion they were engaged in prostitution. The official conveyed the government of Indias view that the incident was utterly condemnable and cannot be condoned, the ministry said in a statement. He also assured the African envoys that there was no deliberate targeting of the nationals of any country and the incident should remain an aberration. The incident happened on Wednesday evening when newly-elected state law minister Somnath Bharti and his supporters surrounded the four women who were in a taxi, a lawyer acting for the women told the Press Trust of India. The mob threatened and intimidated the women and refused them permission to visit a toilet, forcing one to relieve herself in public, lawyer Harish Salve told the news agency. Media reports said a row also erupted between the minister and his followers and the police, who refused to search a nearby house for evidence of a suspected drugs and prostitution racket because they did not have a warrant. African residents told Sundays The Hindu newspaper that members of the mob then forced their way into their homes in south Delhi, making racist remarks, in an apparent search for evidence of the racket. Delhis new chief minister was unapologetic yesterday, saying police should have acted on the ministers suspicions of criminal behaviour in the area. He denied any element of racism or vigilantism. Dont make it a diplomatic issue. We are not against any race or country. We are against anti-social elements, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told the Hindustan Times. Nigeria last November demanded that India ensure the safety of its nationals following the killing of a Nigerian in the tourist state of Goa and subsequent protests over the death. l
Indias opposition prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi
AFP
He said the 43-year-old bachelor was too ashamed to go head to head with him at the elections
Yesterday, Modi sought to contrast his humble beginnings as the son of a tea vendor with Rahul Gandhi whose family has dominated Indian politics since independence in 1947. Modi said 43-year-old bachelor Rahul was too ashamed to go head to head with him at the elections. Rahul Gandhi feels shameful in fighting elections against a tea vendor, Modi told the crowd. The BJP named fiery hardliner Modi as its candidate in September and the partys campaign has been centred around him and his 13 years in charge of the western state of Gujarat. A survey last week said that only 14% of voters believed Rahul Gandhi would make the best prime minister while 58% opted for Modi. l
Indias Human Resources Minister Shashi Tharoor sits with relatives and friends alongside the body of his wife Sunanda Pushkar at a cremation centre in New Delhi AFP
Seven seriously hurt in Bangkok blast China breaks up sexselective abortion gang n
Reuters, Bangkok
n Agencies
China has arrested a gang that ran an illegal business enabling women to identify the sex of unborn children and abort those they did not want, the countrys health ministry said. The crackdown netted 10 people who had since 2010 operated the service, the health ministry said yesterday. The operation sent women from all over the country to a clinic in the central city of Zhengzhou to find out the sex of their unborn child. Last year alone, more than 1,000 women used the service, the ministry said, although it did not say how many abortions resulted. Three decades of the one child policy in China have bolstered a traditional favouring of
male offspring, seen as the main support of elderly parents and heirs to the family name. This led to abortions, killings or abandonment of girls and trafficking of both male and female children. One of the businesss ringleaders has already received a jail term of 3-1/2 years and fined 100,000 yuan ($16,500), with the rest getting slightly shorter sentences. The ministry said it was the biggest case of its kind in the past few years. This went on for a long time, covering a wide area and involved many people. It was malicious, had serious results and was a great threat to society, it added. The problem is widespread, the ministry warned, adding that it faced a serious situation in trying to end such abuses. l
Twenty-eight people were wounded, seven seriously, in explosions yesterday at a camp of anti-government protesters in Bangkok, the latest violence in a prolonged political crisis dividing the country and threatening the Thai economy. The explosion comes a day after the military urged both sides to settle their differences in the more than two-month long dispute, in which protesters are trying to bring down the elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. There were 28 people injured from the blast at the Victory Monument, Suphan Srithamma, director general of the Bangkok Emergency Medical Centre, told reporters. Among these 7 people were seriously injured. Witnesses said they heard two explosions.
The first blast I heard was from behind the stage, said Teerawut Utakaprechanun, who told Reuters Television he had been turning out for the protests every day. People were looking around. I saw the security guards running after a suspect. After one minute I heard another bomb blast. On Friday night, one man was killed and 35 protesters were wounded in a grenade explosion in the capital. That takes to nine the death toll since the protests started in November. They form the latest episode in an eight-year conflict pitting Bangkoks middle class and royalist establishment against poorer, mainly rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, the self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The protesters accuse Thaksin of nepotism and corruption, and aim to eradicate the political influence of his fam-
ily by altering electoral arrangements, though in ways they have not spelt out, along with other political reforms. A ceremony for the dead man was being held at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok yesterday, where hundreds of people had gathered. It is expected to be attended by the firebrand leader of the government protests, Suthep Thaugsuban. Earlier in the day, Suthep led thousands in a march through Bangkok demanding that Yingluck resign, and collecting bundles of cash from supporters in the streets in what has become a trademark of his public appearances. However, there are signs the protests against the government could be running out of steam. The government has allowed protesters to take over key buildings without confrontation and, crucially, the military has so far remained neutral. l
Protesters hold dolphin-shaped balloons and anti-dolphin slaughter placards as they march to the Japanese embassy in Manila AFP Cove was met by protests from rightwing activists when it was screened inJapanin 2010. Sea Shepherd said Saturday that at least 25 dolphins were taken away from their pods for possible sale to aquariums, and that the selection is likely to continue Sunday. l
10
www.dhakatribune.com
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Editorial
LETTER OF THE DAY
Letters to
the Editor
The government of Bangladesh should undertake all necessary diplomatic efforts to ensure the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty is not violated
January 17 It has become very difficult to move about in Dhaka owing to the lack of affordable and comfortable means of transport. The few thousand well-off have their own motor vehicles, or their employers provide it for them through the traffic jams. But the remaining millions of inhabitants are helpless. They cannot afford motor vehicles nor get transport facilities from their employers, and hence depend on public transport. Financial and administrative restrictions have been imposed on the import and registration of low-cost CNG auto-rickshaws. The public buses that ply on the city streets are inadequate, and their routes dont cover all areas of the city. What is commonly seen on buses is that male passengers exert pressure to get on a bus at a stoppage, making it difficult for women and children to compete with them in getting on. Bus conductors also discourage them from getting on. And then, though there are six to eight seats reserved for female passengers, male passengers tend to occupy those seats. This situation needs to change. The number of female and child passengers have increased, and buses should offer them affordable bus service and encourage them to take the bus more often. All the two-seater seats on the left side can be reserved for them. The BRTA should make it mandatory. Mohammad Ashraf Hossain
Be Heard
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Facebook politics
January 12 You wrote the attacks to the minorities were carried out by the opposition, but be aware that that we live in a corrupt country, where we cannot believe anyone. The attacks could even have been carried out by the present party, you cannot be sure. Anyone can wear a disguise and claim otherwise. I do not want to start a debate but I just wanted to point that out. This is Bangladesh where anyone can do anything and get away with it. Ricky Martin
new coastal shipping line is scheduled to operate from March between Chittagong, Mongla, Narayanganj and Teknaf ports in Bangladesh and Maungtaw, Pathein, Sittwe and Yangon in Myanmar. The service will provide valuable support to the target set by the recent Joint Trade Commission (JTC) meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, to increase annual bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar to $500m. Bangladeshs annual trade with its neighbour currently stands at around $100m. This is far behind countries such as China and Thailand and represents only 0.2% of Myanmars total trade. The JTC talks this month have given a welcome boost to bilateral relations and provide a good platform to build mutual trade links in future. Bangladeshi businesses and industries in sectors such as cement, electric cables and pharmaceuticals are already achieving laudable success in growing exports to Myanmar. With its newly opened up economy proving highly attractive to international investors, there is considerable scope for to grow mutual trade and co-operation much further. The new shipping service adds to the welcome move by Biman Bangladesh airlines last December, to re-establish the Dhaka-Yangon air route. Further talks are still needed to reduce trade barriers in the long term and improve overland communication links to take advantage of geographical closeness. Both countries will benefit from such talks as they may not only increase trade and investment but can also reduce dependence on other countries.
