SQ Chy verdict Tuesday

A tribunal in Dhaka, which is holding trial of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for his alleged wartime offences, will deliver its verdict Tuesday.The 64-year old standing committee member of the main opposition party is facing 23 charges of wartime offences committed allegedly during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971.The charges include killing of around 200 civilians; collaborating with the Pakistani occupation army to kill and torture unarmed people, looting of valuables and torching of houses and other properties; persecuting people on religious and political grounds; and committing genocide.If convicted, Chowdhury, son of Muslim League leader late Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, may get death penalty.“The judgement has been prepared by this time. Let the case be fixed for delivery of judgement tomorrow,” announced Justice ATM Fazle Kabir, chairman of International Crimes Tribuanl-1 after the case was placed on the cause list of Tuesday’s proceedings.Chowdhury was arrested on December 16, 2010 at Banani in the capital in connection with the torching of a car at Moghbazar on June 26 the same year.After the ICT issued an arrested warrant on December 19, 2010, he was shown arrested for involvement with crimes against humanity.According to the prosecution, Chowdhury was involved in the killings of Nutan Singh, founder of herbal medicine factory Kundeshwari Oushadhalaya, and 35 people at Jagatmallo Para and 69 others at Unasattar Para in Chittagong during the War of Independence.Primary investigation shows Chowdhury with the help of Pakistan occupation forces led the murders and tortures near his Goods Hill residence in the port city, said the prosecution.After the ending of arguments and other court proceedings, the three-member ICT-1 announced on August 14 that the case has been kept awaiting for judgement.The prosecution sought the death penalty for the BNP leader while the defence claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove any of the 23 charges and appealed for his acquittal.Forty-one prosecution witnesses, including an “eyewitness” who had claimed to have seen Salauddin shoot and kill Nutan Chandra Sinha during the 1971 Liberation War, gave their testimony.The defence was able to bring in four witnesses, including the accused and his cousin, in its bid to prove Salauddin was innocent and that he was not in the country during the war.

The comedians we remember

In a world which tends to focus only on the leading men and women in movies, all too often we are inclined to forget the other characters who go into the making of a substantive story. Take, for instance, the matter of comedy. All across the subcontinent, comedians have played significant roles in the building up of a tale, in much the same way that the clown or fool was an integral part, comic relief if you will, in Shakespearean tragedy.
Here in Bangladesh, where humour appears increasingly to be turning into a thing of the past, there were once comedians who gave us all the much needed doses of laughter in the movie halls. How can you ever forget Rabiul, that skinny young man who was obsessed, as part of the story, with regular physical exercises in the belief that he could indeed turn into a healthy being? And then there was Khan Jainul, whose comic performances remain inimitable, to a point where no one has been able to replace him. He had sophistication of a different kind, which came with that endearing grin extending from ear to ear.
Jainul is dead and so is another powerful comic actor named Ashish Kumar Louha. There was class in Louha. Spectacles sliding down his nose, the stare in his eyes informed you that good-natured wickedness was on the way. These days, Anisul Haq, that quintessential man with that charming Noakhali accent, is an aging thespian. And yet there was a time when his presence in the movies, in drama, electrified audiences to no end.
Think of Saifuddin, another powerful actor who added newer dimensions to the world of our comedy. He was there in the movies and in well-known television plays, convincing us all that he was indispensable. ATM Shamsuzzaman, with that leering question, eka naki?, continues to make us roll in laughter with his spontaneous demonstrations of humour. Farid Ali, not much in the public eye these days, once regaled us with his maddening taka den Dubai zamu statement. Enamul Haq is a man we love to no end. You still cannot forget the gleam in his eyes as he makes a pass at the young woman in a play. For the naughtier ones amongst us, it is his question to the woman we remember only too well: Keda? Shyamoli na?
Ah, those old days of naturally induced laughter! These days, you surely have comedians everywhere — in cinema, on television, at cultural programmes. Somehow they do not have the sparks that marked comedy in the old days. Humour, you see, is never a contrived affair. It must come from somewhere deep inside you. Remember Telly Samad?

