FRIday, FEBRUARY 12, 2010 magh 30, 1416, SAFAR 26, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

Opposition members return to parliament, stage walkout
BSS, Sangsad Bhaban

The Oppositions, which joined the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) session on Thursday after an uninterrupted absence of 64 working days, staged a walkout from the House when general discussion on thanks giving motion on President's speech was in progress.
The oppositions demanded the floor on a point of order immediately after conclusion of a statement given by Home Minister Advocate Shahara Kahtoon in the House under Rule 300 on the recent Shibir Rampage at Rajshahi University Campus.
Speaker Abdul Hamid Advocate told them that there was no scope to give them the floor on point of order after a statement of a minister under Rule 300. The speaker, however, assured them that they would be given scope later to ventilate their views.
At the same time, the speaker gave the floor to treasury bench member Moslem Uddin to take part in the general discussion on thanks giving motion on President's address to the JS. But the opposition members created a pandemonium inside the House denouncing the ruling of the Speaker.
At this stage, the opposition members led by Leader of the Oppositions Begum Khaleda Zia walked out of the House.
Later at a press briefing at the JS Media Center, BNP Standing Committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed said they joined the JS on greater interest of the country and the people.
"The home minister in her statement under Rule 300 made many irreverent remarks," he alleged saying, "we have wanted the floor on a point of order for demanding expunge of such impertinent statements. But we did not get this opportunity from the chair," he claimed.
Barrister Moudud said that there are provisions for remarks after making a statement by any minister under Rule 300. There is no such specific provision in the rules of business that nobody could be allowed to make any remark after a statement given by any minister under Rule 300," he said.
However, replying to a question Barrister Moudud said, " We have come to join the JS session. We have walked out of the House but have not boycott the parliament", he added.
BNP leaders including chief whip of the opposition Joynal Abdin Farooque, fromer Speaker Barrsiter Mohammad Jmair Uddin Sircar and Salahuddin Kader Chowdhury, Jamaat leader Shamdul Islam and BJP leader Barrister Andalib Rahman Parth were present.

 Hasina, Abbas hold talks on matters of mutual interest
Palestinian President makes stopover in Dhaka

UNB, Dhaka

On his whirlwind world tour, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday made a stopover for an hour at Zia International Airport where he and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had a discussion on matters of mutual interest. President Abbas arrived by a special aircraft at the VVIP tarmac at 3PM on the trek of his Asia trip to Japan and South Korea. Sheikh Hasina received him at the VVIP lounge.
Hasina and Abbas had a 30-minute meeting from 3:20pm, amid latest developments in the Palestinian's protracted struggles for an independent state ending Israeli occupation of Arab lands. The Palestinian President apprised the Prime Minister of the outcome of his visit to Japan and Korea.
Prime Minister Hasina told the Palestinian leader that Bangladesh always stood beside the Palestinian people and supported the legitimate cause of Palestine.
"Bangladesh would continue to support establishment of peace in Palestine as Bangladesh believes in peace and harmony across the world," she said during the short spell of summit talks.
Both the leaders recalled the great contribution of the late Palestine leader Yasser Arafat toward establishing Palestine as a state and peace in the Middle East.
The Prime Minister presented the visiting president some paintings portraying a boat and the greenery in the landscape of Bangladesh. President Abbas also presented Sheikh Hasina several paintings of Jerusalem City surrounding the holy Al Aksa Mosque. President Abbas left Dhaka at 4pm for Dubai on way back home from his flying visit to the Asian countries.
Prime Minister Hasina accompanied him up to the stair of the aircraft and saw him off. Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin and the Palestinian Ambassador in Bangladesh were present.

 RU BCL worker killing
Accused Shibir activist killed, Jamaat leader held

UNB, Chapainawabganj

A Shibir worker sued in the case of Rajshahi University Chhatra League activist killing was gunned down at Chaitanyapur village in Shibganj upazila early Thursday amid a massive hunt for the fugitives.
Islami Chhatra Shibir claimed Shahin, 25, a final-year student of Accounting of Rajshahi University College and resident of Meherchandi near the RU campus, was killed during a "police-RAB joint raid" on a house at Chaitanyapur.
Police said they heard a gunshot and found the bullet-hit body of Shahin in a room when they entered the house on information that fugitive Shibir men were hiding inside.
Police Super Nazrul Hossain said a police team raided the house of Mofizul Islam at about 2am on a tip-off that some accused of RU violence were hiding in the house.
"But, when they approached the house, they heard a sound of bullet," said the SP, to clear the confusion over the death of one over 500 suspects sued in two cases filed with Rajshahi's Motihar police station in connection with the killing of BCL worker Faruk and exploding cocktail bombs during Monday night's RU rioting.
Later, the law-enforcers recovered the bullet-hit body of Shahin from the house while another 3-4 unidentified Shibirites managed to flee the scene, police said.
The cops arrested Shibir leader Mahfuz, son of Mofizul Islam and friend of Shahin, in connection with his friend's death.
However, Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student front of Jamaat-e-Islami, claimed that Shahin was "killed in firing" by the law-enforcers.
District Chhatra Shibir general secretary Aziz Mahmud claimed that Shahin came to visit the house of his friend, Mahfuz.
"Shahin was killed in the firing by police and Rapid Action Battalion during a joint drive on Wednesday night," he said. The SP refuted the allegation.
BSS adds: Police arrested Ataur Rahman, city unit Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, here Thursday morning in connection with RU violent incident killing a BCL worker and injuring scores others. Jashim Uddin, officer- in-charge of Boalia Model Police Station, told BSS that Ataur was arrested in front of the city's Loknath School at around 10:30 am on charges of attacks and rampage on the university campus and instigating the killing of Faruk Hossain.
Faruk Hossain was killed and scores others were injured in fierce clashes between workers of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Islami Chhatra Shibir in the early hours of Tuesday last. Officer-in-charge of Motihar Police Station Tofazzal Hossain said they had detained four Shibir leaders on Wednesday night without revealing their identity.

  Pakistan is my biggest worry: Joe Biden
AFP, Washington

US Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that his greatest concern was not Afghanistan, not Iraq, nor the Iranian nuclear crisis, but Pakistan.
"I think it's a big country. It has nuclear weapons that are able to be deployed. It has a real significant minority of radicalized population," Biden said in an interview with CNN.
"It is not a completely functional democracy in the sense we think about it, and so that's my greatest concern."President Barack Obama's administration has called on Pakistan to see greater urgency in the fight against extremism as the United States pours thousands more troops into Afghanistan to fight Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists.
US officials have long been concerned that elements in the Pakistani establishment support extremists, despite the nation's offensives against Taliban strongholds in border areas.
They have urged Pakistan to expand its offensive against militants to North Waziristan, a stronghold for Al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network, known for attacking US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
But Pakistan has chosen not to target so-called Afghan Taliban or some other groups so far and analysts say Islamabad has retained ties to some Islamist militants as a hedge to protect its influence in neighboring Afghanistan.
Earlier this month US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told a senate committee that "vulnerabilities exist" in Pakistan's nuclear safeguards, without elaborating.
The next day he rowed back, trying to be reassuring by saying that the Pakistani military knew there were would be "catastrophic consequences, primarily for Pakistan," if any of its nuclear bombs fell into the wrong hands.

   Ward No 70 councilor murder
BNP’s half-day strike observed peacefully

UNB, Dhaka

A half-day strike called by opposition BNP at the city's ward no 70 protesting the killing of DCC councilor Haji Ahammad Hossian was observed peacefully Thursday.
As part of a 3-day programme protesting Ahammad's killing, the BNP called the strike, which is its first as opposition after Awami Legaue-led grand alliance assumed power in January 2009 following a landslide victory in the December 29 general elections.
On Tuesday night, Ahammad Hossain came under gun attack in his ward and succumbed to death in the city's Square Hospital the same night.
According to witnesses, shops, business establishments and educational institutions were closed in the areas under ward number 70 that include Alu Bazar, Banghsal, Siddiq Bazar, Nazira Bazar North-South road, Suritola, Fulbaria and part of Nawabpur road during the strike hours.
Leaders and workers of BNP and its front and associate organizations brought out processions in support of the strike at the North-South road and in some other areas.
The party leaders demanded immediate fair investigation and trial of the killing Ahammad Hossain. Otherwise, they threatened to launch a tough movement.
Meanwhile, a TBT report says: BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain has said the countrymen under the leadership of the party are taking preparations to go for movement as the government is engaged in doing misdeeds in the country.
He said this while addressing a protest rally in front of the party's Nayapaltan central office yesterday. The rally was organised by Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal protesting the killing of Ahamad Hossain councilor of Dhaka City Corporation.
Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said if the government does not give up its politics of vendetta, the countrymen under the leadership of BNP will go for countrywide movement.
He said there is no ground under the feet of this government and thus, it is trying to impose its own responsibilities on other’s shoulders.
The countrymen is being victimised by enormous killing spree, tender and admission manipulation business. But the Home Minister is claiming that the law and order situation is under control and better than the any tenure of previous government.
As part of the three-day-long protest programmes, the leaders and activists of the party observed a half-day strike in the old part of the Dhaka City Corporation Ward No. 70.

