wednesday, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 magh 28, 1416, SAFAR 24, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

BCL activist killed, 50 hurt
Shibir-BCL clashes at RU, police fire teargas shells, blank shots

UNB, Rajshahi

A Bangladesh Chhatra League activist was killed and dumped in a manhole during overnight clashes between the BCL and Islami Chhatra Shibir supporters at Rajshahi University on Monday night.
Witnesses and official sources Tuesday said around 50 people, mostly the pro-government BCL men and some policemen, were also injured in the widespread violence on the campus and student dorms.
The deceased, Faruque Hossain, an honours final-year student of Mathematics department and resident of Shah Makhdum Hall of the university, hailed from Joypurhat district. Police recovered Faruk's body from a manhole near Syed Amir Ali Hall at about 8am Tuesday.
The sources said he was hacked to death, allegedly by Shibir cadres, in the television room of Shah Makhdum Hall and then dumped into the manhole amid the nighttime orgies.
Law-enforcers fired several hundred rounds of teargas shells and blank shots to come to grips with the situation. They also recovered seven cocktails from the campus in the morning.
Trouble erupted when BCL activist Asaduzzaman tried to go to his room at Bangabandhu Hall, which is said to be a Shibir stronghold, and was resisted by Khalid, Shibir general secretary of the hall unit, on Monday night. Following the altercation, Shibir men beat up Asaduzzaman and another BCL activist, Muhammad Kawser.
In retaliation, supporters of BCL, the student front of the ruling Awami League, beat up Shibir cadre Israfil Hossain indiscriminately and handed him over to police.
On information, police raided Bangabandhu and Latif halls and arrested 13 activists of Shibir, the student front of opposition Jamaat-e-Islami.
After the law-enforcers left the halls, Chhatra Leaguers attacked a Shibir worker in the television room of Shah Makhdum Hall.
Hearing the news, hordes of Shibir men, equipped with firearms and sharp weapons, attacked different halls of the university, the sources said. In the rioting that ensued, around 50 people were injured.
Earlier, the Shibir activists regrouped at Biniadpur bazaar beside the RU campus and then stormed into the campus with a procession at about 1am. "Suddenly, they swooped on Chhatra League supporters at different dormitories, triggering the violent clashes," says a spot account of the student rioting.
Shibir cadres also launched attack and damaged a police pickup-van during the melee. Four policemen were injured trying to resist the attackers.
The attackers exploded around 100 cocktails on the campus during the nighttime attacks, creating panic all around the university. Shibir supporters slit tendons of some BCL men during the attacks, the sources said. At least 17 injured BCL men were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in critical condition. University BCL sources claimed at least four Chhatra Leaguers were missing after the attacks.
"The campus situation remained volatile and there could be outbreaks of further violence anytime," says a spot account of the situation.
Meanwhile, resident students started leaving their dormitories following the raging campus unrest. Huge contingents of police and RAB were deployed in and around the university and nearby Binodpur Bazar to fend off violence. The RU authorities suspended all the scheduled classes and examinations of the university for Tuesday.

 659 more ‘political cases’ to be dropped
Total 3039 cases recommended for withdrawal so far, only two against BNP

TBT Report

The government Tuesday decided that 659 more 'politically motivated' cases be bundled out, as the charges were leveled against the ruling-party persons during the immediate-past interim regime or the previous BNP-led coalition on political considerations.
The decision was taken at the 13th meeting of the inter-ministerial committee formed to review the cases filed with the intention of political harassment.
With the new recommendations, the number of cases so far dropped in the turnaround rose to 3039.
State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam chaired the meeting. Some 1091 cases, including 16 under ACC Act were placed before the meeting for consideration of recommendations.
Among the 659 cases recommended for quashing on Tuesday one each against Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, former Minister MK Alamgir MP, Kamal Ahmed Mujumder, MP, and Advisory Editor of Jana Kantha Toab Khan, two cases against Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, MP, 13 cases against Hazi Selim and 10 cases against Jana Kantha Editor Atikullah Khan.
Briefing to reporters, Qamrul said so far 3,039 cases were so far placed before the committee for consideration.
Most of those whose cases were recommended for withdrawal belong to the ruling party and its front organizations, triggering resentment in the opposition BNP circles as its leaders are also bearing loads of such cases on charges of graft that had taken place during their rule.
The scrutiny committee on October 13 in its eighth meeting recommended dropping one case against opposition leader Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman and one corruption case against former president and Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad MP. Earlier on August 26, one case against BNP MP Moudud Ahmed was also withdrawn. In other wards, of the 2380 cases recommanded to be dropped 2377 are against AL leaders, 2 against BNP leaders and 1 against JP leader.

 Shibir activists have intruded into BCL: Syed Ashraf

UNB, Dhaka

Awami League General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam Tuesday made a macabre disclosure that Islamic Chhatra Shibir, the student front of Jamaat-e-Islami, has penetrated into Chhatra League.
Ashraful, also the government's spokesperson, admitted that the ruling Awami League now has no authority over Bangladesh Chhatra League. His comment, virtually disowning the Chhatra League, came hours after a BCL activist was killed at Rajshahi University in the early hours of the day amid overnight BCL-Shibir armed clashes.
The AL leader made the remarks while briefing journalists after a meeting of the 14-party alliance at AL President Sheikh Hasina's Dhanmondi office on Tuesday evening with 14-party coordinator and Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury in the chair. Replying to a question on a string of violent intra-party clashes between fractions of the BCL, Ashraful said Awami League only can request BCL to remain disciplined and calm. "BCL is neither our front organization nor our associate organization."
He further disclosed that Shibir activists are now in vital posts of the BCL committees of at least four important halls of Dhaka University. "Identified Shibir activists have become now BCL Leaders."
Ashraful, however, wouldn't say anything as to how BCL can be cleaned up by purging Shibir activists.
To another question over the killing of the BCL worker by Shibir activists at Rajshahi University, the ruling-party leader termed the killing a planned murder and blamed Jamaat top brass for playing from behind the scene.
"Few days ago, Jamaat Amir Matiur Rahman Nizami had gone to Rajshahi and given provocative statements. All Shibir cadres from Rajshahi division were gathered to attend that meeting of Nizami," he told the journalists.
Ashraf alleged leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and Shibir are completely responsible for the killing of the BCL worker. Asked about his government's steps after the death of a DU student at Sir AF Rahman Hall, Ashraf said the main culprit behind the student's death has been arrested and sent to jail. To another question about police tear shell allegedly having hit the slain DU student in the head, the LGRD Minister said he does not know anything about that.
Ashraf was also asked by a journalist whether the government is thinking about slapping a moratorium on student politics for a certain period of time following the recent violent incidents on the campus.
"No, now we are not thinking of such decision," Ashraf replied.

  BNP dismisses reports implicating Tarique in 10-truck arms smuggling

UNB, Dhaka

Opposition BNP dismissed as 'baseless and false' the reports published in some newspapers implicating party's senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman in the much-talked-about smuggling of 10-truck arms hauled in Chittagong.
Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farooque, also Publicity Secretary of the BNP, alleged that the report was sponsored by a special intelligence agency at the dictate of the government to politically undermine the image of Tarique, now in the UK for medical treatment.
The opposition chief whip made the remarks at a press briefing at Sangsad Bhaban Media Centre on Tuesday afternoon.
He condemned such a report which was published in different dailies Monday.
He dismissed the published report of secret meeting between Tarique and ULFA leader Paresh Barua at Hawa Bhaban.
Terming the report on secret meeting "totally false", the BNP leader said the government is trying to take confessional statement from Hafiz, a detained accused in the 10-truck-arm case, by means of "inhuman torture in the name of remand to implicate Tarique in the case".
Replying to a question, Zainul said when BNP has decided to join parliament, the ruling party has taken recourse to different steps, including making 'indecorous' statement, against BNP leaders for their "character assassination" to prevent the opposition from returning to the parliament.
"Because, they are afraid that the opposition will discuss the government's misdeeds in parliament," he told the reporters.
The opposition chief whip, however, asserted that despite all such steps and obstacles by the government, they will join parliament. The ongoing parliament session resumes today (Wednesday) after a recess.
Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anie MP, Barrister Mahbubuddin Khokon MP, Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia MP, Nilufar Yasmin Moni MP and Rehana Akhter Ranu MP, among others, were present at the press briefing.

   Cabinet purchase body set to approve five more power plant projects

UNB, Dhaka

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (Cabinet Purchase Committee) is set to sit today (Wednesday) to approve a plan for setting up yet another five power plant projects in public sector.
The projects are 50 MW Faridpur plant, 100 MW Dohazari plant, 100 MW Hathazari plant, 50 MW Daudkandi plant and 50 MW Baghabari plant.
All these peaking power plants will be set up as furnace oil-fired ones because of gas shortage and those will be run only during the peak-hours to meet the demand from 4 pm to 11 pm.
The state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) has already selected contractors to install the projects through government financing.
Normally, the demand for electricity goes up excessively during the peak hours, forcing the relevant agencies to resort to huge load-shedding to make up the shortage.
The country has been experiencing huge power shortage and this shortage is likely to cross 3000 MW in the coming summer.
Considering the peak-hours' demand, the PDB has taken initiatives to set up 10 peaking power plants at different locations across the country.
However, these projects are the part of the Awami League government's initiative to add 7,000 MW electricity to the national grid in its 5-year term through setting up a huge number of small, medium and large power plants to bring the load-shedding to a zero level.
Under the move, according to official sources, the government has already signed contracts with different bidders to set up 3 rental power plants having 265 MW and 2 simple cycle and combined cycle power plants having 250 MW.
All those projects were also approved by the Cabinet Purchase Committee before awarding contracts.
The PDB had invited tenders in November last year targeting to set up total 10 peaking power plants within next 15 to 18 months. But after receiving bids, it has been able to select bidders only for these five plants.
According to the sources, the Power Ministry sent the projects, having a total 350 MW of capacity, to the Cabinet Division last week seeking approval of the Cabinet Purchase Committee to award contracts to the bidders.
If the Cabinet Purchase Committee approves the bidders' offers, then the PDB will sign contracts with them to set up the plants on turnkey basis within 450 days from the effective date of contract.

   CCC to set up 500 MW power plant
BSS, Chittagong

Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) has embarked upon setting up 500 Megawatt power plant and building 12 kilometer long elevated Expressway in the port city at a cost of Taka 5000 crore.
Engineering department of CCC sources said the 500 MW coal based power plant will be set up at Sikalbaha area, south side of Karnaphuli river in the city on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) system at a cost of Taka 3500 crore while 12 Kilometer (KM) long elevated expressway will be constructed from city's Dewanhat to Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport (CSAIA) at a cost of TK 1500 crore.
CCC source said after approval by the LGRD ministry the proposed project has already been sent to the planning commission for vetting. If the proposed power plant is completed the people of Chittagong would get rid of load shedding side by side the city dwellers will get relieve from the exhausted traffic jam at Agrabad commercial area after constructing 12 KM long Dewanhat to Airport Expressway, the source added.
Source said development works of the said two projects are expected to begin by July - August this year and be completed in next three and a half years.
Foreign Investors showed their eagerness to invest for operating the projects for 25 years, CCC would also earn a portion of profit from the project, CCC Planning department source said. The investors will hand over the projects to the CCC after 25 years of their operation, the source added. Source said the government would provide security bond to the investors for their investment in the projects. A senior engineer of CCC said the investors from Malaysia, China and Singapore have already expressed their interests to invest and implement the projects. CCC has selected the land at the south side of Karnaphuli River for setting up the power plant. Source said the concerned ministry directed the initiators of the project to operate the power plant projects using coal as there are not sufficient gas supply in Chittagong for long.
Executive engineer of CCC M Anwar Hossain said people of Chittagong had been reeling under untold suffering of traffic jam in 12 kilometer long road from Dewanhat to Airport every day.
According to the Chittagong Development Authority Master plan, there are four to five thousand vehicles plying per hour in the Dewanhat to Airport road. After construction of the expressway the users will use the road by paying specific tolls to the investors and would be able to reach their destinations in short time.

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Hasina urges Kuwait Prime Minister to lift restriction on BD manpower

BSS, Kuwait City

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday requested the Kuwaiti Prime Minister to intervene in lifting the October 2006 restrictions imposed by his country on the recruitment of Bangladeshi manpower in the Arab state.
Sheikh Hasina said at present Bangladesh is in an excellent position to offer services of various professionals, including doctors, engineers, nurses and semi-skilled and skilled workers.
The Bangladesh Premier was speaking at a banquet hosted by Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al- Sabah in honor of her at Bayan Palace Monday night. Sheikh Hasina told her Kuwaiti counterpart that technical personnel with experience are also available in construction, civil aviation, power, water, petro-chemical and gas, health and hospitality sectors.
She said, despite having close brotherly relations, the two countries have many unexplored areas of cooperation.
"Exploring and investing in these areas would be beneficial to both our countries. Our bilateral relations would reach an enviable level," she added.
The Prime Minister said her government is providing training to the Bangladeshi workforce on the laws, customs, and values of the recruiting countries before sending them abroad. If the 'Bilateral Technical Cooperation Agreement on Manpower' signed by our two countries in November 2000 is ratified by Kuwait, flow of such quality workforce would increase for the development of your great country, she added.
The Prime Minister mentioned that since the establishment of diplomatic relations Kuwait has been supporting Bangladesh's development ventures. "We are indeed grateful for it. However, for us to achieve our Vision 2021, we need Kuwait 's brotherly support," she said.
The Prime Minister sought support for constructing a bridge over the River Padma, BMRE of Eastern Refinery in Chittagong, procurement of 13 dredgers for dredging heavily silted rivers adversely affecting livelihood of millions; a rail-cum-road bridge over the River Karnaphuli as well as tunnels under it, a flyover at Mouchak-Mogbazaar in Dhaka, two coal-fired power plants and another two oil-urn projects in Chittagong.
Hasina said Bangladesh also needed Kuwait investment in power, telecommunications, infrastructure development, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ICT, real estate, gas and energy, leather, furniture and agro-based industries. Listing various programmes undertaken by her government for the welfare of the people, she said the present administration is committed to speedily develop Bangladesh and improve quality of life of the people.