The service will provide valuable support in increasing annual bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar to $500m, which currently stands at around $100m
PEANUTS
CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1 Like better (6) 5 Melody (3) 7 Vigour (3) 8 Picturesque (6) 11 Favourite (3) 12 Pleasing quality (5) 14 Sleeveless garment (4) 16 Trunk (5) 18 Embellish (5) 20 Niggardly (4) 21 Take unjustly (5) 23 Liable (3) 24 Seesaw (6) 27 Consumed (3) 28 Finish (3) 29 Delight (6) DOWN 1 Step (3) 2 First woman (3) 3 Digits (7) 4 Eastern ruler (4) 5 Electrical unit (6) 6 Fixed allowance (6) 9 Dressed (4) 10 Feline (3) 13 Contend for a prize (7) 14 Bottle for the table (6) 15 Showed sullenness (6) 17 Wise man (4) 19 Fastener (3) 22 Actual (4) 25 Beverage (3) 26 Cereal (3)
SUDOKU
YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
Crossword
How to solve Sudoku: 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 numberrepeating.
Code-Cracker
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Op-Ed
11
n MAB Siddique
RAJIB DHAR
Election games
n Ziauddin Choudhury
rime Minister Sheikh Hasinas grand plan for a second term started with the constitutional amendment on the caretaker government. Ironically however, the approval rating for her government, which was still high before the amendment, started to slide dramatically after this event. She realised this only after the rout of Awami League-sponsored mayoral candidates for five cities. She put up a brave face digesting this defeat in public. In private, however, she saw the signs of impending defeat for her party in the upcoming general elections. There were two ways to prevent this defeat, she calculated. One was to wreck the main opposition BNP, headed by her arch rival Begum Khaleda Zia, by whatever means she could. The other was to have an election without the main opposition. In devising strategies to achieve these goals, she had ample supply of political advice from her trusted ally across the border. There were many ways to wreck the main opposition, overt and covert. The overt ways included painting the opposition as supporters of war criminals, which the opposition unwittingly gave credence to by their continued affiliation with Jamaat-e-Islami. The party was constantly cited as a collection of anti-liberation and hence anti-Bangladesh forces, labels that the party also could not remove successfully because of their political alliance in the previous government
with Jamaat. The ruling party successfully recruited and outsourced this vilification campaign to a newly sprung semi-political body of student and cultural activists who had mobilised to campaign for war crimes punishments. The other overt way was to apply minimal force to stop the party from carrying out strikes and blockades.The intent was to establish BNP as a proselytiser of violence, and direct toward the party domestic and international displeasure and disapproval of the political violence that was taking place during strikes and blockades.
opposition from anyone. No one can also explain why trains were not stopped before they started on their journeys over those damaged tracks. Perhaps these are actual accidents, but it is also possible that these were deliberately planned accidents that could be assigned to the opposition and have it painted as the devil. The covert way to wreck the opposition was to break its leadership, either by coercion or by persuasion.Coercion is an easy option, which the government could do by arrest, and arraignment on cooked-up charges. Persuasion was more difficult, since money
Western countries will gradually accept the elections, but with public pronouncement for a desire for a more inclusive election soon
Nobody knows who the perpetrators of arson, murders, and absolute mayhem during the hartals and blockades actually were, since it is believed by some people that these largely criminal acts were performed by hired hands. No one can explain how, in large cities, buses could be set on fire by small groups of people, while law enforcing agencies watched. No one can explain how small bands of youth could uproot railway slippers in broad daylight in places humming with people, without any
cannot always buy all. The government tried both, and it can be reasonably hypothesised that persuasion probably played a greater role. Given the past history of some of our political leaders, it is believed that some of those incarcerated in the last two months could have willingly decided to remain inside, rather than outside, because of policy differences with the chairperson of the party and her more powerful son. This hypothesis will pan out more in the coming months if and when
another midterm election is held. However, so far, physical absence of some of the top leaders from the oppositions campaign to stop the general elections on January 5 helped the ruling party greatly. Has anyone wondered why the opposition rallies did not demandthe release of these leaders from jail? Despite an international outcry for an all-inclusive election and entreaties to Sheikh Hasina not to hold the elections with a made up opposition, she went ahead because she had the support of the most important foreign power that had also provided the needed moral boost for the elections. The opposition rally and threat to disrupt the elections did not hold out, proving that Sheikh Hasinas strategy was right. She not only received endorsements of the election results from India, but also a backslapping from another important ally, Russia. China has recently given its endorsement. The Western countries, including the USA, will also gradually accept the elections grudgingly, but with public pronouncement for a desire for the government to hold a more inclusive election soon. But no one except Hasina knows when and if at all these elections will happen. For now, Hasina will hold out the carrot of another election to the opposition, but she will hold it only till the opposition has split into ways that the former Yugoslovia went. l Ziauddin Choudhury has worked in the higher civil service of Bangladesh early in his career, and later for the World Bank in the USA.
vibrant democracy might have been a prerequisite to ensure a peaceful coexistence of diverse communities. History says Bengals struggle against colonisation and for democracy was, in fact, against the communalism imposed by the invaders, colonisers, and undemocratic usurpers. Every time the country sees an attack on minority communities, the nation fails once more. But the repetition of such unfortunate, inhumane attacks has never been stopped. The country saw yet another spell of attacks on Hindu communities after the 10th national parliamentary election. The assumption is that minorities never vote for political parties that dont promote pluralism or secularism. We know pluralism is the cornerstone of democracy, which still, unfortunately, remains a far cry for Bangladesh. In the four decades since independence, democracy has not functioned properly. Regimes reintroduced the use of religion into politics. A form of democracy free from the clutches of despots was brought back in the 90s, but the attacks on the minorities never stopped. We know that the Pakistani occupation army committed atrocities on the common, unarmed people, irrespective of religion, in 1971, but they particularly spread hatred against the Hindu people. Bangladesh still suffers from communal stigma. The attacks on minorities that Bangladesh witnessed recently is dragging us back to the darkness of the past. Communal hate cannot be tolerated. A major basis of the modern state is secularism. We are a country where diverse communities live together. So getting rid of communal tension is very important in the region. We never want to divide ourselves on the basis of differences in religious belief. But there have been those who always wanted to erect partitions between us. They have attempted to create hate based on artificial differences. We failed to stop many of these attacks. This is a failure of the state. Bangladesh has derailed from its course. Secularism, which was a major pillar in the constitution, was achieved through immeasurable sacrifice. It is a matter of great regret that the country is still striving to ensure security for all of its people. The politics that spreads the communal hate is not only against the ideas and values of the liberation war, but also against the spirit of democracy. As news reports suggest, the growing Hindu migration from the country was driven by various forms of repression and marginalisation, added to economic deprivation and exploitation. If we want to move towards a truly democratic and civilised state, we have to stop this shameful communal
hate forever. We know that human civilisation progressed with solidarity and equality among human beings. Cashing in on this hate, or invoking unnecessary resentment against India, would be a mistake. This will only make Bangladesh more vulnerable, and will destabilise the region.
Every time the country sees an attack on minority communities, the nation fails once more
All citizens deserve equal rights and protection from the state. Developed countries make it a priority to stand up against racism. In the modern world, democracy is the accepted system. If a nation fails to form a well-functioning democracy, it will lag behind Bangladesh has to further develop its democracy. For that, it has to eradicate the evils of communalism from all its spheres. If it fails to do so, it cannot advance and it cannot ensure democratic rule. Those trying to spread hate and create tension between communities need to be identified immediately and brought to book. At the same time, it is important to make necessary reforms to the education system. We need to establish one scientific stream of education to get rid of ignorant elements that contribute to communalism. Liberation values are to be championed as well. At the same time, we need to address the economic issues that are also responsible for the communalism. No attack on any human being is legitimate, and the state has to ensure that no one is spared for attacks on individuals or communities. The state has to be properly equipped to battle these crimes. Policies are not enough; we need the development of culture as well. The protests we saw around the country against these attacks are something to gain hope from. In some cases, it is easy to exploit the economically vulnerable. The gap between the rich and poor, between the urban and rural, must be reduced. Global humanity cannot exist with this kind of hate, so besides our morality and ethics, there needs to be political, economic, social, and cultural forces to resist the evil. Otherwise, the struggles for our secular nation will be in vain. Our humanity will be gone, the system will collapse. And we cannot let that happen.l MAB Siddique is a staff writer at the Dhaka Tribune.
n Towheed Feroze
would give you five hundred bucks if you could find a single home in the city flying either the yellow and blue flag of Abahani, or the white and black colours of Mohammedan.The stadium, where the once mighty giants of South Asian football faced each other, bore no signs of the supercharged match that would be held on the evening ofJanuary 19. Not surprisingly, supercharged is just a hollow term now; the opposite would be better used in this situation. Activities around the stadium had hardly anything to do with the game of the night. People were too busy making a living. Perhaps a few ticket-sellers could be found amidst the busy movement, shouting: Ticket! Ticket! AbahaniMohammedan! All of a sudden, a veteran football aficionado, who had once spent hours in the gallery screaming his lungs out, stopped for a second to ask: Is it today? And then, a flood of old memoriescame back flags on top of almost all the buildings in the city, the momentum building up for over a week, galleries filling up bynoon, police being put on alert for any post-match violence, captains interviewed by the media, and camps of both clubs in a condition of suppressed anxiety.
