BusinessB1 To lease out 1,700 acres of unused land belonging to 39 state-owned enterprises that it has already identi� ed, the Privatisation Commission plans to carryout a survey on 111 more SOEs

News3 The government is mulling over issuing one more 3G licence, after 15MHz spectrum went unsold in the spectrum auction held this Sunday.

Law5 Tra� c accidents taking multiple lives or alleged negligent doctors killing patients

are two very common phenomena in Bangladesh. Recently, there have been large scale industrial accidents killing and permanently crippling many workers.

Nation7 As many as 24 incidents of robbery have taken place in Sylhet in the last three months, which clearly indicates a serious slide in the law and order situation.

Sport14 Lionel Messi converted two penalties as Argentina booked their ticket to the 2014 World Cup � nals with a crushing 5-2 away win over Paraguay on Tuesday.

16 pages with 8-page business tabloid plus 24-page supplement Avenue-T | Price: Tk10

Bhadra 28, 1420Zilkad 5, 1434Regd. No. DA 6238Vol 1 No 171 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 | www.dhakatribune.com

INSIDE

International United Nations team decries crimes against humanity in Syria

8

Babul, a minor boy, helps his mother in unhygienic and hazardous tannery work. The photo was taken from city’s Hazaribagh recently NASHIRUL ISLAM

Rice allocation raises concernMinistry orders release of test relief rice for MPs and DCs by September 15n Mohosinul Karim

The government has started allocating a large amount of rice as special test re-lief (TR) to the lawmakers and deputy commissioners for distribution among the rural poor at the fag-end of the 14-party alliance’s tenure.

Many think the allocation will open the � oodgate for pilferage in the run-up to the national election.

The relief and disaster management ministry ordered the disaster manage-

ment department to release the allocat-ed rice for lawmakers, deputy commis-sioners against the ministry-approved projects by September 15.

The allegations of irregularities and bribery for allocating the test relief rice have already been surfaced.

According to the allegations, a huge number of ruling party leaders and some individuals close to the ministry concerned are receiving allocations in return for bribe.

The ministry and disaster manage-

ment department o� cials, however, denied the allegation of taking bribes.

According to the ministry, it allocat-ed 95,000 metric tonnes of rice for test relief work under the rural infrastruc-ture development programme (food for work programme) on August 19.

The MPs of 300 parliamentary con-stituencies will get 300 tonnes of rice each while women members of 50 re-served seats will get 100 metric tonnes each from the allocation.

The order of the disaster manage-

ment ministry said the MPs will have to receive the allocation from the disaster management department and � nish the work within a month.

Besides, the DCs of all districts have been allocated 75 tonnes of rice each as special allocation.

Some ministry o� cials said a section of powerful individuals are involved in getting approval of projects from the ministry who take TK 3,000 as bribe for the release of each tonne of rice.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

‘Last session’ of 9th Jatiya Sangsad starts todayn Kamran Reza Chowdhury

The business advisory committee of parliament is set to meet today to � x up the tenure of the last session of the current Awami League-led ninth Jatiya Sansgad that started its session on Jan-uary 25, 2009.

If continues for seven consecutive working days, this parliament would make a record by holding maximum number of JS sessions in the history of Bangladesh.

Chief Whip Abdus Shahid told Dha-ka Tribune that the House would go for six working days starting on September 12. The house is likely to go into ad-journment by October 20, he added.

The house will operate till October 24, which will be the last day of operation of the current parliament, said Shahid.

However, the decision depends on the business advisory committee, headed by the Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, that would decide the ten-

ure of every session of parliament.Leader of the House and premier,

leaders of the opposition, chief whip and other senior members consist the 15-member body.

The committee would sit at 4pm with the speaker as the chair.

In line with the practice, starting at 5pm, the House would be adjourned for the day in honour of the Awami League MP Golam Sabur (Bamna-Patharghata, Barguna) who died in a road accident on July 26 in Faridpur.

At least three new bills are set to be tabled in parliament for passage. Be-sides, 13 more bills are pending for en-actment.

The parliament o� cials say, no MP either from the ruling party or from the opposition has submitted notice on discussing the demand of restoration of the caretaker government raised by the opposition.

Zainul Abdin Farrqoue, the chief PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

EU to send observers only if all political parties contest polls n Mohammad Zakaria

The European Union yesterday told the Election Commission (EC) that it would not send its election observers to Bang-ladesh, if the next general elections is not participated by all political parties, EC o� cials con� rmed.

The EU cleared its stance at an hour-long meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday. The four election commissioners, however, were not part of the meeting.

The delegation asked the EC about the announcement of the polls’ sched-ule, and its preparations to make the polls free, fair and inclusive.

According to sources, the CEC in re-ply, said: “All political parties have the responsibility of ensuring their partic-ipation in elections, it is not the com-mission’s obligation.”

Later, the EU delegation told the commissioner that its election observ-ers would come only after being en-sured of an election participated by all political parties.

Following the meeting, EU ambassa-dor to Bangladesh William Hanna told the media of the EU’s involvement with the EC over the years and its continu-ous support.

“Currently we have projects worth €10m with the EC, as we are responsi-ble for � nancing voters’ list creation, ID projects and other matters. We are ready to provide the commission with technical support, so that it can hold the polls in a much better way than the past,” he said.

About the deployment of EU observers, Hanna said: “We will have to report to the headquarters. Deployment of our observers depends on how the preparations are. The decision will be taken at the higher level of the EU.”

He believed that the EC was ready to hold the polls. “We had a very good and fruitful discussion on all the aspects of the elections.”

When asked if they discussed how

participation of all political parties could be ensured in the next polls, Hanna denied making any comment but said they have been discussing all the modalities of how the elections could be organised in a free and fair manner.

On the other hand, after the meet-ing, the CEC told reporters that an in-itiative of political understanding is a matter of political decision.

“There are many senior and wise leaders in the country. They [leaders] understand the public’s pulse, and are capable of making decisions,” he said.

“We are the referees. We do not want to get involved in the matter,” the CEC said.

However, Kazi Rakibuddin said the EC would sign an agreement with the EU before their observers would come to cover the next parliamentary polls.

He said the commission usually � xes polls’ schedule about 40/45 days ahead of the elections. During this time the commission will call for interna-tional observers.

The CEC said at the meeting he con� rmed his pledge to hold the next parliamentary election in free, fair and transparent manner.

“We discussed technical issues and sought support for video surveillance in all the polling stations.”

When asked if there were any sug-gestions from the EU, the CEC said they did not give any suggestion and were not eligible for doing so.

In 2008, the previous EC had al-lowed 20 foreign agencies including the EU and 120 NGOs to observe the ninth parliamentary elections. About 1.6 million foreign and local observers were engaged in the process. 150 elec-tion observers from EU observed the last parliamentary elections. l

‘All political parties have the responsibility of ensuring their participation in elections, it is not the commission’s obligation’

Promotion fuels angers among deprived civil bureaucrats n Mohosinul Karim

The recent elevation of deputy secre-taries to the posts of joint secretaries has provoked anger among bureaucrats of the same status left out of promotion in the civil administration.

The resentment surfaced following the promotion order of 72 deputy sec-retaries on Tuesday night. Earlier, 345 deputy secretaries were promoted to the status of joint secretary on July 18.

The ministry also decided to pro-mote two o� cers to joint secretary who are now in lien.

A number of promotion-deprived of-� cers told the Dhaka Tribune that they were very upset as they were left out of the promotion list despite what they said their “e� ciency and quali� cation.”

They claimed that the ministry had given promotion to 345 deputy secre-taries on July 18 depriving a huge num-ber of quali� ed o� cers.

The o� cers, who preferred not to be identi� ed, claimed those who were de-prived of promotion were not involved in any politics and most of them were identi� ed as honest o� cers in the civil bureaucracy.

Though the prime minister assured the o� cers of promotion and ordered the ministry and board concerned to

promote quali� ed o� cer they were left out, they added.

According to the o� cers, a total of 132 o� cers of 1985 batch were deprived in the September 10 promotion order. Some of the o� cers were deprived for the third time.

A total of 12 o� cers of 82 batch were

deprived for the sixth time, 50 o� cers of 84 batch for fourth time and 30 of-� cers of 86 batch for the second time.

Expressing their reaction the deputy secretaries told the Dhaka Tribune that the deprivation for the � rst time was di� erent but it’s unbearable when they were left out times and again.

“We were not considered while at least half of the promoted o� cers be-longing either to BNP or Jamaat politics have been promoted.”

They said they gave up hope of get-ting promotion during the tenure of the present government saying: “We hope the government will reconsider our case otherwise it will bring disaster for the government,”

But, the o� cials of public admin-istration ministry said there was no possibility of reconsidering their case. The ministry would soon start working to promote the joint secretaries to the posts of additional secretary. l

‘We were not considered while at least half of the promoted o� cers belonging either to BNP or Jamaat politics have been promoted’

Government did not respond over dialogue at UNGA: Shamsher Mobinn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

A senior BNP leader claimed that an of-� cial of the UN told him it had not got any response from Bangladesh govern-ment regarding a dialogue on the polls-time administration on the side line of the UN General Assembly.

“A UN o� cial informed us that they did not get any response from the gov-ernment side regarding the dialogue,” BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had invited the Awami League and the BNP to send their delegations to the UNGA so that they can engage in a dialogue there to settle Bangladesh’s polls-time government issue.

Asked whether BNP would send any team to UNGA, he said: “If the ruling

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Dhaka conveys frustrations over Felani trialFather appeals to Indian authorities for justice and compensationn Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The foreign ministry has formally ex-pressed its “utter frustration” to the Indian authorities over the verdict in Felani murder case conducted by the Indian Border Security Force.

“We have sent a note verbale to In-dia, expressing our utter frustration, and hope that justice will prevail,” said an o� cial of the foreign ministry.

The formal communication had been sent on Monday he said.

The self-confessed killer of 15-year-old Felani, BSF Constable Amiya Ghosh, was acquitted and pronounced not guilty by a quasi-judicial court of the BSF on Friday.

The ministry o� cial said they were also exploring legal options on the possibility of becoming a party to the Felani case in India. “We will discuss the issue with legal experts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Sha� que Ahmed on Saturday said aggrieved persons should appeal to the appro-

priate authorities if they considered that a judgment had not been fair.Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alam-gir also said justice had not been re-� ected in the judgement of the Felani killing case.

Criticising the BSF court’s verdict on Saturday, National Human Rights Com-mission Chairman Mizanur Rahman said the judgment showed disrespect to the international laws.

In a clari� cation on Saturday, the In-dian High Commission said: “The trial

of the case by a BSF Court of Inquiry was the � rst step of a quasi-judicial process. The due process of law, which has provision for appeal and review by the competent authority, will be followed. Justice will be delivered to those who are found guilty.”

Felani was shot dead by Amiya Ghosh on January 7, 2011 along the Bangladesh-India border when the girl was trying to return to Bangladesh to get married.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

EntertainmentKM Asad wins IPA Photo Essay Asia Award

12 SportSa� Championship: Afghans make history

13

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

BNP lawmaker outshines ruling MPs at JS bodyn Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Opposition MP Rumana Mahmood has attended the highest number of meetings of the parliamentary stand-ing committee on commerce, though her party BNP has observed three long spells of parliament boycott.

According to the compiled � gures, Mahmood (Sirajganj 2), the lone BNP parliamentarian in the committee, turned up at 42 out of 49 meetings of the standing committee since its for-mation in February 2009.

O� cials said at least 25 meetings would not have taken place if Mah-mood had not turned up, since at least three MPs must attend for a meeting.

On the other hand, ruling Awami League MP Nurul Islam B.Sc. (Chit-tagong 8) has turned up at only four meetings of the parliamentary watch-dog assigned to ensure transparency

and accountability of the commerce ministry and the departments under it.

Md Abdul Latif (Chittagong), Tipu Munshi (Rangpur) and Joynal Abedin, all from the ruling party, attended 10, 14 and 16 meetings respectively of the 10-member all-party committee.

Awami League MP Ali Azgar has not attended any of the meetings since he was elected a member in the budget session this year.

The standing committee is going to hold its last meeting soon as the cur-rent will either be dissolved or remain dormant up to the next general elec-tions due in January.

ABM Abul Kashem, who was elect-ed chairman after the death of his pre-decessor Lutful Hye, attended all of the meetings starting from the 19th.

“She (Mahmood) played a com-mendable role in upholding the dem-ocratic spirit,” the chairman told the

Dhaka Tribune.GM Quader, who was made a mem-

ber as the commerce minister after the 29th meeting, attended 11 out of the total 20 meetings that took place since.

Quader’s predecessor Faruk Khan attended 27 out of the � rst 29 meet-ings.

Awami League MPs Sk A� l Uddin, a member from the start, attended 29 meetings. Another Awami League MP Tahura Ali turned up at 29 meetings out of the 45 held since she became a member.

Former Awami League general sec-retary, the late Abdul Jalil, was the � rst chairman of the standing committee. After the � rst � ve meetings, Jalil was replaced for his o� ensive comment about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a London TV.

Md Lutful Hye succeeded him. He died in 2010. l

AL ready to sacri� ce for fair polls: Hanifn Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahabub-Ul-Alam Hanif yesterday said the ruling party was ready to make any kind of sacri� ce in order to hold a credible election.

“We will do whatever is required to hold a neutral and credible election participated by all political parties. And we are ready to hold talks both inside and outside parliament,” he said while talking to reporters at his o� ce at Karwan Bazar.

About BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s statement that BNP would not

participate in any election under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the AL leader said: “BNP has no ethical ground for such threat. We will hold election in line with the constitution and hope BNP will also participate in the polls.”

Hanif, also the special assistant to the prime minister, hoped that BNP would come up with their proposal in parliament.

“We will wait till the prorogation of parliament for BNP to submit its proposal. Talks could be held even after prorogation of the session if they come up with any proposal,” he said. l

PM to � y to New York Sept 22n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave Dhaka on September 22 to attend the UN General Assembly in New York.

“She is set to deliver her speech at the UNGA on September 27,” said an o� cial of the foreign ministry. The assembly starts on September 17 and will end on October 2. The premier will leave New York on September 29 and reach Dhaka the following day.

Hasina was undecided about joining the UNGA until Tuesday when her Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad con� rmed that that Hasina would present the government’s achievements in her UNGA speech. He also said the premier would hold meetings with leaders of other countries on the sidelines of the assembly.

The foreign ministry o� cial said Bangladesh had sought sideline meetings with India and Myanmar. But as Myanmar President Thein Sein is not attending the UNGA, there would be no meeting with him.

“We have always had sideline meetings with India and we expect that this time too we will have the meeting with New Delhi,” he said adding that the meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to be � nalised by next week.

Hasina would also seek an appointment with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to apprise him of her government’s position about a dialogue with the opposition and the next general elections.l

Santos and Kris Energy to get block 11 after PM’s approvaln Aminur Rahman Rasel

The Energy and Mineral Resources Divi-sion (EMRD) next week will send a sum-mary of signing an initial to explore a shallow sea block in the Bay to the prime minister for her approval.

The exploration work will be imple-mented under a joint venture initiative of Santos and Kris Energy Limited.

On September 8, the EMRD approved the proposal to sign the initial under model production sharing contract (MPSC)-2012 to explore oil and gas in shallow sea block 11.

The EMRD o� cials have con� rmed the information to the Dhaka Tribune.

Petrobangla, the state-run oil, gas and mineral resources agency, recent-ly forwarded a recommendation to the EMRD secretary to sign the initial.

On July 29, International oil compa-nies (IOCs) Australia-based Santos and Singapore-based Kris Energy jointly dropped the bidding documents for the block.

“We hope to sign the initial after the approvals of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is in charge of the energy ministry, and the cabinet committee on economic a� airs,” a Petrobangla o� cial said. Santos and Kris Energy had o� ered to explore block 11, conduct an 870-line kilometres of mandatory 2D-seismic survey, a 300sq-km 3D-seismic survey, and drill one well – within the initial pe-riod of � ve years.

The companies will spend $32m for the exploratory well and other works. They will deposit bank guarantees worth $15m as proposed in the bidding.

Santos is currently producing gas at block 16 while Kris Energy has signed an agreement to take over Tullow Ban-gladesh Limited’s operations on Ban-gura gas � eld at onshore block 9 for 16 years at an expense of $42.35m.

Under the new MPSC, there is no scope to export oil and gas, but it can be sold to a third party within the coun-try. Earlier, international biddings had been called in 1993, 1997 and 2008. l

Hasina asks party activists to work for boatn Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged Awami League activists to leave behind all di� erences and work togeth-er in supporting the candidates who re-ceive party nomination for the upcom-ing parliamentary elections.

Sheikh Hasina, also the president of AL, made the call at Ganabhaban during a view exchange meeting with party leaders from Sylhet metropolitan and district, Khulna metropolitan and district, Narayanganj, Mymensingh, Noakhali and Patuakhali.

The meeting was convened to get

feedback from the grassroots level about the party’s potential nominations for the respective constituencies in the upcom-ing national polls.

“You don’t need to see who the can-didate is. You have to remain united for the party and seek vote for boat, re-ducing all di� erences of opinion,” she told party leaders, assuring them that the party’s parliamentary board would nominate the candidates based on the opinions from the grassroots.

Seeking votes from citizens, the pre-mier said continuation of the govern-ment is required for the continuation of development. “We have provided the

charter of Vision 2021 and we are con� -dent in realising it,” she added.

Sheikh Hasina also criticized the main opposition, saying that the BNP is an anti-liberation party which seeks to destroy the country in association with the anti-liberation forces.

Hasina also asked the party activists to remain alert for tackling propagandas against the government which capitalise on religious sentiments.

AL leaders Suranjit Sengupta, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Kazi Zafarullah, Satish Chandra Roy, Mahbub-ul-alam Hanif, Mrinal Kanti Das, were present at the meeting. l

A team of EU delegation walks out of the Election Commission o� ce after a meeting with the CEC yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Rice allocation raises concern PAGE 1 COLUMN 4When contacted Disaster Management and Relief Minister Abul Hasan Mah-mud Ali refused to comment on the matter and told this correspondent to talk to him later.

Director General of Department of Disaster Management Mohammad Ab-dul Wazed said they had allocated the rice following instructions from the ministry.

“We have disbursed the rice accord-ing to the instruction of the ministry,” he said.

When his attention was drawn to the alleged bribery he said: “Alloca-tions were given on the basis of ap-

plications of the deputy commission-ers. We never allocate anything in exchange for money.”

Professionals said such special allo-cation before the national election and at the end of the tenure of the govern-ment was made with an eye on the up-coming national election.

They feared the rice would be sold in the local market rather than being used in the projects.

M Ha� z Uddin Khan, ex-chairman of Transparency International Bangla-desh (TIB), said: “We are experiencing � oods in some parts of the country. If the allocation is meant for the � ood af-fected people it’s ok. But I don’t think it

was meant for them.”Demanding cancellation of the al-

location before the election, he said: “There is probability of misuse of the allocated rice. The allocation will be of no use except for paving the way for looting by the party activists.”

Former deputy minister for disaster management and relief Asadul Habib Dulu said the BNP government also gave such allocation towards the end of its tenure but the caretaker govern-ment cancelled the allocation.

“BNP leaders and activists su� ered a lot for such allocation and the pres-ent government will have to pay for such test relief allocation,” he noted. l

Government did not respond over dialogue at UNGA PAGE 1 COLUMN 6party does not go there, what will we do going there?”

Shamsher Mobin declined to disclose who made the phone call. A few other senior leaders of the party said they heard about the issue but they were not sure who made the call.

US Secretary of State John Kerry sent letters to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia this Sunday, urging the two top leaders to � nd a way to hold free, fair and credible elections.

US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena had gone to the Prime

Minister’s O� ce and the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan o� ce to hand over Kerry’s letters. BNP leader Shamsher Mobin received the letter for Khaleda.

In May, Ban Ki-moon had Assistant Secretary-General for Political A� airs Oscar Fernández-Taranco apparently to create a ground for a political dialogue.

Taranco met the PM, the opposition leader, the speaker of parliament, the chief election commissioner, leaders of di� erent political parties and select civil society members. After the meetings he expressed concerns that

time was running out for � nding a solution towards holding of free, fair, credible and non-violent elections.

Kerry wrote to the two top leaders just 15 days after the UN secretary-general’s phone calls requesting them to reach an amicable solution.

On August 21, Chinese envoy Li Jun told reporters that he was trying to encourage dialogue between the two political rivals.

Earlier on April 17, ambassadors of Arab and Muslim-majority countries based in Dhaka met Khaleda and discussed “possible ways out” of the current political crisis. l

‘Last session’ of 9th Jatiya Sangsad PAGE 1 COLUMN 5whip of the opposition, said his party might boycott the last session as the Awami League-led parliament would not bring any bill for restoration of the caretaker government in the charter.

He, however, said the decision to join the House will ultimately be decided by the leader of the opposition and party chief Khaleda Zia who attended only 10 out of the total 394 sittings in 18 sessions of parliament during the tenure of AL. l

Dhaka conveys frustrations PAGE 1 COLUMN 6The image of her dead body hanging from the barbed-wire fence shocked the whole country.

Our Correspondent in Kurigram adds: Felani’s father yesterday appealed to the Indian government and its people, seeking justice and compensation for her daughter’s killing.

Apparently frustrated by the Indian court’s verdict, Felani’s father Nurul Islam sent out an e-letter to the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh, the West Bengal human rights organisation Manobadhikar Surokkha Moncho (MASUM) and Dhaka’s Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) yesterday morning.

In the letter, which was sent via email, Nurul Islam described himself as a believer of human rights and justice and urged the Indian government as well as its people to come forward so that justice was served to the ones liable for the killing of her daughter.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Nurul said: “I want the Indian government to mete out justice to Felani’s killers and pay compensation to my losses. That is why I sent the letter to them through email.”

ASK investigation unit’s Deputy Director Md Tipu Sultan acknowledged having received Nurul’s letter.

Nurul said he had trouble understanding how killers could be innocent. “The BSF killed my daughter before my very eyes. I do not understand how the culprits could remain innocent even after killing my daughter.”

The aggrieved father vowed to � ght for the rest of his life to bring the killers of her daughter to book. l

Shibir cuts tendons of Rangpur BCL leadern BSS

Activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, crit-ically injured a leader of pro-Awami League Bangladesh Chhatra League by cutting his tendons in College Para area of the city yesterday afternoon.

The Chhatra Shibir cadres suddenly attacked Organising Secretary of Ch-hatra League’s Carmichael College unit Mosharraf Hossain, 25, and cut tendons of his both legs.

Local people and Chhatra League activists took him immediately to Rang-pur Medical College Hospital where the physicians conducted emergency sur-gery.

“Mosharraf was sent to Dhaka from the hospital in the evening for improved treatment as his condition deteriorated severely due to excessive bleeding,” Pres-ident of Rangpur district Chhatra League Dhonojeet Ghosh Taposh told BSS.

O� cer-in-Charge of Kotwali police sta-tion Syed Shahabuddin Khalifa said the motive of the attack was identi� ed and hectic e� orts were on to nab the culprits.

Additional police forces had been de-ployed in the area, commonly known as stronghold of Chhatra Shibir cadres. l

Jamaat leaders Tasneem, Jasim indicted for sedition n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday framed charges against Jamaat-e-Islami Publicity Secre-tary Tasneem Alam and central commit-tee leader Md Jasimuddin in a sedition case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Special Tribu-nal 1 Judge Md Jahrul Haque framed the charges and � xed October 28 to begin the trial. The judge also rejected the dis-charge petitions � led by defence counsel Abdur Razzak for the two accused and also the bail petition � led for Tasneem.

