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REASONS FOR REBELLION Unpunished disobedience encourages further rebellions Upazila polls stepping stone for contesting national poll Victory often means breakthrough for candidates businesses Rebel leaders blame central leaders for ignoring grassroots opinions
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BNP
Bangladesh batsman Rubel Hossain is bowled out by Hong Kong bowler Nadeem Ahmed (not seen) during their World Twenty20 match at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday AP Source retailers Owners of bakeries, restaurants Small and medium factories Big Factories Sample testing of imported goods Approval certificate after sample testing Bribe amount Tk200 Tk400 Tk500 Tk1000 Tk5000- Tk10,000 Couldnt be found Tk1000- Tk1500 Tk500- Tk800
shared seven wickets to set up the two-wicket win, their first against a Test playing nation. Bangladeshs embarrassing 108 not only enabled Hong Kong to win their first major game ever, but in the half way mark had also Nepal glued to the game as the latter would have gone through to the second round if Hong Kong achieved the target in 13.1 over. More than losing Bangladeshs fear was to not to let Hong Kong achieve the feat inside 13 over, and Mushfiqur
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Employees types Sanitary Inspectors Sanitary Inspectors Field Officers Field Officers Employees Employees
Organisations Local government organisation Health Department Local government organisation Health Department BSTI BSTI Customs houses related laboratories Customs Houses
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Business
B1 Bangladesh has been ranked 108th out of 160 countries in logistics performance index. structures and antisocial activities now rule the place.
World
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5 Farmgate Park in the capital has almost become an undesirable place for visitors as encroachment, illegal
8 European leaders yesterday debated economic sanctions against Russia for annexing Crimea as Ukraine tore up key ties with the Kremlin and planned evacuation of nationals from the peninsula.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
President Abdul Hamid joins a Doa Mahfil marking the first death anniversary of late president Zillur Rahman at Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban in the capital yesterday
PID
Boro procurement President, PM join starts from May 1 prayers for Zillur n Mohosinul Karim n Tribune Report
The government has decided to procure 10 lakh tonnes of rice and 1,50,000 tonnes paddy in the current boro season. The procurement will start from May 1. Food Planning and Monitoring Committee, a cabinet-level committee, made the decision at a meeting held yesterday at the food ministry. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, and other top officials were present. Food Minister Quamrul Islam who chaired the meeting said: The committee has decided to set the price of rice at Tk31 per kg considering the production cost of rice which goes around Tk26.50 per kg this season. The production cost of per kg paddy was Tk17.50. He said paddy and wheat would be procured from the farmers directly. l President Abdul Hamid yesterday joined a special prayer at the Darbar Hall of his office marking the first death anniversary of late president Zillur Rahman. Bangabhaban officials and employees attended the event held after the Asr prayer, reports UNB. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also joined a milad and doa mahfil at the residence of Zillur Rahman at citys Gulshan. Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, PMs Security Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tariq Ahmed Siddique, AL Presidium Member Shahara Khatun, former deputy speaker Shawkat Ali, AL Publicity Secretary Hasan Mahmud, PMs Special Assistant Mahbubul Hoque Shakil and people from all strata attended the milad held after Asr prayers. Zillur Rahman, also a close aide of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and organiser of the Liberation War, died of old-age complications at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on March 20 last year. l
US police, FBI, and Homeland Security Services arrested Murad in Atlanta on February 2, 2012. Personnel of Homeland Security Services first took Murad to Washington DC by a plane of Malaysian Airlines and then handed him over to CID on Wednesday. Murad escaped to the USA four months after the Awami League assumed power in June 1996. According to the case statement, on August 11, 1989, a gang of seven to eight armed youths in two engine-run three-wheelers got to the house of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhanmondi around 12:30am. It says they fired bullets and hurled grenades at the house to kill Hasina who was there at the moment. None was injured in the attack. In retaliation on-duty habilder Jahirul Haque and constable Zakir Hossain opened fire which made the attackers flee towards the east chanting slogans Col Faruk Zindabad. In this connection, two cases were filed with Dhanmondi police station under the explosive acts and penal code. The police initially submitted its final report in 1996 during the first tenure of the Awami League government. After re-investigation, the CID submitted the charge sheet. On February 20, 1997, then assistant superintendent of CID Khalek Uzzaman submitted charge-sheet in the cases against 16 accused including Murad, absconding Lt Col Khandaker Abdur Rashid, and executed Lt Col (retd) Syed Faruk Rahman and Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda. The court framed the charges against the accused on July 16, 1997. Of the accused, Sohel alias Freedom Sohel, Md Golam Sarwar alias Mamun and Joj Miah are now in jail, while Humayun Kabir, Mizanur Rahman, Khondoker Amirul Islam and Md Shajahan alias Balu are out on bail. Five accused absconding from the beginning are Lt Col (retd) Khondoker Rashid, Jafor Ahmed alias Manik, Gazi Imam Hossain and Md Humayun Kabir. The main accused of the case Lt Col Syed Farooq Rahman and Maj Bazlul Huda were hanged in Bangabandhu murder case on January 28, 2010. Two other accused Gazi Liakat Hossain and Rezaul Islam Khan have died. Of the accused, Humayun, Rezaul and Liakat made confessional statement on September 23, 1996, before the court. l
Creating awareness among people is not enough rather the authorities have to act honestly, he maintained. The report reveals that there is lack of manpower in the departments responsible for ensuring safe food. Only 78 sanitary inspectors among a total of 370 are working under 319 municipalities and 11 city corporations. Also, 30 posts of the BSTI field officers under districts and divisional levels have remained vacant for a long time. Around 4,500,000 people got affected in various diseases for adulterated food. The reason behind the problem is mentioned as limitation of current act and laws, lack of their im-
plementation, absence of proper monitoring and lack of accountability. The report also blames lack of communication between department officials concerned. The TIB also points out that such a single organisation in not good enough to ensure safe food. It says there is only one food court under Dhaka North City Corporation, which is not enough at all. TIB Chairperson Sultana Kamal said: The government is playing reluctant role in this case. We saw news of adulteration in different media against PRAN and BDFOOD. But the food produced by those companies is still being sold to markets. The number of cases against the culprits is very low. People dont have
any idea who to put forward their complaints. Besides, people involved in food adulteration have money. So when anyone files a case it becomes difficult to fight against them, she added. About the report on wastage of money in quorum crisis during the ninth parliament Iftekharuzzaman said: We cant do any work without the permission of the government. The report is not unconstitutional. If anyone challenges us in this regard then its against the rule. We are registered organisation of the government. Not a single money comes without the approval of government. Our audit report is open and any government officials can check it. l
in Dhaka today
In many upazilas with rebel candidates, voters got confused over who to vote for. Eventually, the contestants from the rival parties came out on top because of this confusion. Rezaul Karim Uzzal, recently expelled from the Awami League, went into the Ghior Upazila Parishad elections in Manikganj district in the third phase. He was asked who would take the blame if a party-backed candidate lose out because of the presence of a rebel candidate. The leaders, who select the candidates, should take the responsibility. If the leaders fail to select competent candidates, the outcomes will not be favourable even if there is no rebel. Acceptability among voters is the main thing. "Those who do not have it will lose. The rebel candidates are not responsible... A dedicated worker might temporarily decide to go against the party, but if he wins, he will eventually work in favour of the party. So, in the long run, it will benefit the party, Uzzal said. In reply to the same question, rebel BNP candidate Shahjahan Ali from Dhunat upazila of Bogra said: [I decided to go against party decision] to teach those leaders, who selected the wrong candidate, a lesson. When asked why there were so many rebel candidates, Uzzal said: It is not possible for a dedicated worker to give up his own field before the elections all of a sudden. It jeopardises his
political existence altogether. Joynal Abedin Chan, general secretary of Bogra district chapter BNP, said local leaders revolt when the party high command failed to evaluate them and select less popular candidates. Rebel BNP candidate Abul Hashem Biswas Dudu from the Ghior upazila said he did not believe in the rebel status. Rebel candidates do not pose any problem. People lose because of their incompetency. We do politics for the partys sake. Even if the rebel candidate wins, it does not hurt the party. BNP Joint Secretary General Barkatullah Bulu told the Dhaka Tribune that many rebel candidates realised only after losing in the polls that they were not as popular as they thought they were. Sometimes we embrace the rebels, sometimes we expel them. That gives out a wrong signal that going against party decision may get unpunished. That is why there has been so many rebel candidates, Bulu explained. In the three concluded phases, the presence of rebels had clear unfavourable impacts on the election outcomes, he said. Awami League Presidium member Kazi Zafarullah came down hard on the rebel candidates saying: Everyone wants to stay close to power. Many rebel candidates think that becoming [upazila parishad] chairman is an easy way to becoming a millionaire. That is why many desperately try to win the elections. l
Rahim did not hesitate at all to hand his best man Shakib al Hasan the ball upfront. Shakib had Waqas Barkat stumped in the second over, but Irfan Ahmeds 28 ball 34, that had three fours and equal sixes, gave Hong Kong just the start they needed. The momentum of the game shifted like a see-saw as Shakib struck twice in the 8th over before Al Amin and Mahmudullah also chipped in to send the minnows to back foot. The crowd pressure and the inexperience was clear in Hong Kongs approach which let Bangladesh come back in the game, but Munir and Nizakat added 33 runs for the sixth wicket to maintain the balance of the game. With 26 required off 24, Munir struck two fours and a six off Farhad Reza to narrow the margin and effectively take the game away from Bangladesh. Earlier, it was a batting scorecard that the whole of Bangladesh wouldnt have ever imagined in their worst nightmare. Bangladesh, who romped to victories with 9 and 8 wickets in hand in the previous matches, had their middle-order tested for the first time in the tournament and they failed miserably to stand up against the disciplined Hong Kong bowlers. The batsmen approached like 13year old kids and looked clueless in the middle. Despite losing wickets continuously, the hosts seemed content on going for big shots without any plan or what-so-ever and only ended up with
gloomy faces back to the hut. After Tanwir Afzal handed Bangladesh a double blow in the first over, it was interesting to see how immature the Tigers, who literally play spin in domestic leagues the whole year round, were in facing the left-arm spinner Nadeem and leg spinner Nizakat. With no runs on the board Tamim Iqbal, who chopped on to his stumps, was gifted a two-ball duck on his birthday before Sabbir Rahman was trapped lbw three balls later to silent the crowd. However, Shakib and Anamul Haque showed no sign of bogging down as they slapped the balls on all corners of the ground to add 48 in five overs. Mushfiq and Shakib continued the onslaught after Anamul (26) departed, but after putting on 34 runs, the partnership was broken which saw the Tigers fall like a house of cards. Ridiculous shot selection saw Bangladesh throw their last six wickets for just 23 runs. Shakibs short arm jab went straight to mid wicket and though Mushfiq showed extreme disappointment while his partner was walking back, but what he did six balls later was a crime itself. The skipper, who survived a dolly to the wicketkeeper, instead of taking up more responsibility got out trying to heave a wide ball and ended up top edging to extra cover. Mahmudullah made two before Farhad, Razzak and Rubel Hossain returned with ducks and when No 11 Al Amin holed out to long-on Bangladesh still had 3.3 overs to spare, but without any wicket. l