Pre-match excitement was laced with a variety of questions from fans: What was Aslam taking for his lunch? Was Kaiser in full form? What would happen if Mohsins knee pain was aggravated? It was Dhaka derby day a time to put aside all kinds of work, worries, and issues. Politics be damned football ruled the day. The reverie was broken by a jolt from a passer-by, and the man came back to the present. He looked up, no flags flew, the stadium was empty, and life had evolved to push football and the derby far, far away from priorities.
If you were a Mohammedan or Abahani player, that was your identity till you hung your boots
Should he have taken a ticket? The seller was in no hurry, he retired to one corner to empty his bladder, while the man went back once more to the days when crackers exploded, passion raged, rivalry reached a boiling point as the country stood still for the blues
and the whites to take the spotlight. The Abahani-Mohammedan fight on the football pitch divided the nation, launching a football culture which was an institution in itself. The division was so stark that players of the two teams hardly moved around together, and a player from one team rarely changed sides to go to the other tent. If you were a Mohammedan player, that was your identity till you hung your boots. The same went for Abahani players. In todays sporting culture, where tent-hopping is the norm, this loyalty may appear dissonant.It is of course true that a player need not devote himself to one club. But in those days, fans were willing to allow this sporting integrity because, in return, they got the game, the score, plus the pride in donning their club colours not just within the country, but outside it as well. The Dhaka derby became so popular that players like Munna and Alfaz later went on to play for Kolkatas East Bengal.Monem Munna, arguably the best defender the country had seen, was equally popular in India, sharing the limelight with 80s Indian football stars like Shishir Bhatyacharya, Krishanu De, Babu Mani and others. The frenzy over the domestic crown reached its apex in the mid 80s, when, due to the Iran-Iraq war, some top flight footballers from the two warring
states came to Bangladesh to glorify the local league. Naljegar, Borhanzaade, and Taheri came from Iran and joined Mohammedan, while Samir Shakir and Mohammad Alavi came from Iraq to play for Abahani. With them came the Eagle of Asia, or Nasser Hejazi, the Iranian goalkeeper, who had captained for Iran in the 1978 World Cup. Hejazi took over as coach/player for Mohammedan, and the league took a new fiery dimension. Soon, another foreign player, Ameka from Nigeria, joined Mohammedan. He was also in the 1994 Nigeria squad for the World Cup. Things couldnt be better for football fans, locally or internationally. Usually, other club teams from the region went back after being handed a solid but confident drubbing, whereas the Indians had nothing but respect for Bangladeshi club outfits. Just to recall a famous club victory in the Asian Club Cup primary round, Mohammedan was pitted against Sanders of Sri Lanka and Pirouzi of Iran. The match between the Sri Lankan side and Mohammedan was a shock draw, after which Pirouzi drubbed the Lankans six-nil. Before the MohammedanPirouzi match, the Iranian manager imperiously said they would flood the local side. Alas! In what turned out to be a memorable game, the white
and black beat the much illustrious Iranian side by 2-1 in Mirpur Stadium, moving on to the next round of the tournament. Reportedly, it took a long time for the Iranians to forget the defeat.
Football was nowhere in our sporting canvas, losing much of its lustre due to successive poor runs in the regional meets
The ticket sellers urging brought the man back to the present. He did not even know the names of the players anymore. Football was nowhere in our sporting canvas, losing much of its lustre due to successive poor runs in the regional meets. Handing back the ticket, the man walked away. He couldnt hear the trumpets anymore, the flags were frayed, and the much-loved movie song of the 80s,AbahaniMohammedan keu kare nahi chhaare shomane shoman,rang in his ears a theme from a time that seemed so unreal. l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.
12
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Entertainment
Three-day programme begins today at Shilpakala Academy Rakter Binimoye (At the Cost of a Sea of n Entertainment Desk Blood) and Shimana Periye- Across The
Daughter of The Sun of Alamgir Kabirs will be screened at 4pm. The concluding day will be observed through a speech by Mahmudul Hossain Dullal on Society and Films: Alamgir Kabirer Shomokalin Prashongikota and two films of Alamgirs, Ek Sagar
Fringe will be screened at 4pm. Film director, journalist, freedom fighter and cultural activist Alamgir Kabir died in a tragic accident at Nagarbari ferry terminal on January 20, 1989. The unfortunate incident took place when he was on his way back to Dhaka after attending a film related programme in Bogra. Kabir began his career with film journalism. The dynamic personality established Dhaka Film Institute in 1969. The Liberation War based film Dhirey Bohey Meghna was his debut work. His other notable feature films are, Surja Konya, Shimana Periye, Rupali Shaikatey, Mohona and Parineeta. Besides filmmaking, Kabir wrote several books on film and also edited several cine-magazines along with Zahir Raihan. His The Cinema in Pakistan is considered one of the first film-based books of pre-1971. l
ON TV
MOVIE
9:00pm Star Movies 11:20pmHBO
The Fast and the Furious Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
DRAMA
9:00pm Star Jalsha
Bojhena Shey Bojhena
Con drama American Hustle and space movie Gravity lead this years Oscar nominations with 10 nods each. American Hustle was shortlisted in all four acting categories for its stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. It is also up for best picture alongside Gravity, which earned a best director nod for Alfonso Cuaron and best actress for Sandra Bullock. 12 Years a Slaves nine nominations included best director and picture. British film Philomena is up for four awards, including best picture. Captain Phillips, 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street, Dallas Buyers Club and Her are also among the nine films nominated for the coveted top award.
HIGHLIGHTS OF NOMINEES
Best Motion Picture of the Year
American Hustle Captain Phillips Dallas Buyers Club Gravity Her Nebraska Philomena 12 Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street
Christian Bale -American Hustle Bruce Dern for Nebraska Leonardo DiCaprio-The Wolf of Wall Street Chiwetel Ejiofor-12 Years a Slave Matthew McConaughey-Dallas Buyers Club
Celebrated baul singer Arif with a team of folk instrumentalists entertain around a thousand audience on the premises of the Rabindra Sarobar in Dhanmondi as part of the ongoing exhibition Rivers of the World SYED LATIF HOSSAIN
Alfonso Cuarn-Gravity Steve McQueen-12 Years a Slave David O Russell-American Hustle Martin Scorsese-The Wolf of Wall Street Alexander Payne-Nebraska The Croods Despicable Me 2 Ernest & Celestine Frozen The Wind Rises
My film Nrityer Talay Talay is a documentary based on two living dance pupils of Rabindranath Tagore. One of the pupil is Prithvi Bhaumik, whom Tagore called with the given name of Anubhaumik. In the show, Prithvi shares her cherished experience with Tagore and how he introduced the unique formations of dance melding techniques like Kathakaoli, Odissya and Arunachaal type.
The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium) The Missing Picture (Cambodia) The Hunt (Denmark) The Great Beauty (Italy) Omar (2013) (Palestine)
My maiden feature film is Shei Shomoyer Kotha. The story portraits the time around 1870s when Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar introduced the practice of widow remarriages to mainstream Hindu society, after Ram Mohan Roys steady combat against Sati practice. Rangin Godhuli is my second feature film about a Bangladeshi couple who lost contact after the independence of Bangladesh. After 36 years, they accidently meet in Kolkata when they have already spent the prime of their life and have grandchildren. My third feature film is Abhiman.