Caretaker or interim government?

So it took five years for our politicians to come up with a choice for our people. Either you support the concept of a caretaker government, which is controversial and, in our own country, has been discredited in the past. Or you accept a so-called interim government to run the country’s affairs for 90 day after the dissolution of the parliament. In the case of an interim government, it would be run by an 11-member cabinet with the current prime minister as the interim head. Ostensibly, the responsibilities of both these types of government will revolve round taking routine decisions and ensuring the holding of a free, fair election under a spruced up National Election Commission.
The people have very few days left to decide on either of these two forms of government. But the point is clearly not that. The ruling AL is supporting the interim government system and the prime minister has already indicated who are likely to have a place in this cabinet. The leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia, remains insistent on setting up of a caretaker government. However, she has not indicated who will run this form of government. But we do know that those who may sit in this cabinet would be non-political, non-partisan persons who are held in high esteem in our society. These 11 members will do the same duties as the interim government and will hand over power after 90 days to a duly elected government.
The sticking point remains the nature and character of these 11 persons who will be running the government. Khaleda Zia is not particularly choosy about the 10 persons who will be in the cabinet. But she would on no account accept a political person, especially the present prime minister, to lead this caretaker government. To her, this would mean that the neutrality of this government would be compromised.
Both forms of government have their supporters and detractors. There has been misuse and abuse of either or both of the systems. There is immense trust deficit between these two leaders and their close associates. It is not so between the rank and file of these two big parties. The caretaker government in the immediate past had done things that were not in its writ. When it failed to do the task it was meant to, its tenure was arbitrarily extended for more than the admissible time. After two and half years it was finally persuaded to hold a free, fair election, which brought in the present government.
Now that the Parliament is in its penultimate session, all the political parties have a small window of opportunity to discuss and arrive at a consensus on this sensitive matter. But as the clock ticks away, this window is closing. The prime minister, under the present circumstances, is not likely to change her mind. The wish of the people will not find its reflection in the arrangements for the election. Political forces may unleash their strength on the streets and the industrial zones. Uncertainty and total chaos could prevail to the detriment of all.
There is no doubt that 30% of the electorate are die-hard Awami Leaguers. They would, without any questioning, support the system of interim government as proposed by the prime minister. Similarly, the opposition BNP has 30 % of the electorate who swear by the caretaker form of government. That leaves 40% of the electorate who are yet undecided. However, as days pass by and as the AL becomes too insistent on the interim government system, the number of those in favour of the caretaker system is growing, some say even by leaps and bounds.
The prime minister needs to take a political decision of great import now. She needs to consult her senior advisers and decide whether she will continue on her present path of installing an interim government with her as the leader to oversee the coming elections or she will do something out of the box. This would be to immediately pass an amendment to the constitution and allow the holding of a national referendum on the issue of interim or caretaker government. She needs to strengthen her hand by listening to what the people have to say. Admittedly, a national referendum will cause some delay to the holding of the next national elections, but a special provision could be made in the amendment for meeting this extraordinary situation.
The Court had given the option that two subsequent elections could be held under a caretaker government. The prime minister had taken the view of the people and had listened to what they and the highest Court had to say. She has not moved an inch from her previous stance. At the same time, she followed what the people advised. She will no doubt make the electorate happy as they would know that here was a leader who gives importance to the views of the people before jumping from the frying pan to the fire. This could indeed lead the people to vote for the Awami League in droves for the coming elections.
A great American thinker had once said: “Leadership has a harder job to do than choose sides. It must bring sides together.” This is what the prime minister needs to do now. She has to move swiftly on this after her return from the UN General Assembly session. She has to use her leadership talents to bring the nation together. Her father, Bangabandhu, did so very successfully when the need of the hour was to fight the enemy unitedly. Why can’t she do the same now?