IMF wants
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countries under the Debt Limits Fund Programme. The IMF mission came to Dhaka on March 19 on an eight-day visit to examine the release of the fifth tranche of the credit facility. The IMF Executive Board disbursed the fourth ECF tranche of $140.4m to Bangladesh last December. That brought the total disbursement under the arrangement to about $561.4m. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
3
Police: Ansar member might have been killed accidentally n Mohammad Jamil Khan
Investigators yesterday hinted that the Ansar member, who was killed at Moghbazar BTCL Colony on Thursday night, might have been shot accidentally by armed criminals. Police, quoting locals, said on Thursday night, a group of six criminals wearing helmets entered the colony at around 1:00am, and called for one Ahad, a staff of the colony who also owns an IPS (Instant Power Supply) distribution business, and then fired banks when they could not find him. Three bullets fired by the criminals hit an Ansar member, Abdul Aleem, 28, who was on-duty at the colony, on the right side of his neck, chest and right hand. Later, he was rush to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where the on duty doctors declared him dead at around 1.30am. The body was sent to the hospitals morgue for autopsy, Moshiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Ramna police station, told the Dhaka Tribune. Aleem, son of late Mirja Fakir, hailed from Sagat of Gaibandha district. He was on duty at the T&T colony with another Ansar member Mostofa Kamal. When asked, Moshiur said primarily they presume that the criminals had not entered the colony to kill the Ansar member as they were searching for Ahad. We have interrogated the three other Ansar officials, who were on-duty at the colony on that night, and Ahad. Investigation is underway and we hope that we would find a new lead after receiving the autopsy report, Moshiur added. Sources of BTCL colony said Ahad had a quarrel with his partner, Ramiz, a week ago inside the colony. The shooting incident took place soon after the incident. l
Garment workers hold a demonstration, protesting the assault of two fellow factory workers, in front of the National Press Club yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
Students of a private university gather on a road for a flashmob centring the ICC T20 World Cup at the capitals Shyamoi area yesterday
SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN
'We asked special attendant Phoolbanu to take care of her and clean her time to time. But she cleans her whenever she gets the time'
Annu was noticed by a Dhaka Tribune journalist when she went to the DMCH to visit Siam at the childrens ward. Doctors said she might have been abandoned for disability. The Dhaka Tribune contacted high officials of Centre for the Rehabilita-
WEATHER
PRAYER TIMES
Fajar Sunrise Jumma Asr Magrib Esha 4:46am 6:01am 12:06pm 4:28pm 6:10pm 7:26pm
Source: IslamicFinder.org
DHAKA TRIBUNE
News
A girl is seen involved in household chores at Farmgate Park in the city yesterday
Tazreen Fashions chairmans Power and gas connections to be bail cancelled delivered within 40 days
n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu
A Dhaka court yesterday rejected the bail earlier granted to Tazreen Fashions Chairman Mahmuda Akhter Mita and ordered her to surrender to lower court within 15 days. Dhaka District and Session Judge Abdul Majid passed the order following a petition filed by the prosecution in a case filed for a fire at their apparel factory on November 24, 2012, which claimed the lives of over 111 workers and 104 others were injured. The court also issued a show cause notice to Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate Md Ismail Hossain and Senior Judicial Magistrate Tajul Islam for their procedural mistakes in dealing with the case before and directed them to respond to it within 15 days. In line with the order, the court issued another show cause notice to Defense Counsel ATM Golam Gous of the case asking why Mahmudas bail should not be canceled. On February 9, the court of Tazul Islam send Mita and her husband Delwar Hossain, managing director of the garment factory, to jail rejecting their bail pleas when they surrendered before it. On the following day, however, the court of Md Ismail Hossain granted a one-month conditional bail to Mita on Tk 20,000 bond and sent Delwar to jail upon bail petition anew. On February 12, Public Prosecutor Khondoker Abdul Mannan filed a petition seeking cancellation of Mahmudas bail. In the petition, the PP alluded that the accused had remained absconding for long, which proves her disobedient to the court and the accused could have threatened the victims families and the prosecution witnesses. On December 31 last year, a year after the tragic fire, a court issued arrest warrants against both Mahmuda and Delwar following submitting charge sheet in the case on December 22 that year by the IO against them and 11 higher-level employees of the factory. l
The government is going to set up a first-way centre to provide power connections within 40 days after applications are submitted. Two compressor centres will also be set up to provide gas connections rapidly following submission of applications. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid made the statement while addressing the inaugural function of REHAB Fair 2014 in the capital yesterday. People should not be waiting for long now to get power connections as we will soon set up a first-way centre comprised of the existing power-related organisations. Anyone will get a power connection within 40 days after submitting an application, he said. As for providing gas connections, we will follow the same approach. Two compressor centres are being set up in Ashuganj and Elenga and will be completed by April. Once completed, gas
problem in the real estate sector will be resolved, he added. The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) is hosting the fair at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhakas Agargaon. REHAB acting president Mukarram Hossain Khan presided over yesterdays programme which was also attended by Rajuk officials. REHAB leaders at the programme urged the state minister to reconsider the government-imposed condition which made it mandatory to use solar panels in every apartment. 3% of the power of every apartment will come from the panels. We have discussed about the issue of solar panels in the ministerial meeting to relax the condition, Nasrul Hamid said. Mentioning that there are dozens of illegal establishments in his constituency Keraniganj, the state minister said: Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha
(Rajuk) officials kept mum when those were being constructed but now they want to demolish those. This is not fair. In such cases, I would urge Rajuk officials to take steps before construction begins. Steps shouldnt be taken after construction is completed. Nasrul Hamid also urged the government to extend the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for 50 years. At present, Rajuk is implementing a satellite city named Jhilmil Residential Area in Keraniganj. Big housing companies like Priyo Prangan Housing Ltd, Navana Real Estate Ltd, Bangladesh Development Company Ltd and Bismillah Real Estate are implementing their residential projects without approval from Rajuk in Keraniganj. Although the initial plan was to build the project on a 22,000-acre land, it is now being implemented on 381.11 acres because of Rajuks failure to acquire land from local influential landowners. l
As the hall has capacity to accommodate 632 students, nearly 1500 students used to stay at the dormitory
Mostafizur Rahman, president of CU unit Shibir, alleged that the authorities paid no heed to their repeated demand of giving permission to the only allotted students to the hall. Sabbir Ahmed Chowdhury, a vice president of CU unit BCL, said the varsity authorities should open the hall anew taking into account the sufferings of the students. The CU has six dormitories. Of those, Shibir has been dominating five dormitories, including the Shah Amanat Hall, for long while the BCL has only Shah Jalal Hall. l
Students of Scholastica stage Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagores play Dakghor on Tuesday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Nation
A transport worker attempts to vandalise a battery-run auto-rickshaw at Amchattar of Rajshahi city yesterday
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) rescued 25 Bangladeshis yesterday while they were being trafficked through the Tolugashi border of Satkhira. Twelve of the rescued are male, nine female and four children all hailing from different villages of Bagerhat, Khulna, Borguna and Jessore. The rescued were handed over to Satkhira police station. BGB officials said the human traffickers had realised huge sum of money from them by alluring them with assurance of better employment. Contacted, Satkhira BGB-38 Battalion Company Commander Subedar Kabir Ahmed said upon receiving information, a petrol team of BGB had rescued them from pillar no 12 of the Tolugashi border of Satkhira. However, the traffickers managed to escape the area sensing presence of BGB officials, he said. A case was filed with Satkhira police station in this regard. l
A woman yesterday filed a case with the acid violence prevention tribunal in Barisal, accusing her husbands relatives of burning her with acid over a land dispute. According to the case, Sabina Aktar of Umarer Par in Banaripara upazila, alleged that on the night of February 27, her in-laws entered her bedroom and poured acid on her, burning parts of her face and hand. Suddenly awoken from sleep, Sabina said she tried to save herself by crying out, forcing the culprits to flee the scene. Her husband, Bazlur Rahman, was in Dhaka at the time. Sabina was rushed to nearby Nesarabad upazila health complex for primary treatment and then moved to Barisal Medical College Hospital. She was later referred to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment. In her complaint, Sabina said she lived with her three-year old daughter at her husbands family home. Her father-in-law, Habibur Rahman, presented her with a five katha (half an acre) land last year. After Habiburs death, her in-laws allegedly started torturing her mentally and physically, demanding that she return the land. After returning home from Dhaka, Sabina went to the tribunal with her medical reports, which show 15% of her body sustained burns from an inflammable liquid. She named her in-laws, Majnu Mia, Afjal Hossain and Mannan Master, as suspects. After checking the medical certificates, Matiar Rahman, acting judge of the tribunal, ordered the officer in charge of Banaripara police station to investigate the case. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Long Form
Big guns
Photograph of Dacca (Dhaka) taken in the 1880s, from an album Architectural Views of Dacca, containing 13 prints by Johnston and Hoffman. ... This photograph presents a general view looking across the market place in Dhaka. In the centre of the image is an old brass-cannon of native manufacture, found in the Buriganga riverbed. On the left is the chief mosque in the city WIKI
n Tim Steel
Somewhere beneath the old city of Dhaka, presumably close to the Buriganga, if not beneath its murky waters, there is a large mass of decaying iron. The subcontinent of India, became, it seems, addicted to the making of massive guns between the 16th and 18th centuries. Almost as if they joined, very early, in what we now believe to be the American school of life that works on the premise of, biggest is best, a philosophy so widely practiced in their automotive industry that the rest of the world rapidly gave up competing on the size front.
The world has long been impressed by these early ironworks, reflecting the very apparent awe that Lindsay felt for the Dacca gun
The big gun of Dacca, receives a signi icant attention from the journal of Robert Lindsay, the Collector of Sylhet in the late 18th century, which offers us some very revealing insights into contemporary life, and the internal politics of the East India Company. India has a remarkable record of signi icant iron working from an early age, and after the development of cannon by the Chinese in the 11th century, which were known, by them, as ire lances, the manufacture of cannon became fairly widespread in the subcontinent. Of course, Bangladesh, in particular, was to become a major international source of the saltpetre essential in the manufacture of gunpowder...indeed, the contract that the east India Company received to supply to British Navy was, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries an important source of revenue.