Madonna apologises
n Entertainment Desk
Madonna on Saturday asked forgiveness for captioning a photograph of her teenage son boxing with a racial slur. The comment, initially posted on Friday on social network Instagram, was soon deleted, with Madonna initially referring to those who had questioned her use of the N-word as haters. Later, Madonna was singing a more appeasing tone. I am sorry if I offended anyone with my use of the N-word on Instagram, she said in a public statement posted on her Instagram and Facebook feeds. It was not meant as a racial slur. I am not a racist. Theres no way to defend the use of the word. It was all about intention. The photograph shows Madonnas 13-year-old son Rocco in the midst of what appears to be some boxing training. Madonna captioned the image by playfully quoting LL Cool Js 1990 hit Mama Said Knock You Out, but also included a variation of the racial epithet with dis included as a prefix. l
Films from Kolkata are making waves again. How do you see this?
Film industry in Kolkata was in its worst condition around 10-15 years ago. But now, the scenario has changed considerably. Many young filmmakers are now engaged in making films with a vast area of context and aesthetic values of cinema. The audience of India appreciates this kind of initiative. I think a fight still exists between good films and bad films and it should continue. l
Popular childrens show Sisimpur will telecast on RTV from today at 5:30pm. This educational show for children with characters Halum, Tuktuki, Ikri and Shikur will address different subjects every week and youngsters will learn alphabets, numbers and things related to health, culture and many more in this fun filled programme
Sport
DHAKA TRIBUNE
13
0 5 5
DAYS TO GO
14 Australia thrash
15 Marshal Ayub
Abahanis Ghanaian striker Osei Morrison, right, celebrates with Towhidul Alam after scoring against Mohammedan during their Bangladesh Premier League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday MUMIT M
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Mohammedan
01
Abahani
36 65
89
90+
ball home past Mohammedan keeper Mamun Khan with his left foot. Towhidul Alams header from a cross from Osei Morrison was saved by a diving Mamun Khan. Hemanta unleashed a powerful strike from the edge of the box that flew inches over the crossbar. Mamun Khan produced an excellent save to deny Yoko Samnicks penalty. Nahidul Islam fouled Osei Morrison inside the box to give Abahani the penalty. A bizarre act by Morrison. The Ghanaian striker failed to score with an empty net in front of him.
14
SCORECARD
England
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Sport
A. Cook c Maxwell b Coulter-Nile 35 I. Bell run out (Warner) 29 B. Stokes c Clarke b Doherty 15 G. Ballance c Christian b Coulter-Nile 26 E. Morgan c and b Christian 54 R. Bopara c Haddin b Faulkner 21 J. Buttler b Christian 4 T. Bresnan not out 41 S. Broad c Haddin b Coulter-Nile 1 C. Jordan c Finch b Faulkner 10 J. Tredwell not out 2 Extras (lb2, w2 nb1) 5 Total (for 9 wickets, 50 overs) 243
Bowling Faulkner 6 0 35 2, Pattinson 6 0 410, Coulter-Nile 10 0 47 3, Doherty 10 2 28 1, Maxwell 9 0 38 0, Christian 9 0 52 2
Australia
A. Finch c Bopara b Jordan D. Warner c Bell b Stokes S. Marsh not out M. Clarke b Bopara B. Haddin not out Extras (lb4 w5, b2) Total (for 3 wickets, 40 overs)
22 71 71 34 35 11 244
Bowling Jordan 9 0 56 1, Broad 8 0 61 0, Bresnan 6 0 42 0, Tredwell 9 0 42 0, Bopara 5 0 14 1, Stokes 3 0 23 1 Australia won by six wickets
England batsman Alastair Cook (L) walks back to pavilion as Australian players celebrate his dismissal during their third ODI in Sydney yesterday
AFP
Daniel Christian dived full length to take a return catch off the leading edge of key batsman Eoin Morgan. Morgan (54) was once again the topscorer for England and his dismissal after hitting four boundaries and two massive sixes robbed the visitors of any momentum in the closing stages. It was left to a slogging Tim Bresnan to take England to a fighting total with a 29-ball 41 which included two sixes off Christian in the last over. Nathan Coulter-Nile was the most successful bowler for Australia, picking up three wickets for 47 runs, while James Faulkner and Christian picked up two wickets apiece. l
Lorient win Brittany derby Inspired Ivanovic stuns Serena, Djokovic cruises
n AFP, Paris
Lorient scored a couple of early goals to beat Guingamp 2-0 in the Brittany derby as a 2-0 defeat at Nice kept Ajaccio bottom of Ligue 1 on Saturday. Yann Jouffre and Kevin MonnetPaquet struck for Lorient in the eighth and 12th minutes respectively to put Christian Gourcuff s side in control and they held on to move into the top half of the table. Christian Bruls scored after just five minutes in Nice to help keep Ajaccio rooted to the bottom of the table. Dario Cvitanich wrapped up the victory with a goal in injury time as Ajaccio dropped to 12 points from safety. It was a similarly depressing tale
RESULTS
Bastia
Ba 42
10 20 20 00 02
n Reuters, Melbourne
Bordeaux Guingamp An inspired Ana Ivanovic blew the race for the Australian Open womens title wide open when she stunned overwhelming favourite Serena Williams in the fourth round at Melbourne Park yesterday. Djokovic was for once forced to cede the spotlight to another Serbian but showed no signs of relinquishing his iron grip on the mens title and was merciless in his 6-3 6-0 6-2 flogging of Fognini. Third seed David Ferrer also advanced to the last eight and a meeting with Tomas Berdych and his stripy football shirt, while womens fourth seed Li Na and Flavia Pennetta set up a last eight clash of 31-year-olds. Li and Pennetta had every reason
Lorient
Jouffre 8, Monnet-Paquet 12
Nice
Ajaccio
Rennes Sochaux
Evian
Mounier 19, Tiene 74
Montpellier
for Sochaux, who lost 2-0 at home to 2012 champions Montpellier, to remain deeply rooted in relegation trouble. They are just two points above Ajaccio and 10 points from safety. Elsewhere, Bastia defeated Bordeaux 1-0 while Rennes and Evian finished 0-0. l
to expect their path to the final to be blocked by world number one and top seed Williams until Ivanovic secured the biggest shock of the tournament with a 4-6 6-3 6-3 victory on Rod Laver Arena. The Serbians win instead sent her through to a quarter-final clash against Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard, who ended Australias hopes of a home champion when she overcame Casey Dellacqua 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-0. Williams was riding high on a winning streak of 25 matches going back to the start of last years U.S. Open and had not lost a single set to Ivanovic in four previous meetings. In the second set, though, Ivanovic really started to take the game to Williams, attacking the 17-times grand slam champions serve with a success very few have managed and dictating the back court with her forehand. Djokovic next faces eighth seed
Stan Wawrinka, who hit 57 winners in a highly impressive display of aggressive tennis to overcome Spains Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-6 (3) 7-6 (5) in the final match on Rod Laver Arena. Berdychs 6-2 6-2 6-3 win over Kevin Anderson was his 10th in 10 matches against the South African and left him with plenty of gas in the tank for his next match against David Ferrer, who beat Florian Mayer 6-7 (7-5) 7-5 6-2 6-1. Former French Open champion Li, who reached the final here last year and in 2011, allowed Ekaterina Makarova not so much as a sniff of an upset as she set up meeting with Pennetta by demolishing the Russian 6-2 6-0. Pennettas journey to her first Australian Open quarter-final was a bit more complicated and she took 53 minutes longer to beat ninth seeded German Angelique Kerber 6-1 4-6 7-5. l
Ivanovic celebrates after victory in her women's singles match against Serena Williams in 2014 Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday AFP
SCORECARD, DAY 4
Sri Lanka 1st innings 428 9 dec
D. Perera 95, A. Mathews 91, K. Sangakkara 52; Junaid Khan 3 81, Mohammad Talha 3 99
Pakistan 1st innings
SCORECARD
New Zealand M. Guptill c Ashwin b Shami J. Ryder b Shami K. Williamson c Rahane b Jadeja R. Taylor c Dhoni b Shami B. McCullum c Dhoni b Kumar C. Anderson not out L. Ronchi c Kumar b Sharma N. McCullum c & b Shami T. Southee not out Extras: (lb1, w6) Total: (seven wickets; 50 overs) 8 18 71 55 30 68 30 2 3 7 292
(overnight 291 6) Misbah-ul Haq c Chandimal b Herath 63 Abdul Rehman c Prasanna b Eranga 2 Mohammad Talha lbw b Eranga 2 Saeed Ajmal not out 0 Junaid Khan c Chandimal b Herath 16 Extras: (b3, lb6, nb1, w1) 11 Total: (all out; 109.1 overs) 341
