Plucky India avoid Banglawashn Mazhar Uddin

In pursuit of the hectic target of 318, almost all of the Bang-ladesh batsmen registered starts but were unable to pro-long their stay at the middle as India coasted to a 77-run

consolation win in the third and � nal ODI yes-terday at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The three-ODI series ended 2-1 in favour of Bangladesh with the home side strolling to convincing victories in the � rst two ODIs. Yes-terday’s defeat brought to an end the Tigers’ 10-match unbeaten home run.

Sabbir Rahman’s enterprising 38-ball 43 was the highlight of the Bangladesh innings while opener Soumya Sarkar chipped in with a blazing 34-ball 40; but none of the lot managed to register a � fty as the relieved visitors prevented the ignominy of the “Banglawash.”

Tamim Iqbal was dismissed for � ve early in the innings while Mush� qur Rahim (24 o� 30 balls) and Shakib al Hasan (20 o� 21 balls) both built the foundation of their respective knocks, but perished soon after as the home crowd’s hopes and expectations of a Bangla-wash all but evaporated.

Nasir Hossain struck some lusty blows at

the end but his 30-ball 32 only delayed the inevitable.

Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin and Dhawal Kulkarni shared seven wickets be-tween them. The Tigers were bundled out for 240 in 47 overs and were never in the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Earlier, brisk half-centuries from opener Shikhar Dhawan and skipper MS Dhoni guid-ed India to a huge total of 317 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 50 overs.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mor-taza decided to send the visitors in to bat under overcast skies. The home side made one change to their playing XI from the sec-ond ODI with left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny replacing fast bowler Taskin Ahmed. The visitors on the other hand named Stuart Bin-ny and Umesh Yadav as the replacements of Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar re-spectively.

The Indian openers came out to bat with a positive intent and made a decent start but young Tigers paceman Musta� zur Rahman wrecked havoc yet again by dismissing Rohit Sharma (29 o� 29 balls) for the third time in the ODI series.

Dhawan and Virat Kohli then added 75 runs for the � rst wicket to resurrect India’s cause before Shakib came in to the attack and

cleaned up India’s Test captain for 25. Dha-wan remained compact at the other end and reached his 14th ODI � fty. Dhawan departed after making a � ne 73-ball 75 as Nasir took a sharp catch at mid-wicket o� Mashrafe.

Dhoni (69 o� 77 balls) once again promot-ed himself to No 4 and smashed his 59th � fty while Ambati Rayudu, who was dismissed for nought for the very � rst time in his 50-over career in the second ODI, scored 44 from 49 deliveries as the fourth-wicket pair put on 93 runs, India’s second highest partnership for any wicket in this series.

Mashrafe was the most successful bowler with 3/76 while Musta� zur picked up two to take his series tally to 13. Musta� zur’s second scalp was that of Raina (38 o� 21 balls) and along with Rohit, the left-handed batsman was also dismissed by the Satkhira cricketer for the third time in the three-ODI series.

The young left-arm seamer was adjudged the player of the series while Raina was named the player of the match for his all-round e� ort.

Bangladesh, having cemented their place in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, will now turn their attention to the bilateral home series against South Africa comprising two Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and three ODIs. l

SECOND EDITION

PAGE 32Body formed to probe police link with yaba trade

PAGE 10More German women joining IS

PAGE 6150 villages submerged in Kurigram

PAGE 9Six killed in Somalia Shebab attack on UAE embassy convoy

PAGE 5Tofail: Trade de� cit with Saarc countries Tk37,700cr

ACC LAWYER: MAYA SHOULD NOT STAY A MINISTER PAGE 5

RICE MILLERS OBSTRUCT JUTE PACKAGING LAW PAGE 32

FDI INFLOW DECLINES BY ABOUT 5% PAGE 15

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015 | Ashar 11, 1422, Ramadan 7, 1436 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 73 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

SEHRI & IFTAR TIME

For Barisal, deduct one minute, and for Sylhet and Chittagong deduct six minutes; for Khulna add four minutes, for Rangpur � ve minutes, and for Rajshahi seven minutes.

Day Sehri IftarRamadan 7/June 25 – 6.53pmRamadan 8/June 26 3.40am 6.53pm

Meeting over Razzak’sreturn todayn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman and

Mohammad Jamil Khan

Border Guard Bangladesh member Abdur Razzak would be brought back from Myanmar within a day or two as the two frontiers are set to hold a meeting on the matter today at Mon-gdu of Myanmar.

“If the weather condition is okay, we will have the meeting at 10 in the morning at Mon-gdu tomorrow [today],” BGB Director General Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) had asked for the � ag meeting about giving Naik Razzak back, he told a press conference at the paramilitary force’s Pilkhana Head-quarters. The BGB chief also read out a letter sent by BGP number 2 battalion Commander Lt Think Ko.

“The BGP said they will not give any con-dition for his release. They asked for names of our delegation attending the � ag meeting,” Aziz said.

Lt Col Abu Jar Al Zahid, commanding o� cer of 42 Ri� es Battalion, will lead the six-member BGB delegation while BGP to have 10 members at the � ag meeting.

The BGB boss said that if the meeting is postponed for any reason, it would be held the next day. “The decision of holding the � ag meeting came soon after a successful meeting held between the Myanmar Home Ministry and the Bangladeshi diplomats on Monday.”

He said it might take one or two more days to bring back Naik Razzak due to inclement weather.

He added that the foreign and home minis-tries, the BGB and the Bangladesh High Com-mission in Myanmar were working jointly for Razzak’s return.

Razzak was abducted along with his SMG PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

A jubilant Bangladesh cricket team poses with the trophy of the ODI series following a much-deserved 2-1 series win against India yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Dhaka, Moscow happy at Rooppur plant negotiationsn Tribune Report

Bangladesh and Russia have expressed satisfac-tion at the progress made in negotiations and establishment of understanding for the con-struction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

The countries also took note of the visit of a high-level delegation from Bangladesh to Moscow for negotiating and working out the details on a � nancial credit agreement and general contract for the RNPP, said a press re-lease of the Foreign Ministry.

The issue was discussed Tuesday when State Minister for Foreign A� airs Shahriar

Alam met Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Morgulov Igor Vladimirovich in Moscow.

In the meeting, both sides agreed to sign an agreement on visa exemption for persons holding diplomatic and o� cial passports to further strengthen bilateral relations

Both ministers discussed the proposed Intergovernmental Commission on Political, Economic, Trade and Science & Technology Cooperation between Bangladesh and Russia.

The Bangladesh side conveyed the govern-ment’s decision in principle to sign the agree-ment with minor adjustments to the scope of the agreement. l

Khaleda: Judiciary not independent n Tribune Report

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday al-leged that two di� erent types of justice were being delivered in Bangladesh, as partisan judges were appointed in the country.

“Judiciary is not independent today. Chief justice said they [judges] are controlled. Low-er court is abiding by the government’s direc-tives. All the partisan judges were appointed. That is why Awami League members get re-leased even after committing crimes, while BNP activists do not get justice. BNP leaders will not get bail and will be con� ned even if

they had not committed any crime,” she said. Khaleda made the allegations before iftar

at a city hotel organised by the National Peo-ple’s Party, a member of the BNP-led alliance.

The former premier urged the people of the country to unite against such a situation.

“This government is an illegal government and they are in power on the shoulders of the police. It seems the police are governing the country. What the policemen are saying, the government is paying heed to it.”

The BNP chief said the police had become desperate and were doing whatever they wished, adding that the country has turned into a police state.

Criticising Sheikh Hasina’s rule, Khale-da said the government was importing rot-ten wheat and forcing people to consume it. “By doing so, they [ruling party leaders] are sending money abroad. They are not being punished. In the month of Ramadan, we hope they will be punished.” l

Lawmaker’s son Rony remanded againn Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday placed Awami League lawmaker Pinu Khan’s son Bakhtiar Alam Rony on a fresh four-day remand in the case � led over the death of two persons in the capital in April.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mahbubur Rahman passed the order when Sub-Inspec-tor Dipak Kumar Das of the Detective Branch of police, also investigation o� cer of the case, produced him before the court seeking sev-en-day remand for interrogation.

Earlier, defence counsel Kazi Najibullah Hiru � led a bail petition with remand rejec-tion prayer before the court.

The IO on Sunday � led a petition with an-other Dhaka court seeking 10-day fresh re-mand of the accused. The court � xed yester-day to hear the petition.

Rony was placed on a four-day remand on

June 1.The lawmaker’s son under the in� uence of

alcohol opened � re from his Prado jeep indis-criminately near Dilu Road leaving two peo-ple — rickshaw-puller Abdul Hakim and daily Janakantha’s auto-rickshaw driver Yakub — injured.

Hakim succumbed to his injuries at Dha-ka Medical College Hospital on April 15 while Yakub died on April 23.

Hakim’s mother Monowara Begum � led the murder case with Ramna police on April 15.

Rony’s driver Imran Fakir made a confes-sional statement on June 1. Rony was arrested based on his information and later taken into police custody for interrogation.

On June 17, Kamal Mahmood, a friend of Rony, gave a judicial statement in the case. Later, two more friends of Rony told a Dhaka court that Rony had � red � ve bullets at New Eskaton that killed two persons. l

Outgoing Army chief General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan hands over two books – Bangladesh Senabahinir Itihas and Muktijuddhe Bangladesh Senabahinir Obhijan – during paying a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban o� ce yesterday PMO

Meeting over Razzak’s return todayby the BGP members in the Naf River near Jadimura area of Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar on June 17. In the incident, another BGB mem-ber, Biplob, was shot.

On June 18, the Bangladesh Foreign Min-istry summoned the Myanmar ambassador to Dhaka to protest against the shooting and abduction along border.

This is the second time the ambassa-dor was summoned this month. On June 5, the ambassador was summoned to protest against Myanmar propaganda about Rohing-ya and Bangladesh.

Protesting Razzak’s captivity, the BGB on June 19 sent an e-mail and several fax mes-sages to the Myanmar authorities.

According to a BGB press release issued on Wednesday, a seven-member team of the BGB on two boats was patrolling the area from the Jadimura Canal to the Dumdumia border out-post.

“They were conducting routine patrol on civil boats. Suddenly, around 5:30am, soldiers of the Myanmar BGP appeared with a boat, opened � re on one of the BGB boats, injuring the arm of one soldier. The BGB team also re-taliated with gunshots,” the release reads.

At one stage, the two sides locked into a scu� e. However, at that time, the second boat arrived at the scene. The BGP men then disappeared and took Naik Razzak and his SMG along with them.

The rest of the members of that boat saved themselves by jumping into the river and swam ashore, says the release.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar Mo-hammad Su� ur Rahman met the newly-ap-pointed Myanmar Foreign Ministry perma-nent secretary last Saturday and expressed Bangladesh’s extreme displeasure about a picture of Razzak in handcu� s posted on the BGP Facebook page.

The Foreign Ministry also issued two note verbales to Myanmar authorities for immedi-ate release of Razzak.

This is the second such incident since the Myanmar authorities abolished its Nasaka force in July 2013 and deployed the BGP. On May 28 last year, BGB Naik Mizanur Rahman was abducted and killed by the BGP near Panchhari border in Naikkhyangchhari of Bandarban.

Two days later, the BGP was supposed to return Mizanur’s body to the BGB. But, when the Bangladeshi border guards went to receive the body, the BGP men opened � re on them instead of handing the body over to them.

According to the BGB, Naik Mizanur was patrolling the border to check Rohingya in� l-tration.

The 271km border between Bangladesh and Myanmar is divided into two parts – 64km zero-line boundary on the Naf River and a 208km land boundary. l

‘This government is an illegal government and they are in power on the shoulders of the police’

NEWS2DT

NEWS 3D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Maya should not stay a minister, says ACC lawyern Ashif Islam Shaon

The Appellate Division yesterday said the High Court had not applied all its judicial mind in acquitting Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya from corruption charges.

“It [High Court] did not at all assess the ev-idence on record although the special judge on assessment of the evidence convicted the respondent [Maya],” the full judgement re-leased yesterday says.

The tow-page full text also said that the High Court shall dispose of the appeal on merit.

A three-member Appellate Division bench chaired by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha had delivered the short verdict on an appeal moved by the Anti-Corruption Commission on June14. The court also sent Maya’s appeal to the High Court for its rehearing and fresh disposal.

City Awami League general secretary Maya was sentenced to 13 years in prison in the case, � led during the military-backed care-taker government for amassing illegal wealth.

Following the release of the full verdict, ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told report-ers yesterday that Maya’s parliament mem-bership should be void as per article 66 of the constitution.

“The issue should be discussed inside and outside parliament. After this order, he should not remain a minister any more,” he said.

However, Maya’s lawyer Abdul Baset Ma-jumder said his parliament membership or the minister post would not be declared void since the case is now under trial.

Maya became a minister after the Awami League-led government took o� ce in Janu-ary last year.

He, however, came into limelight after his son-in-law Lt Col Tarek Sayeed Chowdhury, the sacked commander of RAB 11, was found involved in the sensational seven murders in Narayanganj in April last year.

Maya and six others of his family were sued on June 13, 2007, and the charges were pressed on October 25 against � ve of them. A special court issued arrest warrant against him on October 29. Trial proceedings began with the indictment of the accused on No-vember 27 the same year.

According to the charge sheet, the accused amassed Tk2.97 crore in assets beyond their stated income, through corrupt means, when Maya served as state minister for shipping, concealing information on wealth of Tk5.86 crore and keeping under possession proper-ties worth Tk6.29 crore.

A special court tried him in absentia and

on February 14, 2008 sentenced him to 13 years in prison, � ned Tk5 crore and also or-dered the authorities concerned to con� scate his properties worth Tk5.9 crore amassed il-legally.

The court, however, acquitted Maya’s wife Parveen Chowdhury, two sons Sajedul Hos-sain Chowdhury and Rashedul Hossain Chow-dhury, and Sajed’s wife Subarna Chowdhury.

Maya was sent to jail upon his surrender before a Dhaka court on May 20, 2009. He � led a petition with the High Court challeng-ing the sentence on May 25.

Following his appeal, the High Court bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore on October 27, 2010 scrapped the lower court judgement and acquitted Maya of the corruption case.

The ACC in 2011 appealed to the Supreme Court to scrap the High Court’s verdict. l

BCL men go on the rampage at Mohakhalin Kamrul Hasan

Bangladesh Chhatra League activists of Gov-ernment Titumir College yesterday vandal-ised a car and blockaded a busy road in the capital’s Banani area after police seized the bike of one of its former leaders.

The BCL activists claimed police had beat-en one of their former leaders named Biplob.

Protesting police action they had also put up blockade the Mohakhali to Gulshan road for an hour and also vandalised a car. The ASI who detained the former student leader was closed over the incident.

The incident caused an hour-long traf-� c jam in the road causing huge su� ering to commuters.

O� cer-in-Charge of Gulshan police station Sirajul Islam said on-duty SI Abdul Mannan at Baridhara stopped a Titumir college former BCL leader named Biplob as he was riding a motorbike with two others.

As they were not able to show proper docu-ments, an altercation took place between the SI and Biplob, he added. The OC of Banani po-lice station said BCL activists claimed that the accused SI had beaten Biplob. Later the Chha-tra League activists withdrew their blockade following the closure of the SI. l

Government stresses proper sanitation systems in schoolsn Tribune Report

The government has asked all secondary and higher secondary educational institutions to ensure proper and gender-speci� c sanitation systems in schools.

The Ministry of Education issued a circular in this regard on Tuesday, which also stressed proper management of toilets as well as sep-arate toilets for female students to ensure menstrual hygiene.

Signed by Education Secretary Nazrul Is-lam Khan, the circular asked all secondary and higher secondary institutions, and equiv-alent institutions under madrasa and techni-cal education, to follow the instructions with immediate e� ect.

According to the circular, the management

committees of the institutions are required to create a separate fund for toilet maintenance and recruit manpower to improve sanitation coverage and promote safe hygiene practices in the country.

It also stressed formulation of toilet and sanitation committees consisting of boys’ scout and girls’ guide, headed by the teachers to ensure the hygiene.

According to the National Hygiene Base-line Survey published in June last year, there is only one toilet for every 187 students, and around 45% of the toilets remain out of order.

The study was jointly conducted by In-ternational Centre for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), WaterAid Bangladesh and the Ministry of Local Govern-ment, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

The study found that the usually un-healthy environment in the school and col-lege toilets discouraged female students to attend classes during menstruation; the lack of proper ventilation does not help matters either.

Around 80% of the students who miss classes due to menstruation end up missing stipend as they cannot ensure full attend-ance.

The survey also pointed out that men-strual hygiene management was a challenge in schools as 40% of surveyed girls reported that they miss school during menstruation for a median of three days a month. Less than 5% of schools have separate facilities for girls, which is essential for optimal menstrual hy-giene management.

Based on the survey � ndings, the govern-ment put stress on assigning female teachers to talk about menstruation with the female students while the management committees must take initiatives to store sanitary prod-ucts in the institutions for the students – on payment basis, if required.

In addition, every institution must have proper ventilation facilities and may include modern technologies like motion sensor and green technology.

The circular also asked the district admin-istrations to involve NGOs to run campaigns on sanitary hygiene safe drinking water in schools and colleges, while the DC o� c-es must encourage local health complexes to make at least two annual � eld visits to schools. l

Two factions of the Narayanganj District Lawyers Association engage in a clash at the body’s general meeting yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS4DT

Journo Praful Bidwai diesn Tribune Desk

Renowned Indian journalist and com-mentator Praful Bidwai died in Am-sterdam on Monday night, The Wire reported.

Bidwai, who was 65, died after choking on his food, a close friend of his said. He was in the Dutch capital for a conference.

The veteran journalist’s syndicat-ed columns on politics, foreign policy, the environment and political economy provided a critical, left-wing perspective on national and international developments for over four decades.

He wrote regularly for magazines and newspapers across India and the world, besides being an anti-nuclear activist and campaigner. He was a founding member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Peace, the group set up after the 1998 Pokhran tests.

Bidwai worked in the Times of India for many years as a sen-ior assistant editor before embarking on a freelance career that made his byline a household name across India. He wrote a reg-ular column for Frontline and Hindustan Times for several years.

A bachelor, Bidwai had also worked as a professorial fellow at the Centre for Social Development, New Delhi, and as a fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.

He was a long-time fellow of the Transnational Institute, the Amsterdam-based organisation of international scholar-activ-ists including Susan George and Walden Bello. l

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Govt asked to push for a new UN tax bodyn Tribune Report

Development specialists have urged the government to be vocal on setting up a new United Nations body on tax man-agement, and raise the issue at an up-coming UN conference at Addis Ababa.