   SSC examinations begin
UNB, Dhaka

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations 2010 began today (Thursday) across the country under strict measures against any trouble or copying in the important public exam.
A total of 12,06,019 examinees from 26,192 educational institutions are appearing at this year's examination under 10 education boards, including one technical and one madrassah boards.
Of the total examinees, about 6,27,772 are boys and 5,78,374 are girls.
About 9,16,180 students are taking part in the SSC examinations under the eight general Education Boards while 2,11,860 under Madra-ssah Education Board and 77,979 under the Technical Education Board. The examinations are being held in 2,044 centres, including 25 centres in Dhaka city.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid visited Government Laboratory High School in Dhanmondi and Azimpur Girls High School in the morning.
He said all preparations have been taken to hold the examinations in peaceful manner and free from copying across the country.

Back Page

PM calls for expediting research to boost agri-production
BSS, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday called upon the agricultural scientists to expedite research to boost agricultural production aiming at ensuring food security keeping in mind the country's huge population.
"We have to expedite our research so that we can produce more food in our limited farm lands as Bangladesh is losing agricultural lands due to population boom and natural disaster every year," she said.
The Prime Minister was addressing the inaugural session of a two-day 4th National Convention of Krishibid Insti-tution, Bangladesh at the institution premises in the capital Thursday morning.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh would be able to feed its people if it can produce adequate foods in the country's limited farmland. In this context, she asked the scientists to innovate more salinity, draughts and flood tolerance varieties to boost rice production.
"Not only that we have to increase our production so that we can export our rice after meeting our domestic demands," she added. The Prime Minister said her government would provide all out support including offering various incentives to the researchers to conduct research in innovating new varieties of rice that could help increase production of food.
Mentioning success of her previous government (1996-2001) in agriculture sector, Sheikh Hasina said that her government in 98- 99 fiscal has created a new record in the country's food production by turning Bangladesh into a food sufficient country. Referring to global climate change, the Prime Minister asked all concerned including the agriculturists to play due role in protecting environment and bio-diversity.
In this context, she stressed on reducing use of chemical fertilizer in farmland and increase use of organic fertilizer to protect fertility of croplands. Besides, she called upon all to take environment-friendly measurers in pest management.

   Dhaka, Delhi delegations agreed on dredging Ichhamoti river

BSS, Jessore

The delegations of Bangladesh and India have agreed in principal at a meeting to dredging the border river 'Ichhamoti' after surveying it for gaining navigability to save the people of Bangladesh and India from floods.
The delegations also agreed that the dredging would start immediately from zero line after carrying out detail survey following the International Border Law.
The meeting was held at Bongaon (India) Sub Div-isional Office on Wednesday, Khulna Divisional office of Bangladesh Water Devel-opment Board sources said.
The five-member Bang-ladesh delegation was led by superintendent Eng-ineer Abdul Majid Mollah while Indian delegation was led by Chief Engineer Director and Waterways SK Chotrophady.
The Water Development Board sources said Ban-gladesh and India had been carrying out trade and business decades ago before the Ichhamoti river lost its navigability.
After drying up of the Ichhamoti, the bordering area of Bangladesh got submerged by water from India during the rainy season.
Massive areas including Bangaon sub-division of India and Sharsa and Kolaroa upazilas of Bangla-desh had been submerged by waters during the devastating flood in 2000.
Both the delegations have agreed and underlined the importance of immediate dredging of the Ichhamoti river to save the people of both the countries from the floods.

   Plants to be set up to add 8,851 mw power to national grid by 2015: Enamul

BSS, Sangsad Bhaban

The government has taken initiatives to set up several power plants in the country which would help include additional electricity of 8,851 megawatts (MWs) to the national grid by 2015.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Reso-urces Mohammad Enamul Haque on Thursday said this in the Jatiya Sangsad while replying to a query of women lawmaker Begum Meher Afroz Chumki.
He said 3,462 MW power would be added to the national grid by 2014 as a plant for generating 667 MW power would be set up by March this year. Plants for generating 900 MW would be completed by June 2012 and 1,895 MW by June 2014.
The State Minister said considering the growing gas crisis in the country, the government has taken up a new plan to raise power production by setting up a 530 MW rental power plant under the private sector in the first phase by 2010 and another 820 MW- capacity peak power plant under the public sector by June, 2011, he said.
Plans have also been taken to set up Bibiana 300-450 MW combined cycle (2nd unit), Meghnaghat 300-450 MW combined cycle (2nd unit) duel fuel, Bhola 150-225 MW combined cycle (2nd unit) and two 100 MW plants at Savar and Kaliakoir at Gazipur, expected to be completed by 2012 and 2013, he said.
The government has plans to set up imported coal-based power plants at Chittagong, Khulnaa under the Public Private Partn-ership (PPP) for generating 2000 MW to 2600 MW electricity by 2014-15, Enamul Haque said.
Plans were also taken to set up 100 MW wind-based plants at Anwara in Chittagong and four solar-based power plants of capacity 9 MW to 14 MW each at four regions of the country, which are expected to start generation of power by 2011, he added.

   WASA, Denmark sign contract for funding big water-treatment plant

UNB, Dhaka

Denmark will provide a loan amounting to 84.19 million EURO for a new 3-year project as support for the construction of a large water-treatment plant at Saidabad with a production capacity of 225.000 cubic metre per day.
A civil-works contract to this effect was signed Thursday at Dhaka WASA building by Engr. Taqsem A. Khan, Managing Director, and Ole Steen Christensen, Senior Vice-President, MT Højgaard, Denmark.
Eng. Taqsem A. Khan said, "The project is expected to augment significantly the supply of drinking water to a large part of the capital."
The project will contribute to the improvement of public health and create better conditions for economic growth in Dhaka, where water shortage is a perennial problem, as is power shortfall. The project is financed by mixed credits from Denmark and is part of the partnership agreement between the Bangladesh government and a lineup of five main development partners, which provide assistance to urban water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh.
Danish Ambassador Einar H. Jensen said, "The project is focused largely on improving the water production, but we also believe that the ongoing performance in terms of institutional development, economic management and leakage control are equally important for ensuring long-term and sustainable water service delivery in the city."
A release from the Danish Embassy said the project will be implemented by Dhaka WASA and financed by an interest-free loan. Design, construction and operation will be done by MT Højgaard and Degremont JV and civil-works supervision will be undertaken by the consulting company, Grontmij-Carl Bro.

    Jamaat demands release of its arrested leader, Shibir men
UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Thursday demanded unconditional release of its leader Ataur Rahman and the Chhatra Shibir activists arrested in connection with Monday night's killing on the Rajshahi University campus.
"We had earlier demanded the government form a judicial probe body to look into all the student killings, not only the recent RU one, to restore academic atmosphere. But, the government is maintaining a lopsided policy and reluctant about our demand," Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid told a press conference in the city.
Denouncing the arrest of Ataur Rahman, Mujahid said he is not only a popular leader in Rajshahi but also in north Bengal. "Police arrested him illegally as he was not involved in the RU violence." Criticizing State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku for his statement on the RU incident, Mujahid said the arrest of Ataur Rahman followed the State Minister's Wednesday's remarks that 'Jamaat-Shibir would be eliminated from Rajshahi by demolishing their dens.
The Jamaat leader blamed police for killing Shibir activist Hifizur Rahman Shahin, also a student of Rajshahi Government College, at Dainagar union in Chapainawabganj Wedn-esday night. "Police shoot Shahin to death in his sleep at his friend Mahfuz's house. This is an inhuman act. Now we are scared," he said.
He sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's intervention to stop repression on Jamaat-Shibir activists. Mujahid also announced a two-day countrywide demonstration programmme in protest against "repressive acts of the government" on its leaders and workers. The demonstration programme will be held in the country' s six cities on Friday (Feb 12) while at district levels on Saturday (Feb 13). Senior Jamaat leaders Makbul Ahmad, Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayedee, Muhammad Quamruzzaman, ATM Azharul Islam and Md Rafiqul Islam Khan were, among others, present at the press conference.

    Jamuna Future Park
SC clears Rajuk way for dismantling unauthorized top part

UNB, Dhaka

The apex court Thursday cleared Rajuk way for dismantling the unauthorized top part of the magnificent Jamuna Future Park shopping-complex in the capital, which already stands disfigured following the initial demolition drive.
In its order the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court endorsed the High Court verdict justifying the Rajuk notice that had asked Jamuna Builders to dismantle the top four floors of the impressive shopping-complex built without approval.
A six-member Appellate Division bench passed the order, dismissing the Jamuna Builders' plea for stay on operation of the High Court verdict.
Emerging from the court, AFM Mesbahuddin, the counsel for Rajdhani Unn-ayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), told reporters that the apex court order cleared the way for dismantling the unauthorized part of the Jamuna Future Park, built at a cost of hundreds of crores of taka.
On February 3, the High Court summarily rejected a writ petition filed by Jamuna Builders that challenged the legitimacy of the Rajuk notice served on January 13 asking the owners to pull down within seven days the top four floors of its shopping-complex built beyond the approved reach. Barrister Rafique-ul Huq appeared for Jamuna Builders Ltd while Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam stood for the government.

