PAGE 3Minister: Charge sheet against Rajon’s killers soon

PAGE 10Israel troops shoot dead second Palestinian in 24hrs

PAGE 5RAB detains six tender snatchers near Rajuk o� ce

PAGE 32Cox’s Bazar to become digital sur� ng city

PAGE 9Obama administration takes Iran nuke deal � ght public

SECOND EDITION

KHALEDA LAWYERS GRILL ACC PAGE 3

PANGAON TERMINAL REMAINS VIRTUALLY IDLE PAGE 15

FISH TRADERS HELP PIRATES OF SUNDARBANS PAGE 5

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015 | Shraban 9, 1422, Shawwal 7, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 99 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend | Price: Tk10

Over the last nine years, the BNP has typically dealt with its own failures by taking time to regroup and reorganise. But the much touted – and much needed – reorganisation of the party has never actually taken place. Instead, the party has experienced an unrelenting losing streak and fallen into increasing disarray. In this series, the Dhaka Tribune looks into why the party has not been able to put its house in order in nearly a decade. This is the concluding part of the report

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The year 2015 has not been the happiest for people involved actively with the politics of BNP. They exhausted a lot of time, money and energy into a violent movement during Janu-ary-March that eventually failed.

In return, most have not been able to re-turn home, either because they were arrest-ed or trying to avoid arrest in hundreds of lawsuits � led in connection with those three months’ street violence.

Since the movement faded in early April, senior leaders – also wanted in violence-relat-ed cases – have stopped going to their respec-tive areas, rendering the party organisational-ly dead.

Nazrul Islam Khan, a member of BNP’s standing committee, said: “In some districts, committees have expired. In some places, top

leaders have become inactive. In other plac-es, posts have remained vacant. Addressing all these issues is also part of the reorganisa-tion process. But many of our colleagues have been killed by ruling party men, many were

paralysed by torture. So, reorganising the par-ty has been a challenge.”

Eminent political scientist Rounaq Jahan said: “It is true that when political parties are in opposition, they face repression from the ruling regime. Leaders and workers of oppo-sition parties are put in jail or face various forms of harassment. This situation has pre-

vailed under military rule as well as under our elected political governments. So, it is hard to carry on organisational activities when par-ties are in opposition.”

In such a situation, many local level leaders and activists of the BNP have been joining the ruling party by making open announcements. Reportedly, thousands of grassroots-level leaders and activists of both the BNP and its political ally Jamaat-e-Islami joined the Awa-mi League in the last three months.

“How long does it take to reorganise a party? Is nine years not enough? So, the repeated announcement of reorganisnig the party will only pave the way for some senior leaders to make some money,” a district level leader told the Dhaka Tribune recently seeking anonymity.

According to Rounaq Jahan, the Awami PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

26 killed in road accidentsn Tribune Report

Atleast 26 people were killed in road acci-dents with many others injured in various districts of the country yesterday.

Eight people including four of the same family were killed when a train rammed into a CNG-run autorickshaw at a rail-crossing at Hyderabad of Dakkhinkhan area in Gazipur yesterday around 2:45pm.

The deceased are Shah Alam, 27, his wife Peyara Begum, 21, their son Yasin, 4, daugh-ter Sadiya, 6, Peyara’s sister Sofura, 12, Shah Alam’s cousin Al Amin, 27, his neighbour Liton Miya, 22, and the autorickshaw driver Mostofa, 20.

Tongi railway police outpost in-charge Sub-Inspector (SI) Alauddin said: “The DEMU train from Dhaka hit the autorickshaw when it was at the rail-crossing. The autorickshaw got stuck to the train engine and was carried along about half a kilometre, after which the engine driver was able to stop the train. The locals then pulled o� the autorickshaw from the train. Seven of the bodies were found strewn along the half-kilometre stretch; the driver’s body was stuck inside the autorick-shaw.”

The SI said that the rail-crossing had no signal bar as it did not have approval from the authorities. Police from Joydebpur junc-tion outpost, Joydebpur police station and

members of the � re service recovered the bodies and sent them to Gazipur Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital morgue.

Uncle of deceased Al Amin, Shukkur Ali, said Shah Alam and Peyara were returning

home to Khailkur from Narsingdi after the Eid holidays.

Amzad Hossain, a real estate businessman of Dakkhinkhan area, said: “At least eight more people were killed at this rail-crossing

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Chittagong Test hanging onknife’s edgen Minhaz Uddin Khan from Chittagong

The ongoing � rst Test between Bang-ladesh and South Africa is hanging � nely in the balance following the third

day’s play at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadi-um yesterday as the visitors’ openers posted a positive start in pursuit of the home side’s 78-run � rst-innings lead. Stiaan van Zyl (33*) and Dean Elgar (28*) added 61 unbroken runs and concluded the third day still trailing the Tigers by 17 runs.

Earlier, resuming the day’s proceedings on 179 for the loss of four wickets, Bangladesh were gunning for a substantial lead and the presence of skipper Mush� qur Rahim and maverick all-rounder Shakib al Hasan gave the side hope.

It was expected that the � fth-wicket pair would guide the Tigers to a healthy lead but it was never met after Mush� q departed in just the sixth over of the morning session, adding only 12 runs to his overnight score of 16. Mush� q’s dismissal was paceman Dale Steyn’s � rst scalp of the innings.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Time for BNP to look in the mirror

‘How long does it take to reorganise a party? Is nine years not enough?’

Police and locals gather near a bus that fell into a roadside ditch from the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway in Goalabazar area under Osmani Nagar, Sylhet, killing three and injuring 20 yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Time for BNP to look in the mirrorLeague is an old political party and has a strong sense of identity because it led the na-tionalist movement. That was why the Awa-mi League succeeded in retaining its support base even when it was out of power for 21 years during 1975-96 and before that during 1949-71.

“But the case is di� erent for the BNP. The Awami League and the Jamaat were formed by people who were not commanding state power. But the BNP was formed by people who used state power to recruit supporters. Breakaway groups and people from di� erent political parties joined the BNP. There was no strong ideology binding these people who came from both leftist and rightist orientation. Their mass driving force was an anti-Awami League sentiment,” said the researcher.

“So, it is tough for the BNP to keep its lead-ers and activists together when they are out of the power for a long time as its support is based on access to patronage which can be delivered when the party holds state power,” she added.

Among the 15 vice chairmen of the party, only four are currently active in politics, while three are severely ill, one is behind bars and one is on the run.

All the joint secretaries were on the run during the movement earlier this year. Aman-

ullah Aman was busy in arranging his son’s wedding during the movement and went into hiding right after. Mizanur Rahman Minu and Barkatullah Bulu were on the run throughout the entire duration of the movement. Mahbub Uddin Khokon was busy with his law practice.

Mohammad Shahjahan was behind bars while Salahuddin Ahmed – who acted as the party’s underground crisis communicator for a brief period – went missing from Dhaka in the middle of the movement and was found sever-al months later in the Indian state of Shillong.

Organising secretary Fazlul Huq Milon has come to be known as an opportunist who is never seen in the streets during movements and only appears to show his face in the me-dia at press conferences.

Ilyas Ali, the one active organising secre-tary, went missing several years ago and have not been seen since. The rest exist just on pa-pers and have rarely been seen except for a few public meetings.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has often re-buked the senior and mid-level leaders for not being in the � eld during street movements. Recently, it is said that she does not trust these leaders anymore and have been making most decisions by herself for months.

According to Mohammad Shahjahan, a joint secretary general of the party, reorganis-

ing means to bring the dedicated, committed and experienced leaders to the forefront.

Asked why they have not been able to do it in nine years, he said: “We have not done it nine years does not mean that would not be able to do it ever. Those in charge of reorganising the party in the previous years did not perform well due to various reasons.” But this time, the party will be reorganised, he a� rmed.

Political scientist Ataur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: “In a nutshell, organisation means ideology in action. But the way BNP is trying to reorganise – by holding some meet-ings and sittings – will not bring any results.”

He prescribed that the party should now launch a membership drive across the coun-try to � nd out the people who truly believes in the party’s ideologies and bring them under the umbrella.

“The BNP has huge popularity in the coun-try; plus there is dissatisfaction among people against the government. So, the BNP should capitalise on this.

“The central leadership will have to be united. Basically, political parties in Bangla-desh are based on patron-client relationship. As BNP has been out of the o� ce for a long time, it has no patron. The BNP has become dry even for its activists and leaders,” Ataur said. l

Chittagong TestSteyn struggled for most parts of the second day and the Bangladesh captain’s departure provided him some much-needed relief. The length ball curled in and smacked the dimin-utive batsman on the back thigh. The on-� eld umpire turned down the con� dent leg-before appeal but skipper Hashim Amla was not convinced and asked for a review. There was a noise but it was due to the bat jamming the pad and the third umpire duly overturned the on-� eld adjudicator’s decision.

Following Mush� q’s dismissal, Shakib and Liton Kumar Das were the last two recognised batsmen. Bangladesh had done a good job until then and needed these two to keep the scoreboard ticking. And, the sixth-wicket duo did exactly that, putting on a vital 82 runs.

Shakib, who began the day on one, record-ed a few milestones on his way to 47. On 34, Shakib reached the 8000-international run landmark while his knock was his highest score against the Proteas. However, just when he was set to reach his 20th � fty, he mistimed a full-blooded pull o� spinner Simon Harmer, only to see JP Duminy grasp a regulation catch.

This left Liton with the tail-enders. The 20-year old wicket-keeper exhibited a lot of courage against a South African bowling at-tack, hoping to cause rampage with the new ball. Liton however, was extremely composed and came out of his attacking shell, which is his natural game. The Dinajpur lad never at-tempted any glory shots and alongside Mo-hammad Shahid, added a valuable 34 runs for the seventh wicket to take Bangladesh past the 300-mark.

The association was brief yet e� ective as Shahid provided Liton valuable support. Bet-ter known for his unrelenting approach while bowling, Shahid dug in for 19 balls and blazed four boundaries and a six on way to 25 before Vernon Philander removed him. His maxi-mum o� Harmer was only the Tigers’ second of the innings after Mush� q.

In the meantime, Liton reached his maiden � fty and at 20, became the youngest stump-er-batsman to strike a half-century against South Africa, surpassing Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella.

Following Liton’s departure for 50, Steyn cleaned up the tail to � nish with 399 wickets, one short of becoming the 13th cricketer to reach the 400-club. l

26 killed in road accidentsbefore. All the railway authorities did was put up a concrete sign that warned everyone to use the crossing with caution.

Joydebpur railway junction Master Sha-hidul Islam said: “There are 13 such unap-proved rail-crossings across the rail line from Tongi to Joydebpur. The ward councillors of the local city corporation made these cross-ings to meet the need of the local residents, and the responsibility to look after these crossings is theirs. We face trouble if we talk about these.”

Kamalapur Railway police station O� cer-in-Charge Abdul Majid said legal action would be taken against the autorickshaw driver as he used the illegal crossing.

Bangladesh Railway regional manager of Dhaka Arifuzzaman told journalists that the unapproved rail-crossings are not level cross-ings. He said he had information that this is the � rst time an autorickshaw used that cross-ing. A special team from BR would be inspect-ing the site of incident, he added.

In another incident in Munshiganj, our cor-respondent reported seven people were killed and 12 others were injured as a Mawa-bound bus rammed into a Dhaka-bound four-wheel-er, locally known as Leguna, on the Dha-ka-Mawa highway at Nimtoli of Sirajdikhan upazila on Wednesday evening.

The deceased are Leguna driver Ershad, 32, Rabbaj Mia’s son Russell, 30, Russell’swife Seema Begum, Russell’s niece Alo, 10, Shipra Mandal, 28, Alamin, 14, and Madhuri Akter, 18.

After the accident, agitated people vandal-ised several vehicles and blocked the highway for an hour. The wounded are admitted to dif-ferent hospitals.

Con� rming this news Munshiganj ASP Md Samsuzzaman said, “Four died on the spot, Alo died on the way to hospital, and two oth-ers died in the hospital. The bus and the Le-guna have been seized but the bus driver � ed the scene.”

In Tangail, six people including women

died in a bus accident when a bus of Binimoy Paribahan, while coming to Dhaka, lost con-trol and fell into a ditch near Baoikhola area of the Dhaka-Tangail highway, reports our Tan-gail correspondent. The incident took place around 3:15pm.

Tra� c Sergeant Asad of Tangail said the deceased could not be identi� ed immediate-ly. The injured were taken to Tangail Medical College Hospital; the death toll may increase, he said adding that the rescue work is still on-going.

Tangail deputy commissioner announced that each of the family of the deceased would be compensated with Tk20,000 and the in-jured would be paid their medical expenses.

Our correspondent in Sylhet reports a sim-ilar bus accident there claimed the lives of three including two women. A surviving pas-senger said the bus, travelling towards Sylhet from Brahmanbaria, suddenly lost control near a primary school in Osmani Nagari and fell into the roadside ditch around 12pm. He

said the bus was carrying excess passengers.Sylhet Superintendent of Police Nur-e-

Alam Mina con� rmed the deaths of two wom-en and a man in the incident and said their identities could not yet be con� rmed.

In another incident, two people were killed and three others injured when a bus and a CNG autorickshaw collided head-on in the Is-lamabad area of Sarail upazila of Brahmanbar-ia on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway. The incident occurred around 10:30am yesterday, reports our correspondent.

The deceased are Darbesh Ali, 38, of Brah-manbaria; and Inzamamul Haq, 22, a third-year philosophy student of Brahmanbaria Government College and son of Enamul Haq from Madhabpur upazila in Habiganj.

Sarail Khatihata Highway Police Sergeant Jahangir Alam said a bus of Shyamoli Pariba-han going to Sylhet hit the oncoming CNG au-torickshaw, killing the two autorickshaw pas-sengers on the spot. The bus have been taken into custody, he added. l

Hasina: Security shouldn’t detach PM from peoplen UNB

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the members of Special Security Force (SSF) to be careful so that her contact with general people is not hindered in the name of security.

“We do politics ... general people are the main source of power for us ... you need to keep it in mind that we should not be de-tached from people,” she said.

Hasina was addressing a function marking the 29th founding anniversary of the SSF at the Prime Minister’s O� ce (PMO).

She said their politics is for people, not for herself in any way. “It is right you have to en-

sure my security, but you also have to be care-ful that I am not isolated from people.”

Hasina said her only aim is to utilise every minute for the development of the country and the welfare of people. “That is why I do not want to waste any working hours, and for that those who work with me have to give ex-tra labour too,” she said. “I feel peace in my mind when our labour and e� orts bring good for people.”

She said the more the country will get de-veloped the greater welfare of people will be ensured, and Bangladesh will be recognised as a digni� ed country on the global stage.

Praising the SSF personnel for their e� -ciency, devotion, dutifulness, loyalty, profes-

sionalism and skills, Hasina hoped that the force will perform their duties with honesty, sincerity and utmost trustworthiness.

Hasina said the security system is now un-der a challenge as the type and techniques of militant and terrorist activities have changed across the globe with the advent of new tech-nologies and the terrorists can now carry out their operations from any corner of the world.

Under the circumstances, she said, the level of security measures has been increased across the world and her government also ensured various facilities, including digital technology for the SSF to modernise the force as well as enhancing their capability through imparting training, she added. l

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Khaleda lawyers grill ACC in graft case n Ashif Islam Shaon

The deputy director of the country’s graft watchdog found himself in the hot seat yes-terday, as BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s lawyer sub-jected him to a lengthy cross-examination in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia stands ac-cused along with eight others in the Zia Char-itable Trust graft case and Zia Orphanage Trust case.

During the 90 minutes of questioning yes-terday, defence counsel suggested that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was a rul-ing party lackey.

Khaleda’s counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said the ACC had � led at least 15 cases against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina before 2008, but they had all been scrapped after she came to power.

Under cross-examination, plainti� Har-un-or-Rashid, deputy director of the com-

mission, denied the ACC acts according to the wishes of the party in power.

At one point, ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajol said, to date, the watchdog had never withdrawn a case against anyone. He also said that the cases the defence was alluding to were not relevant to the two graft cases under trial.

In response Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said: “The Commission withdrew some cases against Hasina but did not do that in the cases of Khaleda.”

The plainti� ’s un� nished cross-exami-nation was yesterday � xed for August 3. On June 18, Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar of the Special Judge Court 3 � xed yesterday for the hearing in the two graft cases.

Khaleda Zia was present at the makeshift court set up in a parade ground of the Dha-ka Central Jail Directorate in the capital’s Bakshibazar area. She reached the site of the court 20 minutes ahead of schedule and wait-ed inside her vehicle until the proceedings

started. She left the court around noon after the hearing was concluded.

When defence counsel asked the plain-ti� if the Zia Charitable Trust graft case was � led for embezzlement of government mon-ey, ACC Deputy Director Harun-or-Rashid replied that the case was � led for collecting money illegally and spending it using the prime minister’s portfolio.

The plainti� told the court that according to the trust deeds, the two sons of ex-presi-dent and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman were made trustees of the Zia Charitable Trust.

“One could only be a member of the trust by donating Tk5 lakh. The documents named sev-eral people as trustees. When we investigated the case, we did not � nd any trustees outside the Zia family. The other so-called trustees de-nied donating any money to the trust,” he said.

Khandaker Mahbub Hossain suggested that the donors concealed their donations from the investigator out of fear of harass-

ment. The plainti� � atly denied this possibil-ity, saying: “It is not true.”

The corruption trials against Khaleda and eight others began on September 22 last year.

The ACC � led one graft case in 2008 against Khaleda and � ve others for embez-zling over Tk2.1 crore by forming a “fake” Zia Orphanage Trust that existed only on paper.

The other accused are Khaleda’s son Tari-que Rahman, Ziaur Rahman’s nephew Mo-minur Rahman, Khaleda’s former principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, former BNP lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed.

The other case was � led by the anti-graft body in 2011 for abusing power in setting up the Zia Charitable Trust. The accused are Khaleda Zia, her former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, his assistant private sec-retary Ziaul Islam Munna and former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s assistant personal secretary Monirul Islam Khan. l

Media urged to portray Bangabandhu as a universal leadern Abu Hayat Mahmud

The Awami League has sought the media’s collaboration in portraying Bangabandhu as a universal leader.

Syed Ashraful Islam, general secretary of the ruling party, made the call to the media while addressing a meeting with journalists at the Dhanmondi o� ce of Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.

“Bangabandhu is the architect of our lib-eration. So the media should publish more items on him and his extraordinary leader-ship so that the new generation and also the world can learn the real history of Bangla-desh,” said Syed Ashraf, who is also the Public Administration minister.

The Awami League has chalked out a 40-day programme to observe the 40th anniver-sary of the brutal assassination of Bangaband-hu and his family on August 15, 1975.

The ruling party’s Joint General Secretaries Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif and several other central leaders were present at the meeting.

Ashraf said while the party observes the death anniversary of the founding father, the media can contribute by publishing and broadcasting various items highlighting the achievements, life and careers of the great leader.

“However, we do not want to force the media to do anything. It all depends on your wish,” he told the journalists.

Ashraf, son of Bangladesh’s wartime act-ing president Syed Nazrul Islam, also said: “The Awami League has always been a me-dia-friendly organisation. We have never con-sidered media as our enemy. So, you [journal-ists] can express your constructive opinions with freedom.”

Those present at the meeting includ-ed Golam Sarwar, editor of daily Samakal; Manzurul Ahsan Bulbul, chief editor of Boishakhi Television; Abul Kalam Azad, editor of BSS; and Abed Khan, senior journalist. l

Minister: Charge sheet against Rajon’s killers soonn Tribune Report

The police are likely to � le a charge sheet within the next few days over the killing of 13-year-old Rajon, Law Minister Anisul Huq has said, adding that the case would be sent to a speedy trial tribunal for its quick disposal.

“The home minister has assured me that the charge sheet will be � led within three or four days,” he told reporters yesterday at the capital’s Judicial Administration Training In-stitute after the inauguration of a two-month training course for newly appointed assistant judges.

He said the government would ensure ex-

emplary punishment for the culprits so that nobody dared to commit such an o� ence in the future.