Bowling Herath 38.1 8 125 5 (1w), Lakmal 23 461 0, Perera 17 1 71 1, Eranga 24 5 60 4 (1nb), Mathews 7 3 15 0
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
Bowling Kumar 10 0 38 1 (3w), Shami 9 0 55 4 (1w), Sharma 9 0 72 1 (2w), Jadeja 9 0 611, Ashwin 10 0 52 0, Kohli 3 0 13 0 India S. Dhawan c Taylor b Anderson 32 R. Sharma c Southee b McClenaghan 3 V. Kohli c Ryder b McClenaghan 123 A. Rahane c N. McCullum b Anderson 7 S. Raina c Southee b Milne 18 M. Dhoni c Ronchi b McClenaghan 40 R. Jadeja c Ronchi b McClenaghan 0 R. Ashwin c Southee b Williamson 12 B. Kumar run out (Williamson/Ronchi) 6 I. Sharma b Southee 5 M. Shami not out 7 Extras: (lb3, w12) 15 Total: (all out; 48.4 overs) 268 Bowling Southee 9.4 2 43 1 (2w), McClenaghan 10 068 4 (4w), Milne 7.3 0 40 1 (3w), Anderson 10 0 51 2 (1w), N. McCullum 10 0 54 0 (1w), Williamson 1.3 0 3 0 (1w) New Zealand won by 24 runs
D. Karunaratne b Talha K. Silva b Rehman K. Sangakkara c Manzoor b Rehman M. Jayawardene c Ali b Ajmal D. Chandimal b Talha A. Mathews not out P. Jayawardene not out Extras: (nb1, w1) Total: (for five wkts; 71 overs)
8 36 8 46 13 14 6 2 133
Bowling Junaid 15 5 25 0 (1w), Talha 16 2 36 2 (1nb), Rehman 22 7 36 2, Ajmal 18 5 36 1 Match situation Sri Lanka lead by 220 runs in the second innings with five wickets in hand.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Sport
n Mazhar Uddin
15
QUICK BYTES
BRIEF SCORES
Walton Central Zone batsman Marshal Ayub celebrates his century at BKSP 3 yesterday
Scoring a hundred is always something very special and it was a very crucial one for me as I wanted to score some big runs before the Sri Lanka series, said the star. Meanwhile, after North Zones Taijul Islam seven wickets on the first day, East Zone left arm spinner Nabil Samad took six wickets on the second day to bundle South Zone out for248. At the end of the second day, North Zone were at 79/3 still 101 runs behind. l
RESULTS
Chelsea
Etoo 17, 45, 49
31 13 22
Swansea
Bony 78 Played Saturday
Liverpool
Aston Villa
In the process Etoo become the first Chelsea player to score a hat-trick against United since Seamus OConnell back in 1954. Javier Hernandez, on as a substitute
for Ashley Young, pulled a goal back 12 minutes from time. But that was as good as it got for United whose misery was compounded when captain Nemanja Vidic sent off in stoppage time for a rash challenge on Eden Hazard. Earlier, Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur moved level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool after a 3-1 win away to struggling Swansea. Adebayors goals, separated by a Chico Flores own-goal, ensured Tottenham remained unbeaten in the league under manager Tim Sherwood, whose record now stands at five wins and a draw since the Englishman replaced sacked predecessor Andre Villas-Boas.
For Swansea, an eighth successive league match without a win left Michael Laudrups men just three points above the relegation zone. Liverpools Premier League title bid suffered a blow after they drew 2-2 with Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday. Brendan Rodgerss side fought back from 2-0 down after Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke had given Villa a deserved two-goal lead. But despite Daniel Sturridges 11th goal league goal of the season and a Steven Gerrard penalty, Liverpool could only claim a point. And with leaders Arsenal victorious earlier in the day, this missed opportunity left Liverpool eight points adrift of top spot and seven behind secondplace Manchester City.l
Chelsea's Samuel Eto'o (L) shoots past Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic to score his sides second goal during their English Premier League match at Stamford Bridge in London yesterday REUTERS
DAYS WATCH
Sony Six NBA 2013 14 7:00AM Phoenix v Denver 12:00AM Detroit v LA Clippers 12:00AM Sri Lanka Tour of Pakistan 3rd Test, Day 5 Star Sports 4 6:00AM & 2:00AM Australian Open 2:00AM English Premier League West Brom v Everton Star Sports HD1 3:00AM La Liga At Bilbao v Real Valladolid
23 10 22
Lazio
Atalanta Bologna
Cagliari Napoli
Catania Chievo
03 12 10 02
Fiorentina Parma
Paloschi 15
Genoa
Antonelli 83
Sassuolo
Played on Saturday
Roma
30 42
Livorno
Juventus
Sampdoria
16
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Back Page
The problem in our country is many are taking the issue politically. But this is about personal freedom. We need to take careful steps, and we dont want our development to be hindered by a wrong step
A child cancer patient with her relatives at the BSMMU have sold a piece of land at Tk4,00,000 to bear the medical expense. When I heard the news first, I used to cry almost every moment. Now my tears had run out, she said. Like Orpa, Riamoni, Anan, Khalid bin Walid and some other child cancer patients were seen at the BSMMU Oncology outdoor ward receiving treatment. There are mostly two types of cancer Acute Lymphoblast Leukemia (ALL) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). The two need fairly a long time to be cured depending on patients condition. The total treatment cost for ALL is around Tk3,00,000 while for AML around Tk5,00,000. The cost of treatment is comparatively cheaper than that in any other countries of the world, said sources in the BSMMU. Alongside hearing the pathetic stories of patients, this correspondent came across a cancer survivor Khalid bin Walid who was a cancer patient for five years. A few days ago, doctors told him that
DHAKA TRIBUNE
he was fine and needed no medicine. He has to examine blood every month for the next two years. Khalids mother told the Dhaka Tribune his sons cancer had been early detected. While the mother described how her son survived, the other cancer patients glowed with hope. l
I feel that I have a relationship with every line and letter in this magazine. A relationship that has cast such an influence on me. British High Commissioner Robert Gibson and Barrister Sara Hossain were among the guests present at the invitation-only launch event. Speaking at the programme, a representative of a support group for gays and lesbians spoke of the major advancements around the world in this field. He also mentioned some of the recent changes such as the reversal of the decriminalisation of unnatural sex in India. The problem in our country is many are taking the issue politically. But this is about personal freedom. We need to take careful steps, and we dont want our development to be hindered by a wrong step, he said. As the editor spoke to this correspondent, many came up to thank him for such an initiative in a country where the traditionally conservative and majority Muslim population shuns such practices or movements. Roopbaan is currently being published in Bangla, taking submissions from volunteer contributors. It includes articles, photography and personal accounts of the volunteers. However, the launch saw a marked lack of female representatives. Some of the guests noticed this as well, such as Barrister Hossain, and pointed out that there had historically been a low female turnout at events regarding sexuality and sexual identity. l
Relatives wail hearing about deaths of Arif Hossain, 24, and Shah Alam, 18, of Tikari village in Jhenaidah Sadar upazila yesterday. They claimed the two were Awami League activists and died in police firing during a clash between two factions of the party FOCUS BANGLA
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 Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093 94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com
Business
B4 Europe's utilities
(Top) A pavilion site on sale at DITF. (Bottom Left) Few stalls still remain unsold. (Bottom Right) An electronic stall sells food items. The photos were taken yesterday
RAJIB DHAR
Max Well Stamp takes advance money violates the n project payment schedule
The project consultant Max Well Stamp Ltd took advanced consultant fees violating the project payment schedule
The project consultant Max Well Stamp Ltd took advanced consultant fees violating the project payment schedule reveals the letter sent by M Shefaque Ahmed. The report of the consultant Max Well Stamp on updated mortality table and premium level assessment of risk
'Mobile financial service has gained popularity rapidly both in urban and rural areas'