   President urges private varsities to ensure quality education

UNB, Dhaka

President Zillur Rahman Tuesday said some private universities are lagging behind in providing quality education and asked for ensuring infrastructural facilities for holistic development of the higher education.
"The universities must have quality teachers and the faculties to ensure quality education," he said.
"Quality teachers, better infrastructure facilities and also quality students are very important elements for quality education," said the president, also chancellor of universities, while addressing the 2nd convocation of People's University of Bangladesh at Bangabandhu International Conference Center.
Education Adviser to the Prime Minister Prof Dr Alauddin Ahmed and chairman of the University Grants Commission Prof Nazrul Islam attended the convocation as special guests. Former Vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Prof Dr AK Azad Chowdhury delivered his speech as convocation speaker.
President Zillur Rahman further said that university's infrastructure, library and laboratory facilities along with open discussion and student-teacher relations are closely related to the standard of education. He noted that country's all educational institutions, particularly the universities, could play a pioneering role in creating skilled, laborious and patriotic manpower imbued with human values.
Terming university as an auspicious center of higher education, Zillur Rahman said apart from imparting education, universities are the domains of practicing freethinking and creative activities as well as searching the truth and beauty.
"Various educational activities beyond the textbook continue there for yearlong and all people, including students, researchers and teachers, can be benefited from these activities," he told his audience from the academia. Congratulating the new graduates, the president advised them to utilize the immense potential of Bangladesh with their wisdom, talent and intelligence.

   BNP will go for movement against ‘fascist’ govt: Dr Mosharraf

TBT Report

BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain has said the party along with its different associate organisations including Jatiyatabadi Shr-amik Dal will go for movement against the 'fascist' and undemocratic government.
He said this while addressing a reception ceremony on the occasion of the elevation of labour leader Nazrul Islam Khan as a standing committee member of the party. The programme was organised by Jatiyatabadi Shramik Dal, an associate organization of BNP at the Mohanagar Natya Mancho on Tuesday.
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the ruling party committed through its election manifesto that it will enact a modern labour law in line with the recommendation of International Labour Organisation (ILO). But the fascist government in disguise of democracy is engaged in cutting jobs of labours and employees from different government and public organisations throughout the country intentionally.
He said not a single pledge of the ruling party has so far been implemented but it is launching repression and physical torture on labours leaders instead of ensuring their rights and job security. Due to the torture, Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) leader BM Bakir Hossain met with tragic end of his life in police custody.
"I urge the leaders and activists throughout the country of the front organization to be united as our party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia will give a call to go for movement against the government. Unseating of the government will have to be ensured through massive movement under the leadership of her," he said.
Newly appointed standing committee member and also the president of the organisation Nazrul Islam Khan said there was no democracy in the country during two years rule of the immediate past caretaker government.
The same trend is being continued. Around 120 employees of Bangladesh Islamic Foundation have so far been given punishment transfer. Besides, around 20 thousand workers of Chittagong port have also been sacked within the time.
Under the leadership of party's chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, the leaders and activists of different associate bodies of the party will be united to go for movement.

   Home Minister asks police to capture killers
UNB, Dhaka

Home Minister Sahara Khatun has ordered police to capture the killers of Rajshahi University student and Chhatra League worker Faruq Hossain within 24 hours.
Faruq, a student of Mathematics (Hons) Final year, was killed and dozens others were injured during clashes between Chhatra League and Islami Chhatra Shibir supporters on Rajshahi University campus on Monday night.
Talking to reporters today (Tuesday) at Civil Aviation High School ground at Kaola in the city, the Home Minister said police were instructed to arrest whoever involved in the incident disregarding Chhatra League or Chhatra Shibir activists.
"The situation on the campus is under control," she said, adding the culprits fled away after staging the incident. But, wherever the killers are hiding, must be tracked down. The Home Minister observed that the incident at Rajshahi University was a planned move against the government as well as to deteriorate the law and order situation.
Sahara said there are some quarters who do not like to see a stable situation in the country. She said those quarters first tried to create disturbance on Dhaka University campus and now they are creating trouble at Rajshahi University.
"We will not allow deterioration of law and order on campus to spoil academic atmosphere…And we are working to that end," the Home Minister said.
Sahara cautioned that they will not tolerate any vile design to embarrass the government by creating such law and order situation.

    Nizami calls for resisting unequal agreements with India
UNB, Khulna

Jamaat chief Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami Tuesday called upon the nation to resist the anti-state, unequal agreements with India signed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her recent visit to New Delhi.
He was addressing a big public meeting at Shib Bari crossing, organized by the Jamaat to protest 'conspiracy for banning Islamic politics and protecting Mongla Port and Sundarban' in the afternoon.
Nizami said the agreements recently signed with India by the Prime Minister are unequal, anti-state and hence not acceptable to the people. Implementation of the accords will be perilous for the country, threaten our security, independence and sovereignty.
Implementation of the accords will render Ban-gladesh a battle ground of India which is engaged in suppressing the rebellion in its seven states, a red corridor that also borders our country, added the Jamaat chief.
Pointing to the reported move of the government to restrict politics based on religion Nizamai said the people will never accept it. He said the Prime Minister in connivance with leftists have been desiring to render the country faithless, ban politics based on religion and introduce education bereft of religion.
But, he added, there are religion based political parties in at least 50 secular states in the world including India and the UK. Presided by Khulna Jamaat Ameer Golam Parowar, the meeting was also addressed by Ali Ahsan Mohammad Muja-hid, Delwar Hossain Saye-edi, Mohammad Qam-uruzzaman, Abdul Kader Molla and BNP leader Nazrul Islam Manzu MP.

Editorial

Junior Terminal Exam

Countrywide Junior Terminal Examination for Class-VIII students will be held simultaneously across the country with same question papers from this year. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid made this disclosure at a press briefing at his office on Monday. Annual examination in class VIII and junior scholarship examination will be merged into the class-VIII Terminal Examination through introducing the new public exam at the secondary school level. Under the new examination system, scholarships will be given based on the results of the students in their terminal exams. The students will be enrolled in class IX on the basis of certificates of the terminal examinations. Earlier, the first Primary Education Terminal Exa-mination for the students of class V was held on November 21-24. Addressing the briefing the minister said the government is trying to improve the standard of education in the country through taking various steps.
About two million children of class V participated in the country's maiden Primary Centre Examination, the newly introduced public exam across the country in November last. The examination considered as the largest public examination, was held at 5,343 centres in the country and another five overseas. Examinations of six subjects were held in three days and total of 1,98,01,80 students -- 9,09,984 boys and 10,70,196 girls- were eligible for taking part.
The government introduced the new public exam in place of primary scholarship examination with a view to imparting equal education to all students. From now on, there will be no separate scholarship examination. The students must pass the terminal exam to get enrolled in class VI. Scholarships were awarded on the basis of their results in two categories-talent-pool and general-half to boys and half to girls. The prime objective of introducing the new system of examination at primary level is to improve and modernise education and bring all students at primary level to same category so that there is no discrimination. The objective was good and it proved to be useful. Hence the new system was widely welcomed by all sections of people.
In fact, the results of the Primary Education Terminal Examinations 2009 have created history at least for two reasons. Firstly through the maiden examinations a new system of public examinations at class V level instead of class X level has been introduced successfully in the country justifying the perception that these examinations are the ‘SSC Examinations of the children’. Secondly, the spectacular results have shown that the children of the country are well prepared even to face early difficult tests in the filed of education. The Primary Terminal Examinations were a challenge for the children specially of the rural areas as they faced their public examinations in an unknown situation. The examinations have given them the courage and experience to face the difficult tasks in their lives. Now they will not have to be worried over the next public examinations at a later stage.
It is presumed that the Junior Terminal Examination for Class Vlll is being introduced from this year keeping in line with and on the basis of experience of the successful Primary Terminal Examination. The new system will, hopefully, yield good results and improve the quality of education at the secondary level. We wish every success of the new system to be introduced.

  Rice at low prices

The government has decided to provide food at low prices among nearly 26 lakh families of lower income group across the country. According to media report, the decision was taken at a meeting of Food and Disaster Management Ministry on Monday. As many as one crore people would get benefit from it. A total of 12 lakh families under 90 wards of Dhaka city and 25 unions would be brought under the programme. Besides, 8.5 lakh families under five divisions–Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barisal - would be brought under the programme while 6.5 lakh families under 64 districts. Every month, each of the families will get 20 kgs of rice at Taka 22 per kg and the programme beginning from February 21. The preparations of the list of the families have already been started in association with local lawmakers, ward commissioners or councilors.
Both the step and intention of the government appear to be well-intended as at least one crore people are supposed to be benefited by the rice at low price programme. But it may be pointed out that the rising prices of rice are hitting hard almost the total population of the country. So, something more should be done in addition to the OMS and the low price programme. We want to reiterate here our views already expressed earlier that OMS of rice at the rate of Tk. 22 per kg should be introduced immediately throughout the country to tackle the food price hike problem. Besides, the list of families for rice supply should be made without any political consideration.

Analysis

India, Pakistan talks seen good for Afghan efforts

Pakistan has been losing patience with what it sees as Indian intransigence and its holding of the peace process hostage to Pakistani action on militants.

Robert Birsel

An easing of tension between India and Pakistan should help US-led efforts to stabilize Afghanistan though no one is expecting any quick breakthrough between the nuclear-armed rivals.
India has proposed the first high-level bilateral talks since it suspended a peace process with Pakistan after Pakistan-based militants attacked the Indian city of Mumbai in November 2008. Officials from the two countries are discussing an agenda and when and where to talk.
India had been insisting that Pakistan bring to justice those behind the Mumbai attacks before resuming talks. Pakistan has arrested seven suspects but their trial has made little headway. Despite that, India is now proposing talks, partly because of pressure from the United States as it struggles to bring stability and look for a way out of Afghanistan, said Pakistani analyst Ershad Mahmud.
"A lot of people in the US believe that peace in Afghanistan runs through Kashmir so it's very important for the US and the whole international community to see that India and Pakistan are talking," said Mahmud.
The divided Muslim majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both countries rule in part but claim in full, is at the core of decades of hostility between the South Asian neighbors. That hostility has engendered what analysts see as a proxy war in Afghanistan, with Pakistan secretly encouraging the Taleban in its opposition to the Indian-backed Kabul government. India's offer of talks comes after global powers endorsed an Afghan plan at a conference in London late last month to seek reconciliation with the Taleban in which Pakistan is expected to play a major role, largely in nudging the Taleban to talk.
Pakistan, fearful of being squeezed between India on its eastern border and a pro-Indian Afghan government in the west, has been speaking out about its concern about India's growing influence in Afghanistan. Pakistan, reluctant to withdraw troops from its Indian border and send them to fight militants on its Afghan border while tension with India is high, says Indians in Afghanistan are aiding separatists in its southwestern province of Balochistan.
Underlining its determination to keep India out of any Afghan peace process, Pakistan managed at the London talks to shoot down a proposal to set up a regional council on Afghanistan, including India. The prospect of losing leverage over events in Afghanistan, in particular any peace process that could see the Taleban back in Kabul in some capacity, was another factor behind India's willingness to resume talks with Pakistan, said Mahmud. "India has a lot of vital interests, particularly security concerns, in Afghanistan so that has also played a major role in pushing India to resume dialogue," he said.
A direct Indian security role in Afghanistan represented a "red line" for Pakistan, the international security company Stratfor said in a recent paper. "India knows the only way it can edge into the Afghanistan dialogue and hope to influence the Taleban negotiations is to first reopen its diplomatic channel with Pakistan," it said.
But both Indian and Pakistani analysts said, given the deep suspicion on both sides, there was unlikely to be quick progress on main disagreements such as Kashmir and the sharing of water from rivers flowing out of the Himalayas. "I doubt there will be any tangible progress on any of the contentious issues in the next few months," said Tanveer Ahmed Khan, head of Pakistan's Institute of Strategic Studies.
Pakistan wants to see the resumption of a broad so-called composite dialogue covering all issues, including Kashmir, while India has been stressing the need for action on Mumbai. India had offered open-ended talks on all outstanding issues affecting peace and security, emphasizing counterterrorism, Indian officials said last week.
"What would constitute incremental progress is Pakistan convincing India it is taking steps to try the Mumbai attack planners and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure on its soil," Lalit Mansingh, a former Indian foreign secretary, told Reuters. Another militant attack on Indian soil could see tension surge again and could bring calls in India for military action.
"I do not see anything coming out of these talks unless there is some change in intent ... that could change the ground situation," said Ajai Sahni, chief of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi.
Pakistan has been losing patience with what it sees as Indian intransigence and its holding of the peace process hostage to Pakistani action on militants. "Unless India is actually intent on a serious and meaningful dialogue on all conflictual issues, merely resuming the dialogue to fool powerful allies will achieve little," Pakistan's Nation newspaper said in a weekend editorial.

  Time for justice in Gujarat

Since the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, India's fair name has been blotted by pogroms against religious minorities, which seem to strike every decade with clockwork regularity.