On July 8, Sheikh Samiul Alam Rajon was beaten to death in Sylhet’s Kumargaon by some men who falsely accused the teen of stealing a van. The video of the brutal beating soon spread on social media platforms, trig-gering massive outrage among the public.

Another accused confessesAnother suspect in the Rajon murder case yesterday submitted his confessional state-ment to a Sylhet court.

Ali Haidar, one of the accused in the case,

confessed to the court of Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Shahedul Karim for two hours yes-terday afternoon, said court sources.

Quoting Ali, Investigation O� cer Suran-jit Talukdar said the suspect was not present when Rajon was � rst captured under false allegations; but his younger brother Kamrul phoned him to come to Kumargaon. Reaching there, Ali saw Kamrul and Moyna beating a tied up Rajon; Ali then also joined the beating.

Meanwhile, the same court also placed an-other accused – Tajuddin Ahmed Badal – un-der a � ve-day remand. The magistrate grant-ed the remand after the IO placed a 10-day remand plea. l

Several buses are seen stuck in a long tailback on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway yesterday. The tailback was created because of a human chain formed by the locals protesting for almost an hour the death of four people who came under a bus of Ilish Paribahan on the highway on Wednesday DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS4DTFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

DT Ctg bureau chief’s father dies n CU Correspondent

Father of Tushar Hayat Chowdhury, Chit-tagong bureau chief of the Dhaka Tribune, passed away  in his residence in Swandip upazila of the district early yesterday.

Nurul Huda Chowdhury, 87, breathed his last in Amanullah Chowdhury Bari around 5am. A renowned businessman and a social worker, he had long been su� ering from old age complications, said family members.

Nurul Huda was the president of Sonto-spur High School and Cheuria Primary School governing body. He left behind his wife, four sons, six daughters and a large number of well-wishers to mourn his death.

Nurul Huda was buried at the family grave-yard after Zohr prayers.

Chittagong Union of Journalists President Ezaz Yusu� and its General Secretary Hasan Ferdous expressed profound shock at the death and prayed for eternal peace of the de-parted soul. l

ACC questions BASIC Bank MD, former MD skipsn Tribune Report

BASIC Bank disbursed loans worth Tk4,248 crore in just four years – from 2009 to 2013 – without any reliable securities, the Anti-Cor-ruption Commission has said.

The loans were approved by the bank’s branches at Gulshan, Dilkusha and Shantina-gar in the capital, the bank’s new Managing Director Khondoker Md Iqbal told ACC o� -cials during a questioning session yesterday.

A team of ACC o� cials led by Deputy Di-rector Syed Iqbal Hossain questioned Md

Iqbal from 10am to 1pm regarding the loan fraud of Tk4,500 crore.

Former MD Kazi Faqurul Islam, who was also supposed to be present at the ACC head-quarters, skipped the session.

An o� cial of the commission told the Dha-ka Tribune that BASIC Bank disbursed loans worth 2,700 crore in 2009. But in four years and three months, the amount of loans rose to Tk9,373 crore.

After the Bangladesh Bank detected the irregularities, the government removed MD Kazi Faqurul Islam from the bank and reor-

ganised its board of directors. The manage-ment appointed Md Iqbal as the new MD.

Bangladesh Bank’s investigation revealed that loans of Tk1,800 crore from the Gulshan branch, 1,524 crore from Shantinagar branch and Tk923 crore from Dilkhusa branch were disbursed against no reliable securities.

Following Bangladesh Bank’s directive, the ACC in 2012 launched an inquiry into the misappropriation of Tk3,500 crore from the state-owned bank.

The ACC o� cial said the inquiry was near completion. l

Envoys open their homes to Bangladeshi art n Shadma Malik

The ambassadors of Brazil, Germany, Nether-lands, Norway and Switzerland have hosted a joint exhibition titled “Art Weekend” which will be inaugurated today and continue till tomorrow.

The exhibition, which will be curated at their respective residences, will highlight the works of several Bangladeshi artists.

The objective is to enhance interaction among Bangladeshi artists, the international community and art lovers in Bangladesh.

The ambassadors believe the exhibition will provide a platform for young and ama-teur talents.

German ambassador Dr Thomas Prinz will be hosting photographs of di� erent scenes of Bangladesh. The photographs have been tak-en from “Bangladesh. Seen from Within” by Drik, a series of books portraying Bangladesh seen through the collective work of local pho-tography enthusiasts.

Regarding the exhibition, the German am-bassador said: “It shows Bangladesh through the eyes of Bangladeshis. Most of the photos at the exhibition are by amateur and non-pro-fessional photographers.

“In total, the 25 photos are extraordinary, fantastic snapshots which you cannot work out, you cannot plan. This was done by people who live here and this is Bangladesh for them.”

The Norwegian ambassador, Merete Lun-demo, will be hosting the art of Rokeya Sul-tana and her students.

Lundemo said: “We want to lift up the art scene of Bangladesh and make it meet the in-ternational community. Rokeya has brought young art students. It is very encouraging and informative to see the work of the ten art stu-dents from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Universi-ty of Dhaka.”

“There are so many di� erent expressions and this will provide a platform for students to have their work exposed. This is important in the formation of a young artist: to meet people and show their art,” said the Norwe-gian ambassador.

The Brazilian ambassador will be hosting art by Mahbubur Rahman, Tayeba Lipi and others. Vinita Karim’s work will be show-cased at the residence of the ambassador of the Netherlands and the Swiss ambassador will be hosting Abir Abdullah’s work.

The exhibition will remain open from 2pm to 8pm. l

War crime accused Abdul Latif hospitalised n Kamrul Hasan

War crime accused Abdul Latif Talukdar was hospitalised yesterday afternoon after he fell ill because of old age complications in Dhaka Central Jail.

He was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and is now undergoing treatment at ward 602 of the hospital, said o� cials.

Dhaka Central Jail Superintendent Neasar Alam said Latif fell ill around 1:30pm and was immediately taken to the DMCH.

Abdul Latif Talukdar is accused of killing 42 people during the 1971 Liberation War at Shankharikathi Bazar in Bagerhat’s Kachua upazila.

He was arrested on June, 2014 after Inter-national Crimes Tribunal issued a warrant against him. After the hearing on charges against him was over, the ICT 1, on June 23 this year, announced that the verdict would be delivered later. l

Voter list update process begins tomorrown UNB

The Election Commission will start the coun-trywide voter list update process tomorrow.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad will open the three-phase data collection for updating the country’s vot-er list at 11am at Shilpakala Academy in Nars-ingdi town, said Director (Public Relations) of the Election Commission SM Azaduzzaman yesterday.

Four election commissioners – Abdul Mo-barak, Abu Ha� z, Zabed Ali and Shah Nawaz – and EC Secretary Sirazul Islam will be present at the inauguration programme, he added.

The Election Commission will collect data of Bangladeshi citizens born on or before Jan-uary 1, 2000 during the door-to-door data col-lection from July 25 to September 22 this year.

Of them, only those who were born on or before January 1, 1998 will be registered as

voters in 2016, while the remaining nationals in 2017 and 2018.

Enumerators will collect data in 189 upazi-las/thana from July 25 to August 9 in the � rst phase, while 184 upazilas/thana from August 16 to 30 in the second phase and 141 upazi-las/thana from September 7 to 22 in the third phase.

If any possible voter wants to be regis-tered, s/he needs to have birth certi� cate, land deed (if any), education certi� cate (if any), receipt of house rent or copies of utility bills, passport (if any), NID Number of father or mother or spouse, EC o� cials said.

Photographs and � ngerprints of the na-tionals born on or before January 1, 1998 will be taken in three phases from August 11 to Oc-tober 20 through 5,400 possible registration centres across the country.

But photographs and � ngerprints of the remaining citizens will be taken in also three phases from October 22 to February 10 next. l

NEWS 5D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Fish traders help pirates in the Sundarbansn Our Correspondent, Khulna

In the face of stern actions from the admin-istration, notorious pirate groups of the Sun-darbans have reorganised in smaller factions with the support of local � sh traders.

Fishermen, who are still facing torture and abduction by pirates, alleged that the lo-cal � sh traders had been helping the bandit groups survive.

They said � sh traders smuggle arms, food and other necessities to the pirates groups in exchange of money.

There are at least eight or nine active pirate groups in the Sundarbans. Fishermen are of-ten abducted by them for ransom.

Robiul Sheikh, a � sherman from Golkhali village of Koyra upazila, said some unscru-pulous � sh traders had been supporting the pirates in various ways. “They supply the pi-rates with weapons and food in the name of

� sh trading. They hide the arms under ice and smuggle them to the forest. In return, the � sh traders make a lot of money.”

He further said some � sh traders of Paik-gachha and Kopilmuni had amassed a lot of wealth by helping the pirates.

“The pirate groups of Munna, Jonab, Noa Mia and Imdadul are very active in the Khul-na and Satkhira range. They get support from a � sh trader of Kopilmuni. These groups not only abduct � shermen but are also involved in illegal business of deer-meat. Some o� cials of the forest department are also a part of it,” he added.

O� cer in-Charge of Koyra police station Harendranath Sarkar said: “We arrested one pirate with arms from Tala upazila on July 10. He is a member of Imdadul group. We have learnt from him that his group has contact with a � sh trader of Kopilmuni. And since then we had been keeping an eye on the trad-

er.” He however did not give out the name of the businessman.

According to other � shermen, there are about 45-50 � sh traders in Koyra and Paik-gachha upazila. The relationship between the � sh traders and pirate groups is a mutually bene� cial one. The traders supply the pirates with daily needs against which the pirates pay hefty amount to the traders.

“If we want to go � shing, we have to bribe the pirate groups. Otherwise they would ab-duct and torture us. Moreover, motor-driven boats are banned in the Sundarbans now. So only � shing boats can ply. This has given the � sh traders exclusive privilege to control the forest,” they said.

There are also allegations of hunting deer against the pirates and � sh traders. On July 11, Bangladesh Coast Guard members recovered a huge amount of deer-meat from Golkhali area. And on July 12 two boats with deer traps

were seized from Jholakhali area. A deer hunter, on assurance of anonymity,

said there were 10-15 groups that hunt deer in the Sundarbans. They hunt about 35-50 deer a month and sell them to the � sh traders, who sell the meat to various markets of Koyra, Pai-kgachha, Tala, Chuknagar and Satkhira.

Babul Sheikh, a businessman from Kopil-muni, said the trade had become risky in the Sundarbans because of the pirates. He, how-ever, denied of any involvement with pirates and said he was no longer conducting � sh business.

Station O� cer of Kashiabad forest range, Mohammad Alauddin, said the number of request for boat passes had decreased in his area. “This means a low number of � sh trad-ers are going into the forest.”

He further added that he did not know about the trader-pirate relationship and had no information about deer hunting groups. l

Charge framing deferred again in Kibria killing casen Our Correspondent, Sylhet

For the third time, a Sylhet court has deferred framing charges in the case � led over the kill-ing of former � nance minister Shah AMS Kib-ria; the hearing will now be held on August 3.

Kishore Kumar Kar, public prosecutor of the Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal, told the Dhaka Tribune that the tribunal yes-terday adjourned the charge framing hear-ing as suspended Sylhet mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury – one of the charge-sheeted ac-cused – was not produced before the court.

However, other accused men including

former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar and Huji chief Mufti Hannan were pro-duced in front of the tribunal Judge Makbul Ahsan, said sources at the court.

The tribunal set August 3 as the new date after the counsel for Ariful Haque Chowdhury submitted a time petition before the judge.

Mohammad Lala, Ariful’s lawyer, said the suspended Sylhet mayor could not appear be-fore the court as he was undergoing medical treatment.

On December 21 last year, the Criminal In-vestigation Department’s Senior ASP Meherun-nesa Parul submitted a complementary charge

sheet to court, accusing 35 people in the case.The new names in the complementary

charge sheet included the BNP chief’s for-mer adviser Harris Chowdhury, Ariful Haque Chowdhury, and Habiganj municipality may-or GK Gaus – who was also later suspended.

On January 27, 2005, Shah AMS Kibria, technocrat � nance minister of the Awami League government from 1996-2001, was killed in a grenade attack when was returning to Dhaka after attending a rally in Habiganj. Four others were killed and more than a hun-dred people were also injured in that grue-some attack. l

This road � ooded by dirty water leaked through sewerage lines in the capital’s Malibagh area shows the faulty drainage system and a lack of management by the authorities. The photo was taken yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

RAB detains sixtender snatchersnear Rajuk o� cen Kamrul Hasan

RAB detained six people, who were tyring to snatch tender documents, from in front of the Rajuk building in the capital’s Gulistan around yesterday afternoon.

The six are: Kazi Sohel Hossain, 28, Md Rasel, 29, Md Khairul Alam, 37, Md Mizanur Rahman, 56, Md Kazi Mazharul Islam, 51, and Md Selim, 51.

Yesterday was the last day for dropping tender documents for the construction of the internal roads and surface drains at the Pur-bachal New Town project of the Dhaka city development authority, Rajuk. The project works have been divided in 17 categories and its total cost is Tk350 crore.

Witnesses said that around 3:30pm, some Rajuk o� cials were heading towards their o� ce after collecting the tender applications from Shegunbagicha area. But they were in-tercepted on the way by a group of people who tried to forcibly take away the documents.

Some of the RAB members stationed in the area noticed the incident and arrested the six on the spot.

Seeking anonymity, one of the bidders said that three top leaders of the ruling party and its associated bodies are also competing for the tender. They are Khaled Mahmud Bhu-iyan, organising secretary of the Dhaka city unit of ruling Awami League’s youth front Jubo League; Mizanur Rahman, another Jubo League leader from the BADC; and Nixon Chowdhury, a member of parliament.

He also said that those who tried to snatch the tender documents included Mizanur him-self and he was accompanied by the followers of Khaled as well. However, the Dhaka Trib-une could not verify whether they were ruling party men or not.

RAB 3 Commanding O� cer Lt Col Khan-doker Golam Sarowar said Rajuk sought their help suspecting that untoward situations may arise during the tender opening. So, RAB de-ployed a team in plainclothes in the area.

The o� cials of the elite force handed over the arrestees to the Motijheel police station later in the evening. l

NEWS6DTFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Downpour pushes Jhenidah � ower growers at staken Our Correspondent, Jhenidah

At least 1,500 � ower growers in the district have been facing a tough time recently as in-cessant heavy downpour damaged their gar-dens vastly.

Consequently, they have incurred huge loss due to the untoward move of nature.

Sources at the local agriculture o� ce said about 265-hector was under � ower culti-vation this season. Of the � gure, 85-hectorin Kaliganj upazila, 65-hector in Sadar upazi-la while 30 in Harinakundo upazila, 45 in Moheshpur upazila and 40 in Kotchandpur upazila.

Around 70% of the � ower plots in the six upazilas have been damaged, sources added.

Abdur Razzak, former UP chairman and

a � ower grower from Baroghighati village,said he cultivated marigold on a land of 5- bigha this year at a cost of Tk1.5 lakh and ear-lier he has already earned Tk1 lakh from the plot.

If the weather remained good, he could sell � owers of Tk4 lakh more but the plot is inun-dated by the unusual rain during last couple of days.

Another farmer named Abul Hossain of Baliadanga village said he took one-bigha land on lease and cultivated � owers at a cost of Tk20,000. Finally, he managed to earn Tk15,000 from the unit.

In this circumstance, the price of � owers became three times higher duo to the scarcity.

When contacted, several growers, namely Islam Hossain, Mollik Mondol, Abdus salam

and Shariful Islam echoed the aforesaid state-ment.

In this regard, local Flower Grower Asso-ciation President Motiar Rahman said: “The � ower growers are worried due to damaging their plots because of excessively rain water. Most of them have taken loan from di� erent NGOs.

“How they will repay the loan and main-tain their family.”

Jhenidah Agriculture Extension Depart-ment Deputy Director Shah Akramul Haq said excessive rain compelled the � ower growers to incur a big loss as their plots have got in-undated.

Though the price of � ower was high, but they would not be able to sell � owers any longer, the o� cial continued. l

AL man hacked to deathn Our Correspondent, Magura

A man was killed during a factional clash of the ruling party Awami League at Rupdia vil-lage of Mugura Sadar upazila yesterday morn-ing.

O� cer-in-Charge of Magura Sadar police station Munshi Asaduzzam said Pannu had been killed over rivalry between two factions of Awami League at the village.

He said there had been a long-standing dispute between Shatrijitpur union AL Pres-ident Johur Mollah and General Secretary Eklashuddin over establishing supremacy in

the locality. In the morning, around 10 supporters of

Johur and Eklash locked into the clash after an altercation. Later, being informed a huge number supporters of both group rushed to spot and locked into the clash.

During the clash, Pannu, a supporter of Johur, came under attack. He was hacked to death on the spot. The clash lasted about three hours.

About 25 houses were ransacked and loot-ed during the clash. On information, police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. l

Shimulia-Kewrakandiferry services haltedn Tribune Desk

Ro Ro ferry services on the Shimulia-Kewrakandi route was sus-pended early yesterday due to poor navigability on the route.

BIWTC manager Abdul Alim said around 12:45am, a Ro Ro fer-ry normally needs seven and a half feet water in the channel for plying while it is now only seven feet.

They could not be able to make the channel navigable until it was dredged, added the o� cial. The suspension of ferry services has caused tra� c congestion on both sides of the route. l

Three die in trawler capsizen Our Correspondent, Habiganj

Three people drowned and two others were injured as a trawler carrying around 50 Muslim devotees sank in the Gardair haor in Ajmiriganj upazila yesterday afternoon.

The deceased were identi� ed as Idris Miah, 55, of Birat vil-lage, Amina Begum, 30, and one-and-half-year-old boy Jihad of Nayagarh village in the upazila.

Police and locals said the trawler with the Muslim devotees capsized in the haor around 5:30pm after it was hit with an un-known hard objective under the water.

All the passengers except Idris, Amina and Jihad managed to swim ashore. Two of them su� ered injuries. Later, their bodies were recovered from the water. The tragedy struck the Muslim dev-otees while they were going to Maniker dargah at Khagra village in Mithamain upazila of Kishoreganj from Biratghat in Ajmiriganj. l

Boy dies as marble sticks in throatn Tribune Desk

A minor boy died as a marble stuck in his throat at Hamkuriya village in Tarash upazila yesterday afternoon.

The deceased was identi� ed as Zakaria, 5, son of Babu Hossain of the village.

Police said the marble struck in Zakaria’s throat while he was playing in the yard of his house in the afternoon.

Zakaria died within half an hour of frantic e� ort to bring out the marble. l

River erosion posing threat to residents n Tribune Report

More than 1,000 people of several villages at Koyra upzila upazila under the district are reportedly in danger as the Kapotakhsa River has devoured a large portion of the Go-bra-Ghatakhali embankment recently.

The villages include Koyra Sadar, Gobra, Ghatakhali, Horinkhola, 2 No Koyra, Modina-bad and 1 No Koyra, said section o� cer Abdul Matin of Water Development Board (WDB).

“Around three kilometer area has been de-voured by river erosion,” said Koyra Union Parishad member Shaikh Abul Kalam Azad.

“The incident was informed to the WDB authorities but they had not paid any heed to it,” the UP member added.

The UP member also expressed deep concern as the a� ected people took shelter on the em-bankment and the erosion was going on heavily.

Aftab Uddin, a social worker, said the total embankment might collapse anytime if the e� ective measures should not be taken.

Abdus Salam, 50, a farmer of Gobra village said that he had lost his croplands due to the erosion. Osman Goni, 45, a grocer of Gha-takhali village said that the river grasped his shop recently. “Now I am quite helpless,” he lamented with tearful eyes.

“We are living in fear round the clock and passing sleepless night as the river erosion de-voured our homesteads,” said Abul Kalam of Modinabad village.

Md Abdul Malek, executive engineer of the WDB, said proposal for protection of the embankment was sent to the authorities con-cerned. Repairing works would be started af-ter approved the project, he added.

UNO Sayed Eramul Kabir said the informa-tion about the incident was sent to the WDB.