The government should table the issue of money laundering and tax dodging at the conference and discuss on establishing a common UN tax body, speakers said yesterday at a seminar organised by Equitybd, an alliance of several NGOs.

The third international conference

on � nancing for development will take place during July 13-16 in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Addressing the seminar at the Na-tional Press Club, Equitybd Coordina-tor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury pointed out that the international tax system currently consisted a complicated web of thousands of bilateral tax treaties and di� erent parallel international sys-tems such as information exchange and corporate reporting.

“Negotiation of a globally agreed system is the only way to remove the complexity, confusion, inconsisten-

cy and mismatches that exist today. A global tax body is a crucial � rst step to prevent money laundering and tax dodging” he added.

Also speaking at the event, Dhaka University teacher Prof Abu Ahmed said: “These issues are very important but the government seems reluctant as usual.”

Others who addressed yesterday’s seminar included Pradip Kumar Roy, secretary of Online Knowledge Socie-ty, Manowar Mostafa, representative of Development Synergy Institute, and Sayed Aminul Haque, deputy director of Equitybd. l

Ibrahim Khaled: Bank subsidies failing to eradicate povertyn Tribune Report

The authorities of state-owned banks misappropriate a large portion of the funds they are given by the government to recov-er from losses, said Bangladesh Bank’s former deputy governor Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled.

“Such funds thus play no role in eradicating the country’s poverty,” he said while addressing a seminar on the national budget’s role in eradicating poverty at the National Press Club yesterday. The seminar was organised by Unnayan Shamannay.

Khaled said the government should directly allocate funds for poverty reduction.

“By developing health and education systems, sustainable development can be achieved in the country.”

Tayabur Rahman, professor of development studies at the University of Dhaka, said: “We now allocate 0.5% of the GDP for poverty reduction but an additional 0.7% allocation to � nance targeted livelihood programmes is needed each year for � ve � s-cal years to lift all the extreme poor out of poverty.”

He also said the goal behind the allocation would be achieved if the money reached the targeted group.

Nazmul Haque Prodhan, the lawmaker of Panchagarh 1 con-stituency, said the government should ramp up allocations for poverty eradication programmes.

He also blasted the government’s move to help banks recover from losses, saying: “The banks are provided with subsidies so that their authorities can eventually embezzle the money.”

“Those embezzling the funds should be subjected to punitive measures,” he added. l

Dr Sayeed Hossain diesn Tribune Desk

Dr Md Sayeed Hossain Sabuj, an orthopaedic surgeon, died yes-terday around 4am at the intensive Care Unit of Dhaka Medical College. He was 44 years old and was su� ering from brain tumour.

He was the elder brother of Ishtiaque Mahmud, senior mar-keting executive at the Dhaka Tribune. His namaz-e-janaza took place at Peace International School in the capital’s Uttara area.

He is survived by his wife and two children. l

NEWS 5D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Minister: 428,000 workers sent abroad this � scal yearn Tribune Report

Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employ-ment Minister Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain yesterday informed parliament that more than 4.28 lakh workers had gone abroad in the current � scal year.

“A total of 4,28,186 workers have gone abroad in 2014-15 � scal year. Of them, 32% are skilled, while 14% are semi-skilled and 54% low-skilled,” he said responding to a query in the budget discussion in parliament.

The minister said the oversees job seekers are being trained up on 48 trades in the 51 training institutions in various districts under the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and

Training (BMET) which is capable of training up 1.15 lakh people a year, he added.

Responding to another query, the minister said Bangladesh sent 76,006 female workers to various countries in the current � scal year.

“Some 3.93 lakh female workers were sent to various countries from 1991 to May 2015,” he said.

Replying to another query, Mosharraf said some 30.75 lakh Bangladeshi workers got overseas jobs from January 2009 to May 2015.

He also said the remittance from the man-power export had increased over the years and the amount of remittance went up to US$14.93 billion in 2014. l

Hasina: Govt to show zero tolerance to human tra� ckersn Tribune Report

Terming human tra� cking an international problem, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yes-terday said her government had shown zero tolerance to the issue.

“Human tra� ckers are involved with in-ternational syndicates. In recent times, ille-gal tra� cking has increased at an alarming level. Bangladesh has taken a strong position against human tra� cking,” she told parlia-ment in replying to a query.

The premier also said she had alrea-dy given direction to law enforcement agencies to show zero tolerance to human tra� ckers.

Hasina also said diplomatic e� ort is on with regional countries to stop human tra� cking and to bring back Bangladeshi victims.

The premier said members of the Coast Guard had so far rescued some 1,736 Bangla-deshi fortune seekers from sea.

Responding to another query, Hasina said

her government is � rm to prevent BNP-led al-liance’s violence.

She said some 128 people were killed, in-cluding 73 who were burned to death, in mindless arson attacks and petrol bombs dur-ing the hartal and blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Besides, she said, some 1,395 vehicles, six launches and 13 trains were also burned and damaged during the period.

“The BNP-Jamaat movement not only caused damages to the country’s property, but also tarnished the image of the country and discouraged foreign direct investment.”

She informed the House that Sessions Judge and Additional Sessions Judge of each district had been given power to hold trial of those involved in subversive acts and anarchy under the Anti Terrorism Act-2009.

Sheikh Hasina said high o� cials are now monitoring the investigation activities to speed up the investigation process of the cases � led against such subversive acts and anarchy. l

Tofail: Trade de� cit with Saarc countries over Tk37,700 crore n Tribune Report

Tofail Ahmed yesterday told parliament the trade de� cit of Bangladesh with Saarc mem-bers countries stood at Tk37,700.7 crore till April of the current � scal.

He said during the 10 months of the cur-rent � scal, Bangladesh earned Tk3364.9 crore from export to India while Tk38,105.4 crore was spent on importing goods.

During the same period, Bangladesh earned Tk381.2 crore from export to Pakistan while it spent Tk3175.1 crore on import.

Bangladesh earned Tk156.4 crore by ex-porting goods to Sri Lanka and spent Tk284.8 crore on importing from the same source.

The country spent Tk199.1 crore on im-porting goods from Bhutan and earned Tk29.7 crore from export.

The export earnings from Nepal was Tk161 crore and the import spending was Tk88.5 crore.

The country earned Tk29.5 crore from ex-port to Afghanistan while imported goods worth Tk7.2 crore from there. From the Mal-dives Bangladesh earned Tk41.2 crore through export and spent Tk4.5 crore on import.

The commerce minister also said the trade de� cit with the Saarc member countries in 2013-14 � scal was Tk47,554.7 crore while it was Tk37,293.2 crore in 2012-13 � scal.

Tofail Ahmed also told parliament that no gold had been imported commercially through legal ways in the last � ve years as no

organisation had applied to Bangladesh Bank to do so.

“So, the government has not received any revenue from gold import during this period,” he told parliament replying to a question.

Tofail said there is a scope for importing gold commercially on condition of prior per-mission from the central bank as per the ex-isting Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947.

The commerce minister said Bangladesh had earned foreign currency of US$ 28,144.38 million by exporting its products in the cur-rent � scal till May last.

Replying to another query, he said the volume of export was US$ 30186.62 million with 11.69% growth in the last � scal of 2013-14 while US$ 27027.36 million with 11.22% growth in 2012-13 and US$ 24301.9 million with 5.99% growth in 2011-12 � scal.

He also said the export size was US$ 22928.22 million with 41.49% growth in 2010-11 � scal and US$16204.65 million with 4.11% growth in 2009-10.

Responding to another query the minister said Bangladesh had imported rice worth about Tk3797 crore till April in the current � scal year.

At present rice is imported from mainly In-dia, China, Pakistan and Myanmar, he added.

Rice worth about Tk3796.8 crore was import-ed in between July and April of this � scal while it was worth Tk2700.2 crore in 2013-14 � scal, Tk240.1 crore in 2012-13, Tk 2186.9 crore in 2011-12 and Tk 5941.5 crore in 2010-11 � scal. l

NEWS6DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

150 villages submerged in Kurigram n Tribune Report

Thousands of residents of more than 150 villages under 30 un-ions of six upazilas in Kurigram district have been marooned for the last 11 days.

Although water in the 16 rivers of the district including Brahma-putra, Teesta, Dhorola and Dudh-kumar, are still � owing below the danger level, the recent heavy downpour have left the residents in a miserable condition.

Around 76,000 people living on the chars and low-lying areas are hit hard by an acute crisis of food and pure drinking water.

Representatives of the � ood-a� ected unions told the Dhaka Tribune that the rice supplied from the district’s stock of relief materials was not enough to meet the demand.

Many households in Bhog-obotipur village by the Brahma-putra River went under water.

Around 200 families living in this village are relying on boats and rafts made from banana trees to move from one spot to another. Similar scenario was found in Parbotipur and other chars.

The day labourers of these vil-lages have been without work for over a week now. The local repre-sentatives claimed that 10kg rice arrived for only 385 families.

Jatrapur Union Parishad Chairman Md Abdul Gafur said:

“The amount of rice arriving here are insu� cient for the popula-tion. Those who are not getting the relief materials, are coming to us, but we are not being able to provide them with anything.”

He urged the government to increase the relief supply here.

According to the Kurigram District Relief and Rehabilita-tion Centre, a total of 50 metric tonne rice have been distrib-uted among the � ood-a� ected people.

Kurigram District Relief and Rehabilitation Centre O� cer Md Abdul Mottaleb Molla said: “The Directorate of Relief and Rehabilitation have sent 200 metric tonnes of rice in three upazilas: Sundarganj, Phulch-hori and Shaghata.

Crops on 195 acres damaged in Gaibandha The � ood has left the farmers of Gaibandha in a helpless con-dition. Crops on 195 acres have been submerged causing seri-ous loss to the farmers.

Gaibandha Agricultural Ex-tension O� ce sources said the continuous rainfall and water � owing from Teesta, Brahma-putra and Jamuna have inun-dated crop � elds in 14 unions under four upazlias: Gaibandha sadar, Sundarganj, Phulchhori, and Shaghata.

The water started to recede from June 17. l

Journalist assaulted by doctorn Our Correspondent,

Brahmanbaria

Local journalists of Brahman-baria district yesterday de-manded immediate removal of a doctor of Sadar hospital pro-testing assault on the district press club president.

Sources said, the journalists held a meeting in the press club and demanded removal of Imran Khan, the doctor of the hospital who allegedly assaulted Sayed Mizanur Rahman, president of Brahmanbaria Press Club.

Dr Imran assaulted Mizanur after he went to the room of him in the hospital with his son for treatment.

The sources added Imran became ferocious after seeing Mizanur as few reports were published in the news paper on irregularities of the hospital and its physicians earlier.

Sayed Akram Hossain , vice president of the press club pre-sided over the meeting where among others journalists Arju, Manjurul Alam, Zabed Rahim and Monir Hossain spoke. l

Minor girl gang rapedn Our Correspondent,

Naogaon

A 12-year-old female student of a madrasa at Simuldanga vil-lage under Sapahar upazila in the district was allegedly gang raped yesterday.

Zahidur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge of Sapahar police station said Jewel, 18,son of Habibur Rahman, and his friends Badir

Hossain,15, and Abu Hassan, 18, of the village raped the girl when she went out for tak-ing care of rice saplings in the evening.

Hearing her screaming, lo-cals went to the spot and res-cued the girl in critical condi-tion while the rapists managed to � ee the scene. On informa-tion, police went to the spot and sent the girl to Sadar hospital. l

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:50PM SUN RISES 5:13AM

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

31.1ºC 24.0ºC

Sylhet Feni

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A YDhaka 32 27Chittagong 31 26Rajshahi 32 26Rangpur 30 25Khulna 31 26Barisal 32 27Sylhet 33 26Cox’s Bazar 30 27

PRAYER TIMESFajr 3:46am

Sunrise 5:12amZohr 12:01am

Asr 4:41pmMagrib 6:49pm

Esha 8:17pm

WEATHER

THURSDAY, JUNE 25

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

Downpour inundates low-lying areasHillside dwellers asked to leave residences to avoid possible landsliden FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

The nonstop downpour with squally wind submerged lower parts of Chittagong city, causing immense su� ering to city dwellers.

Meteorologist of Bangladesh Metrological Department, Patenga O� ce Tariful Newaj Kabir told the Dhaka Tribune that about 147.1 millimetres rainfall had been recorded in last 24 hours till yesterday 3pm. He also said the rainfall would continue for a few days.

Following heavy rainfall, low-lying areas in the port city including, Muradpur, Sholos-hahar, Bahaddarhat, Probortak intersection, Chawakbazar, Sulukbahar, Halishahar areas, went under knee-deep water.

Severe tra� c congestion created on sev-eral thoroughfares as tra� cs got stuck on di-lapidated roads and drivers were compelled to drive vehicles slowly for which commuters had to waste several hours on roads.

O� ces and di� erent educational institu-tions bound people were the worst su� ered of the tra� c jam.

Debobroto Roy, a student of Mass Communi-cation and Journalism department of Chittagong University and also a resident of city’s Agrabad area, said: “In the morning I came out of my house to go to the campus, but I was compelled to come back to home as I could not manage any vehicle to go to Sholosahar Gate no 2 from where I could avail university’s shuttle train.”

Meanwhile, loading and uploading of goods at Chittagong Port jetties were contin-ued like others days, said port sources.

On the other hand, Chittagong District Administration and Chittagong Metropolitan Police asked people to vacate their residenc-es, fearing possible landslide in the hilly area following the heavy downpour.

“Police through loudspeaker started urg-ing people who lived in foothills to vacate

their houses located in Akbar Shah, Biswacol-ony, Tigerpass, Lalkhan Bazar, Baizid areas of the city to avoid any untoward incident.

People from lower-income group live at the foothills or slopes of the hills. A section of in� uential political leaders and locals have built such kind of  illegal  structures pushing the life of poor people into the death-risk.

According to the Chittagong DC o� ce, about 666 families are living at the slopes of 25 hills amid risk.

About 200 people were killed in last eight years in landslides during rainy season, the sources said.

The district administration at the advent of the monsoon every year, takes di� erent re-habilitation programmes to relocate the risky hill-dwellers, but in spite of knowing the im-pending dangers, the people of low income group mostly the rickshaw pullers and day labourers live there to save money. l

SUST teachers continue protest n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

A section of teachers of Shahjalal Universi-ty of Science and Technology (SUST) staged sit-in programme in front of the o� ce of Vice-Chancellor Prof Aminul Haque Bhuiyan for the third consecutive days yesterday de-manding his removal.

About 30 teachers under the banner of ‘Mohan Muktijuddher Chetonay Udbhuddo Sikkhak Forum’ including, its convenor Dr Syed Shamsul Alam, renowned author Pro-fessor Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and his wife Dr Yasmin Haque took part in the sit-in.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Aminul Haque Bhui-yan could not enter his o� ce as teachers laid siege to his o� ce. But classes and examina-tions were held according to schedules.

The agitating teachers vowed to continue their movement until the VC steps down.

Campus sources said Prof Aminul Haque

was supposed to join his o� ce around on Monday after a two-month leave.

As soon as the news of his arrival spread, teachers under the banner con� ned the VC at his o� ce till 4pm of the day. On Tuesday, the teachers also besieged the o� ce of VC till 8pm.

Meanwhile, leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League formed a human chain on the campus urging agitating teach-ers to withdraw their movements against the VC to keep congenial atmosphere on the cam-pus.

The tension was erupted on the SUST cam-pus on April 13 when 19 teachers from the physics department and geography and en-vironment department of the university went to hold a talk with the VC over space alloca-tion between the departments on April 13.

Prof Dr Syed Badiuzzaman Faruque, head of the physics department, and Prof Dr Sharif

Md Sharafuddin, head of the geography and environment science department, resigned on the same day following an altercation with the VC.

On April 20, thirty-� ve teachers resigned from di� erent administrative posts demanding removal of university vice-chancellor.

The teachers include Institute of Information Technology Director Prof Dr Muhammad Jafar Iqbal, Centre for Excellence Director Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus, Public Administration Department Head Prof Dr Abdul Awal Biswas, Students Guidance and Council Director Prof Dr Anwarul Islam and acting proctor Emdadul Haque.

On April 23, Vice-Chancellor Prof Aminul Haque Bhuiyan went on a two-month leave amid protest in the university in demand of his resignation. The decision was taken in a syndicate meeting. l

At least 56km of the 60km stretch of road from Fruit Research Centre area of Chapainawabganj town lies in tattered condition making it di� cult for pedestrians and vehicles to commute. With the monsoon rains, the road literally turns into a mud pond. Though repair work has been going on for the last one year, the work has been stalled for reasons unknown. The photo was taken at Noyagola Haat yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN

Wasa, DNCC and DC o� ce to work together to resolve water-loggingn Tribune Report

Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Author-ity (Wasa), Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Deputy Commissioners O� ce have agreed to work together to resolve the water-logging crisis in the capital, said a press release of Wasa.

The high-ups of the three government bod-ies took the decision after DNCC Mayor Ann-isul Huq, Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan and high o� cials of the DC O� ce vis-ited water-logged low lands in Mirpur in the capital yesterday.

Earlier, Mayor Annisul visited the capital’s West Nakhalpara on Saturday. During his vis-it, the local residents complained over the malodorous water supplied in the area. Fol-lowing the complaint, the mayor directed the Wasa authorities to take immediate initiatives to resolve the crisis of pure drinking water in the area.

Annisul also directed the o� cials of Wasa to solve the water logging issue immediately, according to the press release. l

NEWS 7D

T

WORLD8DTTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Hospitals kill services in S Korea MERS scare n AFP, Seoul

Two major hospitals in South Korea’s capital suspended services to patients yesterday in a bid to stop the spread of MERS after four new cases of the deadly virus were reported.

The new cases of Middle East Respirato-ry Syndrome included two who were in the same hospital ward as other patients with the potentially deadly virus, Seoul’s health min-istry said.

The others were a nurse at Samsung Med-ical Centre in Seoul – one of the epicentres of the outbreak – and a relative of a patient who was hospitalised for an unspeci� ed disease in a hospital in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, in early June.

Out of 179 people con� rmed to have caught MERS, � ve were infected through un-known transmission routes outside hospitals, which have until now been at the epicentre of the outbreak, the ministry said.

A total of 27 people have died in South Korea’s MERS outbreak – the largest outside Saudi Arabia – while about 3,100 people were

being held under quarantine at state facilities or at home.

Samsung hospital, where nearly 90 pa-tients, visitors and medical sta� have con-tracted the virus, declared a 10-day suspen-sion of most services on June 14 to stem the spread of the virus.