Sunil Sharan

No doubt he was reaffirming his oath to uphold the country's supreme law, which enjoins on him as a state's chief executive to treat all his citizens equitably, irrespective of their religious affiliation.
Mr Modi has long hankered to become the prime minister of India and were he to do so, he would assume responsibility for the security of roughly 150 million Muslim citizens of India, vastly greater than the five million under his purview today in Gujarat. Twice he has tried to ascend the throne of Delhi, and twice he has failed.
This article argues that the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the ensuing discrimination that is widely perceived to be practised against the Muslims of Gujarat have almost irrevocably stained his name. The only way to realise his grand ambitions is by rehabilitating his Muslim citizenry. In doing so, he will have almost nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Muslims constitute only about nine per cent of Gujarat's population. The riots of 2002 left a once-thriving community with a ghettoised existence. Suspicion and exclusion have been their lot ever since.
The riots left their scars, but not on them alone. Mr Modi too has suffered. While he won subsequent state elections, his party's, (the Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP) projection of him as a mascot in two national elections cost it dearly. In 2004, dethroned Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee squarely blamed the Gujarat riots for his defeat even while his colleagues felt that their 'Shining India' election slogan was what went awry for them.
In 2009, many BJP stalwarts projected Mr Modi as their prime ministerial candidate, once again to receive a stunning rebuke at the hands of voters. As before, solitary voices in the party questioning Mr Modi's credentials were stilled.
The new president of the BJP, Nitin Gadkari, recently lauded Mr Modi as an ideal chief minister and a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP's parent organisation, who elevated Mr Gadkari to his current position, too commended Mr Modi for rapidly bringing the Gujarat riots under control. This daily din of praise comes not just from the party brethren but also from leading Indian industrialists and film personalities, all keen to grab a slice of Mr Modi's vibrant Gujarat.
It would not be lost on him though how he has been confined to his home state, bested by the relatively obscure Mr Gadkari for the top job in the BJP, remaining just a parochial leader whose primary purposes seem to be to enrich the coffers of the moribund national party and be trumpeted around at election time to inspire the party's hard-line Hindutva base - all the while knowing this raison d'être is not serving him well to realise his life's goal.
His predicament is not new. His mentor, L.K. Advani, very effectively played the foil of the strongman to the BJP's moderate face, Mr Vajpayee, only to have his own prime ministerial dreams come to nought because voters remained unconvinced of his liberal testimonials.
Adding insult to injury surely would be how Mr Modi has been blacklisted by the United States for his alleged anti-Muslim proclivities, even as the Americans themselves stand accused by some of launching a global crusade against Islam. A case almost of the pot calling the kettle black. Even Mr Modi's most ardent supporters admit that his image needs to be repaired for him to play the global role demanded of India's premier.
Gujarat has given birth to some of history's greatest personalities, Mahatma Gandhi among them. Even lesser politicians such as India's first and thus far only Gujarati prime minister, Morarji Desai, have been able to burnish their secular credentials over time and make themselves palatable enough to the electorate. With such examples before him, what stops Mr Modi from taking a U-turn?
Applying a balm to the wounds of Gujarat's long-suffering Muslim population would not jeopardise his Hindutva base around the country. Instead he might just win some, though surely not all, Muslims over. He might even escape the taunts of being a merchant of death levelled at him by political adversaries and in turn, not get provoked into making distasteful ethnic barbs of his own at the Gandhis, which only end up making him look acerbic and unfit to hold high office.
Since the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, India's fair name has been blotted by pogroms against religious minorities, which seem to strike every decade with clockwork regularity. By that calendar, another fit of violence is impending. While nobody has been brought to justice for the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, victims have received some compensation from the state. No such succour has been provided to the mainly Muslim communities affected in Mumbai or Gujarat.
These periodic episodes of murder and mayhem are a millstone around India's neck. The Congress party has evaded guilt for 1984 through astute posturing and succeeded in recapturing the political high ground. High time then that Mr Modi follows suit. He need not have a change of heart. Politics after all is the art of the possible. As the only leader with a mass base in his otherwise comatose party, if he doesn't strive to resuscitate it with his customary efficiency, who else will?

sunil_sharan@yahoo.com

  Pre-eminent challenge

Taking their cue from recent global events, opponents of a foreign troop presence in Afghanistan must consider the best viable alternative and build up a new security regime.

Farhan Bokhari

There couldn't have been a more timely gathering to chart a new course to seek stability in Afghanistan than when defence ministers from member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) gathered in Istanbul on Thursday.
To many looking at the event from a distance, it may have appeared to principally highlight an accelerated US-led push to turn the tide in Afghanistan.
But to the global community, conditions in Afghanistan are at the centre of a key challenge as far as protection of international security interests goes. The record number of casualties of the past year among soldiers from countries contributing to the mission of the International Security Assistance Force has triggered alarm bells in many capitals of the world.
Muslim involvement
While the western world's response in coming together to back a fresh initiative on Afghanistan's security is very clear, predominantly Muslim countries with a stake in Afghanistan, notably Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, are also seeking to become increasingly involved.
During his first official media briefing on Monday, General Ashfaq Kiyani, chief of staff of the Pakistan army, told select journalists at the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi, just outside Islamabad, that his army was willing to play a key role in training the Afghan national army and police. It was an offer that signalled several different intentions. One of course was the eagerness to underline Pakistan's belief that it is best placed to help stabilise Afghanistan.
Another intention may have been to give the impression that Pakistan's army is well equipped to deal with the challenge of building a permanent security apparatus for Afghanistan.
Yet another intention may well have been to ensure that Pakistan's security interests are well protected. Indeed, in the view of Pakistan's key security managers, any suggestion that a new Afghan national army could emerge as hostile towards Islamabad would be most unwelcome.
Between the Nato event and General Kiyani's statement, it is abundantly clear that Afghanistan is a challenge that cannot be ignored. This essentially means that a concerted effort must be undertaken to deal with the issue. Given the emerging international trend, abandoning Afghanistan or disregarding its centrality to global security issues is simply out of the question.
The writing is on the wall for many of those who claim to be nationalists in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, but denounce global interests.
Going forward, rather than being complacent, it is vital for all to pull together in defining the broad contours of the Afghanistan problem and the best possible way of dealing with it in a sustainable way. Afghanistan's history tells us that this is a country that is not easily occupied. This essentially means that any long-term presence of foreign troops would eventually backfire.
Taking their cue from recent global events, opponents of a foreign troop presence in Afghanistan must consider the best viable alternative and build up a new security regime.
Massive setback
The rampant killings of the past year in attacks targeting western troops in Afghanistan cannot be disregarded they represent a massive setback to efforts aimed at securing the country. This is not just a battle between local militants and foreign forces. This is a battle to reclaim Afghanistan from those who have trampled upon its centuries of tradition, thrown into disarray following the 1979 invasion of the country by the former Soviet Union.
Rebuilding a secure Afghanistan that does not pose a threat is in the interest of all countries, regardless of their different religious, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. The commitments of support towards this end that appear to have been made at the Nato gathering in Istanbul must be built upon, all in the interest of tackling what has today become the major challenge to global security.

Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.

Viewpoints

Making a pitch for talks with the Taliban

Karzai needs to win Pakistan's confidence before dialogue with the militants.

Ashfaq Ahmed 

Afghan President Hamid Karzai seems to be very keen to hold talks with Taliban militants after nine years of all out war against them in Afghanistan. His new wish was unexpectedly backed up by participants of a recent London Conference on Afghanistan.
Unexpected! For the western countries including the US never backed any such move whenever Pakistan tried to reach a peace agreement or negotiate one with Taliban militants in the past. Instead, they always snubbed Pakistan accusing its premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of allegedly having alleged links with Taliban whose regime in Afghanistan was supported by the country in the 90s.
After such allegations by the US and its western allies, Pakistan was forced to deviate from what was known as '3-D policy (Dialogue, Development and Deterrence) and pushed the country to launch massive military operation against the Taliban in Swat and different parts of the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to play its role as a frontline state in the US war against terrorism.
Karzai's initiative of talking to the Taliban is good but can never succeed until he first takes steps to ease tension with neighbouring Pakistan, whom he has been accusing of supporting Taliban militants to create unrest in Afghanistan, forgetting the fact that only a stable Afghanistan can bring peace in Pakistan and bring an end to the Taliban movement. He needs to mend ties and gain Pakistan's trust to back his initiative of talking to Taliban.
However, it is quite evident that the new Afghan peace process in its present shape is a non-starter because there is no mediator between Taliban groups and the Afghan government.
Karzai visited Saudi Arabia soon after the London conference to muster support and requested the Saudi government to be a mediator but the later reportedly refused to do so until the Taliban broke its ties with Al Qaida led by Osama Bin Laden. It is the second condition that will determine if any peace initiative can be undertaken. It would be unrealistic to expect the Taliban to abandon Bin Laden whose anti-US stance is the focal point of the Taliban movement.
Afghanistan also wants Pakistan to back its efforts by persuading the Taliban in Pakistan to come to the negotiating table believing that the ISI still has contacts but Pakistan is not in a position to do so especially when it is at war with the Taliban in South Waziristan and other areas.
It is not easy to woo the Taliban for talks now especially when they control most of Afghanistan and still have capabilities to launch offensive against Nato and US forces. The Taliban know that they are being lured into talks because of the heavy economic and human losses incurred by the US and its allies.
According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, the estimated costs associated with US operations in Afghanistan have now exceeded $127 billion (Dh466 billion) since 9/11.
Coalition spending
In recent years, funding for Afghanistan has risen to about $20 billion annually. The US spends about $3.6 billion a month in Afghanistan. The average cost per month is calculated at an average 51,000 US troops in Afghanistan, but that number is likely to go up with the 68,000 troops the Obama administration already is planning on having in that country.It could double if President Barack Obama backs a reported request from General Stanley McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan, to send as many as 40,000 more troops to the country.
Another good but unexpected development is India's willingness to back efforts to seek peace with Taliban to stabilise Afghanistan. Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna has also indicated a softening of stand towards the Taliban.
However, India has its own conditions for its support. India wants the Taliban to meet three conditions acceptance of the Afghan constitution, breaking connections with Al Qaida and other terrorist groups and avoiding violence to be accepted in the mainstream of Afghan politics and society. India also believes that military action is not the only solution. Nevertheless, it is a welcome move for creating peace in the region.
In a situation, when all the important players in Afghan conflict are trying to negotiate with the Taliban, provided they lay down their arms and integrate in the Afghan government, it is important to see whether the Taliban are interested in such talks.
In fact, the Taliban are not even ready to talk to Karzai, who in their eyes is playing to the tune of the US and is a mere 'puppet'. They continue to demand withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and insist that this matter is non-negotiable.
The Taliban, whether Afghan or Pakistani, are spiritually and strategically linked to each other and have the same anti-US agenda. They cannot be separated. It is not advisable to talk to the Afghan Taliban and kill Taliban militants in Pakistan in military operations.
Those offering peace dialogue or 'reintegration' to the Afghan Taliban seem to be ignorant of the fact that they cannot achieve their target until they reach the militants on both sides of the border.
Heavy funding is being pledged for supporting talks but it should be clear to the world that Taliban cannot be just 'bought' in the name of integration. The US and its allies in the war against terrorism, should instead push for launching massive development packages to provide the local population, which is much bigger than Taliban militants, with jobs, business opportunities and education. Also, the Afghan government needs to improve its credibility and governance record before talking to Taliban.

  The 2010 question

So why did Bush and Blair invade Iraq? Maybe for American strategists it had something to do with oil, but for Blair, at least, it was pure ignorance.

Gwynne Dyer  

At the Iraq inquiry in London on Jan 29, former British prime minister Tony Blair found a new way to defend his decision to join George W. Bush in invading Iraq in 2003: the what-if defence. What if they hadn't invaded Iraq, and Saddam Hussein had remained in power there?
"What's important is not to ask the March 2003 question, but to ask the 2010 question," Blair said. "Supposing we had backed off this military action, supposing we had left Saddam and his sons, which were going to follow him, in charge of Iraq - people who used chemical weapons, caused the death of over one million people...If we had left Saddam in power, we would have to deal with him today, where the circumstances would be far worse."
Blair obviously thought that this was the one argument nobody could disagree with. Maybe he'd cooked the intelligence about Iraq, maybe Saddam actually had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) - Blair admits that nowadays - but if he had left this evil monster in power, we would all be sorry now.
Blair clearly thinks that he and Bush were God's chosen instruments for removing Saddam from power (and so does Bush). But God has many alternative instruments at his disposal. Some of them wouldn't even involve starting a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people and turned four million Iraqis into refugees.
Cut to the chase: what would the world be like if Saddam were still in power in Iraq? Much the same as it is now, in all likelihood.
Many people asked exactly the same question in 1991, after the first President Bush decided not to overthrow Saddam at the end of the first Gulf war. The answer is that in the next 10 years, until 2001, Saddam attacked no neighbours, built no weapons of mass destruction, did nothing that gave the world reason to regret that he had been left in power.
Many Iraqis regretted it, partly because the United Nations sanctions against Saddam were impoverishing their country. The sanctions had been imposed to ensure that Saddam could not rebuild his armed forces, most of which had been destroyed in the Gulf war, and that he could not re-start the projects for developing weapons of mass destruction that had been dismantled by UN inspectors during the early 1990s.
The sanctions were still working well in 2003. The proof is that no weapons of mass destruction were found, nor even any evidence that Saddam was trying to revive his pre-1991 WMD programmes, after the invaders arrived in 2003 and ransacked Iraq looking for evidence to justify their actions.
It was obvious to any reasonably well-informed person in 2003 that Saddam no longer presented a military threat even to his neighbours. There is no reason to believe that sanctions would have ended if the US and Britain had not invaded Iraq in 2003, or that Saddam would be any more dangerous today than he was then.
But what about the million people he killed? The great majority of those million people died on the battlefields of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, and Saddam only "killed" them in the same limited sense that Blair "killed" several hundred thousand people by invading Iraq in 2003.
The people who actually died in the hands of Saddam's secret police, or in his suppression of revolts like the Shia uprising of 1991, were much less numerous. The mass killings only happened in response to direct threats to the regime, and none occurred after 1991. The number of people killed in Saddam's jails in a normal year was probably in the low hundreds. He was just another vicious dictator, not a "monster of evil".
So why did Bush and Blair invade Iraq? Maybe for American strategists it had something to do with oil, but for Blair, at least, it was pure ignorance. If anybody ever explained to him that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the terrorists who attacked the US on 9/11, he didn't listen.
Tony Blair didn't realise that Saddam was a pragmatist who had been happy to accept American support during that war that killed a million people, not some hater of the West on principle. He didn't understand that Baathists like Saddam were the sworn enemies of religious fanatics like the Al Qaeda bunch, each killing the other whenever they got the chance. For him, they were all Arabs; they were all Muslims; they were all the same.
It's all history now, and maybe it's not worth bothering about. Except that people just as ignorant as Blair are now peddling us the same kind of nonsense about Iran.

