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Leading News
100
injured as RMG workers clash with police in N’ganj
UNB, Narayanganj
Over 100 people, including 20 cops, were injured as
garment workers went on a rampage and clashed with police
in Kanchpur area here Monday morning to press for their
three-point demand including raise in bonus.
Witnesses said workers of Square Knit Composite Ltd
observed work abstention and demonstrated at 7 am today
for raising bonus and providing other facilities.
At one stage, the agitated workers swooped on the
12-storey factory building and vandalized machinery,
furniture and windowpanes and beat up some officials of
the company.
When police from the local temporary camp rushed to the
scene and charged batons, the unruly workers attacked the
police camp, set fire to a room of camp and damaged
valuables.
The garment workers also put barricade on the Dhaka-Sylhet
highway at 8:30 am disrupting traffic movement for about
four hours.
The agitated workers also set fire to two motorbikes and
damaged 10 vehicles which were passing through the road at
that time.
Witnesses said at one stage some miscreants entered the
factory and looted readymade garments and computers.
A fierce clash ensued between the garment workers and the
law enforcers when police force from Rupganj and Sonargaon
thanas rushed to the spot to bring the situation under
control.
"The whole area turned into a battle field… many people
including police were injured," said a witness.
Officer-in-charge of Sonar-gaon thana Md Yunus Ali and
Kanchpur police camp in-charge SI Abul Hossain were among
the injured.
Later, additional police and a RAB-team rushed to the spot
and fired rubber bullets to disperse the workers.
Police brought the situation under control at 11:30 am and
arrested 16 garment workers from the scene.
The injured were admitted to local clinics and different
hospitals.
A case was filed with Sonargaon thana for the attack on
police camp.
Officer-in-charge of Sonargaon thana Md Yunus Ali said:
"It was a planned incident and there might have been
provocation behind it. We are investigating the matter."
If
AL were not in power coarse rice could be Tk 80 each kg:
PM
She accuses Khaleda of earning black money
UNB, Dhaka
The government has put great importance on introducing
'cooperative ventures' for marketing the agricultural
produce of rural areas, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said
on Monday.
"Marketing of a product is very much important. You've to
set up cooperatives across the country and put the
responsibility of marketing on them. This will ensure fair
price to the farmers for their produce," she said
addressing the Bangladesh Krishak League leaders at her
official residence Ganobhaban.
She mentioned that her government wants to make the
country self-reliant in food and is working hard in that
direction.
She asked the opposition leader why the coarse rice price
"shoot up to Tk 45 which was only Tk 10 during my
government's tenure from 1996 to 2001. "You have to give
an answer to this question," she said indicating the
opposition leader.
Hasina alleged that the opposition had tried to increase
the rice price but failed due to timely and effective
steps taken by the government. "If Awami League were not
in the power this time the price of coarse rice could be
Tk 80 per kg," she said.
Sheikh Hasina said there is need of further enquiry to
find out why the opposition leader had gone into hiding
just before the BDR mutiny. "Why she (Khaleda Zia) went
out from her residence riding a black-tinted glass car
just before the BDR mutiny? Did she know what will happen
at Peelkhana?" she posed the question.
Hasina alleged that the opposition leader, her family
members and her finance minister earned black money during
their tenure and for that reason they whitened their black
money.
"If you didn't steal how did you amass black money? If
it's not true, how else you found crores of Taka from
broken suitcase and torn vest (of Zia)?" she said.
The Prime Minister said: "The looting by BNP-led alliance
government had put the country in a state of darkness."
CEC
signals end to army deployment for polls
UNB, Dhaka
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda has
made it clear the Election Commission (EC) is not planning
to deploy the army in the next general elections even, let
alone the upcoming Bhola by-election.
"Army will not be deployed in the Bhola by-election, as
ideally the EC plans to not deploy the army in the next
parliamentary elections," said ATM Shamsul Huda at a press
briefing at the EC secretariat before a visit to Bhola- 3
constituency on Monday afternoon.
He also pointed out that the EC is planning to reduce
campaign time for the by-election in order to avoid
violence.
Replying to query, he said that there is no precedent for
the deployment of the army in past by-elections.
On the recent allegations of EC bias towards the
government by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, the veteran
civil servant said: "We have nothing to say. She (Khaleda)
is a big leader, but why has she made such comments? We
are bipartisan and we are working for the people to
exercise their franchise fairly and properly."
Shamsul Huda deplored the existing practice of allegation
and counter-allegation among the political parties.
Returning to the issue of the by-election scheduled for
April 24, he said a huge security presence including some
200 members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have
already been deployed there.
People becoming
restive for power, water and gas
Ainul Haque Royal
The demand for uninterrupted supply of water, gas and
electricity among the city dwellers has been mounting and
taking the shape of a movement.
Demanding water, gas and electricity, agitation, protest
rally and human chain programmes at different parts of
capital have already taken place. On the other hand, some
political parties, their associate bodies, some
socio-cultural organizations and small and medium business
entrepreneurs are mulling waging anti-government agitation
as the normal life is being disrupted.
Different section of people including office, school,
college and university goers and businessmen and house
keepers told this correspondent that the activities of
daily life are seriously being hampered due to want of
water for the last couple of months.
Inhabitants of Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Tejgaon, Mohakhali,
Badda, Moghbazar, Sutrapur, Shyampur, Jatrabari and the
old part of the capital Dhaka are facing severe crises of
water, gas and electricity. They are not being able to
cook properly due to the low voltage of gas and take bath
due to absence of water and they could not sleep for
nagging load shedding.
The problems of daily life are being created only for
absence of electricity. These irritated, under privileged
and deprived city dwellers may come down on the street
collectively for movement against the government anytime,
a group of people at Farmgate area said while talking to
this reporter.
Meanwhile, opposition BNP is going to arrange two-day-long
protest meeting demanding adequate supply of water, gas
and electricity. They will stage demonstration at around
50 different parts of the capital on April 21 to 22.
According to sources, the city dwellers are now receiving
around 1300 megawatt electricity per day against the
existing needs of 2200 mw. The city dwellers are also
receiving around 1450 million cubic feet gas (mmcfd)
against the existing 1700 mmcfd needs. Besides, city's
water demand is about 2100 million liters per day while
the WASA supplies 1500 million liters.
ADB to double assistance over next
three years
UNB, Dhaka
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to double
their assistance to Bangladesh for the next three years in
view of the country's crippling utilities crisis.
"Bangladesh is facing a triple crisis-power, gas and water
-at the moment. So urgent help is needed and that's why we
are doubling our assistance," said visiting ADB Director
General (South Asia) Sultan Hafeez Rahman when he called
on Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the latter's office on
Monday.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Sultan Hafeez said
that the ADB has agreed to substantially increase their
assistance to Bangladesh for the next three years to
around US$ 3.3 billion, or US$ 1.1 billion per year.
The ADB has been taking a keen interest in the building of
the Padma Bridge to improve transport facilities with the
south-western parts of the country. The ADB high official
sounded a positive note on the status of the project,
saying: "The Padma Bridge project is moving ahead and at
the moment the government is very well prepared to take
that forward."
Sultan Hafeez, the first Bangladeshi national to head an
ADB regional desk, said that the Manila-based multilateral
agency is focused on supporting the power, energy, and
transport sectors in Bangladesh, as well as augmenting the
water supply.
"These are all areas where Bangladesh needs urgent
assistance. So, we are trying to do our best."
The ADB official also pointed out education as another
sector where his organization is keen to support
Bangladesh.
Answering a question on Independent Power Plants (IPPs),
Hafeez said the ADB fully supports the restoration of
these plants, noting the ADB's involvement in this regard
in the past.
"We have been involved in Meghnaghat and Haripur power
plants, the first IPPs in Bangladesh."
He also expressed the ADB's keenness to assist the
government in getting the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP)
projects underway, saying they are eager to ensure the
PPPs are adequately supported and brought in line "very
quickly".
Finance Minister AMA Muhith confirmed they had discussed
the Padma Bridge. "The tender has already been floated. We
told them about our preparations- the work can begin this
December. But we have to consider the relocation and
environmental aspects," he revealed.
The Finance Minister said that the ADB DG expressed his
anxiety over the progress of the PPP scheme, and sought
reforms in VAT and income tax. In this regards, Muhith
said the whole of the VAT act would be reformed, as part
of the reform process that began in January.
The cabinet's senior-most member informed newsmen that the
ADB had also shown an interest in railways reform, a
proposal that is now under consideration by the
government.
Back Page
Cabinet
decides to fill up freedom fighters quota nationally
BSS, Dhaka
The cabinet Monday decided to fill up the 30 percent quota
kept reserved for freedom fighters and their wards
natio-nally during the recruitments in government, semi-
government and autonomous bodies services.
If eligible candidate is not available in any district to
fill up the quota, that would be filled up from the
eligible candidates of other districts instead of keeping
these posts vacant.
The decision was taken at the regular weekly meeting of
the cabinet held at Ban-gladesh Secretariat Monday with
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The cabinet
approved in principle the draft of the Upazila Parishad
(Amendment) Act 2010.
It also approved the draft Plant Quarantine Act 2010 in
order to prevent the entrance of harmful plants and
insects in the country and the draft of Sand Bodies (Balumohal)
and Soil Management Act 2010 to prevent illegal sand and
earth extraction.
After the meeting, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister
Abul Kalam Azad told newsmen that the cabinet was apprised
the progress of the decision taken by the cabinet during
the January- March quarter of the current year. He said
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed satisfaction over
the 80 percent implementation of the cabinet decisions
during the last 13 months of the present government and
directed the authorities concerned to further expedite its
implementation process. Giving details, the press
secretary said during the period a total of 62 meetings of
cabinet were held while 405 decisions were taken. Of the
total, 325 decisions of the cabinet were implemented so
far.
Meanwhile, the cabinet has approved 106 bills during this
period, of which 89 have been passed in Parliament, 12
remained under consideration of the Jatiya Sangsad and
five remained under process.
Besides, a total of 53 cabinet meetings were held during
the corresponding period of BNP-Jamaat government while
200 decisions were taken. Of the total, only 139 were
implemented. The rate of implementation was 69.50 percent.
Azad said the cabinet also decided to endorse the Beijing
Amendment of the Montreal Protocol for preventing use of
Ozone Layer destroying elements. Ministers, Advisers to
the Prime Minister and State Ministers concerned attended
the meeting. Cabinet secretary and secretaries concerned
were present.
BNP wants voters’ security, not only
of candidates in by-polls: Dr Mosharraf
UNB, Dhaka
As the Election Commission has taken security measures for
the candidates of by-election to Bhola-3 parliamentary
constituency, opposition BNP has demanded security to the
voters as well.
BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosh-arraf
Hossain said the Bhola-3 by-election is an "acid test" for
the government.
"If the government interferes to implement its blue print
in Bhola-3 and forcibly snatch away public opinion by
grabbing the polling centres, the BNP will be forced to
forge movement against the wrongdoings," he said at a
press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office
Monday.
Replying to a question, the front ranking BNP leader said
that only security to the candidates is not enough. "Who
will give security to the voters in the Bhola-3
constituency? Safety of the voters will also have to be
ensured."
He, however, wondered if the EC's assurance to provide
security to the candidates will remain confined to a mere
announcement. "If it is truly implemented things will be a
little better," he said.
Dr Mosharraf termed the ruling Awami League candidate in
Bhola-3 ((Lalmohan-Tajumuddin)) by-polls as an identified
terrorist.
The AL candidate, he alleged, brought around 1000 armed
cadres and terrorists from Dhaka in Bhola-3 to create
panic in the constituency to discourage voter turnout in
polling centre and also to grab the polling centers for
putting seal in ballots in favour of AL candidate. He also
accused the local administration of working in favour of
the ruling party candidate. Mentioning the transfer of
Police Super of Bhola two days back, Dr Mosharraf said:
"It has been done with a political motive to implement the
ruling party's blue print." He also mentioned that local
administration blocked the movement of senior BNP leaders
when they went to Bhola-3 constituency on Sunday.
He said five of the 10 cars of the BNP senior leaders were
obstructed by local administration in Lalmohan. As a
result, they were stranded for five hours and ultimately
had to return to Dhaka.
Those obstructed inc-lude BNP central leaders Selima
Rahman, Mojibur Rahman Sarwar MP and Fazlul Huq Milon.
BDR Mutiny: 56 jawans convicted, 4
acquitted in Satkhira
UNB, Satkhira
The BDR Special Court-1 on Monday sentenced 56 out of 60
accused BDR jawans of 7-Rifles Battalion to different
terms of imprisonment on charges of mutiny perpetrated
during February 25-26, 2009.
The special court headed by BDR Director General Maj Gen
Md Mainul Islam pronounced the verdict at 1:25 pm at the
makeshift court in the 41 Rifles Battalion headquarters
here.
The court acquitted four accused mutineers as the charges
brought against them were not proven. They four acquitted
are Sepoy Jahidul Islam, Habilder Mohammad Golam Masud,
Nayek VM Md. Moqbul Hossain and Sepoy Golam Mostafa Sagir.
The maximum penalty of seven years' rigorous imprisonment
was awarded to 24 BDR jawans. They are named as Subedar
Md. Masuduzzaman Ukil, Nayek Subedar Abdus Salam,
Habildars Shah Alam, Golam Mostafa and Abul kalam Azad,
Nayek Abul Khayer, Sepoys Thoai Lau Marma, Abu Jafar
Mohammad Foyezul Alam, Mohammad Kausar Ahmed, Md. Maksud
Khan, Mohammad Emdadul Haque Khan, Akther Hossian, Delwar
Hossain, Abdul Kader, Jassim Uddin, Mosharref Hossain and
Shohag Hossain, Habildar Abul Hossain Miah, Nayek Subedar
Sajedul Islam, Lance Nayek Khandaker Md. Waliullah, Nayek
Helal Uddin, Shafiqul Islam, Sepoy Masud Karim and Abu
Naser.