But guns the size of that which we have every reason to believe lies, still beneath Dhaka, were rare. So rare, that Lindsays description of life in Dhaka in the late 1770s, which could be said to be, besides descriptions of hunting wild boar with spears, and the occasional leopard and tiger, which, however, he, was not fond of attacking without irearms, to be dominated by the big gun. Dacca, he observed in his journal, has nothing curious to boast of, or to attract attention of a stranger, excepting a remarkable piece of ordnance. It was thirty six foot long, made of hammered iron, being an immense tube comprising fourteen bars of metal hammered together, with rings of iron driven over, and hammered down to a smooth surface, so its appearance was very good, although its proportions were faulty. By its side lay a stone ball, which itted the calibre; the strongest man in the place could only with dif iculty raise it to his knee. Had this ball been made of metal it would have weighed 400 pounds. The gun itself he estimated to have weighed nearly 65,000 pounds, or around 30 tons. No doubt, Lindsays low opinion of the skills of local people were shared by most of the British at the time, and prejudice was allowed to overcome the evidence of eyes, but it is clear that the gun which so much impressed him, was a challenge to him. The natives, he writes, are totally unacquainted with mechanics, and he reports himself, and his colleague and friend, John Cowe, a veteran of, the American War, bewildered about, how they contrive to manufacture this unwieldy gun. A prejudice that, even today, seems not to be rare amongst westerners viewing Bangladeshis. Although it does have to be said that many Bangladeshis, too, seem to share this opinion! In the late 1770s, the gun was located on an island opposite the town of Dacca in the waters of the Buriganga. But Lindsay and Cowe, so impressed by the weapon, observing that the waters of the river were gradually encroaching upon the island, developed a scheme to rescue it, mount it on a boat, and send it to Calcutta.
WIKI
Big guns were, it appears, something of a speciality of 17th century India, with Thanjavur, in modern India, identified as a major centre for such advanced manufacturing skills
Their work postings, however, including Lindsays to sylhet, apparently overcame their ambitions with the gun. In 1780, he reports, the island, and the gun, were inally engulfed by the waters, and sank. And there, it seems, it lies, still, somewhere deep in the alluvium. With its weight, it will not have travelled far! Such big guns were, it appears, something of a speciality of 17th century India, with Thanjavur, in modern India, identi ied as a major centre for such advanced manufacturing skills.
These unusual, forge welded cannon, as distinct from the casting process more commonly used around the world, have also been found at Nurwar, Mushirabad, Bishnupur, Bijapur, Gulbarga and Thanjavur itself. The manufacturing process of these guns is believed to be identical to that of the forging of other ancient iron artefacts found in the subcontinent, such as the famous Iron Pillar of Delhi. That artefact was originally believed to, possibly, date back to the early irst millennium BCE, although more recently, that belief has been questioned. But, whatever
the truth, there is little doubt that such ironworking skills date back a considerable period. The world has long been impressed by these early ironworks, reflecting the very apparent awe that Lindsay felt for the Dacca gun. And the fact that the origin of such craft skills was probably in what is believed to have been the worlds earliest industrialised civilisation, that of the Ganges basin, much of which, we need to remind ourselves, lies in the lands of Bangladesh, should continue to be a source of pride in the unquestionable achievements of the ancestors of the peoples of Bangladesh. It may be that, some day, the opportunity may arise to recover this monumental artefact, until then, it is only possible, taking pride in the fact that, at one time, Dhaka enjoyed a place amongst the Big Guns of ancient military craftsmanship. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
World
The Crimean parliament bearing the new sign reading State council of Crimean Republic in central Simferopol on March 18 ation plan for thousands of its soldiers and families. Tensions eased somewhat in the region on Thursday when acting president Oleksandr Turchynov announced the release by Crimean militias of Ukranian navy chief Sergiy Gayduk. Turchynov had threatened the Crimean authorities with an adequate response... of a technical and technological nature unless they immediately released Gayduk and several others seized during the storming of Ukraines naval headquarters in the port of Sevastopol on Wednesday. But Ukrainian lawmakers still adopted an emotional if entirely symbolic declaration saying they will never cease to fight for the liberation of Crimea as long and painful as this can be. The march by Russian troops and pro-Kremlin militias across the mostly Russian-speaking region roughly the size of Belgium has been unhalting since the day Putin first won the right to use force against his ex-Soviet neighbour following the February 22 fall there of a Moscow-backed regime. Our major concern right now is whether he will go beyond Crimea, whether Russia will intervene in the eastern parts, NATO chief Rasmussen
AFP
also conceded on Wednesday. Kiev has responded by seeking protection from Western powers and planning on Friday to sign the political portion of a broad EU Association Agreement whose rejection in November by Ukraines pro-Kremlin president Viktor Yanukovych sparked the protests that eventually led to his fall. Ukraine on Wednesday also announced plans to withdraw from the Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) alliance that replaced the Soviet Union and to slap visas on Russians who sought entry to their country. l
Allies tense up -
The significance of Russias absorption of Crimea has not been lost on the fellow Slavic nation of Belarus whose
n Reuters, Tripoli
Dozens of wounded Syrian rebels crossed over a river into Lebanon on Thursday after government soldiers ambushed them as they tried to flee a besieged area, Lebanese medical sources said. The ambush was part of a campaign by the Syrian army and allied militias to secure towns and villages along the
A police helicopter drops water on a forest fire on Runstboden mountain in the western Austrian village of Absam March 20. Police and fire fighters have been battling the fire since it broke on Thursday. The cause the the blaze is still unknown REUTERS
Hurdles
The headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) are seen in Geneva, Switzerland AP
Experts say one of the major hurdles to tackling drug-resistant strains effectively is that so many patients who have contracted them do not know it and so continue with the wrong treatments or are not treated at all. Some of the poorest and most illequipped countries have only one central laboratory, which often has limited capacity to diagnose MDR TB. In other cases, patient samples have to be sent to other countries for testing. Traditional diagnostic tests can take more than two months to get results, leaving a dangerous gap in which the patient is not getting the right treatment and is putting others at risk of catching the contagious disease. The WHO says up to 2m people worldwide may be infected with drug-resistant TB by 2015. Newer, speedier diagnostic tests have been developed in recent years, but the problem has been getting the technology and know-how to the countries where they are needed most. However, Chan cited encouraging signs from an international project known as EXPAND TB (Expanding Access to New Diagnostics for TB),
inanced by UNITAID, which has helped to triple the number of MDRTB cases diagnosed in participating countries. In 2009, UNITAID backed the EXPAND project with $87m to new TB diagnostic technologies in 27 low- and middle-income countries, which together account for around 40% of the global MDR TB burden.
n AFP, Conakry
A highly contagious and deadly pneumonialike illness of unknown cause was becoming a worldwide health threat
The gap in access to TB diagnostics and care is far from filled, but it is narrowing, said Mario Raviglione, director of WHOs global TB programme. Increased capacity and reduced prices mean that we can reach more people. UNITAID was launched in 2006 by the governments of Britain, Brazil, Chile, France and Norway to give sustainable funding for the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. About 70% of its funds come from a levy on airline tickets. l
A mysterious illness has killed at least 23 people in southern Guinea in six weeks, but the disease has yet to be positively identified, the health ministry announced Thursday. A feverish sickness whose first symptoms were observed on February 9 has claimed at least 23 lives, including that of the director of the Macenta district hospital and three staff, out of a total of 36 cases, said Sakoba Keita, the doctor in charge of the ministrys preventive wing. The administrative district of Gueckedou is the worst affected, with 13 deaths for 19 cases, Keita added, noting that the illness is characterised by fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, and bleeding in the cases of some patients. Medical experts have been sent to the district to try to identify the highly contagious disease, whose symptoms are similar to those caused by Lassa fever, yellow fever and Ebola. About 30 test samples have been sent to France for analysis, with results expected within 48 hours, the doctor said, adding that further samples are due to be examined at the Pasteur Institute in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Protective measures have been taken on the spot, including quarantine for each of the patients, as well as individual and collective measures affecting the local population. l
Australia said Thursday that objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines jet have DHAKA TRIBUNE been spotted in satellite images from the southern Indian Ocean
World
9
seaborne debris along a shipping route where containers can fall off cargo vessels, although the larger object is longer than a container. A statement from the authority said the four planes searched an area of 23,000 square kilometers (8,800 square miles) about 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) southwest of Perth on Thursday without success. The search will continue on Friday, it said. News that possible plane parts had been found marked a new phase in the emotional roller coaster for distraught relatives of the passengers, who have criticized Malaysia harshly for not releasing timely information about the plane. While they still hope their loved ones will somehow be found, they acknowledged that news of the possible debris could mean the plane plunged into the ocean. If it turns out that it is truly MH370 then we will accept that fate, said Selamat Bin Omar, the father of a Malaysian passenger on the jet, which carried mostly Chinese and Malaysian nationals. But he cautioned that relatives still do not yet know for sure whether this is indeed MH370 or something else. Therefore we are still waiting for further notice from the Australian government. l
Malaysian jet MH370 search called off for today; weather hits efforts
Beijing
Satellite data had previously suggested that the last known possible position of MH370 was somewhere on two possible arcs
CHINA
Approximate original flight plan Lost contact with Malaysian civilian radar at 01:30 am
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew vanished after veering off course on March 8
INDIA
Approximate last position tracked by military radar Satellite 35,800 km above sea level INDIAN OCEAN Possible routes assessed by US National Transportation Safety Board Departed Kuala Lumpur 00:41 am March 8
MALAYSIA
INDONESIA
MH370 departs from Kuala Lumpur International Airport and is due to land in Beijing at 0630 the same day. l 1:07am: After take-off and ascent, the plane sends its last ACARS transmission, which gives engine maintenance data to the ground. The system is later deactivated. l 1:19am: Someone in the cockpit says All right, good night to Malaysian air traffic control. They were the last words heard from Flight MH370. l 1:21am: The plane drops off air traffic control screens as its transponder is switched off. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam says the plane failed to check in
as scheduled at 0121 with air traffic control in Ho Chi Minh City. Malaysian authorities believe that someone on board shut off the planes communications systems and turned it sharply to the west. l 2:15am: Malaysian military radar plots Flight MH370 at a point south of Phuket island in the Strait of Malacca, hundreds of miles west of its last known location. l 8:11am: The last signal received from the plane. The final communication placed the plane somewhere in one of two corridors: a northern arc stretching from northern Thailand to Kazakhstan, or a southern one stretching from Indonesia to the vast southern Indian Ocean.