At the beginning of the year 2013, the total number of mobile banking agents was 59,559 when the figure stood nearly 2 lakh at the end of the year. In April 2013, the number of mobile financial services customer was 50 lakh and in 11th of November, it crossed the milestone of one crore. In December 2013, it went up to above one crore, which demonstrates the growing popularity of this service. In January, 2013, the total number of transactions and total amount transacted was around one crore and Tk2000 crore respectively. And at the end of the year, total number of transactions and total amount transacted stood at three crore and Tk6642 crore respectively. Out of 28 banks that got permission for MFS service from Bangladesh Bank, 19 banks are so far delivering MFS services across the country. The mobile financial services was introduced in the country in 2010 in a bid to bring the poor and unbanked people under banking activities as well as to facilitate the Bangladeshi expatriates to safely send their remittances in the rural areas. l
B2
DSEX and DS30 reshuffled
n Tribune Report
Reshuffled two indices of the Dhaka Stock Exchange have been made effective yesterday. In accordance with the DSE Bangladesh Index Methodology, designed by S&P Dow Jones Indices, DSEX and DS 30 have been reconstituted as part of its annual and semi-annual rebalancing, says a DSE press release yesterday. The new 23 companies that were included to the DSEX are Fareast Finance, Eastern Cables, Renwick Jajneswar, National Tubes, Bengal Windsor Thermoplastics, Bangladesh Building Systems, AMCL (Pran), Rahim Textile, Ambee Pharma, The Ibn Sina, Libra Infusions, Global Heavy Chemicals, JMI Syringes & Medical Devices, Central Pharmaceuticals, Hakkani Pulp
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Stock
DSE GAINERS Company Progressive Life-A
& Paper, Samorita Hospital, Information Services Network, Purabi General Insurance, Pragati Insurance, Prime Insurance, Sunlife Insurance, Usmania Glass and Berger Paints. On the other hand, existing four companies that lost their eligibility to retain their position in the index are Kay & Que, Midas Finance, CVO Petrochemical and Rahima Food. In the DS 30, the four new companies were added to the index. They are United Commercial Bank Ltd., Delta Life Insurance Ltd., Orion Pharma Ltd and Renata Ltd. The existing four companies that were excluded from the index are Beximco Ltd, Khulna Power Company Ltd, Square Textiles Ltd and Southeast Bank Ltd as they failed to meet their criteria to stay in the index. l
Closing (% change)
Apex Tannery -A PragatiLife Insu. -A ISN Ltd. -A Meghna Life Ins. -A Padma Oil Co. -A ICB AMCL IslamicMF A Bank Asia -A Power Grid Co. -A Prime Bank 1st MF A
CSE GAINERS Company Prime Islami Life -A
9.92 8.19 8.10 7.37 6.87 6.81 6.45 5.63 5.46 5.36
Closing (% change)
Average (% change)
Closing average
Closing
Daily high
Daily low
Turnover in million
Latest EPS 2.30 6.28 2.38 -0.36 6.45 27.28 4.16 1.41 4.24 0.76 Latest EPS
Latest PE 57.5
8.48 5.27 8.32 8.25 4.94 4.89 4.36 5.02 4.83 5.34
132.20 160.48 213.28 23.23 127.56 322.85 19.37 22.16 57.71 5.92
Closing average
134.10 165.10 214.90 23.30 129.20 327.70 19.80 22.50 57.90 5.90
134.20 167.70 216.20 23.80 132.00 329.30 20.00 22.70 58.90 6.00
126.00 153.00 190.00 20.00 119.00 300.00 18.90 19.50 50.00 5.70
10.388 67.400 45.021 10.462 35.975 253.087 2.073 7.944 23.230 2.545
Turnover in million
13.6
7.8
Apex Tannery -A Meghna Life Ins. -A ISN Ltd. -A Nitol Insurance -A Padma Oil Co. -A Meghna Petroleum -A Bank Asia -A Phoenix Insur -A MJL BD Ltd.-A
8.18 7.72 6.99 6.45 6.32 6.25 5.72 5.66 4.68 4.68
Average (% change)
Closing
Daily high
Daily low
Latest PE
9.69 6.90 4.70 7.97 6.44 4.82 3.64 4.15 5.86 3.31
119.00 162.10 126.57 23.29 37.00 322.94 249.16 22.11 46.98 81.26
119.00 164.60 128.60 23.10 37.00 326.50 255.00 22.40 47.00 82.70
119.00 167.00 130.00 23.80 37.00 329.50 257.00 22.70 47.00 83.00
119.00 156.00 122.00 22.20 37.00 315.00 241.00 21.80 46.90 78.60
0.012 3.858 0.671 2.783 0.111 15.013 15.693 0.609 0.122 3.129
4.95 6.28 6.45 -0.36 2.75 27.28 25.08 1.41 3.81 3.52
24.0 25.8 19.6 -ve 13.5 11.8 9.9 15.7 12.3 23.1
(+) 1.02% (+) 1.21% (+) 0.83% (+) 1.06% (+) 0.93%
Daily high 90.40 9.90 17.00 10.30 24.20 947.00 159.70 11.60 171.50
Closing average 90.39 9.37 15.22 9.69 22.96 947.00 152.66 10.96 162.63
Closing 90.40 9.10 14.80 8.80 22.40 947.00 150.40 10.60 161.80
Latest PE 17.0 -ve -ve -ve 191.3 46.2 31.0 -ve 49.6
Bangas -A
CSE LOSERS Company Rupali Life Insur.-A Alltex Industries -Z Miracle Industries -B Rahima Food -Z BD Submarine Cable-A Imam Button -Z Samata LeatheR -Z Aziz PipesZ BD Building Systems -A
-2.35
-2.94
Average (% change) -31.64 -3.15 -6.01 -1.85 -4.73 -3.71 -5.23 -3.97 -3.38
543.53
539.60
557.90
536.50
42.835
4.24
128.2
Closing (% change) -32.84 -9.38 -6.67 -5.53 -5.53 -5.31 -5.23 -4.87 -4.54
Closing average 90.80 9.22 22.66 74.64 164.15 10.65 27.20 21.52 70.62
Closing 90.80 8.70 22.40 71.80 162.20 10.70 27.20 21.50 69.40
Daily high 90.80 9.90 23.70 77.90 170.00 10.80 27.20 21.60 73.20
Daily low 90.80 10.00 22.20 70.80 161.90 10.40 27.20 21.50 69.00
Turnover in million 1.998 0.954 1.626 0.672 26.756 0.043 0.014 0.027 13.116
Latest EPS 5.33 -1.56 0.12 -0.64 3.28 -2.20 -0.08 0.59 3.28
Latest PE 17.0 -ve 188.8 -ve 50.0 -ve -ve 36.5 21.5
Appollo Ispat CL -N
-4.26
-3.22
38.77
38.20
40.30
38.00
48.360
1.60
24.2
DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Meghna Petroleum -A Padma Oil Co. -A Appollo Ispat CL -N UCBL - A S Purbanchol Power-N Olympic Ind. -A Square Pharma -A BD Submarine Cable-A LankaBangla Fin. -A ApexAdelchi Ftr -A
ANALYST
SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY
Sector Bank NBFI Investment Engineering Food & Allied Fuel & Power Jute Textile Pharma & Chemical Paper & Packaging Service Leather Ceramic Cement Information Technology General Insurance Life Insurance Telecom Travel & Leisure Miscellaneous Debenture
As some of the countrys economic data have been pointing to marginal improvements, it seems investors are focused more on the corporate earnings growth
% change 11.62 8.01 2.71 15.05 2.86 17.67 0.03 10.41 8.90 0.01 0.29 2.96 0.40 3.24 0.94 3.32 4.31 3.41 2.25 1.62 0.00 Million Taka 92.49 55.98 12.08 123.37 23.14 81.40 64.27 49.08 0.37 1.47 6.91 3.44 20.52 11.90 6.79 22.18 37.65 17.64 19.60 0.00 CSE % change 14.22 8.61 1.86 18.97 3.56 12.52 0.00 9.88 7.55 0.06 0.23 1.06 0.53 3.16 1.83 1.04 3.41 5.79 2.71 3.01 0.00 Million Taka 914.95 622.93 204.30 1189.12 225.37 1332.56 2.04 801.52 679.43 1.36 22.02 216.78 31.44 249.63 78.19 241.83 327.12 279.14 176.83 134.35 0.14 Total % change 11.83 8.06 2.64 15.38 2.92 17.24 0.03 10.37 8.79 0.02 0.28 2.80 0.41 3.23 1.01 3.13 4.23 3.61 2.29 1.74 0.00
DSE Million Taka 822.46 566.95 192.22 1065.75 202.23 1251.16 2.04 737.25 630.34 0.99 20.56 209.87 28.00 229.11 66.29 235.04 304.94 241.49 159.19 114.75 0.14
Titas Gas TDCLA Golden Son -A BD Building Systems -A Bengal Windsor-N Active Fine Chem.-A Delta Life Insu. -A UNITED AIR A Generation Next Fashions-A Grameenphone-A Jamuna Oil -A
CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Appollo Ispat CL -N BD Submarine Cable-A UCBL - A Olympic Ind. -A S Purbanchol Power-N Meghna Petroleum -A Paramount Textile Ltd.-A Padma Oil Co. -A UNITED AIR A BD Building Systems -A
Volume shares 1,340,108 783,906 5,720,800 6,917,976 2,528,170 936,108 748,787 885,775 1,775,454 248,000
1,621,518 1,947,276 1,742,425 1,680,976 1,214,071 435,220 5,916,717 2,750,080 468,200 419,603
Value in million 335.63 253.09 221.38 200.85 186.86 167.61 165.01 144.06 137.91 135.84
129.23 127.42 122.96 122.42 118.54 116.30 100.98 99.42 97.44 91.65
% of total turnover 4.74 3.57 3.13 2.84 2.64 2.37 2.33 2.03 1.95 1.92
1.83 1.80 1.74 1.73 1.67 1.64 1.43 1.40 1.38 1.29
Daily closing 253.40 327.70 38.10 29.00 73.80 178.10 220.50 161.80 77.00 540.40
81.00 66.20 69.10 71.50 96.40 265.50 17.10 36.10 208.30 217.70
Price change 5.28 6.81 -4.51 2.47 2.36 2.30 0.73 -5.32 -0.39 -1.31
3.58 2.00 -4.82 -3.77 -0.31 -1.01 1.18 -0.28 1.12 2.11
Daily opening 240.70 306.80 39.90 28.30 72.10 174.10 218.90 170.90 77.30 547.60
78.20 64.90 72.60 74.30 96.70 268.20 16.90 36.20 206.00 213.20
81.30 67.00 73.00 76.40 99.70 271.50 18.00 36.60 210.00 222.50
Daily high 258.80 329.30 40.30 31.00 74.90 191.00 221.00 171.50 80.00 557.70
73.00 60.00 66.00 68.00 90.00 265.00 15.30 33.00 206.00 201.00
Daily low 230.00 300.00 38.00 25.50 67.00 165.00 202.00 155.00 69.60 537.00
Daily average 250.45 322.85 38.70 29.03 73.91 179.05 220.37 162.63 77.68 547.73
79.70 65.43 70.57 72.83 97.64 267.23 17.07 36.15 208.11 218.42
Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net
Volume shares 1,247,400 163,000 822,771 110,882 251,740 62,986 284,380 46,489 841,626 185,725
Value in million 48.36 26.76 23.94 19.90 18.63 15.69 15.28 15.01 14.33 13.12
% of total turnover 7.45 4.12 3.69 3.07 2.87 2.42 2.35 2.31 2.21 2.02
