SECOND EDITION

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016 | Chaitra 25, 1422, Jamadius Sani 29, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 353 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages plus 24-page Weekend supplement | Price: Tk10

INSI

DE Fee on Robi-Airtel

mergerGovernment suggests that Robi Axiata Limited and Airtel pay a fee on the imminent merger of the two companies. PAGE 3

MP: BNP leader behind Banshkhali killingsBanshkhali MP Mosta� zur Rahman ac-cused local BNP leader Liakat Ali for the violent clashes during a protest against the coal-� red power plant. PAGE 32

No headway in Bogra bomb blast cases No headway has been made in three cases � led in connection with bomb blast that killed two people, including a JMB activist at Sherpur. PAGE 7

PM for Saarc food and seed banksSheikh Hasina underscored the need for speedy materialisation of the initiatives taken for setting up Saarc Food Bank and Saarc Seed Bank. PAGE 5

TONUMURDER

CASE

ACC body to probe Bangladeshis named in #PanamaPapersGerman obtainer says docs won’t be made publicn Adil Sakhawat and Syed

Samiul Basher Anik

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday formed a probe commit-tee to look if any Bangladeshi has been named in the leaked Panama Papers.

The committee will run inquiry to � nd out the names of Bangladesh-is who have o� shore accounts men-tioned in the leaked documents.

The committee was formed four days after 11.5m documents were leaked detailing how and where politicians, businesses and celeb-

rities hide their wealth triggering reactions from around the globe.

The three-member committee is led by Deputy Director SM Akhter Hamid Bhuiyan; the other mem-bers are Assistant Director Mojibor Rahman and Deputy Assistant Di-rector Najmus Sadat, ACC Secretary Abu Mohammad Mostafa Kamal yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said the committee would start working on Sunday and if needed will interrogate every Bangladeshi mentioned in those documents.

If evidence of tax evasion is

found, the National Board of Rev-enue will be informed of it, he said.

The secretary also said the commission will send mutual le-gal assistance request to the party concerned through the attorney general to collect the information.

“If any name is found, the com-mittee will gather detail informa-tion on their asset. If required, the ACC may take information from abroad through mutual legal as-sistance request [MLAR],” Mostafa Kamal added.

However, a top ACC o� cial PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Nazim killed in Ansarullah stylen Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Examining the appearance of the assailants and their attacking style, the law enforcers primarily suspect that Jagannath University master's student Nazimuddin Samad might have been killed in a planned man-ner by the members of banned mili-tant out� t Ansarullah Bangla Team.

Quoting eyewitnesses, police said that � ve youths aged 25-30 and wearing T-shirts and trousers attacked Nazim with machetes in Sutrapur area around 8:30pm on Wednesday. Later, they shot him in the head chanting “Allahu Akbar” and � ed the scene.

Investigators think that pro-Awa-mi League Nazim was killed by trained and professional killers. The assailants took one to two minutes to conduct the operation.

Several other secular activists and writers including Avijit Roy had been killed since last year reportedly by Ansarullah mem-bers in the same style. All the vic-tims including Nazim were vocal against radical Islam, and social and state-sponsored injustice and misdeeds. They also supported the movement demanding capital pun-

ishment of the 1971 war criminals.Police said this is the � rst time

the militants also used � rearms. They later recovered a bullet shell from the spot.

Deputy Commissioner of DMP’s

Lalbagh division Syed Nurul Islam said that they were yet to be con-� rmed about the motive of the attack. “But we are investigating the case considering all possible aspects. No militant organisation

has yet claimed responsibility for the murder.”

No case was � led as of last night. The body of the victim, kept at Sir Salimullah Medical College, was handed over to his family members.

Meanwhile, Jagannath Univer-sity students blocked the road in front of the institution in Old Dha-ka around 11am for several hours demanding quick arrest of the kill-ers. They announced a rally at the university today and also threat-ened to observe strike on Sunday if the perpetrators were not arrested by the time.

Hailing from Bianibazar of Syl-het, Nazim was an evening masters student of Jagannath University’s law department. He was the infor-mation and research secretary of Sylhet district unit Bangabandhu Jatiya Jubo Parishad. He was also an activist of Gonojagoron Mon-cho’s Sylhet wing.

Nazim used to campaign for secularism on Facebook and was critical of radical Islamists. A day before the murder, he expressed concerns over the country’s law and order in a Facebook post.

So far the police have taken two friends of the victim, all staying at a mess in Gendaria area, into custo-dy for questioning.

They quizzed Sohel Ahmed, who together with the victim went out for a walk during the attack.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

2 army men quizzed in Tonu murder case

n Kamrul Hasan and Mohiuddin Molla from Comilla

The CID has interrogated two army personnel who were on duty in the Comilla Cantonment area where Sohagi Jahan Tonu’s body was found on March 20.

A team of the Criminal Investi-gation Department, led by Dhaka CID’s Senior Police Superintendent Abdul Kahar Akond, questioned

the two men – both reportedly ranked as corporal – at the Comilla CID o� ce yesterday afternoon.

A well-placed source in the CID also told the Dhaka Tribune that two more army members might also be interrogated later.

The Dhaka CID team arrived in the district yesterday to supervise and plan the next steps from the Comilla o� ce.Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Comilla CID’s Senior SP Dr Nazmul Karim Khan said the team from Dhaka has come to help in the on-going investigation. However, he re-fused to disclose any further detail.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Angry students of Jagannath University block a road in front of the campus protesting the killing of law student and online activist Nazimuddin Samad yesterday RAJIB DHAR

News2DTFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Nazim killed in Ansarullah styleName of the other detainee could not be known.

Sohel said that two youths � rst intercepted them at Ekrampur in-tersection of Sutrapur and started to hit Nazim with machetes. He then stepped aside and tried to convince the attackers saying that they might have been mistaken.

Failing to stop them, he went to the other side of the road and saw three more people joining them. He started running for safety hear-ing gunshots, police sources said.

He saw a police patrol team nearby and requested them to save Nazim. “The on-duty o� cials

asked him to go to the police sta-tion saying that they will visit the spot. They did not agree to go to the crime scene with Sohel.

“He ran for his life and got on a random bus,” a police o� cer in-volved in the investigation said seeking anonymity.

Earlier, secular writer and Gono-jagoron Moncho activist Ahmed Rajeeb Haider, US citizen Avijit Roy and his wife Ra� da Ahmed Bonya, online activist Oyasiqur Rahman Babu and secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das were attacked and killed with machetes on the streets of Dhaka and Sylhet.

B l o g -ger Niladri Chatterjee was at-tacked at his Goran residence while pub-l i s h e r s

Faisal Are� n Dipan, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul and his two friends were at-tacked at their o� ces in the city.

Monirul Islam, DMP’s additional commissioner and head of Counter Terrorism and transnational Crime Unit, said that they were conduct-ing a shadow investigation in the incident.

The Dhaka Tribune reporter vis-ited the murder spot yesterday and talked to a worker of Suborna Tailors named Shyamol Ghosh. Nazim was killed in front of the shop, he said.

“We were working inside the shop at that time. Suddenly we saw a man fell on the street while some others hitting him with sharp weapons. We closed the shop hear-ing gunshots,” Shyamol said.

Owner of the Gendaria house where Nazim used to live with two of his friends said that the trio had rented a � at on the sixth � oor of the building two months ago.

Meanwhile, Home Minister As-

aduzzaman Khan Kamal did not want to blame religious extremists for the murder. “I cannot say now why he was murdered. But we need to see whether he used to write objectionable things on blogs,” he told BBC Bangla yesterday.

Asked if murder is justi� ed for such writings, the minister said with grudges: “I did not want to say that. If you see the blogs of the pre-vious victims … attacking people’s religions and beliefs … it is not ac-ceptable at any part of the world.”

He also claimed that the law en-forcers had solved all the previous murders; “the masterminds have been arrested or identi� ed,” the minister said.

On the other hand, Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told the BBC Bangla that through the mur-der, “it is again proved that the ex-tremists are active in the country, and they want to eliminate the sec-ularists.” l

Two army men quizzed in Tonu murder caseThe six-member team from Dhaka CID visited Comilla Cantonment earlier this month and questioned Tonu’s family and other persons close to the case.

Sources said Comilla CID’s In-spector Gazi Md Ibrahim is current-ly investigating the death of Tonu, a second-year history student of Comilla Victoria Government Col-lege.

Meanwhile, asked about the pro-gress on the second autopsy of Tonu, the head of Comilla Medical College forensic department Dr Kamoda Prosad Saha said more time was needed to announce the � ndings.

The � rst post-mortem of Tonu, which was performed soon after her body was found near her resi-dence inside the Comilla Canton-ment on March 20, failed to � nd

the cause of death and determined that Tonu had not been raped be-fore her death.

On Wednesday, the investigation o� cer of the case, Gazi Mohammad Ibrahim, submitted the � rst autop-sy report to a Comilla court.

‘Atmosphere of fear’When talking to the Dhaka Trib-une, many of Tonu’s friends ex-pressed their concerns about fac-ing police intimidation in the name of interrogation.

Although none of them com-plained of facing any direct threats, they all claimed that law enforcers have created an atmosphere of fear.

Some of Tonu’s friends from school and college asked to stay anonymous fearing police reprisal,

but told the Dhaka Tribune that a law enforcement agency had inter-rogated them for over six hours at its o� ce.

Those law enforcers were now either phoning them or turning up at their residences every day, caus-ing the parents to panic, Tonu’s friends said.

A member of the Comilla Victoria College Theatre also told the Dhaka Tribune that six members of the theatre group were interrogated by the Police Bureau of Investigation.

The entire situation has made everyone so fearful that there has not been regular theatre practice in recent days, the member added.

However, the theatre group’s President Rashedul Islam Jibon de-nied claims that any of their mem-ber was under threat.

Law enforcers were now work-ing on the case and Tonu’s fellows in the group were waiting for the probe � ndings, he added.

Human chain in BagerhatThe Bagerhat unit of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad formed a human chain in town yesterday, demand-ing exemplary punishment for Tonu’s killers.

Chaired by district Convener Shilpi Samaddar, speakers at the human chain said Tonu’s death has been a shame for the nation’s dignity, reports our Bagerhat corre-spondent.

If it was possible for killers to murder Tonu in a secured place as a cantonment, no body in the country was safe any more, speakers at the programme added. l

Police resist members of two student alliances at Doyel Chattar in the capital as they headed for laying siege to the Home Ministry to demand justice for slain Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

ACC bodycon� rmed to Dhaka Tribune that the committee will also revive a previous inquiry into involvement of any Bangladeshi with illegal in-vestment made to o� shore compa-nies in secretive tax haven of Brit-ish Virgin Islands.

The committee will investi-gate the allegation against Awami League presidium member Kazi Zafarullah, and directors of some of Bangladesh’s biggest business conglomerates on their ownership of o� shore companies, he said.

In 2003, the commission started the inquiry after a series of reports were published in an English daily, but did not complete the inquiry. The probe committee will not only collect information from the leaked Panama Papers, but also revive in-quiry into the previous probe, the ACC o� cial added.

In Bangladesh, the Foreign Ex-change Regulation Act 1947 and other relevant guidelines do not allow Bangladesh residents to es-tablish o� shore companies.

#PanamaPapers obtainer won’t make documents public

The German newspaper that � rst obtained the so-called Panama Papers, a treasure trove of docu-ments on o� shore companies, said yesterday that it will not publish all the � les, arguing that not all are of public interest, news agency Asso-ciated Press reported.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung received the documents from an unidenti-� ed source more than a year ago and shared at least parts of them with dozens of other media outlets around the world. Since the � rst reports were published Sunday, prominent politicians, celebrities and businesspeople have had their o� shore business dealings dragged into the spotlight, prompting a � ur-ry of public outrage, o� cial inves-tigations and � erce denials from some of those named.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the complete set of 11.5m documents “won’t be made available to the public or to law enforcement agen-cies. That’s because the newspaper isn’t the extended arm of prosecu-tors or the tax investigators.”

Authorities have legal powers to obtain such documents from those suspected of wrongdoing, and in many cases there’s no public inter-est in revealing companies’ or in-dividuals’ o� shore business deal-ings, the Munich-based paper said.

The documents relate to Pana-manian law � rm Mossack Fonseca, which helps create shell companies for the world’s rich and famous. The � rm said it has � led a criminal complaint alleging that the data was stolen in a hacking attack.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung said it didn’t know how the anonymous source obtained the data, but that he or she had expressed “a very strong moral impulse” and wanted to make “these crimes public.” l

UN: Protect online activistsn UNB

The United Nations has renewed its call for security authorities in Bang-ladesh to “adequately protect” on-line activists who might be at risk.

In a statement yesterday, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangla-desh Robert D Watkins said the UN in Bangladesh is appalled by the killing of Nazim Uddin Samad.

“In spite of the recent pause in the assassination of online activ-ists, this attack demonstrates that this new killing is clearly part of a growing trend which undermines the freedom of expression and opinion in Bangladesh,” he said.

Watkins emphasised protecting online activists adequately to ensure continued freedom of expression. l

News 3D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Govt wants fee on Robi-Airtel mergern Ishtiaq Husain

The government has suggested that Robi Axiata Limited and Airtel pay a fee on the imminent merger of the two companies.

Posts and Telecommunications Division yesterday forwarded the merger recommendation report from Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to the Prime Minister’s Of-� ce (PMO) to get � nal approval.

State Minister for Posts and Tel-ecommunications Tarana Halim told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the recommendation report had been sent to the PMO.

A Posts and Telecommunica-tions Division o� cial said the di-vision had added one recommen-dation to the report saying a fee

should be � xed on the merger. “It’s very reasonable, the neigh-

bouring country of India also charges crores on merger cases,” the o� cial said.

“We haven’t � xed an amount for the merger fee since the recom-mendation � le is now on the prime minister’s table,” the o� cial added.

The o� cial further said since the two companies would be bene-� ted from the merger, they should give some amount of money to the regulatory body considering the bene� ts in terms of money.

The two operators submitted a joint application to BTRC last Sep-tember for the merger. The compa-nies are expecting to get an approv-al on the deal by June.

Earlier BTRC held a public hear-ing on merger agreement between

mobile phone operators Robi and Airtel, where most opinions came out in favour of the deal.

The regulatory body also formed two-member expert committee to make a market analysis report.

On January 29, Robi and Airtel signed a merger agreement in Kuala Lumpur to venture into a joint busi-ness operation in Bangladesh. The joint venture will be named Robi.

Upon completion, Axiata will hold 68.3% controlling stake in the combined entity while Bharti will hold 25%. The remaining 6.7% will be held by the existing sharehold-er, NTT DOCOMO of Japan.

According to a recent statement by Robi, the combined entity op-erating as Robi will serve approxi-mately 40 million customers. The joint strength of Robi and Airtel

will deliver the widest mobile net-work coverage across Bangladesh, strengthening its position in the mobile internet segment as well as consolidating its position as the sec-ond largest operator in the country.

The merger will strengthen long-term sustainability of Bangladesh telecom landscape and market structure, secure faster nationwide roll-out of mobile broadband and contribute signi� cantly to the overall economy and revenue of the country.

The telecommunications land-scape in Bangladesh has been one of high-growth, but intensively competitive with six players.

Industry insiders said the merg-er is set to strengthen the industry structure, competitiveness and, more importantly, bring greater bene� ts to customers in terms of

network quality and coverage and an improved o� ering of data prod-ucts and services.

Axiata is one of the largest Asian telecommunications companies.

It has controlling interests in mobile operators in Malaysia, In-donesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia with signi� cant strate-gic stakes in India and Singapore.

The Group, including its subsid-iaries and associates, has over 260 million mobile subscribers in Asia. The Group revenue for 2014 was RM18.7 billion.

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications com-pany with operations in 20 coun-tries across Asia and Africa.

The company had over 346 mil-lion customers across its operations at the end of November 2015. l

Khaleda skips court in graft casen Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday again or-dered BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to appear before it on April 17 to defend herself in Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

Judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar of the Dhaka’s Third Special Judge’s Court passed the order allowing a time petition � led on behalf of Khaleda, the key accused in the case.

The same court on March 31

concluded witness depositions and asked Khaleda to appear before it yesterday.

But Khaleda skipped the court hearing on health grounds. Her counsel Md Sanaullah Miah sub-mitted time petitions before the court for her non-appearance men-tioning that she could not appear due to her physical illness.

However, two others accused – Dr Ziaul Islam Munna and Monirul Islam Khan – gave their statements before the court claiming them-

selves innocent and sought justice.The court recorded depositions

of 32 out of 36 prosecution wit-nesses including Harun-ur-Rashid, deputy director of the ACC and also investigation o� cer and plainti� of the case.

Meanwhile, the court � xed April 21 for recording the cross-examina-tion of Harun-ur-Rashid, the com-plainant of Zia Orphanage Trust graft case � eld against Khaleda, her son Tarique Rahman and four others. l

Obaidul Quader: Fares will follow fuel pricesn Shohel Mamun

Road Transport and Bridges Min-ister Obaidul Quader has said pub-lic transport fares will be reduced if the government decreases fuel prices.

At a views exchange meet-ing with the o� cials of Bangla-desh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) at its o� ce in the capitalyesterday, the minister said, “Pub-lic transport fares will de� nitely be reduced, even if fuel prices fall only by Tk1.”

“The BRTA fare � xing commit-tee will � x the new rates as soon as they get a circular on reduced fuel prices.”

The government may soon re-duce prices of octane, petrol, die-sel and kerosene in three phases, according to one announcement by the energy minister.

On March 31, the government reduced the price of furnace oil to Tk42 from Tk60 per litre e� ective from April 1.

BRTA o� cials informed Quader that 7,750 cases were � led against public transport owners for irregu-larities from January to March this year.

The minister instructed BRTA to � le cases against anyone, including lawmakers, if they are found vio-lating rules.

The minister said “The BRTA has extended the deadline to col-lect retro-re� ecting digital number plates with RFID tags for motor ve-hicles to June 30.”

The time limit for getting ra-dio-frequency identi� cation tags on cars expired on March 30. l

Leftist students threaten half-day hartal protesting Tonu murder n Arif Ahmed

Left-leaning student organisations have said they would stage a coun-trywide half-day hartal on April 25 if the government fails to identify the killers of Sohagi Jahan Tonu.

Pragatishil Chhatra Jote and Samrajjobadbirodhi Chhatra Oik-ya, platforms for leftist student organisations, called the shutdown from a procession in the capital yesterday. Coordinator for the two alliances, Ashraful Alam, made the announcement.

Chhatra Union’s Dhaka University unit President Liton Nandi told the Dhaka Tribune the announcement came after the police stopped a stu-dent procession that was headed to the Home Ministry as part of a be-siege programme.

Activists brought out the pro-cession from DU premises around noon and police stopped them in front of the High Court.

Tonu, a second-year history stu-dent and cultural activist, was found murdered near her residence inside the Comilla Cantonment area on March 20. Her father Yaar Hossain, an o� ce assistant of the Cantonment Board, � led a case with Kotwali police the next day without naming anyone.