But as the number of new infections has continued to grow, authorities have decided to extend the partial shutdown “inde� nitely.”

The outbreak at the hospital, which be-longs to South Korea’s top conglomerate Samsung group, prompted heir apparent Jay Y Lee to publicly apologise for “causing great pain and concern” on Tuesday.

Another major Seoul hospital, Konkuk University Medical Centre, yesterday also stopped admitting new patients and perform-ing surgery after four cases were reported in recent days.

Almost all infections so far have taken place in hospitals and the World Health Or-ganization said it had found no evidence suggesting transmission of the virus outside hospital. l

International tribunal best bet for MH17 justice n Reuters, Amsterdam

The Netherlands is discussing with its allies an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of downing a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held eastern Ukraine last year, sources familiar with the discussions have told Reuters.

The chance of a successful prosecution is considered slim at best but the Dutch still hope that, by pushing for a UN-style court with the backing of Western allies, they could pressure Russia, whose role in the process is critical, into cooperating.

Of the 298 dead passengers and crew on Malaysia Airlines � ight MH17, two-thirds were Dutch. With the anniversary of the disaster looming on July 17, the government is under intense pressure to act from a public who mostly believe Russia either shot down the plane or supplied the rocket to those who did.

Two sources in the Netherlands, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the legal and political complexities of the case had per-

suaded it to focus on creating an internation-al court backed by the UN Security Council, once a multinational investigation � nishes and suspects are named.

Asked about the plan, a high-level Dutch gov-ernment o� cial who also declined to be named said: “A UN tribunal is the best option. We ex-pect that it will provide the greatest chance of cooperation from all countries involved.”ß

A trial in Ukraine itself appears a non-start-er, since the pro-Russian rebels are as un-likely to attend as the Russian government, which sympathises with and in� uences them but strenuously denies involvement in the in-cident or the rebellion.

And, while Dutch law provides a form of universal jurisdiction for war crimes, the downing of a civilian airliner during a civil war, possibly by mistake, is not a good legal � t. Malaysia, the � ight’s destination, is even farther from the crime scene.

Prosecutors have narrowed their focus to the theory that the plane was shot down by a Russian-built BUK surface-to-air missile � red from an area held by pro-Russian forces. l

750 dead in Pakistan heatwaven AFP, Karachi

The death toll from a heatwave in southern Pakistan rose to 750 yesterday, but the scorching weather showed signs of easing. A state of emergency is in force in hospitals.

Victims’ families have faced challenges in burying their dead, as grave-diggers have struggled to keep up with demand in the scorching heat.

This year’s heatwave has coincided with the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, during which millions of devout Pa-kistanis abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. Al-though it is illegal not to fast under Pakistan law, clerics have asked those at risk, including labourers, to break the fast if necessary. l

A man cools o� from a public tap after � lling bottles during intense hot weather in Karachi, Pakistan on Tuesday REUTERS

WORLD 9D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Six killed in Somalia Shebab attack on UAE embassy convoyn AFP, Mogadishu

Somalia’s Shebab insurgents killed at least six people yesterday in a suicide attack on a dip-lomatic convoy from the United Arab Emir-ates in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police and the Islamists said.

“We have con� rmed the death of six peo-ple, four of them civilians, while six others were also wounded, some seriously,” police o� cer Abdukadir Hassan told AFP.

He said no UAE diplomats were hurt in the attack, with the Somali security sta� es-corting them stopping the bomber with their truck as the blast went o� .

The Shebab said they carried out the at-tack, which is believed to be the � rst time the al-Qaeda a� liate has targeted the UAE in Somalia. The UAE is involved in a number

of security, infrastructure, development and humanitarian projects in Somalia.

“The mujahedeen � ghters... carried out a successful attack on a delegation from the apostate government of the United Arab Emirates,” said a Shebab statement posted on an extremist website.

“A suicide bomber rammed his car into the pick-up truck and there were casualties,” said Somali security o� cial Abdi Dahir. “There was a heavy explosion.”

“I saw the dead bodies of two people, and there were several wounded soldiers,” said Abdulahi Yasin, who saw the aftermath.

“The explosion was very heavy and it de-stroyed the pick-up truck,” said Hassan Bile, another witness.

United Nations envoy to Somalia, Nick Kay, condemned the “utterly cruel terror at-

tack against UAE in Somalia.”Kay said he had spoken to the UAE am-

bassador, Mohamed Al Osmani, who was not harmed in the attack.

Shebab attacks seek to counter claims that they are close to defeat after losing territory in the face of an AU and Somali government o� ensive, regular US drone strikes against their leaders and defections.

The militants have also carried out a string of revenge attacks in neighbouring countries – including the September 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capi-tal Nairobi, which left at least 67 people dead, and the April massacre of close to 150 stu-dents in Garissa in Kenya’s northeast.

Somalia has been wracked by instability since the collapse of Siad Barre’s hardline re-gime in 1991. l

French minister warns UK against ‘EU a la carte’n Reuters, London

Britain cannot expect to pick and choose the aspects of European Union membership that it likes and reject the rest in an “EU a la carte” system because that would undermine the entire union, French Economy Minister Em-manuel Macron told the BBC.

Prime Minister David Cameron is trying to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the 28-member bloc ahead of a referendum on whether to stay in or leave, due to be held by the end of 2017. Despite the Greek debt crisis, he is determined to use this week’s EU sum-mit to move those talks along.

“We have to be extremely cautious not to create a sort of EU a la carte,” Macron told the BBC in an interview aired yesterday.

“Creating more � exibility and more sim-plicity for all member states is � ne but start-ing to create more simplicity for one member state is just dismantling (of the EU),” he said.

Macron said the British rebate won by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, which he referred to as “the famous cheque,” had ended prospects for a common EU budget.

“I experienced the last negotiation of the budget. Everybody is asking for their cheque,” he said.

In his BBC interview, he said Britain could not expect to enjoy the bene� ts of EU mem-bership but bear none of the risks.

“It doesn’t � y. It’s a common responsibili-ty,” he said. l

China security law to cover space, sea and polar interestsn Reuters, Beijing

China will add its assets and activities in space, the deep sea and polar regions to its pending national security law, state me-dia said yesterday, the latest changes to the sweeping and controversial draft legislation.

President Xi Jinping, who heads a newly established national security commission, has said China’s security covers a wide array of are-as, including politics, culture, the military, the economy, technology and the environment.

But foreign business groups and diplomats have argued that the draft national securi-ty law, which could be adopted after a third reading over the next week by China’s top legislative committee, is too broad and vague.

“Harmful moral standards,” for example, would also be handled under the law, state me-dia said in April by the National People’s Con-gress standing committee, a group of about 200 members led by the ruling Communist Party.

China would therefore “peacefully explore and exploit” space, international sea bed ar-eas and polar regions, and strengthen the security of “activities, assets and other inter-ests” there, Xinhua said. It is unclear what the wording of the � nal law will cover.

China insists that its space programme has peaceful purposes. But the US Defense De-partment has highlighted its increasing space capabilities, saying it is pursuing aims to keep adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis. l

France summons US envoy over NSA spyingn Reuters, Paris

France summoned the US ambassador yes-terday to explain allegations by transparen-cy lobby group WikiLeaks of what President Francois Hollande branded “unacceptable” spying on successive French leaders.

The latest revelations of espionage among Western allies come after it emerged the US National Security Agency had spied on Germa-ny and that Germany’s own BND intelligence agency had cooperated with the NSA to spy on o� cials and companies elsewhere in Europe.

Hollande held an emergency meeting of his ministers and army commanders after revelations the NSA had spied on the last

three French presidents. Government spokes-man Stephane Le Foll said a senior French in-telligence o� cial would be dispatched to the United States to con� rm the spying is over.

“France will not tolerate actions that threaten its security and the protection of its interests,” a statement from the president’s o� ce said, adding it was not the � rst time that allegations of US spying on French inter-ests had surfaced.

The French Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador. After meeting Hollande, lawmakers told reporters the French lead-er had informed them he would speak with President Barack Obama later in the day.

A statement from the US National Security

Council said it was not targeting and would not target Hollande’s communications but did not say whether spying had taken place in the past.

“We have to verify this spying has � n-ished,” Le Foll told reporters, adding that ministers were told to be careful when speak-ing on their mobile phones. “Between allies this is unacceptable and incomprehensible. France does not spy on its allies.”

While Paris and Washington have good ties in general, UN Security Council veto-holder France � ercely maintains its independence on foreign policy and over the last two years there have been moments of friction and irri-tation on both sides. l

Soldiers patrol around the wreckage of a suicide car bomber that smashed into pickup truck carrying security o� cers yesterday in Mogadishu, in the latest in a string of attacks AFP

WORLD10DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Pakistan privacy activists slam UK hacking claimsn AFP, Islamabad

Pakistani rights campaigners and opposition lawmakers have urged Islamabad to protect the privacy of its citizens after leaked top-secret documents appeared to show Brit-ish intelligence had gained access to almost all the coun-try’s Internet users.

The revelations were based on a cache of � les from 2008 re-leased by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and reported by journalists Andrew Fishman and Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept, an online news outlet, this week.

In a document marked “TOP SECRET STRAP2 UK EYES ONLY” allegedly issued by Britain’s Government Commu-nications Headquarters (GCHQ), the spy agency discusses its computer network exploitation (CNE) and software re-verse engineering e� orts abroad.

“Capability against Cisco routers developed by this means has allowed a CNE presence on the Pakistan Inter-net Exchange which a� ords access to almost any user of the internet inside Pakistan,” it said, referring to a US tech-nology company that provides most of the world’s network infrastructure.

“Our presence on routers likewise allows us to re-route selected tra� c across international links towards GCHQ’s passive collection systems.”

Pakistan’s Digital Rights Foundation, a non-pro� t that cam-paigns for online privacy, said in a statement Tuesday: “This hacking operation, at a scale never previously seen before from the British intelligence agency, seriously undermines the right to privacy of all users of the internet in Pakistan.”

Sagheer Wattoo, a spokesman for the Information Com-munication Technology (ICT) ministry, said: “We are trying to ascertain the veracity of the report.”

Opposition lawmaker Syed Ali Raza Abidi, who is a member of a parliamentary committee on ICT, said Paki-stan should protest over “this intrusion amounting to in-fringement of the right of privacy of individuals and spying on the state.”

A spokesperson for the Britain’s High Commission in Islamabad meanwhile said: “We do not comment on intel-ligence issues.” l

More German women joining IS to � ghtn Reuters, Berlin

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency (BfV) fears a grow-ing number of women have gone to Iraq and Syria to � ght alongside Islamic State militants, its chief said yesterday.

Hans-Georg Maassen, the head of the agency, told re-porters in Berlin there had been a sharp increase in the number of young women under 25 leaving Germany to join the insurgents. He said that about 100 of the 700 Germans in combat areas were women and about half of those wom-en were under 25.

Similar trends showing more Western women joining Islamic State than earlier radical Islamist movements have been reported from other European countries with large Muslim minorities such as France and Britain.

“We’ve seen a rise in the number of women who fall for the increased appeal of the recruiting activities both on the Internet and through direct personal contacts,” Maassen said, adding the number of sympathisers in Germany had grown to about 7,500. “The threat is becoming increasingly complex.”

He said that about 100 people from Germany who joined the insurgents had been killed. He said there were indica-tions that the numbers of those killed had increased con-siderably since the start of 2015. About one-third of those who left Germany have returned and more than 50 of those had combat experience.

Last September, Chancellor Angela Merkel had said about 400 Germans and hundreds of other Europeans had trav-elled to the region to join the � ght alongside Islamic State. l

11D

TEDITORIALTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

INSIDE

We trust the diplomatic e� orts being undertaken by the government will help secure the safe and swift return of Naik Abdur Razzak, the BGB o� cer who was abducted by the Myanmar Border Guard Police on June 17.

It is in the interest of both our nations to resolve this matter quickly in order to help restore peaceful relations along our mutual border.

The actions by Myanmar’s border forces in shooting a BGB member and abducting Razzak last week were clearly in violation of border norms and the obligations of our two countries under the Vienna Convention. For some Myanmar border o� cials to then try and relate Razzak’s return to the wholly unrelated issue of repatriating people rescued from boats, only compounded the o� ense and undermined talks between our respective foreign ministries.

It is right that the Foreign Ministry summoned Myanmar’s Ambassador to strongly protest the incidents and to seek the early return of the abducted BGB o� cer.

The government needs to keep using diplomatic channels to help uphold Bangladesh’s sovereignty and ensure human rights and international norms are respected along our border with Myanmar.

Both Bangladesh and Myanmar have a mutual interest in ensuring a swift resolution. Myanmar’s government must realise it has nothing to gain internationally by escalating the matter.

Our governments must both work together to ensure there is no repeat of this type of incident and return normality and peace to our shared border.

Work together to ensure there is no repeat of this typeof incident

Myanmar must return Razzak to restore border peace

What makes a state Islamic?

Akbar Ali Khan: One of a kindI used to look up to him and try to grasp what this man was talking about. How is it that he understands everything about everything?

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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PAGE 12

PAGE 13

PAGE 14

Who are we to judge?We must be cautious about what we say because even if we mean well, our sharp remarks might draw people away from the path of religion instead of helping them onto the right track

So what makes a society, a country Is-lamic? The name? The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, or the Islamic Republic of Iran?

BIGSTOCK

OPINION12DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

n Ibtesam Abdullah

Although the constitution has never recognised Bangladesh as a Muslim country, the Muslim majority of the population always takes pride

in calling it so. Backed by the majority, the Muslim community generally overrules the other non-Muslim portion. And thus comes the month of Ramadan with a festive mood.

Now, think of this common scenario -- you’re sitting in a car with food in your hands, and it is the holy month of Rama-dan. You look around to make sure no one’s watching just so that you can savour that one juicy bite. Following that comes the sense of triumph when it successfully reaches your mouth without anyone noticing.

How many of us have been in that situ-ation? Eating in public is considered a blas-phemy during the sacred month. If you are a Muslim, you are expected to fast irrespective of what your reasons to not do so may be. If you are not a Muslim, you will still receive stares. And obviously, no one wishes to be a prey of judgment.

So, along with the holy month comes all sorts of awkwardness and tension. There is a list of “dos and don’ts” which everyone must follow. But why is that so? How is this month any di� erent from the others for individuals who are not Muslim? Deliberately or not, we are creating an uneasy environment for them.

In our constitutionally secular country, at least 85% of the population is Muslim. However, only a handful of them are strict

followers of Islam. But with the month of Ramadan comes a � ood of piousness all over the country. People start to pay more atten-tion towards their religion. Now, that’s a good thing isn’t it? But instead of being encour-aged, they are often criticised.

“Covering your head just for this month is not okay. Please don’t.” This is a thought that occurs in many of our heads. If someone is trying to do something positive, even if it’s something transitory, let’s not discourage them. Calling them hypocrites won’t do anyone any good.

During this holy month, women are often judged for trying to cover themselves up. And they are judged for not doing so. A girl has to think twice about her clothes before she goes outside. During this month, odious men get free VIP permits to comment out

loud on women’s dresses: “Roja-romjaner dine ki porse?” (What is she wearing during the month of Ramadan?) Hello! No one asked you to look if you are trying so hard to be pious. Even some of the elderly take pleasure in criticising women on what they

are wearing.One can’t expect others to change the way

they dress just because he or she is fasting. What does one’s virtue have to do with someone else’s attire? If we accuse people for not having respect for the holy month, we must remember that by doing so we are also not showing respect towards their morals, their beliefs, and the reasons behind their actions.

Have your headphones on? You will be judged. So, take them o� . “Pray, call for Allah’s help!” You will have guidance pouring

in from all around you, and they’ll probably sound more like commands. Every step you take will be judged. You will be talked about negatively if you start paying extra attention to your religion, so even that is not an option. So what are we supposed to do?

Recently, people have been commenting on how the number of people showing up for Friday Jumma prayers has drastically in-creased. The new supplicants were, without hesitation, instantly labeled as hypocrites. But who are we to criticise their actions? This month is supposed to bring out the best in us. We can do much better than this.

Ramadan is the month of peace, of understanding. We must be cautious about what we say because even if we mean well, our sharp remarks might draw people away from the path of religion instead of helping them onto the right track. We should also be considerate about people of other faiths and make them feel more at ease during this month. We shouldn’t try to make anyone who is not fasting feel uncomfortable. That is not what Islam teaches us.

To bring about any real change, we must � rst change ourselves. If you are criticising someone, then know that Islam certainly doesn’t approve of that. Everyone has a reason for what they do and what they say. Maybe if we think from a di� erent perspec-tive before we judge someone, we can all be better human beings. And thus, better Muslims. l

Ibtesam Abdullah is a freelance writer.

Who are we to judge?

Ramadan is the month of peace, of understanding. We must be cautious about what we say because even if we mean well, our sharp remarks might draw people away from the path of religion instead of helping them onto the right track

OPINION 13D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

n Mamun Rashid

Has something happened to Akbar Ali Khan? Of course not. He is very much alive, and we want him to be around for at least 30 more years,

if not more.This year, I am celebrating 25 years of my

acquaintance with Dr Akbar Ali Khan -- one of the faces of public service in Bangladesh, a true civil servant, a freedom � ghter, a change-maker, a committed teacher, and most importantly, a genuinely good soul. When you observe him, he seems like a small child, even at the age of 71.

I grew up under the shadow of Dr Khan. However, God was not as kind to me as he was to Akbar Ali Khan. I dare not claim to possess even a fraction of his wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and sagacity. Yet, we have been good friends for many years. I su� er from some kind of a melancholy if I don’t get to talk to him for a few weeks.

My public sector head role at ANZ Grindlays Bank in the early 90s made me close to him. I used to look up to him and try to grasp what this man was talking about. How is it that he understands everything about everything?

When he was the NBR chairman, I went to see him with my boss, Geo� Williams, from Standard Chartered Bank, to advocate for tax bene� ts for o� shore banking. The man gave us a speech about the entire tax scenario for o� shore banking in Malaysia, Taiwan, and Nassau in Latin America and sent us back with nothing to show for ourselves.

When he became the � nance secretary, Dr Khan called me one day and asked to help Bangladesh raise some foreign currency to support large transactions in state-owned

banks. While I was scratching my head to � gure out which desk at SCB would be ap-propriate for me to go to, Dr Khan told me: “I know one or two SCB franchises which have performed securitisation of inward remit-tance.” I was astonished. How is it that this one man knows so much?