Those who were sentenced to five years imprisonment are
Lance Nayek Md. Menhaz Uddin Mondal and Nayek Md. Abdur
Rahim Sarkar, and Sepoys Saidul Islam and SM Jahangir.
Those who were sentenced to four years and six months are
Nayek Subedar Md. Akmol Hossain, Sepoy Md. Anower Hossain
and Sepoy Ataur Rahman. Four years imprisonment sentence
was served to Sepoy Md. Ziaur Rahman, Habildar Md Abdul
Baten Bhuiyan, Sepoy Md. Abu Yusuf Fakir, Sepoy Md. Yusuf
Noor and Didarul Alam. Sepoys Md Mohshin Ali and Md. Mamun
ur Rashid, and Lance Nayek Md.
Shahadat Hossain will be serving sentences of three years.
Sentences of two years and six months imprisonment was
served upon Habildar Md Jahangir Hosain and two years to
Sepoy Md. Sumon Rahman, Abdullah al Momin, Md. Ashiqur
Rahman, Lance Nayek Sikder Md. Abdus Samad.
The convicts who were given one year and six months
imprisonment are Habildar Md. Abu Khaza, Md. Abul Kashem
and Habildar Abdul Quddus Miah.
Those who were awarded one year and one month imprisonment
are Sepoy Yeakub Ali, Habildar Md. Delwar Hossain, Md.
Yunus Ali, Md. Abdul jalil, Nayek AKM Anisur Rahman.
The accused who got six month imprisonment is Habildar
Signal Sheikh Md. Tahmid Uddin and four months are Sepoy
Noor Hossain, Habildar Babul Miah and Binoy Chandra Das.
This is the fourth judgment delivered in connection with
the BDR mutiny.
BNP mourning its dead
from tragic road accident
UNB, Dhaka
The BNP observed a day of mourning on Monday across the
country to commemorate the tragic deaths of its party
activists in a road accident.
The party men were killed in a road accident near Khulna
on Sunday while they were travelling from Narail to join
the grand rally at Shib Bari crossing in Khulna city,
where the party chairperson Khaleda Zia was speaking as
part of a tour of divisional headquarters. But tragedy
struck to prevent them. To mourn them, party flags were
flying at half-mast alongside black flags at BNP offices
around the country on Monday. BNP leaders and workers wore
black badges.
As part of the programme, a Gayebana janaza was held in
front of the BNP's Nayapaltan central office at 12:30 pm.
Leaders of BNP and its front and associate organizations
attended the janaza, including Dr Khandaker Mosharraf
Hossain, MK Anawar, Mirza Abbas, Abdullah Al Noman, Sadeq
Hossain Khoka, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Ruhul Kabir
Rizvi, Abul Kashem, Rafiq Shikder, Adv Abdus Salam and
Shahidul Islam Babul. Jatiyatabadi Ulama Dal president MA
Malek conducted the namaj-e-janaza and munajat after the
janaza. The Quran was recited at the party office seeking
divining blessings for the departed souls of the BNP
activists.
150mw peaking
power plant goes into production by next month at Ctg
BSS, Chittagong
The 150mw peaking power project will go into production by
the next month, showering a little respite industries and
city dwellers from the ongoing power outrage.
"We are hopeful about power production of the project by
1st week of next month" Project Director of the Power
Development Board (PDB) Superintendent Eng. Asadullah Mia
said told BSS Monday. Timely completion of project
activities would help go for production, Mia said adding
it was possible as the Prime Minister directed to do so.
Terming the move as for the first time in the history of
the energy-starved country, he said the power project was
implemented at a cost of Taka 777.94 crore. The
superintendent Engineer said a Chinese company styled Sino
Hidro executed the project two-year ahead of the
completion period and German technology was used in the
peaking power plant.
Dual technology with gas and diesel was adopted in the
power plant in view of the ongoing gas crisis in the
country.
As many as 15 engineers from superintending to deputy
assistant engineers level have already been received
training on operations and maintenance from Germany and
they will be appointed soon, said the project PD.
Energy ministry
to review the draft coal policy
BSS, Dhaka
The ministry of energy and mineral resources is set to
review the draft coal policy to make it more environment
and business friendly.
"We shall meet on April 22 to further review the draft
coal policy, especially of the possible adverse impact of
mining on the people and environment at Barapukuria coal
mine areas as per the Prime Minister's directives", an
energy ministry top official told BSS Monday.
Although the draft policy has been reviewed six times but
the ministry felt it needed further review to make it more
realistic one. The government formed six committees in
last 10 years but failed to finalise it.
According to the energy ministry sources, the Prime
minister asked the energy ministry to formulate the coal
policy urgently as it needed to deal with the coal sector.
"We shall submit the caretaker government's
recommendations of the latest committee, along with the
draft coal policy, were placed before the Prime Minister's
Office for approval soon", another top official of the
energy ministry said.
The energy officials at a meeting on April 8 with the PM
recommended open-pit mining of the north side of the
Barapukuria coal field in Dinajpur, however, PM told the
meeting that her government would not make any hurried
decision on open-pit mining as it is a densely populated
area. "Petrobnagla officials, energy ministry officials
and GSB (geological survey of Bangladesh) were invited to
join the meeting", the energy ministry sources said. A
high-powered committee, headed by former Vice Chancellor
of Ban-gladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)
Abdul Matin Patwari, prepared the draft coal policy and
submitted it to the government.
Editorial
Monitoring market to
control prices
Speakers
at a seminar in the city on Sunday called for developing
effective monitoring system to control commodity prices. They
said government intervention in the market is necessary to
keep essential prices within tolerable level. But the
government intervention in no way should hinder the normal
course of business. They expressed concerns over creation of
high inflation by imported goods.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed proposed
the introduction of an effective price monitoring team led by
the Commerce Ministry. He put forward the proposal at a
dialogue on 'Price volatility: Issues and concerns' at the
Chamber Building. Dr Ahmed said that the government should
monitor the import duty on an item and also monitor the
wholesale price index. He also advocated for the introduction
of a 'Competition Law' as soon as possible. He said that the
average inflation rate, which is now between 7-8 percent is a
matter of concern. Prothom Alo editor Matiur Rahman said that
although inflation is an issue of economics, it is always used
as a political issue. He emphasized the importance of
restricting syndicates to bring the prices under control. The
Finance and Commerce Ministers also blamed the syndicates for
being behind the price hike, he added.
The prices of most of the essentials have skyrocketed beyond
the purchasing capacity of the common people as the commodity
markets are running in a free style without the control of
anybody other than the business syndicates. It is an open
secret that the prices of daily necessities in wholesale and
retail markets are totally controlled by some business
syndicates and extortionists. The government's failure to
break these syndicates is responsible for the continuous price
spiral of essentials. It is alleged that these syndicates are
being patronized by an influential coterie of businessmen,
members of law-enforcement agencies and even some members of
the ruling circle. The supply, distribution and prices of
commodities are being manipulated with a view to maximizing
the profit of the businessmen. The "forces" behind the markets
are the ones sucking the life-blood out of us all and that our
Government is ill-disposed to do anything about it.
Against this backdrop, the speakers at the above mentioned
seminar have rightly stressed the need for checking inflation
and called for market monitoring by the government to control
the prices of essentials to a tolerable level. Reports
appeared in the press in March that the government is planning
to enact a stringent law titled 'Competition Law' by June to
stabilize market price curbing monopoly and controlling the
market manipulation. The proposed law appears to be
well-intended as existing laws are unable to check unusual
price hike of commodities and take punitive action against
hoarders and market manipulators. Government ministers blamed
syndicates for market anarchy, but fail to break the
syndicates for lack of stern laws. There is no clear provision
in existing market laws like the Consumers' Rights Protection
Law or the Anti-hoarding Law about syndication or
anti-hoarding. Hoarders and syndicates always remain untouched
due to loopholes in the existing laws. Worse still, even the
existing laws also are not enforced properly to check market
manipulation.
In fact, law by itself is not enough to stabilize market and
stop unreasonable price escalation. For example, the
Consumers' Rights Protection law was enacted several months
ago, but it is yet to be enforced properly to safeguard
consumers' interests. So the proposed law to stabilize market
too may turn into another toothless law if it is not stern
enough and its proper enforcement cannot be ensured. It is
expected that the government will sincerely monitor the
market, break the syndicates and stop market manipulation to
stabilize the price situation in the public interest.
Eliminating child
labour
With
the passing of time, more and more people are raising their
voices against child labour in our country. At a national
consultation on Sunday speakers called for the elimination of
child labour and said it is vital to ensure education of
children and development of human resources. Dr Rushidun Islam
Rahman said, the rate of youth unemployment is high in the
country and that the elimination of child labour can help the
youth to be absorbed into labour force. Prof Dr Monirul Islam
Khan said child labour leads to lower wage level and high rate
of adult unemployment, resulting in low national income and
low productivity. Child labour has no occupational mobility
and with 70 percent working children facing serious hazards at
work, they gradually become physically inactive, he said
adding the government must ensure education for these working
children to eliminate child labour. Secretary to the Ministry
of Labour and Employment said poverty is the main obstacle to
eradicating child labour.
Over 9 million children are trapped in the worst forms of
child labour living in slavery-like conditions, separated from
their families or exposed to serious danger and illness in the
country, according to an estimate by Save the Children
Sweden-Denmark (SCSD). Some children have to work in appalling
and dangerous conditions. Some are exposed to abuse, violence,
exploitation, neglect and kidnapped or tricked into going
thousands of miles from home. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
2002-03 data had put the number of child labourers in the
country at 7.4 million.
Poverty is the main cause behind the large scale child labour
in Bangladesh and again poverty is the main obstacle to
eradicating it. So poverty alleviation is a must to eliminate
child labour and ensure education and better life for all
citizens. The government should work out wide-ranging projects
and programmes to that end.
Analysis
They’re coming - for good
Pakistan clearly needs a second
wind if it is to emerge from the morass we are in. The advent
of the "New Order" may just be the break we need. What do we
have to lose?
Zafar Hilaly
Let's, for a
change, jump to some conclusions, ignoring the caution that it
is wiser not to do so. Let's also examine the portents, rather
than the contents, of the recently concluded US-Pakistan
dialogue with a little more imagination than what is usually
on offer, or permitted. What does it suggest?
Well, to begin with, that the talks not only went off well
but, perhaps, too well. The Pakistani participants seemed over
the moon, and so too their American counterparts. The former
were rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of goodies
to come, while America, having restored trust between the two
sides and with Pakistan fully on board, feels that it could
still emerge from Afghanistan with its reputation intact. Of
course, that is wishful thinking. The Taliban will retreat in
the face of McCrystal's oncoming "surge" and Pakistani
pressure on their safe havens. But they will adjust and return
to do battle. The Taliban, after all, are masters of their
trade. Nevertheless, the vibes from the Washington meeting
suggest that a breakthrough has indeed occurred. America is
returning to Pakistan not to merely visit, or hang around, but
to roost. It plans to be involved up to its neck in Pakistan.
And the involvement will be close, intense and hands-on. And,
what is more, America has, as its willing partner, the
Pakistani military under Gen Kayani.
The transformation of the relationship-from diffident allies
to partners, from having a stake to co-ownership of Pakistan's
future-stems from Washington's belief that Pakistan must be
saved, in spite of itself, for the sake of America's own
security. There is simply too much at stake. For Washington,
acting like a backseat driver won't do. The time has come for
America, conjoined by Pakistan's military, to take the wheel
and chart the course. Without tinkering overly with the
present system, the authors of this…let's call it the "New
Order," mean to improve its working. The agenda will be
nation-building-plus. Elected civilian governments will be the
rule, but they will have to function within clearly defined
economic and political parameters. The authors mean to be
heard and obeyed, though seldom seen.
In return for allowing America a decisive say in Pakistan's
foreign and domestic affairs, and for unreserved willingness
to cooperate in military matters, many good things are on
offer:
1. Immediately, the IMF will be told to be more accommodating
when it comes to enforcing its lethal regimen of
ever-increasing taxes in lieu of subsidies. 2. The army can
confidently expect to get more of what it requires, for doing
more of what America wants. 3. A well-funded effort made to
address Pakistan's energy shortfall is likely to get underway
as soon as projects identified by Pakistan pass American
scrutiny. 4. India has already been approached to be less
demanding and cantankerous, and restart the composite
dialogue. "Secret orders" by Obama to this effect were
reportedly issued earlier this year. 5. Foreign investment in
Pakistan is being canvassed with, perhaps, America letting on
quietly that it will be safeguarded. 6. Such an assurance,
along with a good chit from the IMF, will enable the Friends
of Pakistan Group to release moneys pledged earlier but
withheld for fear of lack of transparency. 7. Meanwhile, the
water crisis has been broached. Old dams will be dredged,
canals lined, and much else done to improve the water supply.
8. At the end of the line, or somewhere in the middle of this
ambitious agenda, if things go well, will be civil nuclear
cooperation. 9. A seat at the table for Pakistan when it comes
to deciding Afghanistan's future setup has probably been
conceded and, to cap it all, American assistance to achieve
whatever is doable on Kashmir.