Investigators have so far failed to make any breakthrough. The case was initially handed over to DB on March 25. The Criminal In-vestigation Department was put in charge of the case on March 26. l

Tonu was found dead near her residence on March 20

Instead of dumping waste materials at the designated spot, city corporation workers pile wastes in the middle of the road while cleaning underground sewer lines, causing pedestrians to su� er. The photo was taken from Nazimuddin Road in the capital yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016News4DT

SC upholds jail sentence of MK Alamgir’s sonn Tribune Report

The Supreme Court yesterday up-held the three-year jail sentence of former Awami League lawmaker Dr Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir’s son Joy Alamgir issued by a special court in a corruption case.

A four-member bench of Ap-pellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha scrapped a High Court verdict that had acquitted him of the corrup-tion charge, after hearing a petition � led by the Anti-Corruption Com-mission (ACC) challenging the High Court verdict.

Now Joy can move an appeal against the lower court verdict

with the High Court, it said.ACC’s lawyer Sayed Mamun

Mahbub said the Supreme Court order considers Joy as a fugitive.

Joy was convicted by a special court on November 5, 2008 for not submitting his wealth statements at the ACC. Challenging the verdict, his father � led two separate peti-tions with the High Court. The High Court on February 15, 2010 declared the lower court judgement illegal and acquitted Joy of the charges.

The ACC then � led the appeal with the Supreme Court challeng-ing the verdict.

The ACC � led the case against Joy with Gulshan police station on June 11, 2008. l

Nasim: Healthy lifestyle key to beating diabetesn Abid Azad

Country’s people must develop a healthy and active lifestyle and avoid fast food in order to beat di-abetes, said Health Minister Mo-hammad Nasim in the capital yes-terday.

Speaking at an event on the occasion of World Health Day, he said: “People these days are having fast food as staple: it has become a trend in our country. People should stop having junk food, smoking and inactive lifestyle in order to prevent diabetes.”

The event, held at Osmani Memo-

rial Auditorium and jointly organ-ised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and World Health Or-ganisation (WHO), was arranged in line with World Health Day’s theme this year: “Beat Diabetes.”

Nasim further said it was a trou-bling to see many celebrities pro-moting foods that are harmful for health in advertisements. “Seeing these ads, people are attracted to these foods and develop an un-healthy food behaviour, which leads to many diseases.”

Dr Mahmud Hasan, president of Bangladesh Medical Associa-tion, said: “Diabetes doesn’t come

alone, it brings many other diseas-es for kidney, heart, etc with it. We must be careful in this regard.”

According to WHO, diabetes now a� ects nearly one in 11 adults around the world. In 2012, the dis-ease was the direct cause of some 1.5 million deaths, with more than 80% of those occurring in low and middle-income countries. WHO projects that diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death by 2030.

Around eight million people in Bangladesh are currently a� ect-ed by diabetes, according to the Health Ministry. l

SC: Dispose of ruling on tenants’ info by May 31n Ashif Islam Shaon

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has ordered the High Court to dispose of the ruling issued over the le-gality of collecting informa-tion from the tenants by Dha-ka Metropolitan Police by May 31 through holding hearings.

A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order yesterday.

“The court asked the High Court bench of Justice Moy-eenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Iqbal Kabir to hold hear-ing and dispose of the ruling by May 31,” Deputy Attorney Gen-eral Ekramul Haque Tutul said.

In response to a writ peti-tion, a High Court bench on March 27 questioned the le-

gality of the provision under which the DMP has been col-lecting information about the tenants and landlords.

The court also issued a rul-ing asking the government to explain by a week as to why the provision of the DMP Rules and Regulations 2006 should not be declared uncon-stitutional and illegal.

On March 13, the bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir rejected another petition that challenged the legality of the move.

The DMP on February 29 announced that it had been collecting identi� cation infor-mation about landlords and tenants since November last year and asked all to provide the information by March 15. l

JS body wants BSTI to be tough against adulterationn UNB

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Un-dertakings yesterday recom-mended Bangladesh Stand-ards and Testing Institution (BSTI) to bring legal and infrastructural changes in conducting its mobile court against adulteration.

The parliamentary body came up with the recommen-dation at its 23rd meeting at Sangsad Bhaban with its chair-man Shawkat Ali in the chair.

The meeting discussed the overall activities of BSTI un-der the Industries Ministry.

It also recommended intro-ducing BSTI’s o� cial activities at district level aiming to ensure safe public health and help build a healthy future generation.

The meeting suggested formulating a new Bill and recruiting adequate and e� -cient manpower to the BSTI to strengthen the institution. It stressed the need for settling audit objections raised against the BSTI as soon as possible.

Members of the standing committee Md Shubid Ali Bhuiyan, Md Nazrul Islam Su-jan, Abdur Rouf and Adv Na-vana Akhter were, among oth-ers, present at the meeting. l

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016News 5

DT

PRAYERTIMES

Cox’s Bazar 32 25Dhaka 37 25 Chittagong 33 27 Rajshahi 41 28 Rangpur 37 23 Khulna 36 24 Barisal 36 26 Sylhet 32 20T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:17PM SUN RISES 5:43AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW38.5ºC 20.2ºC

Rajshahi RangpurFRIDAY, APRIL 8Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 4:25am | Jumma: 12:01pmAsr: 3:29pm | Magrib: 6:20pmEsha: 7:47pm

PARTLY CLOUDY

HC rejects Annie’s pleas to scrap graft casen UNB

The High Court yesterday rejected a writ petition � led by BNP leader Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie challenging the legality of a graft case � led by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).

An HC bench of Justice Md Ru-hul Quddus and Justice Mahmudul Hoque dismissed the petition, con-sidering that it was not pressed.

The writ petition was � led last week challenging the legality of section 26 of the ACC Act.

ACC Deputy Director M Man-jur Murshed � led the case against Annie with Ramna police station in the city on October 10 last year on charge of accumulating wealth be-yond the known sources. l

PM pushes for setting up Saarc food and seed banksn UNB

Urging the South Asian leaders to promise to ensure food and nutri-tional security across the region, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yes-terday underscored the need for speedy materialisation of the ini-tiatives taken for setting up Saarc Food Bank and Saarc Seed Bank.

“Since it’s essential for tackling any kind of disaster, I would like to urge the South Asian leaders to take necessary steps to establish the Saarc Food Bank as soon as pos-sible. Let the Saarc Food Bank be a friend in need so that no one dies of starvation in our region,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina was addressing the inaugural session of the 3rd meeting of Saarc Ministers of Agri-culture held at a city hotel.

The prime minister also re-quested the policymakers for tak-ing steps to formulate policies the Saarc Seed Bank to ensure the par-ticipation and empowerment of farmers in seed areas.

Mentioning that ensuring food security is a multifaceted and com-plex issue, Hasina hoped that the ministers and experts attending the conference will formulate rec-ommendations that would help eradicate poverty from this region through increasing agri-produc-tion in a sustainable manner.

“In this august conference, it should be our commitment to en-sure food and nutritional securi-ty across south Asia region. Let’s work together for building a pover-ty- and hunger-free peaceful pros-

perous South Asia,” she said.Agriculture plays a formidable

role in creating jobs in rural areas, providing food and nutrition and supplying raw materials for indus-tries, she said adding, “Now it’s time for all to cooperate and collab-orate more concretely to develop sustainable agriculture for the re-gion and overcome local and global challenges and vulnerabilities.”

Citing that the Saarc countries are there at high risk because of the adverse impact of climate change, Hasina said: “We won’t be able to prevent natural disasters, but we can minimise the losses of lives and property through reducing the causes of disasters and improving the post-disaster management.”

To ensure sustainable agricul-ture, the prime minister said em-

phasis should be given on some issues like ensuring improved seeds at reasonable price, proper water management in agriculture reducing dependence on under-ground water and increasing the use of surface water; introducing organic farming, reducing the use of chemical fertiliser and ensuring fair prices of agricultural produces at farmers level.

“We don’t want a single human being to remain starved and suf-fer from malnutrition. We want to meet the basic rights of every cit-izen. But, it’s not possible for an individual country to achieve it; rather a joint e� ort is required for this purpose,” she said.

Listing various successes and achievements of her government in various socio-economic � elds,

Hasina said in Bangladesh her gov-ernment has been working relent-lessly to ful� l the basic needs of citizens.

After achieving remarkable suc-cess in MDGs, Hasina said her gov-ernment adopted SDGs last year. “The Goal 1 and Goal 2 are directly related to ending extreme poverty and hunger, and get priority than other goals. Without development of agriculture ensuring food and nutrition for all will be a distant dream.”

Rice and wheat productions have increased by three times while that of vegetable has in-creased by � ve times during the last one decade. Besides, during the last three decades, � sh pro-duction has increased almost � ve times with the current annual

production of around 3.6 million tonnes, Hasina said.

Mentioning that Bangladesh has always been keeping regional co-operation high on its foreign policy agenda, she said there is no alterna-tive to joint initiatives of the coun-tries of the region to eradicate pov-erty and hunger from the region.

Chaired by Agriculture Minis-ter Begum Matia Chowdhury, the programme was addressed, among others, by Minister for Agricul-ture and Farmers Welfare of India Radha Mohan Singh and Saarc Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa. Agriculture Secretary Mo-hammad Moinuddin Abdullah de-livered the address of welcome.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign A� airs jointly organised the meeting. l

Soft loans turn heavy for readymade garment factory ownersn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The Japan International Coopera-tion Agency (Jica) is providing soft loans at 0.01% for remediation of readymade garment factories, but the factory owners have to take that loan at 9% to 10% from the market.

Out of this 10%, the Finance Ministry and Bangladesh Bank are making a pro� t of 5% and the rest goes to commercial banks.

As of now, around $200m in funds are available for remedia-tion purpose of garment factories. Out of the total funds, the IFC is providing $50m, the USAID $22m guarantee fund and Jica $13m.

Europe-based AFD is also going to provide a 50 million euro fund by mid-2016.

All these funds are provided at a rate of 0.01% to 1% but the ulti-mate clients, the factory owners, have to take the loan as high as 10% because of bureaucratic problems.

Ambassadors of the US, UK, Netherlands, Canada and Euro-pean Union had a meeting with secretaries of Foreign, Commerce, and Labour Ministries and ex-pressed their displeasure about the issue.

At the meeting, the ambassa-dors wanted to know why the rate was so high for the ultimate con-sumers when they were providing

the soft loan so that the readymade garment industry in Bangladesh becomes competitive, said a source who attended the meeting.

He said the envoys expressed their views that the loan disburse-ment issue should not be consid-ered from petty commercial point of view.

Another o� cial, who attended the meeting, said the government gave the excuse that due to legal barriers, they have to provide the soft loan at a high rate.

Exchange rate � uctuation and bank rate are the main causes of providing the loans at a high rate, he said.

The � nance ministry gets the

fund at less than 1% and transfers it to The Bangladesh Bank at 4%.

The central bank provides the fund at 5% to commercial banks which ultimately lends it for 9% to 10% to factory owners.

After the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013, all stakeholders including the government, manufacturers, buyers, and development partners took the initiative to improve the safety of the workplace and ensure security of the workers.

The RMG sector is the country's biggest export earning sector with an annual export earning of about $30bn. About four million workers, mostly women, are employed in the sector. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina poses with agriculture ministers of the members countries of Saarc at a meeting in a city hotel yesterday BSS

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016News6DT

SAGAR-RUNI KILLING

RAB ordered to submit probe report by May 19n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday again or-dered RAB to submit the probe re-port by May 19 in the case � led over the murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Yunus Khan gave the order after the IO failed to submit the report in compliance with a previous order.

It was the 41st time that the court set a new date and asked RAB to submit the report as the force

missed all previous dates. Maasranga TV’s news editor Sagar

and ATN Bangla’s senior reporter Runi were killed by assailants in their rented � at in the capital’s west Rajabazar area on February 11, 2012.

Following the murders, Sher-

e-Bangla Nagar police initiated an investigation but the case was later transferred to the Detective Branch of police. Finally, RAB was put in charge of the case on April 18, 2012 in accordance with a High Court order.

At least eight people have so far

been arrested in the case. They are Ra� qul Islam, Bakul Miah, Masum Mintu, Kamrul Hasan alias Arun, Abu Sayeed, security guards Palash Rudra Paul and Enamul Haque, and the couple’s family friend Tan-veer Rahman. l

Sir Fazle Abed receives Thomas Francis, Jr Medaln Tribune Report

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG, was honoured with Francis, Jr Medal in Global Public Health on Wednesday by the Univer-sity of Michigan.

Sir Fazle, who is the found-er and chairman of Brac, was recognised for his advance-ment of global public health and work to establish a health-ier future for people living in poverty worldwide.

The medal, periodically awarded to a global leader whose work addresses the most pressing global health challenges, honours the legacy of the University of Michigan epidemiologist who mentored Dr Jonas Salk in his develop-ment of the polio vaccine.

Mark Schlissel, president of University of Michigan, pre-sented him with the medal at a ceremony in the university’s Ross School of Business.

While addressing the audi-ence, Sir Fazle said: “In global development, it is not a lack of new and bright ideas that is impeding progress but rather our ability to implement these ideas well, e� ectively and at scale.”

“There is much excitement today about the potential of new technology to end human poverty. This can make us for-get that many solutions already exist. We can reach millions more today by focusing less on ‘what’ and more on ‘how’.”

Sir Fazle also thanked the university for the prestigious award.

The Thomas Francis, Jr Medal in Global Public Health celebrates the University of Michigan’s excellence in re-search and impact on humani-ty, while recognising the great-est achievements of those who have advanced human health and welfare around the globe. l

BNP: Killers can’t escape justicen UNB

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yes-terday warned that those involved in killings and en-forced disappearances must face trial someday as no one is above the law.

“Indian newspapers report-ed that some law enforcers of that country faced trial for their involvement in cross� re. So, no one is above the law. Those involved in the incidents of killing and enforced disappear-ance here will also face trial to-day or tomorrow,” he said.

The BNP leader came up with the remarks while speak-ing at a milad mah� l arranged by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) at BNP’s Nayapaltan central o� ce marking the 1st

anniversary of the disappear-ance of its Tejgaon College unit President Aminul Islam Zakir.

BNP and Zakir’s family members alleged that he re-mained missing since he was picked up by law enforcers from the city’s Banani area on this day last year.

Mentioning enforced dis-appearance a serious crime against humanity, Fakhrul said people never saw it earlier the way many people made disap-peared in the last few years.

He said the country is pass-ing through a critical time for lack of democracy and the rule of law. “The crisis is deepen-ing gradually…our many lead-ers and activists were killed and maimed. Thousands of cases were � led against our all level leaders.” l

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016News 7

DT

No headway in Bogra bomb blast cases Police yet to ascertain identity of another deceased n Our Correspondent, Bogra

No headway has been found in three cases � led in connection with bomb blast that killed two people, including an activist of the banned Islamic out� t Jama’tul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), at Juanpur Ku-thirvita village, Sherpur.

Police yet to ascertain the iden-tity of another deceased, although � ve days have already passed since the explosion took place.

Two people were killed while making bombs at a rented house on Sunday night.

On Monday morning, a bomb disposal unit of the counter-ter-rorism transnational division re-covered arms, ammunition, bombs and bomb-making materials from the house.

They recovered 20 grenades, four foreign pistols, 40 rounds and six magazines.

The team said the amount of materials found in the house could have been used for making more than 300 grenades that are pow-erful enough to cause massive de-struction within four to � ve metres of the scene of blast.

Sub-Inspector of Sherpur po-lice station Bulbul Islam � led three cases in connection with the bomb blast.

Of the deceased, one was iden-ti� ed as Tariqul Islam, 48, son of Abu Bakar Siddique, a resident of Zamua village of Shialcoat union of Sirajganj sadar upazila and a mem-ber of the (JMB).

Tariqul was a student of Islam-ic University, Kushtia. He had an involvement with the bomb attack on Sirajganj court during JMB’s countrywide serial bomb blasts on August 17, 2005.

He was also arrested in connec-tion with series bomb blast and later acquitted after three years in 2009.

Police on Monday detained four people – Tariqul’s father Abu Bakar, brother Sanaullah Miah, Liakat Ali and Barkat Ullah – for interroga-tion. But police could not get any breakthrough as family members said they had no connection him since last Eid-ul-Azha.

Local sources said a man who introduced himself as Mizan rent-ed the house seven months back.

On April 1, Mizan along with his

family members went to his native home keeping his brother-in-law Tariqul at house. Two days after of his departure, the incident took place.

Additional Superintendent of Police Arifur Rahman Mondol told the Dhaka Tribune that they yet to made any progress in connection with incident.

“The mystery will be solved when we will detain Mizan. They must have been plotting a massive subversion on Pohela Boishakh or any other occasion,” he said. l

Cuet closed for inde� nite period amid protest n FM Mizanur Rahaman,

Chittagong

Chittagong University of Engineer-ing and Technology (Cuet) yester-day closed all academic activities of honors level for sine die on the backdrop of students’ demonstra-tion to press home their nine-point point demands.

Cuet's Public Relation Depart-ment’s Assistant Director (AD) Fa-zlur Rahman told the Dhaka Trib-une all the academic activities of honors level of Cuet had been sus-pended until further notice. Apart from that, the male students were asked to vacate their dormitories by 3pm yesterday while the female students were asked to vacate their halls by 10am of today.

However, the academic activi-ties of masters level will continue, he added. The decision came from a meeting presided by Vice-Chan-cellor (VC) Professor Dr Jahangir Alam at his o� ce with presence of deans of di� erent faculties and provosts of the dormitories.

Campus sources said the campus remained crippled as academic ac-tivities were suspended for last few days over students’ demonstration demanding nine-point of demands including removal of Student Advi-sor Professor Asutosh Shah.

Students alleged that the univer-sity administration shutdown the campus to halt the demonstration. The sudden hall vacant decision would cause immense su� erings for the students who reside at the dormitories. The demonstration started after the death of a Civil De-partment student Mohaiminul Is-lam Siam, who was killed in a road mishap on March 29, on his way to tuition. Following the death, stu-dents put nine-point demands, in-cluding safe road for students and trial of killer driver of Siam. l

Most accused in FF Faruk murder case at large n Afzal Hossen, Tangail

Nearly 10 accused of freedom � ght-er Faruk Ahmed killing case in the district are yet to be arrested.

Local sources said members of law enforcers arrested four accused out of 14 in the case where 10 could not be arrested though over three years have been already passed.

Golam Mah� jur Rahman, of-� cer-in-charge of Detective Branch of police, also the investigation o� cer of the case said police had been trying to arrest the accused in the case.

Arrest warrants have been is-sued by a Tangail court for ruling party MP Amanur Rahman Khan Rana and his three brothers over

the murder of local Awami League leader Faruk Ahmed recently.

The charge sheet was accepted by he court of the district’s Chief Judi-cial Magistrate on Wednesday.

The Tangail-3 MP, his three brothers former mayor Shahidur

Rahamn Khan Mukti, former Bang-ladesh Chhatra League vice-presi-dent Saniyat Khan Bappa and for-mer Tangail Chamber of Commerce president Jahidur Rahman Khan Kakon and 10 others were accused for the murder.

On January 18 in 2013, Freedom Fighter Faruk Ahmed was shot dead in front of his residence at College Parha in the district.