n Agencies
An air search in the southern Indian Ocean for possible objects from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane described as the best lead so far ended for the day without success Thursday but will resume in the morning, Australian rescue officials said. The four planes were checking to see if two large objects spotted in satellite imagery bobbing in the remote ocean were debris from Fight 370 that
Four long-range surveillance planes have been diverted to search the area
Sources: MalaysiaAirlines/Malaysia govt/Australia govt
disappeared March 8 with 239 people on board. One of the objects was 24 meters (almost 80 feet) in length and the other was 5 meters (15 feet). There could be other objects in the area, a four-hour flight from Australias southwestern coast, said John Young, manager of the Australian Maritime Safety Authoritys emergency response division. This is a lead, its probably the best lead we have right now, Young said. He cautioned that the objects could be
n Reuters
Taliban fighters killed at least 11 people and wounded 22 in a suicide bomb attack and gunbattle at a police station in Afghanistans eastern Jalalabad city early on Thursday morning, according to police and health officials. The attack in one of Afghanistans main cities comes ahead of a presidential election on April 5, and demonstrated the insurgents determination to disrupt the vote. The assault began with two explosions just before dawn targeting the police station and a nearby square, close to compounds used by international organizations including the United Nations. The initial attack was carried out by two suicide bombers, one of them driving a three-wheeler vehicle. The NATO-led force in Afghanistan sent helicopter gunships to support Afghan security forces as a fire fight raged for over three hours before they were able to clear the area of the remaining militants. Police said they shot dead six Taliban, and all of them wore suicide vests. From todays attack in Jalalabad so far, we have received 11 dead bodies and 22 wounded, the head of the provincial hospital, Humayoun Zahir, told Reuters. A police district chief was among the dead, according to Fazel Ahmad Shirzad, police chief for Nangahar province. The wounded included an Afghan assigned to a security detail for UN staff and the offices of a local radio and television broadcaster were also damaged in the attack, according to a security source. l
Inidan youth look on from a building as former Indian football team captain and Trinamool Congress candidate for the Darjeeling constituency Baichung Bhutia attends a political rally at Batasi village some 30 kms from Siliguri on March 20 AFP The crisis blew over for the Hindu nationalist party after giving it a nasty reminder of infighting which had hurt its electoral prospects in 2009. This is yet another instance of Advani being seen to have given his party the cold shoulder treatment following Modis rise. In June last year, he had skipped the partys Goa conclave. l
Indian fishermen are silhouetted on their boat at the Sangam - the confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati - in Allahabad on March 19 AFP
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ystems for the payment of utility bills are unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome and need reform. Despite the existence of online payment services and the countrys large bank network, many utility bills are arbitrarily required to be paid over the counter at a fixed number of local branches. As well as making life needlessly difficult for consumers, this slows the cash flow for utilities themselves by lumbering them with an inefficient revenue collection system. In the case of gas bills the system is especially antiquated with bills typically being recorded in a book and payments needing to be handwritten and stamped by clerks. To make matters worse, this is only made available at one or two branches, leading to long queues at payment centres. Such bottlenecks are not just inefficient for revenue collection, but also create incentives for some users to shirk payments altogether. Fortunately there are ample technological solutions available to this problem. Online payment services are available from banks and mobile payment systems are already being utilised by the Dhaka Electric Supply Company. The government should require regulators to ensure that online and mobile payment facilities are across all utilities and that it becomes possible for payment services to be made available at all bank branches for users who prefer to pay in person. Modernising payment systems is not only straightforward easy to implement technically, but will pay for itself by saving consumers time and ensuring more timely revenue collection by utility companies.
Modernising payment systems will save consumers time and ensure more timely revenue collection by utility companies
PEANUTS
CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1 Thoroughfare (6) 5 Favourite (3) 7 Limb (3) 8 Gain by effort (6) 11 Wrongdoing (3) 12 Raised platform (5) 14 Country (4) 16 Corolla leaf (5) 18 Very hard mineral (5) 20 Back of the neck (4) 21 Farm birds (5) 23 Spoil (3) 24 Prison official (6) 27 Narrow beam (3) 28 Make lace (3) 29 Without sound (6) DOWN 1 Mineral spring (3) 2 Rodent (3) 3 Obliteration (7) 4 Send out (4) 5 Spanish monetary unit (6) 6 Confused state (6) 9 Swarm (4) 10 40 winks (3) 13 Army rank (7) 14 Allow (6) 15 Rue (6) 17 Church recess (4) 19 Tree (3) 22 Hindu garment (4) 25 Stain (3) 26 Groove (3)
SUDOKU
YESTERDAYS SOLUTIONS
Crossword
How to solve Sudoku: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no numberrepeating.
Sudoku
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Op-Ed
11
There is a feeling that Modis success as an administrator in the state could be replicated at the centre
BIGSTOCK
How to be pro-business
n Zafar Sobhan
t is a common complaint in Bangladesh that the parliament is made up of businessmen and that their rise to positions of power in the political world has created a government that is beholden to business interests. If only. I agree that it is important that big business not exert undue pressure and influence on the polity to the detriment of the national interest, but in reality I see little evidence for this fear. Frankly, I can think of few places in the world where it is so frustrating and thankless to do business and where the government has done less to ensure and protect the business climate and the well-being of the business community. And this goes for every government we have had in Bangladesh, even the ones which made a big noise about the transformative powers of private enterprise, by which we have come to mean state-supported private enterprise. For all our putative market-orientation, Bangladesh remains an officious rule-bound bureaucracy where the government delights in placing obstacles in the path of growth and development and remains allergic to innovative and creative thinking. That remains the problem, regardless of what our policy orientation is supposed to be. Like they say, if youre going to play the game, then you got to learn to play it right. It is not just the dull and torpid thinking and shambles of regulations
and policies that are ill-suited to the current times at best, utterly paralysing at worst, it is also how little has been done to ease the business environment, how little real effective planning has gone into creating a functional, dynamic economy or at the very least in creating a conducive environment for it. At every level, Bangladesh remains a notably challenging country in which to conduct business, with pitfalls for the unwary round every corner.
considered how we can nurture and develop the creativity and innovative thinking we will need to move forward in the 21st century. Take the RMG industry. For all the talk of garment factory owners now dominating public life, what has the government actually done to ease the burden on the manufacturers? Equally crucially, has it ever offered a better location than the current environs of Dhaka where the industry
The government delights in placing obstacles in the path of growth and development and remains allergic to innovative and creative thinking
From enforcement of laws to enforcement of contracts, electricity supply to supply chains, red-tape to turn-around times, I havent noticed the government do much for big business, or small, for that matter. If businessmen have bought the government, I have to say they have received a pretty poor pay-off from their investment. Nor has any governments longterm planning really focused much about what to do to encourage new business and industry, beyond piecemeal projects that offer incremental benefit but lack the big picture vision that we need. Much less has any government ever
is currently housed in conditions that are advantageous to no one? This should have been done a long time ago. The government should have set up industrial parks, special economic zones, export corridors, pick the vehicle of your choice, and moved the 4 million strong industry out of Dhaka and its surrounding areas decades ago. Now, with two brand-led stakeholder safety initiatives, the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety on the ground and the closure of some factories a looming reality, it is better late than never. It is inevitable that a number of the
factories will be found to be non-compliant. There are many others who would be in compliance but would also welcome a change of location to a well-regulated and well-supplied environment with suitable benefits and incentives and support. On a broader level, the government really needs to think not just about relocating the RMG industry, but about industrial policy as a whole, specifically about the infrastructure and energy needs of business and how to minimise and manage the resulting environmental fallout. Equally important is the decentralisation of industry and development in general. Development around the country continues to remain uneven, and industrial development more so. Any realistic plan for the future of the country needs to incorporate a plan to move businesses and industries outside of Dhaka to areas where they can boost employment and opportunity and serve as a hub or incubator for growth and development in the region. But it has to be done right, on attractive terms. Not only do the incentives have to be tangible, but the whole enabling environment for the maximisation of growth needs to be provided. In the long-run, in terms of the employment and wealth generated it will prove a worthwhile investment. Thats the kind of bold pro-business policy Id like to see from our parliament and government of businessmen. Lets start with RMG. l Zafar Sobhan is the Editor, Dhaka Tribune.
A new scenario that is emerging is the formation of a third front where left parties are trying to forge a tie with some regional parties to form, what they describe as an anti-fascist, anti-communal parties force. This is another way of saying that they wish to form a front away from the Congress Party and the BJP. If such a force could be stitched, then the political scene would take a different shape. But with so many prime ministerial candidates there and with parties supporting so different ideologies and thoughts, it is becoming difficult, even at this late stage, to get such a front off the ground. Who would be the next prime minister of India after the elections is a question that is becoming extremely difficult to answer. The election campaign is being spearheaded by the highly successful regional administrator Narendra Modi for the NDA and the young, charismatic leader Rahul Gandhi for the UPA. With oratory skills still regarded a yardstick in crowd-pulling, Narendra Modi finds himself miles ahead of Rahul Gandhi in drawing crowds to their election rallies. Can Narendra Modi turn his popularity into votes and seats, and become the next prime minister of India? Would India see yet another hung parliament and strong horse-trading after the elections for the UPA to cling on to power? Would it be possible for Mamata Banerjee, Jayalalitha, and Mayawati to emerge as the kingmakers and have a prime minister of their choice by bending the elbows of the bigger parties? In the meantime, the focus is squarely on Narendra Modi who is travelling the length and breadth of the country, addressing huge public meetings in an effort to, as one analyst observed, bring about a Modi-fication in India. l Uday Sankar Das is a senior journalist who worked for BBC World Service Radio in London, and is presently based in Chittagong.
Schools or pigeonholes?
M
n Ekram Kabir
y heart sinks every time I go with my son to his school in the morning. His school is two six-storey buildings that house a few apartments in a 20-foot neighbourhood lane. These buildings were built as dwellings for the families who bought them. When I leave my boy at the entrance, I see a huge backpack-full of books and copies that make him a hunchback. He limps as he enters the gate. In the morning, a legion of cars assemble in front of the small entrance, creating a havoc for other commuters. Its worse when the school breaks off. The narrow lane is clogged with cars and rickshaws at a standstill. The same lane has another school in a short distance. When my son comes out, I ask him: Youre sweating; what were you doing? I was playing, papa, he replies. What were you playing? I ask. Well, we were only running around on the roof, he says. This is the reality in most schools, especially English-medium ones, in the cities of Dhaka and Chittagong. Apartments have been turned into schools, bedrooms into classrooms, dining rooms into teachers lounges and rooftops into playgrounds. Some of them, of course, do have some space, such as courtyards, inside their campuses for the students to play some indoor-type games and sports. They can, at best, play basketball, badminton, futsal, etc. A handful of schools have normal playgrounds where the students can play a whole range of games and sports. The government-run schools and colleges have all the facilities for the students to grow up in a proper atmosphere. The city planners had long ago earmarked some places in every neighbourhood for educational institutions. The places they selected were all for government andBangla medium schools.
We failed to foresee that the population in our cities, especially of Dhaka, would multiply in a geometric progression. We also couldnt foresee that the need for educational institutions would also increase incalculably. There was still time to plan for the upcoming institutional when these English-medium schools were evolving in Bangladesh. We could have easily planned for and kept some spaces for future educational institutions. Ive been to a few cities where schools have been planned and built on the basis of neighbourhood development. In those cities, students of one neighbourhood dont feel the need for going to any school in another neighbourhood. As far as standards and quality are concerned, all schools are equally good, and the students all go to their schools on foot. On the other hand, schools in our cities vary in quality, which is why parents want their children to study in better ones. And thats why we
see them travelling from Jatrabari to Uttara, Gulshan to Uttara, from Bashundhara to Dhanmondi, and so on. This creates immense pressure on our city traffic. When these schools want to hold any events, such as annual sports or a cultural event, they hire a big field or an auditorium outside their premises. This too is a once-a-year phenomenon. But the effect of these schools being in small spaces is enormous. First, were depriving our children from growing up in a proper environment. Secondly, their psychological growth is being hampered. Due to this deprivation of games and sports, our children are turning out to be a PC and cellphone-bound bunch. The lack of this facility in schools is having an impact on their behaviour. They spend most of their time in their schools and they pick up almost all aspects of their behaviour there. We still have time to make a turnaround. The number of these
private schools will increase. Now that Dhaka and Chittagong have become saturated, they are likely to grow in other divisional and district towns. For those cities and towns, we have ample scope to plan and develop them.