After a few months, Dr Khan was talking about the discounting of overseas telephone call fees. I was not at all surprised. His eyes were like scanners. He is one of the fastest readers I have ever met. He would call me a

few months before the national budget and ask for a “half pager” on any industry sector such as ceramic, cables, leather goods, or local books export. A few more months down the line, and I could see some re� ections of those half-pagers in the national budget -- ei-ther tax had gone down or special incentives were announced.

This “old young man” has a subtle sense of humour. If you go through his articles, many of them have references to Nasirud-din Hojja! After attending the launching of his book Porarthoporotar Orthoniti, I asked Dr Khan: “Sir, how do you come up with all these subtle attempts at making fun?” He smiled and replied: “As the � nance secretary, I have to do so much dull, unpalatable, and monotonous work that having some fun is the only thing that keeps me from jumping out of a window.”

In a small study I had done, on what really helped Bangladesh come up to where it is today, I remember interviewing dozens of civil servants, university teachers, and political leaders who worked very closely with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and Ziaur Rahman, many of them having fought for our independence as well.

It was evident that a few North America-educated civil servants, a few of those also being freedom � ghters, played a signi� cant role in the transformation and growth of Bangladesh’s economy. Akbar Ali khan was not only one such individual, but he played a pivotal role during this transformation process, driving the economy to a more competitive pre-take-o� stage.

During the 1998 � ood, while Grameen Bank was facing a cash crunch, Akbar Ali Khan gave me two books on Grameen Bank’s success and on Professor Yunus, and asked me to courier them to our risk seniors in London.

He got our seniors to grant a special support funding of Tk500m to Grameen Bank. I could write a few thousand words on Dr Khan’s contribution to wherever he was posted in order to serve this nation, and whatever task he was assigned, be it Water Resources Ministry, PATC, the � nance division, the cabinet division, the World Bank, or even during a short stint with the caretaker government.

I remember publishing a critique of his book Porarthoporotar Orthoniti in a vernac-ular daily. When his book Ajob o Jobor-Ajob Orthoniti was published, he probably expected the same. I was late in reading that book, but when I did, it felt as if I had taken the best bath of my life -- so refreshing, so revealing, and so diverse was Dr Khan’s deep-dive understanding of what was happening around him.

Wait a year or two more, and we will be getting another really meaningful, deeply-analysed, and thought-provoking book from him, as his recently published Gresham’s Law Syndrome and Beyond has proven. Who says he is ill? With his mental fortitude he can run a 100m sprint. He is truly one of a kind. Keep on going, Dr Khan. l

Mamun Rashid is a business professor and � nancial sector entrepreneur.

Akbar Ali Khan: One of a kind

My public sector head role at ANZ Grindlays Bank in the early 90s made me close to him. I used to look up to him and try to grasp what this man was talking about. How is it that he understands everything about everything?

Akbar Ali Khan is still sharp as ever FOCUS BANGLA

OPINION14DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

n Azeem Ibrahim

What is it for someone to be a Muslim? What is it for a society, or indeed a state, to be Islamic? These are questions that have

been fermenting in the background of Islam since the � rst Caliphs, at least since the Khari-jite schism, the � rst time Islam split, and di� erent sections of Islam started applying tak� r (or excommunication) to each other.

But it seems that we are living in an age in which these questions once again will come to dominate the agenda in the Muslim world, to a level it has done only a handful of times before. The rise of radical Islamism, and the jihadist world-view of “us vs them,” “true Muslims” vs “crusaders, Jews, and apos-tates” (ie anyone you might call a moderate Muslim), has seen to that.

And I have said many times before that if these people seek to appropriate Islam for their demented political goals, then we Muslims have no choice but to take up this question ourselves: Who is a true Muslim? I do not claim to have an ultimate, exclusive answer, but I do know that ISIS are not it. Nor is their state anything you might call Islamic.

How do I know? I urge you to look up the Constitution of Medina, the treaty by which the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) established the � rst Islamic State -- the actual Islamic state, which ISIS supposedly “harkens back” to. If you can � nd one state in the world at the moment that is less like Prophet Muham-mad’s state in Medina than ISIS, please get in touch with me immediately.

But in the meantime, I, like many other Muslims, am left re� ecting now, at the start of the month of Ramadan, how we ever allowed this gang of criminals and psycho-pathic murderers appropriate the name of “peace” (ie Islam). How it ever came to be that misguided mothers could voluntarily take their children into ISIS territory, simply because it calls itself “Islamic,” even as millions of refugees are driven out by the barbarism and brutality of this gang.

So what makes a society, a country Islamic? The name? The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, or the Islamic Republic of Iran? Many Shiites or Ahmadis in Pakistan would disagree, as the state routinely and systemat-ically fails to protect them against sectarian violence from Sunni extremist groups.

Or is a country Islamic if they have ma-jority Muslim population, like Turkey, even when the constitution of that country claims that the state is secular? Or is it if they enact some variant of Sharia law, even if Sharia law has more schools of jurisprudence that are conceptually further apart than the An-glo-Saxon common law?

Measures of justiceThere is a prophetic tradition that says, roughly: “Wherever you will � nd justice, that is the Sharia of Allah.” In other words, the Sharia, the law of God, is simply justice. And a state is Islamic to the extent to which it is just. Speci� cally, to the extent to which it treats all people equally, grants equal rights and freedom of conscience, and protects the weak and vulnerable against abuses by the

strong, wealthy, and powerful.So what countries would we say are

Islamic then? Clearly not ISIS, where the rape and murder of the weak and vulnerable is de rigueur. As it happens, all so-called Muslim countries in the world today are doing rather badly by measures of Islamic justice.

According to a survey by a US academic on which countries best promote the funda-mental Islamic values which must be the bedrock of any Islamic society, as de� ned by the Sharia, values such fairness, equal opportunity, care for the weak, vulnerable, and minorities, equality of justice, freedom of religion, preservation of family and wealth etc, the best ranked Muslim country in the world, Malaysia, comes in at number 33.

The only other country in the top 50,

Kuwait, comes in at number 48. Most other counties, especially those who are very keen to call themselves “Islamic,” are doing very, very poorly indeed.

The most Islamic country in the world then? Ireland. Yes, Ireland which epitomises all the Islamic values as de� ned by the Sharia. Where you can be a Muslim, of any sect or confession, or indeed any other religion, where you can practice your creed freely regardless of your doctrinaire preferences, unlike in most so-called Muslim countries today, and very much in keeping with the Qur’anic rules of a just society, and where you have to opportunity to live and prosper in mainstream society whatever your background -- or at least certainly more than you would if you were from an unfortunate

minority in any Muslim-majority country today.

The other countries in the top 10 are Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, Finland, Norway, and Belgium.

In the late 19th century, the Egyptian Islamic jurist and later Grand Mufti of Egypt, Mohammad Abduh, travelled to the West. Upon his return he noted: “I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam.” And today, this observation stands truer than ever. Islamic justice, the Sharia of Allah, is not something one can � nd in any Muslim-majority country today.

You may � nd the suggestion that Ireland is the most Islamic country in the world peculiar. If you are of a speci� c inclination, you may even � nd it o� ensive. Fine. But no matter what your persuasion, no matter how you’ve been a� ected by identity politics lately, you cannot argue that ISIS is in any way, shape, or form “Islamic.” It is the very antithesis of the word. l

Azeem Ibrahim is a Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College and Lecturer in International Security at the University of Chicago. He tweets @AzeemIbrahim. This article � rst appeared on Al Arabiya News.

What makes a state Islamic?

So what makes a society, a country Islamic? The name? The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, or the Islamic Republic of Iran?

Though it has its own share of mosques, could Ireland be the most Islamic country in the world?

15D

TBusiness THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

World � nancial fears keep Asia � rms in holding pattern

17 Stocks fall for 5th session 19

India unveils plan to boost cashless economy

16Securities regulator unveils venture capital norms

20

NRBC Bank asked to revoke directorship of Sakhi n Jebun Nesa Alo

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has asked the NRB Commercial Bank to revoke directorship of KamrunNaharSakhi due to her becoming a loan defaulter.

The decision was made at a recent meeting held between Bangladesh Bank and three oth-er NRB banks-NRB Commercial, NRB Global and NRB Bank. The meeting was held at the central bank headquarters in the city on Tues-day with Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur-Rahman in the chair.

Managing Director and Chairmen of the three banks attended the meeting.

A report on the bank loan status of Sakhi was presentedat the meeting on behalf of the Banking Regulation and Policy Department

(BRPD) of the Bangladesh Bank at the meeting. According to the report, Sakhi is the direc-

tor of two companies-Mishmak Development and Mishmak Land Development.

The chairman of the two companies is Sakhi’s husband MizanurRahmanShahinwho took huge loans against their companies and became defaulter.

As Sakhi holds 10% share of the two default-ed companies, she has also become the de-faulter and lost eligibility to hold the director-ship any further as per the bank company act.

Sakhi, who holds 2.99% share in NRB Com-mercial Bank, lives in Canada.

MizanurRahman and his brother Mojibur-Rahman have also � ed the country, taking loans of Tk1,000 crore from local nine banks. All the loans are now defaulted.

The meeting also discussed the high lend-ing and deposit rates of NRB banks. Bangla-desh Bank has advised the three banks to bring the interest rate to a ra-tional level.

Though the banks secured their license against the com-mitment of launching varie-ty of products to encourage non-residents of investing in Bangladesh, they have failed to do as per expectation of BB.

The governor suggested the banks to launch more new products to encourage more foreign investors as well as non-residents and facilitate the remitters. l

RMG still key to Bangladesh economy n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi

The readymade garments industry is still fun-damental to the prospects of the Bangladesh economy, said a UNTACD report.

“The RMG industry has been the major driver of the country’s economic develop-ment in recent decades and is still fundamen-tal to the prospects of the Bangladesh econo-my,” said the World Investment Report 2014, which has been published yesterday globally.

The industry is considered the “next stop” for developed-country TNCs that are moving sourcing away from China. Such opportunity is essential for development as Bangladesh needs to create jobs for its growing labour force, the report said.

With the prediction of further growth in the industry and the willingness of devel-oped-country � rms to source from Bangla-desh, the picture on the demand side seems promising, it added.

According to the report, the sector needs to address constraints on the supply side – its poor infrastructure continues to deter invest-ment in general and FDI in particular. While at the � rm level, one issue concerns the need for better compliance with labour legislation as illustrated by several tragedies in the coun-try’s garment industry.

Besides strengthening such compliance, the industry needs to develop its capabilities, not only by consolidating strengths in basic garment production but also by diversifying into higher-value activities along the RMG value chain, the report mentioned.

Currently, Bangladesh’s garment � rms compete predominantly on price and capaci-ty. The lack of su� cient skills remains a major constraint, and both domestic and foreign-in-vested � rms needed to boost their e� orts in this regard, it added.

A recent UNCTAD study shows the domi-nance of basic and on-the-job training, which links directly to established career trajectories within � rms. However, high labour turnover hampers skill development at the � rm level. l

FDI in� ow declines by about 5%

n Tribune Report

Foreign direct investment (FDI) � ow into Bangladesh has gone down by 4.74% in 2014, says the World Investment Report launched by UNCTAD.

The report was unveiled in Bangladesh by the Board of Investment (BoI) yesterday.

According to the report launched globally in 41 locations on June 24, the FDI in� ow into the country amounted to $1.53bn last year.

The � ndings on international investment trends show that the FDI in� ows decreased by 4.7% compared to $1.6bn in 2013.

However, the report found that the devel-oping countries increased their global share of FDI in� ows to a record level of 54%, and developing Asia attracted more inward FDI than that of either the EU or the United States.

The developing Asia remains the number one investment destination with total FDI in� ows of $426bn in 2013, which accounts for nearly 30% of the global total. It also remains the world’s number one recipient region, the report added.

As investors, developing and transition-al countries have been steadily increasing

their investments abroad and last year they accounted for a record 39% of global FDI out-� ows - up from just 12% in the early 2000s.

The report outlined a strategic framework for private investment in the sustainable de-velopment goals, which addresses a number of challenges facing private investment in de-veloping countries.

It also proposed an action plan presenting a range of policy options and a focused set of pol-icy packages that can help shape a big push for private investment in sustainable development.

The report said corridors linking South Asia and East and South-East Asia are be-ing established – the Bangladesh-China-In-dia-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the Chi-na-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

“This will help enhance connectivity be-tween Asian subregions and provide oppor-tunities for regional economic cooperation. The initiatives are likely to accelerate infra-structure investment and improve the overall business climate in South Asia.”

“We expected that the FDI would increase as all the conditions of foreign investment have been eased,” said SA Samad, executive

chairman of Board of Investment (BoI). He said there was no reason behind the decline of FDI in the country.

The report does not re� ect the actual pic-ture of investment in Bangladesh, said PM’s Energy Adviser Taw� q-e-Elahi Chowdhury while addressing as the chief guest at the un-veiling ceremony of the report.

“There are more investments beyond the index that has been calculated in the report,” SA Samad said.

Hanif lambasts BoI Ruling party lawmaker Mahbubul Alam Hanif yesterday told parliament that the Board of Investment (BoI) had failed to attract foreign investment in the country.

“The BoI has miserably failed to create en-vironment and implement policy to attract FDI,” he said while participating in the budget discussion.

Hanif asked Finance Minister AMA Muhith to reshu� e the BoI with “competent and pa-triotic people.” He alleged that the govern-ment failed to provide necessary gas connec-tions to industrial units. l

Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM)Economic Corridor

China-PakistanEconomic Corridor

Kunming

PLANNED ECONOMIC CORRIDORS

BUSINESS16DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

India unveils plan to boost cashless economy, tackle tax fraud n Reuters, New Delhi

India has unveiled plans to cut transaction costs for electronic payments, to spur retail-ers and consumers to use less cash, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to pull more people into the formal economy an d boost public revenue.

India is among the most cash-intensive economies in the world, with a cash-to-GDP ratio of 12%, almost four times that of mar-kets such as Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, global payments company MasterCard esti-mates.

Many small Indian businesses and con-sumers now prefer cash, to avoid high trans-action costs of up to 3% on electronic pay-ments, as well as to escape sales tax.

In a draft proposal posted on the � nance ministry website late on Monday, the gov-ernment recommended tax concessions to reduce the cost of credit, debit and online payments. The proposals will be implement-ed gradually after June 29.

If successful in increasing card payments, the new measures will be a boost for global and debit card companies MasterCard, Visa and American Express, as well as domestic ri-val RuPay and mobile payment banks.

“It is a big economic reform of the Modi government that will ease conducting busi-ness by consumers and merchants,” said AP Hota, chief executive of RuPay’s parent, the National Payment Corp of India (NPCIL).

NPCIL, with 165 million cards, expects a jump in business once transaction costs are

lowered, including those on state-run Indian Railways and retail petrol pumps, he said.

Modi is also rolling out banking services for all households and shifting the payment of state subsidies into people’s bank accounts, moves intended to deepen the � nancial sys-tem and deter fraud.

Finance Ministry o� cials said the central bank and telecom operators had already been consulted on the new plan.

“The scheme aims to make the life of con-sumers easier,” said � nance ministry spokes-man DS Malik.

One proposal is to o� er sales tax rebates of 1 to 2 percentage points to merchants who re-port at least half of their transactions through online payments.

Consumers could get an income tax rebate for electronic payment of a proportion of their expenses, the draft said. l

A credit card user displays her cards in Washington REUTERS

Amazon to pay self-published authors based on pages readn Reuters

It could soon pay more to write lengthier books, if you are an author self-publishing on Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle ebook platform.

Starting next month, the e-commerce giant will pay independent authors based on the number of pages read, rather than the num-ber of times their book has been borrowed.

The move is aimed at authors enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing platform – which lets authors set list prices, decide rights and edit the book at any time – and is applicable to eb-ooks made available via the Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library programs.

Self-publishing has transformed what it means to be an author. Simply uploading a document and adding a cover layout to it can turn anyone into a published writer on ebook platforms such as Kindle and Smashwords.

Amazon said on Monday the move would better align payout with the length of books and how much customers read.

“We’re making this switch in response to great feedback we received from authors,” Amazon said on its self-publishing portal.

Amazon uses a complex method to deter-mine payments for independent authors - payouts are based on a fund, the size of which is set by Amazon every month.

Under the new plan, authors will get a share of the fund proportionate to the num-ber of pages read.

While independent authors have largely embraced Amazon’s self-publishing platform, the company has in the past been involved in bitter � ghts with large publishers. l

Le Méridien Dhaka, city’s newest hotel has recently hosted a celebratory iftar meh� l with the children of Baitul Aman Housing Society Madrasah & Orphanage. Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Rashed Khan Menon presided over the event as chief guest along with hotel’s chairperson Amin Ahmed Dhaka Regency has recently donated cash to Khilkhet Bottola Islamia Madrasah and Atimkhana

through holding an enchanting iftar evening at the hotel for the orphans and less fortunate children. Executive director of Shahid Hamid was present on the occasion among others

Mercantile Bank Limited has recently held a conference with head of Dhaka region branches. The bank’s chairperson, Al-Haj Akram Hussain inaugurated the conference as chief guest while its MD and CEO, M Ehsanul Haque presided over the conference

Square Pharma meets US FDA’s standardn Tribune Business Desk

Square Pharmaceuticals Limited has ful� lled US FDA (United States Food and Drug Admin-istration) set standard at manufacturing solid dosage form, according to a recent establish-ment inspection report.

Manufacturing and Quality Assurance system of the oral solid dosage facilities of Square Pharma located at Gazipur was audited in accordance with the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR : Food & Drugs) of United Stated of America, said a press re-lease. l

BUSINESS 17D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

World � nancial fears keep Asia � rms in holding patternn Reuters, Sydney

Sentiment at some of Asia’s biggest � rms has deteriorated as a slowing Chinese econo-my, Greek sovereign debt crisis and looming US interest rate hike create deepening con-cern about the state of the world economy, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed.

The Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Busi-ness Sentiment Index fell to 70 for the June quarter, from 71 in March and 74 in the same period last year. A reading over 50 indicates an overall positive view.

Though gradual, the decline suggests the wait-and-see approach of top businesses is evolving from a passing phase to ingrained cautiousness as questions persist about the structural soundness of economies in China, Europe and the United States.

“Progress in some areas is compensated by increasing risks in another,” said INSEAD Pro-fessor Antonio Fatas.

“There is increasing concern for China and possibly for other emerging markets in the region as the U.S. Federal Reserve starts raising rates. There is no great excitement to compensate for the risks of the region and the broader world economy.”