Of the duo, Jasim took bail from the

High Court while Tasneem in jail. Investigation O� cer of the case

Sub-Inspector Mohammad Abu Mia sub-mitted the charge sheet on May 31. The charges include attempts to hinder the war crimes trials, hampering the coun-try’s relationship with foreign countries and instigating violence.

Rab members arrested them on De-cember 17 last year while holding a secret meeting with party leaders and activists in the capital’s Uttara sector 10 area with a view to create unrest in the country, said police. Sub-Inspector of West Uttara po-lice station Md Firoz Alam � led the case. l

Polls to be held 90 days before end of � ve-year tenureSpeaker tells EU delegationn Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury yesterday told European Union Ambassador William Hanna that Bangladesh, for the � rst time, was going to its national election 90 days ahead of the completion of its � ve-year tenure.

Shirin was clarifying the constitutional provisions for holding the next general elections to a six-member Election Exploratory Mission of the European Union.

The speaker, a lawyer by profession, told Hanna that the 10th parliamentary polls must take place between October 24 and January 24 next year.

The European delegation called on her at her parliament o� ce to have a discussion about sending international observer missions to monitor the polls despite the opposition threat of boycott.

“The previous elections took place 90 days after the expiry of its � ve-year tenure but this time we are going to see polls 90 days before the end of the mandated � ve-year. So, there could be some questions on the polls,” Shirin

told reporters at her o� ce after the meeting.

“But once it takes place, the questions will be over,” she said.

The exploratory mission informed the speaker that the European Union would send their observer mission to monitor the polls.

In line with the report of the exploratory mission, the European Union would decide whether they would send observer missions to assess the polls in Bangladesh.

The international polls observer missions in late 2006 withdrew as the then interim government, amid huge street violence, was arranging polls which all the political parties except BNP and its allies had announced to boycott.

Shirin said the present Election Commission had conducted over 5,000 polls including � ve city polls.

“They did very well; so they should take the lead in the monitoring of the upcoming polls,” said the speaker.

Ambassador William Hanna told the waiting reporters that his team had very fruitful meeting with the EC but he did not say anything in details. l

News 3DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

Another 3G licence under considerationGovernment eyes billions from 15MHz of unsold spectrum

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The government is mulling over issuing one more 3G licence, after 15MHz spec-trum went unsold in the spectrum auc-tion held this Sunday, said high o� cials at the telecom ministry.

The spectrum auction of the 2,100 band created much-hype but did not live up to the expectations as only 25MHz of spectrum was acquired by four mobile operators, leaving 37.5% of the chunk unsold.

Meanwhile, sources at the Bangla-desh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said Grmameen-phone and Robi would be handed over their 3G licences for 15 years today while there had been no word on the licences of Airtel and Banglalink.

They said Airtel had not paid the li-cence and spectrum fees while Bangla-link had made a partial payment, so the decision on their licences depended on the BTRC chairman.

Grameenphone and Robi had sought the no objection certi� cates from the regulator to import 3G equipment, which they might get today, said the sources.

Experts said there was enough space for another 3G operator in the country and that might bring good competition with quality service.

“We can consider one more licence if we � nd any renowned operator after consulting with the experts. If the tele-

com regulator makes any such recom-mendations, I will positively consider it,” Telecommunications Minister Ad-vocate Shahara Khatun told the Dhaka Tribune.

Before the auction, BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose told the media that they might consider awarding more licences for 3G mobile service, if all 40MHz of spectrum is not bought out by the existing operators.

Following the auction, Bose saida decision over the unsold spectrum must be taken after talking to the gov-ernment, meaning, BTRC are not in fa-vour of leaving the spectrum unused.

He said: “Spectrum is a very costly natural resource, which is also limited so we cannot leave it unused. Interna-tional Telecommunication Union have also given us directions about it.”

Meanwhile, BTRC’s 3G Consultant Abdullah Ferdous in his report on the spectrum auction suggested that the regulator should look for another oper-ator for the unsold spectrum.

“I do not think the remaining 15 MHz is a burden on BTRC, rather, it is an asset with more revenue potentials. Actually that remaining spectrum will soon be desired by mobile operators, creating unprecedented competitions,” Abdullah Ferdous told the Dhaka Tri-bune.

Sources at the BTRC claimed, Abdul-lah Ferdous wants to take the responsi-bility of arranging another auction, at-

tended by even bigger globalplayers. At the same time, he also assuredof more money than what the government got from the four operators.

Abdullah Ferdous, a renowned con-sultant, works in UK and has served di� erent European � rms. He came in the country just for the 3G spectrum auction and his contract as BTRC’s 3G consultant ended Tuesday.

Michael Kuehner, RobiAxiata CEO & Managing Director said: “We bought spectrum in the auction according to our company’s plans, and we will welcome new competitors. We are not scared about it.”

In the auction, market leader Grameenphone acquired 10MHz while Robi, Airtel and Banglalink bought 5MHz each. The price � xed by the auc-tion was $21m per MHz excluding 5% VAT.

Only state-owned operator Teletalk took 10MHz of spectrum by default and has to match the price � xed at the auc-tion according to the guideline.

However, the oldest mobile phone operator in the country,Citycell applied for 3G licence, but did not participate in the auction.

There is provision for a new oper-ator in the 3G guideline, but no one could be found before the last date of application submission on August 12. Though a Korean company had come and applied to extend the date, BTRC did not allow it. l

My brother was an assistant of Mobarak: Witnessn Udisa Islam

A new prosecution witness in the case against war crimes suspect Mobarak Hossain yesterday said his elder broth-er had worked as an assistant of the ac-cused during the 1971 Liberation War.

Abdul Hamid also told the Internation-al Crimes Tribunal 1 that Mobarak along with the Pakistani occupation army had killed many freedom � ghters and tor-tured unarmed civilians in Brahmanbaria.

After his deposition, the defence coun-sels cross examined the witness, who claims to be a freedom � ghter. The tribu-nal headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir ad-journed session till September 22.

During the grilling, the witness said his brother Abdur Rouf had told him about Mobarak. The defence ques-tioned him about his daily life. The witness said he had once been sued for drug addiction. In response to another query, Hamid said he did not have a freedom � ghter’s certi� cate.

While placing his deposition, Hamid could not specify time and date of the incidents. The tribunal noticed it and told him to be speci� c.

The witness said he had been with Bangladesh Army since December 1971 and was posted in Syedpur. Three to four months after the liberation, he re-turned to Brahmanbaria and came to know that his elder brother Abdur Rouf had joined the razakar force.

Rouf had told him about the mass kill-ings in Gangachhara and murder of Abdul Khaleque, and that Mobarak was respon-sible for all those crimes. Abdul Majeed was the chairman of Peace Committee there. Because of Rouf’s involvement, the family is known as razakars, he added. l

Prosecution ends closing arguments in Alim Casen Muktasree Chakma Sathi

The prosecution yesterday termed war crimes accused Abdul Alim a compass who has always directed the ways of committing crimes against humanity in Joypurhat during the 1971 liberation war.

While placing the closing arguments for the fourth and last day at the Inter-national Crimes Tribunal 2, the prose-cution submitted on the legal points of the charges pressed against Alim, a former BNP minister.

Prosecutor Tureen Afroz said: “Alim was the man behind each decision that led atrocities particularly in Joypurhat in 1971” and pleaded for his highest punishment. She highlighted on Alim’s personal and political identity along with his responsibilities and liabilities.

“He was the one who took the deci-sion regarding whom to kill, why and how the execution will take place.”

She said as an individual – under the International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973 – Alim is bearing “Individual Criminal Responsibility along with bearing Joint Criminal Enterprise and Superior Responsibility” as a leader or member of Peace-cum-Defence Committee and razakar” which were formed following the decision of Convention Muslim League in 1971 and as a perpetrator of the group which committed atrocities in 1971.

The tribunal at one point told the prosecutor that they had one list which stated that some people had been members or leaders of Peace Commit-

tee just because they were the mem-bers of Convention Muslim League. “There are also some names whose sons were freedom � ghters, despite the fact that their fathers were members of Peace Committee.”

Tureen responded to the tribunals’ observation and said all the witnesses, except for the witness related to charge no 16, had mentioned Alim as a leader of Peace Committee in Joypurhat.

“Even if he was not the leader of Peace Committee, he cannot deny the responsibility of his followers who committed heinous atrocities in 1971, following his instruction,” she said.

Alim is a criminal who was involved in both genocide and crimes against humanity. “He directly encouraged many crimes in 1971 along with participating, ordering, morally supporting and making suggestions to the perpetrators. All these factors prove that he is guilty of joint responsibility,” Tureen said mentioning Alim’s involvement in torturing innocent people in Khetlal, Akkelpur and Joypurhat torture cells.

Regarding “superior responsibil-ity” of Alim, the prosecutor said the accused was the one from who the Pakistani occupation army had got suggestion and advice on geographical and local situation. Based on these, the armies chalked out their operation plan and killed people, Tureen added.

The tribunal of Justice Obaidul Hasan, Justice Mojibur Rahman Miah and Justice Shahiur Islam set Septem-ber 15 for the defence’s closing argu-ments. l

Housemaid allegedly tortured by employern Mohammad Jamil Khan

A 10-year old housemaid is undergoing treatment at the One Stop Crisis Centre (OSCC) of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital after allegedly being tortured by one of her employers over a domes-tic dispute in the city’s Mohakhali area.

The victim, identifed as Mahi Akhter, was admitted to the specialised unit of the state-run hospital yesterday afternoon with injury marks all over her body, OSCC coordinator Bilkis Akter said.

“She is now undergoing treatment at the hospital, and we are monitoring her physical condition and giving her di� erent types of medicines so that she can recover from her injuries,” Bilkis said.

Mahi, who comes from Shologhor village in Barisal district, was aban-doned by her parents when they di-vorced � ve years ago.

Alam Khan, her uncle and legal guardian, told the Dhaka Tribune that the girl had been working for a married couple at Mohakhali for the past four years.

About four months ago, the rela-tionship between the couple began to sour and they fought constantly, Alam claimed. As Mahi refused to take sides, the wife, Morium Sultana, allegedly started beating her, tied her hands and feet with chains and con� ned her in-side a room, he added.

“After the husband informed me about Mahi’s situation, I rescued her from the house with the help of Banani police on September 3, and admitted her to Dhaka medical” Alam said. She was shifted to the OSCC after her con-dition deteriorated.

Morium, a college teacher, refuted the allegations against her. She claimed that her husband, Rasel Sarder, was blaming her as she would not give him money for expenses after he reportedly quit his job.

Rasel, an o� cial at a garments facto-ry in Gazipur, said his wife tried to use Mahi against him as she wanted to cut o� all relationship with him.

Abul Bashar, sub-inspector of Ba-nani police station, said no case was � led yet in connection with the alleged torture of a minor. l

HC orders to send Oishee to BSMMU n Nazmus Sakib

The High Court has ordered the gov-ernment to transfer Oishee Rahman to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from Kashimpur Women’s Prison for in-depth assessment of her mental condition before and immedi-ately after the murder of her parents and up to her surrender to the police.

It also directed the BSMMU author-ity to assess a comprehensive history of her drug abuse. However, the court refused to issue an order to call up Oishee’s domestic help Sumi Begum, 11, saying the correction centre she was at was a better place for her.

A High Court vacation bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Zafar Ahmed yesterday passed the ruling after hearing a writ petition by Jyotirmoy Barua, a Supreme Court lawyer. The court ordered psychiatric counseling for Oishee if required.

The secretaries of home, law and social welfare ministries, the inspec-tor general of police, Dhaka Metro-politan Police commissioner, the o� -cer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station and the investigation o� cer on the case were made defendants in the writ.

Oishee, a 19-year-old accused of murdering her — parents police Inspec-tor Mahfuzur Rahman and Swapna Begum — surrendered to the police on August 17 and was remanded for � ve days from August 18. She confessed her involvement in the killing on August 25, but later retracted. l

Defence ends grilling Yusuf in Nizami casen Udisa Islam

The defence counsels in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Moti-ur Rahman Nizami yesterday ended cross-examination of 21st prosecution witness who testi� ed on Tuesday.

Yusuf Ali Bishwas in his deposition at the International Crimes Tribunal 1 described the incident of abduction and killing of Kasimuddin, the head Maulana of Pabna Zilla School during the 1971 Liberation War, in presence of Nizami in Santhia of Pabna.

The Jamaat ameer is facing 16 war crimes charges that include genocide, rape, torture, abduction, con� nement and conspiracy.

The prosecution did not place any new witness and sought time. The tri-bunal adjourned the proceedings until today.

Defence counsel Mizanul Islam questioned Yusuf about the incident of June 10, 1971 when, the witness said he and his friend Sekander Ali had seen Nizami on a Pakistan army pickup van at Madhpur bazar. After they left, Yusuf saw two bodies on the bank of Ichhamoti River near the bazar.

The defence lawyer asked Yusuf whether he had shared the incident with anyone else than the investigation o� cer of the case. The witness replied in the negative. l

Why not formalin control law: HCn Nazmus Sakib

The High Court yesterday issued a rule asking the government why it should not be directed to take necessary steps during the latest parliament session, set to start from today, for enacting a formalin control law which will allow exemplary punishment.

An HC vacation bench of Justice Sal-ma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Zaf-ar Ahmed directed the government to respond to the rule within four weeks.

The rule came in response to a writ by Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond that named secretaries of law, home, health, and environment ministries, Ban-gladesh Standards and Testing Institution and the Inspector General of Police – as defendants.

The Court also sought explanation on why the defendants should not be ordered to take e� ective measures to check all food products in shops, in a bid to prevent the use of formalin and other harmful substances.

The HC, also sought explanation why the court should not direct author-ities to submit a report in two weeks, on the steps taken by the government in pursuance of the rule. l

CU college student caned by principal n FM Mizanur Rahaman,

Chittagong

An HSC second year student of Chit-tagong University College was criti-cally injured as the college principal caned him indiscriminately yesterday allegedly for smoking.

The student, Sadiqur Rahman, was admitted to a private hospital.

Enraged, a group of students van-dalised classrooms and furniture on the college premises.

Campus sources said Sadiqur along with his friends had a smoke at the Law Faculty teacher’s canteen and made a ruckus. At this, acting principal Kiran Chandra Deb caned them indiscrimi-nately.

With critical injuries, Sadiqur was � rst taken to the campus medical cen-tre and later shifted to a private hospi-tal at Hathazari.

The acting principal said he had caned the students as they were smok-ing at the Law faculty’s teacher’s can-teen.

Assistant Proctor Anwar Hossen Chowdhury said it was a misunder-standing between the students and the teacher. They later settled the matter, he claimed. l

Hilsha are being caught in abundance at the sea this Monsoon. A group of � shermen stack their catch for the day at Chittagong’s Fisheryghat and prepare them to be supplied to di� erent districts. The photo was taken on Monday BANGLANEWS24

CAUGHT IN THE NET

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

City High LowDhaka 32.0 25.0Chittagong 30.5 25.3Rajshahi 34.5 26.5Rangpur 32.7 26.4Khulna 30.5 24.5Barisal 32.0 25.1Sylhet 31.5 25.1Cox’s Bazar 32.5 25.2

PRAYER TIMESFajar 4:28am

Sunrise 5:43amZohr 11:55pm

Asr 4:21pmMagrib 6:06pm

Esha 7:22pmSource: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

Temperature to remain unchangedn UNB

Light to moderate rain or thunder-showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Khulna, Barisal, Chit-tagong, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Rajshahi and Rang-pur divisions until 6pm today.

Moderately heavy falls are also like-ly at places, Met O� ce said.

Day and night temperature may re-main nearly unchanged over the coun-try.

The sun sets in the capital at 6:06pm today and rises at 5:44am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 34.5 degree Celsius was recorded yesterday at Rajshahi and lowest 23.5 degrees at Hatiya.

Highest and lowest temperature re-corded in some major cities yesterday were:

DMP needs more teeth to tackle Jamaat-Shibir’s violence Government provides Tk100m to deploy 2,000 Ansar in cityn Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has allocated an extra Tk100m for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police for deploying 2,000 Ansar mem-bers alongside police in the capital to protect people and properties from subversive activities of Jamaat-e-Isla-mi and Islami Chhatra Shibir.

The Finance Division disbursed the fund last week to the home minis-try, which was earlier asked to use its midterm budgetary allocation but the ministry did not listen, said a senior of-� cial.

The o� cial told the Dhaka Tribune that the DMP had conveyed its inabil-

ity to tackle Jamaat-Shibir’s violence in Dhaka city as they had recently come under attacks of the Islamist parties.

The government had estimated the damage during Hefazat-e-Islam’s ral-lies in the city at around Tk500m, so more fund would be required to protect government and private properties, said another o� cial.

The overall damage caused to state properties, including a power substa-tion, trains, rail tracks and buses, dur-ing Jamaat-Shibir’s violence amounts to at least Tk5bn, according to the LGRD ministry.

The DMP claimed that a total of 8,828 police personnel were perform-

ing the duty of 10,000 forces, which left the entire force tried and exhausted.

It had sought Tk204.6m from the Finance Division through thehome ministry two weeks ago. As per the proposal, the DMP needs ex-tra 2,000 forces to handle “secret”attacks and activities of Jamaat and Shibir and daily political activities of the BNP-led 18-party alliance inDhaka city.

The DMP said it was di� cult for it to maintain law and order in the capital with a total 17,277 constables, of whom 5,656 were engaged in protecting houses of important people and other important buildings, government of-

� ces, the High Court and the Supreme Court, and escorting VIPs; the rest were deployed to maintain tra� c, duties of the Detective Branch and other crime control departments.

The home ministry proposal also said the DMP could only withdraw 1,000 police personnel and deploy them in the city. It proposed deploying 2,000 Ansar members, which would require Tk204.6m for payment of their salaries and allowances.

The government allocated Tk5.22bn for the DMP this � scal year for its oper-ation. In the revised budget the alloca-tion was Tk5.48bn and in the last � scal year it was Tk5.28bn. l

Bus strike continues on Kishoreganj-Gazipur-Dhaka routen Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj

Bus services on the Kishoreganj-Gazi-pur-Dhaka route remain suspended since Tuesday morning, as bus owners and workers are enforcing an inde� nite strike protesting illegal toll collection and assault on workers.

The strike is being staged jointly by the District Bus-Minibus Owners As-sociation and District Sarak Paribahan Sramik Union.

Helal Uddin Manik, the president of District Sarak Paribahan Sramik Union, said some groups were collecting il-legal tolls from buses on the route for the past few days, as well as assaulting transport workers when the demands were not met.

“We informed the local administration several times about the matter, but to no e� ect,” the leader alleged. The bus strike will continue until the illegal toll collec-tion is stopped, he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Commuters are su� ering unending woes, as the strike has suspended ser-vices of around 100 buses that operate on the route. l

PM to provide � nancial assistance to Rana Plaza victims Thursdayn UNB

Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will provide � nancial assistance to the victims of Savar building collapse to-morrow.

She will hand over cheques of � nan-cial assistance to the victims at her of-� ce at 10:30am, said PM’s Press Secre-tary Abul Kalam Azad.

This will be the eighth phase of � -nancial assistance handover to the vic-tims and their family members.

A total of Tk119.7m has been provid-ed from the Prime Minister’s Relief and Welfare Fund to 1,016 people belonging

to families of 777 victims of the Savar Rana Plaza tragedy.

Besides, savings certi� cates worth Tk33m have been given to 30 injured people from the same fund.

O� cial sources said the premier has disbursed Tk175.4m from her re-lief and welfare fund in seven phasesfor the treatment of the Rana Plaza victims and as � nancial support to the families of the deceased and injured workers.

The prime minister has given � nan-cial support of Tk14.2m for the treat-ment of the injured workers in 22 hos-pitals and Tk3.5m for sending critically

injured rescue worker Kaikobad to Sin-gapore for better treatment.

The premier has also provided assistance of Tk5m to National Fo-rensic DNA Pro� ling Laboratory forDNA pro� ling of the deceased garment workers.

O� cials concerned said the families of the remaining victims will also be provided with � nancial assistance in phases.

After handing over the � nancial as-sistance yesterday, the prime minister will receive donations from interested persons and organisations for the Savar building collapse victims. l

Yunus victim of government vengeance: BNPn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The main opposition BNP yesterday alleged that the government was hu-miliating Noble laureate Muhammad Yunus just to satisfy its desire for ven-geance.

“Assuming the o� ce, the govern-ment did everything to humiliate Dr Yunus. It is destroying an international organisation like Grameen Bank,” Mir-za Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secre-tary general of the party, said at a press release.

The government’s grievances were not reduced by shutting down the path of livelihoods of 8.4m women, he said,

adding that that’s why Dr Yunus was being subjected to humiliation at the hand of the government.

Fakhrul urged the government to re-frain from � ling cases against him.

“Dr Yunus is now humiliated and discredited by the government of his country. Now, the government seems to be making arrangement for � ling case against him to humiliate him fur-ther,” he alleged.

Expressing concern, the spokesper-son of the party said: “When a renowned person like Yunus is humiliated it is eas-ily understandable how the government behaves towards the opposition party and the masses in the country.” l

Three Nigerians held for cheatingn Tribune Desk

Plainclothes police arrested three Ni-gerian nationals from the city Tuesday night on charge of cheating people.

A DB raided Dhaka Regency Hotel at Khilkhet and arrested gang leader Ad-laju Samuel, Okoxe Cmeko Emmoruel, 28, and Okafor Chike, 26.

During preliminary interrogation, Samuel reportedly revealed that he along with his other accomplices had been involved in taking money from various people giving them fake dollars

for a long time.Acting on his confessional state-

ment, the detectives conducted an-other raid on a � at at D1 of 63/4 at Lake Circus of Kalabagan and arrested Okoxe Cmeko Emmoruel and Okafor Chike from the � at. The detectives also recovered fake currency-making mate-rials from their possessions.

DB sources said Samuel was intro-duced with Mostafa Kamal, a resident of 42/3/A Indira Road in Farmgate, at a reception of Dhaka Regency Hotel on August 15 last month.

Kamal gave Tk one lakh to Adlaju Samul as the Nigerian national prom-ised to Kamal $5000 in exchange of the Bangladeshi currency.

Later, Okoxe Cmeko Emmoruel and Okafor Chike also received the same amount of money from Kamal from the same place on August 23. But they did not give the dollars as promised.

Later, the Nigerian nationals con-tacted Kamal to give the dollars Tues-day night. When Adlaju Samuel came to Dhaka Regency Hotel again on Tues-day night, the DB men arrested him. l

Seven held incity with drugsn Tribune Report

Members of Directorate of Narcotics Control (DNC) arrested seven members of a cultural organisation and recov-ered a huge amount of drugs from the organisation’s o� ce in the capital’s Tej-turibazar yesterday.

The arrestees were Sheikh Kamal, director of Satsur, Nur Alal alias Topu, music director of the organisation, his wife Runa Khan, Aminur Rahman, Md Faruq, Khorshed Alam and Md Ahad.

Nazmul Kabir, assistant director of the DNC (South), said they had con-ducted a raid at the o� ce of Satsur at East Tejturibazar, where they found 580 cans of beer, six bottles of liquor and Tk300,000 in cash.

“Under the banner of a cultural or-ganisation, the group has been running drugs business illegally,” he added.

Biplab Sarkar, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon Division of Police, said the DNC o� cial � led a case in this connec-tion with Tejgaon police station and handed over the detainees to police. l

Strife in Chittagong city unit AL surfaces again n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong

The rivalry between two factions of Chittagong city unit Awami League surfaced once again centering a view-change meeting with nomination seek-ers for the upcoming general election and leaders of di� erent wards.

ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, city unit president of AL, convened the meeting at Muslim Institute Hall for Saturday, however, Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr Afsarul Amin Chowdhury MP and Nurul Islam MP, who have a long rivalry with the former mayor, have announced that he would not join the meeting.