    Judges transferred
UNB, Dhaka

A number of district judges and joint district judges have been transferred and given new posting in a latest reshuffle in the lower courts.
The transfer and new posting were made by the government in consultation of the Supreme Court, said a notification of the Law Ministry.
Chairman of Chittagong 2nd labour court Abdul Hakim Mondal has been appointed Jamalpur District and Sessions Judge, Rang-amati District and Sessions Judge Dudu Mia Sarker made Secretary of Law Commission, Bandar-ban Dis-trict and Sessions Judge Rishikesh Saha transferred to Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal No. 1, Jamalpur District and Sessions Judge Dipraman Sarker transferred to Faridpur.
Law Commission Secre-tary (district judge) AFM Aminul Islam has been appointed special judge of Dhaka Special Judge Court No. 1, Mohammad Shafiur Rahman (district judge) attached to Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry made Joypurhat District and Sessions Judge, special judge of Noakhali Moha-mmad Kawser appointed Bandarban District and Sessions Judge and Aftab Uddin Ahmed (district judge) attached to Law Ministry made chairman of Chitta-gong 2nd labour court.
Of the joint district judges and equivalent officials, additional chief judicial magistrate of Kurigram Moham-mad Mohsinul Haque has been appointed Joint Judge of Dhaka District, joint district judge of Rajbari Mohammad Rafijul Islam made joint district judge of Khulna, joint metr-opolitan sessions judge of Dhaka Mohammad Motiur Rahman made joint district judge of Sirajganj and joint district judge of Sirajganj Mustaq Ahmed Sahdani made joint district judge of Naogaon.

Editorial

Retaining position of jute

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the government is implementing various plans for preserving the position of Bangladeshi jute goods in the global market, retaining existing markets and exploring new markets. Replying to a query in the Parliament on Wednesday she said the market for Bangladeshi jute goods is expanded to over 100 countries and the demand for Bangladeshi jute items has increased globally with rise in awareness of using natural tissue made products. The Prime Minister said about three crores of people are directly and indirectly dependent on jute sector as 35 lakh farmers are engaged in growing jute, two lakh working in jute factories, one lakh traders engaged in jute trade, and a large number of workforce in transportation and other services. The sector, 100 percent dependent on agricultural raw materials, contribute over Taka 2,000 crore annually to the country's export earnings, she said. "In order to raise employment, the government has taken initiatives for reopening closed Doulatpur Jute Mills at Khulna and Kowmi Jute Mills at Sirajganj - two public jute mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC)," she said adding that these units would create employment for 4,220 workers and produce 21,000 tonnes of jute goods annually.
The demand of jute in the international market is high now. In fact, the good price of jute at home and growing demand for jute and jute goods abroad have brightened the prospect of the return of the golden age of jute, which was once termed golden fibre. In the past jute was the principal foreign exchange earner for the country. With the passing of time, importance and glory of jute have faded and farmers' interest in cultivation of jute declined . Now, in the changed global and domestic situation, time has come to revitalise the jute sector.
Raw jute production this year is estimated at 55 -60 lakh bales. 32-33 lakh bales of jute are needed to run the jute mills while the rest are exported to different countries including India, Pakistan and China. It may be pointed out here that the country used to produce huge quantity of jute every year as it was the main cash crop. During the Pakistan period 90 per cent of export earnings used to come from jute export. In 1952-53 jute production was estimated at one crore bales in then East Pakistan which used to produce about 75 per cent of total raw jute in the world. Even after the independence of Bangladesh jute production stood at 75 lakh bales, but later area under jute cultivation shrunk and production declined due to different reasons including anomalies in the jute sector after nationalisation of the jute mills. Later, a major damage was done to jute by arrival of synthetic fibres. Now, the trend of using synthetics has weakened and the popularity of environment-friendly jute has enhanced globally. In fact after a long time these is good opportunities before us to regain the lost glory of jute. And it is a good news that the government is making efforts to preserve the pivotal position of jute locally and internationally. In this regard, the government decision to reopen the closed jute mills for generating employment and boosting production deserves appreciation.

  Admission trade

The government is apparently unable to stop the admission trade in the colleges of the country. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Wednesday admitted to journalists that despite different initiatives it is not being possible to stop the admission trade. He said, in some colleges online admission system has been introduced to stop admission trade. He also indicated that this process would be expanded in future. This was the first acknowledgement by a minister of the government's failure to check admission to colleges in irregular way.
In the last academic session illegal admission of students took place in five government colleges. To stop this practice National University authorities centrally prepared merit list of students for admission. As a result the scope for admission beyond the merit list was closed. But admission through illegal way continues under duress. The pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League has allegedly been engaged in admission trade in educational institutions all over the country. There is widespread allegation that a section of BCL activists are realizing money from the admission seekers in return for their entry into colleges under 'BCL quota'.
According to media reports, as the authorities refused to admit any student under 'BCL quota', about 500 students who sat for admission test in Satkhira City College Saturday, were thrown out by BCL activists. But what has happened in Satkhira is not an isolated incident.It is alleged that a section of BCL activists have been forcing the authorities of some colleges to stop admission to bachelor's courses in a bid to get some students admitted in the name of their 'special quota.' In this process, the BCL is reported to have disrupted admission process at Government Titumir College, Government Bangla College, Eden College, Badrunnesa College, Kabi Nazrul Government College and Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College in the city and MM College in Jessore and BL College in Khulna.
The minister's admission reveals the helplessness of the government before some unruly BCL activists. There is no credit in it. The government must be firm and act strongly to stop the admission trade and all other irregularities in education sector and elsewhere. This is the need of the hour.

Analysis

Obama’s potential visit to Bangladesh

He may visit Bangladesh sometime towards the end of this year or early next year while he will be on a trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

Ripan kumar Biswas

Presence of President Obama's highest-ranking official Judith A McHale, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in Dhaka on February 6-8 following Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick S. Moon's visit in last January, shows his acute interests in Bangladesh.
And it is heartening to learn through a recent press report that he may visit Bangladesh sometime towards the end of this year or early next year while he will be on a trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
So far no dates have been nailed down yet, but US Defense Secretary Robert Gates's recent visit to New Delhi, Islamabad, and Kabul in last January, boost the potential visit of President Obama to South Asia during the two years of his presidency. Twenty two years after President Carter's visit, President Bill Clinton visited India in March 2000, in the last year of his second term. His successor President George W Bush made it to New Delhi in 2006, more than two years into his second term. While President George W Bush cancelled a planned visit to Bangladesh, Bill Clinton had visited the nation on a one-day trip in March 2000 during Sheikh Hasina's last rule.
While appreciating Bangladesh for its immense contributions to the UN Peace Keeping Operations (UNPKOs) saying the country has enhanced and glorified its image and prestige along with the United Nations by contributing its troops to the UNPKOs aiming at restoration of peace in different conflict-ridden countries, Obama accepted an invitation by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit Bangladesh at a working dinner in New York on September 23, 2009. If the US President's expected visit to Bangladesh will take place into reality, Bangladesh would be more benefitted from Obama's policies and initiatives.
Democratic elections in 1991 ended two decades of authoritarian rule in Dhaka. But political violence has become part of the political landscape in Bangladesh. While economic progress has been made, it has always been impaired by rivalry between the two largest political parties. At the political juncture in Bangladesh during the last caretaker government, millions of people in the country had been inspired by President Obama while he won the election on November 4, 2008. Everyone got goose bumps all over again listening to his speech. "Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions-that time has surely passed." As people of Bangladesh had repeated experience of corruption in politics or volatile political practices, they were delighted while he said, "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history." Again people had been inspired by his first State of the Union Address on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 while he said that the Americans who lend hands to their neighbors and give back to their country, aren't Republican or Democrat, they are Americans.
While concentrated wealth, fear of terrorism, theocracy, corruption in government and politics, arrogant and ignorant executives, and violation of civil liberties and human rights always put the country in many difficulties, Obama's political agendas are well respected in Bangladesh where political sovereignty is retained by the people.
On the other hand, the United States has long-standing close relations with Bangladesh and has viewed Bangladesh as a moderate voice in the Islamic world. Major U.S. interests in Bangladesh include political stability and democratization; continuation of economic reform and market-opening policies; social and economic development; environmental issues; counterterrorism; and improvement of the human rights situation. Bangladesh's status as a secular and moderate state, as well as its democratic process, has been jeopardized repeatedly as a result of the approach taken by the two main political parties.
Formerly known as East Pakistan, and before that as the East Bengal region of British India, Bangladesh gained its independence from Pakistan following Liberation war in December 1971.Though Bangladesh is strategically important for South Asia, but US interest in Bangladesh is not strategic. Bangladesh since its inception has forged a relationship of friendship and cooperation with China. It is Washington's interest not to allow Bangladesh so close to the Indian Ocean, where US has vital strategic interests, to be totally under either the Soviet sphere of influence of that of China. In recent development, it has been a tumultuous for US-China relations, as disputes over arms sells to Taiwan, the future visit of the Dali Lama to the US, and trade and currency accusations between the two nations are led to tense talk between the two nations. Washington wants a stable Bangladesh and any power vacuum in Bangladesh created by political and economic chaos resulting in upsetting the status quo is not in its interest.
Islam has served as a legitimizing political force in Bangladesh. The roughly even split in support for the Awami League (the present ruling party) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has given small Islamist parties, some of which have ties to violent Islamist radicals throughout the world, a disproportionate voice in Bangladesh's government and politics in recent years. Islamists support the imposition of Sharia law in Bangladesh. Accepting Credentials of newly appointed Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Akramul Qader on November 4, 2009, President Obama referred his Cairo speech and reiterated his desire to see a Muslim majority Bangladesh where economy is "robust", educational opportunities are in "abundance", international investments are in "plenty", and human rights are not compromised with "anything." A Washington deep concern lies not to see Bangladesh with increased influence by Islamist extremists.
Bangladesh is a recipient of significant international aid. It has received more than $30 billion from foreign donors since its independence in 1971. The State Department has requested a total of $88,790,000 in assistance for Bangladesh in the FY2008 budget request. U.S. is Bangladesh's No.1 customer and is the most important trading partner. The total bilateral trade in 2007 between Bangladesh and the United States was $ 4.3 billion of which 3.6 billion was exports from Bangladesh to the US and 0.6 billion was imports from the USA. US also happens to be the 2nd largest source of remittance to Bangladesh---total remittance inflow was 1.4 billion dollars in 2007/08. But Bangladesh is not a TIFA (Trade and Investment Agreement Framework) partner of US by which two nations can discuss economic issues of mutual interest. Still Bangladesh is fighting with duty free access to the U.S. for ready-made garments as the average duty rate on Bangladeshi exports to the USA is more than 15%, compared with the average duty rate of 0.3% for the exports from the EU 27 countries. Another important issues among President Obama's trade policies; "that is workers' rights" can be followed in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is seriously vulnerable to the effects of global climate change. While President Obama personally assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that the U.S. government would stand beside Bangladesh in its battle against the crucial climate change during the last Copenhagen climate change summit, the Obama administration has approved in principle the Hasina government's initiative for a South Asian forum against terrorism and Dhaka's bid to hold trial of "war criminals" who killed unarmed civilians during its freedom movement in 1971.
According to the New York Times, whether in Bangladesh or Queens in New York, Yunus is widely recognized wherever he goes. While according to Forbes magazine, DR, Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate for peace in 2006 and the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom of US, stands no. 6 among the 10 Most Influential Business Gurus in the world in 2009, Bangladesh government still couldn't able to make him an "Ambassador of goodwill" for the greater benefit of the country. President Obama is personally monitoring how relations stand between the Prof. Muhammed Yunus and the government of Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh pursues a moderate foreign policy that places heavy reliance on multinational diplomacy. The United States and Bangladesh have been friends for more than half a century. Government of Bangladesh should expedite diplomatic move involving Dr. Muhammed Yunus to make into reality of the potential tour of President Barack H. Obama to Bangladesh.


Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New YorkRipan.Biswas@yahoo.com

  Understanding the ‘Union Day’ of Burma

Had not Aung San promised political equality and autonomy to the Frontier Areas, the Union of Burma might have never been born.

Nehginpao Kipgen

February 12, 2010 is the 63rd anniversary of Burma's 'Union Day'. It was this day in 1947 when 23 representatives from the Shan states, the Kachin hills and the Chin hills, and Aung San, head of the interim Burmese government, signed an agreement in Panglong (in Shan state) to form the Union of Burma.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council, former name of military junta, changed the country name from 'Union of Burma' to 'Union of Myanmar' in 1989. However, the Burmese opposition and the Western nations still continue to use 'Burma' while the Eastern nations and the United Nations use 'Myanmar'.
The Panglong agreement was a turning point in the modern history of Burma. General Aung San, father of Aung San Suu Kyi, played a pivotal role in bringing together leaders of the Frontier Areas (ethnic nationalities) to the negotiating table. Thereafter, the 32-year old Aung San was assassinated on 19 July 1947.
Not only was the Union Day a precursor to Burma's independence from the yoke of British colonial rule in January 1948, but also the hallmark of ethno-political conflicts in the country. The significance of forming the Union Day was that Burma became a home to multi-ethnic nationalities.
When Aung San and his delegation went to London to negotiate Burma's independence, no delegates from the Frontier Areas were present. During the meeting, Clement Attlee, the British prime minister, insisted that Burma proper should not coerce leaders of the Frontier Areas to join the Union of Burma against their will.
Aung San, however, argued that it was the British who kept the peoples of Burma apart. Aung San was quoted in The Times (London) on 14 January 1947 as saying: "We can confidently assert here that so far as our knowledge of our country goes, there should be no insuperable difficulties in the way of a unified Burma provided all races are given full freedom and the opportunity to meet together and to work without the interference of outside interests."
In an attempt to allay the doubts and lingering fears of the British government regarding unequal treatments to the Frontier Areas in the future Union of Burma, Aung San assured the Frontier peoples in his unforgettable remark that: "If Burma receives one kyat, you will also get one kyat." Kyat is a Burmese currency.
After receiving assurance from Aung San, leaders of the Chin hills, Kachin hills and the Shan states agreed to cooperate with the interim Burmese government. The attending Frontier leaders believed that freedom will be more speedily achieved by immediate cooperation with the interim government.
The Shans, the Kachins and the Chins agreed to the formation of the Union of Burma in return for promises of full autonomy in internal administration and an equal share in the country's wealth. The Karens still believed that the British would grant them an independent state.
One most notable agreement of the Panglong conference was granting full autonomy to ethnic nationalities, which has not materialized until today. The agreement was basically for establishing a unified country, and was not aimed at putting an end to the traditional autonomy or self-rule of the Frontier Areas.
Failing to implement this agreement has increased mistrust and misunderstanding between the majority ethnic Burman-led central government and other ethnic nationalities. Autonomy has been a core demand for minorities since 1947, and continues to remain the fundamental issue.
The ongoing ethno-political conflicts, including armed confrontations, are largely the consequences of the failure to implement the Panglong agreement. As long as the minority concerns are not addressed, the conflicts in Burma are likely to remain even if democracy is restored.
Autonomy is a political solution which can serve the interests of the erstwhile Frontier Areas. However, the military junta sees it as something that would disintegrate the Union of Burma.
Political autonomy is not tantamount to secession. In other words, Burma's ethnic minorities are neither secessionists nor separatists. They believe that autonomy or self-determination would give them an opportunity to preserve their culture, language, and tradition.
The minorities occupy roughly two-thirds of the country's total land area, and constitutes over 30 percent of the population. They have long advocated for tripartite talks involving the military, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic nationalities, as endorsed by the United Nations since 1994.
Had not Aung San promised political equality and autonomy to the Frontier Areas, the Union of Burma might have never been born.
The Union of Burma/Myanmar can become a cohesive and vibrant society when the rights of all ethnic nationalities, regardless of the size of population, are treated equally. Each ethnic group must be given the right to practice and promote its own culture and literature, among others.
Any deliberate attempt by the military junta to annihilate any group of the multi-ethnic nationalities, militarily or culturally, is against the spirit of the Union Day. Despite the observance of its 63rd anniversary, the essence of the Union Day is still denied to Burma's ethnic minorities.


Nehginpao Kipgen is a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004) and general secretary of the U.S.-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum. com). He has written numerous analytical articles on the politics of Burma and Asia that have been widely published in five continents.

Viewpoints

Limits of Coercive Diplomacy

Two weeks ago, the Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupuma Rao telephoned her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir to invite him for talks to Delhi, without however indicating the scope of the proposed parleys.

Dr Maleeha Lodhi 

India's offer to restart foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan holds out the prospect of an end to the protracted diplomatic standoff between the two countries. But the immediate challenge is find a way to reconcile clashing visions of how the dialogue should be pursued.
The shift in Delhi's year long, no-talks posture has set the stage for renewed bilateral engagement. Whether this will be a step towards a return to the structured peace process that Pakistan advocates is an open question. Launched in 2004, the broad based talks that go by the name of the composite dialogue were suspended by Delhi in November 2008 in the wake of the Mumbai terrorist attack. Two weeks ago, the Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupuma Rao telephoned her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir to invite him for talks to Delhi, without however indicating the scope of the proposed parleys. Islamabad welcomed the talks offer but sought clarification about the terms of the engagement. This has since led to a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at reaching an agreement over the timing and agenda for the meeting.
The change in India's no-dialogue stance comes after 14 tense months which saw the peace process frozen and increased belligerence in Indian statements. While Indian generals enunciated provocative new military doctrines and its army conducted 'cold start' exercises on the border, its politicians frequently alluded to military action against Pakistan if another Mumbai-like attack was to occur.
Recent weeks also saw a heightening of border tensions with incidents of violation of the working boundary in the Lahore and Sialkot sectors as well as a reported rise in firing incidents across the Line of Control.
Against this backdrop the reversal in India's wont-talk position raises a number of questions. How much of this represents a real change of heart and how much is optics aimed at the international community? Is the shift tactical or substantive? Can the diplomatic space that has opened still be used to enlarge the dialogue process even if it is narrowly focused at the outset?
To answer these questions it would be useful to consider three sets of factors that may lie behind the shift in India's diplomatic posture. The first relates to the limits or failure of coercive diplomacy. In 2001-02, India had to reverse course after nearly a year long exercise in coercive diplomacy which followed a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament. This time too Delhi may have calculated that persisting with a similar approach (minus the military mobilisation but using other forms of intimidation) would not yield the concessions sought from Pakistan. Instead, this stance risked losing international sympathy and support as time wore on. The studied cool with which Pakistan responded to Delhi's imposition of a freeze on diplomatic relations also meant that it was able to thwart the Indian effort to use bilateral dialogue as a reward or quid pro quo. With the no-dialogue posture having run out of steam, Delhi may have decided to opt for 'measured diplomatic contact', as some Indian officials put it, in an effort to re-position itself and extricate its policy from an unsustainable and self-defeating mode.
The second factor behind Delhi's more emollient stance on talks is the behind-the-scenes role played by Washington, concerned that India-Pakistan tensions could de-rail its strategy to stabilise Afghanistan. American officials have in recent months been vigorously pressing for an easing of tensions and renewal of dialogue so that Pakistan can focus on fighting militancy on its western border.
The January visit to the region by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates reinforced these efforts even though they were overshadowed in Pakistan by the controversy triggered by his imprudent and gratuitous remarks about the limits of India's patience if another ?Mumbai occurred.
India's carefully calibrated 'opening' to Pakistan may well be designed to defuse international pressure especially at a time when Western officials see their Afghan project to have reached a critical juncture. American officials were quick to seize on the new development to stress that Washington had long been "encouraging such steps between India and Pakistan."
The third factor relates to Delhi's growing worries over the signals emanating from fast paced developments in Afghanistan especially the prospect of accommodation with the Taleban that has emerged in the wake of the London conference. The growing talk of Western exit strategies from Afghanistan has undoubtedly increased India's discomfiture with the changing regional scenario. Given the uncertainties unleashed by these developments and the possibility of Pakistan playing a central role in any Afghan endgame, Delhi's offer to end the bilateral impasse, may be a way to maintain diplomatic leverage in a shifting strategic landscape.
Be that as it may, the question raised by the impending thaw in India-Pakistan relations is whether agreement can be reached on a dialogue process that is able to reconcile the different priorities and concerns of the two sides. Pakistan has made it clear that it wants to see a return to the composite dialogue that was halted when the fifth round was underway in 2008.
But indications are that Delhi would prefer to keep a narrow focus and seek to recast the dialogue around the issue of terrorism. This might mean a protracted diplomatic dance as the two sides try to figure out a structure and agenda for sustained engagement. The resumption of any dialogue might be preferable to none, but then dialogue cannot be predicated around one side's agenda. If 'measured engagement' becomes a tactic to deflect attention from the real issues including Kashmir then Islamabad will be obliged to calibrate its response accordingly. Already, Pakistani officials have signalled that they are not prepared to forego substance for process.
In the past year - including during the Sharm-el-Sheikh encounter - Indian officials questioned the utility of the composite dialogue and indicated that future talks would have to be configured around the issue of terrorism. But this notion of a selected and fragmented dialogue will not serve the objective of durable peace. The broad gauge structure of Pakistan-India diplomatic engagement drawn up in 1997 and sustained for twelve years, enabled multi-track and multilayered talks that covered the entire gamut of issues and disputes which reflected the two countries' differing agendas and priorities.
The process may not have yielded spectacular breakthroughs but it helped to create a web of multiple interactions between various ministries enabling the two countries to develop a better understanding of the other's view across a range of issues. Discarding this agreed framework for an ad hoc approach that suits only one side will prove to be unworkable.
Ultimately, the fate of the future dialogue will depend on whether the two countries can address their divergences and identify and build on areas of convergence. The former will have to include Kashmir, nuclear-military issues and postures, and Afghanistan, while the latter could embrace trade, regional economic cooperation and common threats including terrorism. What will determine stable relations is building a habit of dialogue and finding ways to overcome the deep mutual mistrust. Otherwise the ongoing efforts at re-engagement will turn out to be another false start rather than a new beginning.