Due to this deprivation of games and sports, our children are turning out to be a PC and cellphone-bound bunch
We can at least turn the schools that will be built in the future into proper places for growing up. We still have time to turn them into proper schools, rather than pigeonholes. l Ekram Kabir is a Dhaka Tribune columnist and Executive Editor of Natunbarta.com.
12
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Entertainment
n Entertainment Desk
Nrityanchal has organised a solo dance evening today at 6:30pm at the Studio Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Dance artist Monira Parveen from Nrityanchal will perform at the programme. Right now, she is doing her under graduation in Kathak at Rabindra Bharati University
TODAY IN DHAKA
Enders Game Avatar 3D Aakash Koto Dure Thor: The Dark World 3D The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 3D , Frozen in 3D Agnee Time: 10am - 10pm Star Cineplex, Bashundhara City Robocop, Gravity Captain Phillips, Elysium Time: 12:30pm 9:30pm Blockbuster Cinemas Jamuna Future Park
Film
QUAMRUL ABEDIN
Exhibition
Sculpture Exhibition By Hamiduzzaman Khan Time: 10am 8pm Athena Gallery of Fine Arts, Progoti Shoroni, Uttar Badda Soil and Spirit By Samar Majumder Time: 3pm 8pm Dhaka Art Center (DAC) House-60, Road-7A Dhanmondi R/A Neel Megher Kabbo By Mahbubul Haque Time: 8am 11:59pm Bronia Cafe & Gallery Richamond Concord (2nd Floor) 68, Gulshan Avenue, Gulshan-1 I Bow My Head to You in Deep Obeisance By Shahid Kabir Time: 12pm 8pm Bengal Shilpalaya, House 42, Road 16 (New) / 27 (old), Dhanmondi
ON TV
DRAMA
9:30pm Sony
Nandini Veera
MISC
11:30am TLC
Ultimate Shopper
Telefilm Pholaphol Sundor Ekta Bou will be aired on Channel-i today at 2:40pm
Sport
n
Bangladeshs humiliating defeat against ICC associate member Hong Kong by two wickets yesterday at Chittagong was not alarming for Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim. While the cricket pundits are thinking that the defeat will shake Bangladeshs confidence needed to face the big guns in the Super 10 round, Mushfiqur thinks the loss has showed the hosts of the ICC World Twenty20 the good sides. There is a good side to it [defeat]. We could have been slightly unprepared against the big teams if we had won all the three games [in first round] easily. Everyone had a bit of practice, though they didnt score. This is proof that we have to work harder, said
DHAKA TRIBUNE
13
14 Ronaldinho
15 Bangladesh beat
SCORECARD
Bangladesh innings
Tamim Iqbal b Afzal 0 Anamul Haque b Nadeem 26 Sabbir Rahman lbw b Afzal 2 Shakib Al Hasan c Nizakat b Irfan 34 Mushfiqur Rahim c Munir b Nizakat 23 Nasir Hossain not out 14 Mahmudullah b Nadeem 2 Farhad Reza c Atkinson b Nizakat 0 Abdur Razzak c Atkinson b Nizakat 0 Rubel Hossain b Nadeem 0 Al-Amin Hossain c Babar b Nadeem 1 Extras (lb 1, w 5) 6 Total (all out; 16.3 overs) 108 FoW: 1 0, 2 3, 3 51, 4 85, 5 89, 6 96, 7 101, 8 101, 9 102, 10 108. Afzal 4 024 2, Haseeb 2 0 16 0, Nadeem 3.3 0 21 4, Irfan 2 0 17 1, Ehsan 1 0 100, Nizakat 4 0 19 3,
GROUP A
Team Mat Won Lost Net RR Bangladesh 3 2 1 4 +1.466 Nepal 3 2 1 4 +0.933 Afghanistan 3 1 2 2 -0.981 Hong Kong 3 1 2 2 -1.455
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is bowled for a duck against Hong Kong at ZACS, Chittagong yesterday CRICINFO
This is a very bad feeling. I could never expect such a poor batting performance from our team. But having said that, anything can happen in a Twenty20 game. This puts us witch chance against all four big teams. If we play to our potential, we can win any day, said the 25-year-old.
Bangladesh had lost the game against Hong Kong after they went allout with only 108 runs on the scorecard. Only four batsmen from the Bangladesh line-up managed to reach double figures with Shakib al Hasan scoring the highest 34. Mushfiq found Tamims dismissal unlucky while stated Shakib had failed to carry his responsibility of putting up a competitive score as a set batsman. Middle-order batsman Nasir Hossain was there unbeaten with 14 runs but his approach never showed that he went to put some runs on the board. However, Mushfiq thought, Nasir hasnt been performing up to his potential. He didnt have a batsman at the other end to support him at that stage. He could have batted naturally in the last three or four overs. He was having problem timing the ball so he was unlucky. The full blame is on the top and middle-order. l
Enhanced India clash Nepal scripts perfect ending with powerful Pakistan n
It was the much awaited match of the World T20 Championship when archrivals India will take on Pakistan as the tournament will raise its curtain for the super ten stage at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today. An India- Pakistan match means a breathtaking, full of action and competitive match with the whole world glued on to their TV sets and the platform of World T20 will certainly add extra attention for the supporters for an intense battle. However India has a hundred percent success rate against their opponent in the World T20, winning all the three matches against PakistanIndia beat their archrivals in the inaugural World T20 final in 2007 in South Africa in the final. Pakistan have featured in two finals, winning the 2009 title in England and losing the 2007 final to India in South Africa. They entered the semi-finals in the West Indies in 2010 and also reached the semi-finals in 2012, but hosts Sri Lanka halted their progress. Pakistan recently beat India in the Asia Cup. Though it was a fifty over tournament, the win will certainly boost the morale of the side with the hero Shahid Afridi in terrific form. But the return of Indian skipper MS Dhoni will see a different Indian. With Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Suersh Raina with the bat and Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra along with Ravindra Jadeja in the spin department, India are an improved side. Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be leading the pace attack. It was a perfect display in all departments batting, bowling and fielding that enabled Nepal to script a memorable ending to their fairy tale run in the World Twenty20 yesterday. In their ultimate Group A match, Nepal beat Afghanistan by nine runs to land their second win in the tournament at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. The YESSSS from the few Nepalese journalists present at the Press Box and the celebration from the players on the field was enough to explain what the win meant to the nation. Nepal stood second in the table with four points via run rate as Bangladesh, who also won two, qualified from the group. The first round of the tournament was a big platform for the ICC Associate members and Nepal has certainly took the best out of their opportunity. They registered their first win in their maiden major tournament against Hong Kong before playing
BRIEF SCORE
Nepal 141 for 5 in 20 overs
S Khakurel 56, S Vesawkar 37; S Zadran 2 17, M Ashraf 1 14
India has a hundred percent success rate against Pakistan in the World T20, winning all the three matches
On the other hand, Pakistan looks a balanced unit with a few all-rounders in their line up. Skipper Mohammad Hafeez, the leading all-rounder in the shortest format of the game, is in prime form and along with Shahid Afridi and Shoiab Malik, give Pakistan a strong side. The spin bowling department will be headed by Saeed Ajmal, the number three ranked bowler in the shortest format, while the fast bowling has struggled for wickets in recent times. As recently as the Asia Cup, they took all ten wickets only once, against Afghanistan. Pakistan were tested by the absence of Mohammad Irfan, and they have gambled on Umar Gul to bear the strike bowlers burden. l
with the bat, opener Subash Khakurel slammed 56 and Sharad Vesawkar made 37 in their 76-run fourth wicket partnership after Nepal slipped to 53-3 following a 13-ball 22 from Malla. The top four Afghan batsmen returned for scores less than seven as it was only Shafiqullah (36) and Ashgar Stanikzai (49) who showed some resistance. With 24 needed from six balls, Stanikzai took 16 off the first four, including three fours from the cow corner, before he holed out to long-on to give 18-year-old Sompal Kami his second wicket in the game and seal Nepals win. Meanwhile there was plenty of support for the Nepal team as fans from Europe and UK flew in to watch their nation play in the big stage. 42-year-old Sanjay Chalise who lives London said, I always dreamt of Nepal playing in the World Cup and when we finally got through the Qualifiers in November. I started making arrangements to come to watch Nepals game. I missed the first match as I was stuck at Doha transit. Utsav Sigdel, a 24-year-old student from Maryland, USA, was in Chittagong to watch all the matches and said, Nepal is making history and I wanted to be a part of it. Binod Bikram Simkhada and Biswas Hamal also arrived in the port city all the way from England to watch Nepal play. It is a lifetime opportunity to watch Nepal play in World Cup, said Simkhada, who spent around 1000 to make the trip.l
BRIEF SCORE
Pakistan 81 all out in 19.5 overs
Nahida 30, Sana Mir 18; Salma 3 11, Jahanara 2 11
Bangladesh 76 6 in 20 overs
Ayasha 28, Nuzhat 21; A Iqbal 3 8, Anam Amin 2 6 Pakistan women won by 5 runs
Mohammed Hafeez you have the option of playing with more than five bowlers if you want to, and still have the same batting and bowling strength. It always adds on. I feel some of the sides are blessed when it comes to having all rounders who can bat and bowl, he said. Dhoni praised fast bowler Umar Gul and spinner Saeed Ajmal and informed
MS Dhoni that both the bowlers are good at the death and haveconsistently performed well for Pakistan. However, the Indian skipper who had some controversial allegations regarding match fixings recently, informed being part of an Indian team means that there are plenty of things that go around and the skipper only
14
'I can still make Spain WC squad'
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has not given up on making Spains World Cup squad and will work hard to convince coach Vicente del Bosque he deserves a place with the defending champions in Brazil. Torres, who turns 30 on Thursday, faces stiff competition from the likes of Diego Costa, Alvaro Negredo, Fernando Llorente and David Villa, but believes if Chelsea have a successful end to the season and he plays an important role, he can secure a place in Del Bosques final 23-man group. Reuters
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Sport
Manchester United's Robin van Persie scores from the spot against Olympiakos during their Champions League match at Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday
REUTERS
RESULTS
3 0 1 2
Olympiakos
Dortmund
Zenit
when Rooneys low cross was lashed home first-time by Van Persie, and he then scored the decisive third goal, and completed his hat-trick, by curling home a free-kick in the 52nd minute.