Afsarul, who is also a joint secretary of the city unit, told Dhaka Tribune that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would exchange views with the grass root leaders and nomination seekers on September 20, adding that so there was no need to exchange views with the ward leaders.

Nurul Islam MP, also the senior vice-president of the unit, said they were not clear about the intension of the meeting adding that he would not join the meeting as neither the unit presi-dent nor any other leader had informed him about it.

Khorshed Alam Sujan, a joint secre-tary of the unit known as loyal to Mo-hiuddin, said the decision to exchange views with the ward leader centering

nomination was taken at an extended meeting so there was no need to invite anyone separately.

“There is no reason of misunder-standing centering the meeting,” he said, adding that they had convened the meeting with an aim to convey the views of the ward leaders to prime minister as they would not be able to join the meeting in Dhaka.

Another leader of Mohiuddin fac-tion, preferring anonymity, said the two lawmakers were not willing to at-tend the meeting fearing criticism from root-level leaders.

Mohiuddin’s relations with his long-term aide Afsarul soured a few months after the  AL  has assumed power prompting the latter to join hands with Islam and organise programmes of the party separately in the port city.

The feuds intensi� ed further when show-cause notices were served to Is-lam, Afsarul, city unit joint secretary Ibrahim Hossain Babul and its treasur-er Abdus Salam on January 17, 2011 for holding a rally at Laldighi Maidan.

Islam and his followers did not re-ply to the show-cause notices rather demanded removal of Mohiuddin and  AL’s city unit General Secretary Kazi Enamul Hoque Danu.

Later, Mohiuddin and Danu sought intervention of prime minister, also the party chief, in settling the issue. l

Nine sent to jail for defrauding people at passport o� cen Tribune Report

A mobile court yesterday slapped jail sentences and � nes to nine people, on charges of harassing and defraud-ing people at the passport o� ce in the capital’s Agargaon.

All the accused were handed three months imprisonment and Tk10,000 in � nes, while failure to pay the � ne would result in one more month in jail for each individual.

Executive magistrate AHM Anwar Pasha delivered the verdicts after a Rab team led by Senior Assistant Superinten-dent of police Raihan Uddin Khan, also the operation o� cer of Rab-2, arrested the culprits in front of the passport o� ce.

The convicts were identi� ed as Milon Miah, 23, of Narayanganj, Apel Mahmud, 26, of Kishoreganj, Delwar Hossain, 22, of Bhola, Md Faruq Hossain, 20, of Sher-e-Banglanagar, Babul Miah, 33, of Gopalganj, Wahed Hossain Babu, 30, of Munsiganj, Tutul Hossain, 34, of Bogra, Akramuzzaman, 52, of Faridpur and Ab-dul Hannan, 37, of Narail.

Magistrate Anwar Pasha told the Dhaka Tribune, “We had information that a group of brokers had been caus-ing su� erings to people who came to the passport o� ce”

“They sometimes took away re-quired papers and documents from the passport-seekers, promising to provide the passport in a short time. Later those middlemen demanded a huge amount of additional money for returning the documents,” the magistrate added.

ASP Raihan Uddin said previous po-lice drives had arrested more than 100 people, with 50 of them being sent to jail by mobile courts.

“But as soon as they come out of jail on bails, they return to their old profes-sion,” he said.

The ASP also cautioned people to stay vigilant against the brokers and urged all to obtain passports through legal methods. l

A � sherman goes to the market after catching � sh with traditional traps. These kind of traps are used for catching � sh which come to the water bodies from the river during rainy season. The photo was taken from Pubail, Gazipur recently. SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Detective Branch of police takes away a Nigerian arrested with materials for making fake dollars. A total of three Nigerians were arrested from the capital’s Khilkhet and Kalabagan area. The photo was taken yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Youth killed in Kishoreganjn Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj

A young man of Nodar village in Ke-shoreganj was killed allegedly by his neighbours yesterday.

The deceased was Hasan Mahmud, 20. According to police and local sources, a longstanding dispute was going on be-tween the victim’s family and their neigh-bour Baten Al-Amin’s family over land.

Following the issue, the groups en-gaged in an argument around 11pm on Tuesday, at one stage Hasan was criti-cally injured as opposition hacked him.

He was rushed to Kishoreganj Ad-hunik Sadar Hospital and later shifted to Mymensingh Medical College Hos-pital where he was succumbed to his injuries at 9am yesterday.

Md Abdul Malek, O� cer-in-Charge of sadar police station said none was arrested in the connection. l

LawDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013 5

INTERVIEW

LAW HUMOURASK YOUR ADVOCATE

NOTICE BOARD

Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Send us queries for

Ask Your Advocate and also your articleson any legal issues at:

law@dhakatribune.com

Dhaka TribuneFR Tower, 8/c Panthapath,

Shukrabad, Dhaka- 1207Visit our website at:

www.dhakatribune.com

n Nabil Ahsan

Tra� c accidents taking multiple lives or alleged negligent doctors killing patients are two very common phenomena in Bangladesh. Recently, there have been large scale industrial accidents killing and permanently crippling many work-

ers. We often witness huge uproar in the media after such events, people demanding justice and putting the accused persons behind bars. Eventually the hype loses its momen-tum and life goes on as usual. We tend to forget what hap-pened to the families of the victims who died or the sole bread earner of a family who lost his leg in an accident. Who is to take care of their families and to look after the educa-tion of their children?

Most developed legal systems have a concept of compen-sation for victims and their families for accidental death, bodily injury or property loss arising out of someone else’s negligence. It is commonly referred to as tort claims. If you have watched Boston Legal, you must have noticed lawyers constantly negotiating a deal out of the courtroom. Most of these negotiations are relating to tort claims for negligence. Essentially, the idea is to put a price tag on a person’s body and life so as to compensate him for his loss, taking into con-sideration his medical expenses, pain and su� ering, and fu-ture earning potential.

In England the concept of tort of negligence developed in the early part of the 20th century. Following the landmark case of Donoghue v Stevenson, the “neighbourhood prin-ciple” gained widespread popularity in the English courts. In simple terms it means we all owe a duty of care to peo-ple who may be a� ected by our conduct or behaviour. So, a manufacturer owes a duty of care to its workers as well as to the end users of the products it prepares. Similarly, a driver owes a duty of care to his passengers and to other persons on the street. If he is negligent about his conduct, giving rise to bodily injury or � nancial loss to any other person to whom such duty is owed, by law he is liable to compensate the vic-

tim for the loss that victim su� ered.A few instances where a tortuous claim for negligence

may be appropriate are given in the following paragraphs:

Negligence and road accidentIf your family members died or su� ered serious injury as a result of road accident, don’t just � le a criminal suit. Yes, the driver may go to jail, but you can’t get a penny as compensa-

tion from the driver. In all likelihood he is a poor fellow with no substantial assets. Instead you are better of suing his em-ployer, whether an individual person or a company. You can � le a civil suit claiming for damages, to be assessed on the basis of the victim’s earning potential. This civil suit has no connection with the criminal charge against the driver, and both the cases can run simultaneously.

In a recent case, Bangladesh Beverage v Rowshan Akhter concerning death of a journalist in 1989 following an acci-dent caused by the negligent driver of a reputed company, the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, awarded the family members of the deceased approximately Tk20m as compensation for the victim’s untimely demise. The company was held vicariously liable for the negligence

of the driver employed by it.

Medical negligenceOften we hear about death due to medical negligence. An an-gry mob would barge in and break hospital property. Media will be there and so will the police. As a routine matter, the concerned doctor would deny any liability while the family members would insist that the doctor was negligent. At the end of the day what is really achieved? The better solution is to take all the evidence and reports and consult an expert to determine the real cause of death. If there is prima facie evidence of medical negligence, you may consider � ling a lawsuit against the doctor and the hospital management.

Industrial accidentsThe recent Rana Plaza collapse demonstrates how negli-gence and poor judgment can lead to colossal loss of lives. Somebody ought to pay for this. While media campaign for punishment of Rana, the owner of the building, and others is de� nitely positive, from entirely economic perspective, victims of industrial accidents should consider making tort claims against their employers for failing to take proper safe-ty measures to ensure protection of factory workers. Under the Bangladeshi law, the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855 provides the legal instrument for obtaining damages as a result of negligent or wrongful act resulting in death.

It will be unrealistic to suggest that getting compensa-tion will be an easy matter. In our legal tradition, unfortu-nately, the exercise of tortuous claims is not popular. There are many institutional hurdles as well. Most lawyers do not know how to handle tort claims. Moreover, courts are reluc-tant to pass an order attaching huge sum of compensation. Our legal system in its present form is not yet ready to accom-modate widespread tort claims. However, everything has to start somewhere. Knowing your legal rights is the � rst step! l

Nabil Ahsan is a practising lawyer in Bangladesh and a part-time lecturer of legal studies.

We all owe a duty of care to people who may be a� ected by our conduct or behaviour. So, a manufacturer owes a duty of care to its workers as well as to the end users of the products it prepares

Pay your income tax electronically at income tax fair Md Ashraful Islam, 2nd Secretary, National Board of Revenue, talks about the services available in the upcoming income tax fair 2013

n Law Desk

Why would an assessee carry out self assessment to � le his/her income tax return?The only bene� t of doing self assessment for � ling income tax return is privacy. They need not to disclose their income to any third person if they do their own assessment. Moreover, since the service is now available online, one does not really need any external help.

Does individual assessee face any di� culty in � ling his/her income tax online?We are not aware of any such di� culty that an individual as-sessee may face as of now but one should read the instructions very carefully before he/she starts � lling up the online income tax return form. However, if they face any di� culty in � ling their income tax returns online, they may inform us through our email address and we will take care of it. Our email address is: info@incometax.gov.bd.

When and where is the next income tax fair going to take place?The next income tax fair is on September 16-22, 2013. The venue is O� cer’s Club, Dhaka.

What will be happening in the upcoming income tax fair?This will be the � rst time that assessees would be able to pay their taxes electronacally at the fair. The other services available would be:

a) e-TIN Registration for new assesseesb) Re-registration for existing assesseesc) Submission and acceptance of income tax returnd) e-Payment of income tax e) Information service for everyone

Apart from the income tax fair, where would one go for TIN registration and submission of his/her income tax return?The income tax administration has designated circle o� ces for disseminating these services. One needs to identify which tax circle he/she � ts in based on his/her business or profession. They will get all these services once they go to the appropriate circle o� ce. l

The income tax administration has designated circle o� ces for disseminating these services. One needs to identify which tax circle he/she � ts in based on his/her work or profession. They will get all these services once they go to the appropriate circle o� ce

Question: I am a freelance journalist. I am into regular blog-ging too. I usually write on blogs and my Facebook wall about the current a� airs from my own journalistic point of view, from within and outside Bangladesh. I am aware about defamation, but I would like to know, how does online defamation take place? If I publish on web through blogs or Facebook from another country, would I still be liable under Bangladeshi law? Salman Rashid, Banani, Dhaka

Answer: Thank you Mr Rashid for your question. I am sure you would agree that defamation requires publication of false or defamatory statement about another person or en-tity without any lawful excuse, which tends to injure the reputation or ridicule the person it refers to.

When you write on a blog or post something on your Facebook wall you act as a publisher and the publication takes place as soon as the contents of the publication (what you have written/shared or posted on the blog or on your

Facebook wall) are seen, read or heard by another person or persons. Likewise if the statement or information that you have published, ie opinion, picture, cartoon, audio visual, etc is false or defames or ridicules or hurts another person or his religious or political sentiment then it (your action) would be termed as “online defamation.”

You being the publisher have an obligation to examine the content you are publishing. Blogs and social networking sites, ie Facebook, Twitter, etc allow us to exercise our free-dom of expression and express our views or opinion from anywhere in the world irrespective of jurisdictions and geo-graphical boundaries.

If you have posted on your blog or Facebook wall from a place outside Bangladesh and the content that you have posted or shared is accessed or read or seen in Bangladesh, it will be considered to have been published in Bangladesh. If the content contains defamatory statement and it gets accessed or seen or read in Bangladesh, then the place of publication would be Bangladesh and your action will come under the purview of the Bangladeshi laws, ie ICT Act, 2006 and the Penal Code.

It would be considered as if the said o� ence had been committed within Bangladesh. It would be pertinent to mention that publishing defamatory statement through in-ternet is an o� ence under the ICT Act 2006 and is punishable with a maximum term of 10 years imprisonment or � ne of Tk10,000,000. l

Advised by: Barrister Hamidul Mishbah, IPR, Telecom and Media Law practitioner at the Old Bailey Chambers. He can be reached at mishbah@oldbailybd.com.

Bigstock

The cost of negligenceOur legal system in its present form is not yet ready to accommodate widespread tort claims

6 NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

‘Sitting’ service continues to cheat city commutersn Ashif Islam Shaon

Commuters used to the “sitting service” buses might be surprised to learn that according to the Motor Vehicles Act there is no such thing as a “sitting service” bus service.

Over the last ten years, buses proclaiming sitting service signs have become the most popular means of transport for commuters in Dhaka.

Sitting service is essentially supposed to be a direct bus service. They were introduced to reduce travel time, with fewer stoppages and are not supposed to have standing passengers on board. Unlike the “local bus” service that stops frequently to pick up passengers, take on as many people as possible and have many standing passengers.

Commuters however said that there is no di� erence between the local buses and the direct service buses. The “sitting service” is just a name. The only di� erence is in the ticket prices.

Most sitting service buses have standing passengers and stop at the drivers’ will, taking advantage of the shortage of transport during peak

hours on the roads. These buses charge passengers a � xed fare whether they sit or stand, and regardless of where they want to go.

Commuters said the direct buses have worse service then local buses, and many vehicles ply the roads in dilapidated states, missing lights, broken windows and seats, sometimes extra seats are installed.

According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority’s (BRTA) regulations, the same fare applies to all buses as per the Motor Vehicle Act, which mentions two types of buses, the large 52-seater and the 29-seat minibuses.

The seating services were a creation of the bus owners’ associations, and

not designed or regulated by existing laws.

The sitting service buses belong to Choice Paribahan, Silkcity, Bikolpo, ETC, United, Dishari, New Vision, Super Sitting, Shekor, Bihongo, Swakolpo, Gazipur Paribahan, Provati, Suprovat and Ajmiri.

A commuter from Shewrapara told this correspondent United Paribahan and Shikhor Paribahan charged Tk15 and Tk20 to travel from Shewrapara to Farmgate.

According to the BRTA fare list, from Farmgate to Shewrapara it is around 4.6km, for which minibuses can charge Tk6.67.

Commuters said only a handful of local bus services operate on the roads, such as the No. 7 bus on the Gulistan - Gabtoli route, No. 3 bus on the Abdullahpur – Farmgate - Gulistan route, No. 6 on the Motijheel - Gulshan route and No. 13 on the Mohammadpur - Dhupkhola route.

Many companies have “switched” their service from local to sitting service, as they wished. For instance the No. 27/B bus plied on the Gazipur-Azimpur route as a local service is

now a sitting service during peak rush hours, and the 3/B service on the Uttara-Syedabad route is the same as Balaka Paribahan.

Bus owners and sta� are often connected to various political groups, and many have been known to assault passengers if they protest.

Sohel Mamun is a driver of the No. 3/B bus. He said: “Many drivers lease local buses from owners on a daily basis. So they always try to make more money. For this reason local buses turn into sitting buses overnight.”

BRTA Director (Engineering) Saiful Haque said the regulatory body was helpless as there was a shortage of buses and the BRTA did not have the manpower to monitor the buses were providing service.

“If we take tough steps, the owners would go on strike and people will su� er,” he said.

The director said: “We requested the Road Transport Committee (RTC) several times at meetings and they will look into the matter.”

But was cautious when he said: “Actually we are helpless. Let’s see if we can stop the sitting services someday.” l

MAYOR HANIF FLYOVER

Bumpy rides in GulistanCommuters do not know where the end of travails

n Abu Hayat Mahmud

The roads in the city’s Gulistan area are full of potholes created by the con-structions of Jatrabari-Gulistan � yover causing unending miseries to commut-ers for a long time.

The construction of Mayor Hanif Flyover on Jatrabari to Gulistan road for last couple of years played havoc on roads in Golapshah Mazar-Phulbara bus terminal and bus terminal -Bang-abazaar areas.

Of them Golapshah Mazar to Phul-bara bus terminal road is in the most dilapidated condition.

Terrible tra� c congestion is a com-mon scenario on Jatrabari, Sayedabad, Golapshah Mazar to Phulbara, bus ter-minal to Bangabazaar, and Gulistan to Sadarghat as the roads are narrowed down due to unplanned digging.

Besides the tailback, water logging, � lth and mud added on the list what have been increasing the su� erings of the commuters.

Sanaullah Sheikh, student of Jag-annath University, who has to use the Gulistan intersection every day to go to his university, said usually vehicles move in snail’s pace in the area because of tra� c.

And the main reason behind the terrible tra� c is narrowed roads with thousands of dents, he added.

Babul Miah, a bus driver, who drives on Gulistan-Dhamrai road, said: “City Corporation excavated roads to build the � yover, but years have gone, still the authority is not taking any prompt steps to repair the roads to normalize people’s lives in the area.”

When visited the area a Dhaka Trib-une reporter found that the allegations of negligence of the authorities is one of the main reasons behind the dilapi-dation of the road.

In one hand, watery and muddy nar-rowed roads are full of dents where vehi-cles could not move easily. One the other hand, footpaths are occupied too where rubbles and rubbish have been piled up, while footpaths are occupied by the estab-lishment of footpaths businessmen, too.

In this situation pedestrians— who have a very little scope to walk through the footpath— have been forced to move on the muddy, watery over crowded roads.

Dhaka South City Corporation Chief Engineer Md Zahangir Alam admitted the situation and said the authorities recognised the poor condition of the roads in Gulistan area and the repairing work of Golapshah Mazar to Phulbara bus terminal road will start after stop-ping the rainy weather.

He added that earlier they repaired the road but it has been damaged by the rainwater. l

One stabbed to death over family feud in Chittagong, accused held n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The elder brother a family was stabbed to death by his younger sibling in their residence in the port city’s Pahartoli area early yesterday over family feud.

However, police nabbed the alleged killer Farhad Uddin Munna, 22, from the area within two hours of the killing, said police sources.

The deceased was Shah Alam Swa-pan, 25, of Saraipara area under Paha-rtoli police station in the port city.

AKM Azizur Rahman, o� cer-in-charge (OC) of Pahartoli police station, told the Dhaka Tribune both brothers

picked up a quarrel over family issues at their residence.

At one stage, both of them were locked into a scu� e while Farhad stabbed Swapan indiscriminately and � ed, said the OC, quoting locals.

Later, critically injured Swapan was rushed to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where the on-duty doctor pronounced him dead, said Ja-hirul Islam, sub-inspector of CMCH po-lice outpost.

Pahartoli police nabbed Farhad from the area around 2pm, added the OC.

A case was lodged with Pahartoli po-lice station in this regard. l

Robbery at businessman’s house in Savarn Tribune Report

A group of robbers broke into the house of a local entrepreneur and looted val-uables including gold and cash in the outskirts of the capital on Tuesday.

They took 40 tolas of gold, Tk 2,30,000 and other valuables while keeping the family members hostage at gunpoint, narrated Gulam Mustafa, the owner of the house.

Gulam Mustafa is the owner of Unique Electronics as well as the for-mer general secretary of Savar Banik Samity.

According to banglanews24.com, around 2pm a group of robbers broke into the house situatred in Savar mu-nicipality area by cutting the grills of a window of a guest room.

Gulam’s son, Ahsan Habib Regan, 27, got injured while trying to obstruct the robbers.

The robbery continued for three hours, said Gulam.

He added that all of robbers were hiding their faces.

On information, Mosta� zur Rah-man, Sub-Inspector of Savar Model Thana, visited the spot and con� rmed the matter.

Nobody has been arrested yet in this connection, said Mustafa Kamal, O� c-er-in-Charge of Savar Model Thana.

“We have been trying to identify the robbers,” he said. l

Jubo League leader held for robbery n UNB, Sylhet

A local leader of Jubo League was de-tained from the Shahi Eidgah area on Tuesday for alleged involvement in a robbery at a jewellery market in city’s Zinda Bazar area.

The arrestee was identi� ed as Manik Mia, 40, organising secretary of the city unit of Jubo League (ward no 19) and son of late Shona Mia, resident of Pir-erbazar area on the outskirts of Sylhet.

O� cer-in-charge of Sylhet Kotwali police station Ahmed Nasir Uddin said a team of police conducted a drive in the area around 3pm and arrested Man-ik after con� rming his involvement in the robbery.

However, Manik’s family members, denying his involvement in the inci-dent, said police were trying to create another drama similar to the incident of ‘Judge Mia.’

Meanwhile, four people--Kabir alias Heroin Kabir, Nahid, Jalil and Umar Ali -- whom police had earlier arrested from di� erent points of the city on charges of robbery, were taken to custody in Kot-wali police station for interrogation on Thursday, after a court ordered to send them on a two-day remand.

Earlier on September 4, a group of armed people robbed the ‘Neher Mar-ket’ in the same area.

They looted a huge chunk of gold or-naments from three jewellery shops of the market, including 600 tolas of gold from a shop named Al Bara Jewellery. l

Pedestrians walking on Phulbaria road damaged during the construction work of Gulistan-Jatrabari � yover which is expected to be inaugurated this month NASHIRUL ISLAM

Minister for Home A� airs Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir opening newly-constructed Kajirhat police station in Barisal city yesterday FOCUS BANGLA

BCC ANNOUNCES TK3811.6M BUDGET

Need to improve basic amenities stressedn Anisur Rahman Swapan, Barisal

Barisal City Corporation yesterday placed a Tk3811.6m budget for 2013-14 � scal without imposing any fresh tax or increasing the existing ones.

The proposed budget has an own in-come source of only Tk914.6m and the rest is expected from the government and non-government sources for im-plementation of development projects.

Acting BCC Mayor Altaf Mahmud Shikdar announced the eleventh budg-et for the city corporation at the Nagar Bhaban conference room in presence of councilors and o� cials of BCC and journalists.

Altaf, however, termed the size of the budget insu� cient for provid-ing some 6,00,000 city dwellers in 45-square kilometre areas with all nec-essary facilities.

The acting mayor of the BCC de-manded the government allocate fund on the basis of needs, sizes of area and population.

He also urged the city dwellers to cooperate by paying taxes regularly so that the corporation could implement the development programmes.

During the budget speech, acting Mayor Altaf pointed out that health, sanitation and drainage, dilapidated conditions of the city roads, shortage of potable water and lack of healthy entertainment facilities were the main

problems for the city dwellers.He hoped that he would be able to

implement the announced budget smoothly managing funds from the government and development agen-cies.

The earning of Tk914.6m would come from taxes on building construc-tion, outstanding bills, advance money and fares, government’s block alloca-tion, trade licence fees, permanent as-sets transfer, leasing corporation’s as-sets and sale of tender schedules.

The signi� cant heads of expendi-ture are Tk911.6m for establishment cost and Tk2897m for di� erent devel-opment programmes.

The development expenditures included Tk770m for development and expansion of the city streets, Tk400m for water treatment plant, water supply, garbage management, renovation of drainage system and excavation of canals, Tk185m for rehabilitation of natural disaster-a� ected people and extended areas of BCC, Tk250m for constructing BCC complex and markets in di� erent areas of the city, Tk150m for developing recreation facilities and beauti� cation projects, Tk147.5m for health, sanitation, environment and beauti� cation, Tk150m for developing bus and truck terminals and Tk200m for di� erent types of infrastructural development in the city. l

Cricketer killed in train accidentn Tribune Report

A cricketer was killed after being hit by a train while crossing the city’s Kuril railway gate yesterday noon.