It is an ambitious menu, no doubt, but few will have failed to
notice how much it blends with the 56-page list, unfairly
dismissed as a "wish list," handed over to the American side
during the visit. A "wish list" is what you ideally need but
cannot afford, not what is available for the asking if you
cooperate and fulfil your side of the bargain.
There are several telltale signs that the "New Order" is being
put into place. At America's insistence the cofounder of the
"New Order," Gen Kayani, was made to attend and take the
credit for the foreordained success of the Washington
Dialogue. Twice the dates of the meeting were postponed while
the government dallied with the question of his inclusion. The
treatment extended to him during the visit was perhaps unique
in terms of importance, given his standing in our own order of
protocol. According to sources, Gen Kayani was "bugled" into
the Pentagon when he arrived, a rare honour.
In preparation for the "New Order" Mr Zardari has been
stripped of all his powers, less on account of the Charter of
Democracy and more because Mr Zardari tends to abuse his
powers rather than use them responsibly. Of course, Mr Zardari
is being allowed to sell it as selflessness personified. Soon
to go will be Mr Zardari's controversial henchmen; they will
likely be picked off, one by one, in the forthcoming trials
and be replaced by carefully vetted men like Hafeez Shaikh. Mr
Zardari himself may remain untouched for the moment, unless,
of course, he hastens his own demise by acting up. And, if the
judges become too unwieldy, a standoff between the two organs
of the state can quickly be made to rebound to the detriment
of both. With Gen Kayani now sure to get an extension or,
better still, a promotion to the post of chairman of the Joint
Chiefs, with enhanced powers, and Obama likely to win a second
term, if only because its voting him out will traumatise
American society, just as much as voting him in brought it
together, the course is set. We are in for a period of
stability in Pakistan. Noticeably, the Stock Market is
booming.
How will the "New Order" be received? The major political
parties will have to play ball. But as they are willing to
play any game, even Russian roulette, in return for the pelf
of office, this should pose no problem. Besides, they are used
to taking directions; indeed, they are at a loss when acting
without them. Even Nawaz Sharif, the one holdout, is rumoured
to have "matured" after some tutoring. Moreover, the group of
Kashmiris and East Punjabis around him are true survivors.
They know how to adjust when the need arises. So much so that,
when it happens, they will relish the crackdown on their ilk,
the Punjabi fundos, as being long overdue. As for the
populace, they are already disillusioned with the political
parties. They have had it up to their gills with corruption
and bad governance. They will welcome any relief that the "New
Order" promises. In any case, it is not as if despotism is
being imposed. The faces of those holding political office
will remain comfortingly familiar and the font of democracy
will be in place. Only the puppeteers will have changed.
The arrival of America with a decisive voice in government
will undoubtedly fuel religious opposition. Links between
religious political parties and the militant lashkars and
jaishes, that are already fairly pronounced, will no doubt
increase; however, their popularity need not. Moreover, the
retaliation that they will invite by, for example, the closure
of madressahs affiliated with them could deprive them of an
important source of revenue. Thus, while their opposition to
the "New Order" can be taken for granted, so too can its
inefficacy.
Pakistan clearly needs a second wind if it is to emerge from
the morass we are in. The advent of the "New Order" may just
be the break we need. What do we have to lose?
The writer is a former ambassador of Pakistan. Email:
charles123it@hotmail.com
The Afghan
quagmire
The US
has signalled that it ultimately wants to get out of
Afghanistan but not before it has ensured that the
Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus will not revive.
Moeed Yusuf
The
much-hyped Pak-US strategic dialogue has received a
lukewarm reception in Pakistan. Commentators have argued
that it has not delivered anything tangible in terms of
commitments to making the relationship broader and
enduring.
That much is true. But what seems to have gone unnoticed
in Pakistan is that on the security front the subtext is
positive.
Narrow and intangible the achievement might be but the
discussion on Afghanistan has proceeded in the right
direction. The dialogue has brought the two sides closer
on what was the single most critical missing link in the
equation, i.e. an understanding, even if broad and
notional, on the end-state in Afghanistan that both sides
are willing to live with.
The US has signalled that it ultimately wants to get out
of Afghanistan but not before it has ensured that the
Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus will not revive. Keeping in mind
that all actors agree that the final solution has to be
political and not just military, the implication is that
Washington wants a consensus government in Afghanistan
that does not allow the Taliban a free hand in any future
configuration.
Pakistan's own thinking has also evolved. The idea of a
broad-based government not antithetical to Pakistan's
interests has begun resonating with the establishment.
Working out the details of what Pakistan can do or how it
must proceed is also crucial given the bluntness with
which Gen Ashfaq Kayani spoke about the central role
Pakistan ought to have in any reconciliation process.
The message has been even clearer on Pakistan's concerns
vis-à-vis India in general and its presence in Afghanistan
in particular. In what marks a change from the past, the
US has agreed to lend a sympathetic ear on both counts.
The realisation seems to have dawned in Washington that an
amicable exit requires Pakistan to be fully on board and
that these are non-negotiable prerequisites from
Pakistan's side. This broad convergence is a major step
forward. Until now both sides had been constantly
undercutting each other's strategic goals even as they
remained tactical partners.
All along, the US had operated on the erroneous premise
that Pakistan's strategic paradigm could be shifted by a
combination of monetary incentives and arm-twisting. This
forced Pakistan to attempt to raise the costs for the US
who it believed was seeking to achieve its aims without
paying heed to its core demands. Resultantly, for the
better part of the last eight years, Islamabad never found
the space to conceive and operationalise a strategy to
achieve an end-state acceptable to the US.Granted, the
convergence I have highlighted is nothing more than a
signalling exercise at this stage. And of course, the
devil is in the detail; there is no denying the severity
of challenges in moving from here to the desired
end-state. But what this new direction will do is allow
the two sides to open up the details and at the very least
begin to debate their positions on various bottlenecks.
In moving forward, however, both sides need to have
realistic expectations. It may be time for a reality check
on the trust aspect of the relationship. Building trust is
a noble exercise but it is not realistic in the time frame
we are looking at. As unfortunate as it is, both sides
should be resigned to working together despite the
mistrust and devise policies while taking this into
account.
A number of concrete issues are also certain to test the
two sides' resolve.
To begin with, what precise role will the Taliban have in
the consensus government? The specifics need to be worked
out as best as they can be at this stage.
The timing of reconciliation talks also needs to be
negotiated. There are virtually no takers in Pakistan for
the US argument that the troop surge will allow it to
impose a political solution. The overwhelming majority
believes that optimism regarding the surge is dangerously
misplaced. Islamabad would like a serious, well-directed
reconciliation effort to start as soon as possible. How
much is the US willing to concede on this count needs
clarity.
Perhaps one reality that can bring the two sides closer is
a much-needed realisation in Washington that Nato's
patience with the American policy in Afghanistan is
waning; the longer the saga drags on, the more isolated
the US is likely to become.
The commitment question is also looming. Notwithstanding
official signals that the US will stay in Afghanistan till
needed, Pakistanis are not convinced. Lack of certainty
implies that Islamabad's propensity to keep hedging even
as it moves towards the agreed end-state will remain high.
At least on the track-I level the US needs to go beyond
promises and lay out its various possible withdrawal
plans.
Strategically, the US must not go back to attempting a
shift in Pakistan's paradigm. The India question will have
to be addressed by sidelining any Indian role in the
Afghan reconciliation effort and by increasing public and
private efforts to bring India back to the negotiating
table. At least rhetorically, the US has to show that it
has shifted its policy from indifference to active
prodding.
Pakistan on its part must move beyond 'security concerns'
and spell out what exactly it expects Washington to
achieve in terms of the Pakistan-India equation. In doing
so, it must take into account that the US does not have
the leverage to do more than prod India constantly on key
issues. Moreover, it is impossible for anyone to ask India
to leave Afghanistan. Presence on the security front may
be reduced but development assistance, and thus, civilian
presence, shall remain courtesy of the domestic support
for Indian social-sector spending among Afghans.
Realism should also dictate the extent to which Pakistan
chooses to be involved in the reconciliation effort. For
one, any attempt to force a solution on the Afghans will
not work. The best Pakistan can do - this will serve
everyone's interest - is to convince all major political
players in Afghanistan to come together and reach an
internal settlement. No matter what the decision, as long
as it is consensual and brings together the Afghan
factions Pakistan's geographical location, its ethnic ties
and the economic dependence of the Afghans east of the
Durand Line will ensure that Kabul is friendly towards
Islamabad.
Finally, Pakistan ought not to exaggerate its leverage
over any Afghan faction or the situation in Afghanistan.
Neither can Islamabad continue to test the international
community's patience by acting as a spoiler beyond a
point.
Equally, Pakistan should not stick its neck out to provide
any guarantees for Kabul's future conduct. The world
should be allowed to keep its direct channels open to
negotiate the future with the new Afghan government.
Pakistan will have to learn to live with an
internationally engaged Afghanistan as long as it is
friendly towards Islamabad.
Viewpoints
Season for assassinations
The laws of
war and self-defense may permit political assassination in
certain cases, but prudence dictates thinking carefully before
pulling that fateful trigger.
Mark Medish & Joel McCleary
State-sponsored
assassinations are back in season. Targeted snuff jobs of
state enemies are on the rise from Dubai to Dagestan, from
Yemen to Waziristan. Even the United States has returned to
the practice: American military drones and special operations
have been pushing the limits of President Ford's 1976
executive ban ?against assassinations.
When one factors in the vast human cost of cruder
alternatives, assassination seems like a logical option for
dealing with foreign foes. Instead of invading Iraq at the
cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, for example, would not
a deft poisoning of Saddam Hussein - a "liquid murder" - have
been morally justified? Who has ever called the would-be
assassins of Hitler and Himmler anything but heroes?
Advances in lethal technology are making assassinations
exponentially easier against even the most hardened security
systems. Drones, aerolosisation devices, synthetic opiates,
new biological agents and radiological weapons can be
developed without fear ?of attribution. But here's the rub:
While it may be morally justified and legal under the laws of
war, political assassination carries with it practical policy
issues, not least the law of ?unintended consequences.
Elimination of an enemy's leadership may seem like a simple
solution, but one must ask what will come in its place. And
one must bear in mind that what is sauce for the dictatorial
goose can equally be sauce for the democratically elected
gander. Further, the old notion, paraphrasing Thucydides, that
the strong can get away with murder while the weak must bear
it, is increasingly unsupportable in today's high-tech world
of lethal agents.
The last era of unrestrained use of assassination by the US
was during the Kennedy administration. So flagrant were the
tactics that JFK's successor, Lyndon Johnson, privately
charged that the Kennedy brothers were running a "damned
Murder Incorporated."
JFK's "executive action" policy was an open season of plots
against troublesome foreign leaders such as Rafael Trujillo of
the Dominican Republic, Ngo Dinh Diem in Viet Nam, René
Schneider in Chile, Patrice Lumumba in Congo and Fidel Castro
in Cuba. Committees in both the U.S. Senate and House
investigated this policy in 1975-1976 in an attempt to
exercise oversight of CIA covert operations.
The inquires of the Church Committee in the Senate led
President Ford to issue the 1976 executive order banning
"political assassination by USG employees." Presidents Carter
and Reagan issued similar orders, removing the "political"
limitation and extending the prohibition to anybody acting on
Washington's behalf. These orders did nothing to change the
traditional laws of war and self-defense, but they sent clear
signals about a change of US policy.
It is important to recall the wider context of the Church
Committee probes. Then as now, the world's greatest conspiracy
theories swirled around the Kennedy assassination. President
Johnson, for one, was convinced that Castro's hand was behind
Lee Harvey Oswald's trigger finger. In 1968, Johnson told ABC
reporter Howard K. Smith that "Kennedy was trying to get to
Castro, but Castro got him first."
At one Church Committee hearing, Senator Chris Dodd remarked
on the eerie coincidence that at the very hour of JFK's
assassination, CIA agents were providing a Cuban agent (or
double agent) code-named AMLASH with insecticide to poison
Castro.
Castro was all too aware of the many U.S.-sponsored attempts
on his life (the Church Committee identified eight.) Two weeks
before JFK died in Dallas, the Cuban leader warned those he
knew were listening that if one more attempt were made on his
life there would be dire consequences. Does the United States
want to return to this era of uncertainty?
Do democratically elected leaders wish to open this bloody
door again, when in fact their own protection is as porous and
precarious as ever? Technology has made assassination, as well
as escalatory and asymmetrical reprisals, easier than ever for
both the geese and the ganders.
There may be little choice in using this tactic against
non-state actors such as Al Qaeda, as the Clinton, Bush and
Obama administrations have done. However, one should not
automatically assume that decapitation works well against all
decentralised terrorist or mafia-like structures. To the
contrary, the history of assassinating "high value targets"
such as international drug lords suggests otherwise - the
hydra heads easily regenerate, possibly in more radical form
than the ones ?they replaced.
Actions against national leaders are even more complicated. As
security experts consider the option of a surgical
decapitation strike against the Iranian leadership to preempt
its assumed nuclear ambitions - to avoid a latter-day Cuban
Missile Crisis - our leaders should think twice about the
unintended consequences of such actions. Leaders in glass
security houses should not throw stones.
One need not believe in conspiracy theories about JFK to be
seriously concerned about the wisdom of JFK's assassination
policy. The laws of war and self-defense may permit political
assassination in certain cases, but prudence dictates thinking
carefully before pulling that fateful trigger.
Joel McCleary and Mark Medish served as advisers respectively
to Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
An American
peace plan
To both
peoples Obama must submit a fair, balanced and realistic
peace plan, going into the smallest details and with a
reasonable yet fixed time-table, a plan that allows each
side to claim victory.
