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Leading News
CNG & People’s Discontents
F. M. Masum and Ainul Haque Royal
The sudden sharp increase in CNG has sparked widespread
discontent and anger among all concerned including
commuters, CNG run vehicles and CNG filling station
owners.
In fact from the very first morning following the CNG
price hike noisy scenes were created due to quarrel
between bus employees and passengers as some bus
conductors realised fare at enhanced rate.
Meanwhile, on Friday drivers of CNG operated three-wheeler
autorickshaws, buses and taxicabs have started charging
excessive fares from the commuters. Defying the government
directives, soon after news of the CNG price hike, all CNG
filling stations suspended its operations for several
hours. But from yesterday early morning, the filling
stations across the country started its operations and
selling the CNG gas as per the rate fixed by the
government.
While this correspondent visited different parts of the
capital, it was observed that the CNG run vehicles
especially the three-wheelers were charging high fares
from the passengers and they refused to move their
vehicles as per the meters rates.
Jahangir Alam, a ticket sellers of Monzil Paribahan, said,
"The CNG price doubled but we are surprised that the
government did not raise the fare. So as per my bus
owner's decision, we are charging high fare from the
passengers".
It was also observed that a ticket of Manzil Paribahan, a
ticket where rate is printed at Tk 18, but following the
Thursday decision, the fare has been increased to Tk 20.
Most people argue that abrupt hike of CNG price is
unjustified because it is totally a domestic production
without having any bearing on oil price rise in
international market.
As soon as the government's decision on price hike of CNG
spread in the city as well across the country on Thursday
night, the CNG run autorickshaws, taxicabs, cars, buses
and other transports rushed to filling stations for
getting CNG. But the owners of the filling stations
shutdown their filling stations before late night.
However, government is yet to fix the fare of CNG operated
transport on Friday. In this connection while talking to
reporters Finance Adviser Mirza AB Azizul Islam said
people will have to endure some suffering.
"Government has been subsiding diesel and other fuel. If
the CNG price is not hiked more tax will have to be
imposed. There is no alternative to increase in CNG price.
So people will have to endure some sorts of sufferings,"
explaining the reasons for the price hike Aziz said price
of energy has to be adjusted in bid to scale down the huge
loss being incurred by the state-owned oil agency
Petrobangla.
The government in its gazette notification said the fares
of CNG-run three wheelers and taxi cabs will be re fixed
soon. But owners of CNG-run buses and trucks would not be
allowed to increase fares as they are already charging
high fares.
On the other hand, while truck owners have started
demanding of the government to increase truck fare
otherwise they would go for tough movement.
"If the government does not increase CNG operated
passenger buses and coaches fare, we will have to close
down our business. On the other hand, if we take any step
against government's decision, we will be arrested and
then sent to jail. Hearing the sudden news of price hike,
frustrations and disappointment have gripped us. We are
feeling hopeless as how and in which way we will continue
our transport business," Awlad Hossian Raza, owner of Raza
city service told The Bangladesh Today.
It may be pointed out that the energy ministry division in
a statement said the CNG price was last increased in June
2005 when the price was set at Tk 8.50 or about a fourth
of the price of a litre of octane, Tk 35, at the time.
As the CNG price was directly related to transport cost,
sufferings of the people specially the low income group
will be intensified further, people from all walks life
opined while talking to this correspondent.
"When poor and the low income groups who depend on monthly
or daily earning are now faced with severe financial
hardships struggling to bridge the gap between their
income and expenditure, sudden price hike of CNG,
skyrocketing price of essentials, price hike of water,
electricity and house rent are putting a burden quite
unbearable for us," they said.
Govt informal talks with BNP uncertain
No dialogue without Khaleda: Hannan Shah
We'll join next polls : Saifur Rahman
Staff Correspondent
The much-talked-about government-sponsored informal talks
with the mainstream BNP has become uncertain as the
military-controlled government has postponed its dialogue
for an indefinite period which was known to be scheduled
for today (Saturday).
Earlier, the government had postponed the
much-talked-about informal dialogue with the BNP that was
scheduled to be held last Wednesday. The meeting with BNP
was postponed due to an impromptu meeting of the advisory
council on that very day.
"Last communications with the advisers was made on
Wednesday and they did not communicate with us later, so
we cannot say whether or not the postponed informal talks
would be held on Saturday," BNP acting Office Secretary
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed told this correspondent.
When contacted on Friday evening, Commerce and Education
Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, who is in charge of
arranging informal talks with the political parties,
declined to comment anything on the issue.
Sources said, "On Wednesday, Hossain Zillur gave no
specific time to hold the talks, he just said, the meeting
could not be held for an unavoidable reason. When Delwar
Hossain insisted for holding the talks on Saturday,
without giving any specific date Zillur replied we will
sit at any convenient time."
According to sources in the government, the government is
not interested to hold the talks with the loyalist faction
right now as holding dialogue with Khandoker Delwar
Hossain might embarrass the EC as it is going to hold its
long-pending dialogue with a splinter group of BNP on
April 27 disregarding the letter of five standing
committee members of BNP. However, Zillur claimed that the
EC's invitation to the BNP's faction would not stand in
the way of dialogues between the government and other
political parties.
Meanwhile, briefing newsmen, acting Chairperson of the
pro-government reformist splinter of BNP M Saifur Rahman
reiterated that his faction will join the next polls and
it is immaterial whether or not the conformists boycott
the general election.
On the other hand, BNP Chairperson's adviser Brig (retd)
ASM Hannan Shah said, the BNP would not join the
government-sponsored formal dialogue if their detained
Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is not released before
holding the dialogue.
Hannan Shah once again launched a blistering attack on the
EC saying, "the EC has lost its credibility and no fair
and free election can be held under this set up of the
commission. The EC joining hand with the government is
trying to implement the blue-print of holding a farcical
election."
Wide-spread corruption in education disastrous: Dr. Akbar
Ali
Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh will face a disaster if immediate steps are not
taken to eradicate corruption from the education sector
observed economists, educationists, journalists and
political leaders at discussion on Friday.
"Widespread corruption has engulfed the education sector.
Corruption and irregularities has not been rooted out from
this sector in last few decades. Due to massive corruption
of this sector, people can't realizes what is right and
what is wrong. If immediate steps are not taken to stamp
out corruption from this, the nation may face a great
problem. Corruption of education sector is responsible for
engulfing corruption in others sectors," said Akbar Ali, a
former adviser of the caretaker government.
Describing the reasons for massive corruption in education
sector, Akbar Ali said, "The dishonest and wicked persons
are holding the important posts of the education sector
and the honest persons are being oppressed regularly in
the country. This is one of the most important reasons
behind the massive corruption in our country."
He also said, "Most of the private education institutions
are too much commercial in our country. The government
should not allow any business house to be registered with
the concerned ministry owning any educational
institutions. A rating system should be introduced
immediately to maintain standard education of the private
universities as there are a lot of allegations against
those universities."
Akbar Ali underscored the need for introducing a life long
education system saying, "the advanced world has
introduced the life long education while we are still
following traditional education system, so the government
should take steps for introducing a world class education
system."
Speaking at the discussion, former Open University VC
Shamser Ali said, "The Authority should recast our primary
and secondary education systems for promoting a standard
education. Besides, the teachers should be provided all
types of facilities including increasing their salaries,
providing wages at the due time and so on."
The speakers also stressed the need for creating a
'knowledge-network' across the country with the help of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to build a
conscious society.
China
wants bigger role in Bangladesh development
Staff Correspondent
China wants to get involved in larger projects including
Rooppur Nuclear power plant.
This was disclosed by the Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi at Zia International Airport before leaving Dhaka
for Islamabad after a two-day visit to Bangladesh on
Friday.