They would take proper steps in this re-gard, he also said. l

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:46PM SUN RISES 5:24AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34ºC 24.6ºC

Rajshahi Rangamati

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 30 25Chittagong 29 26Rajshahi 30 25Rangpur 29 25Khulna 29 25Barisal 30 26Sylhet 26 24Cox’s Bazar 29 26

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:57am

Sunrise 5:23amJumma 12:05am

Asr 4:44pmMagrib 6:46pm

Esha 8:16pm

WEATHER

FRIDAY, JULY 24

RAIN ORTHUNDERSHOWERS

Govt to install 2,280,000 prepaid gas meters across countryn Tribune Report

The government has decided to install 2,280,000 lakh prepaid gas meters in the country aimed at preventing the wastage of natural gas.

“The government under di� erent projects will install prepaid gas meters to prevent wastage of gas during its use at di� erent holdings,” Energy and Mineral Resources Sec-retary Abubakar Siddique said yesterday.

He said consumers of the natural gas under these projects would get more � nancial ben-e� ts by using the prepaid gas metres, com-pared to their use in the previous system.

O� cials said 1,500,000 prepaid gas meters would be installed in areas of the Gas Trans-

mission and Distribution Company Limited, while 460,000 lakh others in areas of the Kar-naphuli Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited.

Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribu-tion Company Limited will introduce 100,000 prepaid gas metres, while Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited will install 220,000 others, reports BSS.

Besides, they said, projects are being im-plemented to install 200,000 prepaid gas me-tres for the residential consumers in the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited areas in Dhaka and 60,000 others in the Karnaphuli Gas Transmission and Distri-bution Company Limited in Chittagong.

Japan International Cooperation Agency

has provided � nance for implementation of the two projects.

Meanwhile, the o� cials said, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution CompanyLimited has already installed 9,100prepaid meters under a pilot project in the Ti-tas areas.

They said the government has installed pre- paid metres in di� erent areas on a pilot basis to increase e� ciency in the household use of gas.

Energy and Mineral Resources Division un-der the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources took the projects to install prepaid metres for prevention of wastage of natural gas. The primary proposal of the project is now under scrutiny, an o� cial said. l

‘Works on four lanes of Dhaka-Mawa Highway startsin December’n Our correspondent, Munshiganj

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said construction work of four lanes of the Dhaka-Mawa Highway would start in December.

The Bangladesh Army will be entrusted with the work and everything has been � xed in this regard. Not only the construction of Padma Bridge, but also all the connecting pro-jects would be completed in stipulated, the minister said while visiting the Dhaka-Mawa Highway at Nimtali, Sirajdikhan upazila yes-terday afternoon.

The minister also said: “CNG-run auto rickshaw will be banned on the highway from August 1. Drive against other illegal vehicles will be conducted from the same day as these vehicles are the main cause of accident on highways.”

During the visit, government o� cials, local MP Sukumar Ranjan Ghosh, Execu-tive Engineer of Roads and Highway AbuHena Md Tareq Iqbal and Communication O� cer Sheikh Walid Foyez accompanied the minister. l

RAB arrests two more of yaba trading cartel with 80,000 pillsn FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested two peo-ple with about 80,000 pieces of Yaba pills from Nimtala-Biswa Road area in Chittagong city early yesterday. The two had smuggled 300,000 yaba pills before Eid-ul-Fitr, accord-ing to the RAB.

Police arrested Md Jakir, 26, and Jasim Ud-din Rana, 35, seven months back, but then they were released from jail and got indulged in yaba trading.

“They are the cohorts of notorious drug peddler Jahidul Islam alias Alo who was ar-rested with 235,000 yaba pills, one foreign pistol, bullets and a car from Halishahar area in the port city on December 26 last year”, said Lieutenant Colonel Mifta Uddin, com-manding o� cer of RAB 7, at a press brie� ng.

He said following a tip o� a team of the elite forces intercepted a Dhaka-bound -pick up van in the area under Bandar police sta-tion.

Later, searching the dash board of the ve-hicle, RAB personnel found 80,000 pieces of contraband yaba tablets worth of Tk3.20 crore and detained the duo, said the RAB high of-� cial adding that during the drive RAB mem-bers also recovered Tk1.51 lakh in cash from their possession.

Earlier, the same group had sent two huge consignments of yaba containing around 180,000 pieces of contraband drugs respec-tively from Chittagong to Dhaka boarding at the same pick-up van before Eid, he said.

The RAB o� cial said after coming out on the bail, the trio have got engaged the same business again while Alo is the mastermind of

the drug peddling. “Alo leads the gang while the two were

carrying the drug items and reached it to the other peddlers safely. The elite force, howev-er, was trying to arrest Alo in this regard while he is on the run after the incident, Lt Colonel Mifta said.

Mifta also said RAB 7 has recovered around 256,0263 pieces of Yaba pills conducting drives in last seven months.

The legislative processes were under pro-cessing against the drug smugglers.

It is mentionable that RAB had busted a ya-ba-ring by arresting Jahidul Islam Alo and his two associates from his residence Halishahar area on December 26 in 2014 along with huge yaba, arms and cash. Later a case was � led against them on following day with Halisha-har police station in this connection. l

Workers of Swan Garments and Swan Jeans Factory yesterday hold a sit-in in front of Islami Bank Bhaban in Dilkusha, Dhaka, for the 12th consecutive day demanding the payment of all outstanding wages and bonuses, reopening of the two factories and withdrawal of cases against the workers MEHEDI HASAN

NEWS 7D

T

WORLD8DTFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

China ire as Myanmar jails scores for illegal loggingn AFP, Yangon

Beijing yesterday hit out at long jail sentences handed to more than 150 Chinese nationals for illegal logging in Myanmar, in the latest tremor to shake relations between the neighbours.

The mass sentencing, which has sparked outraged editorials in Chinese state-run me-dia, comes after the loggers were arrested in January during a crackdown on illegal forest-ry activities in northern Kachin state, which borders China.

For years China has hoovered up Myanmar’s once abundant raw materials, spurring popular anger in the former junta-ruled country which is set for a general election later this year.

Beijing has asked its smaller neighbour to “deal with this case in a lawful, reasonable

and justi� ed manner... and return those peo-ple to China as soon as possible,” foreign min-istry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement on the ministry’s website.

But the Myanmar government said it would not interfere in the judicial process.

“When our citizens break the law in other countries, (they) face sentence by those coun-try’s laws. We cannot use diplomacy to inter-vene. I think China will understand,” govern-ment spokesman Ye Htut told AFP.

“What is really needed is to stop illegal log-ging in the future,” he added.

A court o� cial in Kachin state, asking not to be named, told AFP Wednesday that 153 Chinese loggers were jailed for life for illegal logging.

He said a further two males under 18 were

handed 10-year sentences without giving de-tails, while a woman was jailed for 15 years on narcotics charges.

An editorial in China’s Global Times slammed the “severity” of the sentences, ex-pressing hope that intervention from Beijing could “reverse” the outcome.

“A few cases of Chinese engaging in illegal business in Myanmar have been scrutinised by public opinion, exaggerated as China’s economic ‘invasion’ of the latter,” it said, urg-ing the Myanmar public “to look upon Chi-na-Myanmar trade in a positive way.”

Logging in Myanmar exploded under the country’s former junta as the ruling generals tossed aside sustainable forestry practices in a rush to cash in on the country’s vast natural resources. l

India scandals threaten scam-free government pledgen AFP, New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold promise of a squeaky clean government is un-der threat just over 12 months after his land-slide election victory, with a string of scan-dals erupting across the country.

Embarrassing allegations ensnared For-eign Minister Sushma Swaraj along with the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where the right-wing BJP rules at the state level.

Analysts say the government’s credibility risks damage after it pledged an honest and ef-� cient administration, to attract much-need-ed foreign investment and win over voters enraged about endemic corruption.

Graft scandals plagued the previous Con-

gress-led government, resulting in policy paralysis and the worst economic slowdown since the 1980s.

The latest allegations also threaten Modi’s critical land, taxation and other legislative reforms, with this week’s new session of par-liament erupting in chaos over opposition de-mands for Swaraj and the chief ministers to resign.

The government has staunchly resisted calls to sack Swaraj over her role in helping corruption-hit former cricket boss Lalit Modi obtain a passport in the UK.

The BJP has stood behind Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, under � re for al-legedly supporting Lalit Modi’s UK immigra-tion application while he was under investi-gation back in India for graft.

But it is also under pressure over Shivraj Sin-gh Chouhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh state, where thousands of people are alleged to have bribed o� cials and politicians in return for jobs or places in training institutes.

India’s top court has ordered a federal in-vestigation into the so-called Vyapam scam after a spate of recent deaths fuelled claims of a mass cover-up by the Chouhan government.

The opposition says dozens of people as-sociated with the scam, including witnesses, have died but state authorities say there is lit-tle evidence to connect any of the deaths or to suggest foul play.

Separately, a court has agreed to look into an allegation that national education min-ister Smriti Irani lied about her education degree. l

Japan eyes British help to sink German bid for Australian submarinen Reuters, Tokyo/Sydney

A Japanese government team is in talks with at least two top British � rms to help a Japa-nese consortium land one of the world’s most lucrative defence contracts, sources in Tokyo said, a $50 billion project to build submarines for Australia.

Germany’s ThyssenKrupp (TKMS), a rival bidder, is wooing anxious members of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ruling Liberal Party with the economic and political bene� ts of its proposal.

Two Japanese government o� cials and a company source in Tokyo said Babcock In-ternational Group and BAE Systems had ap-proached the consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries with o� ers of help. Other British defence con-tractors may also be involved, they said.

A spokesman for Japan’s defence ministry said the Japanese bidders were responding to Australia’s desire to have as much local par-ticipation as possible in the project.

“With Mitsubishi Heavy taking the lead, we are gathering information from both Japa-nese and foreign companies in regard to Aus-tralian industry but we are unable to disclose any speci� c names,” the spokesman said.

Both Babcock and BAE Systems are well established in Australia. Industry sources in Europe said any decision by Babcock to work with the Japanese bid could unsettle TKMS and France’s state-controlled naval contrac-tor DCNS, which is also in the fray for the sub-marine contract.

According to a company document seen by Reuters, the German bidder TKMS will train local contractors using advanced German manufacturing and production technology and help establish Australia as a naval ship-building and repair hub in the Asia-Paci� c re-gion. The document is to be shared privately with Australian government ministers as part of the proposal.

“Japan is arguably ahead of the Germans and French in regard to its technology but lags in terms of doing business in Australia and organising an industrial package there,” one of the sources in Japan said.

Parliamentary colleagues of Abbott have told Reuters that the fear of a serious blow-back from failing to choose the winner of the contract wisely is one of the most hotly debat-ed topics within the ruling party. The bidders were well aware of this, they said.

Two TKMS executives told Reuters in an in-terview on Tuesday that the Australian govern-ment would struggle politically to turn down the economic incentives built into their proposal.

“There’s an awful lot of politicians across the board ... that will not be very politically happy if this A$50 billion life cost sophisti-cated programme goes to solve Japan’s de� -cit problem,” TKMS Australia Chairman John White told Reuters.

Senator Sean Edwards, chairman of the economics committee in the upper house of Australia’s parliament, said no government could say yes to any proposal that did not o� er signi� cant economic bene� ts for Aus-tralia. “I think it’s compelling [to build the submarines in Australia]. And I think this is a problem for Japan.” l

A dog is seen on top of a pile of logs at a holding area along the Yangon River in Yangon yesterday. Beijing yesterday hit out at long jail sentences handed to more than 150 Chinese nationals for illegal logging in Myanmar, in the latest tremor to shake relations between the neighbours AFP

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Obama administration takes Iran nuclear deal � ght publicn Reuters, Washington

US lawmakers sceptical about the nucle-ar deal with Iran promised to press senior Obama administration o� cials to make more information about it public at a Senate hear-ing yesterday as Congress begins its two-month review of the agreement.

Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Er-nest Moniz will testify before the Senate For-eign Relations Committee, the � rst such pub-lic appearance by the cabinet o� cials since the deal was announced on July 14.

They briefed the entire Senate and House of Representatives in separate closed-door sessions on Wednesday, and administration o� cials have held a series of private telephone conversations and meetings with lawmakers.

Among other issues, lawmakers said they wanted more information about the timing of sanctions relief and ability to “snap back” sanctions if Iran cheats, clarity on the timing of inspections and more answers about how much money would go to Iran.

“We have leverage, but in nine months, they’ll have their cash and all the sanctions will be relieved. People will be in there sign-ing contracts, and then the leverage sort of shifts to them,” said Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Corker has said he is sceptical about the agreement, but would wait until he knows more before deciding whether to vote against the deal.

Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the pan-el, said the closed-door brie� ng had been

useful but questions remained. “There are many areas of concern that we want to get clari� ed,” he said.

Cardin is one of many Democrats who have not yet decided how they would vote on the deal.

Under a bill President Barack Obama signed into law in May, Congress has until September 17 to approve or reject the agree-ment, in which Iran agreed to rein in its nucle-ar program in exchange for sanctions relief.

With many Republicans lining up to op-pose it, Obama needs to convince as many of his fellow Democrats as possible to back the deal. If a disapproval resolution passes Congress and survives a veto, Obama would be unable to waive most of the US sanctions imposed on Iran, which could cripple the nu-clear pact. l

Iran eyes $185 bn oil and gas projects after sanctionsn Reuters, Vienna

Iran yesterday outlined plans to rebuild its main industries and trade relationships fol-lowing a nuclear agreement with world pow-ers, saying it was targeting oil and gas projects worth $185 billion by 2020.

Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said the Islamic Republic would focus on its oil and gas, metals and car industries with an eye to exporting to Europe after sanctions have been lifted, rather than simply importing Western technology.

“We are looking for a two-way trade as well as cooperation in development, design and engineering,” Nematzadeh told a conference in Vienna. “We are no longer interested in a unidirectional importation of goods and ma-chinery from Europe,” he said.

The United Nations Security Council on Monday endorsed a deal to end years of eco-nomic sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Sanctions are unlikely to be removed until next year, as the deal requires approval by the US Congress. Nuclear inspectors must also con� rm that Iran is complying with the deal.

While the Iranian and US presidents have been promoting the accord, hardliners in Teh-ran and Washington have spoken out strongly against it.

Many European companies have already shown interest in re-establishing business in Iran, with Germany sending its economy min-ister Sigmar Gabriel on the � rst top level gov-ernment visit to Tehran in 13 years together with a delegation of leading business � gures.

Iran’s deputy oil minister for commerce and international a� airs, Hossein Zamaninia, said Tehran had identi� ed nearly 50 oil and gas projects worth $185 billion that it hoped to sign by 2020. OPEC-member Iran has the world’s largest gas reserves and is fourth on the global list of top oil reserves holders.

In preparation for negotiations with possi-ble foreign partners, Zamaninia said Iran had de� ned a new model contract which it calls its integrated petroleum contract (IPC).

Most European oil majors and oil service companies have so far expressed caution about the prospects of a windfall of deals in Iran, saying their compliance departments will want to � rst see sanctions being fully re-moved before any meaningful work can start on projects. l

Greece faces recession warning as bailout talks set to openn Reuters, Athens

Greece’s most in� uential think tank warned yesterday of a sharp drop back into recession in a report that came hours after parliament approved a second package of reform mea-sures aimed at securing a new bailout from international lenders.

In its quarterly report, the IOBE institute said that capital controls imposed last month to stop a bank run pushing the � nancial sys-tem into collapse would exact a heavy toll across the economy.

Reversing a forecast for growth this year of 1 percent made as recently as April, it said the

economy would contract by as much as 2.0-2.5 percent after growing 0.7 percent in 2014 and would remain in recession next year as well.

The report underlined the headwinds fac-ing left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who must negotiate a bailout worth up to 86 billion euros with sceptical lenders, while struggling to hold his divided Syriza party to-gether.

While his own personal popularity is high, a renewed drop into recession after a mod-est recovery last year would test his govern-ment’s ability to push through the tough mix of tax hikes, spending cuts and economic re-

forms demanded by the lenders.Formal negotiations with o� cials from

the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund are due to start in Athens on Friday with the aim of wrapping them up by August 20.

But already there have been doubts about whether the severely weakened Greek econo-my can support the program after a six year-long slump that has cut national output by a quarter and sent unemployment over 25 per-cent.

Banks have re-opened after the ECB re-stored emergency funding last week but capi-tal controls remain in place, hobbling compa-

nies that deal with suppliers outside Greece and highlighting the fragile state of the � nan-cial system.

A senior Greek o� cial said yesterday that Greece would not reach a one percent prima-ry budget surplus, net of interest rate pay-ments, this year, missing a target agreed with the lenders prior to the imposition of capital controls.

The banks, which would collapse imme-diately without the ECB’s emergency fund-ing, face recapitalisation but how much the operation will cost will only be known after banking stress tests due to start in August, the o� cial said. l

Protestors shout slogans as they demonstrate with thousands of others during a rally opposing the nuclear deal with Iran in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Wednesday REUTERS

WORLD 9D

T

WORLD10DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

UN envoy in Damascus for brie� ng on Syria peace talksn AFP, Damascus

The UN’s envoy to Syria met with its foreign minister in Damas-cus yesterday as part of ongoing e� orts to negotiate a solution to the four-year war, state media said.

“Sta� an de Mistura presented the latest developments linked to his discussions and meetings in multiple countries” to Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, the SANA news agency reported.

The Swedish-Italian diplomat has been holding meetings over the past two months with key players in the Syrian con� ict to try to advance peace prospects.

He met Syrian opposition � gures in both Amman and Cairo, and will brief the UN Security Council on his e� orts on July 28.

Yesterday, Muallem said he supported de Mistura’s initiative to � nd a political solution and stressed that Syria continued to stand against extremism. “Syria still considers the end of terrorism, and the drying up of its � nancial resources and support, to be among the country’s most essential priorities,” Muallem was quoted as saying.

Muallem also expressed support for a recent initiative � oated by Russian President Vladimir Putin “to make a regional e� ort to end terrorism by implementing relevant UN security council resolutions.” l

British teen admits inciting Anzac Day attackn AFP, London

A British teenager yesterday admitted to inciting an Islamic State-inspired attack on police o� cers during an An-zac Day parade in Melbourne as part of World War I anniversary commemora-tions this year.

The 15-year-old, who was 14 when he was arrested, sent thousands of instant messages to Australia-based 18-year-old Sevdet Besim over a 10-day period, prosecutor Paul Greaney told the court.

“Those messages reveal the inten-tions of the plotters and their targets, along with their motivation, which may be summarised as support for ISIS

and their enthusiasm for the attack,” Greaney said.

The bespectacled teenager, who wore a grey shirt and tie, cannot be named under English law because of his age.

He entered his guilty plea at the hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, via video link from a court in Manchester, northwest England.

The boy, who was arrested in near-by Blackburn on April 2, is to be sen-tenced on September 3.

Judge John Saunders said he had ordered pre-sentence reports because he wanted to � nd out if there had been any “indoctrination” of the defendant.

Greaney said that as part of their preparations “the defendant sent Sev-det Besim a message that read, ‘sug-gest you break into someone’s house and get your � rst taste of beheading’.”

“Sevdet Besim responded to say that this seemed ‘a little risky’ and that aspect of the preparations appears then to have drifted away,” Greaney added.

Besim and another Melbourne teenager, Harun Causevic, have been charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist act, allegedly at a parade on April 25.

They had allegedly planned to run down police o� cers with a car, behead them and then shoot other people, ac-cording to Australian media reports. l

US defence chief in Iraq for talks on war against ISn AFP, Baghdad

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter � ew to Baghdad yesterday for talks on Iraq’s war against the Islamic State group, whose “caliphate” is shrinking but is ramping up deadly car bombings.

Carter was to meet Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Sunni Arab tribal leaders from Anbar, the province where much of the � ghting has taken place in recent weeks.

During his brief visit, which had not been announced in ad-vance for security reasons, Carter will also meet some of the 3,500 US troops deployed to train and advise Iraqi forces.

Current military e� orts against IS, which took over close to a third of Iraq last year, are focusing on Anbar, where US forces faced their toughest battles during their eight-year occupation of the country.