Uri Avnery
The
other day I went to the health clinic to get a
vaccination. The trip to the clinic and back, including
the waiting, took just over an hour. During this time, I
had the following experiences:
The taxi driver told me that years ago he was living next
to Asher Yadlin, the man at the center of a major
corruption affair in the 1970s, which was uncovered by my
magazine, Haolam Hazeh. "How we were shocked then!" he
exclaimed, "We did not believe that such a thing was
possible! And look what's happening now!"
He meant the scandal around the huge Holyland housing
project in West Jerusalem, involving a former prime
minister, two former mayors and an assortment of business
tycoons and senior officials - a bribery affair a hundred
times bigger than the Yadlin business.
While waiting at the clinic, I was accosted by an old man.
"I fought in the Warsaw ghetto uprising," he started. I
searched for an escape route, but before I could spot one,
I was captured by his story. In the middle of it, a man of
about 60 approached us and told me that he had twice voted
for me. "Not that I agreed with your views," he confided,
"but I wanted to have intelligent people in the Knesset."
I must admit that this motive was new to me.
Before going home I entered a nearby store. There I met a
woman I had known some 40 years ago. Her brother-in-law,
Yehiel Kadishai, had been the loyal secretary of Menachem
Begin. We briefly compared Israel as it was then to the
Israel of today.
The cab driver who brought me home told me that he had
recently moved back from Las Vegas where was left without
a job for seven months. When he went back to Israel for a
family wedding, he saw that the Israeli economy was
booming and decided to stay for the time being. An Israeli
flag was waving over his taxi, and he sounded eminently
satisfied.
This is a random sample of Israelis on the eve of the 2010
Independence Day. Memories from the Holocaust, nostalgia
for a more innocent Israel, anger about corruption,
satisfaction with the Israeli economy. Not a single word
about peace. Not a single word about the occupation.
If I had asked these people what they think about it, I
would probably have received one and the same answer from
all of them: Peace is a good thing. We want peace. But we
have no partner. The Arabs don't want peace. Therefore
there will be no peace - not tomorrow, not in ten years,
not in 50 years. Nothing to be done. That's how it is.
If I had spent the same hour in similar company in
Ramallah, the answers I received would probably not have
been very different. Bitter memories from the Naqba, anger
about the corruption in high circles, perhaps even some
satisfaction about the improvement of the economic
situation in the West Bank. And a total lack of belief in
peace. They would certainly have said: "The Israelis don't
want peace. Nothing to be done. That's how it is."
If US President Barack Obama and his assistants intend to
start a serious peace effort, as it now seems, that is the
main thing they have to take into consideration: Before
addressing the hard problems of peacemaking, the profound
lack of belief on both sides has to be overcome. Either
side is completely convinced that the other side does not
want peace and will bring a dozen proofs from real life.
This lack of belief is the product of years of conflict,
an endless chain of violence, wars and crises, for which
each side blames the other. The Palestinians see the
Israelis as land-grabbing robbers, the Israelis see the
Arabs as cannibals with knives between their teeth.
This lack of belief is also somehow comfortable. When
there is no chance, there is no need to do anything. No
need to rise up, to act, to demonstrate, to change.
Nothing can be done anyhow. That's how it is.
Some days ago, two American personalities, Zbigniew
Brzezinski and Stephen Solarz, published an important
document.
Brzezinski was the national security advisor to President
Jimmy Carter. He was one of the hosts at the 1978 Camp
David conference, which laid the foundation to the
Israeli-Egyptian peace. Some years ago he called upon
President George W. Bush to change American policy in the
Middle East, including dropping the negative attitude
toward Hamas. Solarz was a congressman. A Jewish
New-Yorker, he specialized in foreign affairs. I had a
talk with him many years ago and was impressed by his
emotional involvement with Israeli-Palestinian peace.
When two such persons publish a manifesto together, they
are bound to attract attention in the US. But the contents
of the document are no less important than the identity of
the authors. The two put on the table a practical and
detailed proposal, which includes the following steps:
o Obama will come to Jerusalem and address the Israeli
public directly from the Knesset rostrum.
o He will do the same in Ramallah and address the
Palestinian public.
o He will make a speech in the Old City of Jerusalem and
address all the peoples of the Middle East.
To all these audiences, Obama will submit an American
peace plan. I believe that this is an excellent idea.
For many years I believed that there is no substitute for
a direct face-to-face dialogue, without a third party.
When there is a third party, each side addresses it and
not the adversary, at the same time radicalizing its
position so as to have something to compromise on. The
Oslo experience proved this point.
People speak of an "imposed peace". But that is not the
right expression. The task of the US is not to "impose"
but to "convince" - and I don't use the word cynically. To
convince means: To lead Israeli and Palestinian public
opinion to the conviction that peace is possible, that the
other side also needs it, that somebody will see to it
that the terms are fully kept, that somebody will
guarantee their security in the short and long term. And
the main point: That each party has got to gain from it.
In Israel, Obama will have to take into consideration the
real fears of a Holocaust-troubled people, to plant again
the seeds of hope, to create the faith that there is a
place for Israel in the family of Middle Eastern nations,
to reinforce the conviction that the US will not abandon
Israel in any future crisis, but also to warn of the
severe dangers facing Israel if the two-state solution is
not realized very soon.
In Palestine he will have to take into consideration the
fears of a Naqba-injured and occupation-damaged people; to
promise the realization of the Palestinians' hope for
independence within two years, to guarantee that the US
will not allow ethnic cleansing, but also to point out the
existential danger that threatens them if the State of
Palestine does not soon come into being next to Israel. He
must also lift the veto the US has imposed on Fatah-Hamas
reconciliation.
To both peoples Obama must submit a fair, balanced and
realistic peace plan, going into the smallest details and
with a reasonable yet fixed time-table, a plan that allows
each side to claim victory.
On the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the State of
Israel, I cannot conceive of a more beautiful present.
Triumph and tragedy in Poland
But for Poles, tragedy is a constant. Poland's epic,
thousand-year history has always alternated between
extremes of tragedy and triumph.
Eric S. Margolis
The
crash last week of an airliner carrying Poland's
President, Lech Kaczynski, and 95 of the nation's
political, military and economic leaders, was a
heart-rending tragedy.
But for Poles, tragedy is a constant. Poland's epic,
thousand-year history has always alternated between
extremes of tragedy and triumph.
The accident was especially bitter because President
Kaczynski and his delegation were flying into the Russian
city of Smolensk to attend the 70th anniversary of the
Katyn massacre.
Why so many senior officials were all on the same,
elderly, Soviet-built TU-154 airliner remains a question.
On a previous trip, Kaczynski had ordered his reluctant
pilot to land in dangerous conditions. Smolensk was
blanketed by fog. Kaczynski may have been determined not
to miss memorial ceremonies at Katyn Forest.
Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, was waiting there
to pay his nation's respects - and atone - for the
terrible Soviet crime at Katyn.
In 1940, Stalin and Hitler invaded and partitioned Poland.
Stalin sought to wipe out Poland's national identity and
middle class. He ordered the NKVD secret police to murder
22,000 Polish officers, intellectuals and political
figures at Katyn. Soviets propaganda blamed this crime on
the Nazis. The truth was only revealed in 1989 by Russia's
late president, Boris Yeltsin.
Poland, a land without natural borders, has suffered
endlessly at the hands of its neighbours. In 1795, the
Polish-Lithuanian state was partitioned by Russia and
Prussia. In spite of many valiant uprisings, Poles did not
regain independence until 1918.
A year later, Soviet Bolshevik armies advanced into Poland
with the objective of returning Poland to Moscow's rule,
then occupying strife-torn Germany and Austria. In August
1920, Poland's Marshall Jozef Pilsudski met and decisively
defeated the Red armies on the Vistula. He drove them from
Poland, and saved western Europe from a Soviet takeover.
This epic victory has been totally forgotten. Poland
suffered frightful losses in World War II: six million
dead out of a population of 35 million, one of the war's
heaviest per capita tolls. Polish Jews may have made up
half the dead. Warsaw was razed.
Given centuries of Polish-Russian hostility, it was not
easy for Vladimir Putin, a former colonel in KGB's elite
First Directorate (foreign intelligence), to go to Katyn
and face up to Stalin's crime. Putin has championed
restoration of Stalin's memory and is an ardent
authoritarian-nationalist. Two thirds of Russians still
regard Stalin as a hero, and Putin as a worthy, though
less draconian, successor. Equally important, many senior
positions in Russia's government, media, banking and
industry are held by KGB (today FSB) men. As Putin
reportedly asserted, 'no one ever retires from KGB.' The
Smolensk crash, and Russia's genuinely heartfelt shock and
mourning, went far to repair tense, mistrustful
Polish-Russian relations. Putin deserves kudos for his
deft, sincere handling of this disaster. Admitting a
nation's crimes is a tough, risky business. Russia has yet
to come clean about millions murdered by Stalin, including
6-7 million Ukrainians. Britain has never owned up to its
imperial crimes. Neither have France and Belgium about
their rule in Africa.
During my visits to Poland, senior officials invariably
whispered to me, 'the KGB is still here.' Poles harbor
deep fears of a Russian return. Russians see Poland as a
dangerous US forward base filed with Russia-haters, a
dagger pointed at western Russia and the Baltic.
The Katyn tragedy will smooth these troubled waters, at
least for a while. Poles will hopefully not make a saint
of the late, Kaczynski who was disliked by many of his
countrymen. He should not be buried with Poland's great
kings, as some overly motional Poles have demanded.
Decisions made at times of mourning or crises are almost
always poor ones.
Poland will recover, and quickly. Once dismissed as
hopeless in business, Poles rode out the 2008 world
recession, and emerged as one of Europe's strongest
economies - a major achievement for a post-Communist
state. Our tears and applause go to the Poles.
Eric Margolis is a veteran US journalist who reported
from the Middle East and Asia for nearly two decades.
International
Pak’s
‘Azm-e-Nau-III’ military exercise a message to India?
ANI, Bahawalpur, Pakistan
The six-week-long Azm-e-Nau-III military exercise being
conducted by the Pakistani armed forces is being seen as a
message to India, as the exercise is being held on in
areas close to the Indian border.
The message coming out is that Pakistan is vigilant on its
eastern border, despite being heavily engaged on the
western border carrying out operations in South Waziristan,
Khyber and Orakzai.
On Sunday, the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)
exhibited their professional capabilities in front of
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and many other senior
leaders of the country in the desert of Khairpur Tamewali
near Bahawalpur.
The heavy firepower of the armed forces was also witnessed
by more than 30 military attaches of different countries.
The Pakistan Army used homemade Al-Khalid tanks and Anza
Mark II missiles, while the Air Force used not only
US-made F-16s, but also locally assembled JF-17 Thunder
aircraft.
The massive firepower of Al-Khalid tanks and JF-17 Thunder
also proved that locally-made weapons are as good as the
imported ones.
Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Gilani underlined
the need for high state of preparedness to guarantee peace
and security.
"Our democratic system, economic potential, vibrant
population, national unity, consensus and armed forces all
provide strategic stability against all possible threats
to our great country," The News quoted Gilani, as saying.
He added that Pakistan was standing against forces of
extremism and militancy, while bearing a very heavy cost
to its economy and prosperity.
"The world today finds Pakistan standing as a bulwark
against forces of extremism and militancy. It is in this
struggle where nation pledges to support armed forces in
spirit, with its youth and its entire resources," Gilani
said.
The Prime Minister also emphasised that Pakistan and its
armed forces are fully committed in a fierce struggle on
its western border and are continuing to retain their
capability to deal with all possible threats in the
region.
Officials named in UN
report suspended
Dawn Online, Islamabad
Four days after the release of the UN Commission's report
on Benazir Bhutto's assassination, the federal government
went into action and suspended eight officials, including
former City Police Officer (CPO) Saud Aziz, who were
responsible for former prime minister's security at the
venue of her last public meeting.
Their names were also included on the Exit Control List (ECL).
These officials have been suspended and the contract of
Director-General of Civil Defence Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal
Cheema has been cancelled. Brig Cheema, as the spokesman
for the interior ministry, was the first government
official to state that Ms Bhutto had died because of
injuries she sustained when she hit the lever of the
escape hatch of the vehicle she was travelling in. He was
serving as DG National Crisis Management Cell (MCMC), a
department of the interior ministry, at that time.
However, on Sunday there was no official word about the
fate of the PPP leaders identified by the UN report for
having provided 'insufficient' security cover to Ms
Bhutto.
These PPP leaders include high-profile government
functionaries such as Interior Minister Rehman Malik and
Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza.
Aware perhaps of the fingers being pointed at him, Mr
Mirza claimed on Sunday that he and Rehman Malik were
under investigation and that he had volunteered himself
for it. However, there has been no confirmation of this
from the interior minister.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar confirmed the
suspension of the eight officials and said the orders had
come from the prime minister.
"The action on the UN report has been started on the
directives of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani."
‘Sectoral dialogue’ with US
in May and June
Dawn Online, Islamabad
The Pakistan-US 'sectoral dialogue' will be held in May
and June for discussing the practical details of bilateral
cooperation before the next round of Strategic Dialogue,
which Islamabad wants to host in July.
The 11 tracks to be covered during the sectoral dialogue,
to be held between the last week of May and second part of
June, are: economy and trade; energy; defence; security,
strategic stability and non-proliferation; law enforcement
and counter-terrorism; science and technology; education;
agriculture; water; health; and communication and public
diplomacy.