Daily closing 38.20 162.20 29.00 178.80 73.80 255.00 53.30 326.50 17.00 69.40
Price change -4.26 -5.53 2.11 2.35 2.50 5.72 -2.38 6.25 0.59 -4.54
Daily opening 39.90 171.70 28.40 174.70 72.00 241.20 54.60 307.30 16.90 72.70
Daily high 40.30 170.00 29.60 181.90 75.00 257.00 56.00 329.50 17.20 73.20
Daily low 38.00 161.90 25.60 174.50 72.00 241.00 49.20 315.00 16.90 69.00
Daily average 38.77 164.15 29.10 179.51 74.01 249.16 53.72 322.94 17.03 70.62
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Business
n Tribune Report
Stocks rallied for 8th session in a row yesterday the longest winning streak in the recent months. The buying euphoria mainly on financials has taken the benchmark DSEX and turnover to new heights. The broader index rose 46 points or 1% to settle at 4,565, which was highest since January 27, 2013 when the index was introduced with a base point of 4,000. The blue chip comprising index DS30 was up by 19 points or 1% to 1,612. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, closed at 8,970 with a rise of over 82 points. Bulls continued to run over the market as turnover remained buoyant with the DSE turnover standing at Tk708 crore, which is highest since December 22 last and 10% higher over the previous session. As some of the countrys economic data have been pointing to marginal improvements, it seems investors are focused more on the corporate earnings growth, said Lanka Bangla Securities in its market analysis. It said rising from strenuous political confrontation, economic activities are presumed to revive on the backdrop of liquidity in the financial market. All the major sectors performed
B3
DSE launches Shariah index today to tap investment from Middle East countries
n Tribune Report
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) launches a new index titled Islamic Shariah Index today to attract investment from Middle East countries. The index will hopefully draw investment from Middle East countries where vast amount of surplus fund remains idle, DSE President Ahsanul Islam Titu told a press conference in Dhaka yesterday, launching the new index with a base point of 1,000. So far the market lags behind Islamic products. After introduction of this index, investors interested in companies being operated on the basis of Islamic Shariah will be attracted, he said. The DSE President, however, declined to disclose names of companies to be included in the index. The prime bourse also made a presentation on the new index before Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on the day. The Standard and Poors (S&P), a US -based financial services company, developed the new index. At present, 77 listed companies from banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance companies and mutual funds are in operations based on Islamic Shariah. These companies are likely to be included with the index, DSE executives said. Among these companies, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, ICB Islamic Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank and Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited are the six banks that are being operated on the basis of Islamic Shariah. Islamic Finance and Investment Limited are only one financial institution governed by Shariah. Fareast Islami Life Insurance, Islami Insurance Bangladesh Limited, Padma Islami Life Insurance, Prime Islami Life Insurance and Takaful Islami Life insurance are the five companies from insurance sector. IBL Fareast Islamic Mutual Fund, ICB AMCL Islamic Mutual Fund and IFIL Islamic Mutual Fund are the three funds from the sector. l
well especially the power sector that posted more than 3% gain, followed by banks and non-banking financial institutions that rose more than 1.7% and 1% respectively. Engineering, IT and textiles fell on price correction. IDLC Investment said participants invested heavily in financial stocks with an expectation of a flexible monetary stance from the central bank, in or-
der to stimulate the wounded economy. On the other hand, in spite of series of government stimulus, investors remained skeptic over textiles ability to report healthy profit figures, it said. The market breadth remained positive as out of 294 issues traded, 167 closed higher, 112 lower and 15 remained unchanged. Power sector dominated trading on
the day as it made up almost 18% of the total turnover. Meghna Petroleum, a state-owned oil distribution company, was the most traded stock, followed by Padma Oil, Appollo Ispat, United Commercial Bank, Summit Purbanchol Power, Square Pharmaceuticals, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd and Lanka Bangla Finance. l
exempted from all duties and taxes, while models up to 1800 cc would get 50% relief and up to 2500 cc, 25%. But there has been little impact on sales, dealers say, and the queues at the CNG filling stations - on the rare days the authorities allow them to open - stretch for hundreds of metres. Umar Bilal Sindhu, owner of Pak Japan Motors and leading Islamabad-based car importer and dealer, told AFP the customs duty change had had a negligible impact. Running costs For Mujtaba Abbas, the government incentives made little difference, as he bought a Toyota Prius second hand, but with fuel prices moving ever higher, he has been delighted with the cars
lower running costs. When it comes to fuel-saving, the Prius is great as it runs up to 24 kilometres (15 miles) on one litre of petrol, while I was getting up to 11 kilometres from a 1.3 litre hatchback, the 24-yearold environmental engineer told AFP. But this efficiency comes at a cost, and observers such as Baber Kaleem Khan, editor of Pakistans largest auto-enthusiast website PakWheels.com, say forecourt prices are deterring potential buyers. A new Toyota Prius, imported through the companys Pakistan arm Indus Motors, costs around 4.5m rupees ($45,000), while Hondas CR Z goes for $35,000. The same cars can be bought for
World economy on recovery road, but weak inflation threatens: Reuters poll
n Reuters
A much better year lies in store for most of the worlds major developed economies, although weak inflation will persist, complicating central banks ability to get interest rates back to normal, Reuters polls forecast on Thursday. As in the last few years, the United States looks set to the lead the way, with growth also quickening in Britain and Germany. However, Japan looks set to disappoint and the euro zone will probably lag again compared with its Western peers. Emerging markets again look a mixed bag. Perhaps the main difference this year is that forecasts from the 300 or so economists polled across the world over the last week at least suggest little prospect of a return to recession in the euro zone, the worlds largest trading bloc. Overall, the poll showed the world economy will grow 3.6% this year compared with 2.9% in 2013. That would snap a three-year stretch of slowing global growth since the world economy first rebounded from the severe recession of 2009. The last few months have been marked by steeply falling inflation in many of the top developed economies, with consumer prices rises in some cases far below stability targets set by their central banks. Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, on Wednesday warned of the risk of deflation - a damaging and sustained spiral of falling prices - even as she was optimistic about improving economic growth. Although the poll suggested deflation itself looks unlikely, weak inflation will remain widespread. Consumer prices are expected to rise tepidly in most of the countries polled - even in the euro zone, where inflation slowed to 0.8% in December. Were not forecasting a descent into outright deflation. Instead, were highlighting the risk that inflation remains too low or, worse, that it continues to sink over the next two years, said Stephen King, group chief economist at HSBC, in its global outlook for the year. markets. Mexicos ambitious reform agenda will start to pay off after a very disappointing 2013, but the recovery will not likely be as strong as previously hoped as Latin America braces for a bumpy year for local markets. Turkey too is on course for a difficult year ahead, although growth prospects in South Africa look better in 2014. The consensus for the worlds largest economy, the United States, was upgraded slightly compared with a poll last month. It is expected to grow 2.9%, up from 2.6% in the December poll and versus an estimated 1.9% in 2013. It seems we are putting the Great Recession further and further behind us, said Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Services. Consumers have reduced