The dead, Asif Ali Mamun, 25, hailed from Rajshahi. According to witnesses, a Dhaka bound train hit Mamun around 12:30pm as he was crossing the Kuril railway gate and left him spot dead.

Regarding the incident, Sub-Inspec-tor Selimuzzaman of Kuril Highway police outpost said he might have been unaware about the coming train as he was walking on the rail tracks with headphones on his ears.

He said: “We came to know about the victim’s name from his national identity card which we found in his wallet. We also found a number in the wallet and after dialling, we got to know from his sister’s husband that he was a cricketer.”

“However, information on the vic-tim’s playing team could not be known immediately,” he added.

The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy and an unnatural death case was � led with the Government Railway police station in this regard. l

Commuters, however , said that there is no di� erence between the local buses and the direct service buses. The “sitting service” is just a name. The only di� erence is in the ticket prices

Attack on Jumma people in Bandarban protestedn Our Correspondent, Rangamati

Demonstrations were staged in Ranga-mati yesterday, protesting a recent as-sault on members of the Jumma com-munity in Bandarban’s Lama upazila.

The Hill Students Council and the Rangamati unit of Parbattya Chat-tagram Jubo Samity jointly organized a protest rally, chaired by the Jubo Samity’s Organizing Secretary Samar Chakma.

Sharot Jyoti Chakma, the vice-pres-ident of Parbattya Chattagram Jana-sanghati Samity (PCJSS) and Undayon Tripura, a PCJSS central committee member, were present at the rally.

The speakers at the rally demanded exemplary punishment for the culprits who carried out the assault in Lama.

On September 9, a gang of 20-30 settlers led by Mujibul Haque, also a settler in the area, allegedly assaulted members of the Jumma community in Lama’s Rupshi Union, in a bid to grab land in the area. The attack left eight people, including two women, injured. l

Nation 7DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

Robbery goes unabated in Sylhet24 incidents in 3 months, 2 killed, Tk25m valuables lootedn Tribune Desk

As many as 24 incidents of robbery have taken place in Sylhet in the last three months, which clearly indicates a serious slide in the law and order situa-tion in the city.

During the time, robbers killed two people and looted valuables, includ-ing 300 tolas of gold ornaments, worth over Tk25m, reports UNB.

Many were also injured in bids to re-sist robbers.

On June 2, miscreants looted valu-ables, including gold ornaments and British pounds, worth over tk1.5m from the house of Maulana Zamir Hossain at Nidanpur village in Lama municipality area under Bianibazar upazila.

On June 11, a gang of robbers killed Haji Lal Mia, 60, at Bhanudev village in Debpara union under Nabiganj upazila.

At this time, villagers caught one robber named Sujan.

On June 14, robbers looted 85 tolas of gold jewellry and cash worth Tk5m from the house of Haji Tota Mia at Khasaripara village in Bianibazar mu-nicipality by breaking open the collaps-ible gate.

On the same day, 10 to 15 robbers at-tacked the house of UP member Shakil Ahmad at Shampasy village in Kamal-pur union of Moulvibazar sadar and looted 25 tolas of gold and others valu-ables worth Tk1.5m.

On June 28, a gang of bandits num-bering 10-12 entered the house of Khelafat Majlis’s district organising secretary Maulana Abdul Quayum Za-

kir in Bahubal sadar and looted 42 tolas of jewellry and valuables worth Tk3m.

On July 1, three armed robbers were caught when they went to commit rob-bery in the city’s Madhuban Market al-legedly with the help of market super-visor and a guard.

On July 5, a gang of robbers attacked Majbur Rahman’s house at Tetli in South Surma and looted 13 tolas of gold and other items worth Tk1.1m.

On July 3, an incident of robbery took place at three houses in Rajnagar upazila.

The robbers took away 46 tolas of gold, 11 tolas of silver and cash Tk100,000 from the houses of Lebas Mia, Abas Mia and Nazrul Mia of Defu-lura village.

On July 10, a gang of 15-16 robbers broke open the collapsible gate of Min-haj Rashid Moktar’s house at Khad-impara and looted 45 tolas of gold or-naments, cash Tk200,000 and others

worth Tk3m.On August 1, a robbery was commit-

ted at Baghbari in Sylhet city in broad daylight.

The hoodlums broke open the lock of the house of Simanto Roy Pappu on the Orphanage-School Road and looted 11 tolas of gold ornaments, cash and other items worth about Tk2m.

On September 4, a robbery incident took place at Nehar Market in Zindaba-jar area where robbers exploded bombs and opened � re and looted three jew-elry shops.

The robbers looted gold worth mil-lions of taka.

Guard Badsha Mia was killed in a � r-ing by robbers.

The incident took place within one ki-lometre of Sylhet Kotwali police station.

The repeated incidents of robbery have caused the local people raise their eyebrows, thinking how drastically the local law and order situation has fallen. l

Ferries get stuck onMawa-Kawrakandi routen UNB

The authorities of Mawa-Kawrakan-di Ghat have been forced to keep the ferry service limited on the route yesterday as a ferry ran aground in a canal.

Of the 14 ferries, only three have been kept in operation.

Sirajul Islam, manager of Ma-wa-based Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) ghat, said a Kawrakandi Ghat-bound ferry with 26 vehicles from Mawa ghat ran aground at Lauhajang in Munshiganj canal around 12:45am when it tried to take a safer side avoiding strong cur-rent.

Later, two rescue ferries from Mawa ghat were sent to the spot, one kilome-ter away from the ghat, to salvage the ferry, which moved the passengers of the vehicles to safer places.

Due to the disruption, thousands of ve-hicles got stuck on both sides of the ghats, creating su� ering to the passengers. l

Attack on indigenous people protested n Our Correspondent, Bandarban

Activists of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samity (PCJSS) formed a hu-man chain in front of Bandarban Press Club yesterday demanding punish-ment of those who attacked indigenous people in Lama to grab 30 acres of land.

The protesters threatened to wage tougher movement in future if the au-thorities failed to meet their demands.

PCJSS leader Kebamong presided over the programme attended by Chin-ghala Mong Chak, Ajit Tongchangkha and Nittyalal Chakma.

Earlier on Monday, at least eight in-digenous people were critically injured in a clash with Bangalee settlers over land dispute in Lama.

Soon after the clash, police conduct-ed a drive and arrested 13 people and recovered one revolver from their pos-session. l

Feni courts face backlog of casesn Our Correspondent, Feni

Around 1,600 illegal drugs-related cas-es have been pending in 10 courts in Feni due to lack of witnesses and evi-dence, causing frustration for justice seekers.

According to court sources, a total of 134 cases are under procedure in the district and sessions judge’s court; 363 in the additional district and sessions judge’s court; 350 in the joint-assistant judge’s court 1 and special tribunal 3; and 405 cases in the joint assistant judge 2.

Moreover, 21 cases are pending in the chief judicial magistrate court; 104 in additional judicial magistrate court; 17 in special tribunal 1; 46 cases in spe-cial tribunal 2; and 130 cases in special tribunal 4.

Although the arrestees are in jail, the cases � led against them are not get-ting any further development.

Meanwhile, some cases were trans-ferred to the chief judicial magistrate and the additional chief judicial mag-istrate courts to ease the bottleneck of the drugs-related cases.

Senior Assistant Police Superinten-

dent (circle) Mohammad Shamsul Alam Sarkar said: “Charge sheets in the cases of illegal drugs need to be submitted within three weeks. If witness and ev-idence can be found, the accused per-sons get appropriate punishment.”

He said 253 illegal drugs-related cases were lodged in the last eight months this year in Feni. Of those, 157 cases were � led with Feni model police sta-tion, three with Sonagaji model police station, 55 with Chhagalnaya police station, 12 with Porshuram model po-lice station, eight in Phulganj police station and eight with Daganbhuiyan police station.

Due to the delay in case proceedings, the criminals are taking advantage in di� erent ways while they often threat-en plainti� s to withdraw the cases.

Public prosecutor Hafez Ahmed Said: “There are several allegations that the accused threaten witnesses.” l

Cow fattening through high energy feed on the rise in Narsingdi n Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

Cattle farmers in the district have been gearing up for Eid-ul-Azha, the biggest season for livestock sales in the coun-try, as they are fattening cows by using high-energy feed alternatives.

Fattening cows means enhancing their size and weight, which would fol-low a hefty price tag in the market.

According to sources at the dis-trict livestock department, over 230 cow-fattening projects are currently underway in the six upazilas of Nars-ingdi – 28 in sadar upazila, 32 in Mono-hardi, 52 in Palash, 66 in Raipura, 35 in Shibpur and 18 in Belabo.

Farms pursuing these projects have kept the cows under special care while adopting special nutrition programmes.

Sharifuzzaman, proprietor of Baki Dairy Farm in sadar upazila, said he had taken up the three-month-long

project last year and bagged a pro� t of Tk500,000 from 50 cows.

This year, he said, he would be fat-tening 40 cows at his farm.

Livestock O� cer of Narsingdi Dr Hasan Imam said at the moment, more than 1,000 cows were being fattened in the district involving special diets de-signed for a quick growth.

“If everything goes as planned, a cow now weighing three maunds will weigh at least � ve to six maunds by the Eid,” he said.

Narrating the process of fattening, he said: “A cow is � rst de-wormed us-ing drugs, since worms resist growth. It is given vitamin supplements for a few days and then kept on a high-energy and high-protein diet to reach a target weight.”

Also, during the project period, a cow is given preventive medicines so that it does not fall prey to any diseases at all, he added. l

Businessman abducted in Kaliganj n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

A � sh trader was abducted by a group of burglars early yesterday in a Kaliganj village after robbing the trader’s house.

The victim, Rana Sheikh, was the son of Habib Sheikh of Shibnagar village in Kaliganj municipal area. The robbers have demanded Tk10m as ransom from Rana’s family, according to his wife.

O� cer-in-Charge Laikat Hossain of Kaliganj police station said a gang of about eight robbers had barged in Ra-na’s house, breaking the front door and held him and his family at gunpoint. The robbers had looted cash, orna-ments and other valuable belongings from the house and later, they abduct-ed Rana, the o� cer added.

According to the victim’s wife Mah-fuza Akter, around 7am, the robbers called on her cell phone and demand-ed Tk10m as ransom. She said they had also threatened to kill her husband if the ransom was not paid.

The robbers had also said since two of Rana’s brothers were living abroad, paying the ransom would not be a problem, she added.

Regarding the issue, the OC said po-lice were trying to rescue Rana and to arrest the criminals involved with the crime. l

Prime accused inmother-daughter rape case yet to be arrested n Our Correspondent, Feni

Police is yet to arrest the prime accused in a mother-daughter rape case in Feni al-though four other suspects were arrested during a joint drive by Rab and police.

The mother, who � led the case with the Daganbhuiyan police station, brought charges against 10-12 indi-viduals including prime accused Litu, younger brother of Daganbhuiyan UP vice-chairman Joynal Abedin Mamun.

The incident occurred on Tuesday night at the Jola Bari area of Rajapur union in Daganbhuiyan upazila, Feni.

Litu and his cohorts allegedly ab-ducted the daughter of late Dr Sahab

Uddin from Koresh Munshi Bazar around 9pm on Tuesday, and instruct-ed her mother over phone to come over to Jola Bari where the daughter was en-snared.

The complainant, who has a beauty sa-lon at the bazar, said when she went there to rescue her daughter, both of them were gang-raped by 10-12 miscreants.

Acting on a tip-o� , police and Rab o� cials conducted a joint-drive in the place and rescued the mother from Li-tu’s residence and the daughter from a nearby house – who were then sent to the Feni general hospital.

Moshiur Rahman Mintu, secretary of Koresh Munshi Bazar Committee, and three other persons were also ar-rested during the drive.

The victims also alleged that the rapists had threatened them with con-sequences, including making public video clips of the rape scenes, if they disclosed the incident to anyone.

Investigation o� cer of Daganbhu-iyan police station Anwarul Azim said e� orts are on to arrest the accused. l

One gets 10 years for possessing arms in SylhetA Sylhet court on Tuesday sentenced a man to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for pos-sessing arms in the city. The convict, Hasan Ahmed Basu, 28, was also � ned Tk5,000, in default, to su� er three months more in prison. According to the prosecution in brief, a team of police arrested two young men— Hasan Ahmed Basu and Romin— along with homemade pipe gun from a place of the city on January 14, 2008. A case was � led against them under the Arms Act. Later, police submitted a charge sheet against them after completing investiga-tion on February 2, in the same year. After examining eight witnesses and documents, Judge of the Additional Metropolitan Ses-sions Judge’s Court Mohammad Iftekhar

Bin Aziz handed down the verdict. The court acquitted Romin as the allegations against him could not be proved. –UNB

Newborn baby stolenin Bogra

A newborn baby was stolen from a hospital in Bogra on Monday night.Family members said the child’s mother Shapla Begum, 25, was admitted to Bogra Government Mohammad Ali hospital around 11am on Sunday. On Monday around 10am, she gave birth to a baby boy, they added. On the same day, an unknown women developed intimacy and took away the child around 8pm when the attendant went to bathroom. Gaziur Rahman, Bogra Assistant Superintendent of Police said a general diary was � led in this regard. –Our Correspondent

NEWS IN BRIEFBoat capsize kills 2 minor in Meghnan Our Correspondent

Two primary school students were drowned as a boat capsized in the Meghna River near Ekhlaspur area of Motlob Uttar upazila, Chandpur on Tuesday. The deceased were Rakib and Ankhi. Eyewitnesses said a boat with full of passengers left for Ekhlaspur dock at 8am. Suddenly a massive wave from a launch hit the boat, causing it to over-turn.

The boat sank around 8:45am with 23 people on board including 17 prima-ry school students and six passengers. Of the total passengers, 21 managed to swim ashore while Rakib and Ankhi went missing after the incident. l

Students of Sadipur Primary School wading through knee-deep water as their school was submerged by � ood water FOCUS BANGLA

Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal brings out a procession in Sylhet city yesterday, protesting attack on Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu by two youths in London on Tuesday FOCUS BANGLA

Litu and his cohorts allegedly abducted the daughter of late Dr Sahab Uddin from Koresh Munshi Bazar around 9pm on Tuesday, and instructed her mother over phone to come over to Jola Bari where the daughter was ensnared

The repeated incidents of robbery have caused the local people raise their eyebrows, thinking how drastically the local law and order situationhas fallen

Although the arrestees are in jail, the cases � led against them are not getting any further development

According to sources at the district livestock department, over 230 cow-fattening projects are currently underway in the six upazilas of Narsingdi – 28 in sadar upazila, 32 in Monohardi, 52 in Palash, 66 in Raipura, 35 in Shibpur and 18 in Belabo

Spears, machetes used in attack on tourists in PNGA group of Australian and New Zealand trekkers including one woman have been savagely attacked and injured by bandits in Papua New Guinea with two of their guides hacked to death, o� cials said Wednesday. The deadly incident happened at dusk on Tuesday after the group set up their tents along the rugged Black Cat Track in the lawless Paci� c nation’s northern Morobe province, with robbery the suspected motive. The tour leader was identi� ed in several Australian reports as a woman and all the other trekkers were said to be men. PNG police spokesman Dominic Kakas told AFP the porters were hacked to death with machetes and four of the trekkers were badly assaulted, including one who was speared.

S Africa police fires rubber bullets, tear gas at protestSouth African police on Wednesday � red rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters who took to the streets in Johannesburg in anger over the lack of government services. Police spokesman Kay Makhubela said more than 1,000 people were pro-testing in an informal settlement in Soweto south west of Johannesburg. The protests broke out in the middle of the night in an informal settlement and led to several roads being shut down. Several similar protests, over the lack of government-sub-sidised housing among other things, took place last month in South Africa.

Japanese city sends 280 people on monkey huntAround 280 trained hunters, � re� ghters and municipal o� cials fanned out across a Japanese city this week to catch a single bad-tempered monkey that was menacing locals. The male macaque had been terrorising the people of Hyuga in the far south of the country since late last month, and was blamed for 18 attacks. The city organised a team of 280 people on Monday to go after the creature, which was � nally tracked down to an abandoned house. Monday’s hunt was the city’s second large-scale attempt to capture the critter after 500 police o� cers, � re� ghters and volun-teers spent a fruitless few hours looking for it on Sunday.

Saudi beheaded for murder: ministrySaudi authorities beheaded on Wednesday a national after he was convicted of murder, the interior ministry said. Salem bin Hasan al-Essi was found guilty of shooting dead Omar bin Shami al-Shardi, the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency. His beheading in the western city of Qunfadhah brings to 66 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an AFP count. In 2012, the conser-vative Muslim kingdom carried out 76 executions, according to a tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch has put the number at 69.

WORLD WATCH

Thursday, September 12, 20138 DHAKA TRIBUNE International

Iran hopeful: Khamenin Reuters, Dubai

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah  Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday he hoped that a US promise to pursue di-plomacy to remove the threat of chem-ical weapons in Syria was “serious,” the state news agency IRNA reported.

“I am hopeful that the  United States new attitude to Syria is serious and not a game with the media. For weeks they have threatened war against the

people of this region for the bene� t of the Zionists (Israel),” he said during a public address. A main regional ally of Syrian President  Bashar al-Assad, Iran has wel-comed the proposal to transfer  Syria’s chemical weapons stocks and urged all nations to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty that bans their use.

According to Secretary of State John Kerry, the chemical agent attack on Aug. 21 killed more than 1,400 people including more than 400 children. l

United Nations team decries crimes against humanity in Syrian AFP, Geneva

UN investigators listed Wednesday a wide range of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Syria, but provided no conclusion on the issue of chemical weapons use.

“On the evidence currently available, it was not possible to reach a � nding about the chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrators,” the team probing human rights viola-tions in Syria said in its latest report.

It was clear however that “the ma-jority of casualties result from unlaw-ful attacks using conventional weap-ons,” the Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in a statement.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime “have continued to conduct widespread attacks on the ci-vilian population, committing murder, torture, rape and enforced disappear-ance as crimes against humanity,” ac-cording to the report, which covers the period from May 15 to July 15.

It also charged that anti-govern-ment groups had “committed war crimes,” including murder, torture and hostage-taking.

Since the beginning of the year, the commission concluded that govern-ment-loyal forces were responsible for eight massacres, while opposition forces had committed one. Nine others were still under investigation.

The report does not address the pe-riod after July 15, which includes the August 21 suspected chemical attack on civilians near Damascus that sparked international outrage and could still

lead to US-led military strikes, despite intense diplomatic e� orts to avoid them.

In Wednesday’s statement though, the four-member commission led by Brazilian Paulo Sergio Pinheiro insisted on the “need for account-ability, both to bring to justice those who used them (chemical weapons, if con� rmed)...and to deter anyone else from using these abhorrent methods of warfare.”

The commission, which has been tasked with probing rights violations in Syria since shortly after the con� ict erupted in March 2011, warned that the con� ict in Syria which has already left more than 100,000 people dead and forced more than two million Syrians

to � ee the country, “has taken a dan-gerous turn.”

“Failure to bring about a political settlement has allowed the conflict not only to deepen in its intransi-gence but also to widen, expanding to new actors and to new, previously unimaginable crimes,” the commis-sion said.

Thee investigators, who are set to present their � ndings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, however rejected military action as a solution to the crisis.

“There is an urgent need for a ces-sation of hostilities and a return to negotiations, leading to a political set-tlement,” the commission said, warn-ing that military strikes would “not

only intensify the su� ering inside the country but will also serve to keep such a settlement beyond our collec-tive reach.”

The report came amid renewed hope that a Russian diplomatic ini-tiative could rid the Assad regime of chemical weapons and remove the need for a “limited” US-led military strike on Syria. l

6 soldiers killed in attacks on Egypt army in Sinain AFP, Cairo

Twin blasts on Wednesday targeting Egypt’s army killed at least six soldiers in the restive Sinai peninsula, where the military is battling Islamist mili-tants, security o� cials said.

“A large explosion” targeted the military intelligence headquarters in Rafah on the border with the Gaza Strip, one o� cial said. Minutes later, a second explosion hit an army check-point nearby.

The military intelligence headquar-

ters is located in a high-security mil-itary zone and surrounded by check-points, sources in Rafah said. The Rafah border crossing – the only gate-way into the Palestinian enclave that bypasses Israel – was shut and all roads in and out of the town were closed as armed forces combed the area for sus-pects.

The attacks come just days after an al-Qaeda inspired group in the Sinai pen-insula claimed credit for a Cairo bombing that targeted the interior minister last week, pledging more attacks. l

Blast wrecks govt o� ce in Libya’s Benghazin AFP

A powerful blast caused serious dam-age to a foreign ministry building in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Wednesday, witnesses said.

The explosion comes on the � rst anniversary of an attack by militants on the United States consulate in Beng-hazi, which killed four Americans, in-cluding the ambassador.

It was not immediately known if the blast, which the witnesses said ap-peared to have been caused by a car bomb, had resulted in casualties.

An AFP photographer said a large section of the foreign ministry building had been destroyed and parts of the nearby local headquarters of the cen-tral bank seriously damaged.

Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed dictator Moam-er Kadha� , has been hit by a wave of deadly attacks in recent months target-ing security force o� cers and members of the judiciary, many of whom served the previous regime.

Attacks have also targeted diplo-mats and western interests.

Much of the violence, including the killing of the US ambassador last year, has been attributed to radical Islamists who are deeply rooted in the region. l

‘United States military doesn’t do pinpricks’n AP, Washington

In a live address to the nation from the White House on Tuesday, Obama said delaying a decision on military inter-vention was necessary to give Russia’s plan to neutralise its ally’s chemical weapons a chance.

“I have therefore asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to au-thorise the use of force while we pur-sue this diplomatic path,” Obama said, noting that Secretary of State John Ker-ry would head to Geneva to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday.

However he warned that it was too early to tell if Russia’s plan would work, and said cruise missile destroy-ers would remain stationed in the Med-iterranean, ready to strike.

In his speech, Obama stated:  “I’ve ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails.

“Let me make something clear: The United States military doesn’t do pin-pricks. Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver.” But he acknowledged the limitations of military action.

“America is not the world’s police-man. Terrible things happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to right every wrong, but when with mod-est e� ort and risk we can stop children from being gassed to death and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act.”

Obama con� rmed that the US would work with other Security Council mem-bers to put forward a resolution that requires Assad to give up his chemical weapons and put them under interna-tional control. A UN Security Council meeting on the subject was, howev-er, postponed hours before Obama’s speech - suggesting disagreements among members about how the body should proceed. l

A man walks through the 9/11 Empty Sky memorial at sunrise across from New York's Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, September 11, 2013. Americans will commemorate the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with solemn ceremonies and pledges to not forget the nearly 3,000 killed when hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a Pennsylvania � eld REUTERS

Designers opt for elegance, ease in spring New York collectionsn Reuters, New York

Soft, billowing fabrics in muted colours with bursts of yellow, cobalt blue, black and red dominated the runways on Tuesday at New York Fashion Week as designers showing their spring/sum-mer 2014 collections looked back to earlier, elegant eras.

With pleated, wide-legged trousers, sheer blouses, beaded, backless col-umn gowns and tailored dresses and skirts, many styles were reminiscent of the 1920s and ‘30s.

London-based designer Jenny Pack-ham, a favourite of Hollywood A-listers and Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge who wore a blue polka dot Packham dress for her � rst public appearance with her newborn son, used classic el-ements such as checks, polka dots and stripes in new ways.

Her collection was based loosely on the 1975 cult � lm “Picnic at Hang-ing Rock.” Directed by Peter Weir, the � lm set in Australia in 1900 was about a boarding school picnic during which three girls wander o� in a trance and disappear.