The talks will carry forward the recent discussions held
in Washington under the Strategic Dialogue.
Federal secretaries of the ministries concerned will lead
the Pakistani side at the meetings of different tracks
with senior officials of the United States administration.
A diplomat at the Foreign Office said the 11 tracks would
meet separately to discuss different issues and explore
how the two countries could cooperate to address them.
The outcome of the dialogue will be reviewed by a 'policy
steering group' led by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and
US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard
Holbrooke. The group will report to the Strategic Dialogue
co-chaired by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Pakistan has proposed
that the next session of Strategic Dialogue may be held in
July.
The decision to hold the sectoral dialogue was taken at
the Strategic Dialogue in Washington last month for
broadening and deepening bilateral cooperation.
Thaksin urges snap poll to
end Thai crisis
Reuters, Bangkok
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva must dissolve
parliament immediately and call a snap election to end a
tense standoff between troops and protesters, fugitive
former premier Thaksin Shinawatra said on Monday.
"The political crisis must be resolved by political means
and the only way is for Abhisit to dissolve parliament and
call a snap election," Thaksin told Reuters in an
telephone interview during a brief stopover in Brunei
after a trip from Fiji.
Thaksin said Abhisit's resistance to demands by "red
shirt" protesters, who have occupied key parts of central
Bangkok for more than 5 weeks, means he intends to order a
crackdown on protesters or a coup.
"Launching a coup wouldn't be an easy thing like in the
past, as it will face a lot of resistance from the
people," said the 60-year-old telecoms billionaire, still
the only Thai prime minister to win two consecutive
elections, both by landslides.
Analysts say cracks in the armed forces along the
country's colour-coded fault lines have the top brass
worried about leaks and unsure of whom to trust.
Speculation is growing hardliners may try to stage a coup
to end the five-year political crisis.
Thaksin, ousted in a bloodless 2006 coup, said he had
stopped speaking by telephone and video links at red shirt
rallies in Bangkok over the past couple of weeks because
the movement had gone beyond fighting for his cause.
"Initially, people were fighting for me, who they felt was
unfairly treated, but now more and more people are
fighting for justice and democracy. They don't want the
elite to keep interfering in democracy," Thaksin said.
The former policeman has been living abroad to avoid jail
after being convicted in 2008 on graft charges, which his
supporters saw as an attempt to keep him from holding
office.
Method behind the madness
at India's festival
AFP, Haridwar,
India
Guaranteeing the safety of 50 million pilgrims as they
bathe in a narrow stretch of river is a crowd control
headache beyond the imagination of most police forces
around the world.
The Kumbh Mela festival, which concludes on April 28, is a
disorderly, dirty and occasionally dangerous gathering of
Hindu pilgrims on the banks of the fast-flowing river
Ganges in northern India.
Over three months, devotees stream onto ghats, or bathing
steps, at a site that lacks everything from roads and
parking to toilets and accommodation. The pilgrims believe
the holy bath cleanses them of sin.
Thousands of families bed down in the streets, children
get separated from their parents, elderly relatives fight
to stay upright in the thrusting crowds, and tourists
search desperately for bottled water and clean food.
But behind the apparent anarchy is a complex
organisational plan to keep the festival running in
surprisingly smooth and good-humoured manner as devotees
go back and forth for their bathes in the sacred river.
"Managing a crowd of tens of millions of people is a
mammoth task," Alok Sharma, the senior police officer in
charge of the festival, told AFP at his office next to the
Ganges in Haridwar city-this year's Kumbh Mela venue.
"Everywhere around here is packed with mankind," he said.
"The threat of stampedes with such numbers is great. It is
a massive human control exercise.
"People try to all converge in one small place at the same
time, which presents a very difficult task. We try to make
people go to different ghats instead."
S.Lanka’s ex-army chief
back in court as MP-elect
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka's former army chief Sarath Fonseka appeared in
the dock at a court martial on Monday for the first time
since winning a parliamentary seat in elections earlier
this month.
Fonseka last year led the military to victory over the
Tamil Tiger rebels but later fell out with President
Mahinda Rajapakse and unsuccessfully tried to unseat him
in a presidential election in January.
He faces two sets of charges-corrupt military procurements
and engaging in politics while in uniform. The four-star
general denies all the allegations and says they are part
of a political vendetta.
Monday's hearing was the first since Fonseka secured a
parliamentary seat in the April 8 polls, which were won
easily by Rajapakse's party.
The court martial, which is being conducted behind closed
doors at the tightly-guarded naval headquarters, was
adjourned after unspecified legal arguments, a military
official who declined to be named told AFP.
"He was at the hearing and the court adjourned till
tomorrow (Tuesday) after objections raised by his
lawyers," the official said.
Fonseka's Democratic National Alliance, which has won five
seats out of the 180 declared so far in the 225-member
assembly, says the government is trying to prevent him
from attending the opening of the new parliament on
Thursday.
Rajapakse has been accused by political opponents and
international human rights groups of suppressing dissent
since his resounding re-election.
South Korea’s Lee vows to
root out navy sinking culprit
Reuters, Seoul
A tearful South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed on
Monday to find out what caused last month's deadly navy
ship sinking, but avoided direct references to neighboring
North Korea, which many believe was the culprit.
The reclusive North at the weekend denied it had anything
to do with the sinking of the Cheonan navy corvette, near
a disputed sea border on the long-divided peninsula. It
accused Lee of using the incident to try to drum up
support for his ruling party in local elections in June.
"This I promise to you. As your president, I will go to
the very end to uncover every detail of the cause of the
sinking of the Cheonan," Lee said in a
nationally-televised speech. The conservative president,
who has seen relations with the impoverished North turn
increasingly chilly after he ended years of aid from
Seoul, wiped away tears as he read with a shaking voice
the names of the 46 sailors who died in the explosion.
Analysts say if Pyongyang is shown to have torpedoed the
ship, a version already raised as a possibility by the
defense minister, there is little South Korea itself can
do, aware that a military response is more likely to hurt
its own economy and bolster the North's iron ruler Kim
Jong-il at home.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan all but
admitted the government's options were limited when he
said on Sunday that if investigations proved the North
sank the ship, the government would raise the issue with
the U.N. Security Council.
The issue comes at a sensitive time for Lee who will want,
ahead of the June elections, to head off suggestions by
his political opponents that the military under his watch
was ill-prepared for such an event.
Iran
says to start work on new enrichment plant
Reuters, Tehran
Iran will start work on a new uranium enrichment nuclear
plant, a senior official said on Monday, part of a big
expansion of its nuclear programme which has contributed
to fears in the West it aims to build a bomb.
Defying Western pressure to curb its sensitive nuclear
work, Iran announced in November it planned to expand its
enrichment activities by building 10 new sites. The
announcement was condemned by the United states and its
European allies.
"The president has confirmed the designated location of a
new nuclear site and on his order the building process
will begin," Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi, a senior adviser to
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told the semi-official ILNA
news agency.
"New locations on which the plants should be constructed
this year have been determined and the construction will
start stage by stage," Samareh-Hashemi was quoted as
saying.
Iran's top nuclear official Akbar Salehi told Reuters in
February that Iran would start construction of two
enrichment sites by March 2011.
Washington is pushing for a fourth round of United Nations
sanctions on Iran in the coming weeks to pressure it to
halt its enrichment-related work, which Tehran says is
entirely peaceful.
Iran started higher-level enrichment in February, saying
it needed the 20 percent enriched fuel for a research
reactor in Tehran making medical isotopes. Such potent
material is not necessary to generate electricity.
Tehran has said it is still willing to swap low-level
enriched uranium for higher-grade fuel enriched abroad-a
move which would help address fears about Iran's
enrichment activities-but the exchange must happen on
Iranian soil.
The West believed it had persuaded Iran, at talks in
Geneva last October, to hand over some of its uranium
stocks to be enriched abroad, but that deal fell apart
soon afterwards.
‘Palestinians will rule
themselves’ says Ehud Barak
BBC Online
Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said Israel must,
eventually, allow the Palestinians to rule themselves.
In an interview with Army Radio he said in the future
there would be a separate Palestinian state "whether you
like it or not".
The interview comes as Israelis mark Memorial Day,
commemorating Israeli soldiers killed in action.
Mr Barak, a former top ranking soldier, leads the Labour
Party which is part of the current government coalition.
"The world isn't willing to accept, and we won't change
that in 2010, the expectation that Israel will rule
another people for decades more," he said.
"There is no other way, whether you like it or not, than
to let them rule themselves," he said, speaking about the
idea of a separate Palestinian state.
'Alienation'
He also warned of a growing rift between Israel and the
United States. He said the government of Benjamin
Netanyahu had "done things that didn't come naturally to
it", like agreeing to a 10 month pause in settlement
building and moving toward accepting the principle that
there should be two states, one for Palestinians and one
for Israelis.
"But we shouldn't delude ourselves, the growing alienation
between us and the United States is not good for Israel,"
he said.
Israel's Memorial Day commemorates some 22,600 soldiers
killed in action and the 1,750 Israeli citizens killed in
attacks by Palestinian militant groups.
It coincides with the celebration of Israel's 62nd
independence day.
Secret prison revealed in
Baghdad
La Times
Hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a secret
Baghdad prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister
Nouri Maliki's military office, where many were routinely
tortured until the country's Human Rights Ministry gained
access to the facility, Iraqi officials say.
The men were detained by the Iraqi army in October in
sweeps targeting Sunni groups in Nineveh province, a
stronghold of the group Al Qaeda in Iraq and other
militants in the north. The provincial governor alleged at
the time that ordinary citizens had been detained as well,
often without a warrant.
Worried that courts would order the detainees' release,
security forces obtained a court order and transferred
them to Baghdad, where they were held in isolation. Human
rights officials learned of the facility in March from
family members searching for missing relatives.
Revelation of the secret prison could worsen tensions at a
highly sensitive moment in Iraq. As U.S. troops are
withdrawing, Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, and other political
officials are negotiating the formation of a new
government. Including minority Sunni Arabs is considered
by many to be key to preventing a return of widespread
sectarian violence. Already there has been an increase in
attacks by Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni extremist group.
The alleged brutal treatment of prisoners at the facility
raised concerns that the country could drift back to its
authoritarian past.
Commanders initially resisted efforts to inspect the
prison but relented and allowed visits by two teams of
inspectors, including Human Rights Minister Wijdan Salim.
Inspectors said they found that the 431 prisoners had been
subjected to appalling conditions and quoted prisoners as
saying that one of them, a former colonel in President
Saddam Hussein's army, had died in January as a result of
torture.
Aviation industry blasts EU
govts for lockdowns
Agencies, London
The aviation industry sharply criticized European
governments on Monday for their handling of airport
closures, saying there was "no coordination and no
leadership" in the volcanic ash crisis that shut down
European airports for a fifth straight day.
Some smaller airports reopened, and European officials had
hoped that flights could return to about 50 percent of
normal on Monday if the skies were clearing.
But authorities in Britain, France, Germany, and the
Netherlands - home to three of Europe's largest airports -
said their air space was still closed. Britain said it was
keeping flight restrictions on through until at least
early Tuesday, while Italy briefly lifted restrictions in
the north then quickly closed again Monday after
conditions worsened.
Austrian authorities reopened the country's airspace,
though many flights there remain canceled, and Stockholm's
Arlanda Airport was reopening for limited air traffic.
Finland opened its Tampere and Turkuairports but kept its
main airport in Helsinki shut, and most Norwegian airspace
reopened Sunday evening. The International Air Transport
Association says the airport lockdowns are costing the
aviation industry at least $200 million a day and
affecting millions of travelers since the volcano in
Iceland begun erupting Wednesday. Meeting in Paris, the
group expressed its "dissatisfaction with how governments
have managed it, with no risk assessment, no consultation,
no coordination, and no leadership" and called for greater
urgency in reopening Europe's skies.
Several major airlines safely tested the skies with
weekend flights that did not carry passengers. The
announcement of successful test flights prompted some
airline officials to wonder whether authorities had
overreacted to concerns that the microscopic particles of
volcanic ash could cause jet engines to fail.
The Catholic church’s
‘suicidal strategy’
France24
The Catholic church has found itself at the centre of a
new controversy in France after the publication of a
letter by Golias, a dissident Catholic website. In the
letter, dating from 2001, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, the
man in charge of clergy around the world, congratulates
French Bishop Pierre Pican for covering a paedophile
priest. Later that year, Pican was sentenced to three
months in jail for failing to denounce Abbot René Bissey,
a convicted paedophile who is currently serving an 18-year
prison sentence. We spoke to the website's chief editor,
Christian Terras.
F24: How do we explain this letter of congratulation?
Christian Terras: This letter just goes to show how the
Catholic Church prefers to handle serious affairs
internally, without resorting to the civilian justice
system. It sheds light on how the church sees paedophilia:
as a problem that can be solved internally. You can also
see how the relationship between the various actors is
cast as sacred, the priest being portrayed as the son of
the bishop.
F24: This letter was written after Pope John Paul II had
asked bishops and priests to denounce crimes of
paedophilia. Did the cardinal then disobey orders?
C.T.: In 2001, when this document was written, Benedict
XVI, then a cardinal and second to John Paul II, published
a letter, "De gravioribus delicti", which listed the most
serious crimes. But there is never any mention of relying
on civil justice. The document certainly hinted at an
awareness of the problem of paedophilia. But the church
continued to treat the issue internally. In Ireland, for
example, the papal nuncio had even been instructed not to
cooperate with local authorities.