  What’s in a hand shake

There must be peace first and then normalisation. Put differently, the Saudis prefer to not put the cart before the horse.

Hassan A. Barari   

Over the last few years, Israel has been working hard to lure Saudi Arabia to open communication channels and political contacts. Despite the continuous American demand that Saudi Arabia consider the Israeli demand, the Saudi declared position remained unchanged: no contacts whatsoever with Israel until the latter responds positively to the Arabs' quest for peace.
And yet, surprisingly, Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia shook hands with Daniel Ayalon, deputy foreign minister of Israel, in Munich last Saturday. I was in the audience at the Munich security conference when the handshake happened. The fact that Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel did not prevent the Saudi prince from responding to what appeared as an Israeli challenge when Ayalon challenged the Saudi prince to meet him half way and shake his hand.
Just a month ago, the same Ayalon provoked a diplomatic crisis with Turkey for rebuking its ambassador in a humiliating way. Perhaps for this reason the Turkish foreign minister refused to have Ayalon join him in a session at the Munich security conference.
This raises a question why Israel chose the same man who triggered a diplomatic battle with Turkey to participate in the same conference.
Advancing peace in the Middle East entails changing attitudes. Many in Jordan and in our region question whether it helps the peace process to have people like Ayalon and his boss, Avigdor Lieberman, at the helm of the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs. The way this ministry has been conducting itself since Lieberman's advent indicates that peace is not a priority amongst these senior officials.
Back to the main point, the Saudi prince conducted himself in a very civilised way. He clarified that he was not behind depriving Ayalon of the possibility of joining the same session and then he stood up to the challenge and accepted to shake an Israeli hand publicly. Some in the Arab world will not like this gesture, yet the Saudi prince would have been embarrassed had he chosen to snub the Israeli diplomat.
That said, this gesture should not be taken out of its immediate context. It is not an expression of a change of the Saudi position and, equally important, it should not be seen as a diplomatic breakthrough. Saudi Arabia is committed to support the two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli problem, and to establishing diplomatic relations with Israel but only after peace is achieved.
Like many other Arab states, Saudi Arabia - and here is the crux of the matter - thinks of the sequence of events. There must be peace first and then normalisation. Put differently, the Saudis prefer to not put the cart before the horse.
If anything, the Munich security conference revealed that opponents can talk to each other and can respond positively to different gestures, yet this will not change the basic fact that if the core issues are not addressed thoroughly, these gestures are set to fade away within days.
I understand that public diplomacy can help iron out differences and can tone down tensions among opponents and rivals, but this is no replacement to peace making in the Middle East. I subscribe to a school of thought which believes that solving the Arab-Israeli conflict is key to solving other conflicts in the region.
It is in the best interest of all players to work together to implement a solution within parameters that are well-known.
Perhaps Ayalon should not deceive himself and think that he made a gigantic breakthrough; nobody in the Arab world will take the Israeli gestures seriously if they are not substantiated by actions.

hassbarari@gmail.com

  Unity in Diversity

This is because the majority was as divided as the nation itself was between the majority and the minority. This is also why the war dragged on.

Meghnad Desai   

Was Abraham Lincoln a war criminal? He took the US or at least its northern states to a war with the south, which resulted in the largest loss of lives in that nation's history. The south was ruined and did not recover economically for at least 50 years.
The Black slaves were freed, but their condition remained miserable for another 100 years. Lincoln fought in the name of the Union, not for the abolition of slavery, which did not happen till halfway through the War, while the Southern Confederacy fought in the name of States' Rights. Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, remained a hero in the south as did General Robert E Lee. Lincoln remains a hero not just for the Americans but the world over.
I write this because within India's neighbourhood we have had a civil war, which has just ended. The man who led the nation to a victory has just been re-elected President. Yet he is widely reviled internationally and even within Sri Lanka. Except that a majority of his people re-elected him, Mahinda Rajapakse has few friends in high places. There are allegations of fraud and from all signs we have, the Tamil minorities and other non-Sinhala groups voted for his rival Sarath Fonseka. The issue of the relief and rehabilitation of the Tamil refugees remains urgent.
The origins of the civil war are in the high-handed behaviour of the Sinhala majority who subverted the Constitution Sri Lanka had at Independence and abridged the rights of the Tamil minority, downgraded their language and discriminated against them in jobs. For 25 years after 1956, when the first 'Sinhala Only' legislation was enacted, the Tamils tried to negotiate, but the majority always won. The Tamils split into democratic and militant factions and in 1983 the LTTE began the armed struggle. Many Presidents tried to seek reconciliation, but within the Sinhala majority there was also a split between those who would seek peace and those who wanted war. I was in Sri Lanka when, during the election in 1999, Chandrika Kumaratunga was hit by a bomb during campaign and lost sight in her eye. When the polling ended, there was a deathly silence in the streets of Colombo. Sri Lankans may enjoy the oldest democracy in South Asia, but they lack the joie de vivre that Indians bring to elections.
This is because the majority was as divided as the nation itself was between the majority and the minority. This is also why the war dragged on. By some device or other, Rajapakse, whom many underestimated, took the decision that he would end the war regardless of the loss of life involved. The carnage was incredible but in the end, Prabhakaran was defeated and killed. The LTTE's gamble had failed.
It may sound callous to say this, but Rajapakse would be regarded as the saviour of his nation. Modern nations, especially post-colonial ones, value the integrity of their territory and do not entertain violent sub-nationalisms. India has had its share in Khalistan and in the many struggles in the north-east and continues to have problems in Kashmir. Yet, Indian citizens have allowed their government to ride roughshod over human rights as long as national integrity has been preserved. What is more, the largest minority has been by and large shielded from the sort of suffering that Sri Lankan Tamils experienced.
The best way forward is shown by South Africa, where the end of apartheid was achieved without a war. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was vital to let bitter enemies confront each other and work through their anger and grief. It could not have been easy. I met Albie Sachs, now a judge in the Supreme Court of South Africa, who told me how he met the man responsible for his loss of limb, but they did talk it through. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was instrumental in making the Truth and Reconciliation Commission possible. Now someone of his stature has to come forward from within Sri Lanka and begin the process of binding the wounds. A nation is whole not just when its territory is single but only when its people feel they all belong to it equally.

Economist Lord Meghnad Desai is a professor emeritus of the London School of Economics

International

Foreign Office counsels caution on India’s offer
Dawn Online, Islamabad

With Islamabad's desire for revival of Composite Dialogue trumped by the Indian offer last week of foreign secretary-level talks, Foreign Office mandarins are advocating a cautious response to New Delhi's invitation.
The Foreign Office on Monday held 'in-house deliberations' on the invitation extended to Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir by his Indian counterpart, Nirupama Rao.
Rao had offered to discuss all outstanding issues with a focus on counter-terrorism, but made clear that India was not interested in resumption of Composite Dialogue suspended after the Mumbai attacks.
India has offered Feb 18 and 25 as possible dates for foreign secretaries' meeting.
Although the Foreign Office has not taken a final decision, there was strong resistance at the meeting to accepting parleys that do not lead to the restoration of Composite Dialogue or having a confab under a new framework.
"It was felt that we ought to be very careful because engagement with India without any prior agreement on resumption of Composite Dialogue would not be to our advantage," a senior official told Dawn after lengthy discussions on the issue.
Pakistan has steadfastly held to its position that the Composite Dialogue process offered hopes for a meaningful engagement to address all outstanding issues and was the only way forward for normalising the bilateral ties.
The Indian invitation for talks has nevertheless put Pakistan into a diplomatic dilemma. Accepting the offer compromises its stance on Composite Dialogue, while rejecting it may invite international pressure with world capitals perceiving Islamabad as 'a blocker'.
Describing the talks offer as a 'bait', an official candidly accepted that 'it had put the Foreign Ministry in a fix'.
Officials, however, insisted that the mood at in-house consultations should not be used for prejudging Pakistan's response.
"At the end of the day it is going to be the political leadership's decision on whether or not to accept the invitation," a diplomat said, adding it (political leadership) might come up with some 'out of box thinking'.

  Taliban confirm Hakeemullah’s death
Dawn Online, Karachi

The Taliban based in Orakzai Agency confirmed on Tuesday that Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakeemullah Mehsud is dead.
According to a DawnNews report, Mehsud died on Sunday in Multan after succumbing to injuries received in a drone attack in Shaktoi village.
However, Alam Tariq the offiicial Taliban spokesman has not yet made a statement.
Sources said that Maulvi Noor Jamal has been nominated as Mehsud's succesor.
Government officials too have confirmed his death.
American and Pakistani officials had been saying Mehsud was dead since the past few weeks.
Maulvi Noor Jamal is a native of the Orakzai Agency and rose to power as the leader of the Taliban in the Kurram tribal area.
He was also given responsibilities for Orakzai when the military began the Waziristan offensive in October.
Jamal is in his late thirties and was a maulana at a local madrassah before he was made the leader of the Taliban in Kurram.
He had a close relationship with Mehsud and is known for his brutality.
One resident who left Khurram for fear of being wanted by him said Jamal "...kills humans like one will kill chickens."
Jamal is also the man who is allegedly overseeing the flogging of two men and a teenage boy in a recently broadcast video.

  NATO warns Afghans to keep their ‘heads down’
AP, Kabul

NATO and Afghan officials on Tuesday urged Taliban militants holding a southern town to lay down their arms and warned civilians there to "keep your heads down" as U.S. and Afghan troops prepare their first major offensive of the U.S. troop surge.
NATO's civilian chief in Afghanistan, former British Ambassador Mark Sedwill, said authorities were prepared to deal with an influx of refugees who may flee fighting in Marjah, the biggest town in the south under Taliban control.
Sedwill said civilian officials were prepared to follow up a military attack with programs to improve public services and restore Afghan government control.
"The success of the operation will not be in the military phase," he told reporters in a briefing at NATO headquarters in Kabul.
"It will be over the next weeks and months as the people ... feel the benefits of better governance, of economic opportunities and of operating under the legitimate authorities of Afghanistan," he said.
International officials believe the insurgency has been able to capitalize on widespread public anger over President Hamid Karzai's corruption-ridden government and failure to provide services after more than eight years of war.
Without giving a date for the attack, U.S. commanders and their NATO and Afghan allies have heavily publicized their plans to clear Marjah, an opium producing center southwest of the Helmand provincial capital of Lahkar Gah.

  North Korea’s Kim pledges to remove nuclear weapons
Reuters, Seoul

North Korea's leader pledged again to remove nuclear weapons from the peninsula, a news report said on Tuesday, and also sent his top nuclear envoy to Beijing in a move that could bode well for stalled disarmament talks.
While Kim Jong-il has made, and broken, similar pledges before, analysts said pressure has been mounting through U.N. sanctions imposed after its nuclear test last year, as well as a botched currency reform that the South said sparked inflation and rare civil unrest.
China's Xinhua news agency said Kim reiterated his country's "persistent stance to realise the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" during a meeting on Monday with senior Chinese official Wang Jiarui.
North Korea's top nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-gwan, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, suggesting a possible resumption of stalled discussions hosted by China and including Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
"Dispatching Kim Kye-gwan indicates that some sort of understanding is being worked out between China and North Korea on restarting the nuclear talks," said Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute think tank near Seoul.
China, the North's biggest benefactor, is seen as having the most influence on the reclusive state.
The destitute North can win aid to prop up its broken economy at the six-way talks if it reduces the security threat it poses to North Asia, which is responsible for one-sixth of the global economy.
However, few analysts believe Kim will ever scrap nuclear arms, which are seen at home as the crowning achievement in his military-first rule and the justification for decades of sacrifice by his impoverished people.
The North has said many times it could end its nuclear arms programme if the United States drops what it sees as a hostile policy toward it.
In another high-profile visit to the country, U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, Lynn Pascoe, was expected to arrive in Pyongyang on Tuesday.