Maleeha Lodhi served as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States and the United Kingdom.

  Whose India is It Anyway?

Future belongs to the India of Rahul Gandhi, Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar, and not to the banana republic that parties like Sena want to make out of India.

Aijaz Zaka Syed   

Just when you think outfits like Shiv Sena couldn't get any more disingenuous and meaner, they come up with more of the same. After all, for nearly five decades Sena has done nothing but spewed sweetness and light and you would think it had squeezed the last drops of political mileage out of spreading all round cheer and goodness.
This time around though, it seems the Sena and its rabble-rousing chief Bal Thackeray have finally swallowed more than they could chew. All these years, the Sena has fed and grown on divisive and subversive politics.
From targeting poor south Indians or the Madrasis as they are contemptuously called to attacking Muslims as 'traitors and Pakistani agents', Shiv Sena has swelled and expanded its ranks the way all such outfits do - by preying and playing on people's deepest insecurities and complexes.
Of late, north Indian 'bhayyas' or people from the Hindi heartland of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have been the target of Sena's campaign.
From bashing up the north Indian youths appearing for job interviews and tests in Mumbai to attacking poor cabbies from small towns and villages working the city's crowded streets, Shiv Sena has not just terrorised the city but has held the whole of India hostage to its brute power.
A great deal has been said about Mumbai's infamous underworld and its stranglehold over the nation's financial and cultural capital. But indeed it is Shiv Sena - and now its other franchise headed by Bal Thackeray's nephew Raj Thackeray - that rules Mumbai's streets. For years, from Bollywood's most popular Khans to the powerful industrialists and billionaires, just about everybody who's somebody has been cowering in their pants and paying obeisance to the deity at Matoshri from time to time. No one could survive in Mumbai by getting on the wrong side ?of the Sena.
Ramgopal Verma captured it rather well in his dark and brooding blockbuster, Sarkar, even though one couldn't quite accept the redoubtable Amitabh Bachchan in Thackeray's avatar. Big B succeeds in conveying the quiet menace of his character in his measure style, even glamourising the legend of Thackeray in the process.
Lately, there have been increasing signs that Mumbai, one of the greatest and most vibrant cities, wants to move on. It is showing signs of revolt against the kind of venomous politics the Sena and its allies have been playing all these years.
This week, Mumbai and India sent a loud and clear message to the Thackerays, and everyone else who cared to pay attention, that they aren't prepared to take any more baloney in the name of Marathi people and the so-called son of the soil. Shiv Sena's tyranny is being challenged by Mumbai wallahs and ordinary Indians on two fronts: Its campaign against the so-called outsiders and its endless bashing of Muslims and Pakistan. It was this changing mood that may have emboldened and encouraged Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to defy the Sena toughies.
It was curiously uplifting to see Shah Rukh stiffen his spine and stand up to the terror tactics of the Thackerays. By refusing to eat his words criticising the exclusion of Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League matches, Shah Rukh may have made up for the moral spinelessness of the world's biggest film industry all these years.
The actor refused to give in and go down on his knees, as many before him repeatedly have, even when the Sena threatened to prevent the screening of his much awaited movie, My Name is Khan. (As I write this, there are reports of Sena vandalising cinemas across the state).
For his part, Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the nation's most celebrated political dynasty and probably future leader of the world's largest democracy, showed rare political and moral courage that has been lacking in the governing Congress for some time.
Rahul not just took on the Sena for its campaign against north Indians by declaring that every inch of India belongs to all Indians but he travelled to Mumbai to take the local train to Dadar, right into the heart of Sena territory. Like a simple, ordinary guy confronting neighbourhood bully in a Bollywood production, Rahul defied and vanquished the Sena in a manner not seen in years.
Am I being sentimental here? Maybe. Perhaps, it was a routine populist gesture - the kind that comes naturally to our politicians. But there was something quintessentially Gandhian about Rahul taking that trip in the face of threats and dire warnings and peacefully but resolutely confronting the folk who only speak and understand the language of violence and force.
This is the way to go. If India has to attain the heights of greatness that it aspires to and deserves to achieve, it can do so only by following in the footsteps of Gandhi and other visionaries of modern India. If India is respected and admired around the world, it's because of emulating that vision, not because of the hate-fuelled politics as practised by outfits like Shiv Sena, a party that has been repeatedly snubbed by the voters.
India wants to move on. In fact, it has already moved on from the poisoned temple-mosque politics of the 1980s and '90s. It is evident in the decline of parties like Shiv Sena, BJP and others. This may be why even BJP and its ideological parent RSS have criticised Thackeray, their ally and fellow traveller for years.
This may be bad news for the Hindutva alliance but it augurs well for India and its rich, diverse and pluralist society.
With the progressive decline of the United States, China and India are being seen around the world as the next superpower. While China's pace of growth is far more consistent, I believe it's India that is more qualified and deserves to be the next world leader. With its stable democratic institutions, genuinely independent judiciary and media and a healthy civil society, India is best prepared to take over the mantle of global leadership from America.
The US has come this far and enjoys the eminence of global leadership not because of its military or economic might but because of its democratic institutions and welcoming nature of its multicultural society. If America is where it finds itself today, it is because it has constantly welcomed dreamers and go-getters and enterprising, talented and hard working people from around the world.
It's a nation of immigrants and its doors have always remained open for everyone who wants a slice of American pie. It matters not where you come from or who you are. What matters is what you can bring to the table and how you can contribute. This is the secret of American dream.
If India has to be a world leader like America, it can do so only by preserving and promoting its all-welcoming, all-embracing culture and attitude, an India where everyone gets his or her due with dignity.
When Indians find themselves unwelcome in their own country in cities like Mumbai, how can this amazing country ever hope to touch the heights of greatness that it seeks to touch? Future belongs to the India of Rahul Gandhi, Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar, and not to the banana republic that parties like Sena want to make out of India.


Aijaz Zaka Syed is Opinion Editor?of Khaleej Times. Write to him at aijaz@khaleejtimes.com

  Peaceful resistance - serious threat to Israel

Since Israel controls the gates to the Palestinian territories - with the exception of Rafah on the Egyptian border - Israel decides who comes and goes.