F24: Why is the Vatican still adopting a strategy that is
damaging its image?
C.T.: Over the past four months, the Vatican has been
employing a suicidal strategy. But there were alternatives
to help deal with the problem. First, it should have
recognised the shared responsibility of both John Paul II
and Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, in the
paedophilia scandals. This would have strengthened the
church's credibility.
Ousted Kyrgyzstan leader
Bakiyev ‘leaves Kazakhstan’
BBC Online
The ousted leader of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has
left Kazakhstan, officials there say.
Mr Bakiyev had fled to the neighbouring country after
being overthrown in a violent uprising earlier this month.
Kazakh Foreign Ministry officials in the capital, Astana,
gave no indication of where Mr Bakiyev had gone.
An interim government is now in charge in Kyrgyzstan,
after more than 80 people were killed in the
anti-government protests.
"As far as I know Kurmanbek Bakiyev has left the territory
of Kazakhstan," ministry spokesman Askar Abdarakhmanov
told a news conference in Astana.
"It is not known in which direction he is flying."
The interim Kyrgyz government, led by former foreign
minister Roza Otunbayeva, says Mr Bakiyev is responsible
for the deaths on 7 April and should stand trial.
Arrest warrants have also been issued for several of his
family members and officials, including his brother
Zhanybek - the former head of the presidential guard - who
is accused of giving the order for security forces to open
fire on protesters.
Unrest continues
Mr Bakiyev fled the country on 15 April, after failing to
secure support in his home region in the south of the
country.
Earlier on Monday, around 1,000 of his supporters gathered
in his home town of Jalalabad to demand an end to what
they see as the persecution of him and his relatives.
A similar number of police officers also protested in the
southern city of Osh, demanding better benefits and
justice for security personnel killed or injured in the
unrest.
There were also reports of unrest near Bishkek, as
hundreds of rioters armed with sticks confronted the
authorities in what appeared to be a dispute over land
seized during the uprising.
Reaching out quietly to
Muslims in America
Internet
When President Obama took the stage in Cairo last June,
promising a new relationship with the Islamic world,
Muslims in America wondered only half-jokingly whether the
overture included them. After all, Mr. Obama had kept his
distance during the campaign, never visiting an American
mosque and describing the false claim that he was Muslim
as a "smear" on his Web site. Nearly a year later, Mr.
Obama has yet to set foot in an American mosque. And he
still has not met with Muslim and Arab-American leaders.
But less publicly, his administration has reached out to
this politically isolated constituency in a sustained and
widening effort that has left even skeptics surprised.
Muslim and Arab-American advocates have participated in
policy discussions and received briefings from top White
House aides and other officials on health care
legislation, foreign policy, the economy, immigration and
national security. They have met privately with a senior
White House adviser, Valerie Jarrett, Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric H.
Holder Jr. to discuss civil liberties concerns and
counterterrorism strategy.
The impact of this continuing dialogue is difficult to
measure, but White House officials cited several recent
government actions that were influenced, in part, by the
discussions. The meeting with Ms. Napolitano was among
many factors that contributed to the government's decision
this month to end a policy subjecting passengers from 14
countries, most of them Muslim, to additional scrutiny at
airports, the officials said.
Business/Economy
Women
friendly environment in business sector demanded
BSS, Dhaka
Leaders of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (BWCCI) Monday underscored the need for creating
an effective women friendly environment in the commerce
and industrial sector so that they (women) can put their
worth in national development.
They said the half of the population is woman. So,
national development is not possible without economic
empowerment of the women folk.
Addressing a project launching ceremony at CIRDAP
auditorium here this afternoon, the women business leaders
observed that the hard earned democracy would not be able
to achieve firm footing without development of the women
entrepreneurs.
BWCCI organised the programme to inaugurate a project
titled "Women's National Business Agenda" with its
president Selima Ahmed in the chair.
State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin
Sharmin Chowdhury addressed the function as chief guest.
Prof. Mamtaz Begum, chairman, Jatiya Mohila Sangstah, and
Prof. Nazmunnesa Mahtab, a teacher of women studies
department of Dhaka University, among others, addressed
it.
Women entrepreneurs took part in the open discussion on
different aspects of the project taken for facilitating
increased participation in the economy by women
entrepreneurs in the country. Under the project, capacity
building and training programmes would be organised for
the women entrepreneurs in 24 districts across the
country.
Launching the project, state minister Dr Shirin Sharmin
Chowdhury assured of all cooperation from the government
in implementing the Women's National Business Agenda.
She also pledged to take necessary steps for implementing
the anti- domestic women repression act for development of
women entrepreneurship in the country.
Starting with the slogan 'Progressive Women, Prosperous
Bangladesh' Prof. Nazmunnesa Mahtab said co-existence of
man and women in all development activities is essential
for overall improvement.
In her presidential speech, Selima Ahmed said the BWCCI
provides supports to the women business community through
imparting training on management and financial resources,
expertise, and network facilities that enables small
businesses to succeed and prosper.
Tk
1,255 crore project taken up to turn BSC into world
standard
BSS, Chittagong
Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC), the national flag
carrier, is going to be a world standard shipping
organization within the next fiscal year as the government
has taken up a massive development project involving Taka
1255 crore to that end.
According to the project profile, BSC will purchase six
large vessels at a cost of Taka about 1,209 crore,
renovate its marine workshop at an expenditure of Taka 47
crore and employ more than 300 staffs during 2010-2011.
"The BSC authorities with the approval of its board has
sent separate proposals to the Shipping Ministry for total
modernization of the state-run shipping corporation to
compete in the global marine trade," Commodore Moqsumul
Quader, Managing Director (MD) of BSC, told BSS here
Monday. He said the high-ups in the government took up the
matter sincerely and would take effective and pragmatic
steps in this regard as soon as possible. "BSC carries
four to five percent export-import goods by its 13 medium
scale vessels but now faces manifold problems including
huge shortage of manpower and vessels since 1985," he
said.
Commodore Moqsumul Quader said the dearth of vessels that
badly affects BSC's operational activities has forced the
authorities to renovate many ships by spending huge
foreign currencies.
As part of the modernization plan, BSC is now going to
appoint 154 staffs through recent newspaper advertisement
with government approval, he said adding that the process
of recruitment would be completed within the next three
months.
On the other hand, BSC officials said, the authorities
have already completed Balancing, Modernization,
Rehabilitation and Expansion (BMRE) of its two vessels 'Kakoli
and Kollol" at a cost of Taka 19.5 crore.
They also said that the authorities would purchase six
reconditioned vessels, not exceeding 10 years, at a cost
of Taka 1,209 crore in 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Among the vessels, one mother tanker to carry crude oil
will cost Taka 350 crore, two Product Carriers to carry
Petroleum oil will cost Taka 418 crore, Two Bulk Carriers
to carry exportable and importable goods including
cements, fertilizer, salt and others goods will cost Taka
335 crore and another container vessel to carry containers
will cost Taka 106 crore.
The BSC Managing Director is hopeful about purchasing
three vessels by the end of this year and another three
vessels by June, 2011. All existing 15 ships in the BSC
fleet are 25 years old, he said.
Besides, he added, Long Raise Identification and Tracking
(LRIT) System compliance would be ensured in all foreign
going vessels of BSC in July next. As part of a mega plan,
the BSC authorities have started to modernize their Marine
Workshop at a cost of Taka 37 crore within June next year.
According to the BSC officials, about Taka 10 crore has
already been approved by the concerned ministry for
purchasing machinery and equipment for the workshop and
modernization works are expected to be completed within
June next year in three phases.
They said after completion of the modernization work all
local and foreign vessels would be renovated in this
workshop and thus the country would save huge foreign
currencies in this field.
Benapole land port earns Tk 1420.17cr revenue in
first 3Q
BSS, Benapole
Benapole Land Port, the largest land port of Bangladesh,
has earned Taka 1420.17 crore revenue, up Taka 340.21
crore from the target, during the nine months of current
fiscal.
The customs house sources said it earned the revenue by
handling 9,17,137 tonnes of imported goods, up 2,04,105
tonnes, from India during July-March of 2009-2010 fiscal.
The sources said the port had earned Taka 1079.96 crore in
the same period of the previous fiscal by realizing
7,13,032 metric tons of goods imported from India through
Benapole port. Customs Commissioner Dr Abdul Mannan Sikder
told BSS that the customs house has stepped up different
efforts to realize the revenue.
He said the revenue income has increased in the port due
to different efforts undertaken like strengthening the
realization of outstanding revenue, regular meeting of
assessment committee, monitoring of revenue activities and
strengthening import and export activities.
Member of the Bharat-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Matiur Rahman has underlined the importance of
privatization of the land port for increasing revenue as
well as strengthening its loading and unloading capacities
and other purposes.
The local businessmen, who engaged import and export
business through Bengpole Port, hoped that the
infrastructure development of port and customs would play
an important role in increasing revenue income many
folds.
Development
organizations can play a vital role in utilizing CSR funds
BSS, Dhaka
Development organizations can play a pivotal role in
proper utilization of corporate social responsibility
(CSR) funds in addressing social development issues of the
country. This can be attained through an effective linkage
between NGOs and the corporate sector.
The speakers said this in a two-day orientation programme
on linking CSR with NGOs during their discussions
yesterday, a handout said here Monday.
Management and Resources Development Initiative (MRDI)
organized the programme involving the chief executives and
representatives of 14 NGOs from around the country with
the support of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF).
The programme aimed to find the ways how to NGOs working
at the grassroots can approach corporate sector for
supporting development initiatives addressing needs and
priorities of the community.
Two main objectives of the programme were firstly to find
the ways to utilize CSR money as alternative source of
funding for development and secondly to identify corporate
views about their priorities for CSR operations.
Bangladesh Bank General Manager Shitangshu Kumar Sur
Chowdhury, MRDI Executive Director Hasibur Rahman,
Boishakhi Television Head of News Syed Ishtiaque Reza,
World Food Program (WFP) Head of External Relations M
Emamul Haque, Business Support of CSR Rahimafrooz Limited
Manager Murad Husain and Novartis (Bangladesh) Limited
Manager Mekhola Haque, among others were addressed on the
programme.
Jaago Foundation Founder Chairman Korvi Rakshand moderated
different sessions of the programme as resource person
while Director (Governance) of MJF Farzana Naim attended
the closing session.
WB says East Asia could stabilize emissions by
2025
AFP, Beijing
East Asia could stabilize its greenhouse gas emissions by
2025 while maintaining economic growth by investing
heavily in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies,
the World Bank said Monday.
Achieving this would require the region's energy guzzlers
to invest an extra 80 billion dollars a year to make
power, industry and transport sectors more efficient and
develop renewable energy, the World Bank said.
Success also depends on the region finding the political
will for big changes as well as transfers of financing and
technologies from developed countries, the
Washington-based lender said in a regional energy report.
"Major investments in energy efficiency and a concerted
switch to renewable sources of power... could
simultaneously stabilize greenhouse gas emissions,
increase energy security while improving local
environments," the report said.
But the World Bank warned time was running out and urged
policymakers in energy-hungry China, Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam to act quickly.
"While many East Asian countries are taking steps in these
directions, accelerating the speed and scaling up the
efforts are needed to get on to a sustainable energy
path," it said.
"The window of opportunity is closing fast, because
delaying action would lock the region into a long-lasting
high-carbon infrastructure."
If countries act, regional carbon emissions could
stabilise by 2025 and begin to decline, said the bank,
which provides financial and technical aid to developing
nations.
It said carbon emissions could be limited to 9.2
gigatonnes a year by 2030 -- 37 percent lower than the
World Bank's estimated level if governments stick to their
current climate change policies.
Euro falls as Goldman Sachs charges hit risk
appetite
AFP, Tokyo
The euro tumbled against other major currencies in Asia on
Monday as investors shunned risk on concerns about fraud
charges levelled against Goldman Sachs, dealers said.
The euro fell to 1.3466 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade
from 1.3504 dollars in New York late Friday, and to 123.87
yen from 124.42 yen.
The dollar, which soared on Friday in response to the
euro's woes, was quoted at 91.98 yen, down from 92.17 yen
in New York, as investors consider the Japanese currency
even safer than the greenback.
"Investors want to reduce risks as they do not know how
the Goldman Sachs case will develop," said Hideaki Inoue,
senior dealer at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corp.
The case "has brought possible tightening of financial
regulation into focus again", he said, adding that market
players had earlier opted for risk-taking on the back of
signs of a recovering global economy.
With a lack of concrete expectations in the market about
how the Goldman news will play out, "sentiment is clearly
weak" for the euro, Shinkin Asset Management senior
manager of investment Jun Kato told Dow Jones Newswires.
National
Large-scale promotion of
rice-maize cropping pattern can help ensure food security
BSS, Rajshahi
Large-scale promotion of rice-maize cropping pattern side
by side with the traditional rice-wheat can help ensuring
food security along with protecting the soil nutrients
from degradation.
In recent years, demand for maize from poultry and fish
industries and as human food has induced a shift toward
rice- maize systems.
Agricultural scientists and researchers made these
observations while addressing a farmers gathering and
field day titled "Sustainable Intensification of
Rice-Maize Production System in Bangladesh Project" at
Nandigram village under Durgapur Upazila of the district
Sunday.
Regional Wheat Research Center (RWRC) with financial
support from the Australian Centre for International
Agriculture Research (ACIAR) organized the meeting aimed
at motivating the farmers towards rice-maize cropping
pattern along with disseminating the modern technology.