  Arrested general Fonseka ‘hell-bent’ on betrayal: Sri Lanka
Reuters, Colombo

Sri Lanka's government on Tuesday said defeated presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka was "hell-bent" on betrayal and would be court-martialled on charges of conspiring against the president.
Fonseka lost by an 18 percentage point margin to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a Jan. 26 election, after which he accused his former commander-in-chief of vote-rigging, vowing to challenge the results in court and stand for parliament.
Sri Lankan troops arrested their former chief on Monday. The government said the general, who quit the army in November to enter the presidential race, would be tried for conspiring with opposition politicians while still serving.
Under Sri Lankan military law, the armed forces can arrest and try personnel who have left service for up to six months after their departure, defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told a press conference. "Still investigations are going on and information is emerging from the investigations," he said.
Sri Lanka's Government Information Department on Tuesday said Fonseka's comments to reporters, quoted by the BBC, that he would testify in a war crimes probe proved his disloyalty to the troops he led to defeat the Tamil Tigers rebels and end a 25-year war.
"This report of BBC confirms beyond doubt that the retired general was hell-bent on betraying the gallant armed forces of Sri Lanka who saved the nation from the most ruthless terrorist group in the world," the statement said. Opposition politicians who backed Fonseka's election bid condemned his arrest, and vowed to seek legal redress.
"To all of us it is evident that this is a government which is not simply dictatorial but fascist and they are all out to humiliate him, harass him and go on a journey of vendetta," Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem told reporters.
Sri Lanka's stock market, one of 2009's best performers with a 125 percent return, closed down 0.11 percent from a record high on Monday. It has shrugged off much of the post-election sparring, hitting new peaks since Rajapaksa won.
"People are still in shock (over the arrest)," said Prashan Fernando, executive director of Acuity Stockbrokers.

  UN appeals for $538M in Pakistan humanitarian aid
AP, Islamabad

Aid groups in Pakistan need nearly $538 million over the next six months to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by army clashes against the Taliban, the U.N. said in an international appeal Tuesday.
The appeal comes as much of the world's attention is focused on helping earthquake-devastated Haiti and as security remains tenuous along Pakistan's northwest border with Afghanistan.
A largely successful army offensive in the Swat Valley and surrounding districts has meant some 1.7 million people have returned home since being displaced last year, according to the U.N. Still, security in parts of the semiautonomous tribal belt and other areas is deteriorating, leading to new internal refugees.
An estimated 1 million Pakistanis remain displaced. Most of the refugees are staying with host families, but tens of thousands are in relief camps.
The U.N. came up with the $538 million figure after assessing the needs and goals of dozens of local and international aid agencies and the Pakistani government. The biggest chunk of aid they requested, about $195 million, will pay for food for the displaced.

  Violence, tight race mark Philippine poll campaign
AP, Manila, Philippines

Campaign posters went up and jingles blared at election rallies Tuesday as the Philippines' richest politician and the son of its democracy icon began a tight race to succeed scandal-tainted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Senators Manny Villar and Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III - son of the late Corazon Aquino - are promising a clean government and fresh start for the Philippines after nine years of Arroyo's tumultuous rule dotted with coup attempts and corruption allegations. With at least a dozen people already gunned down in the run-up to the May 10 polls - and the country still reeling from an election-related massacre late last year that claimed 57 lives in southern Maguindanao province - political violence again emerged as a main concern. About 130 people were killed during the last elections in 2007.
Police have set up checkpoints in a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed guns, and spokesman Leonardo Espina said operations were continuing to disarm nearly 100 private armies on the payroll of political warlords.
A candidate for the city council in southern Cotabato was traveling with his two young children Monday when three gunmen flagged him down and shot him dead before fleeing, police reported.
Aquino had an early head start in popularity thanks to his family name, but recent opinion polls put the two major candidates in a statistical dead heat, with analysts suggesting Villar's lavish campaign spending has allowed him to catch up.
"I am spending my own money," said Villar, who rose from the poor to make his fortune in real estate before entering politics. Speaking at a presidential forum Monday, he said there was a danger when candidates are indebted to political donors.
In a jab at Aquino, he said, "I don't have a mother who was president. No sibling who's an actress. It is imperative that people like me, who were once poor, are given a chance to level the playing field."

 Iran to stop enrichment if given nuclear fuel
AP, Tehran, Iran

The head of Iran's atomic agency said the Islamic Republic will not enrich uranium to a higher level if the West provides the fuel it needs for a research reactor in Tehran.
Iran is set to start enriching its stockpile of uranium to 20 percent on Tuesday, in a step sure to antagonize Western nations that fear the enrichment work could eventually yield material for a nuclear weapon.
France and the U.S. said Monday Iran's action left no choice but to push harder for a fourth set of U.N. Security Council sanctions to punish Iran's nuclear defiance. Russia, which has close ties to Iran and has opposed new sanctions, appeared to edge closer to Washington's position, saying the new enrichment plans show the suspicions about Iran's intentions are well-founded.
Ali Akbar Salehi, a vice president as well as the head of the country's nuclear program, said the further enrichment would be unnecessary if the West found a way to provide Iran with the needed fuel.
"Whenever they provide the fuel, we will halt production of 20 percent," he told state TV late Monday.
Iran has so far enriched uranium to a level of 3.5 percent, which is suitable for use in fueling nuclear power plants. The process is of concern to the West, however, because at higher levels - around 90 percent - the material can be used to make weapons.
The West fears that Iran's enrichment program is ultimately geared toward military purposes - a charge Iran denies.
Reuters adds: The Pentagon said on Tuesday that the United States wanted a U.N. Security Council resolution "within weeks" to tackle Iran's nuclear programme as Iran said it had begun making higher-grade nuclear fuel.
The Islamic Republic, which denies its programme has military aims, announced on Sunday it would produce uranium enriched to a level of 20 percent for a Tehran research reactor making medical isotopes for cancer patients.

  UK's Iraq inquiry turns focus to Bush officials

AP, London
Britain's inquiry into the Iraq war will seek meetings with former members of the Bush administration after taking evidence from Tony Blair and other key British officials, the panel's chairman said Monday.
John Chilcot, head of the inquiry, confirmed that he hopes to obtain evidence from officials in the United States, but did not name specific individuals, or specify if his panel hopes to put questions to former President George W. Bush himself.
"We cannot take formal evidence as such from foreign nationals, but we can of course have discussions with them," Chilcot said, bringing to a close the inquiry's first set of public evidence sessions.
The hearings began in November and have seen Blair, current MI6 intelligence agency chief John Sawers, the head of Britain's military Jock Stirrup and a host of ministers and government officials offer testimony.
Chilcot said his panel will question British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Development Secretary Douglas Alexander in a second set of hearings before summer, and also make plans to gather evidence from U.S. officials and military veterans.
AFP adds: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will appear before the public inquiry into the Iraq war in early March, a spokesman for the probe said Tuesday.
Brown was finance minister at the time of the 2003 US-led invasion, and is being called to give his account of the conflict several weeks after then prime minister Tony Blair gave his long-awaited evidence on January 29.

  China builds lighthouse to back East China Sea claim
Reuters, Beijing

China has finished building a series of lighthouses and stone tablets on islands and reefs off its coast to delineate its territorial waters in the disputed East China Sea, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.
Natural gas fields lie in waters where Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese claims overlap, near a tiny group of islands known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.
By building "permanent structures" on islands, countries can help extend their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones under international legal protocols governing the sea.
China's latest lighthouse at Waikejiao, a tiny speck off the coast of Jiangsu province, was the last of 13 structures built to mark its territorial baseline, Xinhua said, citing Captain Zou Xingguo, political commissar of the Chinese navy's East Sea Fleet survey team. China claims that a straight line drawn between the points should be the starting point for determining its territorial waters, Xinhua said.
Japan has also built facilities including a lighthouse on Okinotori, also known as Douglas Reef or Parace Vela, which it calls its southernmost island. China refuses to recognize Tokyo's claim, saying it is a rock, not an island.

  UN: some Haitian hospitals are charging patients
AP, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

The United Nations warned Monday that it will cut off shipments of free medicine to Haitian hospitals that charge patients, saying it had learned some are levying fees for drugs.
When the catastrophic earthquake struck Jan. 12, authorities immediately decided to make all medical care free. More than 200 international medical relief groups have sent teams to help, and millions of dollars of donated medicine has been flown in.
U.N. officials told The Associated Press they had information that about a dozen hospitals - both public and private - had begun charging patients for medicine.
The officials said they could not immediately provide the names of the hospitals but said they were in several parts of the country, including Port-au-Prince.
"The money is huge," said Christophe Rerat of the Pan American Health Organization, the U.N. health agency in the region. He said about $1 million worth of drugs have been sent from U.N. warehouses alone to Haitian hospitals in the past three weeks.
Hospitals don't need to charge patients to pay their staff, because Haitian Health Ministry employees are getting paid with donated money, Rerat added.
U.N. officials said that beginning now, any hospital found levying fees for medicine will be cut off.
But they added the U.N. would consider continuing to supply non-governmental groups working at private hospitals hit with embargoes if the NGO can make a convincing case that none of the people it is treating are being charged.

  Abbas mulls peace talks; expects U.S. answers soon
Reuters, Tokyo

Palestinian leaders have not set specific terms on which they would accept a U.S. offer to mediate indirect peace talks with Israel, and expect clarification on such talks in a week, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday.
The United States has proposed circumventing a dispute preventing the resumption of talks, stalled for more than a year since a war in Gaza, by reconvening in the form of "proximity talks" on an indirect basis, under closer U.S. mediation.
Israel has agreed to the formula but Abbas has said he will announce a decision after hearing answers to some questions he has put to Washington.
"The Palestinian side has not set any conditions in particular," said Abbas, speaking to reporters in Japan through an interpreter, when he asked under what conditions he would accept the U.S. offer on the proximity talks.
Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo, Abbas added that his government was keeping the door open to the U.S. proposal, but stressed that he was still waiting to hear from Washington.
Abbas said that he expected U.S. Middle East special envoy George Mitchell to get back to him with further clarification about the talks a week from now. After that, his government could consult with other Arab leaders and make a decision, he added.
His comments came a day after Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, visiting Tokyo with Abbas, said the proximity talks should focus on border issues and their timeframe should be limited to a maximum of three to four months.
Peace talks were halted more than a year ago over the war in the Gaza Strip and have not resumed, due largely to a Palestinian demand that Israel first impose a complete freeze on building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Israel's refusal to do so.
Abbas has rejected a limited, 10-month construction freeze ordered by Israel in November as insufficient, particularly for excluding Jerusalem.

  Google warns Chinese knock-off to stop using logo
Reuters, Shanghai

Google Inc has sent a cease and desist letter to the operators of a Chinese search website whose logo bears a close resemblance to its own. Goojje's home page is adorned with a Google-styled logo and the familiar paw print logo of China's top home-grown search engine, Baidu Inc.
The website, whose name is a play on words with the final syllable "jje" sounding like the Chinese word "older sister," while the "gle" syllable of "Google" is pronounced like the Chinese word for "older brother," provides search and social networking services.
A Google spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the company has officially asked Goojje to stop copying Google's logo, which is protected by trademark. China has a notoriously poor record at protecting intellectual property rights. Pirated software, music, movies and clothing, among a host of other goods, are widely available throughout the country despite repeated government crackdowns.
Goojje has already stopped using its original URL, www.goojje.com. Visitors typing in the address now get automatically redirected to dierqi.com, though the content appears to be the same.

  Test screens for 29 rare illnesses
Internet

Newborn screening is not new. It began in the 1960s, and today every baby is supposed to be tested for at least 29 rare genetic diseases in hopes of catching the fraction who need early treatment to help avoid brain damage or death.
Now being added to the list: Bubble-boy disease, formally known as SCID for severe combined immune deficiency.
The program catches about 5,000 babies a year in need of treatment.
Because newborn screening is mandatory, only a handful of states provide much upfront parent education.
Leftover spots mainly are used for double-checking that newborn tests are accurate. Sometimes, families ask geneticists to study them after a child's death from a disease doctors can't immediately diagnose.
But as scientists sought to use the leftovers for broader research, suddenly the informing of parents - especially about long-stored spots - became an issue. While blood spots are stripped of identifying information before being handed over to scientists, people generally need to consent to participate in research.
"My kid is not a lab rat. You have to ask before you can use him in an experiment, before you can use his blood, his tissues, his DNA, whatever," says Andrea Beleno, one of the Texas parents who sued. Among their worries: that genetic information about the children could fall into the wrong hands.

Business/Economy

PM asks Bangladeshi envoys to work for welfare of expatriates

BSS, Kuwait City

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked the country's ambassadors in the Arab countries to work with utmost sincerity and dedication for the welfare of the expatriate Bangladeshis and encouraging foreign investment for Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina made the call when Bangladesh ambassadors of eight Arab states- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, UAE, Bahrain and Lebanon-paid a courtesy call on her at Bayan Palace here on Monday evening.
"You have to work with dedication for increasing image of Bangladesh and also look after the causes of the Bangladeshi workforce in the Arab states," the premier said.
After the meeting Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed the newsmen.
Referring to a favorable investment policy in the country, Sheikh Hasina asked the envoys to inform the foreign entrepreneurs about the investment friendly environment that now exits in Bangladesh and encourage them investing in various thriving sectors of Bangladesh.
She said her government wants to build a hunger and poverty free prosperous Bangladesh through concerted efforts of all.
About different steps taken by her government for the country's overall economic development, she said the world economic recession could not touch Bangladesh due to government's pragmatic steps.
She said after coming to power through a free, fair and neutral election her government took steps to reduce price spiral of essential commodities.
"Now it is our goal to build a poverty free digital Bangladesh and we should work together to this end for the greater interest of the nation," she added.
Earlier, Kuwait Interior Minister Staff Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, Kuwait Labour Minister Mr. Bader Fahad Ali Al-Duwaila, Director General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Abdulwahab Al-Bader and Managing Director of Kuwait Investment Authority Bader M. Al Saad paid separate calls on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Bayan Palace.
During the meetings, they discussed various issues on expansion of bilateral trade as well as Kuwaiti investment to Bangladesh's various development projects and recruiting more Bangladeshis for Kuwait. Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Eng. Khondaker Mosharraf Hossain, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, State Minister for Forests and Environment Dr Hasan Mahmud, Ambassador at Large M Ziauddin, Bangladesh Ambassador to Kuwait Shahid Reza, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister M A Karim, Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and Special Assistant to the PM Abdus Sobhan Golap were present on the occasion.