Confusion over Malaysian intake

The news of Malaysia hiring 10,000 Bangladeshi workers by next year and not as part of 1.4 million envisioned earlier is somewhat puzzling. Many Bangladeshi workers applying for jobs in Malaysia had their hopes up for the last month, but now their plans appear to have undergone a reality check.
The confusion was created when some Malaysian dailies last month reported that the country would start hiring 1.4 million Bangladeshis in phases from 2014, misinterpreting a visiting Bangladeshi minister who said 1.4 million Bangladeshis had applied for the jobs. We wonder, however, if this is a sheer case of miscommunication or if there were other factors that went into this number game.
Of course, the people who are suffering in this confusion are not the Malaysian government or the Bangladesh government, or the newspapers, but the workers who had applied for the positions and felt positive about their move to Malaysia.
We urge newspapers and governments everywhere not to spell out such things without absolute confirmation, especially when it deals with people’s lives. When words are said by people in authority, or are printed, they are usually believed, so all concerned need to be careful while spewing out figures of manpower intake by any country. No confusing signal should be given when it involves a country hosting our workers.

Tanners demand relaxed land rules

Tannery owners yesterday urged the government to relax land use rules for setting up factories in the Savar leather estate.“A significant portion of land will be left unutilised if the DAP [Detailed Area Plan] rules have to be complied with,” said Md Abdul Hai, general secretary of Bangladesh Tanners Association. “We want the land use rule relaxed.”According to DAP, owners will have to leave at least 35 percent of total land area as free space to set up a factory.“The proportion of free space per plot leaves too little for the factory structure as leather factories need more space to set up the heavy machinery,” said Mohammad Abu Taher, chairman-elect of Bangladesh Finished Leather, Leathergoods and Footwear Exporters’ Association.Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has already developed the leather estate with spacious roads and adequate fire fighting capacities and equipment, he added.The government should reduce the free area ratio of land to 15-20 percent, he said.The leather industry stakeholders spoke at a seminar on ‘Relocation of Leather Industry to Savar Tannery Estate: Way Forward for MoU Signing’ co-organised by the Asia Foundation and South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM) at The Daily Star Centre.The leather city’s master plan is to be implemented over 1,528 square kilometres with the DAP indicating every structure, lake, canal, wetland, retention pond, road, open space and all topographical features, and outlines as per the authorised land use plan.Tannery owners said they are ready to sign a deal with BSCIC to relocate the hazardous tanneries from Hazaribagh in Dhaka to Savar.“Factory owners have already agreed to bear 20 percent of the project cost as we want to start relocating immediately, for our own survival and environment conservation,” Taher said.Tannery owners also urged the government to allow them the freedom to use their land in Hazaribagh after shifting the factories to Savar.“We are the owners of the land in Hazaribagh. So, the government should not impose any regulation on its use,” said Hai of Bangladesh Tanners Association.They also stressed the need to setup a modern central effluent treatment plant (CETP) for the relocated tanneries.“We don’t want any compromise on the quality of the CETP as the future of the leather industry will depend on it,” said Tipu Sultan, managing director of Bengal Leather Complex Ltd.BSCIC should set up an expert committee with representatives from the leather associations to oversee the effluent plant’s construction and operation, he said.“We plan to finish construction of the CETP within a year,” said SN Paul, deputy project director of the BSCIC Leather Estate in Savar.The government will provide Tk 250 crore as compensation to the tannery owners, he said.An inter-ministerial meeting will be held on October 9 to set policy guidelines on how the government will provide compensation and how much money each tanner will receive for factory relocation, he said.The industries ministry has already allocated more than 205 plots on 200 acres to 155 tannery owners through BSCIC, a wing of the ministry.The project, which took off in 2003 at an approximate cost of Tk 175.75 crore, came to a standstill over a decision on who would bear the lion’s share of the cost and get the contract for a CETP.Initially, it was planned that the 155 tanneries would finance 60 percent of the cost and the government the rest.However, it was decided that the government would bear 80 percent of the core project cost of Tk 829 crore, as per the second revised proposal passed by the executive committee of the National Economic Council in August.Since launch, the total project cost has shot up to Tk 1,079 crore, including the Tk 250 crore in compensation to be paid by the government to the tanneries.The government now intends to complete relocation by 2016.The Asia Foundation is working as a facilitator between the government and private sector to complete the relocation process as soon as possible, said Syed A Al-Muti, programme director of the foundation.Abu Eusuf, associate professor of development studies department at Dhaka University, and MA Majed, executive director of Apex Tannery Ltd, also spoke.