"China has shown keen interest in even a bigger role in
the development of Bangladesh. They want to get involved
in larger projects like Rooppur Nuclear power plant.
Bangladesh-China peaceful nuclear power cooperation can be
built on the China-Pakistan model as China wanted to get
involved in the project. Besides our governments signed
letter of exchange to construct an Exhibition Centre in
Bangladesh. Furthermore, he has offered to us a 60 million
yean free grant for this year," Foreign Adviser Iftekhar
Ahmed Chowdhury told reporter while seeing off his
counterpart at the ZIA.
Foreign Adviser said Bangladesh and China are partners in
the new Asian Age and the visit of Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi will further cement this relationship. "Our
friendship is rooted in history, but like all friendship
relationships between nations have also to be renewed and
reinvigorated from time to time, and this visit was an
occasion to do just that," he added.
In reply to a query, the Foreign Adviser remarked: "We
have told him of our One-China policy. We have said
matters pertaining to Tibet are internal affairs of China.
We have agreed to forthcoming Olympics in Beijing will be
an occasion of pride for all Asians and must not be
politicised."
Iftekhar Chowdhury went on to say: "We discussed regional
and international politics as well. I have explained to
him the warmth of our relations with India and Pakistan,
and the growing cooperation with all SAARC countries. Very
importantly we have talked about going ahead with the idea
of a tripartite understanding among Bangladesh, Myanmar
and China regarding a road linkage, something that I had
raised with him earlier at a bilateral meeting in Manila."
Asked about Chinese view on the Caretaker Government's
performance, the Foreign Adviser said: "Minister Yang
Jiechi has lauded it. I have told him we have scheduled
elections for December, and he was pleased with the
progress of our Road Map leading to it. In the meantime,
he was deeply satisfied with Bangladesh's international
role as a peace-loving and stabilizing force."
Iftekhar Chowdhury concluded by saying: "We both
recognized that in the dawning of this new Asian Age we
both have responsibilities. We must bring our peoples a
much better quality of life as we are doing. We must
provide each other mutual help. A new chapter in the
history of the world has begun."
The Chinese Foreign Minister has conveyed invitation to
Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed on behalf of the Chinese
Prime Minister. "We will need to work out the details,"
the Foreign Adviser observed with regard to the schedules
of such visits.
UNB, Dhaka adds: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on
Friday said military to military cooperation is an
important part of overall bilateral relation between
Bangladesh and China.
Jiechi, who met Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed in the
morning, made the remark to journalists prior to his
departure for Pakistan ending a 2-day official visit to
Bangladesh.
During the meeting, they discussed exchange of training
programmes of military personnel of the two countries.
Jiechi conveyed greetings of the Chinese Defence Minister
and the Chief of Army to Gen Moeen.
Bangladesh is a traditional importer of the Chinese
military hardware.
CPA
observes 120th ‘Port Day’
BSS, CHITTAGONG
Historic Chittagong Port, the country's principal seaport
observed 120th 'Port Day' on Friday with a brief programme
pledging to maintain the current pace of productivity and
development resulted from a massive reforms initiated by
the present caretaker government.
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) observes 'Port Day' on
April 25 each year as the port get institutionalized for
the first time through enactment of Port Commissioner's
Act in 1887 which was introduced on 25th April 1888.
The appointed Commissioner started functioning from the
same year. The 3-day programme undertaken by the CPA on
this occasion inaugurated yesterday morning through
hoisting of national and port flag a top at the port
bhavan and 3-minute long blowing of whistles at all
stationery ships at port harbour.
CPA chairman Commodore Muhammad Faruq inaugurated formally
the programme.
Other programmes include blood donation by the CPA
employees at port hospital yesterday, serving improved
diet to the patients at hospital and doa mahfil at mosques
, temples and monastery under the jurisdiction of CPA on
Friday.
Mirza Aziz defends hike in CNG price
Bdnews24, Dhaka
Finance
adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam said on Friday a hefty
allocation of subsidy financed by loans would hurt the
economy in the long run.
The adviser's comment came a day after the government
almost doubled the prices of CNG, ending a four-year-old
rate.
"If the government would have kept financing subsidy at
the same rate as before without increasing the prices of
CNG it would have a long-term effect on the economy,"
Mirza Aziz said.
"For subsidy, the government either fixes tax at higher
rates or take more loans," the adviser told reporters
after inaugurating a day-long seminar on "Official
statistics-collection and dissemination" at the auditorium
of the National Economic Council.
"We are giving high subsidy in different sectors,
including gas and fertiliser. The rate of subsidy in our
country is higher than in many neighbouring countries. In
the current fiscal year, about Tk 6,000 crore was
allocated for subsidy, but the amount was hiked to about
Tk 12,000 crore."
Replying to a question, the adviser said he would request
the authorities so that CNG autorickshaw drivers do not
charge higher than fixed fares.
The government on Thursday increased the prices of CNG
from Tk 8.50 to Tk 16.75 per cubic metre, effective from
on Friday.
During the inauguration of the seminar, Mirza Aziz said:
"Statistics are not only figures. They have a greater
purpose. We can get information from different fields
through statistics. Researchers and policymakers can use
this information."
"Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has been assisting as a
government agency. Though Bangladesh Bank and other
agencies give some information, the Bureau of Statistics
is the strongest," the adviser said.
Mirza Aziz urged the BBS to emphasise three issues: quick
publication of statistics, scientific collection of data
and objectivity.
Bangladesh Statistical Association organised the seminar,
chaired by its president Kazi Mofizur Rahman.
Back Page
Rice price stable
Edible Oil price rises by Tk 10 per kg
F.M. Masum
The prices of most items of
both coarse and fine rice remains unchanged at different
retail and wholesale markets in the capital yesterday
while price of edible oil has rocketed by Tk 10 per kg in
the capital and elsewhere the country.
Despite the arrival of Boro harvesting, the rice price is
yet to decline in the capital kitchen markets, rather the
traders feared if the government increase the fuel price,
the rice price would go further up.
Meanwhile, while asked about the recent abnormal edible
oil price hike, a whole seller in the city's Naybazar
market, who wanted not to be named, said, "Export of
edible oil to India by a section of traders, violating
Government restriction, is the main cause of abnormal
price hike of the essential in the local market. In spite
of Government restrictions on the export of edible oil
from the country, a section of businessmen are exporting a
huge quantity of edible oil to India."
Traders said that the price would come down continuously
in the coming days as the arrival of much anticipated Boro
rice would help the price to decline and the sufferings of
the people would be relieved. But defying all the
government measures the price of edible oil has posted a
record high as yesterday it was selling at Tk 115 per kg
in the city markets. Besides, the prices of some items of
vegetables has also have come down sharply and prices of
other of other daily commodities remain unchanged.
Meanwhile, in the retail markets the price of some items
of local rice is coming down slowly while in the whole
sale market the price has gone down significantly and the
price of fine rice also came down slightly in both retail
and wholesale market.
Yesterday, coarse rice like Lata was selling between Tk 32
and Tk 33 per kg, Pari Tk 32 and Tk 33 per kg, fine
quality Najirshail Tk 39 and Tk 43, miniket at Tk 39 and
Tk 44 per kg. Besides, a kg of coarse rice like Swarna,
Parija and BR 29 was selling for Tk 33 to Tk 37 on Friday.
Meanwhile, the price of edible oil and lentils also rose
as yesterday lentils was selling at Tk 95 per kg and in
the retail markets.
Yesterday, Green chilli was selling at Tk 16 per kg, up by
Tk 6 per kg compared to that of previous week. The price
of various items of fish is still remains at their high as
yesterday Ruhi was selling at Tk 180-220 per kg, Hilsha at
Tk 320 per kg. Beef was selling at Tk 180 per kg.