debt, corporate balance sheets are in better shape. There are lots of positives that are going to help rather than hinder growth. In Japan, the worlds No.3 economy, inflation will stay well below target, with the poll suggesting companies there are cautious about passing on their higher profits to employees - seen as vital for the countrys economic revitalization. Indeed, Japans economic growth is expected to slow to just 0.7% for the 2014-15 fiscal year, compared with 2.5% for the previous period. The euro zone, by comparison, looks a long way from getting to that point. While this year promises some modest economic growth - around 1.0% compared with a 0.4% contraction this year - the low level of inflation remains worrisome. Core prices pressures will remain low over the medium term, said Herve Amourda, economist at Societe Generale. In addition, risks are broadly tilted to the downside over the medium term, as we have identified a strong (euro), falling commodity prices or even stronger deceleration in unit labour costs to be the major threats to our scenario. Britain looks on course to lead the way in terms of economic growth among Europes heavyweight economies, where unemployment looks set to fall at a faster pace than the Bank of Englands expectations that underpin its monetary policy stance. l
From left to right Secretary General of BUGMUN Ratul Dev, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Lee Yun-young, Founder and Chairperson of BRAC and BRAC University Board of Trustees Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC University Vice Chancellor Dr. Ainun Nishat spoke at the inaugural ceremony of BRAC University Global Model United Nations (BUGMUN) at Dhaka recently
Mixed fortunes
B4
n Reuters
Vattenfall unplugged! With flyers, posters and an animated film of a bear disconnecting the Swedish utility that operates the Berlin electricity grid, campaigners tried to convince voters to put power distribution back in public hands. The November referendum in Berlin failed, but in September, citizens of Hamburg, Germany's second-biggest city, voted to return their power grid, also run by Vattenfall, to public ownership. The votes were organized by citizens' groups who want municipalities to buy back electricity distribution networks from private utilities, because they say local authorities can provide a cheaper and better service. The German movement is part of a Europe-wide reversal of the trends towards liberalisation and privatisation that have driven energy policy in the past decade.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Business
'It is not renationalisation but remunicipalisation that we are after. Energy issues should be dealt with on a local level'
While ostensibly backing free energy markets, many European governments squeeze utilities by intervening in power generation while also capping energy prices. This creeping renationalisation cuts utilities' profits by billions of euros. The idea behind the EU-driven energy liberalization was to force the old monopolies to compete so that prices could fall and services improve. Countries privatized utilities and split them into private power producers and independent, but government-regulated network operators. Energy retailing was also freed up for vendors to compete for household accounts. But as Europe created a free market for power generation, it also brought back regulation by encouraging wind and solar power generation with generous state subsidies. As renewable energies boomed, their priority access to the grid and cost-free operation crowded out the utilities' traditional plants, to the point that gas-fired generation has become virtually uneconomical in Europe. With their investment choices for producing power limited by government policies, utilities also saw their retail prices regulated. Spain and France limit energy prices for consumers, while Germany provides big discounts for industry. But keeping prices low for consumers and industry, while also favoring green power generation and maintaining security of supply is just not possible.
A general view shows the Boehlen-Lippendorf power station of German power supplier Vattenfall much greater role for the state," said Compass Lexecon energy consultant Fabien Roques. tough regulatory regime and state-imposed energy price caps. RWE East chairman Martin Herrmann says Hungary's moves are unacceptable and has spoken of "expropriation". groups in cities such as Essen and Karlsruhe wrest distribution networks from private ownership. "I have been in the industry 25 years and I have seen cities go three times private and three times public so I would not over interpret the moment," E.ON CEO Johannes Teyssen told Reuters, adding that public owners would face the same cost pressures as private utilities. Teyssen is part of the dozen-strong Magritte group of utilities CEOs, which represent half of Europe's electricity generating capacity. They say European energy policy is a failure, as retail power prices are higher than ever, security of supply has weakened and investment has stalled. The group wants an end to subsidies for "mature" renewable energies such as onshore wind and solar. Two of its proposals - strengthening the European carbon market and the establishment of EU guidelines for capacity remuneration mechanisms - ac-
REUTERS
'Expropriation'
The most radical renationalisation drive in Europe is in Hungary, where the government wants to turn utilities into non-profit organizations. Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to nationalize six or seven utilities and if he is re-elected this spring he plans to make them "community-owned" within a year or two. Most of Hungary's energy sector is foreign-owned, mainly by German, French and Italian firms including E.ON, RWE, EDF, GDF Suez and Eni. Late last year, state-owned energy group MVM bought E.ON's gas trade and storage businesses and it is also in talks with RWE about buying its stake in Budapest gas utility Fogaz Zrt. Hungary does not confiscate the foreign-owned firms, but pays for the assets, albeit at prices depressed by a
'Planned economy'
Germany's movement to put local power networks in municipal ownership is relatively benign, as it allows utilities to sell their assets at market prices and redeploy capital elsewhere. "It is not renationalisation but remunicipalisation that we are after. Energy issues should be dealt with on a local level," said Stefan Taschner, head of Burger Begehren Klimaschutz which drove the Berlin campaign. Taschner thinks all power distribution networks should be in municipal hands, although he does not object to "a good mix" of public and private ownership for power generation assets. After losing the Berlin referendum, the group is now helping citizens'
tually offer more regulation and would increase the role of the state in energy policy. Capacity mechanisms - under which utilities are paid, and sometimes forced, to keep idle plants on standby - are the most recent development in EU utilities regulation. In Germany, where utilities are already told by government in which assets to invest (renewables) and which not (nuclear), they are now also told where not to divest. Utilities must get approval from the regulator to close plants and can be forced to maintain unprofitable operations to minimize blackout risk. Dirk Uwer, partner at German law firm Hengeler Mueller, said utilities can no longer take plants off grid for economic reasons, since grid operators and regulators can order them to stay online in exchange for compensation payments. "We have arrived at a planned economy," he said. l
We have agreed that we will open Wagah-Attari border 24/7 for trade
A paramilitary soldier stands guard as a truck carrying wheat crosses into Pakistan from India, at the Wagah border
REUTERS
Two years ago, the two countries set a goal of taking bilateral trade to $6 billion by 2014, which now seems difficult to attain. Pakistan's Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said the country's central bank had proposed its Indian counterpart grant banking licences to three Pakistani banks, a move which would be reciprocated by his side. "In the banking sector we are hoping to have some progress, very rapid progress," he said. Both Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif who took power last year are keen to rebuild ties. Pakistan's economy grew at 3.6% in 2012/13 and the government was forced to borrow $6.7bn from the International Monetary Fund to avert a default of payments. Sharma said he will lead a business delegation to Pakistan next month. l