Companies in India recorded the steepest fall in con� dence, logging 84 from 97 in the previous quarter, as fervour over the elec-tion of pro-business Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi last year gives way to anxiety about whether two rate cuts this year can reignite a sluggish economy. The biggest gainer was Thailand, scoring 94 versus 79, as � rms ad-

justed to the disruption of a May 2014 military coup as well as two rate cuts which the central bank said had stabilised the economy.

Chinese � rms were the least optimistic for the � rst time in nine quarters, with a score near � at at 55. The world’s second-largest economy so far this year has grown its slowest in over half a decade dogged by concerns of a property bubble and soft data on retail sales, industrial output and � xed asset investment.

Thomson Reuters and global business school INSEAD conducted the poll from June

8 to 20. Of 117 respondents, 40% were posi-tive - from 45% in the previous quarter - while 60% were neutral. None were negative.

The biggest risk respondents cited was global economic uncertainty, followed by ris-ing costs. Other risks included regulatory un-certainty and rising competition.

Property bubbleProperty saw the steepest fall in sentiment of any sector, scoring 77 from 88. Record-low in-terest rates lifted demand, but a consequent

surge in prices has led to speculation that the sector has become over-valued.

Adding to concerns is the impact on de-mand of the � rst Fed rate hike in a decade, which is widely expected in September.

“Normally property sentiment goes down when interest rates start to go up, and we ha-ven’t seen any of that,” said AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver.

“This is a global phenomenon where we’ve got very low interest rates and that’s helped buoy property markets and development ac-tivity, but by the same token there’s been a lot of talk that property bubbles might rein� ate.”

The building sector meanwhile latched onto immediate demand spawned by low rates, recording the survey’s brightest outlook of 86, from 79. Unlike property developers, builders are less susceptible to � uctuation in property retail prices.

The shipping, � nance and auto sectors logged the lowest readings of 56, 57 and 58 respectively. Financials comprised a quarter of respondents citing global economic un-certainty as a risk, followed by technology � rms which made up a � fth. Nick Hawkins, chief � nancial o� cer at survey respondent Insurance Australia Group Ltd, the country’s largest general insurer, said his � rm’s plans to grow in China, India and Southeast Asia won’t be a� ected by a decline in sentiment.

“We really see our investment and our strategy into those markets as a long-term venture so I don’t think any slow-downs or (changes to) current economic conditions are really impacting our views.” l

O� ce workers are seen though the window of a skyscraper in central Tokyo REUTERS

Euro drops as investors wait for Greek dealn AFP, Tokyo

The euro slipped with investors adjusting po-sitions as they waited for new developments in Greek debt talks.

The common European currency fell to $1.1273 and 139.48 yen in Tokyo from $1.1340 and 139.92 yen in New York late Monday.

The dollar rose to 123.72 yen from 123.38 yen in US trade.

The euro was underpinned by optimism that Greece would secure a bailout deal with its o� cial creditors.

Nonetheless the prospect that the Europe-an Central Bank will continue to stick to its massive easing programme highlights its poli-cy divergence with the US central bank, which is moving towards an interest rate hike.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index was up 1.40 percent in mid-afternoon trade, reach-ing its highest intraday level in more than 15 years.

Greece o� ered economic reforms in ex-change for the last payment of 7.2bn euros from the current aid programme.

Without that money, Greece may not be able to make a 1.5bn euro repayment to the

IMF due on June 30, risking a default and pos-sible chaotic exit from the eurozone.

After an emergency summit in Brussels, eurozone leaders ordered their � nance min-isters to hold fresh talks on Wednesday to thrash out the details ahead of a full meeting of all 28 European Union leaders today.

“The next focal point will be Thursday, but that won’t stop the stream of headlines, and the subsequent market twists and turns as it tries to make sense of it all,” Emma Lawson, senior currency strategist at National Austral-ia Bank, said in a note.

The dollar was largely higher against other Asia-Paci� c currencies.

It rose to 1,105.13 South Korean won from 1,098.70 won on Monday, to 63.63 Indian ru-pees from 63.46 rupees, and to 45.14 Philip-pine pesos from 45.00 pesos.

The dollar also � rmed to 33.75 Thai baht from 33.63 baht, to Sg$1.3393 from Sg$1.3306 and to Tw$30.83 from Tw$30.72.

The greenback fell to 13,256 Indonesian ru-piah from 13,302 rupiah.

The Australian dollar dropped to 77.06 US cents from 77.84 cents, while the Chinese yuan edged up to 19.90 yen from 19.76 yen. l

Google opens News Lab to sharpen journalism skills n AFP, San Francisco

Google on Monday launched an online lab where journalists can learn or sharpen Inter-net Age reporting skills.

The News Lab mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to apply technology innovations to reporting news, lab director Steve Grove said, in a blog post.

“From Maps to YouTube to Fusion Tables to Earth to Search, we o� er many tools that newsrooms can use in their reporting and sto-rytelling,” Grove said.

“Now, journalists around the world can ac-cess tutorials on these products created spe-ci� cally for newsrooms.”

O� erings at the News Lab home page online at newslab.withgoogle.com included lessons in research, reporting, distribution, and using analytics tools. Google was also working with partners on programs “focused on imagining the future of news and information, as well as on empowering new voices in the media.”

Partners included the Hacks/Hackers grassroots network of journalists and tech-nologists with a stated mission of re-imagin-ing the future of news reporting.

“As both the media landscape and tech-nology continue to evolve, we believe we can create a more informed world if technologists and journalists work together,” Grove said.,

News Lab was billed as a global e� ort launched with teams in Britain, France, Ger-many and the United States.

YouTube last week announced plans for a “newswire” of eyewitness videos and a sepa-rate project on videos related to social justice and human rights.

In partnership with the social news group Storyful, the YouTube Newswire will be “a cu-rated feed of the most newsworthy eyewitness videos of the day, which have been veri� ed by Storyful’s team of editors,” a blog post from the Google-owned video sharing service said.

“With the Newswire, we hope to provide journalists with an invaluable resource to dis-cover news video around major events, and to highlight eyewitness video that o� ers new perspectives on important news stories.”

The initiative will draw on user-contrib-uted videos on YouTube such as those which have been important sources for events such as the Arab Spring uprisings and protests in Ferguson, Missouri. l

BUSINESS18DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

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

Bank 183.11 4.91 15.23 5.09 198.34 4.93NBFI 65.66 1.76 5.22 1.74 70.87 1.76Investment 83.54 2.24 4.82 1.61 88.36 2.19Engineering 389.89 10.46 38.36 12.83 428.25 10.63Food & Allied 108.52 2.91 9.40 3.14 117.92 2.93Fuel & Power 537.74 14.42 35.89 12.00 573.63 14.24Jute 1.47 0.04 0.00 1.47 0.04Textile 477.38 12.81 40.43 13.52 517.81 12.86Pharma & Chemical 925.10 24.81 51.37 17.18 976.47 24.25Paper & Packaging 24.03 0.64 4.54 1.52 28.58 0.71Service 95.58 2.56 5.19 1.74 100.77 2.50Leather 40.58 1.09 5.23 1.75 45.81 1.14Ceramic 45.94 1.23 2.36 0.79 48.29 1.20Cement 251.20 6.74 23.25 7.77 274.45 6.81Information Technology 22.56 0.61 3.17 1.06 25.73 0.64General Insurance 16.71 0.45 0.36 0.12 17.07 0.42Life Insurance 33.85 0.91 1.99 0.67 35.84 0.89Telecom 137.73 3.69 15.30 5.11 153.03 3.80Travel & Leisure 109.42 2.94 15.04 5.03 124.46 3.09Miscellaneous 178.05 4.78 21.88 7.32 199.92 4.96Debenture 0.02 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.05 0.00

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

News, analysis and recent disclosueresUPGDCL: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors has taken the following decisions: 1. That the Compa-ny (UPGDCL) has decided to enhance its capacity by acquiring United Ashuganj Power Ltd. (UAPL) -a 53 MW gas � red power plant and Shajahanullah Power Generation Co. Ltd. (SPGCL) a 28 MW gas � red power plant after completion of necessary formalities and ap-provals2. That the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Placed to the Board in order to acquire UAPL and SPGCL by UPGDCL be and is hereby approved. 3. That the acquisition will be executed using UPGDCL’s own fund without issuing any further share. The Company has decided to take all necessary steps to achieve successful acquisition of the power companies within 90 days.BDSERVICE: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on June 29, 2015 at 4:00 PM to consider, among others, audited � nancial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2014.MHSML: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to purchase a Printing Project with value of Tk. 90.90 million. That will be considered as printing project of Moza� ar Hossain Spinning Mills Limited from which turnover and net pro� t will be Tk. 200.00 million and Tk. 80.00 million respec-

tively i.e. more than 25% pro� t will increase of the Company with e� ect from October 2015.CNW: Trading of the shares of Olympic Accessories Limited will commence on June 25, 2015 at DSE under ‘N’ category. DSE Trading Code for Olympic Acces-sories Limited is “OAL” and DSE Company Code is 13239.FAMILYTEX: (Q1 Un-audited): Net Pro� t after tax from Jan’15 to March’15 was Tk. 224.45 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.81 as against Tk. 321.40 million and Tk. 1.16 respectively for the same period of the previous year. However, considering proposed bonus share @ 10% for the year 2014, restated basic EPS will be Tk. 0.73 as on 31.03.2015 and Tk. 1.05 as on 31.03.2014.Dividend/AGMNATLIFEINS: 45% cash , AGM: 09.08.2015, Record Date: 30.06.2015.RUPALILIFE: 10% stock, AGM: 10.08.2015, Record Date: 09.07.2015.ASIAINS: 10% cash, AGM: 11.07.2015, Record Date: 23.06.2015.LAFSURCEML: 5% interim cash. Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 02.07.2015.FAMILYTEX: 10% stock divi-dend, EGM & AGM: 07.08.2015, Record Date: 09.07.2015.KPCL: 40% cash, AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 31.05.2015.BDWELDING: 5% stock divi-dend AGM: 25.06.2015, Record Date: 09.06.2015.NBL: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 14.09.2015, Record date: 30.08.2015.

CSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

H.R. Textile -A 10.00 10.00 22.00 22.00 22.00 22.00 0.026 0.86 25.6Grameen M F One-A 10.00 9.65 23.07 23.10 23.10 23.00 0.242 1.50 15.4Monno Ceramic -B 9.96 9.96 28.70 28.70 28.70 28.70 0.013 0.16 179.4Anlima Yarn -A 9.55 11.26 21.73 21.80 21.80 20.50 0.452 0.83 26.2Sinobangla Indu.-A 8.80 8.14 23.64 23.50 23.70 22.90 1.576 0.62 38.1Miracle Industries -B 8.28 6.82 15.81 15.70 15.90 15.30 1.766 0.36 43.9AIMS First -A 7.78 8.15 27.33 27.70 27.90 24.50 1.349 1.70 16.1Ifad Autos -N 7.25 7.81 111.46 112.50 113.50 104.00 4.122 2.60 42.9B I F C -A 6.03 4.72 12.20 12.30 12.60 11.70 0.192 1.41 8.7AsianTigerSandhani GF-A 5.71 4.04 7.46 7.40 7.60 7.30 0.181 0.60 12.4

DSE GAINER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

AIMS First -A 9.96 9.43 27.49 27.60 27.60 25.80 15.202 1.70 16.2H.R. Textile -A 9.91 8.50 23.10 23.30 23.30 21.50 6.741 0.86 26.9BD Fixed Income MF-A 9.72 10.66 7.89 7.90 7.90 7.30 1.128 0.51 15.5Anlima Yarn -A 9.55 10.61 21.68 21.80 21.80 20.30 13.660 0.83 26.1Ifad Autos -N 8.05 6.70 110.56 112.80 113.10 104.80 144.662 2.60 42.5Sinobangla Indu.-A 7.80 7.74 23.53 23.50 23.90 22.00 27.709 0.62 38.0Stylecraft -A 7.50 10.50 1,048.70 1,048.10 1,048.10 1,041.00 0.603 44.44 23.6Kay & Que (BD) -Z 7.44 7.60 12.88 13.00 13.00 12.60 0.098 0.28 46.0Rangpur Dairy-Z 7.26 6.79 13.22 13.30 13.60 12.30 4.638 0.80 16.5Miracle Industries -B 6.85 6.75 15.81 15.60 16.00 14.90 19.752 0.36 43.9

CSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Dacca Dyeing-A -8.52 -5.96 16.56 16.10 17.50 16.00 1.322 0.84 19.7National Housing Fin.-B -7.98 -7.90 21.92 21.90 22.00 21.80 0.054 1.32 16.6Asia Insur. Ltd.-A -6.47 -3.59 16.39 15.90 17.00 15.80 0.113 0.92 17.8Rupali InsurA -5.78 -5.78 16.30 16.30 16.30 16.30 0.002 2.60 6.3Provati Insur.-A -5.00 -4.86 13.32 13.30 13.50 13.00 0.009 1.84 7.2Sun Life Insurance-N -5.00 -4.85 30.40 30.40 30.40 30.40 0.006 0.00 -Rupali Bank - A -4.75 -3.37 40.10 40.10 40.10 40.10 0.008 5.84 6.9Mercantile Insur -A -4.65 -4.65 12.30 12.30 12.30 12.30 0.001 2.36 5.2Shurwid Ind. -N -4.48 -3.70 21.88 21.30 23.40 21.10 1.093 0.53 41.3Nitol Insurance -A -4.44 -4.44 21.50 21.50 21.50 21.50 0.020 3.14 6.8

DSE LOSER

Company Closing (% Change)

Aver-age (%

Change)

Closin-gAvg. Closing DHIGH DLOW Turnover

in MillionLatest

EPSLatest

PE

Asia Insur. Ltd.-A -9.77 -7.31 15.97 15.70 16.50 15.70 1.634 0.92 17.4Dacca Dyeing-A -8.00 -6.77 16.53 16.10 17.30 15.90 13.077 0.84 19.77th ICB M F-A -7.96 -7.53 86.00 85.60 85.60 85.50 0.086 9.73 8.8Progressive Life-A -7.54 -7.33 55.27 55.20 59.00 54.00 0.380 2.30 24.0Rahima Food -Z -6.76 -4.82 33.56 33.10 36.70 32.70 0.818 -0.47 -veParamount Insur-A -5.22 -4.11 12.84 12.70 13.20 12.60 0.480 1.32 9.7Shurwid Ind. -N -4.95 -5.28 21.52 21.10 22.60 20.90 8.727 0.53 40.6EBL NRB M.F.-A -4.26 -8.94 4.28 4.50 4.60 4.40 0.004 0.61 7.0Zahintex Ind.-N -3.90 -3.28 15.02 14.80 15.30 14.50 4.759 1.03 14.6Nitol Insurance -A -3.85 -4.08 22.56 22.50 23.60 22.00 0.856 3.14 7.2

DSE key features June 24, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

3,728.07

Turnover (Volume)

99,415,909

Number of Contract

93,163

Traded Issues 317

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

121

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

185

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

11

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,507.27

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.39

CSE key features June 24, 2015Turnover (Million Taka)

299.05

Turnover (Volume)

10,158,773

Number of Contract

14,839

Traded Issues 233

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

75

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

151

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,433.19

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.49

BUSINESS 19D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Stocks fall for 5th session n Tribune Report

Stocks continued to slide for the � fth straight session yes-terday with further decline in volume of trade.

The benchmark of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, declined 32 points or 0.8% to close at 4,457 – its lowest since June 14 last.

The Shariah index, DSES, was down 7 points or 0.7% to 1,092. However, the blue chip comprising index DS30 shed 16 points or almost 1% to 1,717. The Chittagong Stock Exchange prime in-dex, CSCX, settled at 8,370, losing more than 50 points.

After improving two ses-sions, trading activities went down as the DSE turnover that stood at over nearly Tk373 crore, down 14% over the previous day, indicating that investors were cautious in taking part in trading.

Following the news of US Food and Drug Administra-tion (FDA) approval of oral solid dosage facilities of the country’s two leading drug makers – Beximco Pharma-ceuticals and Square Phar-maceuticals – dominated the trading.

Beximco Pharma that fell 2.5% was the most traded stocks with shares worth more than Tk19 crore and Square Pharmaceuticals that gained almost 1% was the fourth most traded stocks.

ICB mutual funds did not make any signi� cant reac-tion to the news that all the ICB-managed mutual funds would have to be wrapped up by this year. However, two other mutual funds AIMS First Mutual Fund and Grameen First Mutual Fund jumped 10% and 6% respec-tively.

Cement sector was the worst loser declining almost 2%, led by Lafarge Surma Ce-ment that was down 3.4% after rising in the previous session following its 10% cash dividend (5% interim and 5% � nal) deceleration for the � rst time.

IDLC Investments said investors turned cautious as DSEX gave away 4,500 points resistance. As a re-sult, market encountered sale pressure from the be-ginning, which was un-matched by the buy-side, it said.