Badgley Mischka recreated the sea-side glamour and sun-baked feel of the 1920s and ‘30s in Deauville, France in a collection of ivory and blue tailored but feminine daywear and evening dresses in a rainbow of colours.

The looks were inspired by French photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue, said Mark Badgley.

The styles were sleek and lean with close-to-the-body silhouettes in fabrics such as ta� eta and chi� on for gowns and summer-weigh boucles for skirts, jackets and dresses with hems that hovered at or slightly below the knee.

The design duo, who has worked to-gether since 1988, deliberated avoided black.

J Crew designer Tom Moro also had European beach culture in mind in his style that he said in a statement re� ect-ed both surfers and “the lido lifestyle of the Venetian coast.”

Paying tribute to the surfer side of the story, he paired a gray T-shirt in-scribed with “tres bien” written in cut-out photos of palm trees with trousers displaying a single bold stripe.

A mint-and-lavender print sundress, along with skirts and tops with lace, eyelets and gondolier-inspired stripes, captured the imagery of a European re-sort at the turn of the century.

Tory Burch used a palate of greens, whites and corals to mimic the easy glamour of beach culture in her de-signs inspired by the French Riviera of the 1960s.

The collection of simple silhouettes adorned with jewelled collars, block-print � orals, and appliqués re� ected Burch’s signature classic style.l

Syrian massacres Government and pro-government forcesDeir Baalba, Homs, 7-11 April 2012Al-Hamamiat, Hama, 13 March 2013Baba Amr, Homs, 27 March 2013Khirbet al-Teen, Homs, 10 April 2013Jdaidat al-Fadl, Damascus country-side, 21 April 2013Al-Bayda, Baniyas, Tartous, 2 May 2013Ras al-Nabi, Baniyas, Tartous, 3 May 2013Khirbat al-Souda, Homs, 15 May 2013

Rebel groupsHatla, Deir al-Zour, 11 June 2013Under investigationAbel village, Homs, 25 March 2013Al-Burj, Tal Kalakh, Homs, 30 March 2013Jib Khasara, Hama, 22 May 2013Nawa, Deraa, 1 June 2013Mazra, Aleppo, 24 June 2013Al-Haswiya, Homs, 14 July 2013Al-Bayda, Tartous, 21 July 2013Khan al-Assal, Aleppo, 22 July 2013Til Aran, Aleppo 31 July 2013

Source: Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria

Snowden named for EU prizen AFP, Strasbourg

Green and left-wing lawmakers on Wednesday nominated US intelli-gence leaker Edward Snowden for the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov human rights prize.

Snowden, who has sought asylum in Russia, “deserves to be honoured for shedding light on the systematic in-fringements of civil liberties by US and European secret services,” leaders of

the parliament’s Greens group Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms said in a statement. “Snowden has risked his freedom to help us protect ours,” they added. The European United Left/Nor-dic Green Left group in the European Parliament also nominated Snowden for the 2013 prize, saying “whistleblowers cannot be treated like criminals, they must have our protection.”

The winner of the prize will be an-nounced in October. l

China web users say new iPhone 5C is too costly n AFP, Beijing

Chinese web users dismissed the “low-cost” iPhone 5C as too expensive Wednesday, raising questions over Apple’s ability to build up sales in the world’s biggest mobile market.

The iPhone 5C is part of the US � rm’s bid to counter cheaper handsets from rivals, particularly in China, where it has only a � ve percent share of the smartphone market.

But the new phone will retail in Chi-na for 4,488 yuan ($733) for the 16GB version, according to Apple’s China online store, making it only marginally cheaper than the previous model, the iPhone 5.

It is also well above the $549 that an unlocked iPhone 5C will sell for in the United States.

The top-line iPhone 5S starts at 5,288 yuan ($864) in China, whereas the unlocked US equivalent is $649.

“I thought the cheap 5C version would be priced at one thousand or two (yuan)... I can’t sell my kidney for this much,” said one poster on Sina Weibo, China’s hugely popular Twitter equivalent, referring to a teenager who sold a kidney to buy an iPhone and iPad last year.

“So this is the so-called cheap ver-sion? The 5C starts at 4,488 yuan in China. Haha, they treat the Chinese as

peasants,” said another.With a network contract in the US,

the iPhone 5C can cost as little as $99.But unlike in North America or Eu-

rope, Chinese networks do not o� er contract customers deep discounts on handsets, instead requiring a substan-tial upfront payment which is then refunded over the course of the agree-ment.

The new iPhone was launched glob-ally at Apple’s Silicon Valley headquar-ters in California on Tuesday.

Apple also held a media event in Beijing on Wednesday after specula-tion that a deal with China Mobile, the country’s biggest carrier, was to be re-vealed. However, there were no major announcements at the event, where a translated � lm of Apple’s unveiling in Cupertino was shown.

China Mobile has more than 700 million subscribers, according to Bar-clays Equity Research. Apple’s iPhones are currently available in China on long-term contracts with smaller wire-less companies.

Many domestically made smart-phones are priced as low as $100 in China, which remains one of Apple’s largest markets due to the popularity of its various products.

But Apple’s total sales in China in the most recent quarter slipped 14% from a year ago to $4.6 billion. l

The Syrian con� ict has claimed thousands of civilian victims AP

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Muslim rebels use human shields in Philippine stando� n Reuters, Zamboanga City,

Philippines

Rogue Muslim rebels seeking to de-clare an independent state put a dozen civilians tied together by rope on dis-play as a human shield on Wednesday as a stando� with security forces in a southern Philippine city entered its third day.

Waving white � ags, the hostages shouted “please don’t shoot” at sol-diers as rebel snipers perched on roof of a residential block � red at the troops about 500 meters away in the Santa Barbara district of Zamboanga, a key port on the southern island of Mind-anao.

In another part of the city, three wounded rebels were arrested after ex-changing gun� re with police manning a road block to stop the rebels, a break-away faction of the Moro National Lib-eration Front (MNLF), from occupying other districts of the city.

Four decades of con� ict in the south have killed 120,000 people, displaced two million and stunted growth in the poor but resource-rich area of the mainly Roman Catholic country.

Last year, another separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, signed a deal with the government, agreeing to a new autonomous region that gave it more political control.

That agreement, which spurred hopes of an economic revival, was op-posed by the MNLF faction involved in the current stando� . It signed a deal with government in 1996, but com-

plained Manila did not ful� ll its side of the bargain.

“Our troops are only returning � re. We are not launching an o� ensive,” army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ramon Zagala said. “Our mission is to contain them not to rescue hostages.”

The stando� has paralysed the port with as many as 170 civilians believed to be trapped, if not physically held hostage.

Schools, shops, o� ces were closed for the third day. Flights and ferry ser-vices were also suspended. Around 12,000 people have been displaced in

� ve districts of the port, known as the city of � owers.

Zamboanga is the main commer-cial, educational and government centre of the south. It is also a gate-way for goods like sardines and a ma-jor oil depot.

Isabelle Climaco-Salazar appealed to rebels to free the hostages and dis-cuss their grievances with Manila, suggesting a third-party mediator in-tervene.

“This is no longer a local problem, this is an international problem,” she said in a television interview. l

9Thursday, September 12, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE InternationalDHAKA TRIBUNE InternationalA third of food wasted, costs world economy $750bn: United NationsProduced but uneaten food occupies 30% of the world’s farmland, the report said n AFP, Rome

One third of the food produced world-wide is wasted, costing the global econ-omy around $750bn a year, a new report by the UN food agency said Wednesday.

The Rome-based Food and Agri-culture Organisation (FAO) said some 1.3billion tonnes of food are wasted ev-ery year, with the Asia region including China seen as the worst culprit.

The food agency’s director general, Jose Graziano da Silva, told a press con-ference that in total, “one third of the food produced today is lost or wasted...equivalent to the Gross Domestic Pro-duction (GDP) of Switzerland.”

“We simply cannot allow one-third of all the food we produce to go to waste or be lost because of inappropri-ate practices, when 870 million people go hungry every day,” he added.

Achim Steiner, head of the Unit-ed Nation’s Environment Programme (UNEP), described it as “a staggering phenomenon.”

“This is a big wake up call. We may not even have captured many of the more indirect impacts of food waste...and the costs which will be born by our

children and grandchildren,” he told the joint press-conference.

“It will take less than 37 years to add another two billion people to the global population. How on earth will we feed ourselves in the future?” he asked.

Steiner said that eliminating food wastage had “enormous potential” to

reduce hunger and called on citizens to take individual action to tackle the issue.

“Each one of us has a role to play. Starting with the ridiculous phenome-non in wealthy countries of not buying crooked vegetables any more,” he said, adding that over-zealous observation of sell-by dates was also leading to huge

quantities of food being thrown away.High-income countries waste

during the food consumption phase, while developing countries are losing food during production, the FAO said.

Each year, food that is produced but not eaten “guzzles up a volume of water equivalent to the annual � ow of Russia’s Volga River and is re-sponsible for adding 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases to the planet’s atmosphere,” it said. The report � n-gered Asia in particular, saying that over 100kg in vegetables per capita are wasted every year on average in “In-dustrialised Asia,” a region including China, Japan and South Korea.

It estimated that the region also wastes 80 kilos of cereals – mainly rice – per person, warning that rice cultiva-tion was also high-intensity in carbon and had emerged as “a signi� cant envi-ronmental hotspot.”

Wastage of vegetables in Asia oc-curred “during agricultural produc-tion, post-harvest handling and stor-age, and consumption phases,” the FAO said.

Other key areas identi� ed in the report in terms of waste and environ-

mental impact were the meat industry in North America and Latin America, as well as fruit wastage in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Produced but uneaten food occu-pies 30% of the world’s farmland, the report said.

“Food wastage reduction would not only avoid pressure on scarce natural resources but also decrease the need to raise food production” to meet the demands of a fast-growing world pop-ulation, it said.

Advice on how to reduce food waste ranged from planning shopping trips in advance and not overbuying, to “do-nating extra food to feed vulnerable members of society” and using food no longer � t for human consumption for livestock feed.

The food agency also stressed the importance of recycling unusable food, “with energy recovery allowing ener-gy and nutrients to be recovered from food waste, representing a signi� cant advantage over dumping it in land� lls.”

“Uneaten food that ends up rotting in land� lls is a large producer of meth-ane, a particularly harmful greenhouse gas,” it said. l

Jinnah’s missing wordsn Adapted from Shahzeb Jillani’s

article in BBC News

Sixty-� ve years after Jinnah’s death, on Sep-tember 11 1948, Pakistanis are still trying to determine what his vision for Pakistan real-ly was. During much of its existence, they have been encouraged to believe that Jin-nah created Pakistan in the name of Islam as a theocratic state. But it has been argued the founding father wanted a Muslim-ma-jority but secular and progressive country.

The debate over the two competing and contradictory visions has intensi� ed in re-cent years as the country reels from grow-ing Islamic extremism and Taliban militancy.

At the heart of this debate is a public address Jinnah gave on August 11,1947, re-cording of which have since mysteriously disappeared. Transcripts exist, however, which contain the following excerpts:

“If you change your past and work to-gether in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is � rst, second and last a citizen of this state with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the prog-ress you will make.”

“You are free. You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan,” Jinnah declared. “You may be-long to any religion or caste or creed - that

has nothing to do with the business of the state.”

For liberals in Pakistan, it was a crucial speech in which Jinnah spoke in the clear-est possible terms of his dream that the country he was creating would be tolerant, inclusive and secular.

But Jinnah’s words didn’t go down well with the religious ideologues around him at the time, who made sure the speech was virtually blacked out in the next day’s news-papers. Successive military governments in Pakistan have also been accused of at-tempting to downplay, even remove, the speech from o� cial records.

By the time Pakistan embarked on a pro-cess of Islamisation and introduced tough new laws aimed at religious minorities in the 1970s and 1980s, the more controversial bits of that speech were largely wiped out from public discourse. Jinnah was repack-aged as an Islamic leader, rather than the secular man he had been for much of his life.

When the news came last week that All India Radio had handed over original re-cordings of two of Jinnah’s 1947 speeches to Radio Pakistan, it was seen as a break-through of sorts. However, the crucial miss-ing speech wasn’t among them.“They [AIR o� cials] initially told me they have the missing August 11th tape, but of late have become evasive about it,” says Murtaza Solangi, the former director gener-al of Radio Pakistan.

It’s not entirely clear why, if the speech

indeed exists, the authorities in India would hand over two of the Jinnah tapes, but not the 11 August speech. Some in Pakistan sus-pect it may have to do with the dominant Indian narrative which paints Jinnah as the man responsible for large-scale Hindu-Mus-lim violence in the run up to the partition and the man who divided India.

But if ever found, could it really help Pakistan’s seemingly marginalised liberals to win an argument with the hardliners and the religious right in reshaping the country’s now deeply entrenched Islamic identity?

“It’s not about trying to convince the reli-gious zealots that Jinnah wanted a di� erent kind of Pakistan,” says Solangi.

“It’s about correcting our distorted his-tory and letting the people decide what kind of Pakistan they want.” l

Three astronauts back from ISSn AFP, Moscow

Three astronauts returned to Earth Wednesday on board a Russian Soyuz capsule after a half-year mission on the International Space Station (ISS), land-ing in Kazakhstan, mission control in Moscow announced.

Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Al-exander Misurkin landed on schedule at 8:58am Kazakh time (0258 GMT) in the Kazakh steppe, along with Ameri-can Chris Cassidy.

A live feed on Russian mission con-trol’s website showed rescuers extract-ing the three astronauts who were helped into chairs in the long grass of the steppe on a bright sunny morning.

“Everything went well, very smoothly,” said Vinogradov, smiling as rescuers sponged his face.

Vinogradov, 60, had been com-mander of the ISS with � ight engi-neers Cassidy, 43, and Misurkin, 35. The group took o� from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome on March 29 and their mission lasted 167 days.

Cassidy took part in a dramatic space-walk in May with another NASA astro-naut, Tom Marshburn. They managed to halt an ammonia leak to the station’s power system that a� ected the US seg-ment of the orbiting laboratory.

The three men were the � rst to take an express trip to the ISS in March, tak-ing just under six hours instead of the usual two days to orbit and dock.

Under a new technique now em-ployed by the Russian space agency, the Soyuz capsule only orbited Earth four times before docking at the ISS, instead of orbiting the Earth 30 times. l

Government forces man the port at sunset as about 200 Muslim rebels, enraged by a broken peace deal with the Philippine government, hold scores of hostages as human shields in a continuing stando� with government forces AP

Turkey protester’s death used to ‘spread chaos’n AFP, Ankara

Turkey’s Interior Minister Muammer Guler said Wednesday that protesters were attempting to use the death of a young man during a demonstration to “spread chaos” as pockets of anti-gov-ernment unrest � ared once again in the country.

As tensions rose, the country’s Kurdish rebels for the � rst time called on their supporters to join demos against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seen by critics as increasingly authoritarian.

Demonstrator Ahmet Atakan died in hospital Monday night after being alleged-ly hit in the head by a tear gas canister during clashes between police and around 150 protesters in the southeastern city of Antakya near the Syrian border.

But the minister disputed that ac-count, saying Atakan had died after falling from a rooftop where he had been throwing stones at police.

An autopsy also showed that the 22-year-old had died in a fall, he said.

Demonstrations were held across Turkey Tuesday night to protest Atakan’s death, with clashes with po-lice lasting into the early hours.

Guler claimed that the clashes in Antakya speci� cally sprung from “eth-

nic provocation” designed to cause “chaos”.

“We know very well that there were accusations made before all the facts were established, in an immediate at-tempt to use the incident to harm the police and use it as a provocation,” he said.

The city of Antakya, close to the Syr-ian border, has a mixed population of Turks, Kurds and Arabs, including Sun-ni Muslims and Alawites, the religious minority of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Tens of thousands of Syrian refu-gees have � ooded into the city in re-cent months, heightening tensions between the communities, as Alawites are largely hostile to the Turkish poli-cy of supporting Syrian rebels bent on overthrowing Assad.

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) party on Wednesday called on Turkey’s Kurds to support the ongo-ing demonstrations against Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and Develop-ment Party (AKP).

The anti-government unrest reached it peak with three weeks of vi-olent clashes in June, when protesters where met with a heavy-handed police crackdown, but the demos have since continued on and o� . l

Toxic liquor kills 12 in Pakistan: o� cialsn AFP, Multan

Toxic liquor has killed at least 12 people in central Pakistan, police and health o� cials said Wednesday.

The deaths occurred near the farm-ing town of Rahim Yar Khan, where the men were drinking locally made liquor at a party.

Eight of them died on Monday while four more succumbed on Tuesday.

“At least 12 people have died after drinking toxic liquor,” local police sta-tion chief Mohammad Yasin Gujjar told AFP.

Most of the deaths occurred because relatives did not take the victims to hospital immediately, to avoid getting in trouble with police.

When their conditions deteriorated and they were taken to hospital, it was too late to save them.

Hospital o� cials con� rmed the death toll.

Gujjar said that police had raided several illegal liquor factories and ar-rested two suspects for supplying the deadly drinks.

The public sale of alcohol is banned in Islamic Pakistan and many people prepare cheap liquor at home.

In July at least 18 people died and 18 others suffered serious compli-cations after drinking toxic liquor at two parties in the eastern city of Fais-alabad. l

File photo showing discarded rotis, or Indian bread, along the river bank as an Indian man cleans clothes in the polluted Sabarmati River in Ahmadabad, India AP

Russia to renew o� er to supply S-300s to Iran: reportn AFP, Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin will o� er to supply Iran S-300 air defence missile systems as well as build a sec-ond reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant, the Kommersant business daily reported Wednesday.

Putin will renew an old o� er to sup-ply Iran with � ve of the sophisticat-ed ground-to-air missile systems at a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday, Kommersant said, quoting a source close to the Kremlin.

Putin is set to meet Rouhani at a sum-mit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organi-sation held in Kyrgyzstan on Friday.

Russia in 2007 signed a contract to deliver � ve of the advanced ground-to-air weapons -- which can take out aircraft or guided missiles -- to Iran at a cost of $800 million.

In 2010, then-president Dmitry Medvedev cancelled the contract af-ter coming under strong US and Israeli pressure not to go ahead with the sale of the weapons system, drawing vehe-ment protests from Tehran.

The source told Kommersant that Russia’s o� er would depend on Iran’s withdrawing a $4 billion lawsuit that it has lodged at an international court in Geneva against Russia’s arms export agency.

Kommersant wrote that Putin would o� er to supply Tehran with a modi� ed export version of the S-300 systems

called S-300VM Antey-2500. Russia has urged the West to soften sanctions against Iran after the election of Rou-hani, a centrist cleric, in June.

The source also said that Putin was ready to sign a deal with Iran on build-ing a second reactor for the Bushehr nuclear plant.

The source said the deal was not “particularly pro� table from an eco-

nomic point of view, but was rather political.”

Russia completed the construction of Bushehr, which is Iran’s only func-tioning nuclear power station, despite protests from Israel and the United States.

Iran is at loggerheads with world powers over its controversial nuclear programme, which the Western pow-ers and Israel suspect is aimed at mak-ing a bomb despite repeated denials by Tehran.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov con� rmed to Kommersant that Putin and Rouhani were expected to discuss “working together in the nuclear ener-gy sphere” and “questions of military technical cooperation” in talks at the summit in Bishkek. l

UAE jails Pakistani for 3 years on spyingn AFP, Abu Dhabi

A top Emirati court on Wednesday jailed a Pakistani man for three years for spying for a foreign country, the of-� cial WAM news agency said.

The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the Pakistani, who worked as a “driver at a sensitive government de-partment,” had been recruited by an intelligence o� cer at a foreign embas-sy in the United Arab Emirates.

The man had supplied photographs of meetings in the Gulf country be-tween UAE o� cials and foreign dele-gates, WAM reported.

The Pakistani had confessed to hav-ing received 30,000 dirhams (more than $8,000) from the o� cer whom he met several times at the embassy head-quarters and at the Iranian hospital in Dubai, said WAM.

WAM did not specify the country for which the defendant was convicted of spying. The Abu Dhabi court also ac-quitted a second suspect, an Iranian, on trial for the same o� ence for lack of evidence, WAM said.

An Emirati national married to an Iranian woman was sentenced in Janu-ary to seven years in jail for spying.

Iran and the UAE are in dispute over ownership of the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb, which lie in the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the oil-rich Gulf. l

The source also said that Putin was ready to sign a deal with Iran on building a second reactor for the Bushehr nuclear plant

Is this really necessary?The recent cabinet level decision to direct the authorities

to take legal action against Prof Muhammad Yunus for alleged tax irregularities serves as a perfect example of

everything that is wrong about the priorities and agenda of this government.

At this moment in time, the government needs to be making its case to the people for re-election, and it seems counter-productive to expend political capital, of which it has very little to spare, on an action that is so controversial and which can only further hurt the government’s standing in the eyes of the public.

The transparently political nature of the directive is plain for all to see. It seems as though that the impetus here, like with the shoddy and legally vacuous commission reports that the government has commissioned, is to nail Prof Yunus rather than conduct an impartial inquiry. We hope very much that this appre-hension is proved wrong.

The government is unlikely to listen to reason, but it would do well to quietly abandon this cru-sade of its that has gone on too long, consumed too much of the government’s time and attention, and that has done nothing but brought discredit to itself and the nation.

With elections around the corner, the last thing the govern-ment needs to do is to remind the public of its vindictiveness and misplaced priorities.

Opening up a questionable tax inquiry against someone it has publicly tagged as an enemy and spent the past four years harassing paints the government in a very poor light.

With these kinds of actions the government continues to disgrace itself and disrespect the public, who expect it to focus on matters of substance in the run-up to the election, not con-tinue to squander time, energy and resources on a seemingly personal vendetta.

Scale down the militarisationThe BSF DG’s comment that drones could be deployed

along the India-Bangladesh border, if necessary, suggests a possible escalation in militarisation which is worri-

some, especially since it comes in the wake of the preposter-ous Felani verdict.

Felani’s case was particularly barbaric and entirely unwar-ranted, but not unique. Just a few days ago, reports of a Bang-ladeshi man being strangled to death by the BSF have emerged. It’s unacceptable that we should be subjected to such a high level of hostility by a neighbour we are formally on good terms with, and equally disturbing that India has chosen to equate its eastern border with its western one, with Pakistan, a country they have an acrimonious relationship with.

Why, for instance, have they not considered using drones on their border with Nepal or China or Myanmar? Why is there an automatic association between Bangladesh and Pakistan?

India has said that their drones are simply surveillance ones that can help prevent in� ltrations. If this is true then it should mean fewer people will be killed at the border, as the sophis-ticated technology should make detection and capture more e� cient.

We would like to see India keep its promise of “zero-kill-ings” at the border, so if these drones make that possible they are welcomed. However if they are used to put more Bang-ladeshis at greater risk, our government should seriously re-think the tone we take with our “friendly” neighbour.

People are not ignorant!September 9

“The PM Sheikh Hasina � ays BNP for terrorism, killing” - this report was published in the dailies. The PM and her cabinet and party members are always reiterating the same whenever they have been in public meetings and even some other meetings.

But do people enjoy Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s speech? Many supporters and even AL workers found themselves � ipping the switches of their TV channels when Sheikh Hasina made speeches like this.

People haven’t forgotten that corruption cases had been lodged against both of them – Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina – but now people would like to know about the cases against Sheikh Hasina.

Recently the results of � ve city elections also proved that AL is not liked by the masses.Sheuly Haque

Sirajgonj

Editorial10

www.dhakatribune.com

DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

LETTER OF THE DAY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

Letters to the Editor

Jamuna Future Parkopens todaySeptember 6

Congratulations on the inauguration of a great project. However, it’s important to remember, friends, that quality over quantity is what is important.