Yesterday, both imported and local onion was selling at Tk
20 per kg, imported lentils at Tk 85, flour at Tk 43 per
kg. Potato was selling at Tk 13, cucumber at Tk 14, Patal
at Tk 26 per kg tomato at Tk 26, Korola at tk 20 per kg,
bean at Tk 24 per kg.
Frozen
foods exports increase
Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh witnessed a rapid progression of frozen food
exports over the period of first eight months of the year
2007-08 compared with the corresponding period last year.
According to an Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics,
exports of frozen shrimp and fish increased by 5.75
percent during the first eight months of the current
fiscal against the same period last year. Bangladesh
earned around US 37.19 crore dollars by exporting frozen
foods abroad during the period from July to February of
the current fiscal year.
The country exported some 44,083 metric tonns of shrimp
and fish worth Taka 1,923.32 crore during the period of
July to December of the current fiscal.
Over the fiscal year 2006-07, the country's total shrimp
and fish exports amounted to Taka 3,558.78 crore Exports
of frozen foods abroad from Bangladesh totalled around
Taka 3,085.65 crore in the fiscal 2005-06. The value of
exports of shrimp and fish reached Taka 2,587.98 crore
during the fiscal 2004-05 while the frozen food exports
worth Taka 2,300.92 crore in the previous fiscal. In the
year 2002-03, the amount of export earnings of the
country's frozen foods sector was Taka 1,863.27 crore
while the shrimp and fish exports amounted to Taka
1,585.14 crore in the preceding fiscal.
During the period from 1997-98 to 2000-01, the value of
frozen food exports increased every year, said the EPB
statistics. In 1997-98, the country exported shrimp and
fish worth Taka 1,333.12 crore and the amount of value of
frozen food exports increased from Taka 1,316.15 crore in
1998-99 to Taka 1,957.99 crore in the fiscal 2000-01.
Talking to The Bangladesh Today, BFFEA executive director
Abul Bashar said, a BFEEA delegation led by its president
is in Brussels to attend the "European Sea foods
Exposition-2008" there. The three-day-long international
sea foods fair began on April 22 last. The BFFEA
delegation consist of 40 frozen exporters from around 29
shrimp and fish exporting organization.
Committee on VRS of Biman officials find irregularities
UNB, Dhaka
The committee, formed to review the applications of Biman
employees who went on retirement under the Voluntary
Retirement Scheme (VRS) and now want their jobs back,
found irregularities that included direct or indirect
threat from Biman high officials.
The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry formed the
three-member committee on January 2 asking for its report
within two weeks. Later, the deadline was extended. Civil
Aviation and Tourism joint secretary Fakhrul Islam was
made convenor of the committee while Biman finance
director Muhammad Tahir Hossain as member and Civil
Aviation and Tourism deputy secretary M Majibur Rahman the
member- secretary. The committee was asked to find out
whether there were any irregularities in the VRS process.
"We've found that there was direct or indirect threat on
some Biman officials to go for VRS," a member of the
committee told UNB.
In its report, the committee said one or more high
officials of the Biman hang a list that mentioned the name
of Biman officials for VRS.
"We got indication that one or more high officials of the
Biman asked indirectly the persons whose names were on the
list to go for VRS, else deprived from their benefits or
be sacked," the committee member said.
The Biman authorities last year had planned to cut 1,593
jobs in its eight departments to trim its manpower to
3,400 from about 5,000. The eight departments are Customer
Service, Engineering, Project and Planning,
Administration, Finance, Store and Purchase, Flight
Operation, and Marketing and Sales. Accordingly, the
authorities had invited applications on June 4 last year
from its employees willing to go on retirement under the
VRS plan.
As of June 20 last year, some 2,267 employees submitted
their applications for the voluntary retirement, but most
of them alleged that they were forced to sign the printed
VRS form of retirement. As the number of applicants
exceeded the number of the planned job cut, the government
formed a committee, headed by Biman managing director MA
Momen, to make a short list. The committee finalised a
list of 1,877 employees of different departments for the
voluntary retirement, a programme that was called 'golden
handshake'. The voluntary retirement-seekers later drew
their designated retirement benefits. Later, over 500
Biman employees who already went on retirement under the
VRS made an appeal to the government that they had to
accept the VRS amid threats by some high officials. The
Civil Aviation Authority formed the inquiry committee
following the appeal.
Meanwhile, on March 25, the High Court issued an interim
injunction on contractual appointment of flight
stewardesses by Bangladesh Biman Airlines Ltd for its
aircraft. A High Court Division Bench, headed by Justice
Syed Mahmud Hossain, issued the interim injunction
following a writ petition challenging the legality of
Biman's impugned action on initiating contractual
appointment of Flight Stewardesses before submission of
its review board report. Ferdousi Begum Karnaj and six
others, who were allegedly forced to retire under the
voluntary retirement scheme last year, had filed the writ
petition. The court also issued a rule upon the Biman
Bangladesh Airlines Ltd in this regard. This impugned
action of Biman aggrieved VRS staff that prompted them to
move to the High Court seeking redress.
Finance Adviser for sub-contracting among industries
UNB, Dhaka
Finance Adviser Dr ABM Mirza
Azizul Islam on Friday called for sub-contracting among
the big and small industries to make micro
entrepreneurship a key driver of the mainstream economy.
The finance adviser came up with the idea while addressing
the inaugural ceremony of a five-day Micro Credit Fair of
Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) at the
Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre here.
"Small industries can work as the component suppliers of
the big industries through sub-contracting. Such joint
ventures will make the small enterprises more sustainable
and turn it into an inevitable part of the mainstream
economy," Dr Mirza said.
He said micro-credit has been playing a successful role in
poverty alleviation. "It has especially performed the most
effective role after the last year's devastating floods
and Sidr (attack)." The finance adviser urged the micro
enterprises to work strongly to convince the people to
change their food habit, as it will be a good step for
ensuring the country's food security. Dr Mirza laid
emphasis on proper marketing of the micro-credit products
and said the government will continue to finance micro
entrepreneurship in the country. He said PKSF has shown
multidimensional use of micro-credit that has opened the
eyes of the country's poor and distressed people. Chaired
by PKSF president Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud, the inaugural
session was also addressed by its director general Dr Kazi
Mesbahuddin Ahmed.
Crime
Four
persons get death sentence
A Correspondent, Lakshmipur
Four persons were sentenced to death in a murder case
here on Thursday.
Additional district and sessions Judge of special
tribunal AKM Zahirul Alam pronounced the verdict. The
court also fined them Tk 20,000 each.
The convicts are, Mohammad Hanif and his son, Khurshed
Alam Sagar, nephew of the victim, Korban Ali Liton, and
Anwar Hossain Jahid.
The prosecution story, in brief, is that the victim,
Mohammad Yousuf, was killed by his nephew Khurshed Alam
Sagar and others while he was returning home from
Poddarbazar at 11:00 pm on January 19 in 2002.
Husband kills wife
UNB, Sirajganj
A housewife was beaten to death allegedly by her husband
at Shialkhol village in Sadar upazila early Friday.
Police said Abdul Alim beat his wife Razeda, 23,
mercilessly to death at dead of night following a family
feud.
On information, police recovered the body in the morning
and sent it to hospital morgue for autopsy.
One more held attacking CEC's building in Faridpur
A Correspondent, Faridpur
Another one activist of Jatiya Chattra Dal (JCD),
student wing of BNP, Faridpur was arrested on Thursday
for the alleged involvement in attacking the commercial
building of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Samsul
Huda.
Kotwali police arrested Jakir Hossen Jewel, JCD leader,
from his Tepakhola residence of the town. Total three
local JCD leaders have been arrested in this connection
till Friday.