“Therefore, prices broke out of their choppy moves and headed downhill.” l

Investors turned cautious as DSEX gave away 4,500 points resistance

ANALYST

Daily capital market highlightsDSE Broad Index : 11138.47100 (-) 0.72% ▼

DSE - 30 Index : 1717.04283 (-) 0.93% ▼

CSE All Share Index: 13743.73620 (-) 0.60% ▼

CSE - 30 Index : 11138.47100 (-) 0.14% ▼

CSE Selected Index : 8369.80520 (-) 0.60% ▼

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

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

Beximco Pharma -A 468,002 28.30 9.46 59.00 -1.67 60.00 65.00 58.50 60.48LafargeS Cement-A 186,883 21.40 7.16 113.50 -2.91 116.90 117.00 112.60 114.51BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 503,568 16.36 5.47 32.00 -3.03 33.00 33.30 31.90 32.49UNITED AIR-A 1,517,015 14.52 4.86 9.50 -3.06 9.80 9.80 9.40 9.57United Power-N 75,584 11.97 4.00 157.00 1.75 154.30 161.00 156.20 158.39Grameenphone-A 33,427 10.91 3.65 324.10 -0.12 324.50 327.70 323.30 326.24BSRM Ltd. -N 122,312 8.62 2.88 70.70 1.73 69.50 72.00 67.80 70.51Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 535,377 8.00 2.68 14.80 -1.33 15.00 15.10 14.80 14.95Tosrifa Industries -N 216,193 6.82 2.28 31.10 -1.27 31.50 32.40 30.90 31.55R. N. Spinning-Z 260,708 6.54 2.19 24.50 -2.39 25.10 26.00 23.50 25.10Square Pharma -A 25,406 6.47 2.17 255.00 1.07 252.30 256.00 253.90 254.86WesternMarine -N 133,782 5.91 1.98 44.10 -1.12 44.60 44.90 43.90 44.16Beach Hatchery -A 280,766 5.56 1.86 19.70 3.68 19.00 20.30 18.50 19.82Deshbandhu Polymer-A 380,837 5.42 1.81 14.40 3.60 13.90 14.50 13.80 14.24Titas Gas TDCLA 75,084 5.20 1.74 68.30 -2.15 69.80 70.00 68.00 69.20

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Company Volume-Shares

Value in Million

% of Total-Turnover ClosingP Change

% ClosingY DHIGH DLOW AvgPrice

Square Pharma -A 761,882 194.31 5.21 254.70 0.95 252.30 257.30 253.60 255.03Beximco Pharma -A 3,193,666 192.97 5.18 58.50 -2.50 60.00 62.90 58.00 60.42LafargeS Cement-A 1,314,511 151.41 4.06 114.00 -3.39 118.00 118.10 113.50 115.19Ifad Autos -N 1,308,455 144.66 3.88 112.80 8.05 104.40 113.10 104.80 110.56Linde (BD) Ltd. -A 135,476 127.35 3.42 935.10 -0.52 940.00 940.00 930.00 939.98Grameenphone-A 330,903 107.34 2.88 323.40 -0.03 323.50 328.40 322.80 324.38BEXIMCO Ltd. -A 3,259,936 105.91 2.84 32.00 -2.74 32.90 33.30 31.80 32.49United Power-N 660,121 104.86 2.81 157.10 1.75 154.40 161.00 156.20 158.85GlaxoSK (BD) -A 51,520 103.04 2.76 1999.30 -0.03 1999.80 2005.00 1999.00 1999.98Renata Ltd. -A 106,416 102.36 2.75 959.40 -0.11 960.50 962.70 955.00 961.86UNITED AIR-A 9,536,183 91.19 2.45 9.50 -3.06 9.80 9.90 9.40 9.56HeidelbergCement -A 150,857 85.08 2.28 572.70 1.92 561.90 578.00 560.00 563.94AFC AgroBiotech-A 1,359,977 78.97 2.12 58.70 2.62 57.20 59.30 56.10 58.07Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A 4,548,105 67.78 1.82 14.80 -2.63 15.20 15.20 14.70 14.90Khulna Power-A 923,193 64.21 1.72 69.30 -0.86 69.90 70.80 69.00 69.55

‘Therefore, prices broke out of their choppy moves and headed downhill’

BUSINESS20DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Securities regulator unveils venture capital norms n Kayes Sohel

Introducing new investment instrument in the � nancial market, the securities regulator has allowed startup � rms and small business, having no access to the capital markets, to raise funds through venture capital.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Com-mission (BSEC) yesterday unveiled the guide-lines called the “Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Alternative Invest-ment) Rules, 2015” to govern the venture cap-ital � rms. The rules come into force immedi-ately after publication in the o� cial gazette.

Over the past several years, venture capi-tal � rms that are relatively new in the country have been operating their businesses in ab-sence of such rules.

Under some excerpts from the slew of new norms, venture capital fund could be invest-ed primarily in non-listed equity and equi-ty-linked securities of start-ups with less than two years’ of operational history or green � eld companies or emerging early-stage undertak-ings mainly involved in new products, servic-es, technologies or intellectual property rights based activities or new business models.

For operational eligibility, a local venture capital � rm needs to have paid up capital of at least Tk50m and will have to apply for reg-istration to the BSEC with an application fee of Tk50,000 only through a bank draft or pay-ment order issued in favour of the commission.

For a fully-owned subsidiary foreign ven-ture capital � rm, it needs to have a paid up capital of at least Tk150m for application for registration, and for a partially-owned subsid-iary foreign � rm, the paid up capital will be at least Tk100m.

The applicant � rm must have minimum net worth of 75% of its total paid up capital pro-

vided that if the net-worth of a fund manager, at any time, goes down below 75% of its total paid-up capital, it wants to increase it up to the required level within the next accounting year.

A chief executive o� cer or a chief invest-ment o� cer and a compliance o� cer of the � rm each must have a relevant academic background and at least seven years of rele-vant professional experience, and neither the applicant, nor any of its directors will be a loan defaulter.

After successfully receiving registration with-in � fteen days, the applicant must have to pay registration fee of Tk1 lakh. The registered fund manager will have to pay an annual fee of Tk50,000 within one month of the end of each � nancial year.

If any fund manager fails to pay the annual fee within the stipulated time, it will have to pay a penalty of Tk25,000 for each month of default.

The fund manager shall be entitled to an annual fund management fee up to 4% of NAV (net asset value) of the fund for managing an impact fund, up to 3% of NAV of the fund for managing a venture capital fund and up to 2% of NAV of the fund for managing a private eq-uity fund. The fund manager may share up to 20% of the net annual pro� t of a fund.

About criteria on formation of an alterna-tive investment fund, such fund size will be minimum Tk100m and subscription by the

sponsor is not less than 10% of the fund pro-vided that the sponsor will subscribe at least 20% of its total subscription to the fund be-fore registration of the fund.

Minimum investment by the fund manager must be at least 2% of the fund size provided that, if the fund manager also acts as sponsor of a fund, this investment shall be made in addi-tion to its investment as the sponsor of the fund.

Along with its connected persons, the fund manager must not hold more than 25% of the units of a fund at any point of time. The spon-sor must maintain a continuous investment of not less than 2.5% of the fund size.

This fund will declare, to the unit holders, cash dividends only and will be locked in for a period of three years from the date of issu-ance of units.

Mohammad Al Maruf Khan, vice chairman of NDB Capital, earlier said it is really tough to operate business in the unregulated market, as there is a chance of unethical activities.

“The move will help develop the sector as foreign investment was attracted in the dis-ciplined market,” he said. “The move should be taken earlier. However it is better late than never.”

India has more than 200 such types of companies after promulgation of rules and regulations in 1996.

A large number of venture capital com-panies have been formed in Pakistan after proclaiming rules in 2001. In India, venture capital � nancing started in 1988 with the for-mation of Technology Development and In-formation Company of India Ltd.

Grameen Fund is the pioneer of venture capital in the country. It launched its opera-tion in mid-1990s although the organisation is no more funding the private companies as venture capital. l

Australia to join Asian Infrastructure Investment Bankn Tribune Report

Australia will become a founding mem-ber of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the government of Australia an-nounced yesterday.

The decision comes after extensive discus-sions among Australia, China and other key partners around the world, said a Joint media release with Foreign A� airs Minister of Aus-tralia Julie Bishop.

There is an estimated infrastructure � -nancing gap of around US$8 trillion in the Asian region over the current decade. The AIIB will be part of the solution to closing this gap.

Joining the AIIB presents Australia with great opportunities to work with our neigh-bours and largest trading partner to drive eco-nomic growth and jobs, said the release.

The AIIB will work closely with the private sector, paving the way for Australian busi-nesses to take advantage of the growth in in-frastructure in the region.

The governance of the AIIB will be based on best practice, ensuring that all members will be directly involved in the direction and decision making of the bank in an open and transparent manner.

“We look forward to working with other members to lay the foundations for an ef-fective new multilateral institution which is expected to be operational by the end of the year,” said the release.

Australia will contribute around A$930 million as paid-in capital to the AIIB over � ve years and will be the sixth largest shareholder. The AIIB will have paid-in capi-tal of US$20 billion ($A25.2 billion) with total authorised capital of US$100 billion (A$126.2 billion).

The Treasurer will attend the Articles of Agreement signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing on 29 June. l

Karnaphuli tunnel proposal approved n Tribune Report

The Cabinet Committee on Economic A� airs gave its consent yesterday to the construction proposal of Karnaphuli river tunnel in Chit-tagong.

As per the proposal, a commercial agree-ment will be signed between Bangladesh Bridge authority and China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC).

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, an alternative chairman of the committee, pre-sided over the meeting.

The agreement is likely to be signed on June 29 while the works to construct the 4.21km tunnel is expected to start by the end of 2015 and conclude in 2019.

The total project cost will be $1005.80m. The CCCC who conducted survey on four

international tunnels and Padma Bridge re-vealed that the construction cost of the Kar-naphuli tunnel might range from $770.43m to $1,806.17m.

As per the survey, the per kilometre cost of constructing the tunnel will be up to $103.67m.

Per kilometre cost of Canada’s Ottawa Tun-nel will be $143.50m, Japan’s Tokyo Bay Aq-ua-Line $361m, China’s Dalian-Yantai Tunnel $146m and Yellow River Tunnel $82.90m.

The China will provide Tk705.80m and rest of the fund will come from Bangladesh government exchequer.

The tunnel could later be linked with the proposed Asian Highway Network, which is supposed to establish road communications with neighbouring Myanmar and India.

The Karnaphuli tunnel will attract down-town population in the east side and promote “One City and Two Towns” improvement model adopted by China’s largest city Shang-hai.

The tunnel is also essential because heavy siltation on the Karnaphuli riverbed is a main problem for proper functioning of Chittagong Port and also for building new bridges. l

Oil prices edge up on stronger demand, uncertainty over Iran dealn Reuters, Singapore

Oil prices edged higher in Asian trade yester-day on hopes for stronger than expected US crude demand, while doubts over the pros-pect of reaching an agreement next week on Iran’s nuclear program eased oversupply con-cerns.

Brent crude for August delivery LCOc1 had climbed 3 cents to $64.48 a barrel by 0512 GMT (0112 EDT), after settling up $1.11, or 1.8%, in the previous session.

US crude for August delivery CLc1 gained 6 cents to $61.07 a barrel, after rising 63 cents the day before.

“U.S. crude inventories have been at his-toric highs ... but the thing is crude invento-ries may have peaked after oil demand picked up in June,” said Tony Nunan, oil risk manag-er at Tokyo’s Mitsubishi Corporation.

“$60 a barrel is the new normal for the next several months.”

Mitsubishi analysts forecast US oil demand would grow by 1.4-1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in June from the same month last year,

Nunan said.US oil demand would rise to 19.41 million

bpd this year, up from 19.03 million bpd last year, the US Energy Information Administra-tion said in its short-term energy forecast on June 9.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) forecast on Tuesday that US commercial crude oil stocks fell by 3.2 million barrels last week, larger than analysts’ expectations of a 1.5-2.1 million barrel draw and the eighth straight week of declines.

The US Energy Information Administra-tion will release o� cial stockpile data later on yesterday.

“Although crude inventories could cause prices to move higher, we expect to see strong resistance at $61.8 and $65 for West Texas In-termediate and Brent. Therefore, expect pric-es to remain unchanged,” Singapore’s Phillip Futures said in a note on Wednesday.

Brent-US crude spreads, which have wid-ened to more than $3, could narrow in the short term, depending on how far US inven-tories fall, the note added. l

If any fund manager fails to pay annual fee within stipulated time, it has to pay a penalty of Tk25,000 for each month of default

21D

T

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015T-JU

NC

TIO

N

22Hot Topic

The haters alliance

24Ticket

Backpacking spirit

INSIDEnews

Photo: Bigstock

Hashtag haters

Iftar at RegencyShahid Hamid FIH, the executive director of Dhaka Regency, recently handed over a cash cheque to Khilkhet Bottola Islamia Madrasah and Atimkhana through an enchanting iftar evening, hosted for the orphans and less fortunate children at the hotel.

Hot TopicTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

T-JUNCTION22DT

n N Anita Amreen

Everyone’s on a constant hate rampage – hating on our country, hating on Facebook, hating on cricket wins and even hating on ourselves. There’s always so much to say, we’re constantly struggling to make our voices heard. With so many platforms to hate, turning up the volume has turned into a race of sorts. Some do it in all CAPS with tweets, others shout their opinions to anyone who’ll listen while the rest resorts to carefully thought out status updates. As much as we love to hate haters, we cannot help but admit that they do leave us feeling easily amused with their innocent arrogance and their cute attempts at legitimising their opinions. Although we’re all just rolling in the hate, some of us cannot help but take a step back and really appreciate what’s going on here. The truth of the matter is: haters gonna hate. What better way to ride this tide than to sit back, appreciate and enjoy the many ways in which haters give us reason to laugh. This week we shift the focus on the top � ve kinds of haters that we love to hate. From the femnazis to the social media haters to the ultimate music snobs, we’ve got them all covered.

The haters allianceFive kinds of haters that we love to hate

The social media haterThese haters form the cream of the crop – constantly hating, tweeting, commenting and updating Facebook statuses, there’s no one who knows how to troll your newsfeed better than them. Stuck in tra� c? Expect a paragraph long hate status update thrashing the country’s tra� c police. If that doesn’t get enough attention, expect a more exaggerated version of that post on DSD (after all, they ARE desperately seeking). Had a bad day at work? Expect them to tweet trash about their co-workers. Friend “betrayed” them? Think cryptic statuses that end with “you know who you are.”

For them, life is a constant struggle, the world a mean, mean place and their mission to lighten the load by sharing the dismal details of their life with the world. There’s only one truth we wish they knew: nobody cares.

The feminist haterFeminist haters are probably the most active, passionate bunch of the lot. They are so inherently pro-female they make sure that no matter where they are and what they’re doing, they will manage to steer the conversation to feminism and their part in this life-threatening situation.

One moment you’re discussing how great it is to see them, next they are giving you reason to take that right back. This ever growing breed of female is now on the rise, making their presence felt with raging status updates, angry comments and even sporadic speeches. For them, my friends, it is always that time of the month. Holding the bizarre belief that life owes them something for being female - they aren’t for gender equality, rather they’re all about gender superiority. One conversation with these femnazi and you’d be wishing you were born under the blessings of a third gender.

The obnoxious music hatersEver since the rise of YouTube and the advent of Internet, many have taken a liking to dipping their beaks into the di� erent,

obscure genres of music to help label themselves as music connoisseurs. Once they have done so, they make it a point to take their music snobbery to obnoxious

levels by dissing anyone who doesn’t share the same taste. They may secretly enjoy Taylor Swift or break a leg to the latest Bollywood item number, but god forbid, if they admit it. Usually always claiming to be the � rst ones to discover their favourite bands, no one is as great a fan as them and certainly no one understands music as well as they do.

The PDA haterThese kinds of haters range from the ages of 21 and above and usually consist of women and men who are exceedingly unhappy with their lives. Every time there is a happy married couple canoodling on their timeline, or better still, a baby’s journey documented through a timeline – they will hate. They hate public displays of a� ection and they sure as hell hate the stream of baby photos that take up new mom pro� les. While we do agree that sharing every potty stained step of your child’s life may get annoying, these haters take it to a whole new level. Let’s also not forget that any married couple photo that is

suggestive of a happy marriage is obviously a gimmick. These cynical haters � nd the smell of deception in anything that looks like success.

The impossible-to-please haterThe oblivious hater is the ultimate example of killjoy. Not easily amused, nothing and no one impresses them. You got a promotion? No biggie, they got one last year. You’re planning a cross-Asia tour? They go on Euro trips every year. Climbed the Everest? So did several other men. These haters are oblivious to the world around them and never � nd any success to be an accomplishment worthy of their acknowledgement. Impossible to please, dealing with these sanity-stealers can leave deep dents in your self-esteem. They are the prime example of wet-blankets who constantly spoil other people’s fun or dowse their excitement with carefully calculated negativity. The best and probably only way to steer clear of these is to avoid them and avoid them completely. l

Hot Topic T-JUNCTION 23D

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Whether you’re a solo backpacker or planning a hiking trip with the whole fam, here’s what you’ll need to stuff all your important things in. For more similar gear, log in to kaymu.com.bd. From stylish Kaixio to YESO, they have a wide range of backpack bags on their site. They also have an ongoing 7% - 10% discount offer on their merchandise, so hurry!l

Backpacking spirit

news

Photos: Courtesy

Samsung’s exciting o� ers

Samsung is offering multiple consumer promotion offers for its valued customers of TV. Customers can win a free Z1 handset with every purchase of 3D SMART TVs of models 48”, 55” and 60”. Also, an instant cash back from Tk3,000 to Tk50,000 is assured with the purchase of any TV from all models of Joy Plus, LED and SMART Series.

Moreover, keeping Ramadan in mind, Samsung has brought an instant cash back offer on their washing machines as well. With the purchase of Samsung washing machines, the valued customers of Samsung can avail instant cash back from Tk1,000 to Tk5,000.

On this festive offer, Badrul Karim, head of consumer electronics of Samsung

Electronics Bangladesh said, “Our priority at Samsung Electronics has always been to provide the best in class products with an effect of value for money. Keeping that in mind, we also wanted to bring something extra for our customers on the occasion of Holy Ramadan and Eid; hence we brought this new consumer promotion offers on TVs and washing machines.”

The TV and washing machine offer is valid till the last day of Ramadan. Customers will avail the cash back offers with scratch card only. To know more about this offer, interested customers can call at 09612-300-300 or visit the nearest Samsung authorised distributor showrooms. l

Le Méridien Dhaka, city’s newest and largest upscale hotel, hosted a celebratory iftar mehfil with the children of Baitul Aman Housing Society Madrasah & Orphanage (BAHSMO) on Tuesday evening. Honourable Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Rashed Khan Menon presided over the event as chief guest to bless the youngsters along with hotel’s Chairman Amin Ahmed and General Manager Ashwani Nayar. Also present was the Honourable Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Khurshed Alam Chowdhury as special guest among various dignitaries of the ministry.

While it has been less than a month since the soft opening of the hotel,

the period of Holy Ramadan offered a good opportunity for the organisation to contribute to the community. Le Méridien Dhaka catered to the little guests the way it knows best – with uncompromising service.

“It is a very encouraging beginning for Le Méridien Dhaka to be able to share these happy moments with these beautiful children,” informs Nayar. “Our target guests are in fact the curious and the creative-minded, and who is more curious or creative-minded than a child. Children inspire us to do better and I hope today, with what little time we spent with them, we were able to inspire these children as well.” l

Ramadan with children of BAHSMO

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DJOKOVIC LOOKS TO HEAL AT WIMBLEDON

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Barcelona are tracking Manchester United’s Angel di Maria with manager Enrique aiming to bolster his mid� eld. A Spanish newspaper Sport claim the Argentina winger has been o� ered to

Barca by his agent Jorge Mendes.

BARCA CALLING?