Banglalink to offer new surfing experience

BANGLALINK will bring high-speed wireless internet through the 3G technology so the users can get the same surfing experience both at home and outside, Banglalink Chief Executive Officer Ziad Shatara has said.“And we will provide them with the mobility of high-speed internet just like the Wi-Fi they enjoy at office,” he told The Daily Star in an interview.Wi-Fi is a popular wireless service that provides high-speed internet both indoors and outdoors.Shatara also said coverage, service consistency and pricing are the three key factors to the success of 3G.Banglalink will offer different packages for different users depending on the volume of data they want to use, such as e-mail, Facebook, multimedia, mobile television, video streaming or cinema.“The packages should fit the lifestyles of the users rather than 1, 2 or 3 gigabytes of download capacity.”Services will be launched in the dense metro areas and gradually be expanded to other areas, depending on demand, he said.In addition, the country needs contents in Bangla as there are a huge percentage of people who cannot read or write in English; mobile operators are there to just provide internet connectivity.At an auction on September 8, Banglalink, Robi and Airtel each took 5 MHz of spectrum, while Grameenphone took 10 MHz to roll out 3G services.At this point, Banglalink does not see the necessity to purchase 10 MHz, as 5 MHz is enough to provide quality services; the operator will rather invest on network rollout, Shatara said.Banglalink already has huge 2G networking sites in urban areas due to density, so 5 MHz is good enough to provide quality services, he said.With enough sites, it is possible to give quality services with low spectrum, he added.“The 3G auction is not the last one in Bangladesh,” he said. The telecom regulator is looking to hold auctions for the 700 MHz band spectrum in future. The government has 2,600 MHz band that can be used by the mobile operators, he added.However, Banglalink is all set to modernise its network in the next two years to simultaneously offer 2G and 3G services, Shatara said. Swapping the existing infrastructure will come at a price of $240 million.The country’s second largest mobile operator recently signed an agreement with Chinese vendor Huawei to modernise its entire network.By the end of 2014 or early 2015, the upgrade will be completed and the coverage will be expanded. However, expansion is an ongoing process, the Banglalink CEO said.The operator will invest an additional $60 million to build civil structures such as towers to expand coverage in places where it does not have network still.The investment also includes 3G. The operator will take out the existing 2G network and replace it with new equipment that supports both 2G and 3G services. 2G is for voice and narrowband data while 3G provides high-speed data support.“We could have put 3G on top of the existing 2G network, but that is not the right long-term solution as it would cost more in terms of electricity and other resources, like additional antennas.Banglalink will now install single antennas with the networking equipment to provide both the services (2G and 3G).

DU team wins LankaBangla’s contest on capital market research

Two students of Dhaka University yesterday took home the champion’s trophy of the Alpha
Hunters competition initiated by LankaBangla Securities.The stockbroker organised the competition with special focus on capital market research for university students, the company said in a statement.The gala round of the competition was held at the faculty of business studies auditorium on the university campus yesterday.Fariba Fowzia and Farhana Hoque from the finance department of the university became the champions in the competition, TM Nafio Nabi and Kazi Raquib-Ul Huq from North South University became first runner up, and Fuhad Hasan and Mufti Mejbaur Rahman from United International University second runner up.The panel of judges comprised of renowned academician Mahmood Osman Imam, teacher of finance at Dhaka University; Mamun Rashid, vice chairperson of BD Venture, and Shahidul Islam, chief executive officer of VIPB Asset Management.Fifteen universities took part in the competition that involves students presenting investment decision based on company valuation.