The ACIAR has been implementing the three-year project
aimed at identifying, testing, and promoting key
interventions for sustainable management and
intensification of rice- maize systems in four districts
of the country including Rajshahi.
Main thrust of the project is to achieve greater focus of
partner institutions on sustainable system-level
management, greater integration of germplasm improvement
with crop management, greater consistency among
researchers and between the public and private sector on
technologies and greater access of farmers to new
information and technologies.
Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture Extension
Mohsin Ali addressed the farmers' meeting as the chief
guest while its Horticulture Specialist Nuruzzaman Sarker
and Upazila Agriculture Officer Saleh Ahammed as special
guests with RWRC Principal Scientific Officer Dr Israil
Hossain in the chair.
In his speech, Dr Israil said the program will establish
partnerships using a range of public- and private-sector
extension mechanisms to achieve rapid out-scaling of
adapted management practices, thereby enabling large
numbers of farmers to achieve high and sustained profit by
adjusting the production of rice, maize, and other crops
in response to markets and cost of inputs.
Locally developed management solutions for rice-maize are
being developed and adapted through farmer participatory
on-farm trials as there has been strong feedback and
interaction among the on-station field experiments and
on-farm participatory trials.
Research has been identifying and refining technologies on
conservation agriculture based resource-conserving
technologies and site-specific nutrient management.
The technologies include zero tillage, strip tillage,
minimum tillage using power tiller operated seeder (PTOS),
permanent bed planting using a bed planter, and farmers'
practice.
Dr Israil added that tools will help facilitate
dissemination of nutrient management technologies as both
male and female farmers have been participating in
designing, testing, and evaluating the technologies
through on-farm trials.
Cropping System Agronomist Dr Jagadish Timsina of
International Maize Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and
his colleague Dr TP Tiwari spoke as focal persons.
Efforts on to
produce 14.74 lakh bales jute in N-region
BSS, Rangpur
Farmers have started sowing jute seed in full swing after
moderate showers in recent days almost everywhere in the
country's northern region where the tender jute plants in
the early sowed-field are growing now excellent.
Sowing of jute seeds faced some initial setbacks for lack
of necessary soil moisture due to a prolonged drought like
situation and the process is now expected to complete by
this month end though the optimum sowing period already
expired on April 15 last.
Dinajpur Hub Manager of Cereal Systems Initiative for
South Asia and renowned agri-scientist Dr MA Mazid Monday
told the national news agency that jute production will
not be hampered if the farmers could complete sowing seeds
by this month-end.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources said
that jute seeds have been sowed on 52,462 hectares so far
in the region till Sunday where a target of producing
14,74,777 bales jute from 1,38,731 hectares has been fixed
for the current season.
Many of the farmers could sow their jute seeds in their
lands with necessary moistures in the second and third
week of the last month and tender jute plants in those
fields are now growing excellent.
"The farmers have already started sowing jute seeds in the
fullest momentum and they will complete it by the end of
this month in the region as elsewhere in the country," the
DAE officials and farmers said.
Initially, the farmers faced some problems in procuring
quality jute seeds as the quantity of the same being
supplied by the BADC and other concerned departments was
found to be inadequate at the beginning of the sowing
season last month.
But, the situation was overcome as the farmers got their
necessary jute seeds after a good quantity of quality jute
seeds was imported from Gujarat State in India and
distributed among the farmers throughout, the sources
said.
As per the fixed target, the farmers are expected to
produce 1,61,839 bales local variety jute from 19,373
hectares land and 13,12,938 bales Tosha variety jute from
1,19,358 hectares land in all 16 northern districts this
season.
The farmers will bring 6,598 hectares under jute farming
in Rangpur, 10,329 hectares in Gaibandha, 16,990 hectares
in Kurigram, 3,124 hectares in Lalmonirhat and 11,659
hectares in Nilphamari, 4,993 hectares in Dinajpur, 6,200
hectares in Panchagarh.
Call to ensure aboriginals land
rights
BSS, Rajshahi
Aboriginals land rights must be ensured for ensuring their
sustainable livelihood and other fundamental rights, said
the speakers at a regional workshop here Sunday.
Due to lack of awareness, they viewed that the ethnic
community people have been loosing their rights on land
and other services being provided by the state
organizations.
To get rid this, they suggested wide-ranging expansion of
literacy activities among the indigenous people thereby
they could be aware about their own rights.
Some non-government development organizations working for
socio-economic development of the aboriginal people
jointly organized the workshop styled "Want separate Land
Commission for the plain-land indigenous people" at
Nanking Darbar hall.
Local lawmaker Fazley Hossain Badsha addressed the
workshop as the chief guest with General Secretary of
Jatiya Adibashi Parishad Rabindra Nath Saren in the chair.
Fazley Hossain Badsha mentioned that the indigenous
communities were all along deprived from the mainstream
development process and the trend should be changed for
betterment of the plain land aboriginal people.
In context of land rights, he stated that the plan land
aboriginal people have been facing more problems than that
of the Hilly aboriginals.
He stressed the need for undertaking an effective step to
make the aboriginal people competent in all aspects
especially literacy and social empowerment so that they
could ensure their welfare.
CPB demands trial of war criminals
BSS, Rangpur
Rangpur district unit of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB)
observed 'Dabi Dibash' by organising rally in Rangpur on
Saturday to press home their 12-point demand including
trial of the war criminals.
President of Rangpur CPB Comrade Shahadat Hossain led the
rally and its Secretary Comrade Abdul Jalil, CPB leader
Comrade Chandan Ghosh, leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra Union
and Vice- president of Rangpur Ganoforum Anwar Hossain,
took part.
Besides, a large number of CPB leaders and workers and
activists of Bangladesh Chhatra Union took part in the
rally that paraded the main streets of the city bearing
the party flag in their hands.
The CPB leaders and activists demanded immediate trial and
punishments to the war criminals, razakars, al-badrs,
alshams and collaborators of the Pakistani occupation
forces for the heinous and unprecedented crimes they
committed against the humanity in 1971.
They also demanded for containing price spirals of the
essentials and launching rationing system, imposing ban on
import of private cars, launching of mass rail
communications and stopping of bribery, corruption and
tender-terrorism.
The demands also included revival of the basic principles
of the 1972 Constitution, full empowerment of the local
government bodies including upazila parishads, ensuring
fair prices of the agri-produce for the real farmers and
stopping of admission businesses.
1,38,793 students brought
under school feeding
BSS, Gaibandha
A total of 1,38,793 students of 756 government and
non-government primary schools under three upazilas of the
district have been brought under school feeding programme.
The programme has been continuing in Shaghata, Sundarganj
and Gobindaganj upazilas of the district since 2006 aimed
at contributing to the implementation of the GOB policy of
universalizing primary education and improving access to
basic education especially of the poor families in the
food insecure areas.
The objectives of the programme are to increase the
enrolment and attendance rate of the students and reduce
their dropout rate side by side with removing their micro
nutrient deficiency, sources said here Monday.
Directorate of Primary Education and RDRS- Bangladesh are
jointly implementing the programme in the upazilas with
the assistance of World Food Programme (WFP).
Of the total, 34,033 students of 223 schools were brought
under the programme in Shaghata upazila, 54,991 students
of 274 schools in Sundarganj upazila and 49,769 students
of 259 schools in Gobindaganj upazila of the district,
source said.
Each student is getting 75 grams of high energy biscuits
at first period of school time excepting the holidays.
The programme has created a positive impact on the
students and their guardians as the enrolment rate has
increased significantly.
Expat Ministry floats new wing for
exploring overseas market
BSS, Dhaka
The Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment
has floated a new wing titled 'Employment Policy and
Research Wing' to explore new markets abroad for the
Bangladeshi manpower.
"The new wing comprising 38 posts headed by a joint
secretary got the inter-ministerial approval last week and
we already requested the Establishment Secretary to
recruit officials and staffs for it," Acting Secretary of
the ministry Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan told BSS here Monday. He
said the main objective of this wing is to explore new
destinations for the Bangladeshi job seekers abroad side
by side with monitoring situation of the overseas job
market and finding new opportunities. "This wing will also
look after welfare of the expatriate workers and see to
any harassment to them in foreign countries," Dr Khan said
adding that its organogrm was already finalized.
"Although the overseas employment has been taken into
account as a thrust sector, our ministry has got very
limited resources," he said adding that the newly floated
wing would start its function as soon as it gets
accommodation facilities. Presently, Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan
said, the ministry is frantically trying to find jobs for
the Bangladeshis in different countries of Eastern Europe
including Poland, Romania, Greece and Russia as well as in
Africa including South Africa and Namibia.
Sports
Kings of Khulna reach NCL final
TBT report
Kings of Khulna reached the final of the Destiny Group
Twenty20 National Cricket League (NCL) after a convincing
six-wicket win over Sultans of Sylhet at Sher-e-Bangla
National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Monday.
Winning the toss, Sylhet captain Mashrafe Mortaza decided to
bat first on a placid track but his top order batsmen were not
able to give him an impressive start as they scored 131 for
eight in their stipulated 20 overs.
Kings of Khulna scored 134 for four with two balls remaining.
Farhad Reza was the only Sylhet batsman glowing in the dark as
the middle order bat struck 43 in 34 balls, hitting three over
boundaries and a four to entertain the crowd. He was caught by
Khulna captain Shakib Al Hasan off Alauddin Babu.
Sri Lankan Nuwan Zoysa and Alauddin Babu took two wickets each
giving away 16 and 32 runs respectively for Khulna.
In pursuit of a modest target, Kings of Khulna made a
confident-looking start against the Mashrafe-led Sylhet
attack. Opener Mohammad Mithun scored 21 runs from 17 balls,
while the other opener Mahela Lakmal scored 38 facing 36
deliveries.
Number three Khulna batsman Imrul Kayes, the opening batsman
of Bangladesh national team, also scored 38, coming off 46
balls, to help his side seal an easy victory and take the team
to the final.
Farhad Hossain played a lively innings to score unbeaten 15
runs off 11 balls to take the team beyond the target.
Mashrafe Mortaza picked up two wickets for 26 runs, while
Farhad Reza took one wicket for 22 runs.
Fulham
confirms to go ahead
AFP, Londo
Fulham's Europa League semifinal first leg with Hamburg is to
go ahead this week despite the travel chaos engulfing Europe
as a result of volcanic ash grounding huge numbers of flights,
the English club confirmed on Monday.
The match is due to be played in Hamburg on Thursday evening
and the Fulham squad has to be in the German port 24 hours
earlier.
Cottagers boss Roy Hodgson is hoping flights will be resumed
by Wednesday but the club has made alternative arrangements in
case that does not happen.
"The team has a contingency plan for travel to enable them to
arrive in Hamburg in time for their scheduled match
preparations on Wednesday evening," a club statement read.
Although the squad will be able to get to Hamburg, Fulham fans
who had planned to fly to Germany may miss out on the biggest
European match in the west London club's history.
The club statement added: "At this stage the Club still cannot
confirm whether the planes scheduled to depart on Wednesday
and Thursday to transport fans and media will be able to
travel, and is in regular dialogue with the aviation
authorities to enable it to inform all parties at the earliest
opportunity when a decision is made."
Bangladesh League
Dhaka Mohammedan wins over Ctg Abahani
TBT report
Title aspirant Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club scored a
morale boosting 3-1 victory against Chittagong Abahani in
its Bangladesh Football League away match at MA Aziz
Stadium in Chittagong on Monday.
Prolific scorer Zahid Hasan Ameli scored the first goal
after 37 minutes, while their Nigerian signing Bukola
scored just on the stroke of first half to give Dhaka
Mohammedan a 2-0 advantage before the break.
Down by 2-0, Chittagong players went on to counter attacks
against their illustrious opponents and were successful to
score a goal just seven minutes after the restart when
Roni struck the only goal for the hosts (2-1).
But the goal failed to prevent the Mohammedans from
scoring more goal and winning the match.
Bukola, who has been in a fine form throughout the league,
scored yet another goal on 64 minutes for the visitors to
increase the margin 3-1 and made the game safe for his
side.
Dhaka Mohammedan also carved out more chances in the rest
of the game but failed to increase the margin.
Cricket scandal topples Indian
minister
AFP, New Delhi
Shashi Tharoor, a former top UN diplomat who became a
prominent minister with a large Twitter following, has
resigned over allegations of corruption in India's
lucrative premier cricket league.
The junior foreign minister, a reformist-minded politician
known for his ability to stoke controversy with his
colourful remarks on the micro-blogging site, submitted
his resignation late Sunday. It was accepted by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil.
The move marks a dramatic fall from grace for the former
UN under-secretary-general, who swapped international
diplomacy in New York for the rough and tumble of Indian
politics, winning a seat in the southern state of Kerala
in May's general election. Pressure had been building on
Tharoor to step down after news broke a week ago that a
female friend-said by Indian media to be his
girlfriend-was given a free stake in a new franchise in
the multi-billion-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL).
Opposition parties say the stake, worth 15 million
dollars, was for Tharoor's behind-the-scenes services in
putting together the consortium that bought the Kochi
team, which will be based in Kerala state. The alleged
deal was revealed by powerful IPL chief Lalit Modi, who
leaked details on Twitter.
Tharoor, 54 and a successful author of numerous books,
including one on Indian independence hero Jawaharlal
Nehru, has denied any wrongdoing. He said he had helped
only by "mentoring" the Kochi bid.
However, with opposition protests threatening to stall
passage of the budget through parliament, senior leaders
of the ruling Congress party reportedly decided there was
no choice but for the minister to resign.