His wife Nahar Ahmed � led a case accusing unidenti� ed people, but later claimed at a media brie� ng that the Khans were behind the murder.

She said Ahmed was killed be-cause he wanted to contest party elections to get elected as Tangail Awami League’s general secretary.

Furthermore, two suspects, ar-

rested over the murder, had said in their confessions in the court that the brothers were involved, police said.

Nahar said:“Four persons of Khan family are accused of the murder. Of them Kakon and Bappa are staying abroad while two oth-ers are in the country.”

“We hoped that the police will arrested them soon. But they have not been arrested yet. I urged to the police personnel to arrest them im-mediately,” she said.

Advocate Zoaherul Islam, gen-eral secretary of the district unit Awami League said: “I do not know where the accused of the murder are staying. But I am sure that they will be arrested soon as charge-sheet was submitted.” l

A human chain was formed in Khulna city yesterday demanding trial of the killing of housewife Tonni. She was killed allegedly by her in-laws on April 7 last year DHAKA TRIBUNE

We hoped that the police will arrested them soon. But they have not been arrested yet. I urged to the police personnel to arrest them immediately

News8DTFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Suchitra Sen museum in Pabna still a dreamn Md Imroz Khandakar, Pabna

Pabna’s district administration is yet to carry out a 2014 court order directing it to set up a museum dedicated to the memory of Ben-gali � lm legend Suchitra Sen at her ancestral home, freed from the clutches of Jamaat-e-Islami nearly two years ago.

The one-storied house at Hemsagar Lane in the town’s Go-palpur neighbourhood has appar-ently remained neglected since the district administration took over in 2014 after years of bitter legal tus-sle. Illegally set up shops in front of the house still stand.

After Suchitra’s father Karun-amoy Dasgupta moved to India in 1947 with his family, the govern-ment took custody of the 0.21-acre house as vested property. The sil-ver screen goddess, born as Rama Dasgupta in 1931, spent her child-hood in this house.

Four decades later, the Pabna district administration leased the house to Imam Gazzali Trust, set

up by Jamaat, which operated a private girls school and college there. They erected several tin huts on the open space inside the house, blocked the main gate and set up shops by the road.

Following strident demands by people from all walks of life in Pab-na to throw out the Jamaat-backed institute and set up a museum

there, the district administration in 2009 refused to renew the lease further. The trust, established by Jamaat leader Abdus Subhan in 1983, moved the High Court against the decision.

In July 2011, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh � led a writ petition arguing a museum should be set up to preserve the grand leg-

acy of the iconic actress. In August, the court ordered the

trust to vacate the house in two months and directed the govern-ment to take over and protect the memory of the legendary actress of yesteryear who died on January 17, 2014.

The trust moved the Supreme Court challenging the High Court

verdict but the top court on May 4, 2014 threw out the appeal and up-held the High Court verdict.

Finally, the district administra-tion took possession of the house on July 16, 2014 on a court order to establish the “Suchitra Sen Smrity Sangrohashala”, a museum to ar-chive her memories.

However, no visible progress has been made so far. When con-tacted, Additional Deputy Com-missioner Munsi Md Muniruzzam-an said they were working to take steps as directed by the High Court.

But, he said, they did not write to the concerned ministry seeking o� cial proposal or directives.

Suchitra Sen Chalachitra Sang-sad convenor Jakir Hossain said they had to wage tough demon-strations and prolonged legal bat-tles to free the house.

“But bureaucratic complexities are obstructing implementation of the court’s order,” he said. “We de-mand setting up a museum in that house to preserve Suchitra Sen’s memories as the court ordered.” l

A view of legendary actress Suchitra Sen’s residence. The photo was taken yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Ilish for Boishakh ‘looted’by magistraten Saiful Islam Swapan,

Lakshmipur

A total of 200 Ilish, worth about Tk4 lakh, were looted allegedly by the magistrate of a mobile court on Wednesday night in the district.

Local sources said a mobile led by Magistrate Sohel Rana conducted a drive at a cold-storage in Motirhat Bazar under Komolnagar upazila.

The magistrate entered the

house breaking open the door and looted the � sh worth about Tk4 lakh stored for celebrating Bangla new year.

The sources said Sohel entered the house by giving his identity as the person of DC o� ce took way the � sh loading three CNGs.

Helaluddin, owner of the � sh, said he and 12 other farm-ers stored the � sh for selling ahead of � rst Boishakh.

When contacted, Sohel said

he did not loot the � sh.“I have provided the � sh

among the orphans of three madrasas,” he said.

Abdul Mohameian, teacher of Abdul Goni Ha� zia Madrasa, said he got 30 ilish provided by the magistrate. Additional Deputy Commissioner Kankan Chakma said he was not in-formed about the drive.

The traders of the market submitted a memorandum to the DC in this connection. l

Three killed in ‘gun� ght’n Tribune Report

Three people were killed in separate gun � ghts with law enforcers in Tangail and Lakshmipur yesterday.

In Tangail Sadar upazila, two members of outlawed Sarbahara Party were killed and three others injured in a reported shootout as claimed by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) with them.

The deceased were identi-� ed as Fazlu and his accom-plice Uzzal.

RAB 12 Commander Ma-hiuddin Faruqui said acting on a tip-o� , a team of RAB raided Jugnihat area of Sadar upazila, where the outlawed

party members were staying.“Sensing the presence

of the RAB members, the outlawed men opened � re, forcing the police elite force members to � re back trigger-ing a gun� ght around 1am.

“Fazlu and his aide Uzzal were caught in the line of � re and died on the spot.”

However, other members of the outlawed party man-aged to � ee the scene, said the RAB o� cial.

The elite force discovered one foreign-made pistol, one shutter gun, seven rounds of bullets and a mobile phone set from the spot.

Meanwhile, a suspected criminal has been killed in

a “gun� ght” with police at Lotibpur village under sadar upazila in Lakshmipur.

The deceased is Kausar Ahmed, 30, son of Yunus Mia.

He was an accused in six cases, including robbery.

Lakshmipur Police Super Nasim Mia said Kausar was arrested on Wednesday.

He said: “We conducted a drive in the area with Kausar to recover arms and ammu-nition around 3am. Sensing the presence of the police, Kausar’s associates opened � re on us.”

In retaliation, police � red back that left Kausar bullet wounded. l

Kibria murder case hearing April 28n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

A court in Sylhet yesterday deferred record-ing the deposition of witnesses in the former � nance minister AMS Kibria murder case.

Sylhet Division Speedy Trial Tribunal’s Public Prosecutor advocate Kishor Kumar Kar said the court set April 28 for hearing as former

home a� airs minister Luhfuzzaman Babar, an accused of the case did not appear before the court. Kishor Kumar said 12 accused including suspended mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury were also produced before the court.

Kibria and four others were killed in a grenade attack on January 27, 2005 after holding a rally in Habiganj Sadar. l

Writing 9D

T

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Writing: The best medicine?n Rad Sharar Bin Kamal

Mere scribbles on how your day went create a bigger impact than well-used ink. Writing, whether it’s in a diary or a journal or even in that notepad you use to carve in the names of your crushes, has been proven to improve your healt h in ways you never realised. Here’s how.

You learn fasterI always hated when my father made me write down my school notes again in a separate copy, going on and on about how “writing once is equal to reading anything ten times.” Turns out he was right though (they always are, aren’t they), well partially. Using actual pen and paper helps retain more information, as the physical act itself sends more signals from your hands to your “build motor” memory. This helps you remember more, recollect better, and get more content covered than usual.

You heal betterAccording to a study from New Zealand researchers, wording down your thoughts and emotions after a traumatic incident can actually help you heal faster. A few wounded patients were asked to pour out their innermost feelings in a journal for two weeks in the survey. Others su� ering from similar injuries were strictly asked to avoid it. Miraculously, the former subjects healed faster through writing expressively while the rest were left still licking their wounds. Coincidence? You try.

You gain a better perspective The phrase “attitude is everything” holds especially true for those who are su� ering from terminal diseases. Writing your heart out (pun intended) has been reported to help you look at your

irreversible conditions di� erently, even helping you cope better and improve your quality of life. In the study, the researchers even elaborated, “Despite the pilot nature of the present study, initial � ndings suggest that a single, 20 minute writing exercise led to changes in how some patients thought about their illness.”

You’re more gratefulIt pays to have a journal in which you talk about how Snubbles the cat woke you up on Sunday,

or how your mom became obsessed with Keeping Up with the Kardashians, or how lucky you were to get that large piece of aloo in your biryani – basically the little things in life which you are grateful for. A study conducted by researchers from the University of California, Davis and the University of Miami proved that writing about the happier aspects of your life at least once a week keeps you happier in turn, and somehow made you exercise more, compared those who don’t.

You sleep betterBrendon Burchard, a life coach, YouTube sensation, entrepreneur and author of “The Charged Life,” suggested to spend just a few minutes to scrawl down the things you are grateful for in life. Why? You’ll snooze like a baby; with a longer, more relaxed sleep and a better awakening in the end.

Your mind and body improvesAn article in the journal Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (back in 2005), stated that the bene� ts of expressive writing are not only experienced in the short-term, but in the long-run as well. Compiling all the (say minute) bene� ts stated in the study and provided above: writing lifts your mood, improves your cognitive ability, helps you learn faster, provides a positive perspective to life, raises lung and liver function, reduces stress, blood pressure, and the time required for your body to heal. TIME even reported writing to aid with post-traumatic stress disorder and psychological well-being.

Despite these facts, you don’t need to be told that it helps brush up on your writing skills too. They say laughter is the best medicine, but it seems that writing could give it a run for its money. l

Writing lifts your mood, improves your cognitive ability, helps you learn faster, provides a positive perspective to life, raises lung and liver function, reduces stress, blood pressure, and the time required for your body to heal

The content was provided by SteamPug Writers, a pack of experienced word-smiths and editors.

10DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016Feature

n Sabrina Fatma Ahmad

Despite all the pain and heartache associated with owning the dreaded green passport, we Bangladeshis really get around. Sure, we’ll have to stand in longer lines, be subjected to “spot checks” and the general rudeness and non-cooperation from airport o� cials in some country, but that hasn’t really dampened our enthusiasm for travel. This is why, ten to one, your chances of encountering other Bangladeshis on any given � ight is fairly high, and when you do, you’re bound to come across the following � ve personalities.

Talkative Tomals/TomalikasYes, we’re a chatty people on any given day, but these folk will be on their phones gabbing away up to the point when the � ight is about to take o� , and the harassed � ight

attendants have issued a threat to con� scate their cellphones. At which point, they’ll turn to their seatmates, or � nd a suitably South Asian face in the vicinity, and strike up a conversation, usually narrating every detail about all their previous travel experience. You can bet your bottom taka that no sooner does the plane touch down than they have their phones out, waiting for the � rst bar of network service that can connect them to their loved ones.

Octopus OsmansThese folks really love their space, and don’t really give a damn about yours. As soon as they’re seated, they will roll back their seats until they’re practically sitting with their heads in the laps of the people seated behind them. Their elbows will take up both armrests, and you haven’t seen man-spreading like you’ve seen an OO

at it. After a small length of time, you’ll � nd them sliding to one side, “innocuously” aiming for the shoulders of their seatmates.

Boozy BelalsWhether they’re actually called Belal or not, you can recognise this type right after the plane has taken o� . They’ll get comfortable in their seats, maybe even recite a loud Surah for safety. As soon as the drinks cart rolls around, they’ll � ag the � ight attendant down for a beer. If it’s a � ight that doesn’t serve alcohol, the Boozy Belal can be seen cajoling for a tipple anyway. As the � ight progresses, the calls for alcohol become more frequent, and one of two things happen. Either Belal will get really obnoxious right after his � rst sip, or drink himself into a stupor, and if you’re lucky enough to be his seatmate, you can enjoy his beer burps through the rest of the

journey.

Shopaholic ShompasThey’re the ones with the overweight luggage and bags and bags of duty-free shopping bags that take up pretty much all the space in the overhead compartment, and sometimes over� ow into the stowaway area underfoot. And yet they still have room for more shopping as soon as they � ip open the duty-free catalogues.

Whackamole Wahids/WahimasYou just cannot contain this bunch. Seatbelts are apparently made for other people. You’ll � nd � ight attendants doing double duty throughout the � ight, rounding them up and ushering them back to their seats whenever the plane hits turbulence, but they’ll spring right back up the moment they sit down. And without fail, as soon as the rubber hits the tarmac, they’ll be out of their seats even before the plane has parked. l

5 kinds of deshis you’ll meet on every � ight

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK

These folks really love their space, and don’t really give a damn about yours

Travelling would be much more boring without them

INSIDE

The murder of Jagannath University Masters student Nazimuddin Samad by assailants we have strong reason to believe were religious extremists was a most despicable crime committed in cold blood, and should be condemned in the harshest manner by all.

The police must leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the killers are found and brought to justice. As of now, the perpetrators have not even been identi� ed yet. And even though the chant “Allahu Akbar” was heard at the site of the murder, which was crowded at the time, witnesses have so far been reluctant to come forward with information.

It should be the topmost priority of our law enforcement to get to the bottom of the Nazim murder, and for the government to send a strong message that those who commit murder, in the name of religion or not, will never get away with impunity.

Regrettably, the murder of 28-year-old Nazim was not an isolated incident. In recent times, the country has seen the horrifying, brutal killings of secular bloggers and authors, such as Oyasiqur Rahman, Avijit Roy, and numerous others.

Just earlier this year, Hindu priest Jagneshwar Roy was stabbed to death, allegedly by JMB and Shibir members.

We cannot allow Bangladesh to become a haven for religious extremists, who get away with murder after murder. These crimes not only take away innocent lives and destroy families, but threaten to destroy the secular fabric of our nation and divide our society.

We cannot let extremists win. These crimes must be made to stop.

We cannot allow Bangladesh to become a haven for religious extremists

Biometrically veri� ed

A special kind of learningI am aware that in a country like Bangladesh, where the light of basic education has yet to reach most of its geography, it’s delusional to expect New York-level like education for any segment of society

PAGE 13

PAGE 12

PAGE 14

To honour others is to honour ourselvesSweden has honoured its great citizens, which has in turn given it a respectable identity in the world community. We, as a nation, have failed to do that -- honour our great people

There is that pesky concern of our biometric data being misused or abused. In this regard, I am told through obscure reassurances by those in power, through the media of course, that I have nothing to worry about. What could possibly go wrong?

Stand with Nazim, put an end to religious extremism

11D

TEditorialFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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

Send us your Op-Ed articles:opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com

www.dhakatribune.comJoin our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune.

The views expressed in Opinion articles are those of the authors

alone. They do not purport to be the o� cial view of Dhaka

Tribune or its publisher.

BIGSTOCK

n Matthew Islam

Biometric data collection for issuance of a passport is a prudent thing, but biometric registration

for a mobile phone service would be considered excessive almost universally.

Yet, I’m told it’s the in thing for “national security” in a growing number of countries such as UAE, Pakistan, and soon Saudi Arabia. An illustrious bunch indeed.

Nonetheless, unlike registration of o� enders of a certain ilk, this apparently is for our own bene� t. Jolly good then.

However, I do have issues with the payo� here. As a Bangladeshi, we are known to have a sharp nose for deals, unless you work in some kind of a procurement committee.

Disappointingly, all I get for surrendering my biometric privacy is 1GB of Internet data for Tk9! Haven’t checked if this includes VAT, otherwise this would be a rip o� ! Yay.

Even though I have been told this is optional, and if I don’t like it, I should go sit in a corner somewhere, surely the price for surrendering your biometric privacy in this day and age must be rewarded with a bare minimum of free data, right?

End of times, no doubt about it.Then there is that pesky

concern of our biometric data being misused or abused. In this regard, I am told through obscure reassurances by those in power -- through the media of course -- that I have nothing to worry about. What could possibly go wrong?

I mean, � ngerprints are

the least secure of biometric authentication methods, so why worry so much? I mean, assuming you trust your data being held by the government and managed by private bodies, I’m still pretty paranoid about how secure my data actually is.

What steps are being taken to ensure my data won’t be stolen or misused by a villainous third

party? It’s all so vague and unclear.In the meanwhile, there is

no respite from the large-scale propaganda, framing this as a godsend beyond reproach. It’s on TV, radio, print, social networks. You have to submit. Resistance is futile. You verify yourself or get disconnected from the world. 

Every call I make has a pre-recorded happy harassment

attached to it. I shout at the woman in the recording: “I have registered, now begone you naughty spirit in the name of the father, son, and the holy ghost.” Nothing happens. It’s a work-in-progress. Perhaps a di� erent denomination would work better. In the end though, I’m con� dent that I shall be victorious against this menace. 

I’m led to believe from a few close friends, sympathetic to the drive, that times before the veri� cation will be seen as the dark ages, and after as ushering in a secure Utopia. Well, if you say so. 

So we move earth and planet for creating this database, oops I meant, this veri� cation drive, and everyone is nervous talking about it but (shh, it’s for your own good, don’t be a party spoiler with your hidden liberal agenda) no one will do what is required to be done, and that is give the proceedings some consistent transparency to put overactive minds of people like me at rest. 

Whose server is the binary data stored on? How is it secured? Who has access to it? Do third parties have access to it? When the operators take my � ngerprint, what happens with that data? What are the fail-safes? Who is

processing the forms we � ll with out with our personal details? How secure is that data? 

The state minister for post and telecommunication, in a media response to the High Court writ against the veri� cation drive, said the concerns regarding the handling of biometric data were unfounded, and that a fact-based IT presentation would be made in court as and when required, dispelling concerns of the honourable court. 

My question to the government would be: Why not do as much for us, concerned citizens? Oh and for the record, I have Tk9 less in my mobile balance as I type this. l

Matthew Islam is a writer, entrepreneur, barrister-at-aw, and a Dhaka Tribune columnist. He can be contacted on twitter via @matthewislam or www.facebook.com/thematthewislam.

Opinion12DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Maybe we are right to be a little paranoid BIGSTOCK

There is that pesky concern of our biometric data being misused or abused. In this regard, I am told through obscure reassurances by those in power, through the media of course, that I have nothing to worry about. What could possibly go wrong?

But is it safe?

Biometrically veri� ed

Opinion 13D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

n Quazi Sabnam

Dip, 7, a high functioning boy with social communication di� culties, goes to a

special school in Dhaka. There, his friends all have various physical disabilities, and they attend the same classroom.

They are not familiar with the concept of IEP (individual education plan) there. Dip learns vocational stu� along with his basic ABCs, and he is good in mathematics and computer basics.

He � nds it di� cult when someone asks him a question. But he loves to mingle with people. His smile wins people’s hearts. He loves painting and singing, but his teachers don’t have the time or patience to set him back on track whenever he gets distracted.

Sam, 7, a high functioning boy with social and communication di� culties, goes to a mainstream school in New York. The institution he goes to is familiar with IEP, which reviews quarterly in CSE (Committee for Special Education).

His parents are members of that CSE committee and they have the right to call a meeting if needed. Sam is a champ in mathematics. His classteacher proudly says: “One day, Sam will earn a PhD in mathematics. I am so proud of him.” Sam is the heart of his class. His teachers and friends always motivate him to interact with others. When he does, they appreciate his e� orts a lot.