 Country receives $ 6,484m remittances in seven months
BSS, Dhaka

The country received remittances of US$ 6,484.12 million or Taka 44,805.27 crore during the first seven months of this fiscal (July 09 to January 2010) against US dollar 5,363.73 million of Taka 37,063.37 crore during the same period of last fiscal, marking a rise by 20.89 percent.
The remittances sent by Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) was US$ 950 92 million or Taka 6,570.42 crore during January 2010 against US dollar 919.10 million in January last year, marking a rise by 3.46 percent, according to Bangladesh Bank data released Tuesday.
During January this year, the remittance sent by Non- Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) through the Nationalized Commercial Banks (NCBs) was US$ 253.38 million, while that through specialized banks to US dollar 12.38 million, Private Commercial Banks (PBCs) US dollar 671.69 million and foreign banks US dollar 13.03 million.
Of the NCBs, Sonali Bank remitted US dollar 104.98 million, Agrani Bank US dollar 77.32 million, Janata Bank US dollar 63.38 million, Rupali Bank US dollar 7.70 million.
Of the Specialized Banks, Bangladesh Krishi Bank remitted US dollar 12.80 million, BASIC Bank US dollar 0.02 million.
Among the PCBs, AB Bank remitted US dollar 19.01 million, Bank Asia US dollar 16.94 million, BRAC Bank US dollar 50.22 million, Dhaka Bank US dollar 12.39 million, Dutch Bangla Bank US dollar 9.17 million, Eastern Bank US dollar 14.00 million, IFIC Bank US dollar 6.36 million, Islami Bank US dollar 270.25 million, National Bank US dollar 59.68 million, NCCB Bank US dollar 15.15 million, Prime Bank US dollar 26.24 million, Pubali Bank US dollar 35.00 million, South East Bank US dollar 22.52 million, The City Bank US dollar 19.60 million, The Trust Bank US dollar 9.29 million, Uttara Bank US dollar 53.87 million.
Of foreign banks, HSBC remitted US dollar 6.27 million, while Standard Chartered Bank US dollar 3.32 million, Citi Bank NA US dollar 2.77 million.

  Country sees $500m domestic ICT market by next two years

BSS, Dhaka

The domestic market size of the booming ICT industry is expected to be 500 million US dollar from existing US$300m if young IT professionals are provided with necessary banking supports against their working orders, experts said.
"Our young IT professionals have creative confidence and vast technical know-how but they have no access to finance that posed a major snag to expedite the sector's further growth," director of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) MA Mubin Khan said in an exclusive interview with BSS. Khan said Bangladesh has now over 15,000 IT professionals, who are working in the software and IT Enabled Services (ITES), and as per the successful track record 150 IT companies have been engaged in export market for software outsourcing. The IT professionals are earning name and fame in the world market by exporting software and ITES to 30 destinations, including the US, UK, Japan, Canada, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, South Korea and Germany, he said. Listing the government's bold steps including tax exemption by 2011, setting up ICT parks in six divisions, BASIA director said initially two makeshift IT parks shall be built on rental buildings to meet the buyers demand for software and ITES.
He came down heavily on sluggish sanction of cases by the Bangladesh Bank for the Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF) and non-implementation of BASIS's agreement with the Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL), a non-bank financial institution.
Khan described the government's 'Vision-2021' as a tool towards making the country state-of-the-art and said implementation level must strengthen in every effort to that end. Bangladesh is considered to be one of the major outsourcing destinations in the region as the country's IT programmers' cost is relatively less than India, Philippines and Vietnam, he said citing an example that Bangladesh's IT programmers' cost is 50 percent less than that of India.
The ICT industry has been advancing much, but it is unfortunate that no IT park was set up during the last 10 years in the country to give a further boost to the industry while two IT parks were established in Indian state of Kolkata alone. A substantial amount of loans were sectioned by private commercial banks (PCBs) to different sectors and those money has long been lying with the sectors, but the banks never sanctioned not even Taka 100 crore as a test case to the sector, he pointed out.
To propel the sector's growth, Mubin Khan put forward a set of recommendations including working capital for promising young IT professionals, spending at least five percent of GDP to the sector and setting up IT desks in foreign missions abroad.
Talking to BSS, M Rafiqul Islam, an outsourcer, said India's turn over of the IT industry now stood at 34 billion US dollar which is only US$300m in Bangladesh although the country's software and ITES products are equally finer like India.
The reason is that Indian IT professionals are being provided with adequate financial support and necessary infrastructure facilities, said Islam, also managing director of Global Web Outsourcing.
About the five-day software and information technology display that begins today (Wednesday), BASIS director Mubin Khan, also in- charge of National Events Committee, expressed his hoped that the association will be able to project exportable of Bangladesh's software and ITES to visitors from home and abroad.

  Troubled Swiss bank UBS returns to profit
AFP, Zurich

Troubled Swiss bank UBS said Tuesday that it had jumped back into quarterly profit for the first time in more than a year even though it was still grappling with a serious loss of client confidence.
The bank, which was severely hit by the financial crisis and international pressure on tax evasion and Swiss banking secrecy, posted a 1.20 billion franc profit (1.12 billion dollars, 821 million euros) in the fourth quarter of 2009.
It was the first time that Switzerland's banking flagship had posted a profit since the third quarter of 2008 and helped the bank cut its annual net loss to 2.73 billion francs from 21.29 billion francs in 2008.
The earnings figures beat analyst expectations but investors were unimpressed, with UBS shares down 1.69 percent in morning trades in Zurich. The bank is still in the middle of a bruising tussle over tax dodgers in the United States that has prompted unsettled investors to withdraw their funds.
On Tuesday it reported that net money outflows from its international wealth management unit more than doubled from the previous quarter.
Net new money outflows totalled 56.2 billion Swiss francs in the fourth quarter, despite an increase in assets from Asia. The outflows from its global wealth management unit rose to 27.3 billion francs from 12.9 billion.
The bank said outflows would continue "in the immediate future."
Even Swiss customers continued to desert UBS as total net new money outflows from domestic banking reached 5.9 billion francs in the last quarter, compared with 3.9 billion beforehand, despite more corporate and institutional business.
UBS said, however, that it managed to hold on to 14.3 billion of the 22.8 billion francs in invested client funds affected by an Italian tax amnesty, and also underlined a sharp boost for profits in all wealth management units.
In a letter to shareholders, UBS's fresh management team called the ongoing outflows "disappointing," despite the improved profitability.
"We entered 2009 at the height of the crisis. By the end of 2009 UBS has returned to profitability, delivering on its priorities," chief executive Oswald Gruebel said. "We expect that our return to profitability will increase clients' confidence in UBS and restore our reputation," he added. UBS said that addressing the causes of net new money outflows "remains a main priority."
Switzerland's justice minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf warned in a newspaper last month that UBS could be under threat if sensitive talks with the United States over a deal settling high-profile tax fraud investigation fall through.
The bank, which was one of the hardest hit in the global financial crisis and has struggled to recover compared to some of its US and British rivals, also bolstered its capital reserves through 2009.

  DSE makes new record despite repeated interventions
BSS, Dhaka

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) maintained a bullish trend to make a new record despite the regulators' repeated interventions.
The benchmark index of the stock exchange crossed 5600-point mark at Tuesday's close, dodging effectively the impact of the recent regulatory steps to ease the extraordinary demand on the market.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its latest move on Monday discontinued the netting facility to Grameenphone (GP), the apparent dominator of the stock market.
Discontinuation of netting facility means no person shall be allowed to buy GP shares against the sales proceedings of other securities within the existing settlement and clearance period. The directive, however, comes into force tomorrow (Wednesday).
Stockbrokers are expecting a decrease in the fund flow to the market as many investors will not be able to buy GP shares using their fund from changing portfolio under netting system.
The SEC earlier cut the margin loan facility to ease the persisting liquidity glut on the stock market.
The moves of the SEC got some negative criticism among market observers as many believe such a quick decision would only send a wrong signal to the market.
The fund flow to the market, however, remains high, eventually influencing share prices and the index upward.
The DSE turnover rose substantially to Taka 1,295 crore on Tuesday, up from Monday's Taka 1,207 crore, when the index finished 50.32 points or 0.90 percent higher at 5603.18.
GP was the day's market leader with a turnover of over Taka 178 crore for 5,6,72,800 shares. The company on Tuesday announced a net profit after tax of over Taka 844 crore with a basic earning per share (EPS) of Taka 6.44. Last year, GP earned a Taka 260 crore net profit when the EPS was Taka 2.14.
The day's top gainer was the new entrant RN Spinning Mills.
The company gained 419 percent on its debut trading on Tuesday. Other major advanced issues were People Insurance, Maksons Spinning Mills, Fuwang Food and City Bank.

  Use of LCCs in Boro season may save 1.5 lakh tons Urea
UNB, Dhaka

A huge number of farmers in the ongoing Boro season are giving fertilizer to their crop fields using the Leaf Colour Charts (LCCs) which is expected to save around 1.5 lakh metric tons of urea fertilizer across the country.
"This will also maintain the health of the soil, maintain the ecological balance and finally will enhance the crop yield by 4-6 percent," said agriculturist Dr. Radheshyam Sarker.
According to a competent source in the Directorate of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the use of LCC charts at the farmers' level will save around 1.5 lakh metric tons of urea or an estimated Tk 180 crore.
"Besides, the reduced use of urea will indirectly benefit several lakh people and will also ensure food security apart from maintaining the ecological balance," said the DAE official. Dr. Radheshyam, project director of Leaf Color Chart under the DAE, said around 4 lakh LCC charts will remain in use by the farmers throughout the country this season.
He informed that some 3 lakh pieces of LCC charts, imported from the Philippines in the fiscal 2007-08 and 2008-09, were later distributed free of cost to the farmers. "Import of another one lakh LCC charts is under process," he said.
Under the LCC project, some 3 lakh farmers in 12,200 blocks across the country were provided with LCC charts free of cost and most of them benefited from increased crop yields. The DAE is making hectic efforts to popularize the LCC technology at the grassroots level farmers in the current Boro season by imparting training to 37,000 farmers, holding 8,000 block demonstrations and organizing 2,700 field days.
When contacted, deputy director of Food Crops Wing (Rice) at the DAE, Fazal-e-Elahi said that in the current 2009-10 season, some 48 lakh hectares of land were brought under Boro cultivation with the production set at 1.90 crore metric tons.

National

Electoral process management will be more accurate in future: CEC

BSS, Rangpur

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda Tuesday said the electoral process will become more accurate and every voter will be able to caste his votes in all elections to be held in future.
Efforts are on now for ensuring postal voting system in the upcoming elections with a view to ensuring voting rights of all including those citizens who will be involved with the conduct of elections at different polling stations, he said.
He also said most of the amendments to the election laws for holding free, fair, transparent and completely acceptable elections were done during the period of more than last two years though those were not done during the previous 34 years. The CEC said this while addressing as the chief guest at a workshop titled 'Improving Management of Election Process' organised by the Support to the Electoral Process Project (SEPP)of the CEC at Begum Rokeya auditorium of RDRS in the city.
Rangpur Regional Election Office and Rangpur District Election Office assisted in organising the workshop that was participated by officials and professionals of all eight districts under newly formed Rangpur division.
A total of 100 participants including district and upazila level election officers, UNOs of different upazilas, representatives of Bar Associations, officials and journalists took part in the workshop.
Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur BM Enamul Haque chaired the workshop that was addressed by Project Director of SEPP Dr. M Rafikul Islam, SP Saleh Mohammad Tanveer, participants, journalists and officials.
Deputy Election Commissioner of Rangpur Zone Shubhash Chandra Sarker delivered his welcome speech while project manger of SEPP Abdul Alim presented the keynote speech narrating the objectives of the project and the workshop.
Later, the CEC answered various questions from local journalists after the workshop at the same venue.
He said election of the union parishads will start from next April and continue onwards in phases and then elections of the pourasabhas and municipal corporations will commence subsequently throughout the country.
Before leaving Rangpur for Dhaka, the CEC visited the proposed site for the Rangpur District Regional Server Station in the city when the DC, SP, Mayor of Rangpur pourasabha AKM Abdur Rouf Manik and senior election officials were present.

  Bangladesh to be middle-income state within 4 yrs: BB Governor

BSS, Barisal

Bangladesh is likely to emerge as a country of middle-income group within the next four years thanks to its steady pace of growth and inclusive growth strategy taken by the present government.
Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Dr Atiur Rahman told BSS in an exclusive interview during his recent visit to different rural areas of the country's southern part.
The central bank governor said the country has achieved 5.9 percent national growth during the last fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 compared to 6.2 per cent of the previous fiscal when most economies of the world slid down substantially due to global economic downturn.
"By this time our per capita income has increased by nearly 50 per cent and stood at 690 US dollars. If this growth trend continues, we will reach the targeted income level of 975 US dollars within the next four years to become a middle-income country of the world," he said.
"The growth may reach double digit point within the next four years if the economy is not affected by any calamity," Dr Atiur, a renowned economist in his varied roles as a university professor, researcher, banker and a leader in pro-poor, environment-friendly and gender-sensitive development paradigm, said.
He took the helm of the central bank of Bangladesh for four a year tenure on May 1, 2009 as its 10th governor. He is now visiting different rural areas of the country to explore new areas of investment and monitor credit programmes of different banks.
To continue the current growth trend, the governor said Bangladesh Bank has adopted an inclusive growth strategy to increase both national income and internal demand within the timeframe.
Under the plan, the central bank has taken a comprehensive plan to boost rural economic growth through agriculture and small and medium scale industries.
"Our focal point is agriculture-the backbone of our economy and our next focus is on small and medium scale industries where millions of farmers and entrepreneurs are invo-lved," Dr Atiur said.