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren, who is travelling with Carter, said e� orts in Anbar were focused on isolating Ram-adi. He put the number of jihadist � ghters defending the city at 1,000 to 2,000. He would not say when he thought a drive to wrest the city back from IS might be launched in earnest but said it should be a matter of “weeks.” l

Israel troops shoot dead second Palestinian in 24hrsn AFP, Hebron

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian during an arrest operation in the occupied West Bank yesterday, a hospital o� cial said, the second killing within 24 hours.

Falah Abu Maria, 50, was shot in the chest in the village of Beit Omar near the southern city of Hebron, neighbours said.

He had run downstairs at his home to see what was happening when troops stormed it to arrest his son Mohammed, they added.

The hospital said that the 24-year-old son was being treated for a gunshot wound to the pelvis.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that during the raid to detain Mohammed, wanted on suspicion of security o� ences, “forces were attacked by a violent mob.” She said that one man attacked a soldier, who in response shot him in a lower limb. The wounded man was taken to hospital, she said.

The spokeswoman could not con� rm his identity but ac-knowledged that the wanted suspect was not taken into custody.

“As the forces left the scene, they were attacked once again by a violent mob who hurled rocks and bricks at them,” she added. “The forces responded with � re towards the main instigator.”

The incident was similar to one on Wednesday near the north-ern West Bank city of Jenin, where troops shot dead Mohammed Alawneh, 22, in clashes that followed raids and searches at sever-al houses in the village of Birqin. l

11D

TEDITORIALFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

INSIDE

Biman Bangladesh airlines is seeking yet further government guarantees to borrow $109m for two Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

This is a very bad idea. It follows news the state-owned airline incurred losses of over Tk100cr after having one of its two leased

Boeing 777s grounded while awaiting delayed engine repairs in Egypt.This was only one of some 15 times that these two aircraft, which were

leased with the intention of re-opening � ights to New York, have been grounded, during the last year.

To make matters worse, there is no sign yet of Biman being able to reopen services to the US, meaning that it would have been better o� allocating the monies it has spent on planes which are more suitable for short and medium-haul � ights.

Biman’s failure to make pro� table use of its � agship aircraft adds to the weight of evidence that that its management is unlikely to be able to rein in its heavy losses. Oversta� ng and mismanagement are rooted too deeply in the culture of the state-owned airline for changes in CEO to make much of a di� erence.

It is untenable for the tax-payer to continue to prop up the loss-making airline. The government must stop dragging its feet and act on the logic of turning it into a public-limited company in 2007 and move towards full privatisation.

Putting Biman into the private sector is the only practical way to bring the reforms Biman needs, and to stop its endless drain on tax-payer resources. Passengers will not su� er as they are already well-served by better managed airlines.

Government funds can be better spent on improving airports and expanding � ight engineering, training, and maintenance facilities to make the country an attractive hub for air travel.

Oversta� ng and mismanagement are rooted too deeply in the culture of the state-owned airline for changes in CEO to make much of a di� erence

Privatisation the only way to curb Biman’s losses

What makes us Bengali

Dancing with deathWith the dire state of our two-lane high-ways, where overtaking is only slightly safer than playing Russian roulette, and the tra� c mentality of our country as a whole, these numbers come as no surprise

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka-1207

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PAGE 14

Ramadan is about more than fastingNow that Ramadan is over, it is time we did some soul-searching as a nation and found out if the month-long fasting and rituals we have gone through have made us good Muslims and better human beings

Our culture is vibrant and unique. It is impossible not to fall in love with it

OPINION12DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

n SN Rasul

The road to Bashundhara, for people living in and around the Ramna region, is a simple one. One straight road, going through Badda, Ram-

pura, Progoti Shoroni, Nordda, and Notun Bazar, before leading to the � yover that takes you to Airport Road. It’s also served by a steady in� ux of buses -- both “local” and otherwise -- which show up regularly (more so than the “local” ones), and don’t stick around too long waiting for customers to jam pack the bus.

One of the buses that serve that route is the ironically titled Shuprobhat. Recently, I got on their bus at Mouchak, headed towards Bashundhara at about 6:30 in the morning. The roads were as empty as one can expect Dhaka to be, and usually, the ride takes me no more than 30 minutes (the same journey takes about an hour-and-a-half once the clock strikes eight).

The ride started o� normally enough, but pretty soon, we, the passengers, realised that the driver was driving more erratically than was normal, even by Dhaka standards. Every

time he would stop on the left of the road to pick up passengers, I saw, sitting on one of the seats closer to the front, looking back and then, as soon as another Shuprobhat bus came, he would swerve right, which would end up with both the buses colliding.

Granted, the buses weren’t colliding hard enough to cause any real physical damage, but it became clear to us that they were having some sort of feud. After the � fth or sixth time this happened, several of the passengers went up to the driver and started an altercation, both verbally and physically. The bus came to a standstill and I swiftly got o� , unable to see the outcome reach fruition as I was in a hurry. The absolute disregard for human life (of others and their own) was, and is, terrifying.

This incident, though unusual, speaks for a general lack of accountability that the users of the road are eligible to. There is absolute-ly no real responsibility on the part of the drivers -- be it of rickshaws, CNGs, private cars, taxis, tempos, motorbikes, trucks, and, of course, buses -- and de� nitely none on the part of the tra� c police.

Before I rage against the tra� c police for

their incompetence, a sentence or two must be dedicated to the insurmountable force that is the Bangladeshi tra� c that they have to deal with. In weathers ranging from the � y-swatting, sweat-pouring, road-raging Bangladeshi summer, to the umbrella-up-turning, God-weeping, apocalypse-calling Boishakhi jhor, they stand in the midst with nothing but an umbrella.

And the eternal outpour of the unwilling and unruly drivers is incessant. Relentlessly they come, packing in their arsenal an entire lifetime’s experience of following no rules, of caring little for the supposed sanctity of human life, and inserting themselves into every single crevice they � nd within tra� c. Lanes aren’t maintained, seatbelts aren’t worn, horns are honked with unparalleled fervour, right turns are taken without indicators and without looking back, tra� c lights are an urban myth, and even the hand of the tra� c sergeant is barely enough to stop the � ow of tra� c in any given direction.

But despite that, the police aren’t doing enough to alleviate the problem. A stern warning, which is basically a gali or a baton in the back, will do absolutely nothing to prevent future instances of the crime. And an aptly generous bribe is usually enough if you’re in a private car. And if you have one of those VIP dandas on your petrol-guzzling, environment-ruining SUV? Fuggedaboutit.

Over the last week, which included the spectacularly organised occasion of Eid when, like every year, twice a year, people rushed and risked their lives to go to their hometowns, almost 100 people perished in road accidents across the country.

With the dire state of our two-lane highways, where overtaking is only slightly safer than playing Russian roulette, and the tra� c mentality of our country as a whole, these numbers come as no surprise, and every day we embark on a dance with death, not knowing if this will be the day that death takes the lead and twirls us into non-existence.

We can be in the group that says that it is already too late, and that there is no solution for a nation that is about to implode under its own weight. We can say there aren’t enough roads, the Bengali mentality is corroding from the inside-out, that this entire country is too corrupt, its citizens to apathetic to really give two hoots about the matter. And usually, I would be with them. Most of the time, most of us feel the same.

But we can also be in the group that tries, tries to force the government and its people towards a solution. What that solution is -- if it exists -- perhaps no one knows, or we’re su� ering from too much of a case of homeostasis to do anything about. It could be paying the tra� c police better so that they do their jobs properly, harsher punishments for breaking tra� c laws, decentralising the nation to reduce the strain on the city, proper driving tests, or all of these things.

Because the level of risk that each journey we start upon entails is getting ridiculous and unsustainable. And lives, in whatever form they come, and in whatever mode of trans-port, must matter. l

SN Rasul works for the Dhaka Tribune.

Dancing with death

With the dire state of our two-lane highways, where overtaking is only slightly safer than playing Russian roulette, and the tra� c mentality of our country as a whole, these numbers come as no surprise

Getting on the road is nothing if not terrifying RAJIB DHAR

OPINION 13D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

n Brig Gen (Retd) Shamsuddin Ahmed

The holy month of Ramadan, which comes once every year with a clear message from Allah for Muslims everywhere, is over for this year.

The message is a clear call from Allah for the followers of Islam to fashion our day-to-day lives as per the teachings of the Holy Qur’an -- seek the forgiveness of Allah for all the sins and the wrongs which we have committed in our lives so far, and make a fresh vow not to tread the path forbidden by Allah. In return, Allah promises to forgive all our sins and wrongdoings and o� er us a place in heaven.

This is a redemption o� er from Allah peculiar to the month of Ramadan, possibly in vindication of the sanctity and the holiness attached to this month for two reasons. Firstly, the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet of Islam for the � rst time in this very month. We know that the whole of the Qur’an was not revealed in one day.

It was revealed part by part over a period of 23 years. The initial revelation through Gabriel to our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) “Iqra bisme rabbikallazi khalaq” (Read! In the name of your Lord who has created all that exists, came during the night of al-Qadr in the month of Ramadan).

Secondly, the night of al-Qadr has been hailed as better than a thousand months, meaning that worshiping Allah in that night is better than worshiping Him for a thousand

months. Just imagine the signi� cance of one night! On this night, angels led by Gabriel descend from heaven with Allah’s permission with all decrees of forgiveness and bounties until the appearance of dawn.

Allah is the most merciful and the most bene� cent. He does not want to punish and consign us to hell just because we have strayed from the path of righteousness. Hence, the o� er of Allah to Muslims to redeem and deliver them from their sins and damnation by sincere repentance and prom-ise to live and act only as ordained by Allah in the Holy Qur’an. Ramadan comes with a month-long intensive training program from Allah for Muslims, so that we can conduct our lives as true Muslims, not only for the remaining 11 months of the year, but the rest of our lives.

Fasting is mandatory for all adult

Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Fasting exists in other religions also, but in no other religion is fasting such a rigorous requirement. For Muslims, fasting begins from the appearance of the glow of a thin light in the sky, roughly over an hour before sunrise, and continues till sundown. In summer, the fasting period may last as long as 14 hours or more, that too under scorching heat, during which eating, drinking, and sex are prohibited.

Fasting is mandatory -- if someone has failed to fast, the erring Muslim must fast continuously for 60 days for every missed day. It is only the sick and the ailing and the traveller who are allowed to skip fasting, but they must fast for the missing days later in the year.

Only those who cannot fast for their continued illness and old age are allowed,

in lieu of fasting, either to feed meals to the destitute for the day, or pay the costs of such meals.

But here again, the standard of the meal must not be inferior to the one usually had by the abstainer. This is the importance that Allah attaches to fasting.

But it is not merely fasting and saying Tarawi prayers which Allah demands from Muslims. Allah demands full compliance with all the commandments which have been spelled out in great detail in the Qur’an and the Hadith. Alongside fasting, we must continue to do what we have been ordained to, and abstain from doing what has been forbidden by Allah and His Prophet. It is only after we have a repentant soul, have committed ourselves not to go back to our follies, and have begun anew a life of piety and righteousness in the true sense of the term, that Allah will forgive us and give us salvation.

Let us not forget that Ramadan is not con-� ned to the limits of fasting and praying only. Ramadan comes with a much larger canvas for us to work upon. Allah wants us not only to fast and pray as we must, but also to prac-tice and abide by the teachings of the Holy Qur’an wherein He has laid down a complete code of life for all Muslims.

The Prophet says if you fast the whole day, but not refrain from lying or doing something malicious, such fasting is not acceptable to Allah. It means we must practice the com-plete code of life as enunciated in the Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet during the month of Ramadan, and indeed throughout our lives.

The spirit of Ramadan teaches a Mus-lim to be humane, tolerant, temperate, and concerned about the distress of fellow human beings, regardless of faith. If you fast the whole day, say prayers the whole night, but do not bother to � nd out whether your next-door neighbour is in need of food, your fasting is of no avail in the eyes of Allah. If someone abuses you and threatens to phys-ically attack you, as a fasting Muslim you have to exercise maximum restraint not to be provoked to retaliate. This is essentially what the teaching of Ramadan is all about.

Now that Ramadan is over, it is time we did some soul-searching as a nation and found out if the month-long fasting and ritu-als we have gone through during the month of Ramadan have made us good Muslims and better human beings. In this country, where Muslims constitute the overwhelming majority of the population, can we boast that, as Muslims, we are any better than the non-religious? Can we say that the hydra-like monster of corruption and crime, which has been eating into the vitals of this nation for years, now ceases to exist?

Do most of our power-hungry leaders not continue to lie and pretend to be what they are not? Were our women spared rape and torture and murder during and after Rama-dan? Was the 13-year-old boy Rajon not beat-en to death during the month of Ramadan, all the killers being “Muslims”? l

Brig Gen (Retd) Shamsuddin Ahmed is a former Military Secretary to the President of Bangladesh.

Ramadan is about more than fasting

Now that Ramadan is over, it is time we did some soul-searching as a nation and found out if the month-long fasting and rituals we have gone through have made us good Muslims and better human beings

Fasting and praying alone do not make a true Muslim NASHIRUL ISLAM

OPINION14DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

n Afra Nawar

The intoxicating smell from the jasmine garland wrapped around my mother’s hair, her draping red-and-white sari -- these are the things that

remind me of Pohela Boishakh. Then comes the delicious panta bhaat and ilish maach, next the harmonious Tagore songs and folk music. Every Boishakh, I fall in love with the rich Bengali culture. I fall in love with its diversity and with its vivacious ways of celebration.

Culture preserves knowledge and helps transmit it from generation to generation. Culture unites the people of a country. Cul-ture implements good values and attitudes, and the Bengali culture has always been successful in doing so.

Bengali culture has been in� uenced by many periods in history. The Mughal Era, the Bengal Renaissance during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and most recently, the Western media, all took part in shaping the magnanimous culture we have today. All of it is still manifested today in various forms of music, dance, drama, arts and crafts, folklore and folktale, languages and literature, philos-ophy and religion, festivals and celebrations and, not to be forgotten, a distinct cuisine and culinary tradition.

There were, and still are, many artists who have helped us fall in love with the culture again and again through their work. The most famous among them being Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Lalon Shah, Hason Raja, and many others.

Some 90% of the population in Bangla-desh is Muslim, so, inevitably, the Islamic festival of Eid is a major festival in Bangla-desh. Before Eid-ul-Fitr comes the month of Ramadan, when street food reigns supreme, starting from the deep-fried peyaju-beguni to the mouth-watering jilapis -- you � nd your-self in street-food heaven.

Then comes the Eid day, more like the pocket re-� lling day for us young ones, as, by tradition, elders give us small amounts of money as blessings. Thousands gather in the Idgah Maath to perform their Eid prayers. Happiness spreads as people embrace and wish each other Eid Mubarak, while at home awaits yummy sweets and the special Eid programs on television.

Before Eid-ul-Adha, the gorur haats are all set for buyers to buy domestic animals such as cows, goats, or for some lavish people, camels as well! On Eid day, the animals get sacri� ced and the meat is distributed among relatives and the poor, while some are kept for the households.

As per West Bengali culture, in Bangla-desh, the biggest Hindu celebration is Durga Puja. Beautiful sculptures of Durga are made by local sculptors. The lively celebrations last for 10 days and delicious sweets such as narus are made.

However, apart from the religious ones, Bangladesh has other festivals too. The Bengali New Year, Pohela Boishakh, with all its cheerfulness, comes in the month of April. Huge parades and fairs are arranged. Every-where you look you can see colourful masks, locally-made handicrafts, and multi-coloured clothing. Schools and other cultural insti-tutions arrange programs, which include Bengali dance, music, poetry, and drama.

On International Mother Language Day, many gather in front of the Shaheed Minar, and the thousand replicas of it around the country, with � owers to pay their respect to our mother tongue and the martyrs who sacri� ced their lives for it. You see, we love our language very much, and we are the only country that has fought for their mother language.

Wedding bells ring all over Bangladesh during winter. It’s not just one ceremony that we usually get to attend, we have four or � ve at least. Apart from the day of the actual wed-ding, the most awaited event is gaye holud. Turmeric paste is smeared on the bride and groom and small Bengali delights are fed to attendants by relatives. A popular notion is that the bride and groom's families present small dancing and singing performances for the guests. On her wedding day, the bride dresses up in red or similar hues.

The architecture of the historical monu-ments in Bangladesh are mostly in� uenced from the Mughal Era. But in recent times, many new modern buildings are designed in simple, minimalistic styles. In villages, we see houses usually made from mud or tin in very simplistic manners. Our cricket-loving nation boasts an excellent cricket team, whom we lovingly refer to as the Tigers. It is not unusual to � nd many people gathered in front of electronics stores watching a cricket match like they have nothing else to do. Apart from cricket, Bangladeshis love to play nouka baich and kabaddi, our national sport.

Let’s talk about food -- we Bangladeshis love steamed rice and � sh cooked in various ways, thus comes the saying “machhe bhaate Bangali.” We like it spicy too, so lots of herbs and spices are a must when preparing a dish. However, an assortment of sweets can be de-lightful once in a while so we have roshgollas, chom choms, kalojams and many others. As for clothing, men wear lungis, punjabis, or formal clothes.

Women, on the other hand, love wear-ing saris and kameezes made from cotton, jamdani, Benarosi, etc. Some fashion houses are trying to make Western clothing using Bangladeshi fabrics to bring that Bengali vibe into their non-Benglai out� ts.

Bangladeshis are quite diverse in nature, and thus, we cannot be stereotyped. Our culture is vibrant and unique. It is impossible not to fall in love with it. l

Afra Nawar is an intern at Bangladesh Enterprise Institute.

What makes us Bengali

Our culture is vibrant and unique. It is impossible not to fall in love with it

Our culture is not just skin-deep DHAKA TRIBUNE

15D

TBusiness FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Report: 60% entrepreneurs doubtful over budget implementation

17 DSEX hits 5-month high19

BB to launch $500m funds for export-oriented, green industries

16‘Brexit’ fears haunt London’s roaring trade in euros

20

Pangaon terminal remains virtually idle

n Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The government is set to take a number of initiatives to make Pangaon Inland Contain-er Terminal (PICT) fully operational through encouraging the exporters and importers to use the waterways between Dhaka and Chit-tagong for transportation of their goods.

Located at Keraniganj on the bank of River Buriganga, the terminal virtually remains idle since its inauguration in November 2013.

National Board of Revenue (NBR) would work together with a number of ministries and launch marketing strategies to keep in touch with business and provide bene� ts for the users, o� cials said.

It is likely to hold an inter-ministerial meeting with the shipping ministry to ration-alise the vessel and port tari� s – considered as a major reason why the terminal is not being used, they added.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Au-thority (BIWTA) and Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) have jointly constructed the Pangaon ICT at a cost of around Tk400 crore to help reduce the cost of carrying goods and ease the tra� c congestion on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

The port has modern infrastructural facil-ities and international standard equipment, including forklift, tractor trailer, mobileharbor crane, straddle carrier, cargo lifting crane, etc.

It, however, remains inactive as the au-thorities have failed to attract users mainly due to lack of campaign and marketing strat-egies, terminal sources said. The government has to spend over Tk40 lakh per month as op-erational cost and sta� salaries.

The terminal has a storage capacity of 3,500 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and is capable of handling around 1.16 lakh containers annually.

In comparison, it has so far handled nearly 850 containers, mostly empty ones, since its inception. In June, a water vesselreached Pangaon with only 10 goods-laden containers.

In the � scal year 2014-15, only six vessels

reached the PICT from Chittagong Port, car-rying mostly the empty containers, o� cials said.

Currently, the users are not using the port for import of capital machinery and raw ma-terials for production, which holds major share of the import. Rather, the Pangaon port is now handling containers with products like glassware and stationary goods. Only 29

goods-laden containers remained stored in the Pangaon ICT as of yesterday.

The CPA usually handles major share of containers that come into Bangladesh from di� erent countries. Around 75% of these con-tainers, mostly bound for Dhaka and Narayan-ganj, are transported through roadways while only some 10% to 12% are being transported through rail links, and the rest through river ways, according to CPA o� cials.