Michael Jansen    

Israel's recent raids into Ramallah to arrest and deport foreign activists working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is part and parcel of a strategy to end peaceful Palestinian resistance against the occupation.
Having brutally crushed armed resistance and coopted the Palestinian Authority's police forces to provide "security" for Israel and its illegal West Bank colonies, Israel is determined to deny Palestinians all means of expression against the occupation and expropriation of their country.
Three hours before dawn last Sunday, an Israeli special forces unit broke down the door of a flat in Ramallah and arrested Ariadna Jove Marti of Spain and Bridgette Chapell of Australia for overstaying their visas. Israel's supreme court ordered their release on bail and the prosecution admitted that it was illegal for the immigration police to take custody of foreigners in Ramallah. But the women were ordered not to return to the Palestinian territories while their case is considered. They face deportation and blacklisting so they cannot return to the Palestinian territories. Israel has accused them of participating in "riots and other violence", although weekly protests against Israel's West Bank wall only turn violent when Israeli troops start firing tear gas and percussion bombs and, occasionally, live bullets at demonstrators.
On January 11, Czech citizen Eva Novakova, an ISM coordinator, became the first foreign activist to be detained in Ramallah and deported in such an operation. Raids into Ramallah, designated Area A, are violations of the Oslo Accords unless in response to a serious threat to Israel's security. Even "hot pursuit" is banned unless security related.
Israel had previously denied ISM members and affiliates entry at the international airport, sea ports, and the Jordan River crossings, thereby preventing them from aiding Palestinian peaceful resistance and civil disobedience efforts. Since Israel controls the gates to the Palestinian territories - with the exception of Rafah on the Egyptian border - Israel decides who comes and goes.
In January, Israel detained at the airport, and after a few days deported, Jared Malsin, a US citizen who had taken a holiday from his job in Bethlehem, where he worked as English language editor with the Palestinian Maan News Agency, which receives financial support from European countries. His girlfriend, Faith Rowald, a Lutheran church volunteer, was deported as well, for good measure.
Israel also uses its power as gatekeeper to the occupied Palestinian territories to prevent Palestinian activists from travelling abroad. The latest to be barred is East Jerusalemite Khalil Tufakji, an expert on Israel's colonisation activities and discriminatory housing policies. He heads the map-making department at the Arab Studies Society, founded by Faisal Husseini, and has, since 1992, worked with the Palestinian negotiating team on borders, settlements and confiscations of Palestinian property. Tufakji was targeted by no less a person than Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yeshai who claimed he could "harm the security of the state" if he leaves home.
In January, Muhammad Othman, a leading figure in the popular resistance movement, was freed from four months of administrative detention on condition that he does not travel abroad, and reports to the police when summoned. He was detained on September 22 at a border crossing when returning to the West Bank after visiting Norway. While there, he met Finance Minister Kirsten Halvorsen with the goal of trying to convince the government to divest from firms involved in wall and colony construction.
Othman, who had earlier taken Norwegian officials on a tour of West Bank settlements, had persuaded the Norwegian state pension fund to pull out investments valued at $5.4 million from Elbit, an Israeli military industry firm. He was held in prison for two months before being confined under an administrative detention order.
The raids against foreigners connected to the ISM coincide with similar nightly operations against Palestinians who take part in Gandhian resistance actions against the occupation, land seizure and the West Bank wall. Indeed, the Israelis have arrested so many members of the popular resistance movement that it is impossible to keep up with the numbers.
Israel's objective is to decapitate the popular resistance which receives only a weak verbal blessing from the Palestinian Authority but has the backing of many Palestinian and some Israeli human rights organisations.
Israeli rightists and their acolytes in the US have now extended the struggle against peace activists and truth tellers by attacking the New Israel Fund (NIF) and its president Naomi Chazan, former Labour Knesset member and deputy speaker, for financing Israeli human rights groupings. The Jerusalem Post, which published an ad demonising the fund and Chazan, also fired her as one of its few leftist columnists.
The rightists are particularly angry over the fact that some of the organisations backed by the NIF have not only been highly critical of the conduct of Israel's war on Gaza but also contributed evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity to the UN's Goldstone mission, which issued a damning report on Israel's behaviour.
In response to the anti-Chazan/NIF campaign, the Knesset set up a subcommittee to examine foreign sponsorship of Israeli groups, such as Adalah, Breaking the Silence, B'Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Yesh Din, and Israel's Physicians for Human Rights. Without these organisations, Israel would be an even harsher place that it is now.
Gideon Levy, writing in the liberal Israeli daily, Haaretz, accused the NIF accusers of "McCarthyism", trying to stifle public debate and discussion of Israel's actions and policies in the way that US senator Joe McCarthy did in Washington half a century ago during his leftist witch hunt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is behind the crackdown on foreign and Palestinian peace groups, argues that protests undermine the legitimacy of Israel and are even more dangerous to Israel than Iran's nuclear programme. Iran does not have nuclear bombs and does not pose any serious threat to Israel. Protest does, because increasing numbers of people round the world are becoming aware of Israel's brutal treatment of the Palestinians and are prepared to boycott Israeli exports, shun Israeli academics and political figures, and divest from Israeli firms.

International

Pak CJ warns action against NAB officials ignoring orders

Dawn Online, Islamabad

Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Thursday took strong exception to the current National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Naveed Ahsan continuing to hold his position despite the Supreme Court's order to have him replaced. The Chief Justice also warned of action against NAB officials who ignored the Supreme Court's orders.
During Thursday's proceedings in the Bank of Punjab case, the Punjab government's lawyer, Khwaja Haris, told the court that NAB had no right to claim two billion rupees as a recovery commission.
He added that the Punjab government had some reservations that an out of court deal might be struck between NAB officials and the accused in the Bank of Punjab fraud.
Earlier, in its verdict in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case, the Supreme Court had ordered the removal of Naveed Ahsan from the position of Chairman NAB. However, despite the court's orders, the government did not replace him.

  Taliban vow guerrilla warfare against NATO troops
AFP, Kabul

The Taliban vowed Thursday to fight back with a "hit and run" guerrilla campaign against Western and Afghan forces preparing to storm one of their key strongholds in southern Afghanistan.
Thousands of US Marines and NATO and Afghan soldiers have massed around the town of Marjah, a Taliban bastion in Helmand province, poised to launch one of the biggest operations against the insurgents since the 2001 US-led invasion.
The assault, dubbed Operation Mushtarak ("Together" in Dari) and expected to begin within days, aims to drive out the Taliban and replace their harsh rule with Western-backed Afghan government institutions.
In a defiant statement on their website, the Taliban vowed to defend the town in the poppy-growing region of the central Helmand River valley, which they have controlled for years in tandem with drug traffickers.
"From what we see on the ground this operation is no different to the invading forces' day-to-day activities," Yousuf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, was quoted as saying.
"The enemy is making a big deal of it. They try to sell it to the media as a big offensive in spite of the fact that Marjah is a small place," he said, adding: "The operation is not as big as they claim."
Nevertheless he vowed that Taliban gunmen would stand against the offensive, using "hit-and-run" tactics and the improvised explosive devises, or IEDs, that have become a staple of their arsenal.
"I can say at this point that we'll be using tactics we deployed in the Nawa and Khanishin operations," he said, referring to two offensives in Helmand last year, the British-led Panther's Claw, and the Marines' Dagger.
"It will be mostly hit-and-run and roadside bomb attacks," he said.
Taliban-led insurgents have been fighting to topple the Western-backed Kabul government since their regime was overthrown in late 2001.
Remnants of the Islamist movement regrouped quickly to launch an insurgency that has become increasingly deadly, last year claiming the lives of a record 520 foreign soldiers, most of them from IED attacks.
So far this year more than 60 foreign soldiers-of the 113,000 deployed in Afghanistan under US and NATO command-have died in the Afghan theatre, most of them in IED strikes.
An AFP photographer with a US Marines unit five kilometres (three miles) northeast of Marjah said insurgents could be seen planting IEDs on roads around a strategic junction and were subjecting the Marines to an almost constant barrage of mortar and rocket fire from nearby residential compounds.
Under their rules of engagement, the Marines were not able to retaliate, the AFP photographer said, until all residents had fled the area.
Radio communications monitoring picked up Taliban leaders telling their fighters to prevent the Marines building "a base by any means".

  'Pakistan ready for talks, but not on pre-conditions'
Dawn Online, Islamabad

The Foreign Office on Thursday reiterated that Pakistan was ready for talks with India but not on pre-conditions.
Pakistan would like the process of engagement leading to the resumption of the composite dialogue, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said. However, he confirmed that the Foreign Office had not yet responded to the Indian proposal of secretary-level talks and the leadership would take a final decision on the matter.
Abdul Basit said that dialogue was necessary to establish viable peace in the region. He said Pakistan wanted a result-oriented dialogue with India and hoped that India would not thwart the talks this time. Referring to the Indian Indus Water Commissioner's statement, Basit maintained that India was willing to resolve the water conflict with Pakistan.
On another question regarding the involvement of Indian intelligence agencies in unrest in Fata and Balochistan, Basit said Pakistan will take up this matter during the talks. He said Pakistan will support the Afghan government and the international community's efforts to re-integrate the Taliban.
"Pakistan is ready to carry forward any Afghan-driven strategy which is aimed at establishing peace in the region," Abdul Basit said.
On Dawn's query that whether the government will initiate dialogue with the Taliban inside Pakistani territory, Basit said that Pakistan was in an entirely different situation which no resemblance with the issue in Afghanistan.

  Sanctions stay until North Korea talks: South, Japan
Reuters, Seoul

Sanctions on North Korea will not be removed until Pyongyang returns to disarmament talks and takes serious steps toward scrapping its nuclear arms program, the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan said on Thursday.
The comments come as the North's top nuclear envoy is in Beijing in a sign the destitute state may soon end its year-long boycott of six-country disarmament-for-aid nuclear talks hosted by its key ally, China.
North Korea has come under increasing pressure to return to the forum where it can win rewards for rolling back its nuclear program as U.N. sanctions imposed after a nuclear test last year dry up its coffers and a currency revaluation in late 2009 adds to its economic woes.
"We shared the view that North Korea needs to take denuclearization steps in order for there to be peace treaty talks and the lifting of sanctions," Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told a briefing in Seoul.
North Korea has called for a peace treaty with United States to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War as a condition to returning to the disarmament deal that it signed in 2005 in return for massive economic aid.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said the five countries in negotiations with the North aimed to keep up the pressure through sanctions while continuing to pursue dialogue to prod it back to the talks.
The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and China and began in 2003.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's new government has no plans to contribute financially to the disarmament-for-aid deal until North Korea resolves the issue of Japanese nationals it kidnapped decades ago, a Japanese official said.