 Transfer process of teachers hampers education in JnU
A Correspondent

Proper education is being hampered in Jagannath University as transfer process of appointed qualified tea-chers has been going on from the last month.
According to sources, as per the decision of education ministry, some sixteen teachers have received transfer orders at the end of January. Over 100 teachers would be transferred to other places within this month, it was learnt.
The Jagannath University was set up in October, 2005 under an act passed by the Parliament. Under section 56 code 2 of the Jagannath University Act 2005, the university gave an appointment of 280 teachers on a temporary basis from Jagannath College for five years. The temporarily appointed teachers would be transferred within October 19, 2010.
The varsity authorities will be responsible for recruiting new teachers within these five years. Though the transfer process has started and the authority failed to recruit new teachers to fill the gap, the students are under threat of session jam.
Some teachers and staffs of the university said the transfer process of the deputed teachers has started so abruptly the authority failed to recruit new teachers till now. It is high time to fill the gap, otherwise there will be no way to avoid shutting down the university, they warned. "Jagannath University is the outcome of our hard work. We hoped the authority would keep us permanently like the Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, but the transfer process ignored us, which is painful," said a temporarily appointed teacher.
When contacted, VC of Jagannath University Prof Dr. Mesbahuddin Ahmed said, the transfer process of the appointed teachers is happening as per the decision of education ministry.
"We are trying to recruit new teachers immediately to fill up the gap. At present we have 127 directly appointed teachers and we hope that we will be able to recruit 88 more teachers within this month," he added.

   Potato growers worry at space shortage in cold storage
UNB, Naogaon

Bumper output of potato in the district could not bring smiles on the faces of the growers due to lack of cold storage for preserving their production.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), a total of 24,548 hectares in the district have been brought under potato cultivation this season with a production target of 4.15 lakh metric tons.
But, the growers cultivate potato on 25,360 hectares exceeding the target. So, the farmers are expected to get a bumper output of 5 mts, said a DAE official.
There are eight cold storages here in the district having a capacity to preserve 30,000 mts of potato. Two of those were remained closed.
Agriculturists said some 25 new cold storages are needed to preserve the growing output of potato.
Meanwhile, the price of potato has also decreased in the market, forcing the growers to sale their product to the middlemen as they have no way to preserve. "Two to three weeks ago, per kilogram of potato was sold at Tk 25-Tk 30, but now it stood at Tk 8-Tk 9," said a worried Marzina Begum who harvested 12 maunds from her field.
She apprehended that the price would fall down again when the newly harvested potato appears in the market.
Azahar Ali, another potato grower of Tilakpur village in Sadar upazila, said they are not getting fair price of potato at local bazars because the middlemen and hoarders are dominating there to make windfall profit.

 Govt to create post of female deputy speaker
BSS, Dhaka

Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad Tuesday said the government has taken a plan to create a post of deputy speaker for women in the Jatiya Sangsad.
Besides, the representation of women in parliament would be raised to 33 percent, he said while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of 'Central Workshop on Annual Work Plan', organised by the information ministry and UNICEF at PIB seminar room in the city.
Chaired by Information Ministry Joint Secretary Sultanul Islam Chowdhury, the function was addressed by Information Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury as the special guest. Additional Secretary M Abu Bakar Siddiqui and Information Ministry Planning Cell Deputy Chief Syed Majibul Haq also spoke.
The information minister said the present government wants to empower women.
Currently the country's prime minister, opposition leader, deputy leader in parliament, agriculture minister, foreign minister, home minister, state minister for labour and employment, state minister for women and children affairs and a notable number of MPs are women, he added.
The government is pledge-bound to remove discriminations against women, he said and added that as per the election pledge, the government is taking measures to identify and amend the laws hampering the interest of women.
Abul Kalam Azad said the half of the population are women and the country's development and prosperity are not possible keeping them aside.
He urged the media to create awareness among the people for implementation of government programmes for development and welfare of women and children. The information minister said effective measures are being taken to stop employment of children in hazardous jobs, their use in political activities and trafficking of women and children.
The government is serious about ensuring security of female workers. Better work environment would be created and daycare centres set up for their children, he added.
He sought cooperation of all to implement the Prime Minister's announcement to make Bangladesh a middle income country by 2021.
The information minister highlighted the government's success in education, agriculture, law and order, health, sanitation and rural infrastructure development.
He said the law enacted by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to protect rights of children in 1974 is stronger than international laws.

 Settlement of LCs fall by 3.58 pc, opening up by 18.06 pc in 6 months

BSS, Dhaka

The settlement of Letter of Credit (LCs) opened for imports of various items during the period totaled to US Dollar 10,717.42 million during the first half of this fiscal against US Dollar 11,115.39 million during the same period of last fiscal, indicating a fall by 3.58 percent.
The opening of LCs during the same period (July 09 to December 09) totaled to US Dollar 13,194.81 million) from US Dollar 11,176.63 million over the corresponding period of the last fiscal, showing a rise by 18.06 percent.
The rise in value of opening of LCs during the period was due to increased import orders for refined edible oil, wheat, onion, sugar, textile machinery, pharmaceutical machinery, pulses of all sorts, fresh fruits, plastic industry machinery, according to Bangladesh Bank data released here Tuesday.
The value of LCs opened for import of refined edible oil increased by 1150.59 percent, while that for wheat was 41.91 percent, onion 54.79 percent, sugar 260.02 percent, textile machinery 39.22 percent, pharmaceutical machinery 146.01 percent, pulses of all sorts 495.30 percent, fresh fruits 43.11 percent, plastic industry machinery 75.42 percent.

 SA games play remarkable role in establishing peace: President

UNB, Dhaka

President Zillur Rahman Tuesday expressed his optimism that the 11th South Asia (SA) games would play a remarkable role in establishing peace and stability in this region.
"I hope the fraternity and friendship built among the participating countries through the 11th SA games would bring the people of this region closer," the President said at the concluding session of the games at Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Zillur Rahman praised dexterity exhibited by the best players from eight South Asian Countries who participated in various events of the SA games. The SA games continued for 12 days starting from January 29.
The President appreciated all participants, sports-organizers, officials and coordinators for successful accomplishment of the games.
He extended his heartiest felicitations to all winners and also others for their sportsmanship and wished their gradual improvement and prosperity.
Cabinet members, chiefs of three services, ambassadors and seniors civil and military officials were present at the closing ceremony.

 It’s now major challenge to ensure power-gas supply: Industries Minister

UNB, Dhaka

Industries Minister Dilip Barua Tuesday said ensuring power and gas supply as per the demand has become a major challenge to the government despite its all-out efforts to tackle it.
The Industries Minister made the remarks at a roundtable titled 'Energy Efficiency Roadmap' at the city's CIRDAP auditorium.
The speakers, however, emphasized the need for putting in place a cost effective tariff for power and gas in the country.
They said the gas and power tariffs should be market-based and the government needs to move forward to introduce market-based tariffs for power and gas.
Barua said the government has taken initiatives to develop the country's power and energy sector to accelerate economic progress and thus materialize the vision to build digital Bangladesh by 2021.
He said local and foreign investments depend on adequate supply of power and gas, and to ensure that the government would distribute energy-saving bulbs among electricity consumers to save power.
Power & Energy, a fortnightly magazine, organized the function. It was addressed, among others, by Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Power Development Board (PDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir, Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Mansur and BUET Professor Dr. Izaj Hossain.
The power secretary said the government has been working to bring the vexing load-shedding to a zero level by 2014. "As part of our move, we've already moved for setting up power plants which will be diversified on fuel basis so that our dependence on gas could be reduced."

 600 telephone lines turn inoperative in city
UNB, Dhaka

About 600 telephone lines under Khilgaon telephone exchange went out of service following the stealing of cables from manhole at Khilgaon Chowdhury Para in the city on Monday night.
The thieves stole the cables 120 meter under the ground at Block B and Block C that turned the telephone lines inoperative, said a BTCL press release Tuesday.
Repair works have already been taken up and it would be possible to restore the service within 2/3 days, the release added.
A GD was lodged with Khilgaon thana in this connection.

 Outlawed party leader killed in Kushtia
UNB, Kushtia

A leader of an outlawed party was found dead at Saibar Beel in Mirpur upazila early Tuesday.
Being informed by locals, police recovered the bullet-hit body of Mukti alias Shaheen, 38, a top leader of Gano Bahini. He is believed to have been killed by his rivals Monday night over establishing supremacy in the area, police said.
According to the deceased's family, Mukti recently returned home from India and went to Jhenidah a week back only to be abducted by his rivals.
They said the abductors later took him to the district and gunned him down at the Saibar Beel.
Meanwhile, a man introducing himself as Rajib, commander of the outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party, claimed responsibility for the killing over telephone to local journalists.
The caller said Mukti, who joined Purba Banglar Communist Party a few days back, was killed for extorting money in the name of the party. Mukti, a listed terrorist and son of Farid Uddin Beg of Hadulia village in Sadar upazila, was wanted in 18 cases, including killing.

 8 injured in clash of dock workers at Chittagong Port
UNB, Chittagong

Rival groups of dock workers at Chittagong port clashed Tuesday leaving at least eight workers injured.
Workers backed by City Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury who is in favour extending transit facility to India organized a rally in front of the port building at 12-30 pm in support of the government move.
At the same time barely 50 yards away, workers backed by MA Latif MP of ruling Awami League and those of Jatiyabadi Sramik Dal convened another meeting near the No. 4 Jetty opposing transit to India and demanding reinstatement of workers sacked during the caretaker regime.
Slogan chanting rival groups chased, counter-chased each other with brickbats and clashed with sticks resulting in injuries to eight workers.
Police and RAB rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control dispersing the clashing groups.
Additional police have been deployed in and around the port area to avert further trouble.

Sports

Bangladesh meets expectations
TBT Report

Bangla-desh lived up to expectations in the 11th South Asian Games (SAG) winning 18 gold medals, the highest achievement of the country in 26 years' history of the Games.
Bangladesh picked up four gold medals on the penultimate day in football, boxing and wushu to seal the third place in the medal tally. Bangladesh Olympic Association set a target of 17 gold medals before the Games. Female athletes did an excellent job for Bangladesh and made the nation proud even though they are less than half (101) in numbers compared to the male competitors (231).
The female athletes won eight gold medals comparing to 10 earned by their male teammates.
Bangladesh football team failed to reach the semifinals in the last two editions but this time it not only emerged as the gold winner but also won all matches.
Bangladesh thrashed Afghanistan 4-0 in the final to win gold.
Bangladesh had won its previous SAG football gold in the 1999 Katmandu Games. The final was a one-sided affair with Bangladesh scoring two goals in each half to register the biggest victory in any final of an international competition.
The footballers' success came a day after the host cricket team beat Sri Lanka by six runs to win gold.
Hamidul Islam provided the country the first touch of gold in the Weightlifting event of 77 Kg to initiate the gold hunt.
Golf proved to be a gold winning discipline for the hosts as Bangladesh's Dulal Hossain won the individual gold and Zamal Hossain Mollah, Md. Dulal Hossain, Md. Shakhawat Hossain Sohel and Md. Jakiruzzaman won gold in the team event..
Jewel Ahmed and Abdur Rahim won their battles to present the hosts two gold medals in boxing on the penultimate day of the meet. Karate the relatively unpopular sports in the country stunned the fans presenting four gold medals.
The mens team comprising Hasan Khan Sun, Hossain Khan Moon and Syed Nuruzzaman won gold in Kata, while under 45 Kumite gold was won by Moreom Khatun Bipasha. Womens kata (individual) gold was grabbed by Jaw-U- Pru-Marma. Later Jaw U teamed with Munni Khanam and U-Sainu- Mara to win the team kata Gold.

  South Africa thrashes India in first Test
AFP, Nagpur

South Africa thumped India by innings and six runs despite a fighting century by Sachin Tendulkar on the fourth day of the first Test on Tuesday to go 1-0 up in the two-match series.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn (3-57) and left-arm spinner Paul Harris (3-76) shared six wickets to bowl out India for 319 in their follow-on at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur.
Harris picked the key wickets of Tendulkar (100) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who suffered his first Test defeat as captain since taking charge in 2008.
It was India's third defeat by an innings margin at home, all of those coming against South Africa.
The South Africans now need to just draw the second and final Test beginning in Kolkata on February 14 to reclaim their top ranking from India.
The emphatic win was set up by Hashim Amla (253) and Jacques Kallis (173) who helped South Africa post an imposing 558-6 declared before Steyn picked a career-best 7-51 to bowl out India for 233 in their first knock.
Steyn finished with a match haul of 10 wickets for 108 runs.
India's lone resistance in the second innings came from Tendulkar, who smashed 13 fours in his 179-ball knock on the way to his 46th Test century. Tendulkar, who hit two successive centuries during India's 2-0 away Test win against Bangladesh, defied the South African attack for close to four and a half hours before being dismissed in a bizarre fashion.
Tendulkar tried to sweep Harris but the ball bounced off his body, hit the elbow and fell on to the stumps. He watched the ball in disbelief before trudging back to the pavilion.
The batting ace shared 72 runs for the third wicket with Murali Vijay (32) and another 70 runs with Dhoni, who was caught at silly point after staying for 144 minutes at the wicket.
Resuming at 66-2 after being made to follow on, the hosts lost overnight batsman Vijay inside the first hour of play.
Debutant Subramaniam Badrinath (six) edged Parnell to Mark Boucher, who returned to keep wickets after missing the final session on Monday with a back strain.
After the dismissal of Dhoni for 25 in the post-lunch session, Harbhajan Singh hit a run-a-ball 39 with six fours and a six to provide some cheer to Indian fans before curtains were drawn on the innings.