SportBEATING WORLD NO 2 IS THE BEST, SAYS MASHRAFE

TOP-FLIGHT TO RESUME THIS SUNDAY

MOST WICKETS IN FIRST THREE ODIs  Wkts 1 st match 2 nd match 3 rd match YearMusta� zur Rahman (Ban) 13 5/50 6/43 2/57 2015Ryan Harris (Aus) 11 1/54 5/43 5/54 2009-10Rusty Theron (SA) 11 3/63 5/44 3/18 2010

MOST WICKETS IN A THREE-MATCH SERIES  Wkts Against Best 4/5 wkts YearMusta� zur Rahman (Ban) 13 India 6/43 0/2 2015Vasbert Drakes (WI) 12 Bangladesh 4/18 3/0 2002Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (Ban) 12 Kenya 6/26 0/1 2006

n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Wonder boy Musta� zur Rahman continued to break shackles in the three-match one-day international series as the rookie paceman bagged two more world records in the third match against India yesterday. The 19-year old left-arm seamer, playing his third ODI for Bang-ladesh, added two more wickets to his existing 11 scalps to top the wicket-takers tally in the series while he also became the only bowler to take 13 wickets in � rst three career matches.

Hailing from Satkhira, Musta� zur couldn’t have announced himself to the world any bet-ter. His � ve-for on debut stunned world No 2 India in the � rst match of the series before he

claimed six more in the penultimate match to shatter the fame of the men in blue and be-come the only bowler to take more than 10 wickets in his � rst two matches.

Only four bowlers till date had taken 11 wickets in their respective � rst three ODIs and Musta� zur had no trouble to surpassed the record holders. Musta� zur ba� ed both Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina, for the third consec-utive time in the series, to solidify the record. In a three-match series, former West Indies pacer Vasbert Drakes led the tally with 12 wick-ets which the Caribbean took against Bangla-desh in 2002 while Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza was in second spot with his 12 wickets against Kenya in 2006. l

Musta� zur seizes the momentPHOTO: MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

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BAN v IND, 3RD ODIINDIA R BR. Sharma c Das b Musta� zur 29 29S. Dhawan c Nasir b Mortaza 75 73V. Kohli b Shakib 25 35M. Dhoni c Musta� zur b Mortaza 69 77A. Rayudu c Das b Mortaza 44 49S. Raina b Musta� zur 38 21S. Binny not out 17 11A. Patel not out 10 5Extras (b4, lb3, w3 10Total (for six wickets, 50 overs) 317Fall of wickets1-39 (Rohit), 2-114 (Kohli), 3-158 (Dhawan), 4-251(Rayudu), 5-268 (Dhoni), 6-301 (Raina)BowlingMusta� zur 10-0-57-2, Mortaza 10-0-76-3 (w2), Sunny 6-0-42-0, Rubel 9-0-75-0 (w1), Nasir 6-0-27-0, Shakib 9-1-33-1

Tamim Iqbal lbw b Kulkarni 5 8Soumya Sarkar c Ashwin b Kulkarni 40 34Litton Das b Patel 34 50Mush� qur Rahim c Dhoni b Raina 24 30Shakib Al Hasan c Kulkarni b Raina 20 21Sabbir Rahman b Binny 43 38Nasir Hossain c Rayudu b Ashwin 32 30Mashrafe Mortaza b Ashwin 0 9Arafat Sunny not out 14 40Rubel Hossain c Patel b Raina 2 6Musta� zur Rahman lbw b Rayudu 9 17Extras: (lb3, w13, nb1) 17Total: (all out, 47 overs) 240Fall of wickets1-8 (Tamim), 2-62 (Sarkar), 3-112 (Rahim), 4-118( Das), 5-148 (Shakib), 6-197 (Sabbir), 7-205 (Mortaza), 8-216 ( Nasir), 9-222 (Rubel), 10-240( Musta� zur.BowlingBinny 6-0-41-1 (w4), Kulkarni 8-0-34-2 (w3), Ya-dav 4-0-33-0 (w5), Ashwin 10-1-35-2, Patel 9-1-44-1, Raina 8-0-45-3 (w1), Rayudu 2-1-5-1(nb1)Result: India won by 77 runsSeries result: Bangladesh won the series 2-1Toss: BangladeshMan of the Match: Suresh Raina (Ind)Man of the Series: Mosta� zur Rahman (BD)

Breaking the winning comboThe absence of Taskin Ahmed from the Bangla-desh line-up took majority by surprise. The fast bowler, member of the newly formed four-man pace attack, has been a consistent threat to the opponents, but a side strain made him un� t for the match as the deserving left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny took his place for the third one-dayer.

The ‘happy’ side of Rubel-KohliBangladesh pacer Rubel Hossain and India batsman Virat Kohli have a sour history that formed during their U19 World Cup in 2008. The rivalry was a major talking point following Rubel’s celebration after dismissing Kohli in the World Cup 2015. However, spectators got to see the other side of the couple’s relation when Rubel was hit hard on his right thumb bowling the 12th over to Kohli. Kohli walked to Rubel to make sure if he was alright. He repeated his care once again after the completion of the over.

Shakib’s missAll-rounder Shakib al Hasan was only three wick-ets away from his 200 ODI scalps when he walked to the middle yesterday. Everyone expected the world No 2 ODI all-rounder to become the second Bangladeshi bowler to reach the milestone, but only managed to deduce the margin by one as he cleaned up Kohli to reach 198 wickets.

Tigers fail to convert startsThe bite was absent when Bangladesh bowlers went to bowl � rst which allowed India to reach 300 runs for the � rst time in the series. With 318 runs to win Bangladesh batsmen failed to convert their starts as wickets fell in regular intervals. After Tamim Iqbal fell with only eight runs on the scorecard, Soumya Sarkar (40), Liton Kumar (34), Mush� qur Rahim (24) and Shakib al Hasan (20) were all involved in quick scoring partnerships but failed to capitalise on their sound start. – Minhaz Uddin Khan

BANGLADESH R B

TALKING POINTS Bangladesh v India, 3rd ODI, Mirpur

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza and teammates join Shakib al Hasan following the dimissal of India’s Virat Kohli during their thrid ODI at SBNS yesterday

MI MANIK

Player Mat Wkts Ave Econ SR 4 5Mashrafe Mortaza 16 20 36.10 5.18 41.7 1 0Mohammad Ra� que 14 18 32.50 4.71 41.3 0 0Shakib Al Hasan 15 17 36.58 4.94 44.4 0 0Musta� zur Rahman 3 13 11.53 5.11 13.5 0 2

MOST ODI WICKETS FOR BAN v IND

‘Beating World No 2 is the best’n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Bangladesh might have been unable to record the “Banglawash” following their 77-run de-feat against India in the third and � nal ODI at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday but skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza said they should not be disappointed as they had already sealed the series prior to yesterday’s match.

Mashrafe also refused to blame the bat-ting or the bowling department and informed that a collective failure is the reason why the Tigers came up short against their sub-conti-nent rival.

“I think it was both batting and bowling which cost us the game. The bowlers failed to restrict them on a small total while with the bat, we failed to put up partnerships and

there were a few who failed to convert their innings. But still, I do not think we should be disappointed. We went into the game without much expectations but ended up with brilliant results. I hope we will be able to take positives from the series to the next one [against South Africa next month],” Mashrafe told the media in the post-match press conference.

“Having won the � rst two games, there was pressure with regards to the Banglawash. Yes, there might have been one or two who took the pressure upon themselves. I think we were not far behind in the game but we have failed to bring out our best,” he said.

Mashrafe rated the 2-1 series win over In-dia highly as the visitors are the world’s No 2 side in ODIs.

“I think this is our best series win because

if you put aside [2015 ICC] World Cup wins, we have never won a series against a side ranked 1, 2, 3 or 4. So, beating a No 2 side is certainly our best achievement. But, I should also add that the other wins are no less impor-tant,” the Narail Express added.

Mashrafe also praised the e� orts of young left-arm paceman Musta� zur Rahman, who ended up taking 13 wickets in his debut series.

“I am playing for the last 15 years and I have seen them come and go. But, I have seen a good thing about him; he takes care of himself a lot. When I go to the gym I � nd him working out on his own so that’s a good thing. He has to main-tain himself right now,” said Mashrafe before adding, “At the end of the day, maintenance is up to the individual. If he can continue doing that, he can serve the team for a long time.” l

We learned a lot here: Rainan Mazhar Uddin

India � nally managed to bag their consolation price in their 18-day stay in Bangladesh as the two-time world champions avoided a Bangla-wash by winning by 77 runs to end the three-match series 1-2 yesterday.

Batting � rst, Shikhar Dhawan and MS Dho-ni registered half centuries in India’s 317 for six but it was Raina who was adjudged man of the match for his quick-� re 38 o� 21 balls followed by three crucial wickets in the sec-ond half.

Raina praised Bangladesh for their ap-proach and maturity shown during the se-ries while he also hailed the Tigers prodigy Musta� zur Rahman who at the age of 19 made the Indian batsmen look ordinary.

“Credit goes to Mashrafe and Heath Streak, they must have taken good care of Musta� zur. He bowled a very good line and length. So we had to give respect and go after the other bowlers. Credit must go to his coaches and his family as well because of what he has achieved for Bangladesh in 19 years of age,” Raina said.

“Credit must be given to Bangladesh. It is not as if we lost the game because of just we

played bad. We have learned a lot here. They have played a lot in BPL and IPL and next time when we play them we would have learned which areas we need to improve on.”

India’s domination in Asia had come under severe question after they lost the � rst two matches and the series, but 28-year old Raina believes losing just one series does not make them a bad team. In return he emphasised on how they bounced back yesterday and credit-ed his skipper behind the e� ort.

“Only losing just one series doesn’t make you a bad team. Credit must go to MS (Dhoni) for the way he led the team to this victory after the two losses,” Raina said before adding, “I think Dhoni still has a lot to give to the Indi-an side as he has achieved a lot of trophies for the BCCI before and his presence to the Indi-an side as a captain or as a human being has been excellent.” l

Credit goes to Mashrafe and Heath Streak, they must have taken good care of Musta� zur

Sport 27D

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Atletico to buy Porto’s Colombia striker MartinezAtletico Madrid have agreed to buy Colom-bia striker Jackson Martinez from Porto, the player’s agent was quoted as saying in Spanish sports daily As on Tuesday. “It was sealed today,” the agent, Luiz Henrique Pompeo, told the newspaper, adding that AC Milan were also chasing the 28-year-old forward.

REUTERS

Gladbach agree deal with Swiss teenager ElvediBorussia Moenchengladbach, who will be playing in the Champions League next season, have agreed with Swiss youth international Nico Elvedi on a four year-contract pending a medical later on Wednesday, the club said. Defender Elvedi made his Zurich debut as a 17-year-old last year and has also played 23 games for Switzerland’s youth teams. He will sign his contract to 2019 straight after his medical, Gladbach said.

REUTERS

Man City add extra game for Australia swingManchester City will play sister club Melbourne City next month as a warm-up to the Inter-national Champions Cup, which also features Real Madrid and AS Roma, it was announced Wednesday. The Premier League runners-up face Melbourne City, a club they own, on July 18 on the Gold Coast, which will be their base for an 11-day training camp ahead of the trian-gular tournament in Melbourne.

AFP

Nadal seeded No. 10 for Wimbledon Two-time champion Rafael Nadal was seeded No. 10 for Wimbledon on Wednesday, his low-est seeding ever at the All England Club. The seeding means Nadal could face top contend-ers as early as the fourth round, and one of the top four seeded players in the quarter� nals.

AP

Napoli sign goalkeeper Reina from BayernNapoli have signed Bayern Munich reserve goalkeeper Pepe Reina with the Spaniard returning for a second spell with the Serie A team, both clubs said in statements on Tues-day. Former Liverpool stopper Reina, 32, was deputy to Manuel Neuer at Bayern where he made three league appearances and collected a Bundesliga winner’s medal.

REUTERS

Rogers’ Ashes ticket scheme shut downA company in which Australia opener Chris Rogers is a partner has been banned from selling tickets for next month’s Ashes Test at Lord’s at up to £2,910 apiece (AUS $5,914), the ESPNcricinfo website and the Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday. As a former captain of Mid-dlesex, who play at Lord’s, Rogers received 10 tickets for the showpiece match, with o� cials believing they would go to family and friends.

AFP

QUICK BYTES

Top-� ight to resume this Sundayn Shishir Hoque

The second phase of the Manyavar Bangla-desh Premier League has been deferred by two days and will now get underway this Sun-day, con� rmed Bangladesh Football Federa-tion yesterday.

Earlier, league leaders Sheikh Jamal Dhan-mondi Club requested the BFF to push back the second phase by a few days as their play-ers were involved with the national side in two Fifa international friendlies and the 2018 World Cup second round quali� ers. One of their de-fenders Nasir Uddin Chowdhury received a knee injury during Bangladesh’s opening qual-i� er against Kyrgyzstan on June 11.

The BFF took their appeal under consid-eration and during the meeting of the profes-sional league committee in Motijheel yester-day, football’s regulatory body in the country

decided to defer the top-� ight by two days.“Sheikh Jamal sent us a letter, request-

ing us to start the second phase on June 30 because most of their players played for the national team and did not get enough time to recover fully. Muktijoddha also requested us to defer their game as they are now in Assam, India to take part in a tournament and will re-turn tomorrow (today),” said BFF general sec-retary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday.

“The league committee considered their appeal and decided to defer but the � nal day of the league is still August 13,” added Shohag.

Fourteen of Sheikh Jamal’s players were involved with the national side. Sheikh Jamal are at the summit of the 11-team points table and are scheduled to face bottom side Farash-ganj in the � rst match of the second phase while Abahani will encounter Rahmatganj on the same day. l

Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara plays a shot during a practice session at the P. Sara Oval Cricket Stadium in Colombo yesterday , ahead of the second Test against Pakistan AFP

In-form Sangakkara undecided on Test future, says Mathewsn AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka’s batting great Kumar Sangakkara is still in talks with selectors to discuss his retirement from Test cricket, captain Angelo Mathews said on Wednesday.

Local media had speculated that the 37-year-old will only play three more home Tests -- two in the ongoing series against Paki-stan and one against India in August -- before ending his glittering 15-year career.

But Mathews, speaking to reporters ahead of the second Test against Pakistan starting at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Thursday, said the team’s senior pro had still not made up his mind.

“Kumar has still to con� rm his retirement plans,” the Sri Lankan captain said. “He was supposed to meet the press over the last few days, but he has not done that yet.

“I know he is still talking to the selectors.”Left-handed Sangakkara is the leading cur-

rent Test batsmen. His 12,271 runs and 38 cen-turies far exceed second-placed Alastair Cook of England, who has 9,000 runs and 27 hun-dreds. The 131-Test veteran is unlikely to catch up with record-holder Sachin Tendulkar’s Test tally of 15,921 runs and 51 hundreds, but his 11 scores of 200-plus are just one short of Aus-tralian legend Don Bradman’s record of 12.

Mathews denied that Sangakkara had de-layed the announcement because of Sri Lan-ka’s stunning 10-wicket defeat in Galle which put Pakistan ahead in the three-match series.

“He had been speaking with the selectors even before the series began,” Mathews said, adding the uncertainity had not a� ected the team morale.

“I think Kumar has earned the right to de-cide when he should go.” said Mathews. “He has served Sri Lanka well over the years and he will obviously be missed when he goes.

“But it now up to the younger players to step into the shoes of Kumar and Mahela (Jay-awardene). It won’t be easy but they have a great opportunity to make a name for them-selves.” l

Dutch police to block Tour de France over wage disputen Reuters, Amsterdam

Dutch police will temporarily block the route of the Tour de France cycling race on July 5 to draw attention to their pay dispute with the Dutch government, unions representing them said on Wednesday.

The Tour de France, the world’s most pres-tigious road cycling race, is starting in the Dutch university town of Utrecht on Saturday, July 4, and will conclude as always in Paris af-ter 21 days and 3,360 kilometres (2088 miles).

The ACP union said police will block the convoy of road vehicles that runs ahead of the main body of racers on the second day of the race as it crosses the 800 metre-long Erasmus Bridge across the Maas River in Rotterdam.

They will maintain the blockade until cy-clists can be seen at a standstill because of the protest.

The organisers of the Tour de France said they had no comment. l

Sport28DT

Holders Japan give Dutch ‘lesson’, next up Australian AFP, Vancouver

Japan gave newcomers the Netherlands a les-son in football on Tuesday, winning 2-1 to ad-vance to a last-eight showdown with Australia at the Women’s World Cup.

Saori Ariyoshi and Mizuho Sakaguchi scored in either half for the defending cham-pions who are the only team left in Canada to have won all their matches.

Kirsten Van de Ven headed in a consolation goal for the 12th-ranked Dutch in injury time, helped by an error from Japanese goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori, who let the ball slip from her

grasp. But the game in Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium was mostly one-way tra� c in fa-vour of the Japanese, who have mastered the speed provided by arti� cial turf being used for the � rst time at a World Cup.

“It’s the best way to improve, a good team will learn a lot from this match,” said Dutch coach Roger Reijners.

The in-form Japanese next head to Edmon-ton where they take on tenth-ranked Austral-ia, who shocked Brazil to win 1-0 in the Com-monwealth Stadium on Saturday.

“We’re used to playing Australia,” coach Norio Sasaki said ahead of what will be a re-

run of the 2014 Asian Cup � nal which Japan won 1-0. “But Australia now is a completely di� erent team, they have improved a lot and are technically superior.”

The Japanese controlled their last-16 game from the outset with defender Ariyoshi scor-ing her � rst goal for the ‘Nadeshiko’ on 10 minutes.

Aya Sameshima and Shinobu Ohno both missed chances to add to the champions’ tally in the � rst half.

After the break, Mandy Van den Berg al-most inadvertently turned the ball into her own net following Nahomi Kawasumi’s cross.

Sakaguchi had a shot blocked on 67 min-utes and defender Sameshima was saved by a superb block by Kaihori from a close-range e� ort from Van De Ven on 76 minutes.

But two minutes later Sakaguchi got Ja-pan’s second from the edge of the penalty area.

A late scramble for the equaliser by the Dutch after Van De Ven got one back saw a Vivianne Miedema e� ort just miss the target.

“We probably could have had better con-trol of the ball, but we had a tense moment,” said Sasaki.

“We ended every attack with a shot on goal. That was the key. We had a very solid de-fence. I’m sorry we kept you in suspense until the end.” l

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

Peru’s Paolo Guerrero (L) shoots the ball to goalkeeper Diego Penny during their training session at the secondary � eld of the Estadio Municipal Bicentenario German Becker in Temuco, Chile, on Tuesday. Peru will play against Bolivia on June 25 in their quarter-� nals at the Copa America REUTERS

Klinsmann to speak with Dempsey over incidentn AFP, Chicago

US coach Jurgen Klinsmann plans to talk with Seattle striker Clint Dempsey about the refer-ee abuse incident that brought the forward a three-game ban, but will not keep him out of next month’s Gold Cup tournament.