Turnover drops to 7-week low

Average turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange dropped to a seven-week low last week as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach due to labour unrest in the garment sector and the precarious political situation.Considered to be the most important indicator of the market’s vitality, it declined 29.47 percent from the previous week to Tk 406 crore.DSEX, the benchmark general index of DSE, too, dropped 84.33 points, or 2.06 per cent, to close the week at 4,013.38 points.Political uncertainty and unrest in RMG sector led the investors to sell shares ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, IDLC Investments said in its weekly market analysis.“The market opened in the negative zone during the week amid the dispute among political parties regarding the coming election,” stated LankaBangla Securities in its weekly market commentary.“Although some buying pressure had been initiated that spurred a short-term rally in small and mid cap stocks, it could not be sustained till the end of the week,” said the stock broker, adding that large cap investors were not particularly in demand and got corrected with the broad index.The stockbroker further said that the short-term downtrend may run out of steam soon seeing that turnover has already reached its seven-week low this week.Of the 298 issues that traded on the DSE floor, 170 declined, 115 advanced and 13 remained unchanged.All the major sectors ended in red, with non-bank financial institution being the biggest loser owing to its 6.21 percent drop. Telecoms, power and pharma were the next worst performing sectors during the week, shedding 3.88 percent, 3.56 percent and 3.21 percent respectively.Banks, however, did not experience any significant movement during the week, but still registered a 0.63 percent loss.CMC Kamal was the top traded stock during the week on account of its transaction of 2.03 crore shares worth Tk 71.44 crore.Rahima Food was the biggest gainer of the week, posting a 50.16 percent rise, while Modern Dyeing and Screen Printing was the worst loser, slumping by 26.81 percent.

Haiti earmarks 10,000 hectares for reforestation

The Haiti government has recently agreed to allocate 10,000 hectares of land to Yunus Social Business (YSB) for using it in reforestation of the Caribbean country.Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus signed a deal with the agriculture minister of Haiti on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on September 25, joined by former US president Bill Clinton and Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe.Haiti Social Business Fund, founded by Prof Yunus, also signed an agreement with Deutsche Bank to receive a loan of $1 million.“This adds to the existing $5 million that the fund has for investment in new social businesses in Haiti,” Yunus Centre said in a statement yesterday.Two very large Haiti social business projects are joint ventures with giant multinational companies, according to the statement.“One is on reforesting the whole of Haiti, which lost virtually all its forest coverage in the last couple of decades.”
Richard Branson through Virgin United and Clinton Foundation together with Haiti Social Business Fund agreed to form a joint venture to accomplish this goal, according to the statement.
Yunus is a member of the Presidential Advisory Council of Haiti which is created to advise Haiti’s President Martelly on economic and social affairs of Haiti.Through his global initiatives arm YSB, Yunus has launched eight social business projects in Haiti. Ten more are in the pipeline.Another large joint venture is shaping up with Brazil Foods (BR Foods) which will produce poultry and create country-wide employment for the rural population of Haiti.Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama honoured Yunus with the lifetime achievement award at a gala dinner, organised by the National Albanian American Council, in New York on Friday.Rama praised the Bangladeshi Nobel laureate for his contribution in helping overcome poverty in Albania and Kosovo.President of Albania and prime ministers of Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, cabinet members of Albania and Kosovo, several US congressmen and business leaders of the Albanian American community in the USA attended the event on the sidelines of the UN meeting.Yunus Social Business has been working in Albania for the last three years.