Moyes will be delighted that his side held on, although there were plenty of nerves, and Evra picked up a yellow card that rules him out of the first leg of their quarter-final while Van Persie went off with an injury late on. At the Westfalenstadion, PierreEmerick Aubameyang missed a glorious chance to put Dortmund in front before Brazilian forward Hulk put Zenit ahead with a trademark 30-yard piledriver that swerved through the air. Having lost the first leg 4-2 in Russia, Zenit still needed to score twice more without reply to go through, but Jurgen Klopps side levelled on the night when captain Sebastian Kehl headed home a Marcel Schmelzer cross before the interval. l
Roger Federer attends the Moet & Chandon "Tiny Tennis" With Roger Federer at Club 50 at Viceroy Miami Florida on Wednesday AFP
Ronaldinho of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro celebrates after scoring a penalty against Paraguay's Nacional during their Copa Libertadores match in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday REUTERS
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Sport
15
QUICK BYTES
An action from the match between Bangladesh and Iran during their group B match of the Islami Bank Asian Games Hockey Qualifiers at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday COURTESY
The significance of the victory against a Test nation, is just fantastic, and a dream come true, says Hong Kong skipper
have an opportunity to play in front of such a big crowd, and it was really great. Meanwhile, star of the match Nadeem Ahmed said, We just stuck to our basics and not did any other stuff. Keep it very simple, let them make mistakes, we wont make mistakes, thats what our plan was. The left-arm spinner also said the couple wickets in Nizakats over gave them the belief they can stage a turnaround. l
Nepal skipper Paras Khadka takes a brilliant catch to dismiss Afghanistan batsman Nawroz Mangal during their first round group A match yesterday RAJIB DHAR
Walton National Roller Salauddin to coach Singapore Speed Skating starts today
The two day Walton Smartphone National Roller Speed Skating starts today at the Bangabandhu National Stadium premises today. A total of 350 skaters from 29 teams across the country will participate in the event. Deputy minister for youth and sports Arif Khan Joy will inaugurate the meet as the chief guest. In a press conference held at the BNS conference room yesterday, Ahmed Asif Hasan, the general secretary of the skating federation presented the meet to the press. A.F.M. Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn, the additional director of Walton, Zahid Hasan, the executive director of Walton and Zobera Rahman Linu, the sports ambassador were also present on the occasion. l Former Bangladesh fielding coach Mohammad Salauddin, who also worked as the assistant coach to the national team in the recent home series against Sri Lanka, is set to join as the head coach of ICC Associate nation Singapore. Salauddin confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday he would be joining the side from April 1. My initial duty will be to prepare the Singapore team for the 2014 ACC Trophy Elite and for ICC World Cup Qualifier Division Four. At the same time, I will also work on strategies for the developing teams in Singapore, informed Salauddin. Salauddin also shared his frustration over not being able to work for Bangladesh cricket on a long-term basis. He had played a vital role in keeping the Tigers fielding & spin bowling department in good shape in the 2010-11 season, but his contract was not extended by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was after a gap of around three-years that the BCB called up Salauddin to join as the assistant coach for the Sri Lanka series
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Officials of Walton and Skating Federation in the press conference at BNS conference room yesterday COURTESY
in January. It is really frustrating for not being able to work for Bangladesh. It would never have been frustrating if say the national side had a very high profile coach like Dav Whatmore or Jammie Siddons. But I believe the coachs that the side has seen in the recent times are mediocre and Bangladesh has enough of the same level coaches but unfortunately who are going unused, said Salauddin. Salauddin is currently coaching the National University of Malaysia (UKM) cricket team. He informed he wants to leave the Malaysian job, but the University is not accepting his resignation. They want me to stay with the team (UKM). I have been granted leave for three months from the university for my job with Singapore, informed Salauddin. The 2014 ACC Trophy Elite is a cricket tournament formed by ACC (Asian Cricket Council). It gives the Associate and Affiliate members of the ACC the experience of international one-day cricket and also helps form an essential part of regional rankings. l
Authorities in Bangladesh have asked businesses, shopping malls and markets to shut down during the evening to save electricity in the wake of Wednesdays power outage during a World Twenty20 match in Sylhet. The qualifying group B match between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates plunged into darkness twice due to power failure at the Sylhet Stadium. They have been told to close their shutters after 8 p.m. (1400 GMT) to save electricity so that people can watch matches on televisions, Monowar Islam, secretary of Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, told Reuters on Thursday. Authorities also asked people to cut the use of air conditioners, water pumps, micro-ovens and other home appliances during the evening, the peak hours for the cricket. Last week, Bangladesh stopped supplying gas to six major fertilizer factories out of seven in order to divert gas supply to power plants and ensure an uninterrupted electricity supply for the tournament. l
16
n Nazmus Sakib
The Appellate Division has laid down a set of criteria for the High Court to dispose of anticipatory bail pleas. One of the principles suggests that instead of relying on any generalised pretension the High Court should satisfy itself that the reasons behind an arrest are assigned credibly and with sufficient clarity. The High Court should also specify its reasons for considering magistrates or lower court judges concerned biased as alleged by a bail-seeker, the Supreme Court said in its verdict that cancelled the High Court order granting a six-week anticipatory bail to BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain in a money laundering case.
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Back Page
Khushwant Singh was the editor of Hindustan Times and the National Herald, throughout the 1970s and 1980s
Singh was best known for his trenchant secularism, humor and an abiding love of poetry. Born on February 2, 1915 in Hadali, now in Pakistan, Singh wrote classics such as Train to Pakistan, I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale and Delhi. Singh came into prominence after India got independence from Britain in 1947. He was a lawyer-turned-diplomat-turned-writer. His autobiography Truth, Love and a Little Malice was published by Penguin Books in 2002. He was the editor of several literary and news magazines including the Illustrated Weekly of India and two newspapers the Hindustan Times and the National Herald, throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. l
A mobile court raids a factory producing fake rice saline at Babubazar in the capital yesterday
Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207. Phone: 9132093 94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com
Mahmud Ali: Dhaka and Ankara may sign FTA to boost trade further
n Kamran Reza Chowdhury
Bangladesh exports to Turkey have crossed US$1bn, Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali told parliament yesterday, apprising the house of moving forward with increasing bilateral trade further through signing a free trade agreement with Ankara. Replying to a question from Awami League MP Nizam Uddin Hazari, the minister said the foreign ministry officials of the two countries would meet at a convenient time in the coming months to discuss about signing of the deal. This is good news for Bangladesh economy that the export from Bangladesh has crossed $1 billion, said Mahmud Ali, attributing the business boost to vibrant relations with Ankara. During Sheikh Hasinas Turkey tour in 2012, he said, the Turkish government had proposed signing of the agreement with Bangladesh. The government has taken special measures to improve relations with Turkey, he said, but not specifying the steps. The talks for signing of the free trade agreement would start soon, he said, however. The minister said the government would continue with the discussion with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain for signing of bilateral agreements on investment, avoidance of double taxation and visa exemption. He said the government had been focusing on improving relations with the Islamic states. The newly elected government had been continuing efforts to extend cooperation with the Middle Eastern countries, particularly in the economic, commercial and manpower sectors. l
108
LPI
79
Customs
LPI
96
Customs
138
92
Infrastructure
138
90
Timeliness
70
93
Infrastructure
72
Fall in Rank
75
-29
Customs
LPI
-48
Infrastructure
-5
-30
However, it has made insignificant improvement in logistics quality and competence to 93rd from 96th during the time. In the 2014 LPI report, Germany showed the worlds best overall logistics performance. Somalia had the lowest score. The gap between the countries that perform best and worst in trade logistics is still quite large, despite a slow convergence since 2007, said the report. This gap persists because of the complexity of logistics-related reforms and investment in developing countries, and despite the almost universal recognition that poor supply-chain efficiency is the main barrier to trade integration in the modern world, it said. The LPI is trying to capture a rather complex reality: attributes of the
supply chain, said Jean-Franois Arvis, Senior Transport Economist and the founder of the LPI project. In countries with high logistics costs, it is often not the distance between trading partners, but reliability of the supply chain that is the most important contributor to those costs. As with previous editions, the 2014 report finds that high-income countries dominate the worlds top-ten performers. Among low-income countries, Malawi, Kenya, and Rwanda showed the highest performance. In general, the trend across past reports has been that countries are improving and low-performing countries are improving their overall scores faster than high-performing countries. The 2014 report finds that low-income, middle-income, and high-in-
come countries will need to take different strategies to improve their standings in logistics performance. In low-income countries, the biggest gains typically come from improvements to infrastructure and basic border management. This might mean reforming a customs agency, but, increasingly, it means improving efficiency in other agencies present at the border, including those responsible for sanitary and phyto-sanitary controls. Often, multiple approaches are required. You cant just do infrastructure without addressing border management issues, Arvis said. Its difficult to get everything right. The projects are more complicated, with many stakeholders, and there is no more low-hanging fruit. Middle-income countries, by contrast, usually have fairly well-functioning infrastructure and border control. They generally see the biggest gains from improving logistics services, and particularly outsourcing specialized functions, such as transportation, freight-forwarding, and warehousing. In high-income countries, there is a growing awareness of and a demand for green logistics, or logistics services that are environmentally friendly. In recent years, as tariffs have dropped globally, logistics and other aspects of trade facilitation have gained profile as an arena for reducing trade costs. The LPI is a concrete tool for raising awareness and spurring improvements, said Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the Economic Policy, Debt and Trade Department. It allows us to evaluate constraints across a broad set of countries. l
Budget will be placed in the parliament in early June for the July-June fiscal year