Heath, 6, a sweet little boy who’s had blindness since birth, goes to a mainstream school with braille support in New York. He is the “Superman” of his class. His teachers and friends have given him that nickname out of love.

They even put on a Superman sticker on his white cane. Braille is everywhere in his school, in addition to the text that they are given. Heath never � nds it di� cult to be at his school.

Two years ago, I travelled to New York with my four-year-old barely verbal and rarely eye contact-making boy. When he started going to school there, I stumbled upon a little boy who could tell stories, make good eye contact with his beautiful eyes, was a champ in mathematics, had interest in singing and dancing, and even participated in sporting

events and the funfair in his school.

It wasn’t any sort of magic, but the hard work that his school put in made the boy’s abilities a reality. He was his teacher’s favorite student, the best friend to every

other student. Everyone motivated him to be more proactive socially. His school changed his life.

Coming back to Dhaka, I found it very di� cult to admit my son in school. Special schools are not for a high-functioning kid like him, and no mainstream school is ready to adopt IEP, something he requires. In grade 1 at a mainstream school, he had two academic subjects: Maths and reading, and a few other subjects for basic knowledge. He was fairly okay in them.

I am aware that in a country like Bangladesh, where the

light of basic education has yet to reach most of its geography, it’s delusional to expect New York-level like education for any segment of society.

But I am talking about Dhaka, the capital of this country, where

we can � nd American food, clothing, accessories, cars, world-class hotels, spas, and other such commodities, where a surprising amount of parents can a� ord a New York-level education if available.

And trust me, if we really want to provide quality education for our children, it won’t seem that expensive.

We only have to feel the importance of providing a proper and quality education to our kids. There are parents who go abroad with their special kids. Get trained there and establish small schools

(maybe at home) for their own kids.

But it’s not a solution. We want to see a revolution in special education on a broad canvas. Our government needs to take the initiative so that mainstream schools can’t deny admission to special children who are good in academics.

When we were planning to come back here, I sat down to talk with numerous teachers, principals, and the school psychologist. They were very concerned about my son’s education here in Bangladesh.

I was surprised when a certain school psychologist told me that she shad tudied a lot about special education in Bangladesh, and had found that our prime minister and her daughter were working on autism. Special education is now available in Bangladesh.

There are so many boys and girls looking for jobs here in Dhaka -- why not appoint them as shadow teachers for special kids at mainstream schools? An IEP can be set for every special child, which needs to to be reviewed periodically.

If students need any kind of therapy, they should be able to get it at school. Last but not least, special kids who are good at academics should have the right to be admitted to mainstream schools. l

Quazi Sabnam is a Chartered Secretary and blogger at Sun� ower -- a blog for special child parenting.

There’s nothing wrong with being a little different REUTERS

I am aware that in a country like Bangladesh, where the light of basic education has yet to reach most of its geography, it’s delusional to expect New York-level like education for any segment of society. But I am talking about Dhaka, the capital of this country, where we can � nd American food, clothing, accessories, cars, world-class hotels, spas, and other such commodities, where a surprising amount of parents can a� ord a New York-level education if available

We can’t let children with special needs fall behind

A special kind of learning

Opinion14DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

n Nadeem Qadir

Here, in the land of lakes, granite hills, and forests, lie the historical cities of Stockholm and Uppsala.

What are striking are the age-old buildings, with wonderful colours and proper up-keeping, which make the two cities of Sweden outstanding from a historical point of view.

As I strode around Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, everything

had a touch of history. There is a fusion of the old with the new so gently done that the old beauty has not been a� ected but, in fact, its rich culture and heritage was accentuated.

I quickly bought a few souvenirs before heading to some museums. The � rst was the Nobel Museum, dedicated to the memory of Sir Alfred Nobel. Set in an old building with modern interiors, it depicts the life and deeds of Mr Nobel.

Around the city, there are more museums small and big.

O� to Uppsala, a university area with most studying here in Uppsala University. Here too, there are museums. One is called Peace Museum, dedicated to the memory of Dag Hammraskjold, the second and most successful secretary general of the United Nations. He was killed in a mysterious plane crash in Africa in 1962.

On entering the museum, I told

the lady at the reception: “I have � nally made it to this museum.” She asked: “Why couldn’t you come before?”

I replied that I had been wishing since 1984 when I received the UN fellowship named after Dag Hammarskjold.

She blinked, and with a broad smile, warmly welcomed me. She called in the museum director, Jesper Magnusson.

“We are indeed honoured to have you here,” he told me on learning that I was a UN Dag Hammarskjold Fellow in journalism. “Not only because you are a Fellow of his namesake, but also because you are a quality journalist,” he added.

He took me around, and I explored the Dag world. Despite turbulent times around the world, Dag Hammarskjold became a world politician and secured peace.

I was told that the current UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

had visited the museum only two days ago.

As I left, I bought some souvenirs while Jesper presented me with a CD on Dag Hammraskjold, saying: “It was nice to have you here with us.”

I left knowing more of Hammarskjold, and also the warmth of the hospitality and honour I was treated with.

This was something I never got back home for being a Hammarskjold Fellow and, more importantly, I had to beg for a job on my return to Dhaka from New York. My three other colleagues from Peru, Mauritani, and Burkina Faso got hero’s welcomes, with newspaper coverage of their experiences at the UN and, of course, promotions or better jobs.

In Dhaka, I was getting frustrated and I again left for London. It did not work out as I had wanted. Realising I had no choice but to break my own promise not to seek help in getting a job, I asked my wonderful mother Hasna Hena to help me. She got me a job with BSS, the national news agency, as I had studied on wire service reporting in New York.

Sorry to bore you with this story, but the reason I wanted to focus on this was to contrast how a small country like Sweden has honoured its great citizens, which has in turn given it a respectable identity in the world community.

We, as a nation, have failed to do that -- honour our great people.

The museum dedicated to Bangabandhu is not a state one, there is no mentionable museum dedicated to Syed Nazrul Islam or Tajuddin Ahmed -- our wartime heroes.

The Shahbagh National Museum is not enough. If we make museums for our great heroes as well as freedom � ghters in all the districts, it would uphold our proud history. It would also teach the younger ones about our history and serve as a lesson to respect those who should be honoured.

We must have a museum for our UN peace-keepers in a public area, not in restricted cantonments, for larger viewing and spreading knowledge about the operation as well as the sacri� ces made by our blue berets.

To honour others is to honour ourselves. l

Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism. He is the Press Minister of Bangladesh High Commission in London.

Institutions like the Dag Hammarskjold library in Uppsala uphold the memory of Sweden’s heroes

Sweden has honoured its great citizens, which has in turn given it a respectable identity in the world community. We, as a nation, have failed to do that -- honour our great people

Let’s not forget to honour our national heroes

To honour others is to honour ourselves

15D

TBusinessFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Capital market snapshot: ThursdayDSE

Broad Index 4,443.1 0.7% ▲

Index 1,075.9 0.8% ▲

30 Index 1,686.2 0.9% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 4,334.3 1.3% ▲

Turnover in Mn Vol 123.1 -2.8% ▼

CSEAll Share Index 13,674.3 0.7% ▲

30 Index 12,375.5 1.0% ▲

Selected Index 8,304.8 0.7% ▲

Turnover in Mn Tk 291.6 -30.3% ▼

Turnover in Mn Vol 10.9 -5.1% ▼

INSIDE

WTO cuts 2016 world trade growth forecast to 2.8%Growth in world trade will come to 2.8% this year, lower than a previous forecast of 3.9%, the World Trade Organisation forecast yesterday. PAGE 17

India can learn from Asian bank turnaroundsAsia o� ers lessons for India’s bank sell-o� . Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says he is mulling a privati-sation of IDBI Bank, a lender with a near-$2bn market value. A reduc-tion of the government’s stake from around 80% to below 50% would send a strong signal about India’s resolve to � x its wobbly banks. Pre-vious deals elsewhere in the region o� er a template for success. PAGE 18

Bangladesh takes $217m World Bank loan to boost power generation The World Bank has provided $217m to Bangladesh for upgrading a unit in the Ghorashal power station, which will increase the unit’s exist-ing electricity generation capacity by more than double, said the bank in a statement yesterday. PAGE 16

SME entrepreneurs in need of funds to expand business n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

Once a mere homemaker, Me-herun Nesa has in course of time become an SME entrepreneur with her sheer determination and undaunted spirit.

A nine-grader Meherun was leading the life of a village house-wife in Nilphamari following her marriage to a college teacher in 1985 until a big thing occurred to her.

She was determined to do something on her own. The burn-ing desire of becoming self-reliant kept chasing her till she found herself in an SME business frame-work, which not only dispelled the darkness of her abject poverty, but also brought her dignity.

The female entrepreneur has now become a trademark in SME world. She is invited to participate in the ongoing 4th National SME Fair in the city.

Meherun now runs an SME business entity called Noborupa House with its total capital of Tk20 lakh and yearly turnover more than Tk75 lakh. Over 700 women and men are now employed in her enterprise.

A mother of three, Meherun’s entrepreneurial journey was not a smooth one. She had to follow a rough patch.

Two years after her marriage, she dropped out of her study. She managed to convince her husband and resumed academic life and � -nally graduated.

Since her husband’s income was not su� cient to run the family, Me-herun decided to do something for earning money, but was dissuaded outright by her father-in-law.

Nothing could deter her from becoming an entrepreneur. In 1999, she started her business with only Tk75,000 by purchasing some clothes and employing � ve other women in Syedpur area un-

der Nilphamari district. Since then her business kept

gaining momentum, and she had not to look back.

Now, she is keen on expanding her business, but fails to realise the dream because of lack of fund.

Though there are instructions from Bangladesh Bank (BB) to provide easy loans at a low inter-est rate for SME entrepreneurs, the reality is di� erent, said Me-herun, the owner of Noborupa House, a handicraft and fashion products manufacturer, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Like Meherun Nesa, many SME women entrepreneurs are facing the same problem in getting loans from the banks to run and expand their existing business.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune at the fourth national SME fair, several women entrepreneurs ex-

pressed their disappointment to banks and their cumbersome pro-cess of providing loans.

“I started by business with Tk8,000 about 17 years ago, Ruksa-na Parvin Naju, owner of Naj Bou-tique House, a Rajshahi-based en-trepreneur, told the Dhaka Tribune.

In course of time, the busi-ness became bigger and its capital stood at about Tk10 lakh, she said.

“I cannot supply products as per the demand of the consumers due to lack of production capaci-ty, she said, adding that current-ly, products are being supplied to Dhaka, Sylhet and Dubai.”

“Due to lack of funds from banks, we have to borrow from NGO at a higher interest rate,” Ruksana said.

As per the existing terms and conditions of the banks, every en-trepreneur has to mortgage their

properties or ensure two grantors, either father or husband, and a government o� cial, they claimed.

“The government, banks, stakeholders – all are making emp-ty pledges. Their promises are just word only,” Rabiya Begum Ruby, manger of Tupperware, told the Dhaka Tribune.

She said the authority issued a circular to serve the SME sec-tor, but she did not get any loans despite having quality and estab-lished business.

Several participants, who talked to the Dhaka Tribune at the SME Fair, urged the government to spread training facilities for ru-ral women through the SME Foun-dation.

According to Bangladesh Bank data, the country’s scheduled banks have disbursed Tk1,15,870 crore in SME sector last year. l

Meherun Nesa, a small and medium entrepreneur, at the Nabarupa House stall at the SME Fair in Dhaka this week. She is the owner of the Nabarupa which produces garments for men, women and kids RAJIB DHAR

Muhith: Separate budget for mega projects in FY17 n Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said a separate budget would be made for the mega projects in the next � scal year.

“The size of the next budget will be Tk3,40,000 crore and there’ll be a separate budget for transfor-mational mega projects,” he said

while speaking at a pre-budget discussion arranged by the Metro-politan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) at its conference hall in the city yesterday.

The current � scal’s budget size is Tk2,95,000 crore.

In response to a recommenda-tion for making tax payment easier

PAGE 17 COLUMN 1

Business16DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Updates on listed � rms now available on DSE website n Tribune Report

From now on, investors will be able to know about the latest sta-tus of companies listed with the country’s prime bourse, which is expected to help them take right investment decision.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday announced that updated status and pro� les of list-ed securities would now be availa-ble on its website.

It said: “Investors will be able to get information about the list-ed � rms’ latest status like back-grounds, shareholding position, wrongdoing, � nancial perfor-mance, directors, share transaction and so on.”

“This will guide investors to make good decision before putting money on any security, as they will get clear picture about the listed securities,” said Swapan Kumar Bala, DSE managing director, while launching the upgraded version of website of the premier bourse at a

press brie� ng in the city. The DSE has already updated

pro� les of 46 listed companies and the remaining companies will be completed gradually.

At present, DSE has 290 listed companies, 39 mutual funds, eight debentures, 221 treasury bonds and two corporate bonds.

Investors will also get the com-pany’s latest prices and trade vol-ume trend of the past two years and AGM related information, said the DSE.

The bourse will update the list-ed � rms’ information as soon as it gets from the � rms.

“However, we will be careful about the information provided by the companies as we’ve found mis-matches in the quarterly � nancial statements while upgrading pro-� les of 21 listed companies,’’ said Bala.

For example, he said a compa-ny showed the EPS of Tk2 in the � rst quarter and Tk3 in the second quarter. l

Stocks gain for 2nd day n Tribune Report

Stocks gained for the second con-secutive day yesterday pulled up mainly by power sector that surged around 3%.

The market set out with positive note and the momentum contin-ued with limited gains till close of the session.

The benchmark index DSEX rose 29 points or 0.7% to close at 4,443. In two sessions, the key in-dex gained 33 points.

The Shariah index DSES was slightly up over 8 points to 1,075.

The blue chip comprising index DS30 increased over 15 points or 1% to 1,686.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index CSCX set-tled at 8,304, rising 56 points.

The power sector continued to show its muscle, driven by the state-owned Power Grid Company of Bang-ladesh (PGCB), as it rallied over 6%.

In its second trading day, stock prices of the Doreen Power that was the day’s second most traded issue declined over 6%, after jumping 188.6% on its o� er value in debut.

The volume of trade increased slightly at DSE as the turnover stood at Tk433 crore, an increase of 1.4% over the previous session’s value.

All other sectors moved up mar-ginally. Among them, pharmaceuti-cals increased by 0.6%, engineering 0.5%, non-banking � nancial institu-tions 0.4% and telecommunication 0.3%. Textile sector, however, re-mained out of favour as it ended � at.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the market closed with moderate gain amid signi� cant move in large-cap stocks.

“Investors were active on both sides of the fence in the market. The market showed resilience throughout the trading session as industry updates conveyed posi-tive momentum to the market.”

Shares of 321 companies were traded on the day. Of these, 149 companies closed positive, 120 neg-ative while 52 remained unchanged.

The Ibn Sina was the most traded share with a turnover worth Tk16.2 core. After Ibn Sina and Doreen Pow-er, other turnover leaders included ACI, Keya Cosmetics, PGCB, Keya Cosmetics and BSRM Limited. l

NBR to crack down on abuse of Carnet de Passages facilityn Tribune Report

The National Board of Revenue has asked owners of the vehicles, im-ported without paying taxes under a facility for tourists but condition of exporting them after a duration was not met, to surrender the ve-hicles.

It warned stern actions if the owners failed to voluntarily hand over the vehicles to its Customs Intelligence and Investigation Di-rectorate (CIID) within respective deadlines.

The Carnet de Passages is an in-ternational customs facility which allows tourists to temporarily im-port their private vehicles without paying any duty for a limited peri-od on condition of exporting them at the end of their stay.

NBR sources said the CIID had already started monitoring these vehicles plying on the streets.

“If they do not voluntarily hand over those illegal vehicles, we will not only seize the cars from them but also the cars owners or users have to face the music,” said CIID Director General Moinul Khan while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

Meanwhile, the CIID will soon publish a circular in the newspaper with a request to voluntarily sur-render those vehicles for avoiding strict punishments.

The NBR had earlier scrapped the facility in 2013, soon after it found some unscrupulous car im-porters were using this facility just to import and sell those cars by evading import taxes.

According to NBR, so far over 300 luxury cars were imported by tourists, mostly foreign nationals of Bangladeshi-origin using the car-net-de passage facility. Out of them, around 150 are still illegally plying in the streets using the fake and forged documents. Each of the car has re-portedly evaded duties worth in be-tween Tk1 crore and Tk2 crore.

“These cars got their registration of Bangladesh Road Transport Au-thority (BRTA) just using fake doc-uments and are regularly renewing them in the same old fashion,” said customs intelligence o� cials.

During its drives, the customs intelligence has so far seized four such luxurious vehicles from the city. In recent drives customs in-telligence seized a BMW-X5 SUV on April 4 and a luxurious Porsche SUV from Gulshan on April 6 on charge of customs duty evasion. The Porsche was plying in the street using a British registration number of SF05AUM.

The CIID had earlier also seized a BMW car from Gulshan and a Mercedes Benz from Dhanmondi area. l

Bangladesh takes $217m World Bank loan to boost power generation n Tribune Report

The World Bank has provided $217m to Bangladesh for upgrading a unit in the Ghorashal power station, which will increase the unit’s exist-ing electricity generation capacity by more than double, said the bank in a statement yesterday.

Bangladesh and the Bank has signed the � nancing agreement with the International Develop-ment Association (IDA), an arm of the bank, which o� ers concession-al loans and grants to the world’s poorest developing countries.

To this e� ect, Economic Rela-tions Division Additional Secre-tary Kazi Sho� qul Azam and World Bank Acting Country Director for Bangladesh Rajashree Paralkar signed the deal on behalf of their respective organisations at the ERD o� ce.

The Ghorashal Unit 4 Repow-ering Project will transform a gas-� red steam unit that is currently generating 170MW into an energy e� cient 409MW plant. Such con-version to combined cycle technol-ogy will increase the plant’s overall e� ciency from existing 30% to 54% while requiring only 18% more natural gas.

“Bangladesh can grow its econ-omy much faster and reduce pov-erty signi� cantly if its energy infra-structure can meet the demand for reliable, low-cost electricity,” said

Rajashree. “The project will increase the

e� ciency in gas utilisation of an existing unit, while adding new generation capacity to address the country’s severe power needs.”

The project will also reduce the speci� c fuel consumption per giga-watt hour by 44% and lower green-house gas emissions. In addition, the project will provide capacity

building and institutional support to the Bangladesh Power Develop-ment Board.

“The government has priori-tised improving the e� ciency of gas-based power plants, given the shortages in natural gas produc-tion,” says Azam.

“The repowering of the Gho-rashal Unit 4 will quickly add new generation capacity without add-

ing major infrastructure costs for fuel supply.”

With this credit, the World Bank’s total support to the country’s power sector passes $1.7 billion.

In FY2015-16, the World Bank committed over $773 million in new � nancing in Bangladesh. The cred-it from IDA has a 38-year term, in-cluding a six-year grace period, and a service charge of 0.75%. l

Bangladesh can grow its economy much faster and reduce poverty signi� cantly if its energy infrastructure can meet the demand for reliable, low-cost electricity

Business 17D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

WTO cuts 2016 world trade growth forecast to 2.8%n Reuters, Geneva

Growth in world trade will come to 2.8% this year, lower than a pre-vious forecast of 3.9%, the World Trade Organisation forecast yester-day.