Klinsmann named Dempsey to the 23-man American roster for the biennial North Ameri-can championship despite the former Fulham and Tottenham standout tearing up a refer-ee’s notebook in a US Open Cup match against Portland last week.

That incident and the ejection that fol-lowed prompted Major League Soccer to issue Dempsey a three-match ban, which Dempsey will have completed by this weekend so he will be available for the Gold Cup starting with a tuneup match next week against Gua-temala.

“It’s a mistake and mistakes happen,” Klinsmann said. “It’s something that nobody wants to go through. Nobody wants to get red-carded. Nobody wants to get suspended and be in discussion by the fans and the media for a mistake you make,” the coach added. l

Liverpool sign Brazilian Firmino

n AFP, London

Liverpool have signed Brazilian international forward Roberto Firmino, the Premier League club said on Wednesday, with the BBC report-ing the fee would be £29 million (41 million euros, $46 million).

The forward, currently on duty for Brazil in the Copa America in Chile, will join from Bun-desliga club Ho� enheim.

“Liverpool Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of Roberto Firmino from Ho� enheim, subject to a medical which will take place immediately following the player’s participation in Copa America 2015 for Brazil,” the club said in a statement on its website.

“The 23-year-old has agreed a long-term contract with the club,” they added.

The BBC said that the contract was for � ve years and that the fee was the second-highest ever paid by Liverpool after they shelled out £35 million for Andy Carroll in 2011.

Firmino scored 47 goals in 151 appearances during his four and a half years in Germany.

He has scored four times in nine appear-ances for his country, including what proved to be the winner in Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Venezuela at the Copa America.

Firmino, who played for Figueirense in his homeland before moving to Ho� enheim in 2011, becomes Liverpool’s � fth summer sign-ing after those of James Milner from Manches-ter City, Danny Ings from Burnley, goalkeeper Adam Bogdan from Bolton Wanderers and defender Joe Gomez from Charlton Athletic. l

Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori (L) makes a save against the Netherlands during the second half in the round of sixteen FIFA 2015 women’s World Cup at BC Place Stadium on Tuesday AFP

Germany v France China v United States Australia v Japan England v Canada

QUARTERFINAL LINE-UP

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England can ‘beat the best’, says buoyant Morgann AFP, Manchester

England limited overs captain Eoin Morgan said the national side had shown they “could beat the best in the world in any game of cricket” after ensuring New Zealand’s tour ended on a losing note.

Having defeated New Zealand - who thrashed England by eight wickets at Welling-ton in February en route to the World Cup � nal - 3-2 in a thrilling one-day international series, Morgan’s men in� icted a 56-run thrashing upon the Black Caps in Tuesday’s tour-ending Twenty20 international at Old Tra� ord.

“This felt a million miles away after the World Cup,” said Morgan of a global tourna-ment where England su� ered a humiliating � rst-round exit without beating a single rival Test nation.

“This is a fantastic way to � nish what has been a great month of cricket,” he added.

“When you’re trying to implement change within a group it’s important to have successes along the way and these guys have had that.

“We’ve done it the way we said we would and that’s important too. I want these guys to play with as much freedom as possible.”

Man-of-the-match Joe Root top-scored with 68 in England’s 191 for seven, but New

Zealand were well-placed at 88 for two and requiring 104 o� the last 12 overs for victory.

However, they su� ered a batting collapse that saw their � nal � ve wickets lost for just four runs in 12 balls. New Zealand were dis-missed for 135, with Kane Williamson’s typi-cally elegant 57 a rare highlight.

England T20 international debutants Da-vid Willey, who also ran out Williamson with a brilliant pick-up and throw from cover, and Mark Wood took three wickets apiece.

For England, who shared a two-match Test series 1-1 with New Zealand earlier in the sea-son, it was an ideal way to sign o� before they begin their bid to regain the Ashes from Aus-tralia next month.

“Now we have won this game and the ODI series it reinforces to the guys that, it might not always come o� , but we can beat the best in the world in any game of cricket,” said Mor-gan, not currently in England’s Test side.

By contrast, at the age of just 24, Yorkshire batsman Root is now an England mainstay in all three international formats.

“Joe has been outstanding again,” said Mor-gan. “Although he’s still very young he’s a very senior player in our squad and the guys don’t have to look very far for the ultimate profes-sional in the way he goes about his business.” l

Djoker looks to heal at Wimbledonn AFP, London

Three weeks after his heartbreaking French Open � nal defeat, Novak Djokovic resurfaces to defend his Wimbledon title and prove that his Paris scars have healed.

The world number one has stayed resolute-ly out of the spotlight since his Roland Garros upset by Stan Wawrinka ended his latest bid to complete the career Grand Slam.

Even his usual proli� c social media activity has been reduced to scraps with a mere half-doz-en postings on Twitter, only one of which pic-tured him working out on a grass court.

Despite his recent low pro� le, his rivals have no doubt that the Serb will be � red up to defend his Wimbledon crown just as he was in 2011 when he captured his maiden title in London.

“I’m sure after losing the French Open � nal he wants more, he wants to come back and win the next big one,” said Wawrinka.

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, defeated by Djokovic in the 2014 � -nal, also sees the Serb as favourite.

“He is the champion, the world number one and plays well on grass,” said Federer.

Djokovic’s loss to Wawrinka in Paris was just his third in 44 matches this year.

With the Australian Open already under his belt, the shattering loss also ended his chanc-es of going on to become just the third man in history - and � rst since 1969 - to clinch a cal-endar Grand Slam.

Such Paris disappointments have previ-ously worked in his favour. His 2011 semi-� -nal loss to Federer at Roland Garros ended a 41-match win streak that year.

However, just four weeks later, he defeated Rafael Nadal to secure a � rst Wimbledon title and then went on to his maiden US Open triumph.

Djokovic is also the most consistent of the top players at the majors - the last time he failed to make at least the quarter-� nals of a Grand Slam was at Roland Garros in 2009.

But he argues that his record sometimes works against him.

“I think people tend to create more of a story where it’s just me,” he said.

World number two Federer, who won the last of his 17 majors at Wimbledon in 2012, will be seeded to meet Djokovic in the July 12 � nal.

He will be 34 in Au-gust - the oldest man to win Wimbledon in the modern era was Arthur Ashe who was 31 years and 11 months when he triumphed at the All England Club in 1975.

However, de-spite the weight of num-bers suggesting that his best years are behind him, Federer fervently believes that another Wimbledon is not beyond him and he was buoyed by his eighth Halle title at the weekend.

It was his 15th career grass-court title and 86th of his career.

“I hope this is a good omen,” he said.

Despite Wawrinka’s second ma-jor title at the French Open, the dominance of the sport’s four heav-yweights is unlikely to be seriously threatened at Wimbledon where Lley-ton Hewitt, in 2002, was the last cham-pion from outside the “Big Four”. l

Ten Cricket10:30AM Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 20152nd Test, Day 1 Sony Six5:30AMCopa America, Quarter� nalsBolivia v PeruStar Sports 1Women’s FIH Hockey World League 2:00PM Korea v Azerbaijan 4:00PM Japan v Italy 10:00PM Poland v Belgium 12:00AM Australia v New Zealand Men’s FIH Hockey World League 6:00PM Malaysia v Ireland 8:00PM Great Britan v China Star Sports 210:30PM Natwest T20 Blast 2015Durham v Lancashire

DAY’S WATCH

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

BRIEF SCOREEngland 191 for 7 (Root 68, Hales 27; M Sant-ner 2-28) New Zealand 135 (Williamson 57, Willey 3-22, Wood 3-26)

England won by 56 runs

Pakistan eager to mark Khan’s 100th Test with victoryn AFP, Colombo

Pakistan are eager to celebrate senior batsman Younis Khan’s 100th Test appearance with a series-clinching victory against Sri Lanka in the match starting Thursday in Colombo.

Misbah-ul Haq’s tourists are riding high after a 10-wicket triumph in the opening Test in Galle even though the � rst four sessions of the match were washed out.

Misbah wants his team to perform equally well in the 37-year-old Khan’s landmark Test at the P. Sara Oval and take an unbeatable lead in the three-match series - a feat which has eluded them on Sri Lankan soil since 2009.

“Younis is the backbone and a very special member of the Pakistan team,” Misbah told reporters on Wednesday. “Playing 100 Tests is a huge achievement for any cricketer.

“He brings a lot of value to the team and brings a lot of good, positive energy. We all wish he can make his 100th Test memorable with a lot of runs. And we want to honour him by winning the match.”

Khan will become only the � fth Pakistani to play 100 or more Tests after Javed Miandad (124), Inzamam-ul Haq (119), Wasim Akram (104) and Salim Malik (103).

Khan’s 8,594 runs put him in third place among Pakistan’s leading run-getters in Tests behind Miandad, who scored 8,832 runs, and Inzamam, who had 8,829.

Khan’s 29 Test centuries, the same as Aus-tralian legend Donald Bradman, are the most by any Pakistan batsman. Inzamam is in sec-ond place with 25.

Misbah said the tourists were hungry for fur-ther success after they fought back from early setbacks to record an emphatic win in Galle. l

England’s Joe Root pulls during the T20I against New Zealand at Old Tra� ord on Tuesday AFP

DOWNTIME30DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

DILBERT

How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

CODE-CRACKER

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a di� erent letter of the alphabet. For example, today 18 represents Q so � ll Q every time the � gure 18 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 Prejudice (4)4 Bring together (5) 8 Fairy (6) 9 Facts given (4)11 Mannequin (5)12 Decorative plant (4) 14 Barrier (3)15 Come forth (6)19 Much ornamented (6) 21 Help (3)22 Appendage (4) 24 Tally (5)27 Not working (4) 29 Make bare (6)30 Spirited mount (5) 31 Middle East port (4)

DOWN 1 O� er (3)2 To the rear of a ship (6)3 Box (4)4 Edge (3)5 Make up for (5)6 Was ahead (3)7 Gave sharp bark (6)10 Far away (4)13 Meshed fabric (3) 14 Brags (6)16 Encountered (3)17 Attacked (6)18 Respiratory organ (4)20 Concur (5)23 Opera by Verdi (4) 25 Lyric poem (3)26 Finish (3)28 Vast age (3)

SUDOKU

SHOWTIME 31D

TTHURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

CELEBS ON SOCIAL

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WHAT TO WATCH

V for VendettaHBO 12:20pmIn a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom � ghter, known only by the alias of “V”, plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman.Cast: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea

The Bourne IdentityMovies now 4:50pm A man is picked up by a � shing boat, bullet-riddled and su� ering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and regain his memory.Cast: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper

The Matrix ReloadedWB 9:30pmNeo and the rebel leaders estimate that they have 72 hours until 250,000 probes discover Zion and destroy it and its inhabitants. During this, Neo must decide how he can save Trinity from a dark fate in his dreams.Cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss

n Showtime Desk

Goethe-Institut Bangladesh, in association with Jatra Biroti, has arranged two shows for the stage adaptation of Peter Handke’s celebrated German novel Storm Still. The novel was adapted for theatre production by two Indian artistes, Varun Kishore and actor Tanaji Dasgupta. The � rst show will be held at Goethe Institut today, while the second show will be held at Jatra Biroti in Banani tomorrow. Both shows will begin at 8pm and can be attended for free.

Composed as a series of monologues that combine the elements of literature, music

and theatre, the play � rst premiered in Kol-kata last March. The novel, which chronicles both the battle of Austria’s Slovene minority against Nazism and their love for their land, was adapted for stage by musician Varun Kishore who composed music for the play, while actor Tanaji Dasgupta visually inter-preted the text.

“The play is about a dream, a rant, a stream of consciousness, a string of memories. About life and death. And war and peace. And family. And roots. It’s about the past and the future, colliding in the present,” reads a press release sent by Goethe-Institut. l

Storm Still to be staged today

Russain theatre troupe pays tribute to jailed protestorsn Mithul Roy

A small private theatre project named Teatre.doc has been taking Moscow by storm ever since its establishment in 2002. Founded by playwrights and run by volun-teers, this week they have taken on the dare to portray The Bolotnaya Case, named after the Moscow square incident where hoards of people rebelled against President Putin in May 2012. Following the protest, 28 people were arrested of which 12 are still in jail.

Yelena Gremina who’s heading the organ-isation stated that the theatre troupe is con-stantly intimidated by authorities. Reports claim that they were threatened by state prosecutors, alongside which the troupe’s landlord was evicted as a result of govern-ment pressure. The company is under the government’s radar, with the state sparing no means to obstruct the play.

“We want to remember those innocent people in jail,” Gremina stated. Out of fear that the case was being overshadowed by the con� icts at Ukraine, she decided to

direct the play to shed light on the men who are still being held three years after the incident took place.

“The reaction from the authorities means we have succeeded in some way,” she said. Despite the threats she has been receiving, Gremina is determined to hold her ground, requesting volunteers to refurbish their new location, after being thrown out of their previous spot. Living o� private grants and donations, she doesn’t regret taking a few risks for the sake o� justice. Not new to such coercion, she says that she wants people to remember the innocents in jail and their su� ering families. l

BACK PAGE32DT

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015

MUSTAFIZUR SEIZES THE MOMENT PAGE 26

STORM STILL HITS STAGE TODAY PAGE 31

RMG STILL KEY TO BANGLADESH ECONOMY PAGE 15

Rice millers render jute packaging act uselessn Abu Bakar Siddique

The government move to implement the Man-datory Jute Packaging Act 2010 has stumbled due lack of cooperation from rice-mill owners, the major instruments in implementing the act.

“Implementation of the act has been slow just because rice mill owners, who are not interested in packing their products in jute sacks, have been blocking the initiative,” said Mohammad Kefaetulla, a director of the De-partment of Jute.

The government enacted the act in January 2014 with an aim to revive the jute industry, making it mandatory for the country’s agricul-ture sector to do all kinds of packaging with jute.

The law says that paddy, rice, wheat, maize, fertiliser and sugar must be packaged in jute bags. Violators face a maximum of one year in jail or a � ne of Tk50,000 or both for using non-degradable synthetics to package commodities.

But most of the rice mills in the country are still using contraband plastic sacks that are also detrimental to the environment.

“Finally, on June 1, the government made a move to take legal steps through mobile courts against the violators of the act,” the jute director said.

However, the activities of the mobile courts have been limited to � ning insigni� -cant amounts to certain mills selected by the leaders of the owners’ association, a leader of the association told the Dhaka Tribune seek-ing anonymity.

According to the Jute Department, around 750 million jute bags were to be used annual-ly and 50% of the jute production would be consumed locally once the packaging act was implemented.

Sources from the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) claimed that the sector

would regain strengths overnight if only 20% of the businesses started using bags made of the “golden � bre of Bengal.”

Jute director Kefaetulla said that rice mill-ers use around 1.4 million synthetic sacks annually for packaging their products, and if these could be replaced with jute sacks, the situation would change.

However, Nirod Baran Saha, convener of the Naogaon Rice Millers’ Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that if they started using jute bags, their production costs would go up because a 50kg jute bag costs Tk30 more than a polythene bag of the same capacity.

Availability of jute sacksOne year ago, rice millers said they would use jute sacks if government could ensure ade-quate supply. BJMC then appointed several hundred dealers around the country to pro-vide the rice millers with jute sacks.

Now, the rice millers say that they are not interested as the dealers had been unwilling to sell them sacks on credit.

“Cash and credit relationships are keys to the business that we, the millers, do. But the jute bag suppliers want cash in advance which is totally unacceptable,” said Nirod Baro Saha.

The government formulated the law on October 12, 2010 with a view to boosting the country’s dying jute sector and preventing the environment from getting polluted by widespread use of synthetic bags in packag-ing goods. The law was empowered to operate mobile courts against any and all violations.

In addition to enforcing the law by running mobile courts, the government has been try-ing to ban the production of plastic bags.

Kefaetaulla said that the Department of Jute has already tried to pursue the Depart-ment of Environment to not give clearance to plastic bag producers. l

Body formed to probe police involvement in yaba traden Mohammad Jamil Khan

Following the recent arrest of a special branch police o� cial, the police headquarters has formed a committee to investigate the in-volvement of law enforcers in contraband yaba trading.

According to a press statement issued by the police headquarters, the four-mem-ber probe body headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police (criminal investigation de-partment) Saiful Haque includes Kazi Zia Ud-din, assistant inspector general (PIO), Abdus Salam, assistant police super (discipline and professional standard) and Feni district Police Superintendent Rezaul Haque.

The committee was asked to submit its re-port within seven days.

Another three-member committee was formed with Police Special Branch Addition-al DIG Mahbub Chowdhury as the chief to investigate involvement of police o� cials in human tra� cking.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque ordered to take stern action against detained ASI Mahfuzur Rahman and his associates who were in-volved in yaba smuggling.

“We would not take responsibility of any police o� cials who are involved with any kind of crime. We have zero tolerance policy against such crimes,” said the IGP yesterday.

He also directed to arrest all the responsi-ble police o� cials and their associates imme-diately.

This is not the � rst time allegations have

surfaced against police o� cials for abetting drug smuggling and human tra� cking. Cou-ple of months earlier, state-run intelligence agency, in a special report, mentioned 26 po-lice o� cials of Cox’s Bazar for their involve-ment in drug business.

Allegations were also raised against Cox’s Bazaar parliament member Abdur Rahman and his 10 other family members.

However, Abdur Rahman, while talking to the Dhaka Tribune recently, claimed himself innocent.

In the meantime, statistics from the De-partment of Narcotics Control (DNC) show the rise of yaba smuggling due to the joint nexus of police and political leaders.

The number of yaba pills seized in the � rst four months of the current year has surpassed

any other previous records. Between the year of 2008 and 2013, a total

of 71,12,900 yaba tablets were seized across the country while 65,12,869 yaba tablets were seized in 2014.

However, in the � rst four months of 2015 a total of 58,51,334 yaba pills have been seized and the number is likely to increase by the end of the year.

Mohammad Bazlur Rahman, director gen-eral of DNC said world’s noted drug produc-ing areas are situated on the south-east and north-west side of Bangladesh making the country a popular smuggling route.

More than 100,000 people are directly in-volved with illegal drug trading, according to the reports prepared by the DNC, police and other intelligence agencies. l

With their customary body paint, Indian fan Sudhir Gautam, left, and Bangladesh fan Tiger Shoaib, right, cheer for their teams at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Mirpur yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

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