If PICT is used to transport goods, it can save around 40% cost and help reduce traf-� c congestion on the highways, o� cials said, adding that it is only possible if proper cam-paign is launched.

However, businessmen alleged that the transportation of goods through Pangaon ICT is not cost-e� ective yet as compared to Ka-

malapur ICD. Irregular vessel schedule is an-other reason behind the situation.

Exporters Association of Bangladesh Pres-ident Abdus Salam Murshedy said the trans-portation of goods through Pangaon is not time consuming, rather it is more expensive than other modes of transportation.

“We are also facing problems while open-ing Letter of Credit (LC) as there is no o� ce of shipping agents in the terminal,” he said. “The NBR has to assure us that we can import and export products directly through Pan-gaon. Otherwise it would not work.”

The Pangaon ICT will have to provide tax rebate like the bene� t provided by Mongla Port to attract users, he added.

According to a recent report prepared by Pangaon Customs House, the port remains un-utilised mainly due to the higher cost of con-tainer vessels and other port charges as com-pared to Kamalapur Inland Container Depot.

Lack of container and irregular schedule of vessels also discourage importers and export-ers, the report said, urging the tax authorities to hold inter-ministerial meeting involving the shipping ministry to solve the problems.

Acknowledging the fact, Pangaon Customs House Commissioner Mostoba Ali told the Dhaka Tribune yes-terday that the vessel sched-ules are now irregular due to lack of containers, but it is pos-sible to overcome soon.

“It is true that the tari� s are higher than Kamalapur ICD, thereby discouraging users. But the shipping ministry is now working on rationalisa-tion of the charges,” he said. “We are having meeting with stakeholders and the issues will be solved soon.”

Currently, the CPA operates

three vessels on the route but without sched-ule due to lack of containers. The authority is inviting multinational companies and big � rms to use the port as a legitimate trade fa-cilitation way, he added.

Users have to bear a total of $138.27 for transporting up to 15 tonnes of imported goods from Chittagong to Kamalapur ICD by rail routes as compared to $206.25 through water-ways to Pangaon, according to the report.

During exports, the same volume of goods costs $80.87 from Kamalapur to Chittagong by railway as compared to $206.25 from Pan-gaon to Chittagong - over 2.5 times higher.

Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mahabubul Alam said the waterway requires three to four days to trans-port products through Pangaon as compared to only 12 hours through roadways.

NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman said the board is preparing a plan to make the port op-erational by three months. “We have decided to remain engaged with a time-bound action plan,” he said, adding the board will work to-gether with the ministries like of agriculture, shipping, telecommunications, science and technology. l

‘We are also facing problems while opening Letter of Credit (LC) as there is no o� ce of shipping agents in the terminal’

Higher tari� s and irregular schedules keep exporters and importers from using the waterways

BARRIERSl Comparitively higher tari� than the

Kamalapur ICD

l Irregular schedule of vessels

l Lack of marketing and campaign

INITIATIVES UNDERWAYl Inter-ministerial meeting for

rationalisation of charges

l Coordinated e� orts with a number of ministries

l Launching of marketing strategies

l Preparation of time-bound action plan

l Bene� ts for users

MORE PANGAON STORY16

BB to launch $500m funds for export-oriented, green industriesn Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank will create two special funds of $500m in total to promote exports and encourage green industry, said Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday.

He said details about the funds would be disclosed in next half-yearly monetary policy statement on July 30.

One fund will be of $300m to be provided by World Bank for export-oriented industries and another of $200m to be supplied by Bang-ladesh Bank from foreign exchange reserves for green industries.

These will be additional � nancing to the existing $2bn export development fund (EDF), said the central bank chief at a consul-tation meeting on monetary policy with the press at a city hotel yesterday.

He said the main objective of the new monetary policy statement would be facili-tating sustainable � nancing to help speed up private investment.

Governor said special attention would also be given to socially and environmentally re-sponsible � nancing.

The central bank earlier took measures in monetary policy to ensure uninterrupted

credit � ow to small and medium enterpris-es, and agriculture sector as such type of in-itiatives strengthened the � nancial inclusion, Atiur Rahman said.

He said next monetary policy also would contain such measures to promote � nancial inclusion.

“New monetary policy will focus on accel-erating growth, keeping exchange rate stable, controlling in� ation and maintaining strong reserve and remittance in� ow,” Atiur stated.

He said Bangladesh Bank had circulated around Tk1,17,000 crore between July 5 and 17 on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, which was 17% higher than that of previous Eid.

“The huge money circulation proved that the demand from the consumers is still high,” he said.

About the banking sector, he said the sector still faced some problems, but the central bank was “making its utmost e� ort to ensure good governance in it.”

“We are now monitoring every private sec-tor foreign loan to ensure transparency,” Gov-ernor said adding that the central bank had already penalised some banks for violation of rules and regulations. l

BUSINESS16DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Islami Bank urged for providing loans to pay 1,300 Swan Garment workersn Tribune Report

The committee formed by the government to pay outstanding wages and other dues of over 1,300 workers of Swan Garments has urged Isla-mi Bank to provide loan for paying the workers.

It is noted that the Swan Garments mort-gaged its properties to Islami Bank, which owed Tk42 crore.

“We’ve requested the Islam Bank to pro-vide the necessary loan to the factory man-agement, so the workers can be paid for the month of April,” Inspector General of Depart-ment of Inspection for Factories and Estab-lishments (DIFE) Syed Ahmed told the report-ers after the meeting.

Ahmed said, “Patricia, wife of the factory owner, told us that she wants to run the facto-ry, only if the bank provides more loan.”

“We’ll formally urge the bank management through an email today (Thursday) and the bank will reply us by Tuesday,” said Ahmed.

As per committee’s assessment, the facto-ry owner needs over Tk1.40 crore to pay wag-es of workers for the month of April and sta� for the month of February, March and April.

Apart from the bank loan, the second op-tion is to sell out four bighas of land located in Gazipur, which belongs to the owner of the Swan Garments, to pay the workers’ dues if the bank declines loan request, said Ahmed.

But the process of selling the land is a very complex matter, as the heir to the lands is not yet identi� ed following the death of the facto-ry owner on April 22, said Ahmed.

He continued: On June 26, we’ve published an advertisement for selling the land but no-body responded as the owner of the land is not clear but now we have talked to Patricia, the wife of the owner and the heir of proper-ties would be cleared thorough the court.

The owners have to pay wages for four months and other service bene� ts, if the factory is declared closed as per the existing labour law and the factory owner shut the fac-tory under article 13/1 of the Labor Act, said Ahmed while replying to a question.

The decision was made at the � rst meeting of the committee held yesterday at the o� ce of the DIFE. The meeting was convened for de-vising ways to arrange required funds for pay-ments and to settle the crises.

The Labour and Employment Ministry had formed a nine-member committee headed by Inspector General of DIFE Syed Ahmed last week as Swan Garments is closed since April and the workers are demonstrating before Eid for their wages. Representative from trade unions, BGMEA, Industry Ministry, Com-merce Ministry, Industrial Police and Islami Bank were present at the meeting. l

Business wants tari� cut in Pangaon ICTn Tribune Report

Stakeholders from di� erent sectors yesterday urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to rationalise the port tari� s like other transport ways and ensure regular vessel movement to make Pan-gaon Inland Container Terminal (PICT) operational.

The PICT cannot attract users till these bottlenecks have been removed, they said at a meeting with NBR o� cials at its headquarters in the capital.

The tax authorities organised the meeting with NBR Senior Member Farid Uddin in the chair.

Representatives from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BKMEA), Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFFA), Bang-ladesh Shipping Agents Association, Customs Clearing and Forwarding Agents Association of Bangladesh were present.

The NBR will prepare a working paper based on the focus group discussion held yesterday and will sit further with the stakeholders, meet-ing source said.

The stakeholders said the terminal remains idle as the authorities have failed to attract importers and exporters to use the port.

They said the transportation of goods through the ICT is not cost e� ective.

BGMEA representative Md Iqbal Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that the transportation of apparel products through the ICT will not be viable for them.

“We always have to meet export deadline set by the buyers. If we send our products through roadways, it will take 10 hours at best, but there is no assurance on when the products will reach if transported through Pangaon,” he said, after the meeting.

“We have to su� er a lot if the shipment is de-layed. It may also lead to cancellation of orders. So we cannot take the risk.”

The vessel movement is not regular in Pan-gaon, Iqbal said, adding that it may also require a few days if the vessels are even available.

The terminal can only be made functional if the exporters can send goods directly to the destination through Pangaon, he pointed out.

Currently, the CPA operates three vessels on the route, but it has no � xed schedule for running the ships due to lack of containers. The port tari� and container charges are also higher compared to Kamalapur Inland Container Depot.

In the meeting, NBR o� cials assured the stakeholders that they will consider the proposals and place it to the inter-ministerial meeting to be held with the Shipping Ministry soon.

Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFFA) President Mahbubul Anam told the Dhaka Tribune the NBR has to dictate business-es, provide incentives to users and regularise its vessel schedule to make Pangaon functional.

“To ensure a sustainable regular vessel move-ment under the � xed schedules, the government has to dictate businesses by � xing products to be transported through Pangaon as mandatory, like the Mongla port. There should be incentives like Mongla port to make the PICT vibrant,” he said.

Currently, the government provides 50% incentives to the Mongla port users.

“Once the transport of goods becomes regular, the port will fully be operational,” said Mahbubul. l

‘We are now monitoring every private sector foreign loan to ensure transparency’

Tapan Chowdhury, Simone Sultana elected to Alliance board of directors n Tribune Report

Tapan Chowdhury, managing director of Square Textiles, and Simone Sultana, chair of BRAC UK, have been elected board ofdirectors of Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a retailers’ platform of North-Ameri-can buyers.

The duo had been elected at the second an-nual members’ meeting of the Alliance held in New York yesterday, said a press release.

The Alliance also elected two new mem-bers to its board of advisors, including Rumee Ali, former managing director of BRAC En-terprises and Investments, and Vidiya Amrit Khan, director of Desh Garments and director of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

“The Alliance board is focused on more strategic engagement in the coming years and the realignment of the board to include the members elected Thursday that re� ects this focus,” said Ellen Tauscher, independent board chair of the Alliance.

Tapan Chowdhury is a respected leader in Bangladesh and brings valuable government and private sector experience across a wide spectrum of industries including the ready-made garment.

Simone Sultana is a valued Alliance part-ner and will assist us in ensuring that the Alli-ance-BRAC association continues its ground-breaking e� orts to provide direct support to factory workers in Bangladesh.

“We are very pleased to have both of them join the Alliance board of directors.” l

‘Patricia, wife of the factory owner, said she wants to run the factory, only if the bank provides more loan’

BUSINESS 17D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Report: 60% entrepreneurs doubtful over budget implementationRespondents believe IT and e-commerce sector requires proper budgetary supportn Tribune Report

More than half of the country’s entrepreneurs are indi� erent to the new budget while over 60% doubtful over its implementation, ac-cording to a new study.

After � nalisation of budget for FY16, Light-Castle Partners – a business data � rm that works at the intersection of market data and company speci� cs – conducted a survey on entrepreneurs’ views on the new budget us-ing their proprietary online survey platform.

The study said as many as 52.6% entrepre-

neurs in general are indi� erent about budget outcomes with some complaining about VAT imposition on e-commerce sector. However, withdrawal of proposed VAT has contributed to relief on the part of e-commerce entrepre-neurs.

Fifty two per cent entrepreneurs are in-di� erent and 42% dissatis� ed about taxation structure, the report said.

Indi� erence signi� es positivity here as the government endeavored to reduce tax burden on companies, especially those willing to en-list in the local stock exchange. The govern-

ment’s withdrawal of some VAT and taxes in the � nalised budget lessened dissatisfaction among respondents.

Respondents believe IT and e-commerce sector requires proper budgetary support fol-lowed by agro-processing and transportation sectors. About the government’s ability to implement budget, 63% were doubtful, the report said.

Lack of con� dence is probably due to slow-er ADP implementation track record which hovered around 60-65% level and slow imple-mentation of � agship infrastructure projects

like Padma Multipurpose Bridge, it said. It said education is the most preferred sec-

tor for additional budget allocation followed by transport infrastructure and power.

In general, entrepreneurs recognised the im-portance of investments in education for con-tributing to human capital as well as potential for growth wrought about by greater connectiv-ity and power availability, the report said.

Respondents have been carefully chosen from diverse sectors with special emphasis on those entrepreneurs operating in the dig-ital space, said LightCastle Partners. l

E n t e r p r e n e u r s ’ f e e d b a c kw i t h b u d g e t

Highly Dissatistied10.5%

Moderately Dissatis�ed31.6%

Indi�erent52.6%

Satis�ed5.3%

Highly Satis�ed0.1%

S a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h t h ep r o p o s e d t a x a t i o n s t r u c t u r e

HighlyDissatis�ed

10%

ModeratelyDissatis�ed

32%Indi erent

52%

Satis�ed

5%

HighlySatis�ed

0%

S e c t o r s w h i c h s h o u l d g e tb u d g e t a r y s u p p o r t

IT & e-commerceRank 1

Agro & Agro-processingRank 2

TransportationRank 3

Real EstateRank 4

RMG & TextilesRank 5

Highly Doubtful

18%

Doubtful

45%

Indi­erent

18%Con�dent

19%

Highly Con�dent

0%

S e c t o r s t h a t s h o u l d g e ta d d i t i o n a l b u d g e t

Education Rank 1Transport Infrastructure Rank 2Power Rank 3Social Security and Safety Net Rank 4Rural Development Rank 5Health Rank 6

1 2 3 4 5 6

B u d g e t F e e d b a c k f r o mEn t r ep reneu rs

R e s p o n d e n t C o m p o s i t i o n

Other24%

Manufacturing8%

Trading & Indenting8%

Restaurants7%

ServiceAgency

16%

E-commerce9%

IT and Software28%

C o n � d e n c e o n g o v e r n m e n t ’sa b i l i t y t o i m p l e m e n t b u d g e t

BUSINESS18DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 870.78 10.70 23.93 4.55 894.71 10.32NBFI 305.89 3.76 23.28 4.42 329.16 3.80Investment 66.88 0.82 2.90 0.55 69.78 0.81Engineering 1135.34 13.95 110.50 20.99 1245.84 14.38Food & Allied 209.64 2.58 6.98 1.33 216.62 2.50Fuel & Power 1253.72 15.40 78.22 14.86 1331.93 15.37Jute 6.58 0.08 0.00 6.58 0.08Textile 537.62 6.61 32.89 6.25 570.51 6.58Pharma & Chemical 1582.88 19.45 66.64 12.66 1649.53 19.03Paper & Packaging 20.33 0.25 1.72 0.33 22.05 0.25Service 133.72 1.64 7.64 1.45 141.36 1.63Leather 55.26 0.68 1.28 0.24 56.54 0.65Ceramic 326.09 4.01 12.22 2.32 338.31 3.90Cement 771.38 9.48 76.16 14.47 847.53 9.78Information Technology 57.96 0.71 5.32 1.01 63.27 0.73General Insurance 59.42 0.73 1.48 0.28 60.89 0.70Life Insurance 56.58 0.70 3.64 0.69 60.22 0.69Telecom 310.29 3.81 26.37 5.01 336.66 3.88Travel & Leisure 144.68 1.78 18.21 3.46 162.89 1.88Miscellaneous 234.29 2.88 26.99 5.13 261.29 3.02Debenture 0.14 0.00 0.05 0.01 0.19 0.00

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

News, analysis and recent disclousersBDLAMPS: (H/Y Un-audited): Net Pro� t after tax from Jan-15 to June-15 was Tk. 20.19 million with EPS of Tk. 2.16 as against Tk. 5.28 million and Tk. 0.56 respective-ly for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Net Pro� t after tax from April-15 to June-15 was Tk. 12.71 million with EPS of Tk. 1.36 as against Tk. 3.08 million and Tk. 0.33 respectively for the same period of the previous year.TRUSTBANK: (H/Y Un-audited): Consolidated Net Pro� t after tax from Jan’15-June’15 was Tk. 997.08 m. with Consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.13 as against Tk. 386.43 m. and Tk. 0.82 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas Consolidated Net Pro� t after tax from April’15-June’15 was Tk. 499.38 m. with Consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.07 as against Tk. 140.77 m. and Tk. 0.30 respectively for the same period of the previous year.NORTHRNINS: Alpha Credit Rating Limited (AlphaRating) has rated the Company as “A” in the long term and “AR-2” in the short term along with a stable outlook based on audited � nan-cial statements of the Company up to December 31, 2014 and relevant qualitative information up to July 21, 2015.BSRMLTD: The Company will be placed in “A” category from exist-ing “N” category with e� ect from July 23, 2015 as the Company has reported disbursement of 10% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2014.Dividend/AGMGP: Interim cash dividend 80%, Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 29.07.2015.

SQURPHARMA: 30% cash and 12.50% stock dividend, AGM: 16.09.2015, Record Date: 13.08.2015.MEGHNALIFE: 13% cash and 20% stock, AGM: 27.08.2015, Record Date: 30.07.2015.FAREASTLIF: 35% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 16.08.2015, Record Date: 23.07.2015.STYLECRAFT: 60% cash, AGM: 27.08.2015, Record Date: 30.07.2015.BIFC: No dividend, AGM: 03.09.2015, Record Date: 23.07.2015.SANDHANINS: 22% stock, AGM: 01.09.2015, Record Date: 12.08.2015.PRIMELIFE: 15% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 31.08.2015, Record Date: 14.07.2015.UTTARAFIN: 20% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 29.07.2015, Record date: 08.07.2015.NATLIFEINS: 45% cash , AGM: 09.08.2015, Record Date: 30.06.2015.RUPALILIFE: 10% stock, AGM: 10.08.2015, Record Date: 09.07.2015.ASIAINS: 10% cash, AGM: 11.07.2015, Record Date: 23.06.2015.LAFSURCEML: 5% interim cash. Record date for enti-tlement of interim dividend: 02.07.2015.FAMILYTEX: 10% stock divi-dend, EGM & AGM: 07.08.2015, Record Date: 09.07.2015.NBL: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 14.09.2015, Record date: 30.08.2015.