It expects trade to rise to 3.6% in 2017, breaking through 3% for the � rst time in six years. Its forecasts are based on economic growth of 2.4% in 2016 and 2.7% in 2017.

Over the past � ve years, the WTO has regularly revised prelim-inary estimates downwards be-cause of overly optimistic predic-tions of economic recovery. Since the � nancial crisis, trade has grown roughly in line with global eco-nomic growth, rather than twice as fast in the years before the crisis.

Risks to its latest forecasts were still mostly on the downside, in-cluding a sharper than expected

slowing of China’s economy, wors-ening � nancial market volatility

and exposure of countries with large foreign debts to sharp ex-change rate movements.

“However, there is also some limited scope for upside potential, if monetary policy which is already in place succeeds in lifting the euro area,” WTO Director-General Rob-erto Azevedo told a news confer-ence.

“Trade is still registering posi-tive growth, albeit at a disappoint-ing rate,” WTO director general Robert Azevedo said in a statement.

Various factors were continu-ing to apply downward pressure on global commerce, the Gene-va-based body said.

The rout on commodities prices has shown few signs of reversing, while the full extent of the slow-down in China - the world’s top

commodities consumer - remains uncertain.

The WTO listed “a sharper-than-expected slowing in China (and) worsening � nancial market volatility” as factors that could further suppress global trade this year.

But, the 2.8% growth forecast could prove to be an underestimate if e� orts by the European Central Bank to stimulate eurozone growth are successful, the WTO said.

The organisation predicted that global trade would tick upwards by 3.6% in 2017, on the back of increased demand for imported goods in Asia.

Azevedo issued a broad warning on “the threat of creeping protec-tionism, as many countries contin-ue to apply trade restrictions.” l

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo seen speaking at a conference AFP

Fed policymakers worried about slow global growthn AFP, Washington

Federal Reserve policymak-ers were broadly worried about the threat of slower global growth to the US econ-omy, the minutes from their March 15-16 meeting showed early yesterday.

As they decided against an interest rate hike at that meeting, several also cau-tioned against an increase in April, saying it would signal a sense of urgency over US monetary conditions that “they did not think appropri-ate,” the minutes said.

The minutes showed most of 17 participants in the Fed-eral Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy review were comfortable with the pace of growth in the US econo-my, agreeing it will continue

to expand at a moderate rate over the medium term with only a “gradual” tightening of monetary conditions.

However, the minutes said, “participants general-ly saw global economic and � nancial developments as continuing to pose risks to the outlook for economic ac-tivity and the labor market in the United States.”

Some pointed to the tur-moil early in the year in world � nancial markets and argued that the underlying reasons for that had not gone away.

They were also worried about slow domestic busi-ness investment and limited capital spending plans in the corporate sector.

The FOMC panel, led by Fed Chair Janet Yellen, was more generally split on

whether recent jobs gains and some signs of stronger in� ation were enough to in-crease the Fed’s benchmark federal funds rate. Some saw the country near full employ-ment and at risk of a surge in prices, while others saw signs of continued weaknesses.

But most preferred to re-main cautious and hold o� on rates, noting that with the federal funds rate barely above zero at 0.25-0.5%, the Fed has limited choices to help the economy if it weak-ens.

Many of the group noted that the FOMC “continued to have little room to ease mon-etary policy through conven-tional means if economic ac-tivity or in� ation turned out to be materially weaker than anticipated,” the record said. l

Separate budget for mega projects by the businessmen at the meeting, Muhith said the government was trying to do-ing it, but yet to be successful.

He supported the rec-ommendation of awarding regular taxpayers and said incentives should be given for compliance and good be-haviour.

Finance minister said a new customs law would be enacted in 2017, while a new direct tax law would be in place in 2018.

MCCI President Syed Nasim Manzur said the

country’s export growth ex-perienced negative trend in recent years. He suggested taking budgetary measures to tackle the situation.

Expressing deep concerns over corruption in state-owned banks, Manzur said: “This has had a very adverse impact on the economy.”

He added: “Some meaning-ful � scal measures should be taken to end the culture of im-punity of habitual defaulters.”

Chairman of the Tari� and Taxation Sub-Committee of MCCI Adeeb H Khan, in his

keynote paper, proposed bringing down source tax rate on import to 3% from 5% now.

The proposals also include reducing the rate of tax on service import to 10% from 20-30% and lowering the highest personal tax rate to below 25%.

National Board of Reve-nue (NBR) Chairman Md No-jibur Rahman, Ex-President of federation trade bodies FBCCI Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmad and MCCI Secretary General Fariq Ahmed, among others, also spoke. l

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

Business18DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

India can learn from Asian bank turnaroundsn Una Galani

Asia o� ers lessons for India’s bank sell-o� . Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says he is mulling a privati-sation of IDBI Bank, a lender with a near-$2bn market value. A re-duction of the government’s stake from around 80% to below 50% would send a strong signal about India’s resolve to � x its wobbly banks. Previous deals elsewhere in the region o� er a template for success.

It is easy to see the attraction of turning one of the country’s more than two dozen state-controlled lenders into a private institution. The former account for around 70% of total assets, but are plagued by bad loans and trade on an average of 0.5 times book value. Private sec-tor peers have much healthier bal-ance sheets and trade on anything between two to four times book.

IDBI is also easier to privatise than most of its counterparts. It started o� life as a development bank and so does not fall under the outdated Bank Nationalisation Act, which would need to be amended in parliament before the govern-ment could cede control of other lenders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi might struggle to win politi-cal support to make such changes even if he wanted to.

Foreign buyout groups would be the obvious acquirers. They would probably relish the chance to own a lender in a market where bare-ly half the adult population has a bank account. Yet IDBI will require

serious work: gross non-perform-ing assets amounted to 8.9% of total assets at year-end. Unions are already protesting any potential large stake sale.

And the government will need to do more than just give up major-ity ownership. Successful revivals of lenders like Korea First Bank and China’s Shenzhen Development

Bank by TPG, the US private equi-ty giant, suggest bank turnarounds work best when new owners can take a sizeable stake and get the freedom to bring in new manage-ment.

So India will need to waive for-eign ownership limits, both to per-mit the initial stake sale, and for any subsequent equity injections.

Fresh leadership is also particular-ly important in a country where crony capitalism and bad debts go hand-in-hand. If India can be � exi-ble, IDBI can be � xed. l

Una Galani is an Associate Editor of Reuters Breakingviews, based in Hong Kong. The article was initially published at Reuters.

India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seen delivering a speech REUTERS

ECB action is supporting in� ation, growthn AFP, Frankfurt

Without the raft of di� erent policy measures taken by the European Central Bank, consumer prices in the euro area would have declined last year and economic growth would be weaker than it is, the ECB’s chief economist Peter Praet said yesterday.

“In the absence of our policy package in� ation would have been negative in 2015,” Praet told a cen-tral banking congress in Frankfurt, countering growing criticism that the ECB’s policy measures are proving ine� ective in kick-starting in� ation and growth in the single currency area.

“In 2016, it would have been at least half a percentage point low-er than we forecast currently and around half a percentage point lower in 2017,” Praet said.

The ECB is currently pencilling in an annual in� ation rate of just 0.1% for this year and 1.3% next year.

Turning to economic growth, “the impact of the policy measures on euro area GDP (gross domestic product) is also sizeable,” Praet said.

“According to the sta� assess-ment, our policy is contributing to raise euro area GDP by around 1.5% in the period 2015-18.”

Praet warned “we have to be careful to avoid assessing monetary policy by ‘looking out the window’. This describes the process of eyeing where certain key variables are to-day compared with the beginning of the policy, and then concluding that the policy has succeeded or failed.”

But this was not how rigorous economic analysis was conducted, he argued.

“Given that the economy is never static, one always needs to assess a counterfactual scenario; what would have transpired with-out the policy action.”

In a bid to kickstart recovery in the eurozone economy, the ECB has implemented a raft of di� erent measures, from cutting interest rates to pumping vast amounts of liquidity into the � nancial system.

But also these measures coin-cided with new economic shocks, such as the plunge in oil prices.

“The monetary policy package the ECB has adopted since June 2014 has been e� ective,” Praet insisted.

But the ECB should not be seen as the sole solution to the euro-zone’s economic woes and other policy areas must also act, he said.

“We have consistently main-tained since summer 2014 that a strong and sustainable recovery the crisis requires a comprehensive response that involves all econom-ic policies. A return to higher struc-tural growth and employment can-not depend on monetary policy,” Praet said. l

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka looks to restructure $8bn China debtn AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s prime minister will seek to restructure some of the cash-strapped island’s $8bn Chinese debt on a visit to Beijing this week, Colombo said yesterday.

As it faces a spiralling debt crisis that has forced it to seek a bailout from the IMF, Sri Lanka’s govern-ment is hoping to convert some of its loan burden into stakes in infra-structure projects.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickrem-esinghe also hopes to secure more Chinese investment on the three-day visit, as well as resolve a dis-pute over a $1.4bn Chinese-built “Port City” in the Sri Lankan capi-tal.

“There are many possibilities in actually getting new investments as well as turning existing debt into equity (in infrastructure projects),” State Enterprise Development Min-ister Eran Wickramaratne told re-porters in Colombo.

During his Beijing visit that ends Saturday, the prime minis-ter will seek investment to revive loss-making white elephant pro-jects commissioned by former strongman president Mahinda Ra-japakse.

They include plans to add a dockyard to a $500mn deep-water port that receives only a handful of ship calls and creating a special economic zone around an interna-tional airport that services just one

� ight a day.Both self-named vanity projects

were built in the former president’s home constituency of Hamban-tota, but neither is pro� table and their upkeep is state-subsidised.

The premier will also seek to ne-gotiate a $125mn government com-pensation claim from a Chinese � rm over delays to the Port City project, Wickramaratne said.

On taking power last year, Pres-ident Maithripala Sirisena’s gov-ernment temporarily halted all projects signed o� by Rajapakse, who is under investigation over al-legations of corruption during his decade in power.

Port City, a massive land recla-mation project in Colombo, rep-

resents the biggest single foreign investment received by the island and will add 233 hectares (575 acres) of real estate in the congest-ed capital.

Rajapakse relied heavily on Chi-nese � nancing to rebuild the coun-try’s infrastructure after the end of the island’s decades-long ethnic war in May 2009.

However, the present adminis-tration has accused the previous government of agreeing to unfa-vourable terms for the loans.

Beijing has been accused of seeking to develop facilities around the Indian Ocean in a “string of pearls” strategy to counter the rise of rival India and secure its own economic interests. l

Biz Info 19D

T

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Belleza’s package deals

Tawa treats

Daraz Boishakhi Mela 1423Bengali Food Festival and Boishakhi Mela!

Belleza Beauty Parlour & Spa is a new generation, customer friendly and modern beauty salon. We are dedicated to providing high quality parlour services by our experienced sta� . Our parlour has recently moved to a new location which is on

Level 2, House 52, Khan Tower, Sonargaon, Jonopath, Sector 7, Uttara, Dhaka (opposite by Artisan).

Belleza’s Boishakhi o� er:• Package 1 – Boishakhi

makeup, eye brows, upper lip, hairstyling (khopa or beni), sari for Tk999

• Package 2 – Boishakhi makeup, insta-glow facial, eye brows, upper lip, hairstyling, mehndi, sari for Tk1,499

• Package 3 – Boishakhi

makeup, brighting facial, fair polish, eye brows, upper lip, hairstyling, mehndi, sari for Tk1,999

• Package 4 – Gold/Diamond facial, fair polish, eye brows, upper lip, Aha pedicure, Aha manicure, hair spa/treatment, haircut, mehndi, sari for Tk2,499Also, 30% discount at all

parlours. For any skincare and beauty related appointments, please contact: 0191139935 l

Chicken Multani Kab abA bite of this special dish would make you want to travel the city of Multan. The succulent chicken pieces are infused with freshly-ground spices, coconut cream and fresh coriander. The combination of the spices and the chicken cubes brings an explosion of blissful � avours. Finally, the dish is completed with fresh green chilies on top. However, this rich chicken dish is usually forbidden territory if you’re watching your weight, but we’d hate for you to miss out on this one!

Mutton KarahiYou may have tried many sorts of Mutton Karahis, but you don’t want to miss out on Tawa’s Mutton karahi. This dish is spicy and delicious to the core. The best aspects of this dish is the juicy, succulent and tender mutton that entices your gastronomical senses. The spices bind the mutton perfectly and accentuates every taste bud. It is irresistible on a bed of Basmati Rice or with a choice of your Naan and Paratas.

House: 02, Road: 08, Block: D, Banani, DhakaHotline Number: 01630-547000 l

The biggest Boishakhi Mela is now online, only on daraz.com.bd

Daraz.com.bd, the leading ecommerce platform and Sunsilk, one of the top brands in Bangladesh, bring you the � rst online Boishakhi Mela from April 8-14, 2016. Starting from 7th April at midnight, this online sale extravaganza is going to o� er up to 70% discount on a huge selection of products across di� erent categories.

Sunsilk and Daraz.com.bd have taken this visionary step to introduce the Boishakhi Mela concept online, for the � rst time, in the name of Daraz Boishakhi Mela 1423. The month of April is all about the “Kaal Boishakhi Jhor” and “Boishakhi Mela” among other shopping frenzies and festivities.

Bangladeshi shoppers for the � rst time will experience this mela online, without having to set foot outside in the heat, tra� c and maybe even rain.

Be it with their laptops, tabs, phones or the Daraz app, when the clock strikes the � rst hour of April 8th it is all about the fastest � nger � rst.

From category discounts as high as 50% on smartphones, 40% on computing, 35% on home appliances and 70% on fashion and accessories, customers should be all set for a 360 degree shopping experience of their life.

Shoppers need to visit https://www.daraz.com.bd/pohela-boishakh/ to learn about the complete range of deals and o� ers coming their way in a few days. l

With Bengali New Year just around the corner, Bangladeshis in the city are already in a celebratory mood. Adding to the festivities, Hotel Sarina has presented the Bengali Food Festival to be held at their Amrit Restaurant from April 13, 2016 to April 22, 2016, along with three days of Boishakhi Mela at the Hotel Lobby.

The Food Festival will be a treat for the food connoisseur who will be able to experience an authentic Bengali spread. The festival is designed to bring in a feeling of celebrations and welcoming the Bengali New Year. One can explore the authentic culinary delights of Bengal that have inspired some of the greatest minds of our nation. Food lovers can have enjoy the food during lunch and dinner time.

Chef Rahman and his team have crafted the menu to beautifully blend the subtle � avors and create the wonderful sojourn of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. The

lavishing spread of delicacies includes few traditional and savory items such as bhapa Ilish, llish shorshe, papda shorshe, pui shaak diye Ilish maacher matha, Chingri malai curry, a traditional Bengali dish made with jumbo prawns cooked in a spiced creamy sauce made with thick coconut milk. Pantha bhat with di� erent kinds of Bhortas, the Bengali styled poori. Kosha Mangsho is the Spicy Bengali

Mutton Curry. His briyani is a delicacy in itself with the use of subtle spices entrapped in a dum. He accentuates most of his dishes with a tempering of whole spices � nished with a touch of ghee or mustard oil. Lastly, how can one skip the soul-satisfying desserts like mishti doi, rasgulla and many more.

To add to the festival is the Boishakhi Mela, which will also start from April 13, 2016 for three days at the lobby. Guests can enjoy di� erent types of foods – which include pitha, chotpoti, fuchka, muri murkhi and many more. Also there will be stalls for small gift items such as Dhol, DugDugi and handicraft items. To add more colour, there will be a stall for hand painting (mehendi) and face painting on the event date.

Timings:Lunch: 12:00pm till 3:00pm Hrs Dinner: 6:00pm till 11:00pm For prior reservations please call: +01982 700 700 l

| food |

| beauty |

| meals |

| event |

Downtime20DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

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 22 represents K so � ll K every time the � gure 22 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

ACROSS 1 Self-satis� ed (4)4 Argued (5)8 Indigenous (6) 9 Sti� y neat (4)11 Discourage (5)12 Article (4)14 Lyric poem (3)15 Ejected (6)19 One who grants a lease (6) 21 Metal-bearing rock (3)22 Pinches (4)24 Turns away (5)27 Hurried (4)29 Sale to consumer (6) 30 Out of sorts (5)31 Cult (4)

DOWN 1 Plant juice (3)2 Combines (6)3 Sport (4)4 Disencumber (3) 5 Baking chambers (5)6 Raining (3)7 Mock (6)10 Be carried (4)13 Cow’s call (3)14 Oily fruit (6)16 Container for ashes (3) 17 Overbalance and fall (6)18 Celtic tongue (4)20 Scrap (5)23 Egyptian goddess (4)25 Before (3)26 Pigs enclosure (3) 28 Small spot (3)

SUDOKU

INSIDE

21D

TWorldFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Key issues of Libya’s power-sharing dealLibya’s UN-backed unity govern-ment shored up its authority in Trip-oli on Wednesday on the basis of a power-sharing agreement signed in December in the Moroccan resort of Skhirat. PAGE 23

Brazil parliament report favours impeaching Rousse� Brazilian President Dilma Rousse� moved closer to impeachment when a key member of a Congres-sional committee said on Wednes-day there were grounds for the Senate to put her on trial for manip-ulating budget accounts in 2014 to boost her reelection prospects. PAGE 24

Why Cruz and Sanders’ Wisconsin victories matter In theory, Wisconsin’s primaries aren’t that much of a big deal, with only 138 delegates available across both the Democratic and Republi-can parties. PAGE 24

#PANAMAPAPERS LEAK

Clandestine operatives’ ties with o� shore dealingsn Tribune International Desk

The biggest documents leak in history not only shed lights on celebrities, politicians, and crim-inals o� shore delaings, but also pull back curtain on hundreds of details about how former CIA gun-runners and contractors use o� shore companies for personal and private gain. Further, they illuminate the workings of a host of other characters who used o� -shore companies during or after their work as spymasters, secret agents or operatives for the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

The documents reveal that Mossack Fonseca’s clients in-cluded Saudi Arabia’s � rst intelli-gence chief who was named by a US Senate committee as the CIA’s “principal liaison for the entire the Middle East from the mid-1960s through 1979”, Sheikh Ka-mal Adham, who controlled o� -shore companies later involved in a US banking scandal; Colombia’s former chief of air intelligence, retired Maj Gen Ricardo Rubi-anogroot, who was a shareholder of an aviation and logistics com-pany; and Brig Gen Emmanuel Ndahiro, doctor-turned-spy-chief to Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame.

Among the trio, only Rubianog-root con� rmed that he was a small shareholder in West Tech Pana-ma, which was created to buy an American avionics company. The company is in liquidation.

Even wannabe spooks can be found.

“I’ll suggest a name like ‘World Insurance Services Limited’ or maybe ‘Universal Exports’ after the company used in the early James Bond stories but I don’t know if we’d get away with that!” wrote one � nancier to Mossack Fonseca in 2010 on behalf of a client creating a front company in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Universal Exports was a � ction-al company used by the British Secret Service in Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels.