On Wednesday police arrested Murad Hossen Jewel, vice
president of Faridpur district Chattra Dal and Moklesur
Rahaman, former VP of Govt Yasin College for the alleged
involvement of ransacking the commercial building of CEC
at Jhiltuli of the town.
Sub inspector Md Hemayet Hossen filed a case accusing 17
persons in emergency act. The arrested two persons were
produced before chief judicial magistrate court and five
days remand was asked by the police. Court decided April
27 for hearing and ordered them to be sent to jail.
Jakir Hossen, second officer of Kotwali thana, said we
they were trying to net the criminals as soon as
possible.
On Wednesday, the protesters chanted slogan against CEC
and pelted the building with brickbats damaging a sign
board of a branch of IFC Bank on the first floor of the
building protesting the Election Commission's invitation
to Major (Retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed, acting secretary
general of Saifur's loyalists for talks instead of
Khaleda Zia appointed secretary general Khandaker Delwar
Hossain.
Teenage boy awarded life for murder
UNB, Comilla
A court here Thursday convicted a teenage boy and
awarded him life term imprisonment for killing another
boy following past enmity.
The court also fined the convict, Joynal, Tk 10,000, in
default, to suffer one year more RI.
He was also awarded three years imprisonment in another
section for hiding the body and fined Tk 1000, in
default, to suffer six months more RI.
According to the prosecution, M Rubel, 19, son of Abdus
Salam, of Shalghar village in Devidwar upazila, went
missing on December 3, 2003. His body was recovered from
a water body after eight days of missing.
A case was filed and police arrested Joynal, 19,
suspecting his involvement with the murder. Later,
Joynal confessed that he killed Rubel as he was fined Tk
800 in a village arbitration as per the evidence of
Rubel. The prison sentences will run concurrently.
Youth killed
UNB, Keraniganj
The slaughtered body of a young man was recovered from
Islamabad Balurmath area here on Friday morning. The
victim was identified as Liakat, 22, son of local
Ansar-VDP commander Abdul Majid of Dakkhin Keraniganj
thana. Family sources said Liakat was called out from
his residence at about 7:00 pm Thursday by his friends
but he did not return home throughout the night. Local
people found his slaughtered body at about 8am today and
informed the police. Later, police recovered the body
and sent it to hospital morgue for autopsy. Majid said
his son Liakat had a quarrel with his friends over a
mobile phone a week ago and that might be the reason
behind the murder. A case was filed.
Man found dead
A Correspondent, Comilla
Police recovered a body of an unidentified man at
Kalilpur village in Debidwer upazila on Friday early
morning. The police said, they had recovered the body of
the man wearing longi (loin clothes) from an onion
filed.
The body was sent to the Comilla Medical College
Hospital morgue for a post-mortem. An unnatural death (UD)
case was filed.
TR wheat seized
UNB, Pirojpur
Around 1,950 maunds of government wheat worth Tk 30 lakh
were seized by RAB and police from Bhandaria Bandar in
the district on Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Acting on secret information, the law enforcers seized a
truck at the Bandar bazaar while the wheat of food for
works and test relief (TR) projects was being secretly
loaded on it Tuesday night. Later, RAB conducted raid at
Chal Patti of the bazaar next morning and recovered 918
sacks of wheat, kept for sale in the black market.
Stolen aluminum wires worth Tk 2cr recovered
A Correspondent, Chittagong
Huge volume of stolen electrical wires of about Tk two
crore were recovered on last Wednesday from a factory,
M/S. Sabbir Metal Works, in Kalurghat Heavy Industrial
Area under Chandgaon Thana and 13 persons were arrested
including the manager of the factory in this connection.
Sources said the owner of the factory is Nurul Alam
Chowdhury of Hathazari. Acting on a tip-off, a team of
RAB-7 raided the factory at 1:00 pm and recovered a huge
stock of stolen electric wires from its godown.
The arrested were Md. Kashem, 50, of Shonagazi, Feni,
Sri Odeer, 55, Sri Onil, 65, and Milon, 32, of Patiya,
Sohrab, 40, and Mubarak Ali, 28, of Gopalgonj, Abul
Kashem, 40, and Sohel, 22, of Chowmuhoni, Chittagong,
Abul Hashem, 43, of Satkania, Ansar Ali Bokul, 35, of
Noahkhali, Jashim Mia, 25, of Comilla, Abdul Huq, 55, of
Chandpur and Sri Sukumar Poddar, 65, of Comilla. The
recovery was the ever largest till of its kind Friday.
One held with phensidyl
A Correspondent, Comilla
Police seized 189 bottles of smuggled phensidyl and
arrested one drug-peddler from Sultanpur in Sadar Dakkin
upazila on Thursday night.
The arrestee was identified as Humayan, 28, of Sultanpur
village in Sadar Dakkin upazila. Acting on a tip-off a
team raided the area and seized the illegal item and
arrested Humayan.
Police sources said, Humayan has been peddling drugs in
the area since long. A case was filed.
RAB seize date-expired medicine in Jhenaidah
UNB, Jhenaidah
Rapid Action Battalion seized some date-expired and
sub-standard medicines, worth Tk 3 lakh, from a bus near
BISCIC industrial area in Sadar Upazila on Friday. The
RAB men searched a Dhaka-bound coach at their check post
on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway and seized the drugs. They
also held one Abdul Bari for possessing the drug. The
elite force also held two youths, Uzzal and Raju, and
recovered 300 bottles of phensidyl syrup from their
possessions.
Fertiliser sized
A Correspondent, Faridpur
Police sized twenty two sacks of urea fertilisers in the
Girl's Collage area in Boalmari municipality in Faridpur
on Thursday evening. On secret information, Boalmari
thana police in a drive on the Boalmari-Madhukhali by
pass road under Boalmari municipality, sized the item
from a Nosimon Van.
Editorial
No Bail in EPR Cases
On
23 April 2008, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court
struck down a High Court ruling empowering itself with the
jurisdiction of disposing of bail petitions in criminal cases
being tried under EPR. This act by the Appellate Division
annoyed a lot of people, chief among whom are lawyers and
politicians who view the judgment as a violation of human
rights, of fundamental rights and of the Constitution. Some
would go as far as to say that the Supreme Court was,
"snatching away the inherent jurisdiction of the
constitutional court" since one arm of the Supreme Court, the
Appellate Division is seen as emasculating the other arm, the
High Court. Be that as it may, as usual there are always two
sides to an issue, particularly when that issue touches upon
broader perspectives of Justice and of Politics.
We had, on a previous occasion pointed out the relationship
between Politics and Justice; we would like to repeat that
here. Ultimately, the question of Justice is a political
question because it is the politicians, sitting in a
Parliament, who make, unmake and amend the Constitution, the
fountainhead of all laws. The Constitution, broadly defines
what is just and unjust in a nation-state or a state. But
Justice in action is always in accordance with some laws.
Whether these laws are grounded in consensus or societal
norms, they are supposed to ensure that all members of a state
receive fair treatment. Issues of Justice arise in several
different spheres and play a significant role in ordering a
state. Each of the different spheres expresses the principles
of Justice and fairness in its own way, resulting in different
types and concepts of Justice such as: Distributive,
Procedural, Retributive and Restorative. These types of
Justice have overriding implications for social, economic,
political, civil and criminal laws both at national and
international levels.