Then following day, two separate meetings will be held - one with the export sectors without bond facility and another with automobiles and transports associations (road, river, and airways). NBR will sit with the representatives from jute, fabrics and yarn, and also with the export sectors with bond facility (readymade garment, composite, knitwear, packaging and accessories) on April 17. The discussions will be organised with financial institutions, small, medium and large businesses and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) on April 20 and with small, medium and large industries on April 21. On the next day, the tax body will
B2
Stocks bounce back, but turnover sinks to11-week low
n Tribune Report
Stocks rebounded yesterday, breaking five consecutive sessions of losses, with turnover sinking to more than 11-week low. The rally was led by mostly the large cap scrips including banks, financial institutions and telecommunications. The benchmark DSEX rose 40 points or 1% to close at 4,559, pulling back from its two and a half month low. Shariah Index DSES gained 6 points or 0.6% to 989. The bluechip comprising DS30 was up 11 points or 0.7% to end at 1,635. Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, soared 65 points to 8,850. But the trading activities continued to decline, indicating that investors preferred to stay sidelines due to bearish mood for long. Turnover stood at Tk277 crore its lowest since December 29 this year and 18% higher over the previous session. Investors came for reassessing the recent downtrend in market to revert slightly as market pinned a hope on making money on some large and mid-cap fundamental stocks, said Lanka Bangla Securities in its market analysis. Thus, the benchmark index gave some breathing space in index to traders after a weeklong consolidation, it said. Food and allied was the best performer with a gain of more than 2%, driven by newly listed Emerald Oil Industries Ltd that continued to rally for the second consecutive day. The company in its second trading day closed at Tk57each, rising over 10%. Its shares worth Tk19 crore have changed hands, making it the top turnover leader. The sector was followed by banks that surged 1.9%, financial institutions 1%, fuel 0.4% and telecommunications 0.4%. Zenith Investment said the market showed signs of reversal as all the indices inched higher and closed the week in a cheerful mood. Although, the sudden turnaround, acts as a breather after continuous downfall, however, it is still difficult to gauge the distance of this positivity to stretch in near future. Other top turnover leaders included Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Square Pharmaceuticals, Padma Oil, Lafarge Surma Cement, National Tubes, Bangladesh Building and Grameenphone. l
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Stock
DSE GAINERS Company
Closing (% change) 10.40 9.63 8.75 8.42 7.53 7.08 6.94 6.78 6.48 5.71
Emerald Oil Ind. -N BD Building Systems -A Renwick Jajneswar-A Samata LeatheR -Z National Tubes -A Prime Finance-A Jamuna Bank -A AMCL 2nd MF A Global Heavy Chemicals-N Bengal Windsor-A CSE GAINERS Company BD Building Systems -A Jamuna Bank -A ICB Sonali Bank 1 MF A Prime Insur -A Bengal Windsor-A Brac B.C. Bond-A Bay Leasing.-A Samata LeatheR -Z Global Heavy Chemicals-N Mercantile Bank -A
Average (% change) (3.05) 7.35 6.90 8.18 6.94 2.60 4.63 1.13 4.42 2.98 Average (% change) 6.89 6.64 6.63 5.77 3.25 5.26 5.34 5.10 3.21 2.83
Closing average 50.92 69.22 299.33 32.14 156.11 22.13 15.14 6.27 51.97 52.84
Closing 55.20 70.60 308.30 32.20 158.60 22.70 15.40 6.30 52.60 53.70
Daily high 57.50 70.80 308.30 32.60 159.90 22.90 15.80 6.40 53.70 54.30
Daily low 46.20 62.00 285.00 30.90 140.00 19.50 13.00 6.00 49.00 45.80
Turnover in million 196.414 76.342 13.425 0.450 81.365 8.800 3.956 1.057 7.847 22.699
Latest EPS 1.40 2.92 5.32 -0.04 2.26 1.10 0.79 0.88 2.21 2.50
Latest PE 36.4 23.7 56.3 -ve 69.1 20.1 19.2 7.1 23.5 21.1
Closing (% change) 9.78 8.39 7.50 5.77 5.52 5.26 5.25 5.10 5.01 4.73
Closing average 69.00 15.25 8.53 27.50 52.79 1000.00 34.10 33.00 51.43 17.42
Closing 70.70 15.50 8.60 27.50 53.50 1000.00 34.10 33.00 52.40 17.70
Daily high 70.80 15.70 8.60 27.50 54.50 1000.00 35.00 33.00 52.80 17.80
Daily low 65.00 14.70 8.50 27.50 51.50 1000.00 33.20 33.00 49.00 17.00
Turnover in million 7.222 0.246 0.026 0.007 1.415 0.005 0.068 0.050 0.424 0.864
Latest EPS 2.92 0.79 1.60 2.23 2.50 0.00 1.56 -0.04 2.21 1.61
Latest PE 23.6 19.3 5.3 12.3 21.1 21.9 -ve 23.3 10.8
(+) 0.88% (+) 0.59% (+) 0.68% (+) 0.87% (+) 0.66% (+) 0.85%
Traded Issues Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis) Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis) Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis) Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.) Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)
Average (% change) -6.83 -3.59 -4.05 -2.92 -2.44 -0.66 -2.41 -2.25
Closing average 369.90 55.85 9.00 18.30 51.67 140.90 48.28 139.50
Daily high 370.00 58.20 9.00 18.30 53.70 144.00 49.70 141.00
Daily low 368.00 54.90 8.90 18.30 50.00 139.10 44.10 138.50
Turnover in million 0.388 28.281 0.126 0.018 3.307 5.002 15.446 1.116
Latest EPS 7.88 3.33 -4.58 -0.89 -1.00 6.29 2.42 2.30
Dividend/AGM
-2.20 -1.75
-1.46 -1.72
27.09 957.09
26.70 951.80
27.80 970.00
26.50 947.00
6.650 5.264
0.80 37.13
33.9 25.8
Closing (% change) -10.00 -7.16 -7.04 -7.00 -5.76 -5.72 -4.68 -3.77
Average (% change) -10.00 -7.22 -7.04 -6.69 -6.24 -4.84 -4.87 -5.10
Closing average 42.30 31.08 25.10 27.90 31.10 138.45 59.00 22.68
Daily high 42.30 31.20 25.10 27.90 31.30 140.00 59.00 23.00
Daily low 42.30 31.00 25.10 27.90 31.00 135.00 59.00 22.50
Turnover in million 0.085 0.093 0.003 0.014 0.156 0.076 0.030 0.318
Latest EPS 3.04 0.28 1.99 2.35 1.39 6.45 3.46 0.76
-2.62 -2.44
-1.73 -2.09
56.37 112.00
55.80 112.00
58.00 112.00
55.50 112.00
0.688 0.006
3.33 4.95
16.9 22.6
ANALYST
Investors came for reassessing the recent downtrend in market to revert slightly as market pinned a hope on making money on some large and mid-cap fundamental stocks
CSE Total
DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Emerald Oil Ind. -N BSC A Square Pharma -A Padma Oil Co. -A LafargeS Cement-Z National Tubes -A
BD Building Systems -A
DSE Million Taka 300.97 114.63 40.68 389.55 363.97 267.78 4.98 191.68 311.29 0.77 14.30 37.50 12.27 150.67 19.46 45.69 105.64 143.39 30.20 230.38 0.68
% change 10.84 4.13 1.47 14.03 13.11 9.64 0.18 6.90 11.21 0.03 0.51 1.35 0.44 5.43 0.70 1.65 3.80 5.16 1.09 8.30 0.02
Million Taka 37.62 9.76 2.54 31.09 62.12 67.32 66.35 32.92 97.62 0.84 101.68 1.62 7.27 4.70 2.47 3.44 18.83 5.46 35.21 0.01
% change 6.39 1.66 0.43 5.28 10.55 11.43 0.00 11.27 5.59 16.58 0.14 17.27 0.28 1.23 0.80 0.42 0.58 3.20 0.93 5.98 0.00
Million Taka 338.59 124.39 43.23 420.64 426.09 335.10 4.98 258.03 344.20 98.39 15.13 139.18 13.89 157.94 24.15 48.15 109.08 162.21 35.66 265.59 0.70
% change 10.06 3.70 1.28 12.50 12.66 9.96 0.15 7.67 10.23 2.92 0.45 4.14 0.41 4.69 0.72 1.43 3.24 4.82 1.06 7.89 0.02
Volume shares 3,857,500 242,685 559,755 281,806 1,781,000 521,192 1,102,925 348,941 328,586 234,932
Value in million 196.41 164.56 149.11 95.65 86.52 81.37 76.34 73.99 69.39 65.78
% of total turnover 7.07 5.93 5.37 3.44 3.12 2.93 2.75 2.67 2.50 2.37
Daily closing 55.20 674.75 267.30 337.80 48.70 158.60 70.60 211.70 211.40 278.60
Price change 10.40 0.90 -0.34 -0.59 1.67 7.53 9.63 0.19 1.29 0.47
Daily opening 50.00 668.75 268.20 339.80 47.90 147.50 64.40 211.30 208.70 277.30
Daily high 57.50 684.50 275.00 349.90 49.10 159.90 70.80 213.30 214.70 285.00
Daily low 46.20 666.00 250.50 312.60 47.20 140.00 62.00 206.00 190.50 254.00
Daily average 50.92 678.06 266.39 339.40 48.58 156.11 69.22 212.05 211.18 280.00
Volume shares
Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net
Square Pharma -A BD Submarine Cable-A Appollo Ispat CL -N UCBL - A Padma Oil Co. -A BD Building Systems -A Emerald Oil Ind. -N Grameenphone-A LafargeS Cement-Z UNITED AIR A AB Bank - A Beach Hatchery -A AFC AgroBiotech-N aamra technologies-A
43,405 61,532 62,520 349,000 375,905 25,538 104,675 27,500 26,400 105,500 319,925 160,042 121,000 66,000 100,500
Value in million
29.41 16.41 13.25 9.44 9.15 8.67 7.22 5.86 5.58 5.15 4.72 4.36 3.88 3.86 3.82
% of total turnover
11.88 6.63 5.35 3.81 3.70 3.50 2.92 2.37 2.25 2.08 1.91 1.76 1.57 1.56 1.54
Daily closing
672.80 266.80 212.00 27.10 24.70 337.70 70.70 55.10 211.00 49.00 14.80 27.10 31.60 59.30 38.10
Price change
0.82 -0.52 1.53 1.50 3.78 -0.41 9.78 10.64 0.33 2.30 0.68 -2.17 -2.17 3.85 1.33
Daily opening
667.30 268.20 208.80 26.70 23.80 339.10 64.40 49.80 210.30 47.90 14.70 27.70 32.30 57.10 37.60
685.50 271.00 213.50 27.30 24.90 343.80 70.80 56.00 212.90 49.20 15.00 27.50 32.80 60.00 38.40
665.00 263.50 205.00 26.40 23.60 337.00 65.00 46.10 209.00 48.20 14.60 26.80 31.40 57.20 37.70
Daily average
677.65 266.76 211.93 27.05 24.34 339.47 69.00 212.93 211.26 48.78 14.75 27.25 32.04 58.49 38.03
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Business
B3
Toyota suspends workers at India plants over unrest n AFP, Bangalore
Toyota has suspended 17 workers at its Indian auto assembly plants which were temporarily closed this week following protests against delayed pay rises, a union and company official said yesterday. The workers were suspended for misconduct and indiscipline over the protests at the two factories in southern India, which the company says included threats against management and deliberate assembly-line stoppages. The suspended employees are all members of the union. The lockout was declared more due to indiscipline than on wage hike demand, though it all began with that, a company official in the city of Bangalore told AFP. A union representing the workers demanded Toyota immediately withdraw the suspensions, saying there had been no official warning beforehand as required under labour laws. Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd Union president Prasanna Kumar said it was willing to continue to work with the company and the state labour commissioner to resolve the dispute. There was no charge-sheet against them as per the state labour laws prior to suspension. We have sought the state governments intervention for lifting the lockout and withdrawing the suspension orders, Kumar told AFP, adding the union was notified late Wednesday of the suspensions. The worlds biggest automaker said Monday it was suspending production at the factories which employ about 6,400 workers near Bangalore after efforts to hammer out a labour deal failed. l
Private universities China plans to speed up investment n urged to open department for furniture designing
Reuters, Beijing
n Tribune Report
Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Vice Chairman Shubhashis Bose has urged the private universities to introduce a department to develop skilled manpower for the countrys furniture industry. The entrepreneurs and the private universities should jointly open the department to teach the students about latest designs and developments in the industry, he told a press conference in Dhaka yesterday. The conference was to tell about the third Bangladesh Furniture and Interior Decoration (BFID) Expo-2014 that begins in Dhaka on Sunday. The show is to display the varieties and excellence of local furniture and home furnishing products for the buyers from both home and abroad. The 3-day fair would be held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) to be inaugurated by Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed. Bose said the EPB would request the government to provide to cash incentives to the furniture exporters to boost the fast growing furniture sector. According to EPB data, a total of 20 foreign retailers have registered with the EPB to visit the fair. The EPB has offered the prospective buyers some complementary facilities like accommodation, transportation and food. Bose said the entrepreneurs have to blend traditional designs with modern
trend with latest technology to meet the consumers demands for home and abroad. The country has raw materials and cheaper labour and if we can develop the sector, it can employ 50 lakh workers, he said. Currently, the sector employs 25 lakh people. Earnings from furniture export have seen a 32% rise to over $25m in the first eight months of the current fiscal due to increased demands in the global markets, according to EPB. It was $19.20 million in the same period last fiscal year when the total furniture export stood at $31.41 million. EPB, Furniture Exporters Association, Bangladesh Handicrafts Manufacturers and Exporters Association (Banglacraft), Bangladesh Jute Diversified Products Manufactures and Exporters Association and Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association in collaboration with Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC) are jointly orgainsing the event. A total of 51 orgainsations are expected to participate in the fair to display their state of art furniture products, organisers said yesterday. At present, the country exports office furniture, metal furniture, seats with metal frames, bedroom furniture, wooden furniture, and furniture of plastic, parts of furniture, mattress supports, sleeping bag and lamp and light fittings to various destinations of the world. l