The � les further show that Mossack Fonseca also incorporat-ed companies named Gold� nger, SkyFall, GoldenEye, Moonraker, Spectre and Blofeld after James Bond movie titles and villains and was asked to do the same for Oc-topussy. There is correspondence from a man named Austin Pow-ers, apparently his real name and

not the movie character, and Jack Bauer, whom a Mossack Fonseca employee entered into the � rm’s database as a client and not the television character after the em-ployee “met him at a pub.”

But Mossack Fonseca’s connec-tion to espionage is more often fact, not � ction.

The secret documents show that Farhad Azima, a long-time suspected orchestrator of the Iran-Contra deal, incorporated his � rst o� shore company with Mos-sack Fonseca in the BVI in 2000. The company was called ALG (Asia & Paci� c) Limited, a branch of his airline Aviation Leasing Group, a US-based private com-pany with a � eet of more than 60 aircraft.

It was not until 2013 when the � rm ran a routine background search on the shareholders of a new company that Mossack Fon-seca discovered media articles on Azima’s alleged ties to the CIA. The � rm asked Azima’s repre-sentatives to con� rm his identity. But it appears that Mossack Fon-seca never received a reply. The � les indicate that he remained a client and that internal surprises continued.

Agent Rocco and 008: License to incorporateThe Mossack Fonseca � les indi-cated the company did not dis-criminate between cold war foes.

Another customer was Sokratis Kokkalis, now a 76-year-old Greek billionaire once accused of spying for the East German Stasi under the alias “Agent Rocco.” A German parliamentary investigation found that in the early 1960s Kokkalis regularly informed on acquaint-ances and contacts during his time living in Germany and Russia.

Mossack Fonseca discovered Kokkalis’s connections to espi-onage in February 2015 as part of routine background checks of one of his companies, Upton In-ternational Group. Kokkalis “was accused by East German o� cials of espionage, fraud, and money laundering in the early sixties, but the case was acquitted”, an em-ployee wrote colleagues after an internet search. Mossack Fonseca’s � les reveal that Kokkalis’ agent did not respond to the � rm’s requests for details about Kokkalis and his company, including its purpose.

In 2005, Mossack Fonseca em-ployees learned with some alarm that someone on their books

went by the name of Francisco P Sánchez, who Mossack Fonseca employees assumed to be Francis-co Paesa Sánchez, one of Spain’s most infamous secret agents. “The story . . . was really scary,” wrote the person who � rst discov-ered Paesa’s background. Mossack Fonseca had incorporated seven companies of which P Sanchez was a director.

Born in Madrid before the out-break of the World War II, Paesa amassed a fortune hunting down separatists and a corrupt police chief before � eeing Spain with millions of dollars. In 1998, Paesa faked his own death; his family issued a death certi� cate that tes-ti� ed to a heart attack in Thailand. But in 2004, investigators tracked him down in Luxembourg. Paesa himself later explained that re-ports of his death had been a “mis-understanding”. In October 2005, Mossack Fonseca had decided to distance itself from the companies of which P Sanchez was a director.

Two names, nine fingersAnother internet search, this time in March 2015, alerted the � rm that another of its clients – a “Claus Mollner” – had been a customer for nearly 30 years. “Claus Möll-ner (the name that Werner Mauss always used to identify himself),” said the article. Mollner or Mauss, also known as Agent 008 and “The man of nine � ngers,” thanks to the lost tip of an index � nger, claims to be “Germany’s � rst undercover agent.” Now retired, Mauss’s web-site boasts of his role in “smashing 100 criminal groups”.

While Mauss’s real name never appears in Mossack Fonseca’s � les, hundreds of documents detail his network of companies in Panama. At least two companies held real estate in Germany. His companies continued to be on Mossack Fon-seca’s books into 2015. l

[This is an excerpt of an ICIJ article, which can be found at http://bit.

ly/1SAlStS]

BIG

STO

CK

Farhad Azima Sokratis Kokkalis Werner Mauss COMMONS

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 201622D

T World#PANAMAPAPERS LEAK

How Hong Kong helps out� ow of Chinese cashn AFP, Hong Kong

The Panama Papers leak has put the spotlight on Hong Kong as a hub for setting up o� shore � rms, with much of the money � owing through the city coming from main-land China.

Revelations Thursday that more than 16,300 of Panamanian law � rm Mossack Fonseca’s active shell com-panies were incorporated through its Hong Kong and China o� ces

– 29% of the worldwide total -- show the lengths to which wealthy Chinese will go to safeguard their money and � out domestic currency controls.

Here are some of the ways that Hong Kong plays a role in shipping that money out-

Trade accountsOne way to generate income out-side the mainland is to falsify trade and service invoicing.

By underpricing goods exported through Hong Kong or overpricing those they import through the city they can generate extra cash to be syphoned o� into o� shore accounts set up in the city.

Money mules and underground bankingChina caps the amount of cash tourists can take abroad to RMB20,000 ($3,090) in local cur-rency and the equivalent of $5,000

in foreign currencies.Earning a commission for taking

money across the border from China to Hong Kong, “money mules” strap bundles of notes to their bodies to try to duck customs, or hide it in luggage.

Currency exchange shops in Hong Kong also facilitate transferring mon-ey from wealthy Chinese overseas.

Luxury goods, insurance and propertyWealthy Chinese have been buy-

ing up insurance policies in the city using credit cards in order to cash them out in the future, al-though a new limit has recently been set on how much they can spend.

In another money-moving method, expensive credit card purchases such as jewellery and cameras are sometimes refund-ed in cash immediately at shops, which earn a commission in the process. l

#PANAMAPAPERS LEAK

US readies bank rule on shell companies n Reuters, St Louis

The US Treasury Department in-tends to soon issue a long-delayed rule forcing banks to seek the identi-ties of people behind shell-company account holders, after the “Panama Papers” leak provoked a global up-roar over the hiding of wealth via o� shore banking devices.

A department spokesman said on Wednesday the rule would “soon” be turned over to the White House for review and issuance, but did not con� rm any timetable for the initia-tive, which has taken years.

Governments around the globe have launched probes into possible � nancial wrongdoing after 11.5m documents from the Panamanian law � rm Mossack Fonseca were leaked to the media and reports emerged Sunday.

The documents o� er “validation for those who have been screaming for a decade” about the need for � nancial institutions in the US and elsewhere to address risks of mon-ey laundering, terror � nance and other crime by identifying people who clandestinely control legal en-tities, former Treasury o� cial Chip Poncy said.

The leaked documents may give banks a glimpse into the kind of information on true, or “bene-� cial” owners, that they regularly should be obtaining to better un-derstand the cross-border money � ows they facilitate, said Poncy, one of the architects of the Treas-ury rule, which has been in the works since 2012.

But simply having a client who is linked to the o� shore shell com-panies highlighted in the Panama papers “doesn’t necessarily mean much,” said a former FinCEN of-� cial who asked not to be named due to his role in the private sector.

What would be signi� cant is “inconsistent information or pay-ment � ows that now connect” in ways that suggest possible illicit activity, he said. l

WorldFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

23D

T

SOUTH ASIASri Lanka to restructure $8bn China debtSri Lanka’s prime minister will seek to restructure some of the cash-strapped island’s $8bn Chinese debt on a visit to Beijing this week, Colombo said Thursday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremes-inghe also hopes to secure more Chinese investment on the visit, as well as resolve a dispute over a $1.4bn Chinese-built Port City in the Sri Lankan capital. -REUTERS

INDIAClashes in Indian Kashmir after two militants killedThousands of protesters clashed with police in Indian Kashmir Thursday after two militants were killed in a gun battle with govern-ment forces, the army and wit-nesses said. Protesters torched a police armoured vehicle as masked militants � red automatic ri� es into the air in honour of the dead men. The 2 militants were members of Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest local rebel group operating in Kashmir. -AFP

CHINAChina asks for terror suspects list ahead of G20 summitChina is asking countries participat-ing in this year’s G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou to provide lists of possible terror groups and ter-rorists who might target the meeting, China Daily said on Thursday. The newspaper added that China was asking police liaisons to hand over lists of groups or people who might be a security threat. -REUTERS

ASIA PACIFICCambodia’s envoy to Seoul charged for visa scamCambodia’s ambassador to South Korea was charged with corrup-tion and embezzlement Thursday for a slew of scams that allegedly included siphoning o� more than $100,000 selling visas, the coun-try’s anti-corruption unit said. Suth Dina was detained earlier this week by anti-corruption o� cers in Phnom Penh after a lengthy probe into multiple complaints. -AFP

MIDDLE EASTRussia: Dae’sh nets millions from antiquitiesDae’sh militants in Syria and Iraq are netting between $150m and $200m a year from illicit trade in plundered antiquities, Russia’s ambassador Vit-aly Churkin to the UN said in a letter released on Wednesday. He added around 100,000 cultural objects of global importance, including 4,500 archaeological sites, 9 of which are included in the World Heritage List of Unesco, are under the control of the Dae’sh in Syria and Iraq. -REUTERS

Modi blames act of fraud for Kolkata � yover collapsen AFP, New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday a fatal � yover collapse in Kolkata was “an act of fraud” and accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of corruption at a state election rally.

Modi, campaigning for his Hin-du nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the collapse was the result of corrupt practices un-der Banerjee’s ruling Trinamool Congress state government.

“A huge bridge collapsed and what did these people say -- an act of God. Didi (Banerjee), this is not an act of God but an act of fraud,” Modi said at the rally in Birpara, a town in the state’s far northeast.

Twenty-six people were killed when a portion of a � yover that was under construction collapsed onto a busy street crushing scores of pe-destrians and cars on March 31.

A top o� cial from the con-struction company IVRCL that was building the bridge drew ire for saying the collapse was “an act of God”, although Banerjee her-

self is not known to have said this.Nine o� cials of the � rm have

been arrested on charges includ-ing murder as investigators probe negligence in the disaster, which came on the brink of a month-long state election expected to be closely fought.

Modi said it was a divine mes-

sage to voters in the state to reject the chief minister’s party in the polls over what he alleged was rampant corruption.

“This business of money and death led to the collapse of the Vivekananda bridge,” Modi said.

“In a sense it is an act of God that it fell on election eve to ex-

pose your (Banerjee’s) misgovern-ance,” he said.

The BJP, which has failed to gain ground in West Bengal and won just one seat in the previous election, is trying to put the ruling party on the back foot over the in-cident.

Derek O’Brien, a lawmaker and chief national spokesman for the Trinamool Congress, ac-cused Modi in a social media post of “playing cheap politics over a tragedy”.

“These are not words be� tting of the Prime Minister of India. They bring his high o� ce to disre-pute... The Trinamool Congress is far from being a corrupt party,” he wrote on Facebook.

Banerjee’s party is facing a two-way challenge in the elections af-ter previously ending the 34-year-rule of Leftist parties, which have entered into an alliance with the Indian National Congress.

West Bengal is one of � ve In-dian states holding elections this month and next and the results will be announced on May 19. l

FACTBOX

Key issues of Libya’s power-sharing dealLibya’s UN-backed unity government shored up its authority in Tripoli on Wednesday on the basis of a pow-er-sharing agreement signed in Decem-ber in the Moroccan resort of Skhirat.

The Libyan Political Agreement, signed by some representatives of Libya’s rival parliaments, established a Government of National Accord (GNA) headed by prime minister-des-ignate Fayez al-Sarraj.

The accord also states that the transitional Constitutional Declaration adopted following the 2011 ouster and killing of Moammer Gadda� must be amended and a formal constitution adopted.

Here are key elements of the agreement--

Executive Authority The Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Sarraj, a businessman from Tripoli, will be headquartered in the capital although “it can perform its functions from any other city,” the agreement states.

The GNA will have a one-year man-date, which will o� cially begin once it is endorsed by the recognised parlia-ment based in Libya’s east, which has yet to take place.

If the new constitution is not � nal-ised during that term, the GNA’s man-date will be automatically renewed for an additional year.

The prime minister will chair a “Presidency Council of the Council of Ministers” consisting of � ve deputy prime ministers and three cabinet ministers.

“Any decision taken by the Pres-idency Council... shall require una-nimity of the president (chair) of the Presidency Council of the Council of Ministers and his deputies,” it states.

Legislative Authority The agreement stipulates that “the legislative authority of the state, dur-ing the transitional period, shall be undertaken by the House of Repre-sentatives, which was elected in June 2014.”

This is the internationally recog-

nised parliament now based in the eastern city of Tobruk which must en-dorse the GNA.

Its tasks include “adopting the general budget, performing oversight over the executive authority and en-dorsing the public policy submitted by the government.”

The High Council of State, or State Council, will act as a parallel parlia-ment and its 145 members will be drawn from the Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC) not backed by the international community.

The GNC had been backing the de facto authorities in control of Tripoli who on Tuesday ceded power to the unity government.

The agreement says the council “shall be the highest consultative As-sembly of the State and shall carry out its work independently.”

The GNA must submit draft laws to the council before referring them to the House of Representatives, which can accept or reject them. l

Source: AFP

A man walks past gra� ti reading in Arabic ‘The people want the Government of National Accord’, left, and ‘No to the coup, no to wars, no to weapons, yes for the Government of National Accord’, centre, on Monday in Tripoli AFP

Fire� ghters and rescue workers search for victims at the site of an under-construction � yover after it collapsed in Kolkata last week REUTERS

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 201624 WorldD

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USAHRW: US bombs used in deadly Yemen market strikesHuman Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday that bombs supplied by the US were used in Saudi-led air strikes on a market in Yemen that killed at least 97 civilians includ-ing children. The 2 strikes in the northern village of Mastaba on March 15 caused indiscriminate disproportionate loss of civilian life, in violation of the laws of war, HRW said in a statement. -AFP

THE AMERICASVenezuela orders long weekends to save energyPublic employees in Venezuela will take long weekends for two months under the government’s latest bid to ease a nationwide power crisis. President Nicolas Maduro announced late Wednesday that he would sign a decree giving state workers a Friday o� for 60 days and hopes to reduce electricity consumption by at least 20%. -AFP

UKCameron urges young Britons to vote against BrexitPrime Minister David Cameron urged young Britons on Thursday to make sure they vote in a June 23 referendum on membership of the EU, warning that leaving the bloc would hit them the hardest. With public opinion evenly split, youth voters are expected to play an im-portant role in the referendum out-come because polling shows they are generally more pro-European, but less inclined to vote. -REUTERS

EUROPEEU may require visas from AmericansThe EU executive is considering whether to make US and Canadian citizens apply for visas before trav-elling to the bloc, a move that could raise tensions as Brussels negotiates a trade pact with Washington. Only Britain and Ireland have opt-outs from the EU’s common visa policy and the European Commission must decide by April 12 whether to demand visas from countries who have similar requirements in place for one or more EU state. -REUTERS

AFRICAZuma’s ex-wife touted as possible S African presidentWith South African President Jacob Zuma facing growing calls to resign over a series of corruption scandals, attention is turning to one potential contender to succeed him - his former wife. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, 67, holding several ministerial positions since the end of white-minority rule in 1994. -AFP

Brazil parliament report favours impeaching Rousse� n Reuters, Brasilia

Brazilian President Dilma Rousse-� moved closer to impeachment when a key member of a Congres-sional committee said on Wednes-day there were grounds for the Senate to put her on trial for ma-nipulating budget accounts in 2014 to boost her reelection prospects.

Congressman Jovair Arantes told the 65-member lower house committee there were “minimal indications” that Rousse� had committed an impeachable crime, but that it was up to the Senate to judge the president.

Arantes had been asked by the committee to review the case and report back. The committee will vote on his report on Monday and submit the result to the full house for a � nal vote, expected by the

end of next week. If two-thirds of the chamber approve the motion, Rousse� will be sent for trial in the Senate. She denies any wrongdoing.

The impeachment e� ort, a wideranging corruption scandal, and a deepening economic reces-sion have led to Brazil’s worst po-litical crisis since former President Fernando Collor de Mello resigned to avoid impeachment in 1992.

Rousse� , Brazil’s � rst woman president, could lose power as soon as May if she does not gain more support in Congress.

Arantes said the delay in treas-ury transfers to state banks, which

Rousse� ’s opponents say allowed her to increase spending in the run-up to the 2014 election, “evi-dently” countered � scal responsi-bility rules and could be grounds to impeach her.

“The Brazilian people deserve an answer that can only be given by a trial of Rousse� in the Sen-ate,” he said.

Accusations leveled at Rousse-� ’s government regarding the mas-sive corruption scandal around state-run oil company Petrobras were not considered in his report, but could be taken into account in a Senate trial, Arantes said. l

TAKEWAYS

Why Cruz and Sanders’ Wisconsin victories matter n Tribune International Desk

In theory, Wis-consin’s prima-ries aren’t that much of a big deal, with only 138 delegates available across

both the Democratic and Republi-can parties.

But in practice, at this point in the election calendar, Wiscon-sin matters a lot. And the wins that Ted Cruz and Bernie Sand-ers clinched on Tuesday night have helped clarify the race to the White House: Sanders isn’t the only candidate who faces an up-hill climb to get his party’s nom-ination – things aren’t going to be easy for Donald Trump either. The brash billionaire increasingly faces the prospect of a contested convention.

The Republican raceCruz obtained 48% of the votes in Wisconsin, 13% points ahead of Trump. Because Wisconsin is largely a winner-takes-all state for Republicans, that vote share was enough for the Texas senator to pick up 36 of the 42 delegates available here. As a result, Cruz has brought up his delegate total to 502. That’s still behind Trump’s current total of 739 delegates but it’s signi� cant because Cruz’s win helps to hold Trump back from that golden � nish line: the 1,237 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination.

Polling had predicted a much narrower win for Cruz. Averag-es collected by Real Clear Poli-tics suggested Cruz would defeat Trump by a margin of less than � ve percentage points (polls also underestimated the performance

of Sanders, who beat Hillary by a margin four times bigger than pre-dicted).

Republicans who are aware of widely reported polling numbers may feel that Cruz is their best bet for keeping Trump out. Endorse-ments may also have helped to solidify that perception. Cruz cur-rently has the backing of 39 elect-ed o� cials while Trump and the Ohio governor, John Kasich, both have 11. Such factors might well be in� uential in Wisconsin where voter turnout was 73.2% in 2012 (the second-highest state � gure in the country) – but they might not necessarily be as important else-where. Similarly, Cruz might have found it easier to collect votes in a state that is 71% Christian than he will in two weeks’ time in New York, where just 60% of adults are Christian.

Surveying six political experts, FiveThirtyEight projects that the 16 remaining Republican races will bring Trump to a delegate to-tal of 1,201 – just shy of the 1,237 he needs to get the party’s nom-ination. Those experts could be wrong, though; Trump might still manage to inch across the � nish line. Either way, the upcoming Re-publican primaries will be closely watched.

The Democratic raceDespite coming � rst, Sanders too had a di� cult night. The Vermont senator won 57% of the vote, sig-ni� cantly ahead of Hillary Clin-ton who won 43%. Unlike the Republicans, Democrats divide delegates according to vote share. So in the end Sanders was able to add 45 pledged delegates to those he had gained in the primaries so far. That still leaves Sanders trail-ing 249 delegates behind the for-

mer secretary of state (and with an even larger gap to make up of 687 delegates once you account for Clinton’s huge lead in super-delegates, party elites who are not bound by primary results).