PURABIGEN: 15% stock divi-dend, AGM: 30.07.2015, Record date: 07.06.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Wata Chemicals -A 10.19 7.07 174.51 176.30 176.30 167.00 0.092 3.80 45.9Central Insur -A 10.00 10.00 18.70 18.70 18.70 18.70 0.002 2.32 8.1BSRM Ltd. -A 9.99 4.83 88.93 92.50 92.50 83.10 31.569 2.16 41.2Prime Insur -A 9.92 9.92 14.40 14.40 14.40 14.40 0.003 1.12 12.9Kay & Que (BD) -Z 9.82 9.82 12.30 12.30 12.30 12.30 0.000 0.28 43.9Islami Bank BD - A 9.57 9.67 22.90 22.90 22.90 22.90 3.559 1.00 22.9Eastland Insur -A 9.26 9.05 23.61 23.60 23.70 23.10 0.014 2.60 9.1Aramit -A 8.63 8.63 248.00 248.00 248.00 248.00 0.000 13.84 17.9Bangladesh Lamps -A 8.00 8.04 113.44 113.40 115.50 109.00 0.047 4.32 26.3Republic Insu.-A 6.88 6.19 16.99 17.10 17.10 16.50 0.177 1.55 11.0

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Al-Haj Textile -A 9.99 8.00 100.16 102.40 102.40 93.60 60.110 1.07 93.6Bangladesh Lamps -A 9.96 10.10 122.74 123.60 123.60 111.00 40.986 4.32 28.4PragatiLife Insu. -Z 9.94 8.32 94.89 98.40 98.40 88.60 3.765 2.38 39.9BSRM Ltd. -A 9.93 3.73 88.22 93.00 93.00 83.10 191.593 2.16 40.8CMC Kamal Tex. -A 9.86 8.56 15.35 15.60 15.60 14.20 36.673 1.24 12.4Central Insur -A 9.73 9.13 19.96 20.30 20.30 19.00 1.339 2.32 8.6Islami Bank BD - A 9.57 9.78 22.90 22.90 22.90 21.50 150.474 1.00 22.9BD Fixed Income MF-A 7.94 8.79 6.81 6.80 6.90 6.60 0.173 0.51 13.4The Ibn SinaA 7.11 5.96 98.95 100.90 101.90 95.20 28.884 4.36 22.7Samata LeatheR -Z 6.38 5.16 29.98 30.00 31.00 29.00 0.471 -0.05 -ve

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

Global Heavy Chemicals-N -5.94 -4.40 41.25 41.20 42.00 41.00 0.116 2.08 19.8IFIC 1st MF-A -5.77 -5.77 4.90 4.90 4.90 4.90 0.004 0.73 6.7Saiham Cotton-A -3.72 -4.14 20.62 20.70 21.00 20.30 0.362 1.43 14.4Rahima Food -Z -3.65 -2.22 34.81 34.30 35.50 34.20 0.087 -0.47 -veDelta Brac HFCL-A -3.30 -3.24 85.00 85.00 85.00 85.00 0.017 6.04 14.1BD. Thai Alum -B -3.09 -1.05 38.53 37.60 39.20 37.40 1.744 2.80 13.8SonarBangla Insu. -A -3.01 -2.78 16.10 16.10 16.50 15.50 0.029 1.52 10.6Anwar Galvanizing-B -2.90 -3.09 40.10 40.20 40.20 40.00 0.084 0.68 59.0DBH 1st MF-A -2.38 -2.84 4.10 4.10 4.10 4.10 0.002 -0.47 -veAB Bank - A -2.15 -1.79 22.99 22.80 23.50 22.70 2.340 3.88 5.9

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% change)

Aver-age (%

change)

Closing average

Weekly closing

Weekly high

Weekly low

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A -5.26 -4.94 21.53 21.60 21.70 21.30 0.239 2.61 8.2Meghna PET Ind. -Z -4.84 -5.97 5.83 5.90 6.00 5.80 0.063 -0.53 -veAgrani Insurance -A -4.46 -4.90 14.94 15.00 15.10 14.80 0.222 1.80 8.3Hakkani P& Paper -B -4.17 0.73 46.70 46.00 48.20 45.20 5.062 0.29 161.0Saiham Cotton-A -3.79 -4.34 20.51 20.30 21.20 20.20 8.867 1.43 14.3National Housing Fin.-B -3.40 -2.27 22.86 22.70 23.40 22.60 1.120 1.32 17.3BD. Thai Alum -B -2.84 -1.44 38.44 37.60 39.20 36.90 100.497 2.80 13.7ACI Formulations-A -2.81 -1.87 212.57 210.70 217.00 210.00 44.669 6.80 31.3GeminiSeaFood-B -2.79 -3.52 251.16 250.50 260.00 243.00 0.162 9.58 26.2Shahjibazar Power-N -2.73 1.51 204.63 199.60 213.00 197.50 232.334 8.44 24.2

DSE key features July 23, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

8,139.45

Turnover (Volume)

174,096,106

Number of Contract

52,681

Traded Issues 317

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

198

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

109

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

10

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,727.35

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

33.06

CSE key features July 23, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

526.42

Turnover (Volume)

13,016,672

Number of Contract

20,603

Traded Issues 265

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

169

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

89

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,623.49

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.80

BUSINESS 19D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

DSEX hits � ve-month highTurnover crosses Tk800 croren Tribune Report

Stocks gained sharply yesterday with the benchmark index DSEX hitting � ve-month high and turnover crossing Tk800 crore.

Continued fresh fund injection particularly on heavy-weights has boosted the volume of trade signi� cantly and helped the turnover of Dhaka Stock Exchange cross Tk800 crore on anticipation of better than expected dividend dec-larations.

The benchmark of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, surged over 66 points or 1.4% to close at 4,808, extending gaining streak for the ninth consecutive session and its highest since February 23 this year.

The Shariah index, DSES, rose 24 points or 2% to 1,195. The blue chip comprising index DS30 moved up 31 points or 1.7% to 1,888. The Chittagong Stock Exchange was up 117 points to settle at 8,965.

The rally made investors bullish, leading to amass a total turnover of Tk813 crore, an increase of nearly 14% over the previous session and highest since June 1 this year at DSE.

Almost all the major sectors closed higher, with non-banking � nancial institutions experiencing the highest gain of 3.6%, followed by cement 3.5%, bank 1.5%, pharma-ceuticals 1%, food and allied almost 1% and power 0.5%.

Only IT was the unlucky sector that remained out of buy-ing spree as it was down more than 1%.

Lanka Bangla Securities said stocks moved sharply high-er throughout the trading session before ending the day � rmly in positive territory.

It said the gains extended a recent upward trend, with the benchmark index closing higher for the ninth consecu-tive session. “Company speci� c fundamental data contin-ued to attract attention amid earning season, with investors keeping an eye on economic trend at the same time.”

IDLC Investments said the market enjoyed a strong rally based on large cap scrips, with smaller ones participating with signi� cant upward moves.

“Expected earnings declaration played a major role in pricing the scrips while the eventless political frontier yields a facilitating environment.” l

Investors keyed up after a week-long vacation and were busy playing on stocks totaling the daily market turnover value Tk715 crore which is close to around two months’ high.

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 12245.85550 (+) 1.40% ▲

DSE - 30 Index : 1888.83857 (+) 1.69% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 14719.83420 (+) 1.30% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 12245.85550 (+) 1.67% ▲

CSE Selected Index : 8965.25000 (+) 1.32% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

LafargeS Cement-A 572,200 70.83 13.46 125.40 5.64 118.70 125.90 120.00 123.79BSRM Ltd. -A 354,976 31.57 6.00 92.50 9.99 84.10 92.50 83.10 88.93United Power-N 121,298 19.57 3.72 160.50 -1.47 162.90 164.00 159.90 161.34Square Pharma -A 67,630 17.89 3.40 265.80 1.80 261.10 266.50 262.00 264.60BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 499,696 16.70 3.17 33.30 -0.30 33.40 33.70 33.10 33.43Olympic Accessories -N 286,268 16.44 3.12 57.80 2.12 56.60 59.00 56.20 57.42Grameenphone-A 46,739 15.78 3.00 338.10 1.29 333.80 339.50 333.40 337.70Shahjibazar Power-N 73,603 15.01 2.85 200.40 -3.19 207.00 211.00 198.20 203.98UNITED AIR-A 1,391,622 14.88 2.83 10.60 -0.93 10.70 10.90 10.60 10.69Beximco Pharma -A 190,587 12.38 2.35 65.00 1.25 64.20 65.90 63.90 64.95BSRM Steels-A 142,930 12.09 2.30 85.90 6.18 80.90 87.90 80.60 84.60RAK Ceramics-A 136,851 11.07 2.10 81.60 3.55 78.80 82.60 78.90 80.86MJL BD Ltd.-A 93,383 10.66 2.02 113.70 -0.87 114.70 115.90 113.00 114.12BD Submarine Cable-A 75,557 10.58 2.01 139.20 -1.63 141.50 141.50 138.50 140.07ACI Limited- A 17,684 10.35 1.97 581.50 -1.56 590.70 600.00 580.00 585.29

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume shares

Value in million

% of total turnover

Weekly closing

Price change

Weekly opening

Weekly high

Weekly low

Weekly average

LafargeS Cement-A 5,453,909

676.53 8.31 125.40 4.67 119.80 125.90 120.00 124.04

Square Pharma -A 1,426,372 378.15 4.65 266.80 2.03 261.50 267.20 261.00 265.11Brac Bank -A 8,341,860 341.94 4.20 40.40 -1.70 41.10 41.00 40.40 40.99RAK Ceramics-A 3,935,110 317.94 3.91 81.20 3.57 78.40 82.80 78.50 80.80ACI Limited- A 506,224 295.61 3.63 580.90 -1.79 591.50 594.80 579.10 583.95Khulna Power-A 3,565,434 274.29 3.37 78.30 3.57 75.60 78.80 75.30 76.93Grameenphone-A 743,112 250.98 3.08 337.90 1.29 333.60 339.90 333.90 337.74Shahjibazar Power-N 1,135,367 232.33 2.85 199.60 -2.73 205.20 213.00 197.50 204.63Renata Ltd. -A 164,548 206.20 2.53 1270.60 6.17 1196.80 1271.60 1200.00 1253.15BSRM Ltd. -A 2,171,862 191.59 2.35 93.00 9.93 84.60 93.00 83.10 88.22Islami Bank BD - A 6,570,935 150.47 1.85 22.90 9.57 20.90 22.90 21.50 22.90Beximco Pharma -A 2,207,387 143.37 1.76 65.10 0.93 64.50 66.00 63.70 64.95BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 4,179,609 139.54 1.71 33.30 -0.30 33.40 33.70 33.00 33.39United Power-N 784,602 126.59 1.56 160.00 -1.90 163.10 164.90 158.70 161.34Ifad Autos -N 1,115,868 115.41 1.42 104.50 3.36 101.10 105.50 100.30 103.43

BUSINESS20DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

‘Brexit’ fears haunt London’s roaring trade in eurosn Reuters, London

If there is a symbol of British ambivalence to Europe then it may be the euro itself.

The capital of euro trading prospers out-side the euro zone, but London’s dominance of the $5.3tn-a-day foreign exchange market could wane if Britain left the European Union.

While British leaders have long resisted re-placing pounds with euros, traders in the City of London � nancial center now buy and sell more than twice as many euros as the whole 19-member euro zone and more dollars than the United States.

For four decades, London has been the un-disputed king of foreign exchange, but some investors fear that if British voters decide to leave the EU, the City would eventually lose its top position, especially in euro trading.

“If” the UK left the European Union, Lon-don’s dominance of foreign exchange includ-ing euro trading would gradually decline and then end as the � ows moved to Asia and other European capitals,” U.S. investor Jim Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund in 1973 with George Soros, told Reuters.

“London’s dominance of the foreign ex-change market evolved “historically but evo-lution will continue in other places if the UK leaves. It would be foolish to leave the EU, but politicians have done foolish things since the beginning of “time.”

Twelve years after Rogers left Quantum in 1980, Soros used the fund to bet success-fully that sterling was overvalued against the Deutsche Mark, culminating in Britain’s big-gest � nancial humiliation since the sterling

crisis of 1976. On so called ‘Black Wednesday’, Sept. 16, 1992, Prime Minister John Major was forced to pull sterling out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), which had been intended to reduce exchange rate � uctu-ations ahead of monetary union.

Fast forward two decades: European e� orts to forge an enduring monetary union are at the center of a debate within the London elite about post-imperial Britain’s place in Europe and whether it might not be worth striking out alone.

The shadow of the euro falls across Prime Minister David Cameron’s attempt to renego-tiate Britain’s relationship with Europe, then hold a referendum on membership by the end of 2017.

Sold sedately for centuries at the Royal Ex-change opposite the Bank of England, foreign exchange is now traded at high speed among mostly foreign banks such as Citi, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, JPMorgan and UBS.

London accounts for 41% of global foreign

exchange turnover, more than double the nearest competitor, New York, according to the Bank for International Settlements. Lon-don’s closest European competitors are Swit-zerland and Paris, which each take about 3% of global foreign exchange turnover.

Yet London wasn’t always king of forex: The hegemony of the pound sterling in the British empire meant that before 1914, Lon-don played second � ddle in forex to Paris, Vi-enna, Berlin and New York.

And London’s rise was partly due to good fortune.

As the center for global dollar trading, it bene� ted from the greenback’s rise. The growth of international banking during the 1950s and 1960s put it in pole position to ben-e� t from the foreign exchange trading boom when � oating exchange rates were adopted in the early 1970s.

Since UK exchange controls were scrapped in 1979, London has thrived as a center for everything from foreign exchange and bonds to derivatives and fund management, making it the largest net exporter of � nancial services in the world.

By the end of that decade Britain was top, and its dominance has strengthened ever since. Though the euro’s introduction re-duced the number of currencies traded, Lon-don emerged as the global center for the most traded currency pair, EUR/USD.

“If Britain left the EU, that trade is gone,” said one senior European diplomat, waving his hand. “The � rst thing Berlin and Paris would do is to sit down and say: ‘How do we bring that business back?’” l

Euro � rms after Greece passes bailout reformsn AFP, Tokyo

The euro traded higher against the dollar and the yen yesterday as Greece’s parliament passed legislation on reforms crucial to securing bailout funds from its creditors.

In Tokyo, the single currency fetched $1.0944 and 135.67 yen, up from $1.0926 and 135.44 yen in New York late Wednesday.

The bill passed by a resounding 230 votes out of the 298 members of parliament present, after a marathon debate stretching into the early hours.

The vote was a key test of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ authority after he su� ered a major rebellion in his leftist Syriza party at last week’s vote on a � rst tranche of tough reforms demanded by Athens’ creditors.

Tsipras is negotiating a new bailout worth up to 86bn euros over three years.

The dollar rose to 124.06 yen from 123.96 yen after upbeat US homes data o� ered hope for the world’s top economy, and boosts the chances the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates soon.

Sales of existing homes in the United States surged in June to their highest level in more than eight years and prices hit a record high, the Na-tional Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

“It’s not determined yet whether the US rate hikes will be in September or December, but the housing data strengthens the case for a Septem-ber hike a little,” Mitsushige Akino, executive o� cer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management, told Bloomberg News.

The Canadian dollar rebounded slightly after it hit a 10-year low against the US dollar. The greenback traded at CAN$1.3033 in Asia Thursday after brie� y going in US trade as high as CAN$1.3047, a level last seen in 2004, as Can-ada’s economy is hurt by the plunge in oil prices.

The dollar strengthened against a basket of Asia-Paci� c currencies.

It rose to 1,162.80 South Korean won from 1,153.05 won on Wednesday, to 63.65 Indian rupees from 63.56 rupees, and to 13,416 Indo-nesian rupiah from 13,370 rupiah.

The greenback also climbed to 45.29 Philip-pine pesos from 45.24 pesos, to Sg$1.3670 from Sg$1.3642, to Tw$31.23 from Tw$31.19, and to 34.85 Thai baht from 34.60 baht.

The Australian dollar bought 73.81 US cents, down from 74.14 cents, while the Chinese yuan rose to 19.94 yen from 19.89 yen. l

British Prime Minister David Cameronarrives at the European Union (EU) Council headquarters at the start of an EU leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium REUTERS

London has thrived as a center for everything from foreign exchange and bonds to derivatives and fund management, making it the largest net exporter of � nancial services in the world

The Canadian dollar rebounded slightly after it hit a 10-year low against the US dollar. The greenback traded at CAN$1.3033 in Asia Thursday after brie� y going in US trade as high as CAN$1.3047, a level last seen in 2004, as Canada’s economy is hurt by the plunge in oil prices

22Tantalise Mango and Mint Pasta Salad

23TantaliseVeggie-chicken pot pie

24newsThomas Tieber to lead DHL Global Forwarding in South Asia

INSIDE

21D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015T

-JUNCTIONParty on

your platePhoto: Bigstock

24listology Om-nomming wrong

TantaliseT-JUNCTION22DT

Mango and Mint Pasta SaladAfter all the hectic and fun days of Eid, it’s time for something refreshing

Ingredients:• 1 cup uncooked pasta• 1 cup mango cubes• 1 cup yoghurt• 2 tbsp. mayonnaise• ½ tsp. salt• 2 tbsp. sugar• ½ tsp. black pepper• A squeeze of lemon• Zest of a lemon• Handful of mint

MethodBoil the pasta in salted boiling water for 5 to 6 minutes and let it cool. Cut mangoes in bite size and chill both in the fridge.

In a big bowl, whisk in the mayonnaise and yoghurt until smooth. Then add salt, sugar, black pepper, chopped mint leaves, and lemon juice & zest. Whisk until smooth. Then pour in the boiled pasta and mango. Top it o� with a sprig of mint and serve chilled!

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

n Tasmia Momin

What could be more relaxing and appetising than a big bowl of cold pasta salad, chilling in the fridge? With the addition of chilled mangoes and mint leaves, it couldn’t be any more refreshing.

Photos: Tasmia Momin

Tantalise T-JUNCTION 23D

T

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Veggie-chicken pot pie

Ingredients:

Pie � lling2 chicken breasts A glug of oil1 chopped onion1 chopped carrot ½ stick celery2 cloves of garlicSalt and pepperHandful of green peas1 tbsp. � our1 cup of chicken stock½ a green capsicum chopped2 tbsp. heavy cream

Pastry dough1½ cup all-purpose � our 1 tsp. salt2-3 tbsp. sugar½ cup butter3-4 tbsp. ice cold water

MethodIn a food processor, add in � our, sugar and salt. Then add diced butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand or until your butter is the size of a pea. Add one tablespoon of ice cold water at a time, and pulse until dough is crumbly, yet holds together when squeezed. Take out the dough on a � oured surface, form a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until � rm.

Cut the chicken breasts into bit sized pieces. You can also use leftover chicken korma for this.

With a glug of oil, fry the onion, carrot and celery. Add in the crushed garlic and the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for � ve minutes and stir in the green peas. Once the mix is cooked, add in � our, stir and pour in the chicken stock. Stir continuously till you get a smooth silky consistency. Add the capsicum and cream and take it o� the stove and into the ramekins.

Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.

Roll out the pastry dough and cut pieces to � t the ramekins. Lay the pastry lids on top of the ramekins, pressing on the sides. Brush the pastry lids with egg wash and bake it for around 20 minutes or till the pie � lling is bubbling beneath the pastry lid.

n Tasmia Momin

Enjoy this hearty and creamy mix of colorful veggies and tender chicken, under a layer of crunchy and buttery pastry crust. This could be the perfect comfort food after Eid.

Photos: Tasmia Momin

NewsT-JUNCTION24DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

listology

news

Thomas Tieber to lead DHL Global Forwarding in South Asia

n Rad Sharar Bin Kamal

Fast biteWe understand, you’re a busy person. You may not have enough time to make your meal or sit down and enjoy the essence of the dish. Hence, fast food seems more ideal and suits your speed, while eating on the road is nothing new to you. But that also means you don’t pay attention to what you eat either.

How this harms you is that the faster you eat, the more you eat as well. The brain doesn’t realise when you’re full, and sends you a warning signal till about 15 to 20 minutes after the � rst bite. Plus, you don’t really think much about what you’re having as you gobble it down, and your mind stays busy on more important things in that moment. Plus, if it’s fast food that you’re having, you may be in big trouble, quite literally.

Bowling bigThis is a psychological game your brain gets fooled by, every single time. Food psychologist Brian Wansink, PhD, from Cornell University discovered the bigger your plate is, the more you will unknowingly consume, cause, you know, there’s more food.

How this harms you is obvious, for the aim is to eat as much as your body needs to break even. But let’s not go into the mind-numbing details which will make you hungry, remember to just grab a smaller plate and take smaller portions. This also means you’re not wasting food.

Skipping the brunchLet’s face it. Breakfast for many has become obsolete, so let’s just stick to brunch. Well, many of us skip that as well, and � ll ourselves with anything as we get ravenous after a few hours. A person having junk food as the � rst meal will be much healthier than

the one who skips it entirely. How this harms you would rather not be

explained using unnecessarily complicated terminology, for the many simply don’t get it and su� er. If you don’t have energy at the start of the day, you won’t be able to cope. You think you can, but remember this – it takes the phone a lot longer to charge and turn back on once it dries out completely, so better to start with a full battery, yeah?

Stress foodOgh mhy gowd, *gulp* the rain completely ruined my Eid shoes *omn* and a car’s tires sprayed muddy water on my dress. Sound familiar? Yeah, emotional eating is one habit we never realise we do, but it’s actually universal. Nothing can cheer one up so often as food.

How this harms you is by pouring all your hard diets and exercise down the drain at a single go, for stress eating never happens according to plan. To tackle it, clinging

yourself to another stress relieving activity may just do the trick, while keeping you slick.