Coming to the specific issue of "No bail in EPR cases", it
seems clear that many, which include lawyers, are emphasizing
more on Procedural and Restorative aspects of Justice rather
than on Distributive and Retributive aspects of it. The
Presidential Ordinance, which put the EPRs into effect, says,
"Regardless of whatever is stated in sections 497 and 498 of
the CrPC or any other law, an accused under the EPR will not
be released on bail during the inquiry, investigation and
trial of the case against the person". The people who have
largely been affected by EPRs are politician, businessmen and
bureaucrats who are alleged and have been charged with looting
both private and public wealth by distorting and corrupting
every core and key institutions of the State; many of them
have already been sentenced to various prison terms. Under the
circumstance it is difficult to see how Justice is served by
allowing such people to go out on bail and use their
considerable financial and political clouts to escape
retribution which an aghast, disturbed, angry and frustrated
Nation is demanding. One has also got to remember that these
few score of people had held the entire Nation of 150 million
hostages to their politics of loot and exploitation which
ultimately led to this Emergency, welcomed with open arms by
the common people when it was imposed on 11 January 2007. The
"bail" issue is thus itself non-bailable and much ado about
nothing. Moreover, the EPRs are time and condition bound; they
are not the normal laws of the land and will become invalid as
soon as the Emergency has been withdrawn, prior to or after
the elections to be held this year. So, one really does not
see what the lawyers or the clients, in jail now, have to
worry about.
Leaving the people naked again
Not only are the
people yearning for a Bangladesh where people in power cannot
betray and abuse them, rob them, and leave them alone in
helplessness and fear, but also they have a positive, though
long worn, expectation for a prosperous country wherein they
and their children can flourish and lead lives in good
physical and economical health, peace, security and dignity.
These basic wants should not have arisen or sought after,
after nearly 37 years on from our independence. Because the
people have been 'man-handled' until now, they have
internalized 'man-handling' as a part of life, profession and
progress. Mostly all valued and learned sectors and
institutions have found only one way to achieve empowerment
for themselves in these past 37 years, and that has been to
affiliate oneself with national politics along party lines, be
it the lawyers, doctors and other professions too. People who
have been systematically man-handled for so long would of
course forget to dream the good life. A time has come again,
after 1971, a revolutionary situation, where people can be
full of hope again, where the light towards a future can be
made a reality. And there are people who have been awaking
other people who had given-up, to this hope. Though the
socio-economic and political hardships that we as a nation are
facing during this time of the present government, the
awakening is there to some extent but it is thwarted. However,
the picture which looked bright in the early strokes of the
brush may not be turning out as good as expected or so it
seems. The most pertinent issue in question seems to be that
of the resurgence of the dethroned pseudo-masters.
Specifically, those convicted of crime at the Special
tribunals may be all released on appeal. Yes of course they
have every right to be released on failings of proving the
cases by the prosecution. Who shall question the partiality of
the Courts wherein judges' appointments have been political
and even the Supreme Court Bar Association has been holding
elections along political affiliations. The question of system
or institutional reform/de-politicization/credibility comes to
the fore, where this government has achieved nothing.
Wherefore upon their exit, they shall be leaving the people
naked again, without even any alternatives.
Analysis
Democracy in Bangladesh: Spinning its
fate
Obviously, the calls to release Hasina and
Khaleda shall intensify in coming days that could shape
Bangladesh national politics before December 2008 election.
Mohammad Gani
Should
"Lipton" employees be allowed to take "coffee" breaks? I am
not so sure but one of my close "colossal Awami League
friends" recently gave me bitter taste of one! He took me to
task very unkindly down to the Hell; and you know if you are
in the Hell and become mad at someone, where do you tell him
to go? So, I let it be his turn this time! I saw him almost
choked with supersaturated steams of anger (at me), then
exploded by saying; "Why are you so rude and mean to our two
undisputed "National Assets" Hasina and Khaleda? Don't you
know anything good to say about them? When or would you ever
be supportive to Hasina or Khaleda, etc…" I hardly managed to
stop him and have never seen him so tense. So, I had to pet
him for a while!
I then politely said to him, "My friend! Look, 150 million
-Adams- of Bangladesh have been thrown out to the Hell because
of only the bad deeds of your two -Eves-!" Albeit, I have
things good to say about them; let's see, Hasina and Khaleda
have uncommon convictions and exceptional devotions for Holy
places Mecca and Medina, performing frequent Hajj (except
during internment), praying 10+ times a day during their
entire political (public) life which you would rarely find
even in our hard line religious clerics /Imams . I also must
take my hat off to honor their collaborated accomplishments in
chasing away another inimitable superstar, romantic General
Alhaj H. M. Ershad from power. Supporting them? Sure I would;
but only "water boarding" could possibly make me support
Hasina or Khaleda!
I then told my friend a friendly American story and asked him
to please multiply his conclusion on this story by 150,000,000
(equals Bangladesh population) to get an estimated conclusion
in context to our native Bangladesh politicians. Here is the
story;
Eight-year-old Patrick really wanted $100 to buy a new bike,
so he decided to write a letter to God requesting the $100. He
addresses it to God, USA.
When the postal authorities received the letter, they decided
to send it to the President. The President was impressed,
touched, and amused by Billy's letter, but he thought $100
would be a bit much for a small boy, along with the
possibility that he might not even be able to comprehend such
a large amount. So he instructed his secretary to send Patrick
a $10.00 bill.
Patrick was delighted with the $10.00, so he sat down to write
a thank you note to God. It read, "Dear God, Thank you very
much for sending the money However, I noticed that for some
reason, you had to send it through Washington D.C., and as
usual, those crooks deducted most of it. I'm out $90.00!"
After listening to this story, my tense friend abruptly shut
the door, I do not know for how long! But the truth is, no
matter how we spin recalcitrant Hasina and Khaleda; they have
been and shall remain as disgraces in our national history of
politics and by all means.
Now, turning the wheels to the reality show in Bangladesh
politics; our hard line Care Taker Government and frustrated
politicians finally started talking about talking! Indeed,
communication is the best strategy in resolving issues of
conflicts, especially so important for this impoverished
nation during these "dying" moments. But what exactly have
they been accomplishing or talking about are still in doubt.
What we know and hear about are the only lamenting clips of
the developing story and there are so many unknown and beyond,
those we shall never know and remain as the "top secret"
elements of the deal and dialogue.
Obviously, the calls to release Hasina and Khaleda shall
intensify in coming days that could shape Bangladesh national
politics before December 2008 election. AL/BNP shall continue
launching rockets but privately importuning Care Taker
Government for the release of Hasina and Khaleda as well as
for lifting Emergency before election. Often, they (AL/BNP)
shall play hard ball to the Care Taker Government with their
so called absolute threats of not joining the national
election unless these demands are met! However, Care Taker
Government "shall" not give in to AL/BNP demand of releasing
Hasina and Khaleda except easing some restrictions (emergency)
but not entirely lifting it.
These head on collisions shall lead to several new
developments; either no winning situation or all parties
declaring victories out of the dialogues. In either case, Care
Taker Government shall remain unyielding on the demand of
releasing AL/BNP chief (s) or at least shall secure and make
sure that these two assets do not become part of the next
democratically elected Government or in any form of Government
for one 5 year term.
Possible upcoming scenarios:
(1) If AL/BNP dialogues with Care taker Government fails,
creation of a National Unity Government of all parties could
be a possibility (no election!) and of course without Hasina
and Khaleda. Care Taker Government is well aware of and has
fears that "free Hasina and Khaleda" would become more
aggressive to take vengeance on the Care Taker Government
instead of any constructive engagement in nation's political
process and it is absolutely true too!
(2) Government could also consider releasing Hasina and
Khaleda only "on bail" for the showbiz of campaigning only
during the election but would not be allowed to run (on legal
grounds). Their "free" freedom could be risky political game
and end up pulling the nation back again to pre 1/11 anarchism
of unruly and hostile "Oborodh" and "Lagathar Hartal".
(3) AL/BNP (faction) shall take all furtive attempts for
Hasina/Khaleda's freedom before the election but ultimately
shall be abortive and could jointly decide to go to the
election for strategic reason. A quixotic coalition government
of "AL/BNP" is a possibility to get Hasina /Khaleda and their
lieutenants freed, also stymieing the rise of Ershad and
Jamaat.