That said, Sanders is not out yet. In his speeches, Sanders’ rhetoric has focused on the idea of himself as the underestimated un-derdog who is building “momen-tum”. He has a point. While it’s true that current polling suggests it will be very hard for Sanders to catch up with Clinton, the social-ist candidate has already exceed-ed all expectations and may yet continue to do so.

Of course delegates and vote shares are what counts politically but ballot papers should matter too – if nothing else, because they represent individual voters. On

that measure, too, Sanders has much ground to recover. Clinton has gained 2.5m more votes than Sanders in the primaries held so far.

Wisconsin’s results show that the contest to be chosen as a presidential nominee in 2016 is still competitive. In yet another strange twist of this election, after Wisconsin both Trump and Sand-ers need 58% of remaining dele-gates to win their party’s nomina-tion. And in both cases that will be tough. No candidate can a� ord to rest on their laurels and no pun-dits can a� ord to write anyone o� until the math shows they truly have zero chance of winning. l

[This is an excerpt from an article of The Guardian, which can be found at

http://bit.ly/1WeZqMD]

740

514

171

143

1,025

Total delegates

Total delegates

Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders

Ted Cruz

Marco Rubio

John Kasich

1,0591,059

Source: RealClearPolitics

2,472

1,274 1,7431,743

4,763

Withdrawn

Delegates obtained

Delegates obtained

Total with super delegates

As of April 7

Needed to win nomination

US delegate count

REPUBLICANSNeeded to win nomination1,2371,237

DEMOCRATS2,3822,382

Dilma Rousse� REUTERS

25D

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FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

PCB advised to keep Pakistan trio awaySome members of the previous team management have advised the PCB to keep Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad away from the national team for betterment of Pakistan in future, which is at its lowest ebb mainly because of lackluster approach of these three players. PAGE 27

De Bruyne the driving forceDays after inspiring Manchester City to a Premier League win at Bournemouth on his comeback from injury, Kevin De Bruyne shone again as his team claimed a 2-2 draw at Paris St Germain in their Champions League QF � rst leg on Wednesday. PAGE 26

Marcelo is an actor: Wolfsburg coach Real Madrid defender Marcelo has been called “an actor” for his an-tics in their 2-0 Champions League defeat by Wolfsburg. The Brazil-ian appeared to thrust his head towards Wolfsburg mid� elder Max Arnold’s midri� . PAGE 28

Argentina knock Belgium from topArgentina reclaimed top spot from Belgium in yesterday’s FIFA world rankings, while Copa America champions Chile soared to an all-time high of third place. Three straight wins in 2018 World Cup quali� ers helped Argentina return to the summit. PAGE 29

Musta� zur a world-class talent, says Moodyn Minhaz Uddin Khan

Bangladesh paceman Musta� zur Rahman is settling down well at Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The left-arm pacer, who left Dhaka earlier this week ahead of his maiden appearance in the IPL, was a bit nervous initially, consid-ering that this will be his � rst out-ing in a foreign league since his international bow last year.

However, by the look of things it seems that the 20-year old is ad-justing � ne with his team mates. Several photographs on the o� cial Facebook page of Sunrisers show a relaxed Musta� zur mingling with colleagues Shikhar Dhawan, Trent Boult and Bhuvneshwar Kumar through a game of pool.

The side later underwent their � rst practice session yesterday.

Sunrisers’ Australian coach Tom Moody in the meantime heaped praise on Musta� zur, terming him a “world-class talent” despite being a relatively newbie in international cricket. The former all-rounder said the Bangladesh cricketer will strengthen the Sunrisers’ bowling attack.

“I met him (Musta� zur) dur-ing the World Twenty20. He is a promising young cricketer. I hope he will cope with the team well. He is a big-match player and has proved that in the Asia Cup and World T20. The team has all its be-lief in him,” said Moody yesterday.

Moody believes Musta� zur and India left-arm pace bowler Ashish Nehra will prove to be a deadly combination for the Sunrisers in the upcoming ninth edition. “They both are top-level bowlers and will make a good e� ect in the shortest format of cricket,” said Moody.

Musta� zur’s heroics in world cricket last year propelled him to the limelight, turning him into a sensation overnight. Later in the IPL players’ auction held last Feb-ruary, the cutter-specialist was roped in by the Hyderabad fran-chise for Indian rupees 14m.

The Sunrisers will kick o� their 2016 IPL campaign this Tuesday with an away game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Four days later, Musta� zur’s side will take on Shakib al Hasan’s Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad. l

Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar hands over a team jersey to Bangladesh paceman Musta� zur Rahman

This photograph of Bangladesh paceman Musta� zur Rahman enjoying some pool with his Sunrisers Hyderabad team mates was posted in the o� cial Facebook page of the Indian Premier League franchise INTERNET

DHAKA PREMIER LEAGUE

Super League under lightsn Mazhar Uddin

The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis is planning to hold day-night games in the Super League matches of the upcoming Dha-ka Premier League. All the Super League games at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium and Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium is expected to be played under lights.

The CCDM is also planning to tele-vise the DPL matches live on a local TV channel, informed chairman Gazi Golam Mortuza.

The players’ draft of the DPL 2015-16 season will take place this Sunday while the tournament opener is scheduled for April 22.

Although the decision to hold day-night games has been � nalised, a � nal decision on the live telecast of matches will only be con� rmed in the CCDM meeting tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the decision regard-ing the participation of discarded national paceman Shahadat Hos-sain in the league will also be taken in the meeting.l

CCDM also mulling live telecast of games

26DT Sport

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

TALKING POINTS

PSG 2-2 Manchester CityIbrahimovic 41, De Bruyne 38, Rabiot 59 Fernandinho 72

64 Possession (%) 36 16 Total attempts 11 5 on target 3 7 o� target 6 4 blocked 2 1 against woodwork 0 4 Corners 4 2 O� sides 1 2 Yellow cards 4 0 Red Cards 0 6 Fouls committed 15 15 Fouls su� ered 6 724 Passes 327 658 completed 271

PSG v MAN CITY

Hart proves his qualityLess than three weeks after he was hospital-passed on to a stretcher by Martín Demichelis, it was not long before Joe Hart was performing wonders again in Europe, soothing fears that he had returned too soon from his calf injury by repelling Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s early penalty for Paris Saint-Germain. Without that save, Manchester City might have crumbled. Instead they left the French capital clutching a hugely impressive 2-2 draw and they owe Hart a huge debt of gratitude. While others in City’s colours have fallen well below expectations in the Champions League in the past, he has always been able to look his manager in the eye, even in defeat. He formed a one-man barrier against Messi, Suárez and Neymar in Barcelona last year, kept the scoreline respectable against Dortmund and Real Madrid in 2012.

Defensive frailties remain a huge concernFernando could have no excuse for making a mistake so lackadaisical at this level. While Hart’s pass put him in an awkward position, with Ibrahimovic closing him down, he simply needed to knock the ball back to his goalkeeper. Instead he tried to play it across his own area and he was duly punished when the ball de� ected in o� Ibrahimovic’s outstretched leg. The unfortunate truth for City is that they undo too much of their good attacking work with dismal slips in defence, especially when Vincent Kompany is out, and Hart deserves to play behind a better back four.

Matuidi ban good for PelleIt was an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from Blaise Matuidi, whose errant pass in the middle led to De Bruyne’s opener, but PSG will miss his energy and quality in the second leg. Will that give City an advantage? The Frenchman is one of Blanc’s most consistent players and it was unusual to see him misplace passes and commit the foul on Nicolás Otamendi that earned him a yellow card.

De Bruyne shows classCity used to count on Yaya Touré for big goals in big games. Yet his absence o� ered them a tantalising glimpse of the future under Pep Guardiola, who sold Touré when he was at Barcelona. With the Ivorian unavailable, De Bruyne was used in the No10 role behind Agüero and he was prominently involved in most of City’s best moments in attack, passing intelligently, dropping into space between the lines and opening the scoring with a wicked shot shortly before the interval. l

Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (L) fails to score a penalty kick stopped by Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart (C) during their UEFA Champions League quarter-� nal at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Wednesday AFP

De Bruyne the driving forcen Reuters, Paris

Days after inspiring Manchester City to a Premier League win at Bournemouth on his comeback from injury, Kevin De Bruyne shone again as his team claimed a 2-2 draw at Paris St Germain in their Champions League quarter-� -nal � rst leg on Wednesday.

The Belgian mid� elder sus-tained a knee injury in late January and only returned to the City side on Saturday, but he has made an immediate impact, scoring against Bournemouth before showing his class at the Parc des Princes.

He netted the opener against PSG after 38 minutes, � ring past Kevin Trapp after being set up by Fernandinho to � nish o� a sharp

counter attack.De Bruyne, who joined City from

Wolfsburg in the close season, was a constant thorn in the side of the PSG mid� eld, with Blaise Matuidi, Thiago Motta and Adrien Rabiot all looking less comfortable than they had in recent Ligue 1 encounters.

“Sometimes one player can change a team. He was important before his injury and thankfully he returned the same way,” City man-ager Manuel Pellegrini told a news conference.

Without De Bruyne, City suf-fered � ve defeats in 12 games in all competitions during the two months he was injured.

City, who were playing in their � rst Champions League quarter-� -nal, looked lively at the Parc des

Princes even though they paid dearly for a defensive blunder that allowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to level for 1-1.

“In the � rst half we made an important mistake that we cannot a� ord,” said Pellegrini.

Joe Hart, who on his return from injury saved Ibrahimovic’s � rst-half penalty, played a goal kick to a Fernando, who dwelled on the ball before his pass hit the Swed-ish striker’s outstretched foot and rolled into the empty net.

Fernandinho grabbed the equal-iser after Rabiot had put PSG ahead in the second half leaving City in a strong position for the return leg next Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium.

“I don’t think we are the favour-ites,” said Pellegrini.l

Ibrahimovic continues to � u� linesn Reuters, Paris

Zlatan Ibrahimovic can expect to face further scrutiny when Paris St Germain attempt to reach the Champions League semi-� nals next week after the Swedish strik-er struggled to shine in a 2-2 home draw against Manchester City on Wednesday

The outspoken forward said re-cently that PSG did not exist before Qatar Sports Investment took over the year before he joined them in 2012, conveniently forgetting that the French club reached the last four of the competition in 1995.

After Wednesday’s lacklustre � rst leg performance, PSG appear closer to a fourth consecutive quar-ter-� nal exit than a maiden semi-� -nal spot under their wealthy Qatari

owners and Ibrahimovic is partially to blame for the predicament.

With the tie still scoreless, Ibra-himovic saw his 14th-minute penal-ty well saved by Joe Hart and short-ly afterwards, curled a shot over the bar when he was clean through with only the City keeper to beat.

“We made unusual mistakes,” coach Laurent Blanc told reporters.

Ibrahimovic, who had not missed a penalty since Sept. 2013, admitted he could have done more to help his side, despite pouncing on a defensive error to level the score at 1-1.

“We made avoidable mistakes,” said Ibrahimovic, who has scored 30 goals this season. “There was this penalty that I missed, that’s the way it is.”

Ibrahimovic has played for

Ajax, AC Milan, Inter, Juventus and Barcelona yet remains without a Champions League triumph as the 34-year-old continues to � nd the latter stages of Europe’s elite club competition a tough nut to crack.

Last year, he missed the � rst leg of the quarter-� nals against Bar-celona trough injury and could do nothing to prevent the Spaniards from cantering to a 2-0 win in the second.

The previous season, he missed the second leg through injury as Chelsea won 2-0 to advance on away goals after Ibrahimovic failed to score in their 3-1 win at home.

In 2013, he scored in the 2-2 drawn � rst leg against Barcelona but did not add to his tally in a 1-1 draw in the return � xture at the Nou Camp.l

Sport 27D

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FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Arsenal back Wilshere over night-club incidentArsenal manager Arsene Wenger has given Jack Wilshere his support after it was alleged the mid� elder was involved in a late-night altercation at the weekend, saying the incident was “taken out of proportion”. Media reports said the player was asked to leave a London nightclub at 2am on Sunday, with the Daily Mirror newspaper releasing footage showing him speaking to police. “I have spoken to him (Wilshere),” Wenger told reporters ahead of tomorrow’s London derby at sixth-placed West Ham United. “It looks to have been taken out of proportion a little bit.

–REUTERS

Aussies to play pink-ball Tests against SA Australia will play two day-night Tests against South Africa and Pakistan next southern summer in a revamp of home international scheduling, a report said yesterday. Following the success of the inaugural pink-ball Test against New Zealand in Adelaide last year, Cricket Australia will stage two more day-night Tests against touring nations South Africa and Pakistan, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

–AFP

I almost quit: del PotroFormer U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro said he almost quit tennis after a succession of wrist injuries but still hopes he can regain his former powers. Argentinian Del Potro, 27, returned to the tour in February nearly 11 months after undergoing wrist surgery for the third time, reaching the semi-� nals at the 250 Series Delray Beach Open. Results since have been a little disappointing but after plumbing the depths the past two years at least he is able to play relatively pain free.

–REUTERS

Stoke’s Shawcross, Shaqiri back in trainingStoke City skipper Ryan Shawcross and in� uential mid� elder Xherdan Shaqiri have returned to full training ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Liverpool after missing the last two games through injury. Centre back Shawcross has struggled with a back problem for much of the season, while Shaqiri picked up a thigh injury against Southampton last month. Both will be assessed by the club’s medical sta� before the Liverpool game, but assistant manager Mark Bowen is optimistic that the duo can play a part.

–REUTERS

QUICK BYTES

PCB advised to keep Afridi, Akmal and Shehzad awayn DAWN

Some members of the previous national team management have advised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to keep Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad away from the national team for better-ment of Pakistan cricket in future,

which is at its lowest ebb mainly because of lackluster approach of these three players.

Dawn has learnt through reli-able sources that the presence of these players will not help the PCB raise a strong team.

The PCB, the sources said, has taken the proposal seriously and

it will also exchange these views with the new chief selector.

Though Afridi has decided to step down from captaincy, he has not called it a day and wanted to play as a player.

The sources further said Afridi’s sponsors have advised him not to resign from T20 cricket as they have invested heavily on him, though his popularity has declined after Pakistan’s disappointing defeats at Asia Cup and World T20.

Apart from the previous team management advice, the PCB is also considering the reports pre-sented by manager Intikhab Alam and Waqar Younis, who have also criticised the trio.

Both Umar and Shehzad had been dropped from the national side a number of times on di� erent grounds but Afridi had always sup-ported them to return to the squad. In the present scenario, keeping the trio away, especially Afridi, will be a testing case for the PCB.l

BFF chief Salahuddin lambastes criticsn Tribune Report

Ahead of the upcoming Bangla-desh Football Federation election on April 30, several former national footballers and sports organisers criticised current federation pres-ident Kazi Salahuddin and the ex-isting executive committee.

And yesterday, it was Salahuddin’s turn to hit back at his critics. The BFF supremo minced no words while addressing the media in Motijheel. Below are some excerpts:

“A particular group is saying I side-line money from the federation for my personal self. If you can prove it, I will accept whatever punish-ment you give me. Even if I am sen-tenced to a jail-term of 10 years, I will accept it.

“But if they cannot prove it, they must apologise.

“Everyone can curse. I am a football player. No one knows more expletives than me. I grew up in the streets and � elds. But, my fam-ily taught me not to use bad words towards anyone. That is why no matter how low they stoop, I won’t say anything. This is what my fam-ily has taught me.”l

Bravo blasts ‘immature’ West Indies bossn AFP, Port of Spain

World Twenty20 winner Dwayne Bravo blasted West Indies crick-et president David Cameron as “immature”, “arrogant” and “small-minded” on Wednesday as the crisis engul� ng the Caribbean team deepened.

The thrilling T20 win over Eng-land in Kolkata on Sunday has been overshadowed by the reopening of old wounds between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over contracts and salaries.

Bravo backed Darren Sammy’s emotional outburst after the � -nal when the captain blasted the board as “disrespectful” for failing to even supply proper shirts for the tournament and for the protracted salary row which rumbled on to the very start of the competition.

Sammy also claimed that no senior � gures from the WICB had congratulated the team on their tri-umph. All-rounder Bravo said Sam-my was right to criticise the board but saved his venom for Cameron.l

Sheikh Russel’s Ethiopian forward Fikru Teferra celebrates one of his three goals against Team BJMC in the KFC Independence Cup at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Fikru’s treble guided Russel to a 3-2 win while in the other game of the day at the same venue, Mohammedan beat Uttar Baridhara 2-0 COURTESY

If they cannot prove it, they must apologise

28DT Sport

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

TALKING POINTS

Zidane fuming as Real crash at Wolfsburgn AFP, Wolfsburg

Zinedine Zidane admitted Real Madrid su� ered an El Clasico hangover as they crashed to a 2-0 Champions League quarter-� nal, � rst-leg, defeat at Wolfsburg on Wednesday.

Just � ve days after ending Bar-celona’s 39-game unbeaten run with a 2-1 away win, Real were humbled as Wolfsburg ignored their struggling mid-table form in Germany’s top � ight.

Real never recovered as � rst-half goals from Swiss defender Ricardo Rodriguez and Maximilian Arnold put the hosts 2-0 up at the Volkswa-gen Arena with 25 minutes gone.

Wolfsburg now have the upper hand ahead of Tuesday’s return leg

at the Bernabeu.“I’m not happy, above all with

the � rst-half. This can happen if you don’t play with intensity from the start,” said coach Zidane, who made just one change from the team which beat Barca.

“We wanted to play here just like we did on Saturday, it was an inten-sive game for us (in Barcelona) and we were � at in the � rst-half here.

“Now we have a chance in the return leg and it’s good we’ve got a game in three days (at home to Ei-bar) to get over this defeat.

“We had our problems, not just in the intensity, but also in our movement.

“We didn’t expect the 2-0 defeat and we need to analyse where we went wrong and make corrections.”

Zidane even said he was proud of his players and took full respon-sibility for the result.

“I have to � nd the reasons for the defeat and the solutions,” he added.

Real’s six-game winning streak was ended as Wolfsburg picked up their � rst win in four games since beating Gent in the last 16 of the tournament. It was a poor perfor-mance from Real’s star forwards as Gareth Bale was kept quiet and Cristiano Ronaldo rarely shook o� his markers. France forward Karim Benzema went o� on 41 minutes after a knock.

Bale was left frustrated at not being awarded a � rst-half penalty after a heavy challenge in the area from Luiz Gustavo.l

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo shoots from a free kick during their UEFA Champions League match against Wolfsburg at Volkswagen Arena on Wednesday REUTERS

THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISESigned from Brazilian side Goiás in January as cover for injured forward Bas Dost, Bruno Henrique had made just � ve substitute appearances in the Bundesliga prior to Wednesday. That the 25-year-old was given a � rst start on his UEFA Champions League debut while also playing in a deeper role stunned many, not least Madrid.

“Bruno Henrique was one of the key players tonight,” Hecking explained. “We wanted to surprise Madrid with his selection and the plan worked because he played really well – not just in attack but also in defence.”