Premier Li Keqiang said China will speed up investment and construction plans to ensure domestic demand expands at a stable rate - an indication authorities are considering practical measures to support slackening economic growth. Li said at a weekly cabinet meeting that China needs to roll out approved plans for growing domestic demand to keep growth in the economy in a reasonable range. No further details were given in an official statement following the meeting, and it was not clear if Li had given authorities a green light to accelerate new investment, or to start work on projects that have already been approved. But his remarks stoked speculation among analysts that Beijing is ready to stimulate the economy. China rattled financial markets last week with data showing growth in investment, retail sales and factory output all hitting multi-year lows in January and February, Investors, muti-national companies and its major trading partners fear a sharper-thanexpected slowdown in China will soon drag on activity across the world. China has fallen back on ramping up state investment to shore up its economy several times in recent years to support growth in incomes and employment. In 2008/09, in the face of the global financial crisis, Beijing approved a whopping 4tn yuan of state spending funded partly by bank loans. That spending helped China recover quickly from the crisis, but the mountain of debt incurred fed other credit problems that the government now hopes to fix, in part by abandoning its former export- and investment-driven
A picture taken through tripod shows China's Premier Li Keqiang during a news conference, after the closing ceremony of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing REUTERS growth model. Stimulus measures announced in several economic soft patches since then have been more modest and more focused, such as last years pledges to boost spending on social housing, infrastructure, highspeed rail and energy-saving industries, and tax breaks for smaller firms. ing the yuan into a convertible, global currency. But a more volatile yuan added to global jitters after it fell to a one-year low yesterday. Some analysts believe Chinas central bank is engineering this years decline in the yuan to cushion the weakening economy by making exports more price competitive, and others speculate that the government may step up efforts to bolster growth in coming months. Analysts from government-controlled think-tanks told Reuters last week that Beijing may loosen monetary policy by reducing the level of deposits commercial banks must keep at the central bank if the economic growth slips below the governments 7.5% target. l
China has been showing some determination to reform and few experts believe Beijing will launch another super-sized stimulus to prop up the economy. Yesterday, the government relaxed rules to allow more foreigners to invest in its stock markets, the latest step to free its financial markets after widening the yuans trading band at the weekend, taking it closer to turn-
Mixed messages
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen answers a question at a news conference following the March 2014 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, while at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington REUTERS
Yellen sought to use her news conference to emphasize that rates would stay low for awhile and rise only gradually. She also said they could end up staying lower than normal for some time even after the jobless rate drops to a healthy level. The Fed would look not only at how close inflation and unemployment are to its goals, but how fast, or slowly, those measures are approaching those goals, she said. At 6.7%, the unemployment is well above the 5.2% to 5.6% range Fed officials see as in keeping with full employment. The central banks favoured inflation gauge is barely more than half of its 2% target. The Fed has held interest rates near zero since late 2008 and has pumped more than $3 trillion into the economy with its bond purchases to try to foster a stronger recovery.
NRB Global Bank Limited formally opened its Patherhat branch at Chittagong on March 20. Nizam Chowdhury, the banks chairperson inaugurated the operations of the branch as chief guest
Panasonic unveiled their new range of air conditioners at Panasonic Air Conditioner New Product Launch 2014, recently held at a hotel in Dhaka. Damien Yap, general manager of Panasonic Singapore - area development department, expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the audience for supporting the Panasonic air conditioners business for years
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seen receiving a cheque for Tk50 lakh from MD of Jiban Bima Corporation for Lakho Konthey Jatiyo Songit programme, recently at Gonobhaban
The Jubilee Road branch of First Security Islami Bank Ltd has been shifted to new premises at SA Tower on 398 Enayet Bazar in Jubilee Road, Chittagong on March 18. Syed Habib Hasnat, the banks inaugurated the newly located branch
Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation recently arranged a training course on strategies of virtuousness and accounting for officers at the corporations training centre. Dr Md Nurul Alam Talukder, MD of BHBFC inaugurated the course as chief guest
Mobile handset maker, Symphonys collaboration with MediaTek, smartphone chipsets provider has made it possible to deliver customer with enhanced quality products, said a press release. Chairperson of Edison Group (Symphony being its product), Md Aminur Rashid spoke at the press briefing
B4
DHAKA TRIBUNE
Back Page
More humility
On territorial issues, its natural to protect Japans interests and positions, said an executive at an electrical equipment company. But I would like to see more humility regarding issues that are sensitive not only for China and Korea, but globally, like the understanding of history,
Japan's electronics giant Toshiba unveils the prototype model of a breath analyzer which can detect gases in exhaled breath to monitor health and diagnosis of disease at the company's headquarters in Tokyo. The device using a gas analysis technology with a quantum cascade laser to trace gasses detected across the absorption spectrum is expecting to commercialize in 2015. Japan's Waseda University will start to reasearch correlation between acetone concentrateions in exhaled breath with fat metabolism using this device from next month AFP
Page says US online spying threatens democracy Dollar holds steady n after surging on Yellen comments
AFP, Vancouver
Google co-founder Larry Page on Wednesday condemned US government snooping on the Internet as a threat to democracy. His comments came during an onstage chat at a prestigious Technology Entertainment Design gathering, where a day earlier fellow Google founder Sergey Brin had a virtual encounter with National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. A photo of Brin smiling with a robot remotely controlled by Snowden from a refuge in Russia, where the wanted man is in hiding, was tweeted by TED curator Chris Anderson and became an instant online hit. It is tremendously disappointing that the government sort of secretly did all this stuff and didnt tell us, Page said. He reasoned that details of suspected terrorist threats should remain cloaked but that the parameters of what US intelligence agents do, along with how and why they do it, should be public. We need to have a debate about that or we cant have a functioning democracy; it is just not possible, Page said. It is sad that Google is in the position of protecting you and our users from the government doing secret things nobody knows about; it doesnt make any sense. Spying backlash peril As smartphones and sensors synched to the Internet obtain and share increasing amounts of data about where people are and what they are doing, Page said it was critical for people to be given choices of how it is used. He was concerned, though, that privacy fears and a backlash to online spying would result in blocking uses of personal information for beneficial purposes. He noted how shared medical information, on an aggregate scale and made anonymous, could help researchers develop treatments and patients select doctors or map medical care. We are not really thinking about the tremendous good that can come from people sharing the right information with the right people in the right ways, Page said. Page gave the example of going public with details of trouble with his voice. On your show, I kind of lost my voice and I havent gotten it back, Page joked with Rose. I am hoping that by talking to you I am going to get it back. Get out your Voodoo doll and do whatever you need to do.
n AFP, Tokyo
The dollar held steady in Asia yesterday, after surging in New York as Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen hinted that interest rates could rise early next year, sooner than expected. The greenback fetched 102.30 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, slightly down from 102.32 yen late in New York but much stronger than the 101.51 yen in Tokyo earlier Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, on the same TED stage, the father of the World Wide Web urged those in the conferences influential and innovative community to fight to keep life on the Internet free and open. Tim Berners-Lee rallied support for creating a bill of rights for the Internet this year in the wake of revelations about extensive government surveillance. Berners-Lee launched his Web We Want campaign last week as the Web turned 25 years old. He has repeatedly called for fewer controls on the Web, and has praised Snowden for revealing details of how the US government collects masses of online data. Berners-Lee conceived the Web 25 years ago in his spare time at Genevabased CERN, Europes top particle physics lab. I want to use this anniversary to think about what kind of Web we want, Berners-Lee said, referring ideas to a Webat25.org website.
The dollar was also higher against other Asia-Pacific currencies, buying 1,075.74 South Korean won from 1,070.65 won
The euro bought $1.3831 and 141.52 yen, mixed from $1.3827 and 141.53 yen in US trade. Emerging-market currencies were mostly lower as the hawkish Fed hurt risk appetite. The Fed announced Wednesday it would shave another $10bn off its bond-buying stimulus - to $55bn a month - saying the economy was picking up and a recent spate of soft data was caused by severe winter weather. But, while the move was expected, Yellen also surprised markets at a news conference, stating that the timeframe for a rate hike could be on the order of
NSA to respond
Google CEO Larry Page speaks during a press announcement at Google's headquarters in New York
Former intelligence contractor Snowden emerged from his Russian exile Tuesday in the form of a remotely-controlled robot to promise more sensational revelations about US spying programs. The fugitives face appeared on a screen as he maneuvered a wheeled android around the TED gathering, addressing an audience in Vancouver without ever leaving his hideaway. l
around six months after the stimulus ends. With the present rate of reduction likely to see asset purchases tapered off by the end of this year, that means rates could go up in the first half of 2015. Some analysts have previously forecast a rise taking place at the back end of next year. Yellen can be seen as not being so dovish as expected, said Hiromishi Shirakawa, research analyst at Credit Suisse. We should pay attention to the possibility that the era of a firm dollar and weak stocks will start, he said in a note. While higher interest rates would tend to draw investors seeking higher returns to the dollar, they also tend to dampen stock market activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.70% on Wednesday, while the Nikkei was down 1.13% mid-afternoon Thursday. The dollar firmed to 61.15 Indian rupees Thursday afternoon from 61.08 rupees on Wednesday, to 11,425 Indonesian rupiah from 11,345.00 rupiah, and to 45.06 Philippine pesos from 44.86 pesos. The dollar was also higher against other Asia-Pacific currencies, buying 1,075.74 South Korean won from 1,070.65 won. It rose to Sg$1.2735 from Sg$1.2653, and to 32.35 Thai baht from 32.14 baht, while the Australian dollar slipped to 90.17 US cents from 91.15 cents. The Chinese yuan fetched 16.42 yen against 16.34 yen. l
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