(4) Ershad (JP) and diffident Jamaat would be very "powerful
bidders" during this political process that could be a
daunting challenge to both AL/BNP. Mercurial Ershad, a "pet
enemy" of extra-constitutional rule shall become a "Loyal
family enemy" of Care Taker Government and occasionally raise
"fake voices" against CTG. Shrewd Jamaat shall be playing
trump cards and committing political misdemeanors; shall start
surfing around the nation dumping alleged baggage's of Hasina
and Khaleda to our backyards; an ubiquity of campaign to win
peoples heart (votes). Thus, Ershad (JP) and Jamaat could even
form the next democratically elected government that may
protect the interest and plans of the Care Taker Government.
However, a Jamaat led government in Bangladesh shall not only
construe surrendering nation's freedom to its enemy, but would
also bring utmost and disgraceful humiliations to the dreams,
spirits and vision of our freedom. Once our freedom goes to
the wrong hand (Jamaat), it would be an irrevocable turning
point of juncture in nation history of independence.
Obviously, AL/BNP shall not give them any free ride nor shall
allow and/or accept this to happen regardless of a "free and
fair election" or not. The denouements of all acerbic
political discontents could lead to swiftly wiping out any
legitimate "representative Governments" and be replaced by an
emerging mass representatives totalitarian one, more
"illegitimate and brutal" than this ephemeral Care Taker
Government. During the preliminary stages of these ostensible
developments, a national unity Government could be the best
available option; a defective and precipitate alternative of
democratic government during any untoward political crisis.
AL/BNP, at least during those moments, shall prefer to embrace
a dictatorial administration over virulent Jamaat/JP "elected
government". That could be a diabolical testing point for both
AL/BNP of their democratic minds.
And finally, the losers will always be the 150 Million people
of Bangladesh for any/all destiny of our democracy that shall
again extirpate our future dreams and hopes. Madam Hasina and
Khaleda along with their chauvinists shall spare no pain to
exacerbate the situation to that direction and shall perform
all the ground works they need, as they indeed did immediately
before 1/11/2007.
(Mohammad Gani is a freelance columnist writing from
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.)
US President for Green Environment
Each year
on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of
the
modern environmental movement.
Ripan
Kumar Biswas
It
is a national security issue, it is an economic issue, it is
an environmental and therefore a health issue, and above all,
it is a moral issue," U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
expressed her heartiest moral obligation while she and her
fellow members of Congress and religious leaders were marking
the Earth Day 2008 by helping plant an elm tree outside the
U.S. Capitol on April 22, 2008.
President George W. Bush, whose administration has weathered
criticism for its stand on environmental issues, also planted
a tree to mark Earth Day 2008, an environmental event that has
now become increasingly political and corporate in the United
States. In addition, his administration offered a plan to
boost fuel economy for cars and trucks to cut U.S. dependence
on foreign oil and curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan would require the U.S. and international fleet to
average 32 miles per gallon (13.6 km per litre) by 2015. The
energy bill Bush signed in December requires that autos
average 35 miles per gallon (14.9 km per litre) by 2020, a 40
percent increase over the current standard.
Each year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the
birth of the modern environmental movement. Starting its
journey since 1970, Earth Day promotes environmental awareness
around the world. It is the only event celebrated
simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds,
faiths, and nationalities. Its mission is to grow and
diversify the environmental movement worldwide to promote a
healthy and sustainable planet. Earth Day on April 22, 1990,
gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped
pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil.
But according to the scientists, critics, environmental
activists, and general people, noting have been changed in the
celebration from previous years. However, last December in
Bali, Indonesia, a breakthrough deal forged by delegates from
190 countries has revived world efforts to fight global
warming which may help push the debate to the front and center
of the U.S. political debate.
Even back then, of course, the leaders in US understood that
their interests aligned more closely with Al Gore, who would
go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against
global warming. But very few of them came forward to control
global warming.
U.S. policymakers predict there will be no law on climate
change under a reluctant Bush but presidential hopefuls --
including those from his own Republican Party -- already are
laying the groundwork for his exit in January 2009. Americans
are relying on policymakers, including the next president, to
tackle climate change.
Driven by public concern, all the candidates agree that action
is needed to slow global warming. It's clear that the American
people are looking for a presidential candidate who will take
climate change very seriously. Last year more than three
voters in 10 said they would take a candidate's green
credentials into account, according to pollster John Zogby, up
from just 11 percent in 2005.
On the presidential campaign trail, Democrats Sen. Barack
Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Republican Sen. John McCain
offered statements urging a focused U.S. environmental and
energy policy. "Our leaders in Washington have to put what's
right for our planet ahead of what's good for their friends in
the energy industry," Obama (ILL) said in a statement on the
day of the presidential primary in Pennsylvania while his
fellow rival Clinton (NY) had harsh words against Bush. "I
will end the Bush administration's assault on environmental
protections and standards." McCain (AZ), who openly disagrees
with the Bush administration on the need for capping carbon
emissions, warned that the climate issue would be one of the
greatest challenges confronting the next president. "We must
have the courage to realistically confront the specter of
climate change," he said.
While US is facing harsh criticism due to carbon emissions and
hundreds of its new coal plants have been blocked by state
government or stuck in court challenges, Italy's major
electricity producer, Enel, is converting its massive power
plant from oil to coal, generally the dirtiest fuel on earth.
The return now to coal even in eco-conscious Europe is sowing
real alarm among environmentalists who warn that it is setting
the world on a disastrous trajectory that will make
controlling global warming impossible. People from different
parts of the world including Americans, are expecting a rapid
action from the upcoming new US president to adopt a goal of
halving world emissions by 2050 and that new technologies such
as clean coal or new biofuels could cut emissions in coming
decades.
"President McCain, President Obama, or President Clinton would
all shift this country to a much higher level on climate
change," California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, told a meeting
of 18 state leaders at Yale University on April 10, 2008.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said a deadlock between the
United States, by many counts the world's top greenhouse gas
emitter, and rapidly developing countries, like China and
India, on working together to cut emissions would loosen if a
new U.S. administration takes the lead on climate change.
Although major economies made progress in defining the
building blocks of a new U.N. deal to fight climate change on
Friday, April 18, 2008, but ended split over whether to set a
goal of halving world greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The UN
sponsored meeting in Paris, France, left deep divisions about
whether to set a goal of halving global emissions by 2050,
favored by the European Union, Japan and Canada as part of a
fight against warming that may bring more floods, droughts,
heat waves, and rising seas.
Developing nations said they would not sign up to such a goal
at a planned summit of leaders of the 17 major economies on
next July 9 in Japan unless Washington did far more to curb
emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels. According to data
submitted to the United Nations, in 2006, U.S. greenhouse gas
emissions fell by 1.3 percent and EU emissions by 0.3. The
Bush administration has opposed specific targets to reduce the
emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide -- spewed by
coal-fired power plants and petroleum-fueled vehicles --
arguing that this would hurt the U.S. economy.
Industrialized nations apart from the United States have
agreed to consider cuts in emissions of 25 to 40 percent below
1990 levels by 2020 as part of a new U.N. climate treaty to
succeed the existing Kyoto Protocol. World is now starting to
look to the presidential hopefuls Barack Obama, Hillary
Clinton, or John McCain who will take office in January 2009.
To repair U.S. relations with countries, those have urged the
United States to do more on climate to cut planet-warming
gases and as well as to gift a green America to American
Voters, the new President may need to endorse effective
climate-change law to reduce emissions to avoid dangerous
global warming, to shift the United States to clean energy,
and to minimize the law's economic impacts on aid communities
and ecosystems.
(Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New
York. Dateline: New York; April 24, 2008. E-mail: Ripan.Biswas@yahoo.com)
Viewpoints
G7 to Boost Private Sector Further
The tussle between the US dollar and Euro
remains the cause of irritations among the G7 members.
Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal
Finance
ministers and central bankers from G7 rich nations, comprising
the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and
Japan, met on 11 April to bless proposals for tightening
scrutiny of global banking practices and to press the private
sector to step up its efforts to settle financial markets.
Recent economic crisis in USA and else-where has sent a danger
signal to the Western strong economic world about a possible
long-term financial turmoil. Group of Seven finance chiefs
reviewed a hefty set of recommendations from a blue-ribbon
study group, the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), for calming
the markets' crisis that has rippled across the globe since
last summer and may eventually cost as much as $1 trillion in
losses.
The eight-month-old crisis, which originated in a meltdown of
U.S. sub-prime mortgage markets, ricocheted through the global
economy as securities cobbled together on Wall Street from
bits and pieces of mortgage loans turned sour. It has now has
cast a pall over global economic prospects. The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) said last week it expected the United
States to topple into a "mild recession" this year and
estimated a 25 percent chance the global economy will grow by
3 percent or less, which would be considered recessionary.
Banks have already written down roughly $225 billion in assets
tied to souring mortgages and other loans in 2007 and the
first quarter of 2008, according to German Finance Minister
Peer Steinbrueck, who dismissed as far-fetched estimates that
losses could eventually reach $1 trillion.
In a nod to European leaders who had voiced dismay over
volatile foreign exchange markets that pushed the euro to new
highs against the U.S. dollar, the G7 also strengthened its
call for calm in currency markets. "Since our last meeting,
there have been at times sharp fluctuations in major
currencies, and we are concerned about their possible
implications for economic and financial stability," the
communiqué stated. "We continue to monitor exchange markets
closely, and cooperate as appropriate."
The outlines of the FSF's recommendations, numbering about 65
recommendations, are: fuller disclosure of risks by banks,
more rigid standards for credit rating agencies, measures by
central banks to ensure they can effectively pump cash into
the system at times of stress. Indications are that most G7
members have already accepted the proposals, including
measures to improve risk management so banks aren't caught
short of cash as occurred this year when credit markets seized
up. A G7 communiqué was issued following the summit. The
recommendations, amended somewhat, were adopted by the
ministers and central bankers. The next step will be to push
bankers to match the vigor of the efforts that global central
banks have shown in battling the liquidity squeeze by urging
these private-sector players to quickly put their losses
behind them and resume lending.
The G7 said it strongly endorsed the report from the Financial
Stability Forum, which comprises central bankers and global
regulators. The report calls for tougher capital requirements
for banks to ensure they can withstand periods of financial
market stress, and urges closer international cooperation
between central banks and regulators. Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke emphasized that there was urgency about putting
reforms in place to restore confidence. The U.S. central bank
has pumped about $400 billion of liquidity into markets and
other global central banks also have poured in cash to boost
banks' willingness to lend. "We do not have the luxury of
waiting for markets to stabilize before we think about the
future," Bernanke said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson spoke to a select group
of bankers invited for dinner on 10 April and clearly stated
his position that he wanted banks to be ready to play their
role as a market stabilizer. "If you think you're going to
need capital, don't be looking for the government to help you,
if you think you need capital, go raise it." Paulson said
after addressing the Council of Institutional Investors. When
asked about the thinking behind the changes in the statement,
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet replied,
"It's like a poem, it speaks for itself."
The tussle between the US dollar and Euro remains the cause of
irritations among the G7 members. While the focus is clearly
on financial-system reform, G7 ministers want to send a
message that the global economy is not about to run off the
rails and might tweak communiqué language on currencies in
response to European concerns that the euro has reached new
heights against the dollar. "I deplore the excessive
volatility of exchange rates," European Central Bank President
Jean-Claude Trichet said after the euro hit a record peak of
$1.5912.
There is no time better than the present to recognize the
dollar's weakness. Over the past 30 years, G7 meetings have
marked big turning points for the US dollar, they have the
potential to make or break the US dollar. Following the Dubai
meeting in 2003, the Group of Seven called for more
"flexibility in exchange rates." Although this criticism was
directed at China and Japan, it came on the heels of a strong
dollar rally. The decline of the US dollar during the late
1980s was also halted when the Louvre Accord was signed in
1987 at the G7 Minister of Finance meeting.
The weaker dollar has helped to boost exports and provides
another avenue for the US government to stimulate the
otherwise ailing economy. The US government continues to pay
only lip service to the strong dollar policy because they know
that the path to a stronger dollar is through a weaker one. To
date, the US has been reluctant to take any measures to
address the dollar's decline. The members of the Eurozone that
are apart of the G7 (France, Germany and Italy) are not
expected to officially call for dollar strength either.
Japan and its Asian neighbors have been the hardest hit by the
dollar's weakness. According to government data, inflation in
Japan reached a 10 year high during the month of February.
Even China, who has received significant criticism about their
artificially weak currency, is now expressing concern about
the falling dollar's impact on the value of their foreign
exchange reserves. However Japan and its Asian neighbors alone
will not be able to convince the G7 to directly address the
weakness of the US dollar.
With the dollar breaching the 7 Yuan mark, China has already
made great inroads to strengthening its currency. Since the
beginning of the year, the Yuan has appreciated 4.5 percent,
compared to 7 percent growth in 2007. This gives the G7 little
room to further criticize China because the problem in the
world right now is not Yuan weakness but dollar weakness. Past
communiqués have encouraged China to speed up appreciation of
its yuan currency, and the pace of the currency's rise has
picked up. It crossed 7.00 to the U.S. dollar last week for
the first time in more than a decade. The G7 seeks to give a
nod to the increased pace of appreciation, which is considered
vital to help reduce global economic imbalances, but likely
will also urge Beijing to keep the process going.
Both G7 and G8 (includes Russia) consider the long-term
economic prospects of the United States. However, the housing
correction, together with high energy prices and financial
market turmoil, are weighing on U.S. economic growth. Given
the significant short-term downside risks, we are taking
action. The economic stimulus package passed in February will
provide over $150 billion of individual and business tax
relief in 2008, leading to the creation of over half a million
additional jobs by the end of the year. The Administration has
taken a number of steps specifically designed to minimize the
spillover from the housing sector to the real economy, such as
convening the HOPE NOW alliance and implementing the FHASecure
program.
The financial market turmoil and its impact on global growth
underscore the need for all countries to remain open to trade
and investment. I reiterated the United States' commitment to
open investment policies and to combating rising
protectionism. Protectionist pressures threaten to deprive
countries of the significant benefits generated by foreign
investment. USA supports the work of the IMF to develop best
practices for sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and look forward
to a final set of best practices by the IMF Annual Meetings in
October. I. US support the continued cooperation of the IMF
and World Bank with the FATF to combat money laundering and
terrorist financing worldwide.
G7 members, notably the United States and Canada, want to push
bankers to match the vigor that global central banks have
shown in battling the liquidity squeeze by urging these
private-sector players to quickly put losses behind them and
raise new capital. On the eve of gathering, Bank of Japan
Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the G7 countries "need to show
a clear determination towards stabilizing the financial
system."
Central banks have flooded markets with cash to try to spark
lending, and the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks
have cut interest rates to try to keep economies afloat. That
marked the first shift in four years from the G7's boilerplate
language on currencies, and provided a verbal caution to
markets that world finance leaders were keeping a close watch
on currency moves.
The main focus of the meetings, therefore, was a special study
commissioned by the G7 that offered a detailed assessment of
the banking and regulatory failures that contributed to an
eight-month-long and ongoing bout of market turmoil. The
report offered dozens of recommendations on how to shore up
banking oversight and regulatory cooperation to prevent a
recurrence.