HSBC honours five exporters

Five leading exporters were recognised yesterday with a prestigious award for their leadership in promoting Bangladesh abroad and contributing to the sustainable economic growth of the country.
Prime Minister’s Energy Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury gave away HSBC Export Excellence Awards to the winners at Radisson Hotel in Dhaka.
DBL Group, one of the fastest growing apparel companies, bagged the award from Group A in the textile and readymade garment category, beating entries from companies with annual export turnover of $50 million or more.
This was the second time the Group was crowned after it won the honour in the first edition of the award in 2010.
Established in 1991, the Group is a 100 percent export-oriented composite knit garments and textiles manufacturer, and exports to 21 countries including India, China, Belgium, and France. It has customers such as H&M, Wal-Mart, Esprit, Puma, G-Star and Decathlon.
In his reaction, Mohammed Abdul Jabbar, managing director of the Group, said: “We are concentrating more and more on sustainable and ethical business practices as part of our vision to make a visible contribution to the GDP of the country by 2020.”
SM Group of Companies Ltd won the award from Group B in the same category among companies with annual export turnover less than $50 million.
Set up in 2001, the enterprise produces a diverse range of knitwear and sends products to 13 countries including Germany, the UK, Canada, the UAE, New Zealand, the USA, Ireland, Brazil and Australia.
Syed AK Anwaruzzaman, managing director of the company, said he would continue to bring more business to Bangladesh.
Chittagong-based Pacific Jeans Group, which specialises in producing premium quality jeans and casual wear, was awarded in the category of Enterprises in the Export Processing Zones of Bangladesh.
Currently the Group, which began journey in 2007, exports to six countries including Japan, the USA, Germany, Spain and Sweden.
Uniglory Cycle Industries Ltd, a sister concern of Meghna Group, came out as the exporter of the year in the traditional and emerging sectors among companies with annual export turnover of $3 million or more.
Bangladesh’s largest bicycle maker, which was established in 2009, exports cycles to nine countries including Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Canada and Italy.
Brain Station-23, which develops enterprise web applications and mobile software, was awarded in the category of small and medium enterprises.
Set up in 2006, it has international clients in eight countries including the USA, Canada, the UK and Denmark.
While selecting the winners, the jury panel has not only considered the export volume but also export diversity, financial stability, compliance and sustainable business practices along with other qualitative criteria, organisers said.
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury congratulated the winners. “We feel particularly inspired by their achievements. Your life stories will be the future story of Bangladesh,” he said.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said exporters have maintained growth resiliently even at the height of the global financial crisis.
“In coping with the current demand weakness in the traditional western markets, the exporters are being supported by the existing government subsidies, and pre-shipment export credit at lower interest rate.”
Rahman said the exporters are also making successful inroads with newer goods and services into newer markets with thrusts in other non-textile and non-apparel export services.
Andrew Tilke, chief executive officer of HSBC Bangladesh, said, “A strong export sector remains a key economic driver for the country. At HSBC, we are pleased to play our part in recognising and encouraging excellence in this sector as well as linking local businesses to global opportunities.”
“When people visit Bangladesh they find world-class business enterprises in the country,” he said, adding that the winners of the awards have proved over the years that the country’s exporters could do world-class business.
Mahbub ur Rahman, head of corporate banking at HSBC Bangladesh, said, “HSBC has strong presence in the world’s major and emerging economies. This is leveraged by the entrepreneurs worldwide to facilitate their international business, especially to address the dynamic and geographically dispersed supply chain.”
The Daily Star, the daily Prothom Alo, internationally recognised audit firm KPMG and Brand Forum are the strategic partners of the annual event.
HSBC, headquartered in London, facilitates around 10 percent of Bangladesh’s international trade.
On the eve of the awards ceremony, Latifur Rahman, chairman and chief executive officer of Transcom Group, said any award is a recognition.
This type of award encourages businesses to achieve higher targets, he said.
“This award is an excellent way of helping the winning companies reach greater heights,” said Rahman, who won the prestigious “OSLO Business for Peace Award” last year.