  Indian president's husband accused of land-grab
AFP, New Delhi

Indian President Pratibha Patil's husband has been accused of illegally procuring land belonging to a farmer in western India, reports said Thursday. The allegations came to light when a court in the president's home state of Maharashtra ordered the names of Patil's husband Devisingh Shekhawat, and five other family members, to be struck off the local land records, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The order came in response to a petition filed by farmer Kishore Bansod, who said the Shekhawats had fraudulently added their names to the title deed of a 3.2 acre (1.3 hectare) site he had refused to sell them.
"The Shekhawats own almost 200 acres in the village and were interested in owning this land too," Bansod's lawyer, Sunil Gajbhiye, was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times newspaper. "My client wasn't willing to sell the land. So the Shekhawats got it fraudulently transferred in their names."
There was no comment from the president's secretariat or India's ruling Congress party which nominated Patil for the post of president in 2007. But Shekhawat rubbished the charges of fraud saying:
"The land officers measured the land in a wrong manner and showed it as ours when my father bought it." This is not the first time Patil has been embarrassed by accusations of corruption. Prior to her appointment as India's first woman president, she was accused of protecting her brother in a murder probe and shielding her husband in a suicide scandal.

  Arrested S.Lanka leader urges calm as protests mount
AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka's former army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka has appealed for calm, his wife said Thursday, as violent protests escalated over his arrest on conspiracy charges.
"He wanted me to convey to the people and especially the troops to remain calm and not to be provoked by his illegal arrest," said Anoma Fonseka, who met with her detained husband late Wednesday.
"They are trying to break his spirit, but they won't succeed," she told reporters.
Anoma Fonseka was granted access to her husband at the naval detention centre where he is currently awaiting court martial for conspiring against the government. He was arrested on Monday.
Despite his appeal, anti-government protestors clashed with police in a Colombo suburb and in central Sri Lanka on Thursday, a day after violent protests outside the Supreme Court where Fonseka's wife had filed a petition demanding his release. Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds.
The opposition, meanwhile, said it had enlisted the help of the influential Buddhist clergy in pushing for Fonseka's release.
"What we have done is to ask the Buddhist monks to use their influence over the government," opposition leader Karu Jayasuriya told AFP. Fonseka's arrest came just weeks after his failed bid to unseat his former commander-in-chief, President Mahinda Rajapakse, at the ballot box.
Rajapakse won the January 26 presidential poll with a comfortable 58 percent of the popular vote.
The government has yet to specify the charges Fonseka will face, but Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse said in comments published Thursday that the retired four-star general had clearly been plotting a military coup.
"He was planning on military rule. It was very clear," Rajapakse, who is the president's brother, said in an interview with the Straits Times of Singapore.

  Sena threat looms over 'My Name is Khan' release
Reuters, Mumbai

More than a thousand Shiv Sena workers have been arrested and security beefed up at many of Mumbai's movie theatres after the Hindu hardline group warned against the Feb. 12 release of "My Name is Khan".
Shiv Sena workers tore up the film's posters on Wednesday, continuing their protest against lead actor Shah Rukh Khan for backing the participation of Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League.
More than a thousand workers were taken into preventive custody, Joint Commissioner of Police Himanshu Roy told reporters.
"We have also asked theatre owners not to allow people in the first three rows of a theatre, so that there is no access to the screen," Roy said. Other measures include not allowing bags inside halls, plain-clothes policemen guarding theatres from outside and verifying the identity of audience members.
More than 60 Mumbai theatres are now under police protection, but most of them are not taking any chances.
Websites of major cinema chains like PVR and Cinemax have stopped online booking for "My Name is Khan". Representatives of most cinema chains did not return calls.
'KHAN' ABROAD
The cast and crew of "My Name is Khan" is attending its premiere in Abu Dhabi and later head to Europe for a screening at the Berlin film festival. "Mumbai is the city that brought me up...the city that gave me my vision...and I know my city will be my strength..." director Karan Johar wrote on his Twitter account before leaving India.
In the film, Shah Rukh Khan plays a man with Asperger's Syndrome who is a victim of racial bias in the U.S. in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

 Ahmadinejad: Iran has produced high grade uranium
AFP, Tehran

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran has already produced highly enriched nuclear material in defiance of the West, as his country on Thursday marked the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic revolution.
"The head of the atomic energy organisation said the first stock of 20 percent fuel was produced and delivered to scientists," he said in a speech at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square before a crowd of hundreds of thousands.
However, a restricted document of the International Atomic Energy Agency which monitors Iran's nuclear work revealed on Thursday that the country would produce its first batch of higher enriched uranium "within a few days." IAEA chief Yukiya Amano wrote in the one-page report that Iran had informed agency inspectors that it had "begun to feed the (LEU) low-enriched uranium into one cascade (of uranium-enriching) centrifuges" at its plant in Natanz.
"They were also told that it was expected that the facility would begin to produce up to 20 percent enriched (uranium) within a few days," according to Amano.
The IAEA head added that "it should be noted that there is currently only one cascade installed in (Natanz) that is capable of enriching the LEU up to 20 percent."
Earlier this week, Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the separate cascade was "more on a lab scale," suggesting its output would be limited. "Why do they (world powers) think that 20 percent is such a big deal? Right now in Natanz we have the capability to enrich at over 20 percent and at over 80 percent, but because we don't need it we won't do it."

  Arabic flashcards land student in US detention
Internet

Federal agents detained and interrogated a US college student at the Philadelphia airport simply because we was carrying a set of English-Arabic flashcards, a lawsuit alleged on Wednesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union said it filed the suit on behalf Nicholas George, 22, a language student at Pomona College in California who was held at Philadelphia International Airport for nearly five hours in August 2009.
George, a US citizen from the Philadelphia suburb of Wyncote, was on his way back to college when airport security officers found him carrying the flashcards, each of which had an English word on one side and its Arabic equivalent on the other, the ACLU said.
The US Transportation Security Administration questioned him, and a TSA supervisor asked him how he felt about the Sept. 11 attacks, whether he knew "who did 9/11," and whether he knew what language Osama bin Laden spoke, the ACLU said.
He was handcuffed and left in a locked cell for two hours before being "abusively" interrogated by two FBI agents, but was never told why he was being detained, the ACLU said.
The lawsuit, filed in US district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, charges that officers from the TSA, FBI and Philadelphia police violated George's constitutional rights of free speech and to be free from unreasonable seizure.
"As someone who travels by plane, I want TSA agents to do their job to keep flights safe," George said in a statement.
"But I don't understand how locking me up and harassing me just because I was carrying the flashcards made anybody safer."
Neither the federal agencies nor the Philadelphia police could be reached for comment.

  Huge rally and protests mark Iran revolution
AP, Tehran, Iran

Hundreds of thousands of government supporters massed Thursday in central Tehran to mark the anniversary of the revolution that created Iran's Islamic republic, while a heavy security force that fanned across the city moved quickly to snuff out counterprotests by the opposition.
Police clashed with protesters in several sites around Tehran, firing tear gas to disperse them and paintballs to mark them for arrest, opposition Web sites reported. Dozens of hard-liners with batons and pepper spray attacked the convoy of a senior opposition leader, Mahdi Karroubi, as he tried to join the protests, his son Hossein Karroubi told The Associated Press.
The attackers - believed to be members of the Basij civilian militia - damaged several cars and smashed windows on Karroubi's car, though he escaped unharmed, he said. Khatami attack. Security forces also briefly detained the granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and her husband, who are both senior pro-reform politicians, according to the couple's son, Ali.
The granddaughter, Zahra Eshraghi, and her husband Mohammad Reza Khatami, who is the brother of a former pro-reform president, were held for less than an hour before being released, his son told the AP.
Tehran residents also reported Internet speeds dropping dramatically and e-mail services such as Gmail being blocked in a common government tactic to foil opposition attempts to organize.
Heavy numbers of riot police, members of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij militiamen deployed at key squares and major avenues in the capital to prevent the opposition protests from marring the annual mass rallies for the revolution's anniversary.
The celebrations were an opportunity for Iran's clerical regime to tout its power in the face of the opposition movement, which has persisted in holding mass street protests since disputed presidential elections in June despite months of a fierce security crackdown.
State television showed images of thousands upon thousands carrying often identical banners marching along the city's broad avenues toward the central Azadi, or Freedom, Square. There, the massive crowds waved Iranian flags and carried pictures of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic state, and his successor as supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

  Israeli fire kills Gaza militant
AFP, Gaza City

A Palestinian militant was killed and two young girls wounded by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip in two separate incidents on Thursday, according to medics.
The fighter was killed and another wounded when a tank fired on a group of militants near the border east of Gaza City, according to Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services. Hours earlier, two Palestinian girls aged five and nine were wounded when an Israeli tank shell exploded near their home further south, close to the Bureij refugee camp, Hassanein said. An Israeli army spokesman said an air strike had been launched in the area where the fighter was killed, and that there had been a separate exchange of fire along the border near the refugee camp. "Palestinians opened fire at an army patrol along the security barrier," he said. "The soldiers responded by firing in the direction of the attackers."
Earlier on Thursday, prior to the clashes, the Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza had said that one of its fighters had died during a "jihad mission," without elaborating. The phrase is commonly used when fighters are killed in accidental explosions. Medics confirmed the man's death, but did not provide further information. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, last week announced the death of another of its fighters in the same neighbourhood of Gaza City, also claiming he was on a "jihad mission."