Midnight munchOh boy. This one will be tough to get over but we really need to stop thinking about that last slice of pizza and leftover brownies when the clock points up. Not only does this harm you all through the night, specially if you snooze right after, but it also ruins your morning appetite making you weaker throughout the day. To counter the urge, have a proper dinner, sleep on time and brush your teeth after dinner. This reduces the willingness to hamper a freshly cleaned mouth and clean it again. l

Om-nomming wrongFive common unhealthy practices while you eat

Deutsche Post DHL’s freight arm DHL Global Forwarding has appointed Thomas Tieber as its new chief executive for ASEAN and South Asia.

26-year DHL veteran Tieber steps up from his role managing the business in Thailand, and establishing operations in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

His appointment took e� ect from the start of this month.

In his new role, Tieber will also oversee operations in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and other agent operations in the ASEAN area and South Asia.

He will be based in Thailand, reporting

to Kelvin Leung, the chief executive of DHL Global Forwarding Asia Paci� c.

Leung said the appointment came in an important region for DHL Global Forwarding as trade growth accelerates.

“With Thomas overseeing a greater cluster of our operations in Asia Paci� c, I’m con� dent that his rich experience and good relationships with industry stakeholders will bene� t our customers and drive greater success for our business in the region,” he said.

In his two and a half decades with DHL, Tieber has held key management roles in sales and marketing, and in business development, in Europe and Asia.

The company said he was “instrumental” in instituting key sales initiatives in DHL, and played a “key role” in various mergers and acquisitions.

Commenting on his new appointment, Tieber said: “As one of the regions with high growth potential within Asia Paci� c, DHL Global Forwarding has been investing considerably in ASEAN as well as South Asia over the years. This has allowed our business operations to grow exponentially despite challenging market conditions.

“I am very excited to further expand our footprint and mark greater milestones as markets develop to their full potential in the global forwarding industry,” he added. l

25D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

26 28

According to US anti-doping agency (USADA) � gures released on

Wednesday, Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100m gold medallist who was suspended between 2006-10 after failing a second drugs test, has

been tested 59 times since his return

PATIENCE!

SportDE KOCK FINED FOR SHOULDERING

BAYERN CONFIRM VIDAL DEAL

BANvSA, DAY 3SOUTH AFRICA FIRST INNINGS248 all out (Bavuma 54; Musta� zur Rahman 4-37, Jubair Hossain 3-53)BANGLADESH FIRST INNINGS R B(179-4 overnight)Tamim Iqbal b Elgar 57 129Imrul Kayes st de Kock b van Zyl 26 73Mominul Haque v Harmer 6 14Mahmudullah lbw b Philander 67 138Mush� qur Rahim lbw b Steyn 28 61Shakib Al Hasan c Duminy b Harmer 47 114Litton Das c de Kock b Harmer 50 102Mohammad Shahid c van Zyl b Philander 25 19Taijul Islam c Elgar b Steyn 9 27Musta� zur Rahman c Duminy b Steyn 3 13Jubair Hossain not out 0 8Extras (lb 7, nb1) 8Total (all out; 116.1 overs) 326

Fall of wickets1-46 (Imrul), 2-55 (Mominul), 3-144 (Tamim), 4-178 (Mahmudullah), 5-195 (Rahim), 6-277 (Shakib), 7-311(Shahid), 8-319 (Das), 9-325 (Tai-jul), 10-326 (Musta� zur).BowlingSteyn 22.1-5-78-3, Philander 20-2-40-2 (nb1), Morkel 19-2-52-0, Harmer 35-8-105-3, van Zyl 13-4-23-1, Elgar 3-0-6-1, Duminy 4-0-15-0SOUTH AFRICA 2ND INNINGS R BS. van Zyl not out 33 71D. Elgar not out 28 56Extras 0Total (no wicket; 21.1 overs) 61

BowlingMusta� zur 5-0-21-0, Taijul 2-0-4-0, Mahmud-ullah 1-1-0-0, Shakib 5-0-19-0, Shahid 6-1-12-0, Jubair 2.1-1-5-0

Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar Das cuts one on the way to his maiden � fty during the third day of the opening Test against South Africa at ZACS in Chittagong yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Maiden � fty injects con� dence in Liton n Minhaz Uddin Khan from Chittagong

Bangladesh had done well to take the � rst innings lead as their wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar Das thinks restricting South Af-rica’s lead under 200 runs in the second in-nings will favour the hosts. The home side, resuming the third day of their � rst Test in Chittagong at 179-4, should not be pleased with the 78-run � rst innings lead, but the 20-year old Liton, into his second Test, believes they have done a good job.

Tagged as an aggressive and busy bats-man, Liton batted out of his characteristics and made a valuable 50 o� 102 balls to help the Tigers reach 326 runs. Although the South African openers Stiaan van Zyl and Dean El-

gar had cut the de� cit to just 17 before poor light stopped play, Liton believes they are still in control of the game despite not being able to extend their advantage.

“I think we are still ahead of them. It is slightly harder to score runs on this wicket. It may have been better had we taken 2-3 wick-ets early but still, I would say we are ahead. It would be better if we can chase 150 to 200 runs in the fourth innings. It would have been better had we scored a bit more but I think 78-run lead was good enough,” said Liton after the day’s play at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.

Liton’s 82-run sixth wicket stand with Shakib al Hasan was instrumental for the home side while the entertaining cameo

from No 8 Mohammad Shahid, 25 o� 19 balls, also made things easier in the middle for Liton, aged 20 years and 283 days, who became the youngest wicket-keeper to score a � fty against South Africa in Tests, beating Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella (21 years and 32 days).

The right-handed, who made 44 on debut against India, got his maiden � fty in his sec-ond batting opportunity in Tests. “I wanted to make a bigger score. I was the only regular batsman at the time, the rest were lower-or-der batsmen. I think I played quite well, as long as I batted. I wanted to play the maxi-mum number of deliveries with the bowlers,” said Liton.

A regular opener in the domestic circuit,

batting at No 7 is not a familiar spot for the rookie. He holds a reputation of scoring quick boundaries in his innings but yesterday Liton exhibited his patience by waiting for 40 balls and 54 minutes to hit his � rst boundary, o� Morner Morkel � icked over the mid wicket.

“We get a lot of loose balls in domestic cricket, but it is the opposite in international cricket. The wicket was slow so it wasn’t also easy to play shots. I had to be careful. There is a di� erent need every day so today (yesterday) the demand of the situation was for me to play this way, play as long possible. I am trying to play the way I play in domestic cricket but you see there’s more pressure in international cricket, I need to be careful,” he said. l

Sport26DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

IN NUMBERS

326 Runs scored by Bangladesh in their � rst innings, their highest

against South Africa and the � rst time they have scored 300-plus runs against them. Ban-gladesh’s previous highest score against South Africa was 259, also in Chittagong, in 2008.

78 Bangladesh’s lead in the � rst innings, their biggest � rst-innings lead against

any team when batting second in a Test match. They have batted second in 36 previous Tests, and the highest lead achieved by Bangladesh was 68, against Sri Lanka in Galle, in 2013.

0 Previous instances when Bangladesh have taken a � rst-innings lead when

batting second against South Africa. In the previous four Tests when Bangladesh have batted second against South Africa, they have conceded leads of 359, 228, 324 and 288, making the average � rst-innings lead conced-ed by Bangladesh almost 300.

116.1 Overs played by Bangladesh in the � rst innings, their most in a

Test innings against South Africa, and the � rst time they have played 100-plus overs against them. The previous highest they had played against South Africa was 87.5 oversin East London in 2002.

0 Previous instances of three Bangladesh batsmen making 50-plus scores in the

same Test innings against South Africa. Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Liton Das made scores of 57, 67 and 50 respectively in the � rst innings of this Test.

4 Number of times that seven of out Ban-gladesh’s top eight batsmen have post-

ed 25-plus scores in the same Test innings. They achieved the feat in the � rst innings of this Test and previously against West Indies (twice) and Pakistan.

50 Runs scored by Liton Das in the � rst innings, making him the youngest

wicketkeeper (20y 281d) to make a 50-plus score in Tests against South Africa. The previ-ous youngest was Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dick-wella (21y 31d) who scored 72 runs against South Africa in Colombo last year.

Shakib goes past 8000Ace Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan crossed the milestone of 8000 international runs yesterday during his 47-run knock in the � rst innings. The left-handed batsman, resuming the third day on one, required another 33 runs to reach the landmark and yesterday’s innings saw him take his tally to 8013 international runs. Including the ongoing Chittagong Test, Shakib scored 2788 runs in 41 matches and 77 innings.

The world’s number one all-rounder in all three formats has 4382 runs in 148 innings from 156 ODIs and 843 runs in 38 Twenty20 internationals.

Composed LitonLower middle-order batsman Liton Kumar Das was selected in the playing XI for the ongoing Test in place of in-form batsman Soumya Sarkar. The decision perhaps did not raise that many eyebrows due to the fact that regular wicket-keep-er Mush� qur Rahim was not � t enough to stand behind the stumps. Liton has been decent behind the stumps so far in this game but what grabbed all the attention was his composed 50-run knock, his maiden half-century, which enabled Bangladesh to post a 78-run lead. Standing in his second Test, the right-hander was constrained and his e� ort was unlike his natural game. On occasions, Liton re-strained himself from hitting the ball even though bad deliveries were on o� er. During his 102-ball innings, Liton hit only seven boundaries. l

TALKING POINTS BANvSA, 1ST TEST, DAY 3

South African speedster Dale Steyn sports a smile of relief after dismissing Bangladesh skipper Mush� qur Rahim (unseen) during the third day of the � rst Test at ZACS in Chittagong yesterday. Steyn is now a wicket away from the 400-club MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

De Kock � ned for shouldering n Minhaz Uddin Khan from Chittagong

South Africa’s Quinton de Kock has been � ned 75% of his match fee after the wicket-keeper was found guilty of deliberately shoulder barging Bangladesh opening batsman Tamim Iqbal during the second day of their � rst Test in Chittagong.

Tamim had been in some conversation with De Kock throughout the last over before lunch bowled by Simon Harmer on Wednes-day, and the shoulder-barging incident took place as the over came to an end and Tamim turned towards the dressing room. The visit-ing captain Hashim Amla was prompt to in-tervene the situation, the second time in this tour, and separate the duo.

“As the over before lunch came to an end, Quinton de Kock walked in front of the stumps to confront Tamim Iqbal. In doing so De Kock deliberately brushed Tamim Iqbal’s shoulder and rib area. This resulted in a heated ex-

change between the two, initiated by the con-tact made by De Kock. This type of incident has no place on a cricket � eld,” said match ref-eree Chris Broad explaining his decision.

De Kock breached Article 2.2.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Sup-port Personnel which relates to “Inappro-priate and deliberate physical contact with a Player, Player Support Personnel, Umpire, Match Referee or any other Person (including a spectator) in the course of play during an In-ternational Match.”

The charge on De Kock was laid by the on-� eld umpires Richard Kettleborough and Joel Wilson, third umpire Paul Rei� el and fourth umpire Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid.

Earlier in the second of the three-match one-day international series, South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw was � ned 50% of his match fee for deliberately shoulder-barging Tamim when the latter was walking back after being dismissed. l

Morning session crucial today, says Harmer n Tribune Report

The � rst Test between world number four ranked South Africa and Bangladesh are evenly poised in Chittagong with the visitors trailing the hosts by 17 runs at the end of day three. Bangladesh were eying a big � rst in-nings lead but it was restricted to 78 runs fol-lowing some strict bowling from Dale Steyn and o� -spinner Simon Harmer.

Bangladesh’s highest ever � rst innings total against South Africa (326) came after � fties from Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Liton Kumar Das while experienced Shakib al Hasan also added 47 runs. However, Harmer claimed the wickets of Shakib and Liton in a crucial junction of the game to help the Pro-teas crawl back.

Harmer, who took 3 for 105, said the pitch has begun to assist the spinners and although there is still two days left in the match, their focus is on the morning session on the fourth day today.

“Yeah it (pitch) has deteriorated quite a bit so far, obviously in the subcontinent you know that coming into day three spinners will come into the game. And I think we can’t look too far ahead in terms of target and stu� like that because there is still a lot of cricket left to be played in this game. Our focus is going to be on the � rst session tomorrow morning. Dean and Stiaan did a good job today evening to go unscathed in that last session especially with the bad light and the rain around. I think the � rst session is going to be our target tomorrow and not too much past that,” said Harmer.

A nothing shot from Shakib earned Harm-er his second victim in the innings. On 47, Shakib tried to heave a three-quarter delivery from the o� e and only managed to top-edge at the hands of short mid-wicket.

“Well, I think he (Shakib) was looking to get to his � fty and without a cow corner there he was looking for anything shot and going to the back-foot and I don’t think that ball was short enough. And it skid on a little bit and rushed on him. He had done that once before in the over and luckily it landed safe, the second time I am lucky,” said the 26-year old Harmer.

However, Harmer also praised the Bangla-deshi batsmen saying their chance-less bat-ting made things di� cult for the South Afri-can bowlers. l

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Barca would part with Pedro for right price: coachBarcelona manager Luis Enrique won’t block the exit of Pedro Rodriguez as long as the striker’s suitor comes up with the right price. “Those who want to leave the club can do so as long as their buy-out clause is covered,” Luis Enrique said after Barcelona opened their pre-season US tour with a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday night.

–AFP

Benitez says Ramos ‘100 percent’ staying at RealManager Rafael Benitez said Thursday he is “100 percent” con� dent skipper Sergio Ramos will stay at Real Madrid amid fevered speculation linking him with Manchester United. Spain international Ramos has been linked to United in a swap deal with Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea, but Beni-tez made it clear the defender was going nowhere.

–AFP

Brighton sign Harper from Real MadridChampionship side Brighton have signed teenage Scottish striker Jack Harper from Real Madrid. The 19-year-old forward was born in Malaga to Scottish parents and he has been with Real since he was 13. Albion boss Chris Hughton said: “Even at the age of 19, Jack is a well-known name and having spent the past six years at Real Madrid, there is no doubting his pedigree.

–AFP

Delph to start for Man City, Dzeko could leaveNew signing Fabian Delph will play for Man-chester City in Friday’s pre-season match with Real Madrid in Melbourne while Edin Dzeko may be on his way out, manager Manuel Pel-legrini said Thursday. Delph is expected to get a run along with City’s record signing Raheem Sterling against the 10-time European champi-ons in the � nal game of the International Cham-pions Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

–AFP

Mario Suarez quits Atletico Madrid for FiorentinaSpanish international mid� elder Mario Suarez has quit Atletico Madrid to join Italian Serie A out� t Fiorentina. “Mario Suarez will play at Fiorentina. An agreement between the clubs has been reached and will be � nalised in the coming hours,” Atletico announced Wednesday. In � ve seasons with Atletico, Suarez won La Liga, the Spanish Cup, the Europa League, the Spanish Supercup and two European Supercups.

–AFP

Mexico’s Tigres advances in Copa LibertadoresMexican side Tigres advanced to the � nal of the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday with a 3-1 home triumph over Brazil’s Internacional, booking a showdown with Argentina giants River Plate. Inter led 2-1 after the � rst match in the home-and-home semi-� nal, but Tigres erased that edge by half-time on a goal by Andre-Pierre Gignac in the 17th minute and an own goal from Geferson in the 40th.

–AFP

QUICK BYTES

Cricket South Africa tweeted this picture of AB and Danielle de Villiers, posing with their new-born son, AB Jr, last Wednesday afternoon. AB Sr said: ‘We all feel very blessed and grateful. Mother and son are both doing well’ COURTESY

Cisse double guides Soccer Clubn Tribune Desk

Feni Soccer Club’s Gambian forward Dawda Cisse bagged a brace to propel his side to an enterprising 4-2 victory over Farashganj in yesterday’s sole Manyavar Bangladesh Pre-mier League tie at Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Soccer Club’s Ali Hossain broke the dead-lock as early as the second minute of the match before Sohel Mia doubled the lead in the � rst half. Cisse then made it 3-0 seven minutes before the � rst half whistle only for Russel to reduce the arrears for Farashganj in the 53rd minute.

Alauddin’s own goal further reduced the margin before Cisse restored the two-goal margin in the 79th minute. Farashganj’s struggles continued as defender Jahir was sent o� in the dying stages of the game.

Soccer Club are now seventh in the 11-team standings with 15 points from as many match-es while Farashganj are mired at the bottom with just � ve points from the same number of outings as yesterday’s victors. l

RESULTFeni Soccer Club 4-2 FarashganjAli Hossain 2 Russel 53Sohel Mia Alauddin - OGDawda Cisse 38, 79

Aftab left to rue what might have beenn Minhaz Uddin Khan from Chittagong

The prodigiously talented former Bangladesh hard-hitting batsman Aftab Ahmed could have gone really far in international cricket. The 29-year old made a � ying start to his ca-reer, wasting very little time before grabbing all the headlines. However, laziness and a lack of commitment and purpose towards the sport saw the right-hander fade away.

Having failed to realise his dreams in inter-national cricket, the Chittagonian lad turned his attention to coaching and now runs a suc-cessful cricket academy – Aftab Ahmed Crick-et Academy - adjacent to the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. While some of his friends and former teammates were grind-ing it out during the third day of the � rst Test against South Africa at ZACS yesterday, Aftab was busy teaching his disciples the basics of the game.

“I launched the academy in February this year. So far, I have got good response. I am trying to organise whatever is necessary for the coaching and also trying to teach my stu-dents what I never did in my playing days,” Aftab told the media yesterday.

What Aftab tried to mean by saying “try-ing to teach my students what I never did in my playing days” was being dedicated and committed. Aftab, who featured in 16 Tests, 85 ODIs and 11 Twenty20 internationals for

Bangladesh, said, “You see I could have been inside the ZACS (playing against South Afri-ca) [yesterday]. But my lack of commitment, laziness and � tness had put me o� the track.

“But Bangladesh are displaying far better cricket compared to the time when I used to play. I am very happy for that.”

Aftab’s last international appearance came against Australia in a group-stage match of the 2010 ICC World T20 in Bridgetown but continued to play domestic cricket. Last year, Aftab played in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League before hanging up his boots from all forms of the game.

“I think I retired in the opportune moment. I got a team (Brothers Union) in the Dhaka League at the very last moment. It would have hampered my image if I had remained un-picked. I did not want to see myself in a posi-tion where I am without a team so I think the decision was right,” said Aftab. l

Dashing Australia opening batsman David Warner sweeps against Derbyshire during their tour match at 3aaa County Ground, Derby yesterday. The left-handed Warner scored a quick� re 101 from 108 balls before opting to retire

REUTERS

Sport28DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa makes a save in front of Panama’s Roberto Nurse during their CONCACAF Gold Cup semi� nal in Atlanta on Wednesday AFP

Bayern con� rm deal to sign mid� elder Vidaln Reuters, Berlin

Bayern Munich have reached an agreement with Italy’s Juventus to sign Chile internation-al mid� elder Arturo Vidal, the German club’s CEO Karl Heinz Rummenigge con� rmed on Thursday.

“I can con� rm that we have with both parties, Juventus and the player, reached an agreement. What is missing is the medical and the signature of the contract,” Rummenigge told reporters during the team’s trip to China.

Vidal, no stranger to the Bundesliga having played for Bayer Leverkusen for four seasons until 2011, has won four straight Italian league titles and helped Juventus reach the Champi-ons League � nal last season, where they lost to Barcelona. The 28-year-oldcould join up with his Bayern team mates as early as next week, Rummenigge said.l

Benteke signs for Liverpooln AFP, London

Liverpool signed Belgian international striker Christian Benteke from Premier League rivals Aston Villa, the Merseyside club announced Wednesday.

Although neither the length of the contract nor the fee were disclosed, several British me-dia organisations said Benteke had signed a � ve-year deal worth £32.5 million ($50.7 mil-lion, 46.8 million euros) -- which was the cost of the buy-out clause in his contract.

The 24-year-old’s 12 goals in as many games at the business end of last season played a key role in helping Villa avoid relegation from the lucrative top � ight of English football.

“I’m very happy to be here and I would like to thank the owners, Ian (Ayre, chief executive who pushed the deal through) and of course the manager for their massive e� ort to bring me here,” Benteke told liverpool’s website.l

Davis scores twice as Red Bulls stun Chelsean AFP, New York

Sean Davis scored twice in the second half as the New York Red Bulls upset Chelsea 4-2 in the reigning English Premier League champi-ons’ � rst game of their pre-season US exhibi-tion tour.