"Guilt is something that takes time to establish. We could
have said he waits till his guilt is proved but the party
decided to act," Abhishek Singhvi, a spokesman for
Congress, told the NDTV television news channel.
Tharoor, who spent almost three decades with the United
Nations before quitting in 2007, joined Congress in 2008
and made enemies within the party for being an outsider
who was rapidly promoted. "Tharoor's lack of familiarity
with the Indian political system cost him dearly," said
political analyst Rasheed Kidwai.
"The Congress did not spell out to him the party's do's
and don'ts, and he did not bother to learn them either."
Tharoor's short tenure as junior foreign minister was
marked by various gaffes and an outspokenness that
garnered both critics and admirers.
In September last year, with the Congress party pushing an
austerity drive, Tharoor was found staying in a five-star
hotel while waiting for his ministerial residence to be
prepared. He embraced Twitter-a rarity in India's largely
conservative political circles-as a vehicle to reach
younger voters, but alienated senior figures in the
Congress party as his profile rose.
Samantha Stosur wins
second career WTA title
BSS/AFP, Charleston
Australian fourth seed Samantha Stosur won her second
career WTA title on Sunday, routing Russian Vera Zvonareva
6-0, 6-3 in the final of the 700,000-dollar Family Circle
Cup.
Stosur, whose only prior WTA crown came last year at
Osaka, improved to 5-2 all-time against seventh seed
Zvonareva with her fifth victory in a row over the
Russian.
"It's always great to play well in any match but to play
that well in a final when you want to play that extra
little bit better, it was great," Stosur said. "I was glad
I was able to keep it going all the way to the finish."
With the 107,000-dollar top prize in the clay-court event,
11th-ranked Stosur assured a place in the top 10 in
Monday's WTA rankings and signaled she can be a threat at
the French Open, where she reached the semi-finals in
2009.
"After this week, I'm feeling great on the clay," Stosur
said. "It's great to be able to start the clay season.
When I get to Roland Garros I will be ready to go and try
to at least go as far as I did last year."
Stosur wore a left wristband bearing the words "attitude"
and "composure".
"They are just two words that stood out to me for the last
little while," she said. "It just keeps me focused on
those two things. With the way I played, I was able to do
that."
Zvonareva, ranked 22nd, also was a Charleston runner-up in
2008. Zvonareva, 25, fell to 19-6 on the year and failed
in a bid for her 11th career title and her second of the
year after a successful title defense in Pattaya City.
"Sam played unbelievable and she deserved to win,"
Zvonareva said.
Stosur dominated the first set, surrendering only five
points to her Russian rival. Stosur broke at love for a
4-0 edge, having allowed Zvonareva only two points in the
first four games.
The Aussie then held and broke again to take the set in 18
minutes.
Stosur held to open the second set, a forehand winner to
the far corner claiming the first game, and broke at love
for a 2-0 edge, ripping her 15th forehand winner of the
match down the line for the break.
An ace up the middle allowed Stosur to hold at love for a
3-0 edge before Zvonareva tried to disrupt Stosur's rhythm
with high lobs.
After fallng behind 15-40, Zvonareva shattered her racket
on the court, smashed it twice more and kicked it under
her seat in anger.
"If you're going to break it, you might as well do it like
that," Stosur said. "She did a great job."
The tantrum worked as Zvonareva saved two break points and
won the next four points, holding to trail 3-1 after
taking 35 minutes to finally win a game.
Stosur recovered to hold for a 4-1 lead. Zvonareva held to
4-2, then jumped ahead 0-30 on Stosur's serve and grabbed
her first break when the Aussie sent a backhand wide.
"It was tough," Stosur said. "I had to try to stay
concentrated, work out what I was doing and keep doing it.
You can't little things distract." Stosur answered the
challenge by seizing two break-point chances in the
seventh game, capitalizing with a forehand winner down the
line to grab a 5-3 lead and she served out at love to
claim the match and the title.
Stosur lost to eventual winner Serena Williams in the
fourth round of this year's Australian Open. The
26-year-old from Brisbane also made a run to the Indian
Wells semi-finals last month. Next up for Stosur is a Fed
Cup matchup in the Ukraine, provided she can fly there
from the United States in the wake of Icelandic volcano
ash snarling flights in the region.
Torres misses rest
of season
BSS/AFP, London
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres requires surgery on his
problem knee and will miss the rest of the season, a club
spokesman announced on Sunday.
The operation, due to take place in Spain later Sunday,
will rule the 26-year- old Spanish international out of
action for around six weeks, not leaving him much time to
be fit for the start of the World Cup on June 11.
Spain manager Vicente del Bosque must submit his final
23-man squad for South Africa on June 1 with the European
champions' opening game against Switzerland on June 16.
Torres will miss not only the Premier League run in but
also the remainder of Liverpool's Europa League campaign,
which continues this week with a semi-final against
Torres' former club Atletico Madrid.
A Liverpool spokesman told the club's official website:
"Fernando saw a specialist in Spain earlier today (Sunday)
and it was decided that he would need surgery on a torn
cartilage in his right knee. "This will be carried out
later tonight.
"We cannot comment ahead of the operation, but as a guide,
the usual rehabilitation period for this type of procedure
is around six weeks." Torres, who has scored 22 goals in
all competitions this season, missed Liverpool's draw with
Fulham last weekend as a result of the problem.
This is his second date with the surgeon's knife this
season as he had an operation on his knee in January which
sidelined him for a month.
Russian-made cars take pole position
AFP, Monte Carlo
From flashy Hummer-like armoured utility vehicles, to
sports cars and fully-equipped mobile offices,
Russian-made cars motored to the front of the luxury
automobile scene at this year's Top Marques Monaco
exclusive car show.
"It's the first time we've had so many Russian exhibitors
and that came as a surprise to us. Most of these are
young, dynamic and have a lot of money to spend," said
Ahn'na Hargrove, head of communications for the show.
"It's possible that they're benefiting from the
difficulties other manufacturers are experiencing today"
with the global economic downturn, Hargrove told AFP. The
four-day show, which bills itself as the "haute couture"
of the auto industry, also offers potential buyers an
unique opportunity to test-drive the cars around the
Formula 1 race track that snakes through the centre of
Monaco, which is home to many racing drivers and
millionaires.
Russian cars in the spotlight in Monaco this year are also
a far cry from the cheap, basic Ladas that were driven by
millions of ordinary citizens in the former Soviet bloc
countries.
Their latest models included huge sophisticated
juggernauts as well as customized racing cars boasting a
host of gadgets and personalized details.
Visitors arriving at the show were greeted by a red and
black, five-tonne-monster of a car.
Built by Russia's Dartz, the Prombron is an
ultra-glamorous, armoured car-meets-luxury sports utility
vehicle (SUV) that makes no bones about trying to follow
in the tyre tracks of the hugely successful Hummer.
"Dartz usually exhibits at military shows but we're moving
steadily towards the luxury end of the market. We're
cutting back on security and putting the focus on fittings
and design," said Igor Daleckis, who has the Dartz
concession in France.
The flashy Dartz, however, which boasts heavy steel-plated
doors and reinforced glass windows, still offers higher
levels of protection than most vehicles on the road today.
Daleckis said that it wasn't surprising there were so many
Russian carmakers at Top Marques Monaco.
Double injury blow to Pakistan's T20 hopes
BSS/AFP, Lahore
Defending champions Pakistan suffered a major blow Sunday
when bowler Umar Gul and allrounder Yasir Arafat were
ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 later this month, an
official said.
Gul, top wicket-taker in the short form of the game with
43 wickets in 26 matches, hurt his shoulder last week
during a fielding drill and was ruled out after an
assessment on his injury.
Gul also recorded the best Twenty20 bowling figures when
he took five wickets for six runs against New Zealand in
the second World Twenty20, which Pakistan won in England
last year.
Arafat was a doubt after sustaining a calf injury during
the training camp.
"After mutual agreement with the captain (Shahid Afridi)
and coach (Waqar Younis), we have decided not to take
half-fit players so we have named Mohammad Sami and
Mohammad Irfan as replacements," chief selector Mohsin
Khan told reporters.
Captain Afridi admitted the absence of Gul for the
tournament in the West Indies was a major blow.
"Gul is our best bowler but we have to cope with it and
now Sami has to replace him and perform," said Afridi.
Sami, who has played 34 Tests and 83 one-day matches for
Pakistan, has yet to play a Twenty20 international. Irfan
is a lanky left-arm paceman, who has yet to play for
Pakistan.
Pakistan, in Group A of the World Twenty20, play their
first match against Bangladesh on May 1 in St Lucia before
taking on Australia the next day at the same venue.
The World Twenty20 starts on April 30 and ends on May 16.
Vucinic double gives Roma victory over Lazio
BSS/AFP, Rome
A second-half brace from Mirko Vucinic gave Roma a 2-1
victory over 10-man Lazio in the Rome derby at the Stadio
Olimpico on Sunday to keep them top of Serie A.
Roma lead champions Inter Milan, who beat Juventus 2-0 on
Friday, by a single point with four games to play. The win
was the sixth in a row for Claudio Ranieri's team and
extended their unbeaten league run to 24 games.
Vucinic said the turning point was a second-half penalty
save by his team- mate Julio Sergio that came with Roma
already a goal down. "That was huge because if we had gone
2-0 down I don't know if we'd have won," he said. "The
most important thing is that we won, it's vital. Inter won
on Friday and we were under pressure for two days.
"It wasn't easy because we're not used to being top. But I
think this time we really showed what a great team we
are."
Roma moved top of the table for the first time this season
a week ago and they needed a win to stay there but in a
dire first half, the giallorossi did nothing to threaten
their opponents' goal.
In fact the only chance of note of the entire first 45
minutes ended with the net bulging.
Cristian Ledesma chipped a ball over the Roma defence on
14 minutes and Nicolas Burdisso missed his header, leaving
Tommaso Rocchi free behind the back-line.
He controlled the ball with his first touch and then
coolly slotted past the on-rushing Julio Sergio. If the
first half had been largely incident-free the second
exploded immediately into life with a controversial
penalty awarded against Marco Cassetti after Lazio
full-back Aleksandar Kolarov burst into the box. But
Sergio Floccari tamely hit his spot-kick straight at Julio
Sergio and moments later Rodrigo Taddei won a penalty at
the other end after tumbling under a challenge from
Kolarov.
This time, Montenegro forward Vucinic made no mistake and
minutes later he put the away side in front with a rocket
of a free-kick after Jeremy Menez had drawn a foul on the
edge of the area.
It turned out to be an inspired pair of substitutions from
Ranieri as he had brought both Taddei and Menez into the
fray at half-time in place of terrace darlings Francesco
Totti and Daniele De Rossi.
Menez could have made the game safe but his left-foot shot
was deflected wide.
Roma suffered a few late scares as Lazio substitute Mauro
Zarate terrorised them down their left but the hosts
failed to seriously test Julio Sergio. Ledesma was
dismissed late on for Lazio after earning two bookings in
the space of 30 seconds.
Earlier, Sampdoria ended AC Milan's hopes of winning the
Serie A title while boosting their own chances of playing
in next season's Champions League with a 2-1 win in Genoa.
Giampaolo Pazzini scored the winner two minutes into
injury time as the hosts came back from a goal down to
beat the seven-time European champions, who were reduced
to 10 men eight minutes into the second half. Third-placed
Milan are now seven points behind leaders Roma with four
games left but coach Leonardo refused to give up on the
scudetto.
Venezuelan boxing champ commits suicide
AFP, Caracas
Venezuelan world lightweight boxing champion Edwin Valero
committed suicide on Monday in his prison cell, the day
after being arrested over the murder of his young wife,
police said.
Valero, 28, who hanged himself by making a rope out of his
clothes, was apparently still alive when guards found him
but died shortly after arriving at hospital from
asphyxiation.
The boxer was detained on Sunday after confessing to
murdering his 20-year-old wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera de
Valero, in a hotel room overnight in the northern
Venezuelan city of Valencia.
Local media reports said Valero's wife had been stabbed
several times.
Valero had already been arrested at the end of March for
suspected aggression towards his wife and had spent time
subsequently at a psychiatric clinic. He was also accused
of assaulting his mother and sister in 2007.
Unbeaten in 27 fights, knockout artist Valero-recognizable
by the tattoo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on his
chest-was the WBC lightweight champion before stating his
intention in February to go up a division.
The World Boxing Council lists Valero as champion in
recess, with the current lightweight title held by
Mexico's Humberto Soto following Valero's decision to step
up in weight.
After beating Colombian Antonio Pitalua to claim the
lightweight title in April 2009, Valero said he would
consider stepping up to welterweight to take on champion
Filipino Manny Pacquiao.
South African Cricket
Academy team to arrive today
UNB, Dhaka
The Standard Bank National Cricket Academy team of South
Africa will arrive in the capital today on a 22-day long
tour of Bangladesh.
During the tour, the visitors will play two four-day,
three one-day and two T20 matches against local GP-BCB
National Cricket Academy team.
Visiting South African side will start their Bangladesh
campaign with a four-day match beginning April 22 at Zohur
Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong while the 2nd
four-day match will be held from April 28 to May 1, at the
Shaheed Chandu Stadium (SCS) in Bogra.
After the four-dayers, the South African side will also
play a three-match one-day series against their Bangladesh
counterparts.
The tourists will play the first one-day match on May 4
and the 2nd one-day match on May 6, both at SCS in Bogra
while the 3rd one dayer is slated for May 8 at BKSP in
Savar.
The South African side will also play two T20 matches
against the home Academy side on May 10 and 11, both at
BKSP. The visitors will leave here on May 12.
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