RISK TAKINGIf Bruno Henrique’s inclusion raised eyebrows, the same could be said of central defender Naldo, whose season was deemed over after the 31-year-old needed surgery to repair a damaged shoulder last month. The Brazilian is one of Wolfsburg’s leaders and he made it clear to his coach that he was fully � t and eager to face Madrid. However, it still made for a brave decision on Hecking’s part to start Naldo for the � rst time since 27 February.

TEAM ETHICCompact and disciplined in their defensive 4-5-1 formation while direct and quick when counterattacking in a 4-2-3-1, Wolfsburg rarely wavered on a night when hard work reaped rewards for the hosts. “We knew if we played as a team, we would have a chance against really big opponents,” goalkeeper Diego Benaglio told UEFA.com.

Vieirinha agreed, saying, “We didn’t allow Real Madrid’s stars space. I know nobody expected this result, but we knew we were capable of winning if we played with a togetherness.”

HOME FORTRESSCSKA Moskva, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Gent and now Real Madrid have all lost UEFA Champions matches in Lower Saxony this season, with Wolfsburg extending their 100% home record in the competition. “In the players’ minds, we feel unbeatable at home,” Vieirinha said.

BBC OFFLINE“After Madrid’s early goal was ruled out, I initially thought: ‘Oh god, what’s going to happen here tonight?’” Maximilian Arnold explained after Cristiano Ronaldo netted from an o� side position in the opening two minutes. “But following that, we got to grips with our opponents,” the mid� elder added.l

VfL Wolfsburg 2-0 Real MadridRodriguez 18-P, Arnold 25

42 Possession (%) 58 10 Total attempts 21 7 on target 3 3 o� target 13 0 blocked 5 0 against woodwork 0 1 Corners 6 0 O� sides 7 4 Yellow cards 1 0 Red Cards 0 13 Fouls committed 8 8 Fouls su� ered 12 409 Passes 674 346 completed 611

WOLFSBURG v REAL

'Marcelo is an actor' n BBC

Real Madrid defender Marcelo has been called “an actor” for his antics in their 2-0 Champions League quarter-� nal � rst-leg defeat by Wolfsburg.

The Brazilian appeared to thrust his head towards Wolfs-burg mid� elder Max Arnold’s midri� , before going to the ground, clutching his face.

Arnold was given a yellow card, while Marcelo was not pe-nalised.

“Marcelo is an actor,” Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hecking told German media after the game.

“That annoyed me, because he has no need.”Marcelo will face no further action from Uefa. European

football’s governing body would only act retrospectively if the incident had been missed by match o� cials.

Marcelo’s play-acting was described as “embarrassing” and “disgraceful” by former England manager Glenn Hoddle.l

Sport 29D

T

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

DAY’S WATCHFOOTBALL

TEN 212:30AM

French Ligue 1 2015/16Montpellier v Olympic Lyon

TEN 33:40PM

A-League 2015/16Mebourne City v Adelaide United

SONY ESPN12:30AM

Spanish La Liga Granada v Malaga

STAR SPORTS 212:15AM

German Bundesliga Hertha Berlin v Hannover 96

CRICKET SONY SIX7:45PM

Indian Premier League 2016Opening Ceremony

TENNIS TEN 3

11:00PMWTA Tour 2016

Family Circle Cup - QFs

Juan Monaco of Argentina returns a serve to Benoit Paire of France in the � rst set of their match at the US Men's Clay Court Championship Wednesday AP

Argentina knock Belgium from top of FIFA rankingsn AFP, Paris

Argentina reclaimed top spot from Belgium in yesterday’s FIFA world rankings, while Copa America champions Chile soared to an all-time high of third place.

Three straight wins in 2018 World Cup quali� ers helped Ar-gentina return to the summit, � ve months after they were supplanted by Belgium.

Chile moved up two places from � fth, with Colombia climbing from eighth to fourth and Uruguay moving back into the top 10 as a re-ward for their strong start to South American qualifying.

Two-time defending European champions Spain drop three plac-es to sixth, with world champions Germany, Brazil, Portugal and Eng-land also sliding down one spot. l

FIFA RANKINGS As of yesterday

1. Argentina (+1)2. Belgium (-1)3. Chile (+2)4. Colombia (+4)5. Germany (-1)

6. Spain (-3)7. Brazil (-1)8. Portugal (-1)9. Uruguay (+2)10. England (-1)

Swiss police raid UEFA as Panama Papers scandal spreadsn Reuters, Zurich

Swiss police raided the European soccer body UEFA on Wednes-day to seize information about a contract disclosed in the Panama Papers that was signed by Gianni Infantino, now head of the global soccer body FIFA.

The impact of the leaked docu-ments from a Panamanian law � rm is snowballing, with Iceland facing a political crisis after its prime min-ister stepped aside on Tuesday fol-lowing revelations about his wife’s � nances.

Recently elected Infantino joined a growing list of public � g-ures and political leaders whose � nancial arrangements have come under scrutiny after the release of the 11.5 million documents, which have caused public outrage over how the rich and powerful can hide money to avoid taxes.

Infantino said he was “dis-mayed that his integrity was being doubted” by media reports which said the contract he signed sever-al years ago as a UEFA o� cial sold broadcast rights at a low price to a

company which sold them on at a far higher price.

Reuters, which has not seen the documents, was unable to con-� rm this and UEFA denied that the rights were sold at below the mar-ket price.

“UEFA can con� rm that today we received a visit from the o� ce of the Swiss Federal Police acting under a warrant and requesting sight of the contracts between UEFA and Cross Trading/Teleam-azonas,” UEFA said in a statement.

Infantino said in a FIFA state-ment the contract had been “prop-erly conducted” by UEFA.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also faced another day of questions about his � nances, because his late father was among the tens of thousands of people named in the documents from law � rm Mossack Fonseca, which has denied any wrongdoing.

After having at � rst described it as a private matter, Cameron’s o� ce said on Tuesday that he and his family did not bene� t from any such funds at present. Cameron also said he did not own any shares

or have any o� shore funds.But his failure to say whether

he or his family would bene� t in future only intensi� ed media spec-ulation, with the story splashed across many newspaper front pag-es on Wednesday.

“There are no o� shore funds or trusts which the prime minister, Mrs Cameron or their children will bene� t from in future,” a spokes-man for Cameron said on Wednes-day.

Among those named in the documents are friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the leaders of China, Britain and Pakistan, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Poroshenko said he set up an o� shore trust to separate his busi-ness and political interests after he became president and the arrange-ments were carried out with full transparency. He said he was not trying to minimise tax payments.

“There does not need to be an investigation,” Poroshenko told reporters in Tokyo, when asked about the planned investigation by Ukraine’s � scal services. l

Venus powers on, Bencic upset in Charlestonn Reuters

Venus Williams avoided another early exit with a routine win over fellow American Alison Riske at the Volvo Car Open in South Caroli-na while Swiss second seed Belinda Bencic was ousted by Russian qual-i� er Elena Vesnina.

Third seed Williams, who had a � rst-round bye after arriving in Charleston having lost the open-ing match in four of the � ve events she has played in 2016, breezed by Riske 6-4 6-2 on Wednesday.

“It wasn’t easy,” the former world number one, who used a mix of big serves and solid ground-strokes to get by Riske, said during an on-court interview. “It was great tennis from both of us, an hour and a half of slam, bam, thank you ma’am!”

The seven-times grand slam champion has had a disappointing season so far with opening losses at Auckland, the Australian Open, In-dian Wells and Miami. Sandwiched between those losses was a title tri-umph in the inaugural Taiwan Open.

The 35-year-old Williams, in search of her 50th WTA title, will next face Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva on the unique green clay courts of Charleston for a spot in the quarter-� nals. l

Showtime30DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Comedy Fest with Mosharraf Karimn Showtime Desk

Eid means Mosharraf Karim’s Drama.And, comedy based drama by Mosharraf Karim adds a di� erent zest to it, that we all know! That is why this Eid Asiatic Mindshare has organised a comedy fest with Mosharraf Karim. There will be seven di� erent dramas for seven days of Eid, in di� erent characters in each one. Every drama will have a di� erent charm to it. Karim will play seven di� erent characters, and every drama will be of a di� erent genre. There will be an emotional comedy, o� ce comedy, horror comedy and so on.

Asiatic Mindshare Limited’s head of content Maruf Rehman said, “It will be a surprise, even on the case of choosing the directors and crew!” l

White House opens doors to PC n Rupkotha Chowdhury

Priyanka Chopra’s stardom has gone international. After alluring the world with her singles “In My City” and “Exotic” ft. Pitbull, she went on to star in the ABC hit thriller Quantico. The show was loved by all, and has become as popular as ABC’s other shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal.

Adding on to her list of achievements, the actress has now been invited to the White House for a dinner event. The event is the annual White House Correspondents dinner, and will be held later in April. PC will actually be meeting the Obamas. The dinner invitations were also extended to Bradley Cooper, Lucy Liu, Jane Fonda and Gladys Knight.

There has not been a single Indian actor to have become as widely popular as she has, in the short span of time. She will also take part in the � lm remake of the yesteryear hit TV series Baywatch. The movie stars Zac Efron and Dwayne Johnson in lead roles. l

TheBrownFish has Silver Play Button n Nazia Lopa

Salman Muqtadir is a popular name with the young generation nowadays. This Australian-Bangladeshi YouTuber and actor publishes pranking videos on his YouTube channel named SalmoN TheBrownFish. His SalmoN TheBrownFish channel has more than 190,000 subscribers, while his secondary channel, Salmon ThePutimaas, has more than 50,000 subscribers. Yesterday (Thursday, April 7), he received the Silver Play Button for having more than 200,000

subscribers on YouTube. He went to Sydney to receive the award.

He created his secondary channel in October of 2011, four months prior to creating what would become his main channel SalmoN TheBrownFish. He resided in Dhaka, Bangladesh after being born in Australia.

Salman Muqtadir is now busy with other activities including YouTube posting. He has been shown in TV dramas, and a TVC as a performer. “Jaan O Baby,” one of his songs was a big hit last year in social media. l

Partho Barua and Bappa Mazumder have recently made a trip to the den of world’s IT giants.

Apart from performing in several concerts in the USA, the Souls and Dalchhut stars pay visit to the headquarters of Facebook, Google and Intel located at Silicon Valley, in the southern

San Francisco Bay Area. The musician duo are in the US on a tour. l

Marking the World Orphan’s Day, which is on April 20 this year, Fahmida Nabi has recently recorded a new song “Amra Prithibo Shajabo.”

Fahmida Nabi, Foad Nasser, Papi Mona and Ferdous Hasan were there in the studio. Fahmida Nabi posted pictures of the recording on her social media. Hasan Ahmed penned the lyrics, while Foad Nasser composed the song. l

SOCIAL MEDIA CORNER | Showtime Desk

Partho and Bappa visit Silicon Valley

New song for World Orphan’s Day

n Showtime Desk

Padatik Natya Sangsad, a local theatre troupe, has organised a week-long theatre fest titled Syed Badruddin Hossain Theatre Festival. The seventh edition of the festival pays tribute to the troupe’s founder Syed Badruddin Hossain.

The festival, featuring a total of ten productions brought to stage by local and visiting Indian troupes, commenced yesterday through an inaugural ceremony at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Apart from staging of plays, the festival includes an award titled Syed Badruddin Hossain Memorial Award which will be handed over to this year’s winners theatre persona Dr Enamul Haque and Sara Zaker.

On the opening day, Indian

troupe Kalyani and local troupe Nagarik Natya Sampraday staged Goray Golod and Dewan Gazir Kichcha, respectively. The festival runs simultaneously at the National and Experimental Theatre Halls of the academy having two shows each evening. Eight local and two Indian troupes will stage the shows.

Among the local troupes are Nagarik Natya Sampraday, Mohakal Natya Sampraday, Natyakendra, Nagarik Natyangan, Prangonemor, Aarshinagar, Shilpakala Repertory and the host Padatik Natya Sangsad, while the Indian troupes are Anik and Kalyani Natyacharcha.

Padatik Natya Sangsad has been organising the festival since 2010 coinciding with the birth anniversary of it’s founder each year.l

n Showtime Desk

Jakir Hossain Raju’s latest directorial venture Onek Dame Kena � nally sets to hit cinemas today. Partially based on Charlie Chaplin’s 1931 silent romantic comedy City Lights, the � lm will be released in 90 theatres across the country, the production company Jaaz Mulimedia informed.

Mahiya Mahi and Bappi play the leads while Dipjol, who is back in the business after a long wait, joins them for the � rst time on the big screen.

Mahi plays a blind � orist. The story follows a drunken good-hearted man who aimlessly wanders at night in a city and loves to help the destitute. He � nds a protege. One day, the man shares his love-line with Mahiya Mahi.

Abdullah Zahir Babu has written the story and screenplay.

The production company Jaaz Multimedia disclosed in a statement that the � lm was supposed to be released earlier but they were waiting for a favourable time to let it out. All the works including � lming, dubbing and editing were wrapped up and � nally, its getting out on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh. l

Showtime 31D

TFRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

Onek Dame Kena hits cinemas today

Padatik’s week-long theatre fest

Back Page32DT

FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2016

‘SEPARATE BUDGET FOR MEGA PROJECTS IN FY17’ PAGE 15

DPL SUPER LEAGUE UNDER LIGHTS PAGE 25

THEBROWNFISH HAS SILVER PLAY BUTTON PAGE 30

Local MP accuses BNP leader for the Banshkhali killingsn FM Mizanur Rahman,

Chittagong

Banshkhali MP Mosta� zur Rahman yesterday accused local BNP leader Liakat Ali, also former Union Pari-shad (UP) chairman of Gandamara, of the violent clashes which left four people dead during a protest against the coal-� red power plant.

Liakat, also convener of the Homestead and Graveyard Protec-tion Committee, denied the allega-tions while talking to Dhaka Tribune.

Four days after the incident that occurred during a protest against setting up a coal-� red power, Mo-sta� zur addressed the issue at a press conference at his residence in Chittagong.

The local MP said it’s the cohorts of Liakat who are responsible for the deaths when they opened � re during the clash.

He also announced that each of the victim’s family will receive Tk10 lakh as compensation from the Prime Minister’s relief fund.

In a telephone conversation with Dhaka Tribune, he said the victim’s families will receive the compensa-tion of Tk10 lakh on Sunday.

However, Liakat claimed all four were killed because of the police gun� re.

At least four people were killed and 30 people including 11 cops were injured in a triangular clash involving the police and two groups of villagers at Gandamara

union of Banshkhali in Chittagong over constructing a 1,320MW coal-based power plant to be set up by S Alam group and China’s SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Cor-poration on Monday.

Mosta� zur in his press brie� ng went on to claim that Liakat and his men were trying to bewilder the locals against the power plant in a propaganda against the project to halt it.

The lawmaker also claimed that the locals were informed about the power plant and they would face no di� culties if it was set up.

“The local administration had imposed section 144 that day to maintain the law and order situ-ation, but Liakat’s men attacked

the locals and the police, equipped with � rearms, causing the casual-ties,” Mosta� zur added.

The MP claimed there was no objection about the project, and that it had also been given envi-ronmental clearance by the proper authorities.

After the three-way clash on Monday, Liakat, talking to journal-ists, accused the police of opening � re on the demonstrating people that led to the causalities.

He also urged the government to scrap the project while demanding immediate trial of the killings.

Following the clash, a total of three cases were � led against 6,200 named and 63 unnamed accused. Po-lice have so far made three arrests. l

Boy looking for mother in Pakistan sent back to Bangladesh n Tribune Desk

Mohammad Ramzan, a 15-year-old Pakistani boy who spent more than two years in an Indian shelter home after running away from his father in Bangladesh, is going to be reunited with his father soon.

“Ramzan left for Kolkata this evening, where he will be helped by the NGO Sanlaap to � y to Bangladesh where his father lives,” said Archana Sahay, who runs Umeed, the shelter home where Ramzan lived, the Indi-an Express reported yesterday.

The teenager migrated to Bang-ladesh in 2009 with his father Mo-hammad Kazal who, after separat-ing from Ramzan’s mother Razia Begum, moved to Bangladesh to stay with his parents. Later Kazal remarried a Bangladeshi woman, said Hamza Basit, Ramzan’s friend in the shelter.

Ramzan’s new stepmother alleg-edly beat him a lot, so in 2010-11 he ran away from home and started his journey to reunite with his mother.

He entered India by walking across the Bangladesh-India bor-der because someone told him that

is how he could go back to Pa-kistan, accord-ing to Basit.

C r o s s i n g over to India, he � rst went to Ranchi, then to

Mumbai and Delhi before ending up in Bhopal, where he was detained by police at a police station in Oc-tober 2013 and later sent to Umeed.

Government o� cials and social workers in both India and Pakistan tried to reunite Ramzan with his mother.

Razia was o� ered a visit to India to meet her son, but she refused to go to India because she feared Mus-lims were not treated well there.

Ramzan could not be sent to Pa-kistan because he did not have the documents to prove his Pakistani citizenship.

“We tried hard to send him to his mother in Pakistan, but could not. So we had no choice but to reunite him with his father as it is easy to travel to Pakistan from Bangladesh than from India,” Archana Sahay told PTI. l

4 of a family burnt in acid attackn Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Four members of the same family were burnt as unknown miscreants threw acid on them in the city’s Rupnagar area early yesterday.

The victims – Suruj Mia, 40, his wife Mahfuza Aktar Suborna, 35, their daughter Rima Akhter, 10, and Mahfuza’s sister Nilufa, 32 – were admitted to the National In-stitute of Burn and Plastic Surgery of Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 7:30am, said Inspector Mu-zammel Haq, in-charge of DMCH

police outpost.Talking to reporters, Suborna

said she was an RMG worker and her husband worked in the Milk Vita factory in Mirpur.

“This morning, two unknown men knocked at our door; when my husband opened the door, they said they were from Patuakhali and knew my husband,” Suborna said.

“When I went to see who they were, one of them brought out a bottle from inside a sweetmeat bag they were carrying. Then they threw acid at me and � ed.”

As Suruj Mia was standing near her, some acid splashed on him.

Hearing Suborna’s screams, When her sister and daughter rushed to her and tried to hold her, the acid rubbed o� on them too.

Suborna claimed the attackers had been hired by her husband Suruj himself.

Based on her allegation, police arrested Suruj for questioning, Mu-zammel said.

When contacted, Rupnagar po-lice station OC Shahid Alam con-� rmed the matter. l

State minister: Banshkhali Power Plant can be transferredn Aminur Rahman Rasel

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Ha-mid yesterday said the proposed 1,224MW coal-� red power plant at Banshkhali may be transferred to some other place.

Referring to the recent incident he said that the government has no ties regarding the construction of the proposed private power plant by S Alam group.

“If they think, the plant can be shifted,” he said while talking to re-porters during a programme held at Bidyut Bhaban yesterday.

The government plans to buy electricity produced in the plant.

S Alam group declined to make any comment on the matter when contacted by the Dhaka Tribune. l

Struggling with pain, nine-year-old Rima rests her head on her bandaged right hand at the DMCH burn unit. Rima and three of her family members were burnt in an acid attack at their Mirpur residence early yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com