Rick

US Senate panel approves use of force against SyriaSeptember 06

Such a shame! Another war with manipulated information. It’s a repeat of the Iraq war.

Junaid Miraz

Now Election Commission is confusedSeptember 6

The prime minster has said that she wants elections like the ones in 1973. Pretty obvious what that means.

Arch Bishop

BU female student killing: Russell expelled, police recover suicide notesSeptember 8

A very sad incident indeed! Police should arrest the culprit without loss of time.

hafeejul alam

It’s unacceptable that we should be subjected to such a high level of hostility by a neighbour we are formally on good terms with

With elections around the corner, the last thing the government needs to do is to remind the public of its vindictiveness and misplaced priorities

Deepika bags role inFast and Furious 7August 6

Turjo Kabir Just when I thought the bar of quality can’t go any lower.

Md Rashaduzzaman PalashWhat an opportunity!

Be HeardWrite to us at:

Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath

Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207

Email us at: letters@dhakatribune.com

Send us your Op-Ed articles:

opinion@dhakatribune.com

Visit our website: www.dhakatribune.com

Come join our Facebook community:

https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Crossword

Sudoku

ACROSS1 Employer (4)5 Proportion (5)8 Tempt (6)9 Incline (4)10 Frozen treat (3)12 Drank slowly (6)13 Sweltered (6)15 Soup dish (6)18 Roof of the mouth (6)20 Wrath (3)21 Silent (4)23 Evaded (6)24 Flying toys (5)25 Refuse to admit (4)

DOWN1 Girdles (5)2 United (3)3 Raised platform (5)4 Wrongdoing (3)5 That remaining (7)6 Journey (4)7 Was indebted (4)11 Surrender (4)12 Becomes established (7)14 Lacerate (4)16 Ooze out (5)17 Very poor (5)18 Colour (4)19 Remaining (4)21 Wet, soft earth (3)22 Perfect score (3)

CROSSWORD CODE-CRACKER YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS

The ‘Iron Man’ – Ali AshfaqSeptember 7

man of steelAll time best player from asia.

Ahmed HimyaanHe has good manners (sportsmanship) in football, but also he is very strong when he faces the ball. I wish he would play longer in his career with a top football club. That would be the biggest historical achievement for the whole of Maldives.

asseYou are our hero. You need to go to an European club. Surely, you can do this.

BroManHis retirement would be a major downfall to the Maldives. Unless another star rises who is worthy enough to put the label “Ashfag” on his shoulders.

11Op-Ed Thursday, September 12, 2013DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Mamun Rashid

No, no, no! I am not supposed to have any sympathy for the Hefazat folks. They are backward looking, superstitious

and always undermining women: our mothers, sisters, daughters and wives. Their 13-point demands are a re� ec-tion of yesteryears where most Bang-ladeshis do not want to go back to.

Yet many teachers and students of madrasas and orphanages represented by Hefazat are now being branded as terrorists and face the threat of being strangulated � nancially. A large number of otherwise ordinary people, often stereotyped by the metropolitan types as our “distant rural cousins,” would face loss of support if their

madrasas and orphanages were closed down.

What did they do? They marched to the call of the Hefazat leaders and sieged Dhaka to press forward their 13-point demands which con� ict with democratic values and seek to sup-press women’s rights.

At one stage, police and govern-ment high-ups including a left-leaning minister thanked Hefazat for being very peace-loving in comparison to other Islamist organisations. Even the prime minister said she would consid-er their demands.

As politics is in countries like ours, the ruling regime and its supporters also supported and organised citizen forums to rise up and counter this religious group.

This did not silence Hefazat, and

it decided to gather its supporters to march towards Dhaka, reportedly with the tacit support of the opposition, on May 5.

On the day, they were supposed to leave by noon but wanted to have a meeting at Motijheel during late afternoon. Police allowed them to hold that meeting, but asked them to leave by early evening. They report-edly overstayed, and many had to face the subsequent police-paramilitary crackdown.

The crackdown that took place very late at night through early next morning left a few Hefazat supporters killed and scattered the rest who were not able to � nd any exit route out of Dhaka. I am told that many police-men, out of class a� nity and sympa-thy, helped them escape.

Many of the Hefazat marchers from May, who can’t normally manage a meal on their own, had come to Dhaka for the � rst time in their lives at the invitation of their Boro Hujur (main religious lead-er), Allama Sha� . Many were ba� ed and confused by all the lights, nicely decorated buildings and posh cars of Dhaka. Some were seen throwing stones at a few buildings and cars.

A few were also reported to have damaged some religious bookshops and even set � re to copies of the Quran. Government and investigation agencies, at that time, said they want-ed to release video footages of these events as proof of Hefazat’s vandal-ism. However, they have not released much evidence yet.

Where were these thousands of He-fazat supporters (mainly young, male, madrasa students) all these years?

They were ignored because of their marginal status, but their numbers and buildings have grown over time with the sponsorship of local communities: God-fearing businessmen, non-resi-dent Bangladeshis, and international Islamic charities. They were largely inactive in the political arena and iden-tify as anti-Moududi (a religious leader who Jamaat-e-Islami follows).

Hence, some ruling party stalwarts re-portedly tried harnessing Hefazat as a means to neutralise or disarm Jamaat using Hefazat’s traditionally shallow interest in politics.

Unlike them, Jamaat, historically, is very active in politics. The reasons why many people don’t like Jamaat is that its predecessors not only cam-paigned against the independence of this country, but many of their senior leaders were also accused of torture, rape, and killing.

While political scientists can ex-

plain that Jamaat opposed our libera-tion war out for philosophical reasons, nobody, I repeat nobody supported or excessed their atrocities and killings in 1971. If the war crimes process con-tinues, some of the accused will face death sentences sooner or later. They have earned this.

Are Hefazat and Jamaat terrorist groups like Bangla Bhai’s out� t or other armed militants? The evidence suggests no. Western diplomats agree, and their notes say there is less political tension or anti-United States sentiment if Jamaat is part of the government.

Though Hefazat is being treated by some people as a replica of the Taliban because of their fundamen-talist beliefs, most concerned seniors see them as the outcome of the failed education system, and inadequate poverty alleviation programmes.

Less educated, deprived, poor rural people rely on groups like Hefazat or send children to their madrassas, because they have no other choice.

Massive urbanisation has left many rural young men marginalised and not able to earn two square meals a day. Often, the state and female-focused NGOs have not been able to reach or help them and this issue needs to be addressed.

All this tells us one thing: though misguided or misled, most members of these groups are not militants or terrorists. While the ones with de� nitive allegations of killing or abuse against them must be taken to task, the majority of them need better education and social programmes.

They may be our distant rural cous-ins, but Bangladesh’s future needs to include and bene� t them. They are travel mates in our journey towards inclusive growth.

Bangladesh wants to be identi-� ed as a tolerant democratic Muslim country. This is very good. But we don’t want to get there at the cost of branding increasing numbers of alien-ated, deprived and misguided groups of people as terrorists. We need to � ght poverty, improve education and take them along with us. l

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

Obama isolated on Syria as support wanesn Fred Barbash

White House e� orts to convince the US Congress to back military action against

Syria are not only failing, they seem to be sti� ening the opposition.

That was the assessment on Sun-day, not of an opponent but of an early and ardent Republican supporter of Obama’s plan for attacking Syria, the in� uential Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, Mike Rogers.

Rogers told CBS’s “Face the Nation” the White House had made a “confus-ing mess” of the Syria issue. Now, he said, “I’m skeptical myself.”

Congress will be in session on Mon-day for the � rst time since the August recess. Debate on Syria could begin in the full Senate this week, with voting as early as Wednesday. The House of Representatives could take up the issue later this week or next.

Obama is expected to spend the next several days in personal meetings with members.

Some Democratic opponents of a military strike, meanwhile, were looking for a way to spare Obama’s ad-ministration the e� ects of a “no” vote.

Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts suggested that the president withdraw his request before it is defeated, saying on CNN’s “State of the Union” that there was insu� -cient support for it in Congress.

There are no signs that Obama is considering that, but speculation about the possibility that the adminis-tration might delay a vote surfaced on Sunday when Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking in Paris after meeting Arab foreign ministers, did not rule out returning to the United Nations Security Council to secure a Syria resolution.

A US o� cial who asked not to be named later squelched that specu-lation: “We have always supported working through the UN but have been clear there is not a path forward there.”

Obama is scheduled to address the American public on television on

Tuesday, but even his political allies fear that his acknowledged power as an orator will be tested, given that polls show a majority of Americans opposed to his plan for military action.

White House Chief of Sta� Denis McDonough suggested that the speech will repeat points Obama has already made several times.

“What he’ll tell the country is what this is, which is a targeted, limited, consequential” use of military force, McDonough said during a round of appearances on Sunday TV shows.

“He’ll also tell the country what this is not. This is not Iraq. This is not Afghanistan. This is not an extended air campaign like Libya.”

‘Flood the zone’ is not working

Most opponents of the proposed US military strike do not contest the administration’s view that the Syrian government gassed its own people on Aug 21. Their expressed concerns focus instead on the e� ectiveness and potential unintended consequences of a US military response.

Only about a quarter of the Senate’s 100 members and fewer than 25 mem-bers of the 435-seat House have been willing to go on record in support of Obama’s request, according to a tally by the Washington Post. Seventeen senators and 111 House members are on record against.

Leaders of both parties have char-acterized Syria as a “conscience vote,” not subject to the usual pressure for party discipline. House Minority Lead-er Nancy Pelosi, for example, has not made a personal pitch for votes in any

of the � ve “Dear Colleague” letters she has sent her fellow Democrats.

The White House plans to step up what it has called a “� ood the zone” lobbying e� ort this week, with brie� ngs on Capitol Hill by Secretary of State John Kerry and Defence Secre-tary Chuck Hagel.

The in� uential American Israel Public A� airs Committee will deploy hundreds of activists to lobby Con-gress in support of Obama’s plan. However, similarly intense lobbying by the White House last week proved unsuccessful.

Rogers, among others, faults Obama for not starting months ago to build congressional and public sup-port on Syria.

“They don’t have strong relationships in Congress today – that’s a huge prob-lem for them,” said Rogers. “I think it’s very clear he’s lost support in the last week.”

As for the lack of public support, Rogers added: “You have a reluctant commander in chief, � rst of all, who’s trying to come to the American people and say, ‘I’m going to do something, but I’m not going to do a lot.’ They’re not sure exactly what we’re trying to do.”

Another Republican supporter, Illinois Representative Adam Kin-zinger, said on ABC’s “This Week” that he had “reached out to the White House and said, ‘hey we support the strike on Syria, we’re going to help you round up support if you need it.’ I haven’t heard back from the White House yet.” l

This article has been syndicated from Reuters.

T H I R D E Y E

Hefazat, Jamaat and terrorism in Bangladesh

Energy: Hope and realitySmart-grids are essential to improve the supply infrustructure

n Hasan Kamrul

The national energy demand, due to the pace of economic development, is increasing day

by day. Due to an overall shortage of electricity, the demands of the indus-try cannot be fruitfully met.

The Awami League, through their last electoral manifesto, were com-mitted to increasing power produc-tion, and developing gas and coal reserves for building up Bangladesh into a middle income country. But there is a distinction between hope, tale, and reality.

Rental and quick rental

From their � rst day in the o� ce, the government has increased the number of rental power plants. It has issued 45 rental power plants licenses to di� er-ent businesses, some of whom have no experience in this � eld.

This approach has been criticised by power sector specialists. Many countries take rental power plants as a provisional solution, but in the longer term, rental is not a feasible solution and does not help the economy. The government says only rental and quick rental power plants can add 3,000 megawatts to the national grid within the shortest time.

Nuclear power generation

In 1996 when AL was in power, the government considered proposals to set up a nuclear power plant at Roop-pur in Pabna but no physical steps were taken. In the current tenure, there has been more discussions, seminars, symposiums and bilateral talks. The prime minister has visited Russia to make several agreements, but to date, no physical work has been undertaken yet.

Coal

Bangladesh has 100bn tonnes of natural coal reserves in north-western districts of Dinajpur, Rongpur and Naogaon, equivalent to a 79TCF gas reserve. But coal is not yet extractable

due to a lack of proper coal policy or strategy. A TEC (technical experts committee) has advised the govern-ment on the coal policy, but no deci-sion has been con� rmed yet.

Nobody knows when one will be � nalised! There is a gap between the ruling party’s manifesto, its commit-ments and reality.

Gas

The outlook for the country’s natural gas reserves is not positive. Remaining gas reserves will perish by 2020. If signi� cant gas reserves are not discov-ered, it could be a terrible scenario for the country.

Recently Bapex scientists discovered the Srikail gas � eld, also a part of the Bangura structure, but this � eld has small reserves.

Presently the government has a deal with the Russian company Gazprom for drilling 10 development wells in existing � elds. Petrobangla expects and hopes to update after completion of these exploration holes.

Power production, then, is a big challenge. One important approach that needs consideration is the expe-dition work on making the grid smart-er through better monitoring and new technology.

Developing a smart-grid

Bangladesh only has a national load dispatch centre and a distribution load dispatch centre which is not working properly. One pilot project has been

undertaken to introduce some pre-paid meters.

A smart-grid can help increase e� ciency by combining electrical power systems with modern informa-tion technology using computer-based remote control and automation.

Smart-grids are used to manage electricity networks – from power plants all the way to the consumers of electricity in homes and businesses.

For a century, utility companies have been sending out workers to gather data needed for providing electricity. Work-ers read meters and look for broken equipment. Through atomation, this can be done in a signi� cantly less time with signi� cantly increased reliability.

Load-shedding could be reduced with better and fairer electricity distribu-tion. Business pro� ts would increase as power from the grid would always be available at their premises.

Experts estimate that up to 40% of the current electricity generation capacity is not used properly or is wasted; this loss could be saved by introducing a smarter grid.

We have to � x our future electricity transmission and distribution system. The smart grid will be supportive to national energy policy targets, improve reliability, employee safety, and energy security. All consumers and industries would bene� t from enhanced power quality and reliabil-ity. So it is essential to install smart-grids to improve the electric supply infrastructure. l

Hasan Kamrul is a geologist.

Experts estimate that up to 40% of the current electricity generation capacity is not used properly or is wasted; this loss could be saved by introducing a smarter grid

Only about a quarter of the Senate’s 100 members and fewer than 25 members of the 435-seat House have been willing to go on record in support of Obama’s request, according to a tally by the Washington Post

They may be our distant rural cousins, but Bangladesh’s future needs to include and bene� t them

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Baul legend Shah Abdul Karim’s death anniversary todayn Entertainment Desk

Baul legend Shah Abdul Karim (February 15, 1916 -12 Sep-tember 2009), won the hearts of millions of Bangla mu-sic lovers with masterpieces like “Bonde Maya Lagaise,” “Kano Piritee Barailarey Bondhu,” “Gari Cholena Cholena,” “Ami Koolhara Kolonkini,” “Agey Ki Shundor Din Katai-tam,” “Boshonto Batashey,” “Krishno Aila Radhar Kunje” and many more.

The Baul bard and a versatile genius had all through lived a very simple life and was often faced with harsh real-ity. Growing up with poverty and hardship, he began writ-ing and composing songs from very early age. His songs had a mesmerising e� ect on the people in and around his village, Ujan Dhol in Sunamganj district in Sylhet division. However, poverty forced him to do agricultural labour be-sides music. Later, he received training on spiritual and baul music from Shah Ibrahim Mastan Baksh.

Shah Abdul Karim wrote and composed over 1600 songs. These songs are compiled in six books: Aftab San-geet, Gano Sangeet, Kalnir Dheu, Dholmela, Bhatir Chithi and Kalnir Kuley. Bangla Academy has translated ten of his songs into English language.

Moreover, with the recent trend of fusion versions of Baul songs in Bangladesh, he is now widely recognised and honoured by younger generations.

He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in the year 2001 for his outstanding musical contributions. l

ONTV

The Hangover 2will air on

HBOat 9:30pm

EntertainmentDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 201312

ExhibitionCon� ict Within – Ascending Figures By KS RadhakrishnanDate: 7-w21 SeptemberBengal Art Lounge, 60 Gulshan Avenue , road 131, Gulshan

Colours from the SoulSyed IqbalDate: 10-19 SeptemberBengal Gallery of Fine ArtsHouse 42, road 16 (new), Dhanmondi

Loss of the Toss is Blessing of their Disguise by Firoz Mahmud Time: 3pm – 8pmDhaka Art Center,House-60, Road-7/A, Dhanmondi

Verses Written Through WaterBy AnisuzzamanTime: 12pm-8pmInstitute Of AsianCreative, Gulshan 2

TheatreChakaDhaka University Theatre DepartmentTime: 7pmNatmandol, DU

TODAY IN DHAKA

Lone Ranger comes to Dhakan Entertainment Desk

Star Cineplex will screen Johnny Depp’s “Lone Ranger” from Friday and the premiere show will take place today at 6:45pm. One of the leading movie theatres of the coun-try, Star Cineplex is entertaining the audience by bringing newly re-leased Hollywood movies as soon as possible for the movie lovers. Be-fore Cineplex started this trend, the audience had to wait a long time to watch international movies in the local theatres of the country.

“The Lone Ranger” is a 2013 American western action � lm pro-duced by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films and direct-ed by Gore Verbinski.

The story is based on the radio se-ries by the same name, the � lm stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, the narrator of the events, and Armie Hammer as John Reid (The Lone Ranger). It relates Tonto’s memories of the duo’s earliest e� orts to subdue the immoral actions of the corrupt and

bring justice in the American Old West. The � lm marks the � rst theat-rical � lm featuring the Lone Ranger and Tonto characters in more than 32 years.

“The Lone Ranger” star Johnny Depp shot to stardom when he re-placed Je� Yagher in the role of un-

dercover cop Tommy Hanson in the popular TV series “21 Jump Street” (1987).

His � rst of a handful of great col-laborations with director Tim Burton came about when Depp played the title role in “Edward Scissorhands” (1990). Following the � lm’s success, Depp carved a niche for himself as a serious, somewhat dark, idiosyn-cratic performer, consistently se-

lecting roles that surprised critics and audiences alike. He continued to gain critical acclaim and increas-ing in popularity by appearing in many features before re-joining with Burton in the lead role of “Ed Wood” (1994). In 1999, he appeared in the sci-� /horror � lm “The Astro-naut’s Wife” (1999). The same year he teamed up again with Burton in Sleepy Hollow (1999), brilliantly por-traying Ichabod Crane.

Depp stole the show from screen greats such as Antonio Banderas in the � nale to Robert Rodriguez’s “ma-riachi” trilogy, “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” (2003). In that same year he starred in the marvelous family blockbuster “Pirates of the Carib-bean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003), playing a character that only the likes of Depp could pull o� : the charming, conniving and roguish Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp then collaborated again with Burton in a screen adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005). l

The story is based on the radio series by the same name, the � lm stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, the narrator of the events, and Armie Hammer as John Reid(The Lone Ranger)

Just for Laughswill air on

Z Cafeat 6:00pm

Eat Streetwill air on

Fox Travellerat 7:00pm

Joler Gaan celebrates beauty of autumnwith fans todayn Afrose Jahan Chaity

To celebrate the beauty of autumn, Jol-er Gaan has oraganised a colourful eve-ning titled “Shada Megher Danay” at 6pm at the auditorium of Chhayanaut. Tickets costing taka 200 are available at all the outlets of Deshal and Jatra.

“Joler Gaan” will sing some of their released tracks, such as “Patar Gaan,” “Jhora Patar Gaan,” “Dure Thaka Megh” and “Bokul Phul.” Dhaka Tri-bune caught up with Saiful Islam Jar-nal, one of the vocalists of the band who informs: “Fans of ‘Joler Gaan’ are in for a treat as we will perform some of our unreleased tracks, along with some other songs.”

He also added that: “We have made all the arrangements in such a manner, that direct interaction with fans will be possible. Everything in our set, start-ing from the design of the set itself, to lights and projection, is arranged in a manner that promotes interaction with

the audience.”In the event, Joler Gaan will show-

case a small video presentation, which will give the audience a glimpse of their everyday routines. The trendy musical group is put together by eight gifted artists. The use of traditional instru-ments in an innovative manner is what sets the group apart from the crowd in general.

The member of the band includes, Rahul Anand, who is the lyricist, com-poser and vocalist of the band and he also plays the � ute, taraban and dotara.

Kanak Aditya is the lyricist, compos-er and a vocalist of the band. Besides, he plays dotara and banjo. Saiful Islam Jarnal plays percussions and is also a vocalist of the band. Rana Sarwar plays the cajon, he is also � uent with percus-sions, guitar and piano. Shariful Islam is the violinist of the band and Sanjay plays the double bass Chandravan.

The band is planning to release their next album at the end of this year. l

Shah Abdul Karim

Live Unplugged series starts at MermaidCafé todayn Entertainment Desk

A series of musical sessions with the title “Live Unplugged” begins today evening at Mermaid Café in Gulshan Circle-2.

The programme will showcase many popular musical artists who usu-ally play acoustic instruments. The in-augural show features promising sing-er Ashique M Fahim, guitarist Mahaan who recently launched an instrumen-tal album “Cholo” and three talented bands: 12 AM, 42 and Headline. There will be no electric guitars, ampli� ers or heavy instruments, only soothing acoustic music.

TixBD and Unplugged Live along with Imagio Entertainment have collaborated to showcase the most promising Bangladeshi music talents through the series of shows which will be held in di� erent cafés of the coun-try. A member of the organising body

said, “We will arrange the shows from Mermaid Café in Gulshan 2 to The Stage in Dhanmondi, plus everything in be-tween – just so people can walk into a café, sip co� ee and enjoy live music!”

The tickets are available at www.tixbd.com/uplive and the prices are taka 250 each. l

Ayushmann Khurrana claims to be a versatile actor, not singern Entertainment Desk

Ayushmann Khurrana made his victory on MTV Roadies season 2.0 and became vid-eo jockey of MTV India and also anchored many shows on Indian Television. He made a fabulous entrance in the � lm industry and made a remarkable impression with his de-but � lm Vicky Donor in 2012, winning two Filmfare awards as best debut actor and as playback singer.

Actor-singer Khurrana got a huge fan base following him with his soft Punjabi romantic song “Pani da rang,”   but he

does not consider himself as a versatile singer.

The 28-year-old, who has sung two more tracks, “Tu Hi Tu” and “Saddi Gali,” says he can be a versatile actor. “I am not a  versatile singer. I have a particular tex-ture of voice and can sing a particular kind of songs, but I am more adaptable as an actor and again for me, singing is more di� cult than acting. Music has a set of rules, but acting doesn’t,” Khurrana said.He will release his single, “O Heeriye,” un-der Yash Raj music. It will be out on Sep-tember 14. l

PHOTO BY KM ASAD

KM Asad wins IPA Photo Essay Asia Award n Shadma Malik

Bangladeshi freelance photographer K M Asad won this year’s “Photo Essay Asia Award” of Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA) for his photo story titled “Cost of Slavery.”

Brilliant photographers from all over Asia participated in the contest. The competition called for entries in three categories: photo documenta-ries, book projects and street images. Asad became the champion of photo documentary category.

IPA was founded in 2010, and since then has grown into a leading and in-� uential platform for photography and arts in Asia.  Based in Singapore, IPA‘s platform and area of interest cover all countries in Asia.