The Red Bulls scored four times in the second half against mighty Chelsea FC on Wednesday despite using a roster made up of mostly of young developmental players.

They were also coming o� a quarter-� nal loss less than 24 hours earlier to the Philadel-phia Union in the US Open Cup competition.

New York head coach Jesse Marsch went

with a youthful lineup and it paid o� as mid-� elder Davis scored in the 73rd and 77th min-utes and 16-year-old Tyler Adams scored in the 70th minute.

Franklin Castellanos scored in the 51st minute for the Red Bulls, who were playing Chelsea for the � rst time.

Loic Remy in the 26th minute and Eden Hazard in the 75th scored for Chelsea, who

are on a three-game tour of North America. Chelsea � eld vastly di� erent sides in each

half as just three players played the full 90 minutes. It was a di� cult Chelsea debut for goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who came on in the second half. The Blues were without stars Willian and Juan Cuadrado as they were both resting after competing in the Copa America tournament.

Davis was in the right place at the right time on both of his goals in front of a crowd of 24,000 at the Red Bull Arena. He blasted a right footed a shot from the center of the box in the 73rd minute to the top left corner to make it 3-1.l

Jamaica to meet Mexico in Gold Cup � naln Reuters

Darren Mattocks and Giles Barnes scored � rst-half goals to propel Jamaica to an upset 2-1 victory over the United States in the CON-CACAF Gold Cup semi-� nals in Atlanta on Wednesday.

The victory ensured Jamaica became the � rst Caribbean team to reach the Gold Cup Final since its inception in 1991.

The Reggae Boyz will face Mexico in Phil-adelphia on Sunday after El Tri overcame 10-man Panama 2-1 with two late penalties in a combustible a� air.

The hosts and 2013 champions had reached � ve successive Gold Cup � nals and were fresh o� a 6-0 thrashing of Cuba in the quarter-� nals but the tournament favourites were left shell-shocked by an early Jamaican onslaught. Mattocks, who was suspended for his team’s quarter-� nal win over Haiti, struck in the 31st minute with a header before Barnes scored from a free-kick � ve minutes later.

In the late match at the same venue, Mexi-co emerged victorious from yet another con-troversial marathon to reach their fourth � nal in the last � ve tournaments. Andres Guardado netted two late penalty kicks to lead Mexico to victory over an unlucky Panama side, who

were reduced to 10 men after 20 minutes when forward Luis Tejada was shown a red card for raising his arm into the face of Rodriguez.

Undeterred, Panama took a surprise 1-0 lead when Roman Torres scored in the 57th minute and looked set to reach the � nal as they held on to the advantage with just two minutes remaining.

However, American referee Mark Geiger was back in the thick of the action when he awarded a penalty to Mexico after Torres had fallen on the ball in the area and was adjudged to have handled when it wedged under his body. The contentious decision triggered a heated confrontation between both sides and delayed the match for a lengthy period.

Guardado eventually converted the pen-alty to force extra time then Mexico were awarded another less controversial spot kick. Guardado once again buried from the spot and Mexico held on to advance to the � nal.l

RESULTSJamaica 2-1 United StatesMattocks 31, Barnes 36 Bradley 48

Mexico 2-1 PanamaGuardado 90+10-P, 105+1-P Torres 57

RESULTNew York Red Bulls 4-2 ChelseaRivera 51, Adams 70, Remy 26, Davis 73, 77 Hazard 75

Sean Davis (3R) of New York Red Bulls is congratulated by teammates after he scored against Chelsea during their International Champions Cup at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on Wednesday AFP

Sport 29D

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FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

Gazi TV, BTV, Star Sports 19:30AM South Africa Tour of Bangladesh 1st Test, Day 4Ten Sports 8:00PM Tour de France 2015: Day 19 Star Sports 111:30PM Natwest T20 Blast 2015Surrey v Sussex Star Sports 24:00PM International Champions Cup Real Madrid v Man City Pro Kabaddi League 20158:20PM Delhi v Pune 9:30PM Kolkata v Mumbai Star Sports 42:00PM F1: Budapest Hungary GPPractice Sessions 6:00AM International Champions Cup Fiorentina v Ben� ca

DAY’S WATCH

Shehzad leads Pakistan to series win over Sri Lankan AFP, Colombo

Ahmed Shehzad smashed 95 o� 90 balls as Pakistan thrashed below-par Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the fourth one-day match in Colombo on Wednesday to clinch the � ve-match series.

Mohammad Hafeez chipped in with 70 as the tourists surpassed Sri Lanka’s 256-9 in the 41st over at the Premadasa stadium to take a decisive 3-1 lead in the series.

The series win kept Azhar Ali’s Pakistan in contention for a place in the eight-nation Champions Trophy in England in 2017.

Pakistan are two points ahead of the West Indies at number eight in the rankings, but both teams are due to play a tri-series in Zim-babwe next month that will determine the � nal spot. Pakistan’s one-day success follows their 2-1 victory over Sri Lanka in the preceding Test series under Misbah-ul Haq’s captaincy.

Skipper Azhar Ali said the series win was the team’s gift to the people of Pakistan who cele-brated the holy Muslim festival of Eid last week.

“This is our Eid gift to our fans,” he said. “With the Champions Trophy quali� cation in

mind, every game becomes important, so we want to win the � nal game also.

“Credit is due to the bowlers who kept the pressure on the Sri Lankan batsmen. And then Shehzad and Hafeez batted so well to bring us victory.”

Sri Lanka are assured of taking part in the

Champions Trophy, but their lacklustre dis-play did not do justice to the former world champions.

Sri Lanka’s captain Angelo Mathews said he was disappointed by the loss because his team did not put enough runs on the board despite a good start.l

Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad plays a slog sweep during their fourth one-day international against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Wednesday REUTERS

BRIEF SCORESri Lanka: 256 for 9 in 50 overs (Thir-manne 90, Dilshan 50; Irfan 3-50) Pakistan: 257 for 3 in 40.5 overs (She-hzad 95, Hafeez 70)

Pakistan won by 7 wickets and won the sereis 3-1

Benitez plays down tension with Ronaldon AFP, Melbourne

Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez on Thursday hailed his superstar striker Cris-tiano Ronaldo as the best in the world as he played down reports of tension between the pair.

Real Madrid take on English Premier League heavyweights Manchester City in the

� nal match of the International Champions Cup in Melbourne on Friday, however Span-ish reports say the atmosphere has become testy on the training pitch during the club’s pre-season tour of Australia.

But Benitez, who took over from Carlo An-celotti in June, suggested he had no problems with Ronaldo.

“Luckily, I have had the opportunity this week to spend quite a few days with him,” Be-nitez told reporters.

“And I can say that he’s competitive, he likes to win, and for that reason he is the best in the world.

“I would like all players to have that desire to win and to compete. You’ve all seen him train today and I think his performance will be up to scratch.

“I talk to all the players a lot. I have had the opportunity to talk to him, too. We talked about football and yes, he is competitive.

“Seeing Ronaldo up close training, I can see that he’s doing very well.”

Ronaldo, the world’s third-highest paid sportsman this year after boxers Floyd May-weather and Manny Pacquiao, played the � rst-half on Saturday as Real Madrid lost their opening Melbourne match on penalties to It-aly’s AS Roma.l

Brazilian club Fluminense’s player Ronaldinho (R) waves to photographers during a clinic with children in Mexico City on Wednesday. Brazilian star Ronaldinho said the national football scene needs more world-class players while also conducting a football clinic with children. At the weekend, Ronaldinho was introduced by new club, Fluminense, with which he will seek the win a title in the Brazilian league REUTERS

Bolt with a lot to prove on return from injuryn AFP, London

Usain Bolt returns to action after a six-week injury-enforced break in the 100 metres on the opening night of the London Diamond League meeting on Friday with question marks hanging over both his � tness and form just four weeks out from the World Champi-onships in Beijing.

Like Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis-Hill, the British stars of the two-day Anniversary Games, Bolt will be hoping to � nd the Midas touch that took him to Olympic gold on the same east London track in 2012.

The 28-year-old Jamaican last raced on June 13, when he struggled to get the better of his 19-year-old training partner, the An-guillan-born British recruit Zharnel Hughes, over 200m in the New York Diamond League meeting.

With American Justin Gatlin a clear leader of the world rankings at both 100m (9.74 sec-onds) and 200m (19.57sec), Bolt desperately needs to rediscover a measure of the form that took him to his second set of Olympic 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay golds three years ago.

He has only run one 100m race this year and stands joint 60th in the world rankings courtesy of the modest 10.12 sec that he clocked in winning a challenge event on a spe-cially constructed track at the Rio de Janeiro Jockey Club on April 19.

Bolt, the 100m and 200m world record holder and reigning world champion, has been reported in the Jamaican press to have been “going well” at his European training base at Brunel University in west London but he faces not one but two tests on his come-back, with heats on the schedule at the Olym-pic Stadium. l

DOWNTIME30DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 1 represents D so � ll D every time the � gure 1 appears.You have two letters in the control grid to start you o� . Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.As you get the letters, � ll in the other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check o� the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

CROSSWORD

ACROSS1 Exploded mildly (6)5 Fish eggs (3)7 Female fox (5)8 Like better (6)10 Church seat (3)12 Accomplished (4)13 Obtain (3)14 Whirlpool (4)16 Regrets (4)17 Hail! (3)18 Firm hold (4)20 Spoil (3)23 Tell (6)24 Ancient tongue (5)25 Secret agent (3)26 Teacher (6)

DOWN1 Church leader (4)2 Gage (6)3 Happening (5)4 Dreadful (4)5 Corded fabric (3)6 United (3)9 Enemies (4)11 Crooked (3)14 Wicked (4)15 Leave (6)16 Spirit (3)17 Sports enclosure (5)18 Unrelenting (4)19 Expensive (4)21 High mountain (3)22 Narrow beam (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TFRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

Bruno Mars @BrunoMarsThat Cut deep..U always know how to sheer me to the core. I can’t believe we’re Sheeran this in public. How dare u!

Riteish Deshmukh@RiteishdOsama Vs Saddam epic (rap) war – out at 4pm

Kim Kardashian West @KimKar-dashianImma let you � n-ish but... #Vogue #Spain #no� lter

n Showtime Desk

After a delay of more than eight months, Jaya Ahsan and Shakib Khan finally managed to save time for shooting the second instalment of Purno Doirgho Prem Kahini. The duo recently confirmed to take part in filming of a musical scene in the first week of August.

Directed by Shafi Uddin Shafi, the second instalment of the franchise is scheduled to measure filming in August at

various titillating locations in Hyderabad, India, including the famed Ramoji Film City.

During the break, Jaya and Shakib, were busy with respective ventures. Jaya found herself widening her acting territory, playing few films in Kolkata, including Srijit Mukherji’s Rajkahini.

The film last went on the floor October of 2014, and taking a break of more than eight months the production seems to be in haste to meet the desired release

date. Targetting an Eid-ul-Adha release, which is nearly two months from the day, the production has been initiated to carry out the editing and dubbing duties simultaneously.

Written by Rumman R Khan and produced by Friends Movies, the film also stars Moushumi Hamid, Omor Sunny and Mamnun Hasan Emon. The soundtrack for the film is composed by Showkat Ali Emon and Kosik Hossion Taposh. l

Jaya-Shakib � nalises PDPK-2

I, Frankenstein, 3/5HBO, 7:37pm Frankenstein’s creature � nds himself caught in an all-out, centuries old war between two immortal clans.Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Socratis Otto Jai Courtney, Kevin Grevioux

Sex and the City 2, 3/5WB, 3:15pm While wrestling with the pressures of life, love, and work in Manhattan, Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte join Samantha for a trip to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), where Samantha’s ex is � lming a new movie.Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, David Eigenberg

Jurassic Park III, 3.5/5 Star Movies, 9:30pm A decidedly odd couple with ulterior motives convince Dr. Alan Grant to go to Isla Sorna (the second InGen dinosaur lab.), resulting in an unexpected landing...and unexpected new inhabitants on the island.Cast: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan

WHAT TO WATCH

For the love of dancen Showtime Desk

Nrityajog- Bangladesh Chapter of World Dance Alliance, has organised a dance workshop, with the cooperation of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, by a very renowned and talented dancer from Delhi, Santosh Nair. The workshop will be held from July 22 to July 28 at the Nrityshala rehearsal room of Shilpakala Academy in two sessions, from 10am to 1pm and 4pm to 7pm.

This workshop will be divided into

two parts: one lesson on the famous Mayurbhanj Chhau dance and the other on contemporary dance. The dance showcase at the end of the workshop, on the 28th of July, at the Music and Dance auditorium of Shilpakala Academy will expose what the participants have learnt during the workshop, and also include performance by Santosh Nair himself.

This workshop, like many others before conducted by Nrityajog aims to not only help young dancers in Bangladesh to improve their technical skills in dance, but

also aid in building a proper body language expected from dancers. This also enables them to get in touch with Mayurbhanj Chhau dance, which may be new to a few participants in the workshop. Attempts such as these would de� nitely encourage dancers from various districts to train properly and also come in contact with dance vocabularies from other parts of the world in order to enhance their own skills. They are sincerely hoping this workshop will be successful in giving new light to dance and technical training. l

The Embassies of Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland are hosting ajoint ‘Art Weekend’ on the 24th and 25th of July at their respective residences. The purpose of

the Art Weekend will be to highlight and exhibit the works of local artists and photographers, and to foster a dialogue between the expat and local art lovers, senior and young artists. Hopefully, the Art Weekend will provide a platform to both launch young talents, as well as to

foster a casual ambience that allows for

conversation amongst those involved with the vibrant

art scene in Dhaka.Exhibitions will remain open Friday, 24

July and Saturday, 25 July 2015, 2 pm to 8 pm.

Mahbubur Rahman, Tayeba Begum Lipi & OthersAmbassador of Brazil’s residenceRoad 54A, House 8, Gulshan-2, Dhaka

Bangladesh. Seen From Within by DRIKAmbassador of Germany’s residence

Road 47, House 9, Gulshan-2, Dhaka

Vinita KarimAmbassador of the Netherlands residenceRoad 111, House 18, Gulshan-2, Dhaka

Rokeya Sultana & her StudentsAmbassador of Norway’s residenceRoad 47, House 21A, Gulshan-2, Dhaka

Abir AbdullahAmbassador of Switzerland’s residenceRoad 4, House 25, Baridhara, Dhaka l

Art Festival

BACK PAGE32DT

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2015

MAIDEN FIFTY INJECTS CONFIDENCE IN LITON PAGE 25

JAYA-SHAKIB FINALISES PDPK-2 PAGE 31

BB TO LAUNCH $500M FUNDS FOR GREEN INDUSTRIES PAGE 16

Tourist police loses life � ghting muggers n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

Setting an example for the police force, a constable of Tourist Police Bangladesh lost his life while saving a tourist from muggers at Jammu intersection in Cox’s Bazar yesterday.

Around 7:30am, the deceased constable Md Parvez, 25, came for-ward to rescue a tourist named Zakir in the bus parking area at the intersection.

Six muggers blocked Zakir’s way as he came out of the restaurant in the area. They snatched away Tk6,500 from him, according to a press statement of Bangladesh Police Headquarters.

Hearing Zakir’s screaming, Assistant Su-perintendent of Tourist Police Zahirul Islam, who was standing in plainclothes nearby, ap-proached with his two constables.

Zakir hailed from Narayanganj and had come to Cox’s Bazar on a vacation. The team chased the muggers and detained Abu Taher, 28, and Abdul Malik, 24, among the six, said the statement.

At one point of � ghting, Abu Taher started stabbing Parvez with a knife. He repeatedly stabbed Parvez, however, Parvez did not let go Taher. Soon other constables came for-ward and caught Taher.

In a severely injured condition, Parvez was taken to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

Hospital’s emergency unit doctor Nobel Kumar Barua said Parvez was stabbed eight times on his chest and abdomen.

Expressing profound shock over the death of Parvez, Inspector General of Police AKM Sha-hidul Hoque said the heroic act of Parvez would boost up the morals and dutifulness of those involved with the police force of the country. l

Engineers create emergency origami bridgen BBC

Engineers have successfully tested a mobile bridge based on origami that could be de-ployed in disaster zones.

In a test, Mobile Bridge version 4.0 was set up without any foundations by only a few people over the Hongo River in Fukuyama City, Japan. A vehicle travelled easily and safely across it.

The bridge is designed to be extended when needed, and disassembled, like a concertina.

The work was recently presented by Dr Ichiro Ario, assistant professor at the Institute of Engineering, Hiroshima University, at a Japanese engineering symposium.

The bridge design uses patented technol-ogy with a scissor-like structure and mech-anism, which means the bridge and its lanes expand simultaneously. It’s ready for tra� c within an hour.

The system is compact enough to be trans-ported in a car trailer.

Earthquakes, � oods and tsunamis can occur anytime, anywhere in the world. This can cause damage to infrastructure, slowing down the response of emergency services.

“A crucial point is how to expand a portable bridge. Usually a crane and a team of techni-cians is needed, but not in this case,” Dr Paolo Beccarelli, Assistant Professor in Architectur-

al Structures at the University of Nottingham explained to BBC News. This makes it a quick and simple solution when emergency bridges are needed.

Mobile Bridge 4.0 can also be deployed as a temporary structure during repair of existing bridges, avoiding interruption to tra� c � ows. l

Cox’s Bazar to become digital sur� ng cityn Tribune Report

The sea beach town Cox’s Bazar is going to be a lot more fun for tourists soon!

The government plans to transform the place into what it dubs a “digital sur� ng city” featuring a sur� ng institute and advanced high-speed internet facility.

Under a private-public partnership initia-tive, Bangladesh Computer Council, the ICT Division and Airtel Bangladesh Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday to build the sur� ng institute and an ICT club and provide Wi-Fi hotspot across the town.

The project has been taken as part of the government’s vision to build a digital country.

The tourism city will be branded through radio, television, newspaper, social commu-nication tools and a website.

Digital connectivity is expected to improve

the lifestyle of the city dwellers and also sup-port the local and foreign tourists travelling to the city.

Both the residents of and the visitors to the “smart sur� ng city” will be able to enjoy faster browsing experience at their conveni-ence from any device on the go or from their computers.

Bangladesh Computer Council Executive Director SM Ashraful Islam and Airtel’s Chief Corporate A� airs O� cer Ashraful Haque Chowdhury signed the MoU on behalf of their organisations.

State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, ICT Division Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder, Airtel Managing Director and CEO PD Sarma, Chief Technical O� cer San-dipan Chakraborty and Chief Service O� cer Rubaba Dowla were present at the signing ceremony.

In recent years, Cox’s Bazar has made steady progress to become a sur� ng destina-tion for many a surfer – both local and inter-national.

Many tourists and surfers visit Cox’s Bazar to see the world’s longest unbroken sandy beach and to challenge the white waves.

O� cials expect that the initiative will rede-� ne Cox’s Bazar and create greater attraction among surfers and tourists.

“This is a path breaking and extremely innovative initiative under PPP programme and I am glad to have Airtel Bangladesh as our partner to establish Cox’s Bazar as an eco-friendly digital sur� ng city of tomorrow,” said Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Airtel CEO PD Sarma said: “Connectivity and digitisation are basic necessities in the 21st century. Through innovation and tech-nology the world is coming closer. I am hum-bled to be a part of this initiative that I believe will not only connect Cox’s Bazar to the rest of the world but will also enhance the lifestyle of its residents.” l

l Project will be implemented under PPP

l A sur� ng institute and an ICT clubto be established

l Cox’s Bazar airport to have free Wi-Fi

l The whole city to have Wi-Fi hotspots

l Campaigns to rebrand image of the city

l Initiative to attract surfers and tourists

l Residents’ lifestyle expected to improve

Even though a recent string of autorickshaw-related accidents on the highway prompted the government to ban three-wheelers from operating on highways, several CNG-run vehicles can be seen carrying passengers on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

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