  Soderling too good for Serra
AFP, Rotterdam

Robin Soderling shrugged off a slow start, firing 26 races as he lifted his game to earn a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Frenchman Florent Serra Monday and reach the second round of the Rotterdam Open.
The Swede showed no signs of the elbow complaint which knocked him out of the Australian Open first round. But the third seed admitted that he could have used a quicker start.
"The first match of the week is always the most difficult for me," said the 2009 Roland Garros finalist. "I could have had a better start. The victory was the first of the season for Soderling after losses in Chennai and Melbourne last month. Soderling cranked up his huge serve, which apart from his numerous aces also saw him break his opponent's serve three times. The world number eight finally sealed victory with an easy third set in a match that lasted an hour and three-quarters.
Soderling dropped the first set on an early break but turned the tables after fighting through the second and sweeping the third against his 60th-ranked opponent. German Florian Mayer got stuck into an opening-day marathon, requiring almost three hours to advance over Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (8/6).
The marathon took up most of the afternoon inside the Ahoy stadium in contrast to the day's opening contest when Italy's Andreas Seppi defeated Swiss qualifier Stephane Bohli 6-1, 7-5 in a shade less than 90 minutes.
The 63rd-ranked Mayer, who lost in the Australian Open third round to US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, admitted: "I had chances in the second set (match point) and led 3-0 in the third.
Mayer's win marked the third straight match that Tipsarevic had been beaten by a German. He went out in the Zagreb opening round to eventual finalist Michael Berrer and lost in the second round of the Australian open against Tommy Haas - who received an American passport a few weeks ago.
Tipsarevic has now lost three of four career matches in Rotterdam dating back
to 2007. Tipsarevic's countryman Novak Djokovic is the top seed as he strives to hang onto his new world number two ranking on the ATP list behind Roger Federer.

  Pele leads World Cup stars predicting African success
AFP, Paris

Football greats Pele and Franz Beckenbauer have both backed African sides to prosper at this summer's World Cup in South Africa, when the tournament visits the continent for the very first time.
Pele, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970, famously predicted that an African team would win the tournament before the year 2000.
His prediction proved wide of the mark but he expects the continent's leading lights to fare well on home soil.
"It's difficult to say what will happen this year, but maybe we will see a surprise," he told the FIFA website. "The African teams have tough groups but if they qualify for the knockout stage, there'll certainly be a surprise."
Beckenbauer captained hosts West Germany to the trophy in 1974 and he echoed Pele's optimistic assessment of the African sides' chances.
"I'm confident that an African team can reach the semi-finals," Beckenbauer said. "Ghana are strong, Ivory Coast are strong and the South Africans have home advantage."
Ivory Coast landed themselves in arguably the toughest group of all the African teams and must compete with pre-tournament favourites Brazil, Portugal and North Korea for a place in the knockout phase.
Ghana were drawn alongside Germany, Serbia and Australia in a tight Group D, while Cameroon will face the Netherlands, Denmark and Japan in Group E.
Roger Milla captured the hearts of football fans worldwide with his exploits for Cameroon at the 1990 World Cup in Italy and he views the decision to award this summer's tournament to South Africa as a victory in itself.
"In Africa, we are so happy to have received this World Cup-we could not believe we would get it," he said. "Every time I come to Zurich, I thank (FIFA) president (Sepp) Blatter for that."
Hosts South Africa meet Mexico in the tournament's opening game in Johannes-burg on June 11 and Mexi-can great Hugo Sanchez anticipates a memorable occasion.
"I'm very happy for Africa," said the former Real Madrid star. "To have South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup is not only very good for football, but also for the whole African continent."
Nigeria and Algeria are the other African sides to have qualified for the quadrennial showpiece.

   Warne slams Strauss over Bangladesh break
AFP, London

Australia great Shane Warne has accused Andrew Strauss of showing a "lack of respect for Test cricket" following the England captain's decision to opt out of the tour of Bangladesh.
Warne, speaking at Lord's here on Monday, said Strauss's absence for next month's two-Test series, when England are due to be captained by another opening batsman in Alastair Cook, would store up trouble for his side.
Strauss's place could be taken by Michael Carberry and after helping the 29-year-old revive his career when captain of Hampshire, leg-spin legend Warne said he would like nothing more than to see his former county colleague give the selectors a huge headache.
"I hope they are not taking Bangladesh too easy because they can be quite strong," Warne said.
"What if they (Bangla-desh) win the first Test? Does Strauss fly out for the second? I hope it's not the start of a trend. It's a lack of respect for Test cricket.
"It's disappointing that the captain of England decides to have a rest from a Test series, I can't comprehend that. Any time you represent your country it's special and I cannot understand how you can rest your captain.
"Maybe a one-day game because you play 40 or 50 a year but you only play eight Test matches a year. It's special.
"He's got a style of captaincy and a new skipper can't be Andrew Strauss, he'll do it his way. So suddenly the players think 'how are we going to play under Alastair Cook?'"
Strauss's decision has already provoked debate with many observers wondering why he needs to take a break during the Bangladesh tour given he is also set to miss the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April and March as he does not play in international cricket's shortest format.
Carberry, yet to make his Test debut, received a ringing endorsement from his old captain.
"I hope he gets the nod and peels off a couple of hundreds," Warne said.
"Then what are they going to do? Leave Andrew Strauss out? Michael is a wonderful player and I had a lot to do with him down at Hampshire where I was his captain for a few years. I saw a lot of good qualities and he just got better and better."
John Terry's sacking as captain of the England football team, following reports of an affair with the ex-girlfriend of a former team-mate, has once again thrown the spotlight onto sportsmen's private lives.
Warne, axed as Australia vice-captain in 2000 after an off-the-field scandal, was asked for his views on the Terry controversy on BBC radio prior to arriving at Lord's for the launch of the Royals 2020 franchise.
"The best thing about a captain is to be honest with your players, understand the players and get the best out of the group," he said.
Earlier, England fast bowler Stephen Harmison agreed Strauss, who led England in their recent 1-1 series draw away to South Africa, should tour Bangladesh.
"The captain should be there," the Durham quick told Sky Sports. "He was tired at the end of the South Africa tour but the other factor is he's England captain. Even if he got there two days before the first Test, the England captain should be there."

  Gazza arrested twice in two days
AFP, London

Former England star Paul Gascoigne has been arrested for the second time in two days, police confirmed Tuesday.
The ex-midfielder was taken into custody along with another man by police called to the Blackwell Grange Hotel in Darlington, northeast England, on Monday night.
Gascoigne was later released without charge after being questioned on suspicion of a public order offence.
The 42-year-old was previously arrested at the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, police said on Monday.
Gascoigne, who has struggled with alcoholism and depression, was arrested after officers were called to a disturbance at a takeaway restaurant in Leeming Bar, Yorkshire, northern England, on Sunday evening.
As well as his drink-related problems, Gascoigne has admitted heavy use of cocaine and has undergone treatment for bulimia and obsessive compulsive disorder. He was sectioned three times under the Mental Health Act
in 2008.

  England arrives on February 21
TBT report

England Cricket Team will arrive in Bangladesh on February 21 for three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and two Test matches against Bangladesh.
England Cricket Team will play three ODIs on Feb-ruary 28, March 2 and 5, while the two Test matches will be played on March 12-16 in Chittagong and March 20-24 in Dhaka between England and Bangladesh.
One-Day squad: Alastair Cook (Captain), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan, Matthew Prior (Wicketkeeper), Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Ryan Sidebottom, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright.
Test squad: Alastair Cook (Captain), Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Michael Carberry, Paul Collingwood, Steven Davies, Graham Onions, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Prior (Wicketkeeper), Ajmal Shahzad, Ryan Sidebo-ttom, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright.

  Madhukar, Soumyadeep win golds in table tennis
TBT report

Madhukar Suhash Patekar of India and Soumyadeep Roy win women's and men's singles gold medal respectively in the table tennis competitions of the 11th South Asian Games on Tuesday.
Madhukar defeated the Indian national champion Shamini Kumar 4-2 at Dhaka Wooden Floor Gymnasium in the women's singles final to win gold.
Later, Soumyadeep Roy took the men's singles gold when he defeated Amalraj Anthony 4-2 in the other all-Indian final at the same venue.
India maintained its overwhelming domination in the South Asian Table Tennis competition winning the all-men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles - medals of the event.

  Drogba unwilling to relinquish top spot
AFP, London

Didier Drogba sent Chelsea back to the top of the Premier League by shooting down Arsenal and the Ivory Coast hitman is determined they will still be there after today's trip to Everton.
Drogba scored both his side's goals in Sunday's 2-0 win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
That gave Carlo Ancelotti's side a two-point advantage over Manchester United, who travel to Aston Villa on the same night.
A point at Goodison Park is no disgrace for any side but Drogba knows it will not be good enough to remain at the summit if United win at Villa Park.
He said: "There is always pressure, that's part of the game, and that's why we get excited about big matches like this.
"We are top of the league again and Manchester United are going to have to fight all the way to the title.
"Now we have to go to Everton and win there if we want to stay top of the League and win this race against Manchester United."
The Everton supporters are likely to barrack Chelsea captain John Terry in the wake of the allegations about his private life that saw him stripped of the England captain's armband last week.
Terry was given a hero's reception by the Chelsea fans during the win over Arsenal but, provided he recovers from a dead leg in time, he will be stepping into a much more hostile environment on Wednesday evening.
Drogba, though, has no doubts about his team-mate's ability to cope.
"No matter what's happening outside of football, on the pitch he is a great player and he is doing everything he can," Drogba said. "He is our captain, a great captain, and we owe him." Michael Ballack meanwhile has underlined the extent to which Drogba's return from the African Nations Cup has boosted confidence in the Chelsea camp.
"Didier has unbelievable physical strength, but he has great technique, is a great free-kick taker and has the nose of a striker. He has a lot of qualities and not a lot of players are like this.
"But we have a lot of big characters and this is why we have a good team.
"It is really great to play in a team like this. Everybody fights for everybody - there is a good spirit and experience in the team.
"We have played for a few years together and have a lot of personal qualities in the players.
"Even if you don't play a fantastic game yourself, we have players who can decide games by one action."
Leighton Baines believes Everton can use the disappointment of a weekend derby loss to Liverpool to get a result against the league leaders.
The left-back is confident this can be achieved even without influential duo Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar, who are injured and suspended respectively, especially as playmaker Mikel Arteta is available again.
He said: "We are very strong at home and feel confident we can beat anyone at Goodison. There have been a few games against Chelsea when we've played well and should have beaten them.

  Age no barrier to evergreen Jimenez
AFP, Dubai

The smell of cigar smoke in the No-Smoking press room at the end of the Dubai Desert Classic told its own story-Miguel Angel Jimenez was back in the winner's circle at the ripe old age of 46.
The colourful Spaniard had just defeated European No.1 Lee Westwood in a drama-packed, three-hole playoff to seal one of the biggest wins of his career and send out a clear signal that he is still a force to be reckoned with.
It was his 16th win on the European Tour and remarkably a record nine of these have come since he turned 40. It's all a long way since he took up golf at the late age of 15 back home in Malaga on the Costa del Sol, inspired by the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle when he was caddying at the 1979 Spanish Open.
It was hard going at first but with an iron will he slowly but surely established himself during the 1990s at a time when his heroes were all starting to fade.
Now he is a veteran of the tour and that is a position he relishes. "When I started it's Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Berhnard Langer, Woosie, Faldo-all of these top players and they are from the top of the wave and big explosion and you get there, oh my idols," said Jimenez in his best broken English.
"You play for a time with them, having fun with them and then I saw Darren Clarke coming in, Westwood coming in and Thomas Bjorn-all of these guys. "It's going to be two, three, four more years on the main tour, five years, I don't know but of course I'm going to enjoy myself of this new experience. This is wonderful."
The enjoyment will certainly be shared by the golfing galleries worldwide who have warmed to the Spaniard and his unique appeal.
In contrast to the lean and mean demeanour of the latest wave of young golfers, Jimenez cuts a distinctive figure with his pot belly, double chin and frizzled pony tail that has been likened to a ferret darting up the back of his baseball cap.

  Ambani group denies bid for Liverpool
AFP, New Delhi

India's wealthiest man Mukesh Ambani denied Tuesday a British newspaper report that he was in a race to take over Liverpool football club.
But another Indian businessman reportedly in the running for the Merseyside club appeared more circumspect.
The Times of London reported that Ambani, the world's seventh-richest man, was one of two tycoons from the subcontinent competing to purchase a stake in Liverpool.
The paper said Ambani's Reliance Industries and Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy had each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool's 237 million pound (370 million dollar) debts in return for a 51 percent stake in the club.
"There is no truth to the report. We deny it completely," Reliance spokeswoman Sudeep Purkayastha told AFP.
Ambani is worth 19.5 billion dollars from his investment in Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals giant, according to Forbes business magazine.
In 2008, Ambani created the Mumbai Indians, one of the eight teams in cricket's Indian Premier League (IPL). The newspaper said Roy's interest in Liverpool appeared "more serious". His Sahara conglomerate said it could neither confirm nor deny that a bid was in the offing.
"We are presently not in a position to comment," Sahara spokesman Abhijit Sarkar told AFP. Sahara has been linked with ownership of one of the next IPL franchises, possibly to be based in the northern Indian city of Lucknow, where the group is headquartered.