The Bangladeshi photographer’s work highlights the tragedy that happened in Savar this year after the collapse of Rana plaza which led to deaths of over eleven hundred people,

most of whom were RMG workers. Asad shares with Dhaka Tribune that he stayed over � fteen days from dawn to dusk after the collapse and documented the stories of those poor people’s tragedy in his elaborated work. On this note, the photographer says: “I have been working on tragic incidents of garments factories since 2010. I observed that cheap labours and quantity of labourers were blessings for our garment sector to � ourish in a very short time. But this blessing turned into curse when all those innocent workers had to sacri� ce their lives because of poor security system, and negligence of their owner.” He adds: “The ‘Made in Bangladesh’ tag has now changed in meaning. It costs blood to hang a price tag on those products made by our workers.”

Asad said that he received one thou-sand dollar prize money and his works will be published in the next yearly publication of Discovery. l

IPA was founded in 2010, and since then has grown into a leading and in� uential platform for photography and arts in Asia. Based in Singapore, IPA‘s platform and area of interest cover all countries in Asia

14

13DHAKA TRIBUNEThursday, September 12, 2013

SportDid you know?

14 15 ‘Davis Cup not ideal preparation for Asian swing’

At 120 miles per hour, a Formula One car generates so much

downforce that it can drive upside down on

the roof of a tunnel

Netherlands, Italy reach World Cup

Neymar shines as Brazil beats Portugal

An ecstatic Afghanistan team celebrate winning the Sa� Championship, their � rst international title at the Dasarath Stadium,Kathmandu yesterday MUMIT M/ FROM KATHMANDU

BCB election process moving aheadn Mazhar Uddin

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is supposed to send letters to the clubs, dis-tricts and divisional sports associations asking them to name their councilors today, according to a statement made by BCB president Nazmul Hasan last week.

However, with the one week dead-line Nazmul gave for sending the let-ters running out today, the BCB has yet to con� rm whether the matter would be dealt with as scheduled. BCB CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury could not be reached on the phone for comment.

Earlier, Nazmul said that the board election would take place in early Oc-tober and that he would be a candidate in it. On Tuesday, the National Sports Council formed a three member Elec-tion Commission to oversee the BCB electoral process.

The election commission is headed by Brig. General Emadul Haque, the di-rector general of BKSP who will be the chief election commissioner while the Director Sports and assistant Director Sports will be serve as Returning and Assistant Returning O� cers. l

Dilshan’s arrival boosts MSC campn Mazhar Uddin

Former Sri Lanka skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan arrived in Dhaka yesterday as the third foreign recruit for Moham-medan Sporting Club. He will put MSC’s jersey on and take the � eld to-day against Prime Doleshwar at the Shaheed Chandu stadium Bogra.

The hard hitting opener has earlier played in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for Dhaka Gladiators and this time he will be featuring in the 50-over format Dhaka Premier League (DPL) and he in-formed this experience will help him for the upcoming series’ to be played in Ban-gladesh. “World Cup is coming, there is Bangladesh tour in future, so this Dhaka Premier League will help me but I have no idea about the structure of the tour-nament,” added Dilshan.

The 36-year-old right-handed bats-man, who also bowls handy o� -spin-ners, is widely known to put his best e� ort and commitment in the game no matter where it is played. Playing under the captaincy of Mashrafe bin Mortaza for the second time, � rst being in the BPL, Dilshan said it will also help him adjust.

“Whenever I play for any team whether that’s international or domes-tic I try to give my hundred percent. The wickets here are pretty similar to the Sri Lankan wicket and they are bat-ting friendly which will help me.

“Feels good playing with a few inter-national players and when I played in the BPL Mashrafe was the captain and again playing under Mashrafe at Mohammed-an will help me a lot,” said Dilshan.

However, with Mashrafe still recov-ering from injury and uncertain for the opening game MSC will be boosted by their foreign recruits. l

DHAKA PREMIER LEAGUE

Victoria, Kalabagan share pointsn Minhaz Uddin Khan

Victoria Sporting Club and Kalabagan Cricket Academy each received a point after their Dhaka Premier League open-er was abandoned due to rain on the reserve day yesterday. The match was originally supposed to take place on September 10 at BKSP 2, but the ground was in no shape to hold a match.

Cricket Committee of Dhaka Me-tropolis (CCDM) chairman Jalal Younis and Marketing Committee chairman of Bangladesh Cricket Board Ahmed Sajjadul Alam visited the ground on Tuesday morning to inaugurate the tournament, but had to return without ful� lling the purpose as heavy rain al-lowed no action on the day.

The o� cials of both the teams were seen unsatis� ed with the ground condi-tion as they said even if didn’t rain in the morning there was a possibility the match not taking place because the out� eld was muddy due to rain on the previous day.

Nasir Hossain, the captain of de-fending champions Victoria, criticised the board for scheduling the match at the BKSP venue. “If the [players] can tell that there is no chance of playing a match here, why can’t the BCB know?”

the middle order batsman queried on Tuesday.

CCDM, however, have heeded the situation and took the named new ven-ues for the games which were sched-uled to take place at BKSP 2.Today’s match between Abahani Limited and Cricket Coaching School, which was

supposed to be played at BKSP-2, has been shifted to Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.

In Rajshahi today, Mush� qur Ra-him will lead Sheikh Jamal Dhan-mondi Club against Kalabagan Krira Chakra. Kalabagan’s star player Shakib Al Hasan will miss the game due to an injured thumb. The all-rounder injured his left thumb on August 18 at a Barba-dos Tridents practice session and a Ka-labagan o� cial told the Dhaka Tribune that they expected him to return to the � eld after September 18.

In another game day, Mohammed-an Sporting Club will take on Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club at Bogra’s Shaeed Chandu Stadium. Though Mo-hammedan came-up with a mediocre squad from the players’ draft, the side has roped in three strong foreigner players– Sri Lankans Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upal Tharanga and Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi – who will play in the game. l

Bangladesh in World Bridge C’shipn Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh national bridge team will make their maiden appearance in the World Bridge Championship scheduled to start from September 16 at Bali, Indonesia.

The seven member bridge team com-prising of Brig. Gen (retd) Azizul Haque, Khandokar Muzharul Haque, ATM Moaz-zem Hussain, AK Feroz Ahmed, Sajid Ispahani, Jahirul Haque and SM Rezaul Karim will leave the country for Bali on Sunday. Bangladesh will have to compete against 21 nations in the tournament.

Bangladesh quali� ed for the 41st edi-tion of the pinnacle bridge champion-ship in senior category (known as d’Orsi Senior Trophy) on the virtue of � nishing second in the Bridge Federation of Asia and The Middle East (BFAME) Champi-onship in India in June.

“We have been participating in many international tournaments regularly since 1997, but this time the occasion is di� erent.” said Bangladesh Bridge Federation general secretary Mezbahur Rahman Khan at a press conference.

Grameenphone is the sponsor of the national bridge team and they are pro-viding a purse Tk1.4m to the Bangladesh Bridge Federation. l

Rebel hockey league on the cardsn Raihan Mahmood

The six Dhaka Premier Hockey League teams who had taken a stance against the current executive committee of the Bangladesh Hockey Federation plans to hold their own league named Dhaka Hockey League.

The six teams, led by Dhaka Mohammedan and Mariners, refused to take part in the players transfer and had earlier declared that they would not participate in any hockey activities under the current executive committee.

They have plans to bring in a couple of foreign clubs for the Dhaka Hockey League as well.

However, the venue of the pro-posed tournament remains uncertain as Bangladesh Hockey Federation may not allow the entrepreneurs to use the federation’s turf. They may point to the clause that an organisation requires FIH a� liation to host an o� cial tour-nament – something the six rebel clubs do not have. l

Today’s FixturesAt FatullahAbahani v CCS 

At RajshahiKalabagan KC v Sheikh Jamal

At Bogra Mohammedan v Prime DSC

WELL DONE TAYEB HASAN

Bangladesh referee Tayeb Hasan conducted the � nal of the Sa� Championship at the Dashrath Stadium with e� ciency yesterday MUMIT M/ FROM KATHMANDU

Afghans make historyn Raihan Mahmood

The Afghanistan football team, known as the “Lions of Khorasan”, won their � rst international event by beating de-fending champions India 2-0 in a � erce-ly contested Sa� Championship � nal at the Dasarath Stadium yesterday.

The Afghan team performed with a combination of con� dence, � ghting spirit and determination to contain an Indian side that also played at a high level as they attempted to complete a hat-trick of titles. India tested the Af-ghan defence to the utmost, but led by goalkeeper Mansur Fagiryar, the even-tual winners proved too tough to crack

At the last Sa� Championships two years ago, India beat Afghanistan 4-0 in the � nal at New Delhi to lift the trophy, which would have made the result all the sweeter for the Lions, who did not have any sponsors and were unable to arrange any practice matches outside their country in the lead up to the tour-nament due to � nancial constraints.

Indian coach Wim Koevermans chose to exclude regular captain Sunil Chhetri

from the starting eleven in favour of the more physical Robin Singh. Meanwhile, a � eet of Afghan Parliamentarians ar-rived in Kathmandu to cheer their team and one of them even reportedly went to the extent of announcing an apart-ment and USD 25,000 each for the whole squad if they won the match.

Afghanistan took the lead in the ninth minute right wing back Mustafa Hadid went past Indian defender Syed Rahim Nabi into the penalty area and passed the ball onto Belal Arezo. Belal’s passed the ball along to Mustafa Arado-zoy, much to defener Arnab Mondal’s surprise, and Mustafa slotted the ball past goalkeeper Subrata Paul.

India answered with a � urry of at-tacks in which central mid� elder Mehtab Hossain and Francisco Fernan-dez on the right wing were key � gures. In the 19th minute, Mehtab provided a long ball which saw the burly Robin try-ing to hustle past a defender, but Afghan custodian Masur Fagiryar charged out to stop the play.

In the 26th minute, mid� elder Arati Izuma’s placed shot from a pass from

Francisco Fernandez was too weak to beat Fagiryar. In the 35th minute, Mehtab’s powerful shot was brilliantly saved by Fagiryar and Jeje’s shot from the rebound was saved on the goal-line by rival captain Fakhruddin Amiri.

Chhetri came onto the � eld as a sub-stitute for Jeje Lalpekhula in the 60th minute and almost immediately scored after a one-two with Francisco but his shot was feeble and easily saved by the goalkeeper.

In the counter attack from the play, Afghanistan sealed the fate of the � nal, with their second goal in the 63rd min-ute. Belal Arezo went past Arnab and Gourmangi and had only the goalkeeper to beat, but Subrata did well to intercept the placed shot. However, Sanjar Ah-madi was there to take the ball and chip it over Subrata’s outstretched hands to make it 2-0.

Chhetri � red long range shot in the 65th minute which hit the horizontal bar, but the Indian team seemed to � zzle out after that. In the 79th minute, Lenny Rodrigues’ powerful shot was brilliantly saved by goalie Fagiryar. l

Match HighlightsIndia 0-2 Afghanistan Azadzoy 9 Sanjar Ahmadi 62

9’GOAL! Belal Arezo controls Mustafa Hadid cross to slid it in for Azadzoy who showed great composure and tapped the ball past the keeper

19′ Muscular Indian forward Robin Singh outruns his marker, but Afghan goalie Mansur Fagiryar comes out and wins the tussle to save the ball

24’ Robin Singh shoots over the post from the edge of the box

37′ Mehtab’s cracker saved by the keeper Fagiryar, but Robin keeps it in play. Jeje follows with a shot only to see Faiz save it on the line

62′ GOAL! Sanjar Ahmadi makes it 2-0 for Afghanistan. Arezo’s shot is saved by Subrata, but the ball falls to Sanjar who chips it over the Indian goalie

76′ Hashmatullah blasts over the Indian crosspiece

SportDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 201314

ResultsMacedonia 1-2 ScotlandKostovski 84 Anya 60, Maloney 89

Wales 0-3 Serbia Djordjevic 8, Kolarov 38, Markovic 55

Armenia 0-1 Denmark Agger 73-pen

Italy 2-1 Czech RepublicChiellini 51, Balotelli 54-p Kozak 19

Malta 1-2 BulgariaHerrera 78 Dimitrov 9, Gargorov 59

Kazakhstan 0-1 Sweden Ibrahimovic 1

Austria 1-0 Rep of IrelandAlaba 84

Faroe Islands 0-3 Germany Mertesacker 23, Ozil 74-p, Mueller 84

Romania 0-2 Turkey Yilmaz 22, Erding 90+5

Andorra 0-2 Netherlands van Persie 50, 54

Hungary 5-1 EstoniaKlavan 11-o.g., Kink 48Hajnal 21, Bode 41, Nemeth 69, Dzsudzsak 85

Norway 0-2 Switzerland Schaer 12, 51

Cyprus 0-2 Slovenia Novakovic 12, Ilicic 80

Iceland 2-1 AlbaniaBjarnason 14, Rama 9Sigthorson 47

Russia 3-1 IsraelV. Berezutsky 49, Zahavi 90+3Kokorin 52, Glushakov 74

Luxembourg 3-2 Northern IrelandJoachim 45+2, Paterson 14, Bensi 78, Jaenisch 87 McAuley 82

Lithuania 2-0 LiechtensteinMatulevicius 18, Kijanskas 40

Greece 1-0 LatviaSalpingidis 58

Slovakia 1-2 Bosnia-HerzHamsik 42 Bicakcic 70, Hajrovic 78

Ukraine 0-0 England

San Marino 1-5 PolandDella Valle 22 Zielinski 10, 66, Blaszczykowski 23, Sobota 33, Mierzejewski 75

Georgia 0-1 Finland Eremenko 74-pen

Belarus 2-4 FranceFilipenko 32, Ribery 47-pen, 64, Kalachev 57 Nasri 70, Pogba 73Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Bu� on and defender Leonardo Bonucci celebrate at the end of the Fifa World Cup Qualifying group match

against Czech Republic at Juventus Stadium in Turin on Tuesday AFP

100-cap Abou Trika stars for Egypt n AFP, Johannesburg

Egypt mid� elder Mohamed Abou Trika celebrated his 100th cap by scoring one goal and creating three in a 4-2 World Cup qualifying win over 10-man Guinea on Tuesday.

The result of the Group H dead rubber maintained the 100 percent record of the Pharaohs as they chase a � rst World Cup appearance since the 1990 � nals in Italy.

Abou Trika is the ninth Egyptian foot-baller to reach the 100-cap milestone and retired compatriot Ahmed Hassan holds the world record with 184 national team appearances.

Egypt � nished with 18 points, Guinea 10, Mozambique three and Zimbabwe two in a group dominated from start to � nish by the 7-time African champions.l

Argentina crush Paraguay to seal Brazil berthn Reuters, Asuncion

Lionel Messi converted two penalties as Argentina booked their ticket to the 2014 World Cup � nals with a crushing 5-2 away win over Paraguay on Tuesday.

Argentina lead the South American group on 29 points with two quali� ers remaining next month. The top four qualify automatically and the group leaders can now only be overtaken by Colombia and Chile.

“We knew how di� cult it is to qual-ify and this is our reward for all the good work we’ve been doing,” Messi told Fox Sports.

Captain Messi put his team ahead in the 12th minute at the same venue where Argentina had lost the equiva-lent quali� er under Diego Maradona four years ago.

Messi converted from the spot after Sergio Aguero was brought down by goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez.

But Paraguay, who began the match with only the slimmest hopes of reach-ing the � fth-place playo� berth, con-jured up a � ne equaliser when striker Jose Nunez de� ected a left cross past Sergio Romero from a narrow angle six minutes later.

The visitors were soon back on the front foot, however, and Aguero gave Argentina a crucial 2-1 halftime lead in the 32nd minute.

Messi chested down a ball with his back to goal into Aguero’s path and the striker nudged it forwards before hit-ting a low left-footed shot inside the base of the far post.

Winger Angel Di Maria increased Argentina’s lead � ve minutes into the second half, running onto a through ball from playmaker Fernando Gago and shooting home across Fernandez.

Messi’s second penalty after he was brought down took his tally as joint top scorer in the quali� ers to 10, equal to Uruguay’s Luis Suarez and one ahead

of suspended team mate Gonzalo Higuain.

It also took Messi’s international tally to 37 in 83 matches, past Hernan Crespo and into second place behind Gabriel Batisuta’s 56 in 78.

Paraguay captain Roque Santa Cruz pulled one back in the 85th minute be-fore substitute Maxi Rodriguez, look-ing to go to a third World Cup tourna-ment with Argentina, rounded o� the scoring in the � nal minute from Di Ma-ria’s pass. l

Jordan win marathon shoot-out n AFP, Tashkent

Jordan won a marathon penalty shoot-out 9-8 Tuesday to down Uzbekistan in Asia’s World Cup play-o� in a dramatic match which was also interrupted by a � oodlight failure.

After the two sides were locked at 1-1 after extra time, hosts Uzbekistan missed their � rst two spot-kicks be-fore hauling themselves back into the shoot-out.

But Anzur Ismailov, scorer of Uz-bekistan’s goal in normal play, was the fall guy as he missed the decisive kick which sent Jordan into a play-o� against an as yet undecided team from South America.

Uzbekistan’s early opener from Is-mailov had been cancelled out just before half-time by Saeed Murjan, and in a tense second period neither side could � nd the clincher.

But there were farcical scenes when, 10 minutes into the � rst period of extra time, the � oodlights failed at the ven-erable Pakhtakor Stadium, prompting jeers and a delay of 18 minutes. l

USA, Costa Rica clinch World Cup spotsn AFP, Washington

The USA and Costa Rica punched their tickets to the World Cup with a vic-tory and a draw in CONCACAF regional qualifying on Tuesday.

The Americans advanced by beating

Mexico 2-0 while Costa Rica booked their spot after drawing 1-1 with Ja-maica.

The quali� cations were con� rmed after Panama drew 2-2 with Honduras later Tuesday.

Goals from Eddie Johnson and Don-ovan � red the Americans to victory

over their � erce regional rivals.“It is pretty special,” said Donovan.

“I am proud of this team and proud of the hard work. Everyone deserves it so much.”

It is the seventh straight World Cup � nals appearance for the United States stretching back to 1990.

The win propelled the Americans to the top of the qualifying table with 16 points, one ahead of Costa Rica.

Honduras is third with 11 points while Panama sits fourth ahead of Mexico based on their better goals scored di� erential. They both have eight points while Jamaica is sixth with four points.

Johnson broke the deadlock in the 49th minute with a header before Donovan doubled the lead in the 78th from close range in front of a crowd of 24,584 at Columbus Crew Stadium.

“It was a tense game and a lot was at stake but everybody was so hungry for this win,” said American coach Jurgen Klinsmann.l

Netherlands, Italy reach World Cupn AFP, Paris

Italy and the Netherlands became the � rst European nations to qualify for the 2014 World Cup � nals with victories on a busy night of action on Tuesday.

Another of the continent’s most fa-mous names, Germany, are also now on the brink of quali� cation, as are Switzerland, while Russia and England ensured that their destinies remain in their own hands.

The only World Cup � nals Italy have missed remains the 1958 � nals in Swe-den, and Cesare Prandelli’s side knew that a win against the Czech Republic in Turin would con� rm their participa-tion in a 14th consecutive � nals.

However, they had to overcome a scare in the Juventus Stadium before sealing � rst place in Group B with two games to spare.

Libor Kozak gave the Czechs the lead in the � rst half before Giorgio Chiellini netted a 51st-minute equaliser and AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli struck the winner from the penalty spot.

The Netherlands, beaten � nalists in South Africa in 2010 as well as the last time the World Cup was staged in South America, in Argentina in 1978, have struggled in this month’s qualify-ing double header.

But a scrambled 2-2 draw in Esto-nia coupled with a 2-0 win in Andorra on Tuesday proved enough for them to win Group D with two matches to spare.

Germany could have quali� ed on Tuesday too, but while they ran out 3-0 winners in the Faroe Islands, with Per Mertesacker and Thomas Mueller on target either side of a Mesut Ozil pen-alty, other results did not go in their favour.

Joachim Loew’s side needed Swe-den to slip-up in Kazakhstan but a � rst-minute Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal, his 45th for his country, gave the Scandi-navian nation a 1-0 win.

That means Sweden are on course to � nish second in Group C, with Austria three points behind in third after a late David Alaba goal gave them a 1-0 win against the Republic of Ireland.

Switzerland can wrap up quali� ca-tion from Group E next month after a 2-0 victory in Norway, achieved thanks to a Fabian Schar brace, left Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side � ve points clear of Ice-land with two games remaining.

England still have work to do in Group H, even if a goalless draw in Ukraine left them a point clear of both their hosts and Montenegro, while Po-land are also still in contention thanks to a 5-1 success in San Marino.

And France moved back level on points with Spain at the top of Group I, albeit having played a game more, after coming from behind twice to win 4-2 in Belarus.

Les Bleus ended a goal drought of over 500 minutes and overcame two howlers by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to win thanks to a brace by Franck Ribery and further e� orts from Samir Nasri and Paul Pogba. That means they are now guaranteed to at least � nish sec-ond in the section.

Elsewhere, Fabio Capello’s Rus-sia are back on top of Group F, a point ahead of Portugal, after downing Israel 3-1 in Saint Petersburg, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece are still locked level on points atop Group G.

Bosnia came from behind to win 2-1 in Slovakia while a solitary Dimitrios Salpingidis e� ort allowed Greece to see o� Latvia. l

Neymar shines as Brazil beats Portugal n AFP, Boston

Barcelona star Neymar got on the scoresheet as Brazil came from behind to beat Portugal 3-1 in a friendly at Gil-lette Stadium here Tuesday.

Neymar, Thiago Silva and Atletico Mineiro’s striker Jo all netted as Brazil, fresh from a 6-0 demolition of Austra-lia last weekend, claimed the win at the

home of NFL franchise the New Eng-land Patriots.

Raul Meireles scored the lone goal for Portugal taking advantage of a de-fensive error by Brazil in the 17th min-ute to make it 1-0.

Silva leveled six minutes later by heading home a Neymar corner kick and then Neymar gave Brazil the lead with a goal in the 34th minute.

Jo added a third in the 49th minute by converting a cross from Maxwell.

Brazil’s next friendly is against South Korea in Seoul on October 12 and then they face Zambia in Beijing on Oc-tober 15. l

ResultsBolivia 1-1 EcuadorIriondo 47 Caicedo 58-pen

Uruguay 2-0 ColombiaCavani 77, Stuani 80

Venezuela 3-2 PeruRondon 36, Hurtado 20,Gonzalez 62-pen, Zambrano 89Otero 77

Paraguay 2-5 ArgentinaNunez 18, Messi 12-pen, 52-pen, Santa Cruz 86 Aguero 32,Di Maria 50, Rodriguez 90

ResultsUSA 2-0 MexicoE. Johnson 50, Donovan 78

Costa Rica 1-1 JamaicaBrenes 75 Anderson 90

Honduras 2-2 PanamaCostly 27, Torres 50, 90Palacios 61

Brazil - hostsCONMEBOL - South America (4 or 5 places)

ArgentinaUEFA - Europe (13 places)

Netherlands ItalyCONCACAF - North, Central American and Caribbean (3 or 4 places)

USA Costa RicaAFC - Asia (4 or 5 places)

Japan South Korea Australia Iran

Teams already quali� ed

Match ResultsEgypt 4-2 GuineaAbou Trika 51-pen, El Abd 4-og, Salah 83, Zaki 87 Soumah 57

Algeria 1-0 MaliSoudani 51

ResultBrazil 3-1 PortugalSilva 23, Meireles 18Neymar 34, Jo 49

Brazil's Neymar (C) celebrates scoring against Portugal during their international friendly match in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Tuesday REUTERS

Argentina's Angel Di Maria (C) scores a goal past Paraguay's goalkeeper Roberto Junior Fernandez (L) and Marcos Caceres during their 2014 World Cup qualifying match in Asuncion,on Tuesday REUTERS

Sport 15DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

Star Sports

1:45pm India A v New Zealand A LIVE3rd One DayTen Cricket

2.00pmPakistan tour of Zimbabwe2nd Test Day 3

Day’s Watch

Trapattoni parts company with IrelandGiovanni Trapattoni left his post as Ireland soccer manager on Wednesday following his side’s World Cup qualifying defeats against Sweden and Austria in the past week. The 74-year-old Italian, who had been in charge for more than � ve years and steered Ireland to the Euro 2012 championship, left by mutual consent, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) said. Ireland had been in contention to claim a playo� spot for next year’s World Cup in Brazil but defeats in their last two Group C games has left them in fourth spot with two games left. Trapattoni also took Ireland to the brink of the 2010 World Cup, missing out in a playo� after France scored a controversial winner set up by a Thierry Henry handball. “We thank Giovanni Trapattoni, Marco Tardelli and Franco Rossi for the last � ve-and-a-half years during which we quali� ed for our � rst major tournament in 10 years and were close to quali� cation for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after the play-o� in France,” FAI Chief Executive John Delaney said in a statement. “This particular World Cup campaign has been disappointing but Giovanni leaves us with a group of good, young players which should form the basis of the squad that the new manager will use for the European Championship in France 2016 when 24 teams qualify.”