Advancement of privatization has been on the agenda of G7
right from its inception in 1976. (Russia formally joined the
group in 1997, resulting in the Group of Eight (G8). The G7
will review an update on the implementation of the Financial
Stability Forum (FSF) policy recommendations at its October
Ministerial. Meanwhile all out efforts would be undertaken to
boost private sector world wide. That would essentially mean
G7 would take steps to further squeeze public sector
undertakings especially in minor economies to promote private
sector directly and through various financial bodies like
World Bank and IMF. The move by G7 to promote the leadership
of pro-capitalist economists would be kept in tact and further
strengthened.
(Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal is a Research Scholar at the
School of International studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University;
New Delhi)
Will the Real Serbia Please Stand Up?
Pro-Western forces might form a weak government, but only with
the support of nationalists, such as the DSS or SPS.
Kosovo's independence
declaration on 17 February 2008 sent shock waves through
Serbia's politics and society, polarizing the former in a
manner not seen since the Milosevic era. Rioting led to
attacks on nine Western embassies, destruction of foreign
property and massive looting. The government fell on 10 March,
split over whether to pursue a nationalist or pro-Western
path. Belgrade's efforts to create a de facto partitioning of
the north of Kosovo threaten the new state's territorial
integrity and challenge deployment of European Union (EU)
missions there, and Serbian parliamentary and local elections
on 11 May are unlikely to change the basic policy towards the
new state, even in the unlikely event a pro-Western government
comes to power. They may, however, well give Serbia's
nationalist parties new leverage.
The election campaign is heated. Verbal attacks have increased
against opposition parties, independent media and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that disagree with the
hard-line nationalist policy on Kosovo. After the polls, one
of two main scenarios is likely, since no party will win
enough votes to form a government alone. Nationalists from the
Serb Radical Party (SRS) could form a coalition with the
"People's Bloc" led by Premier Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic
Party of Serbia (DSS) and the late dictator Slobodan
Milosevic's old Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS).
If nationalist forces win, Euro-Atlantic integration will come
to a halt, and Serbia will enhance its ties with Russia. They
will support a more belligerent response in Kosovo, and Kosovo
Serbs' use of low-level violence. They may encourage Republika
Srpska to leave Bosnia-Herzegovina and meddle in Macedonian
internal affairs. A backlash against pro-Western parties and
their supporters and an increased climate of media repression
can be expected. Uncertainty will lead to a fall in foreign
direct investment and economic growth.
Alternatively, pro-Western forces might form a weak
government, but only with the support of nationalists, such as
the DSS or SPS. Serbia could then anticipate the same kind of
domestic instability it experienced under the outgoing
government. If the more pro-Western Democratic Party (DS)
tried to chart an openly pro-EU course, it would face the type
of obstruction and opposition that led to Premier Zoran
Djindjic's assassination in 2003.
At best, the EU and U.S. will have limited influence for many
months, until a new government is formed, which may not be
until September or later. Meanwhile, the public anger over
Western support for Kosovo's independence is such that any
attempts to pressure or even induce Belgrade into more
cooperation risks strengthening the nationalist vote. Brussels
and Washington would be well served to lower levels of
rhetorical support for the more pro-Western Democratic Party
(DS) of President Boris Tadic, G17+ and the Liberal Democratic
Party (LDP) and end interference in the campaign via promises
of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA).
More specifically, in this pre-election period the EU and the
U.S. should:
l Stop intervening directly in support of one or another
political force;
l Not sign an SAA unless Serbia gives full cooperation to the
International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY); and
l Offer increased support to civil society.n
(The above is a Press Brief by the International Crisis
Group, released on 23 April 2008. Source: www.crisisgroup.org)
Israel Putting Its Own Survival at
Great Risk
Sir
Cyril Townsend
For
years I have been asking myself where does Israel think it is
going. It is not an easy question to answer. I have no doubt
at all that in economic terms it has been doing well and there
is every reason to think it will continue to do so. In 2007 it
was asked to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, and this was obviously international
recognition for its powerful economy, steady growth over the
years and very high research and development spending. Israel
has cleverly responded to the boom in global technology. Its
founding fathers set it off on a socialist economic model, and
it has managed to free itself and reform its impressive
financial institutions.
But when one turns from this success story, and looks instead
at Israel's political fortunes, 60 years after its birth, one
gets a very different and troubling picture. The present
tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis has reached
a very dangerous level, and beyond powerful players, who do
not wish Israel well, wait and watch. This is happening at a
moment in the history of the Middle East when the power and
influence of the United States - Israel's proud patron - is on
the decrease and the power and influence of Iran, an
implacable enemy of Israel's, is on the increase.
I find it amazing that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel,
who faces sleaze charges, has been able to remain in office.
Twice he has been severely criticized by the Winograd inquiry
into the war against Hezbollah that was mainly fought in
Lebanon. The spark came from Gaza, after an Israeli aircraft
dropped a bomb hoping to kill the head of Hamas' military
wing. The two fronts have become linked which is serious for
Israel. It is also believed that Al-Qaeda is now present in
Gaza and Hamas are their allies against Israel.
When the fighting against Hezbollah started Olmert wanted to
prove that he could be trusted to protect Israel. He followed
the by now traditional, macho and over-the-top Israeli line.
The conflict was a disaster for Israel showing up numerous
failings within the Israeli Defense Forces.
Today there is speculation over another round of fighting
between Israel and Hezbollah, possibly also involving Syria.
No doubt the tactics employed on both sides would be slightly
different, but I cannot envisage the conclusions being very
different. We can assume that Iran will make sure Hezbollah
and Hamas are equipped, and re-equipped, with rockets of
increasing range, accuracy and explosive power; Israel will be
able to do little to shoot down more than a handful of them.
It is not clear what major military objectives Israel might
have in Syria, a weak country in military terms. Attacking
Syria would increase the risks for Israel and help unite the
world in its condemnation.
If Israel is to have a safe and sound future it has to accept
the concept of land for peace. The world is still waiting for
Israel to withdraw its forces from territory illegally
occupied in 1967. Israel has the fourth strongest defense
capability in the world, but I am not convinced that time is
on its side. Islamic fundamentalism is an increasingly
important factor in the area. Beyond the region day by day
Israel is losing friends. What does Zionism mean for the
younger generations? Not much. Prime Minister Olmert has
claimed he will fix Israel's final borders by 2010. He seeks
separation from the Palestinians. It is highly unlikely that
his unpopular government could withdraw unilaterally from the
West Bank.
The illegal settlements, which are at the heart of the
Arab-Israel dispute, are expanding day by day on Palestinian
territory. The government has just approved the construction
of 750 housing units at the West Bank settlement of Giv'at
Ze'er near Jerusalem.
Israel continues to treat the Palestinian-Israelis as
second-class citizens. This is a fatal mistake. The population
of Israel is 6.2 million and the Palestinian-Israelis make up
over one million of that figure. Israelis tend to regard them
as a demographic threat. Why have Israelis failed to give them
a measure of autonomy?
Source: www.arabnews.com
International
Benazir murder
suspect orders militants to halt attacks
AFP, Peshawar
A Pakistani Al-Qaeda warlord accused of ordering Benazir
Bhutto's assassination has told followers to halt attacks
amid peace talks with the government, a militant letter
said Thursday.
Baitullah Mehsud was named by Pakistan's Taliban movement
last year as its chieftain and was alleged by the
government and US officials to have ties to Osama bin
Laden's Islamic extremist network.
"For the sake of general peace, provocative actions are
strictly banned. The order is final and there will be no
leniency," said the letter attributed to Mehsud, a copy of
which was seen by AFP.
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