– Reuters

Japan, South Korea to cooperate on Games Sporting chiefs in Japan and South Korea have agreed to put their countries’ diplomatic di� erences aside and work together to make a success of Olympic Games being held in both nations. Japanese Olympic Committee president Tsunekazu Takeda met his South Korean counterpart in Buenos Aires after Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 summer Games on Saturday, Jiji Press reported from Argentina. The 2018 winter Games will take place in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, 180 kilometres (110 miles) east of Seoul. The two men agreed that o� cials from both nations would sup-port each other, Takeda said, adding that he told Korean Olympic Committee chief Kim Jung-Haeng they should cooperate because “an Asian era will go on from Pyeongchang to Tokyo,” Jiji reported.

– AFP

Woods, McIlroy set for big pay-day in ChinaGolf superstars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will expand their already bulg-ing bank accounts with a lucrative, one-round exhibition appearance next month in China. The highly sought-after pair will face o� at Hainan island’s giant, 180-hole Mission Hills complex, one of the world’s biggest golf resorts, on Octo-ber 28, organisers announced Wednes-day. While no � gures were revealed, last year’s similar “Duel at Jinsha Lake” — an event to promote luxury real estate — involving Woods and McIlroy was for a reported pot of $2 million. By way of comparison, the winner’s cheque at this year’s US Masters, arguably the sport’s most prestigious tournament, was $1.44 million. Woods, 37, said he was hoping to win this time in China after losing out to McIlroy at last year’s “Duel at Jinsha Lake”, an event remembered for its bizarre fans and organisation.

– AFP

N Korea bans football club for cheating North Korea said Wednesday that it had barred one of its top domestic football clubs from all competition for six months, in a rare admission of cheating in sports. A report by the o� cial Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) -- headlined “Strong Disciplinary Action Taken against Sonbong Team” -- said the manner of the club’s victory in the � nal of the domestic “Torch Cup” tournament two weeks ago had been “contrary to proper sporting spirit and morality”. The precise o� ence was unclear, but KCNA said Sonbong had � elded a “wrong player” in the � nal against the April 25 team -- suggesting it may have been caught bringing in a ringer for the game. The o� ence took on added signi� cance given that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un attended the match at the Kim Il-Sung stadium in Pyongyang and had his picture taken with the victori-ous Sonbong team afterwards.

– AFP

Quick Bytes

2013 US Open Champion Rafael Nadal of Spain poses with the US Open Championship trophy, following his victory in the men's singles � nal match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in Central Park in New York City on Tuesday AFP

'Davis Cup not ideal preparation for Asian swing'n Reuters, Madrid

Playing the Davis Cup on clay in Madrid this week is not ideal preparation for the hard-court swing in Asia and an assault on the number one ranking, according to newly crowned U.S. Open champion Rafa Nadal.

Spaniard Nadal, currently number two behind Novak Djokovic, is poised to replace the Serb as the world’s top-ranked player after he beat him in Mon-day’s � nal at Flushing Meadows.

Before he travels to Asia, Nadal will return to Davis Cup action for the � rst time since 2011 to help Spain in their World Group playo� at home to Ukraine

starting on Friday. “Given the fatigue I am feeling, what I would like to do is rest and recuperate well physically and mentally for the Asian tour,” Nadal said in an interview published in Spanish sports daily Marca on Wednesday.

“It’s the � nal sprint of the year and I am � ghting for something as special as � nishing as number one,” added the 27-year-old, who last held the top rank-ing in June 2011 and slipped to � ve be-fore his return from injury in February.

“The Davis Cup won’t help me in that goal because to be prepared for what I have left it’s not good to change sur-faces.

“But I said I would go already a few

months ago, I committed myself and I will be in Madrid.

“I feel duty bound to go to Madrid and I feel duty bound to help the team so we stay in the World Group.

“I believe Spain deserves to be among best for what it represents and has represented in the world of tennis for so many years.”

Spain’s Davis Cup captain Alex Cor-retja said he would wait and see what state Nadal was in when he arrived in the capital on Wednesday before decid-ing whether he should feature in Fri-day’s opening singles.

He may opt to rest him and play in-form Tommy Robredo and Fernando

Verdasco, keeping his best player in reserve for Saturday’s doubles or Sun-day’s reverse singles in case the unfan-cied Ukrainians spring a surprise.

“More than swamped, right now I feel empty, a little tired of everything,” Nadal told Marca.

“In emotional terms, when you have been playing for a month and winning all your matches and then you put the cherry on the cake here you have a slump and that’s logical.

“It’s nothing strange and I hope to be � ne in a few days.”

Spain are in the Davis Cup playo� s after losing away to Milos Raonic’s Can-ada in the � rst round in February. l

Spain scramble to draw in Chile friendly n AFP, Geneva

Reigning European and world cham-pions Spain needed a last-gasp Jesus Navas goal to draw 2-2 with Chile in a friendly in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday. With neither side in World Cup qualifying action, they met in a re-peat of a 2011 friendly, in which Spain came from behind to win 3-2.

On this occasion, Vicente del Bosque’s side twice trailed before com-ing back to draw, with Eduardo Vargas netting Chile’s two goals and Roberto Soldado and Navas on target for Spain.

Having come close to Spain’s � rst-ever loss to Chile, del Bosque lauded his side’s opponents.

“I wasn’t surprised by their quality,” the veteran Spain manager said.

“They were far more active, and literally a cut above us. We could have started with more intensity, but I was pleased with the � nal part of the match,” he said. l

Pakistanis threaten protest over hockey slump n AFP, Karachi

Retired Pakistani stars on Tuesday threatened to burn their medals and protest publicly unless the government steps in to reverse a spectacular decline in the national game, � eld hockey.

Pakistan, four-times world champi-ons with three Olympic golds, failed to win the Asia Cup earlier this month and so failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup to be held in The Netherlands.

The failure sparked a nation-wide protest by fans and a group of Olympians demanded that the prime minister remove incumbent o� cials at the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

“Prime minister Nawaz Sharif is the patron of the PHF and he must take some time out of his busy schedule to address the serious and fatal slump in our national sport,” former captain and coach Islahuddin Siddiqui told a news conference. l

Massa leaves Ferrari, Raikkonen returnsn AFP, Rome

Felipe Massa announced via Twitter on Tuesday that he will no longer be driv-ing for Ferrari next year.

The BBC later claimed Kimi Raik-konen would be replacing him and re-turning to team he left in 2009.

Raikkonen won the world title with Ferrari in 2007, the � rst of three years he spent partnering Massa at the Italian team.

“From 2014 i will no longer be driv-ing for Ferrari,” said Brazilian Massa on his o� cial @Felipe1Massa account.

“I would like to thank the team for all the victories and incredible mo-ments experienced together.

“Thank you also to my wife and all of my family, to my fans and all my Sponsors. From each one of you I have always received a great support!

“Right now I want to push as hard as possible with Ferrari for the remaining 7 races.”

Talk in the paddock has been rag-ing for several weeks about who will be

Ferrari’s second driver next year along-side two-time former world champion with Renault, Fernando Alonso.

The BBC claimed a deal was agreed Monday that will see Raikkonen return to the team where he won his only world title.

His success in 2007 was the last time Ferrari won a world title, after which British duo Jenson Button, in a Brawn, and Lewis Hamilton, in a McLaren, claimed the championship before Red Bull’s Sebatian Vettel began his three-year domination. l

Rafa was a ball-player before he could walk, granny saysn Reuters, Madrid

Rafa Nadal started playing with balls before he could walk and in his forma-tive years liked soccer just as much as tennis, his grandmother Isabel Homar told Spanish radio on Wednesday.

Speaking to Cadena Ser from the is-land of Mallorca where Nadal is from, Homar said the world number two, who beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic to win his second U.S. Open title on Monday, “always liked anything that was round”.

“He started playing with balls in the hallway of his home before he learned to walk,” Homar said, adding things of-ten got broken by accident.

“He loved playing football and he was always excited when Saturday came around,” added the 82-year-old. “He liked football just as much as ten-nis.”

Homar remembered how her son Toni, who has coached his nephew to 13 grand slam titles, rang her one day and told her to come and watch her grandson.

“I remember one day Toni called me and said ‘you have to come and see him’,” she said after watching Nadal’s victory at Flushing Meadows on televi-sion with members of her family.

“I can’t remember how old he was, maybe six. He was already holding the racket very well and when he hit the ball he hit it well.”

Homar said she had su� ered in the second set of Monday’s � nal, which Nadal lost to Serb Djokovic before com-pleting a 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1 triumph.

Her musician husband had pre-ferred not to watch the match due to nerves, she added.

“I liked the � rst set a lot but the sec-ond not so much because when I see that he is losing, I don’t like it.

“I was really su� ering and a lot of the time when that happens I have to turn it o� .

“You get really nervous and then it is really di� cult to get to sleep.”

Nadal is next in action in Spain’s Davis Cup World Group playo� tie at home to Ukraine starting on Friday. l

Younis shines againn AFP, Harare

Younis Khan carried on from where he left o� in the � rst Test as he played an-other solid innings for Pakistan on the second day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.

Younis followed up a match-winning double century in the � rst Test with an unbeaten 52 as Pakistan reached 163 for three at the close of play in reply to Zim-babwe’s � rst innings total of 294.

When he reached 50 for the 49th time in Test cricket Younis became the fourth Pakistan batsman to reach 7000 runs in Tests. Batsmen of both sides played cautiously on a slow pitch. Only � ve wickets fell in the day, while 222 runs were scored.

As in the � rst Test, Younis batted patiently against steady bowling. With several prominent cracks in the pitch he stretched well forward to most deliver-ies, with bat and pad close together to combat any unpredictable bounce.

Younis and fellow veteran Misbah-ul-Haq will resume on Thursday, after

putting on 67 for the fourth wicket. They came together soon after tea when opening batsman Khurram Manzoor was run out for 51.

Younis faced 127 balls and hit six fours, while Misbah made 27 not out o� 88 deliveries.

Manzoor, who was recalled for the Zimbabwe series after more than three years out of the Test team, survived con-� dent appeals for a catch behind and leg before wicket early in his innings.

He showed good timing as he hit nine fours in reaching his fourth Test half-cen-tury o� 119 balls, but his innings came to an end when he played the ball to leg and set o� for a run. He was sent back by Younis and could not beat Elton Chigum-bura’s throw to wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami. Pakistan endured a frus-trating morning as their bowlers strug-gled to dislodge the Zimbabwe tail.

Junaid Khan took his fourth wicket of the innings when Prosper Utseya hooked a short ball to deep backward square leg after making a stubborn 22 o� 82 balls. Junaid � nished the innings with four for 67. l

Bangladesh lift Ambassadors’ Cupn Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh Embassy cricket team emerged as the champions of the Am-bassadors’ Cup Cricket Tournament in Washington, DC, USA recently.

The tournament, � rst ever in its kind in Washington DC, was jointly or-ganised by the Embassies of New Zea-land and Trinidad and Tobago. Teams from the Embassies of eight of the Test playing nations, namely, Australia, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and Trinidad & Tobago (West Indies) took part in the tournament.

The Tigers beat Australian Embassy team by nine wickets in a � nal that they dominated from the beginning. The ceremonial captain of the Bangla-desh team Ambassador Akramul Qader won the toss and decided to � eld. Bat-ting � rst, the Kangaroos scored a total of 76 for six wickets in their allocated ten overs. Hard-hitting batsman Gillum scored 36. In response, Tigers made the

winning total of 77 for the loss of only one wicket in 7 overs. Tauhidul Islam Rocy hit a spectacular 45-run innings with the help of three sixes and � ve boundaries.

Earlier, Bangladesh beat New Zea-land by 10 wickets in the � rst match of the tournament before winning their semi-� nal against Sri Lanka by four wickets. l

Zimbabwe, � rst innings(overnight 237-8)P. Utseya c Rahat Ali b Junaid Khan 22T. Panyangara b Rahat Ali 24T. Chatara lbw b Abdur Rehman 21B. Vitori not out 19Extras (b7, lb 14, w1) 22Total (109.5 overs, all out) 294BowlingJunaid 33-11-67-4 (1w), Rahat 19-7-48-2, Younis 3-0-7-0, Ajmal 27-6-92-1, Rehman 23.5-6-47-3, Hafeez 4-0-12-0Pakistan, � rst inningsManzoor run out (Chigumbura) 51Hafeez c Masakadza b Vitori 22Azhar Ali lbw b Panyangara 7Younis Khan not out 52Misbah-ul-Haq not out 27Extras (lb4) 4Total (3 wkts, 68 overs) 163

BowlingPanyangara 13-3-30-1, Vitori 16-5-42-1, Chatara 18-5-28-0, Masakadza 9-4-18-0, Utseya 12-0-41-0

Score Card

Felipe Massa

16 Back PageDHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, September 12, 2013

INSIDETODAY

Improved technology for brick kilns stumbles Tk4b-fund lying unused as owners seem less enthusiastic about shifting to clean methods for burning bricks n Abu Bakar Siddique

Brick makers using conventional meth-ods blamed for polluting air now seek two more years to be ready for conver-sion into environment-friendly tech-nologies though they have already en-joyed around three years for this.

“We will urge the government to ex-tend the timeframe by two more years so that all the plants can be converted,” said Asadur Rahman, vice-president of Bangladesh Brick Makers-Owners As-sociation (BBMOA).

However, the DoE, the environment regulator, has no plan to extend the timeframe.

After October, when the dry sea-son will start, “we will conduct drives against the polluters,” said Mohammed Solaiman Haider, a DoE deputy direc-tor, who deals with the issue.

Conventional brick � elds are blamed for contributing to deforestation and spewing out black fumes into the sky apart from occupying a scare agricul-tural land. The government and a num-

ber of global and local agencies have been trying to convince the owners to adopt modern technologies to save en-vironment and farmland.

Years of campaigns and legal bind-ings so far encouraged only 17% owners of wood or coal-guzzling brick � elds to go green, while Tk4 billion meant for promoting environment-friendly kilns has been lying almost unused with the Bangladesh Bank.

Brick makers now say lack of skilled manpower is one of the major obstacles in using new technologies. Asadur said they would need two more years to train adequate manpower for the im-proved technology.

He also said the new technologies needed huge investment which was impossible for most of the kiln owners.

The government in September 2010 gave the brick makers two years to adopt the energy-e� cient and relative-ly cleaner technologies like Zigzag, Hy-brid Ho� man Kiln (HHK) and Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK).

Later, the deadline was extended

by six months till March this year and again by three months till June. As the monsoon has begun and most of the brick kilns now nonoperational, the Department of Environment (DoE) has not given any further directives in this regard.

During this time, the DoE had di-rected that no new kilns using conven-tional Fixed Chimney Kilns (FCK) tech-nology will be approved or renewed. About 90% of the existing brick kilns in Bangladesh are using the 150-year-old technology which is highly energy in-tensive and emits huge carbon having serious impact on the atmosphere, hu-man health and croplands.

As of June 2013, a total of 6,356 au-thorised brick kilns are operating in the country, according to the DoE. Of them, only 1,101 plants have been converted into Zigzag, HHK and VSBK.

Brick making industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in Bangladesh which estimated annual production is around 8.66bn. It is one of the largest sources of green house gas emissions,

estimated to be 6m tonnes of CO2 an-nually.

Some estimates that about 33% of the fuel used in brick kilns comes from wood fuel which is strictly prohibited in law, including the updated version formulated recently. Moreover, some are using low-quality coal imported from India.

One of the suggested technologies HHK is more energy-e� cient and clean as it can produce bricks seven times than the conventional ones while re-quires 40% less fuel to burn bricks.

The improved kilns demand a huge investment which is about Tk100 mil-lion while the traditional ones need only Tk5 million.

Bangladesh Bank has already intro-duced two separate funds to � nance in the environmental-friendly ventures including the brick manufacturing sec-tor.

Under the scheme, the central bank has allocated Tk4bn which comes from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to � nance the brick makers who want to

transform their conventional kilns.“Interested entrepreneurs can take

the credit facility at an interest rate of 9 to 10% from the country’s 56 banks and 29 non-banking � nancial institutions,” said Morshed Millat, deputy general manager (green banking) of Bangla-desh Bank.

In addition to this, the central bank has another Tk2bn fund for investment in environment-friendly industries like brick making, e� uent treatment plant (ETP), bio-gas plant and renewable en-ergy.

The government earlier in 1999 had suspended giving licences to conven-tional brick kilns in the wake of rising sulphur deposition in the atmosphere from the burning of coal at the brick-� elds.

The circular anticipated that the sit-uation was so vulnerable that acid rain could occur in the near future if the trend continued. The government also expressed concern over massive burn-ing of timber at the kilns. The suspen-sion was lifted in October, 2002. l

Numerous brick kilns operate and emit black smoke on the banks of the Buriganga at Keraniganj, polluting the atmosphere and the surrounding environment SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

CU authorities reduces admission form price n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

The authorities of Chittagong Univer-sity yesterday reduced the admission form price for 2013-2014 session due to admission seekers’ interest.

The decision came at a meeting of CU Unit Committee chaired by VC An-warul Azim Arif.

Prof Khan Tawhid Osman, acting proctor of CU, said the university au-thorities readjusted the admission form price from Tk500 to Tk475 for the inter-est of the admission seekers.

Meanwhile, Progotishil Chhatra Jote protested Tuesday’s police action on their demonstration held demanding suspension of extra admission form price. The form price was Tk400 which got increased to Tk500 this year. l

Dap review committee endorses 7 proposals n Mohosinul Karim

The cabinet sub-committee for review-ing the detailed area plan (Dap) yester-day approved seven more applications that were submitted for amending the character and design stated in the plan’s 2010 version.

It also suggested that 13 applica-tions submitted by individuals and institutions be enlisted in the next Dap – to be e� ective from 2015-35,Housing and Public Works Secretary Khondakar Showkat Hossain told re-porters after the third meeting of the panel.

He said they reviewed 70 proposals – seven submitted by housing compa-nies, 53 by individuals and institutions, and 10 special applications.

Of these, the sub-committee ap-proved one special application and six from those of the individualsand institutions. The seven applica-tions would now be placed before the cabinet committee on Dap review, which is led by LGRD Minister Syed

Ashraful Islam.Showkat, however, did not mention

the names of the approved proposals.The remaining applications includ-

ing those from seven housing compa-nies were rejected.

The � rms are Jamuna Builders Ltd, Probashi Polli, Bishwas Builders, Jalshi-ri Abashon, Sikder Real Estate, Islamic Commercial Complex and Protyasha Housing Ltd.

The sub-committee in its previous meetings approved the applications of Bashundhara Residential Area project, Ashiyan City and some other housing companies.

Also the spokesperson of the sub-committee, Showkat said even though the review process had end-ed, the aggrieved � rms, organisations and individuals would be able to apply for reconsidering their applications. “Those applications will be considered in the next Dap.

“But if there is any important ap-plication, it may be considered on an emergency basis. In that case, experts

of Special Works Organisation of Ban-gladesh Army will visit the project, examine and report to Rajuk for plac-ing it before the cabinet committee for approval,” he added.

The decisions came at the third meeting of the sub-committee held at the housing and public works ministry conference room with its Chairman Rezaul Karim Hira, the land minister, in the chair.

While giving approval, the panel considered a report of the technical committee, led by a Rajuk member. The report was prepared after physical inspection and examining the papers of the disputed lands.

The committee also considered that no infrastructure would beinstalled in the � ood-� ow zones, wet-land, agricultural land and water pre-servers.

The Dap, announced in 2010, was planned for 1995-2014 period. But it was announced 15 years after the scheduled time. The government will prepare a new Dap for 2015-35. l

Prosecution seeks death for Delhigang rapistsn AFP, New Delhi

Prosecutors sought the death sentence Wednesday for four men convicted over the “diabolical” gang rape and murder of a student on a New Delhi bus as the judge set sentencing for later this week.

Judge Yogesh Khanna heard three hours of arguments from prosecution and defence lawyers in his court in the south of India’s capital before an-nouncing he would reserve his judge-ment until Friday afternoon.

He faces widespread calls from the public, the victim’s family and politicians to hand down the death sentence, which can be given for “the rarest of rare” crimes but is seldom carried out in practice.

“The court should give the maxi-mum sentence otherwise the message will go to society that deviance of this nature will be tolerated,” special pub-lic prosecutor Dayan Krishnan told the packed court.

“The test is, was the collective con-science shocked? There can be no bet-ter example than this case,” he said, calling the crime “diabolical” in which “no element of sympathy” had been shown to the victim.

“The sentence which is appropriate is nothing short of death,” he added.

The 23-year-old victim, a physio-therapy student who cannot be named for legal reasons, died of internal inju-ries on December 29 after being lured onto the private bus following a cinema trip with a male companion.

After beating up the friend, the gang brutally assaulted her behind tinted windows for 45 minutes before � inging the bloodied, naked and barely con-scious couple onto a road leading to the international airport.

The four convicts – Akshay Thak-ur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh – were led into court by armed police and stood and occasion-ally sat at the back of the court wearing T-shirts and displaying little emotion.

The mother of the victim could be seen seated next to her husband a few metres in front of the men as she lis-tened intently to proceedings while dressed in a green saree.

“We raised our daughter with great love and care,” she told reporters at the end of the hearing. “We beg the court that justice should be given to our daughter. It was not merely a mistake, they planned and killed her mercilessly.”

The defence lawyers acting for the men argued that there was political pressure for an execution while urging the judge to show leniency in awarding life imprisonment. l

Rajshahi homes without gas for 4 days n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

Gas supply to Rajshahi city households has remained suspended for the past four days in protest against assault on labourers working for gas connection to a house.

The labourers of Industrial Techni-cal Services were setting up gas con-nection to a house in Kazihata area of the city when an agent named Sujonur Rahman Sujon of JR Contractual Com-pany suddenly started putting undue pressure on them.

Sujon demanded that the gas connec-tion be made � rst to the house he indi-cated which the labourers refused to do.

The agent got angry and assaulted the workers. One of the labourers, Alauddin, was seriously wounded and admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

Ramjan Ahmed, MITS Project man-ager, � led a case with Rajpara police station accusing Sujon.

Tofael Ahmed, in-charge of Paschi-manchal Gas Company Limited (PGCL), Rajshahi, said there were no directives to suspend activities for gas connec-tions, but the contractors of gas com-panies put o� their work following the attack on their labourers. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed at Romask Limited, 184, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1215. Editorial, News & Commercial O� ce: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

Continue to the Business section...

Business