  U.N. vents frustration at stalled arms control forum
Reuters, Geneva

The United Nations vented frustration on Thursday at the lack of progress at the world's only multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, calling on its members to show more flexibility and get down to work.
The U.N.-backed Conference on Disarmament (CD) has been unable to launch negotiations to halt global production of nuclear bomb-making fissile material so far this year.
Pakistan has refused to join a required consensus at the 65-member forum, insisting that it needs to keep open the fissile option to keep pace with its nuclear-armed rival India.
The talks have "regressed" and risk becoming "irrelevant" if they don't keep in tune with international efforts to cut weapons arsenals, warned Sergei Ordzhonikidze, head of the U.N. in Geneva who serves as secretary-general of the conference.
"What we see is not zero, but it is minus," he said in a blunt speech on Thursday. "We have done nothing."
"I don't know what to tell the Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) when he asks what is going on in the CD except to say, 'I am sorry Mr. Secretary-General, nothing is going on'."
The stalemate has been a blow to the Obama administration's efforts to revive global disarmament as it also seeks to agree a successor Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia. Those talks are now in their final round in Geneva. On behalf of Ban, Ordzhonikidze appealed to members to be "a little more flexible" and overcome the wrangling over which items to tackle in 2010, known as the programme of work.
"It is not the finalisation of the elaboration of any treaty, it is just the programme of work," he said.

  S.Africa marks 20 yrs since Mandela walked to freedom
Reuters, Groot Drakenstein, South Africa

Chanting "Viva, Nelson Mandela, Viva", thousands of South Africans marked 20 years on Thursday since the anti-apartheid icon walked to freedom after 27 years as a political prisoner.
Now a frail 91-year-old, Mandela did not attend the celebrations at the Drakenstein Prison near Cape Town, although a huge bronze statue of him marching from jail, fist pumping the air, towered over the crowd much as Mandela's image towers over South African politics and society to this day.
Among the predominantly black crowd of well-wishers waving the black, green and gold flags of Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) were fellow "struggle" heroes present on that momentous Sunday two decades ago.
"It was all a bit chaotic and I must tell you we were unprepared," said millionaire businessman Cyril Ramaphosa-then a senior mining union and ANC official-recalling the chaotic scenes that followed Mandela's release. Unbanned only nine days previously, ANC leaders were given just 24 hours notice to prepare for the release of Mandela, who four years later would become the first black president of a country dominated by a white minority for 300 years.
Ramaphosa and his associates had to fly to Cape Town in specially chartered aircraft, while security outside the prison in the heart of South Africa's winelands was organised by a Catholic priest who knew "nothing about guns".
Rank-and-file ANC members were asked to don suits and look tough to provide a vague semblance of security but minutes after images of a free Mandela were beamed around the world, he was swamped in the melee.

  Osteopathic care may ease late-pregnancy back pain
Reuters, New York

Gentle manipulation from an osteopathic doctor may relieve late-pregnancy back pain that frequently hinders bending, lifting, or walking, findings from a small study hint.
Doctors in osteopathic medicine (DOs) are medical doctors additionally trained in gentle manipulative techniques to help restore function, range of motion, and lessen pain in bones and adjoining muscles supporting the neck, back, chest, shoulders, and hips.
Osteopathic manipulation may particularly benefit pregnant women seeking medication-free back pain relief, note Dr. John C. Licciardone and colleagues at University of Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.
The study, in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, included 144 otherwise healthy pregnant women, about 24 years old on average, with moderate levels of back pain and related movement difficulties during late pregnancy.
The women were randomly assigned to one of three groups: usual obstetric care only, usual obstetric care plus weekly 30-minute osteopathic manipulation treatments from the 30th week of pregnancy through delivery, or usual obstetric care plus sham ultrasound skin stimulation sessions.
Over the course of the study, women in the osteopathic group reported improved back pain and related symptoms, Licciardone noted in an email to Reuters Health. The sham ultrasound group reported no pain improvement and those in the standard care group reported increased pain.

Business/Economy

Income tax and VAT nets should be expanded : Muhith
UNB, Dhaka

Income tax and VAT nets will be expanded to bring to raise the government revenue income, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told a view exchange meeting in the city Thursday.
"The base of public expenditure is the collection of revenue and this depends on internal resources like income tax and VAT. The income tax as well as VAT nets should be expanded to raise the government income," he said.
Exchanging views with leaders of the business community on 'Change of VAT Law and Customs Tariff Rationalization' at BIAM Auditorium the Finance Minister said at least 40,00,000 people should be brought under income tax net from existing 30,00,000.
Of the 15 crore people, only 30,00,000 people give income tax. This is not at all acceptable. There are 4 crore people in the middle income group. At least ten percent of them should pay income tax, he added.
He viewed that the VAT system is in a bad situation. About 30 lakh organisations should be brought under the VAT net. But now there are only about 6.5 lakh organisations under the VAT net. This is also not acceptable.
Muhith said NBR has four tasks ahead. These are registration of more firms and institutions, formulating such system that doesn't allow any symptom like truncated system, cascading effect and to reduce the import dependency.
He viewed that the existing VAT law should be changed to make it easy for collection. He indicated change in the VAT law is in the offing. Customs tariff system also needs certain changes, which will be done after the next budget, he said.
About the in-house work of the NBR Task Force on VAT and customs tariffs, Muhith said initial steps have been taken on public inputs. The process will continue.
Economic Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. Mashiur Rahman said more attention would given to improve the accounting system of the private institutions in a bid to reasonably implement the VAT system.
"The government could bear the cost of improving their accounting system. In doing so, the expenditure of the government may increase initially, but this may result in increase of VAT collection," he said.
NBR Chairman Dr. Nasiruddin Ahmed said the Task Forces on VAT Law and customs rationalization were continuing discussions. They will soon sit with FBCCI, DCCI and MCCI to speed up the process.
Gazi Golam Dastagir MP of ruling AL said that the relationship between the taxpayers and tax collectors should be friendly. He also underscored the need for strengthening the Tariff Commission. DCCI president Abul Kasem Khan said that the net of VAT and income tax should be expanded. He thought that many sectors are still out of the tax nets.
Enamul Huq, First Secretary of VAT, made a power-point presentation on 'Toward A Taxpayer Friendly Modern VAT System in Bangladesh'. He thought that the VAT rate should remain at existing 15 percent. Around 77% countries in the world have basic VAT rate of 15 percent and above.
Dr. Zaidi Sattar of Policy Research Institute (PRI) and former NBR member Abdul Latif Shikder jointly made another power point presentation on 'Structure of Customs Tariffs Imperative of Rationalization.'
NBR member (VAT) Abdul Mannan Patwari and NBR member (tax) Fariduddin also spoke on the occasion.

 Industrial Policy 2010 with investment stimulus at final stage : Dilip Barua

BSS, Sangsad Bhaban

Industries Minister Dilip Barua on Thursday told the Jatiya Sangsad that formulation of an investment- friendly industrial policy with stimulus for investments is at the final stage.
"The new Industrial Policy 2010 would be investment friendly and help attract investments as several incentive proposals have been made in it," he said replying to a question from BNP lawmaker Md Harunur Rashid.
In order to ensure balanced development in all parts of the country, stimulus package has been proposed with tariff exemption for import of capital machineries on the basis of region like developed and less developed areas, he said.
The government has introduced a four-tier import duty structure considering the demands of local industrial organizations, he said adding, 'under the same consideration, the government would also take appropriate steps on special tariff exemption in the duty structure in future."
In the new Industrial Policy 2010, the investments made by Non- Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) would be treated as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), he said adding, "for their investments in Bangladesh, the NRBs would enjoy the same facilities like the foreign investors."
For creating an investment-friendly atmosphere in the country, Barua said the government has undertaken various steps including on- line registration, on-line file tracking, setting up a website titled e- registry in the Board of Investment allowing people to know the investment related laws and regulations.
Besides, he said, steps have been undertaken to update the existing website of BOI and to prepare and publish CDs and brochures with investment related information to disseminate and publicize activities on investment development.

  Govt urged to avoid external debt burden
BSS, Dhaka

Some civil society organizations have urged the government to take a cautious move in taking external loans to avoid unnecessary debt burden on the nation.
Equity and Justice Working Group, an umbrella organization of several NGOs, at a press briefing on Thursday at Dhaka Reporters Unity sounded the cautions ahead of the forthcoming Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) conference in the capital on February 15 and 16.
The conference to be participated by representatives of major development partners and Bangladesh government will review the progress of the country's ongoing poverty reduction strategy (PRS) phase II and its funding requirements to help implement projects listed in the annual development programme.
Mustafa Kamal Akand and Shamsudduha of Equity and Justice Working Group presented the findings of the study they carried out in the press briefing.
They said the government's spending on debt servicing is likely to soar to 30 per cent of its domestic revenue earnings by 2013 from 20 per cent now if it continues taking unnecessary loans.
They said the present PRS is not consistent with the real need of the nation and even not with the development vision and election pledge of the ruling party.
It is more focused to serving donors economic and financial interest and need to be avoided, they said adding more borrowing to implement the new PRS will not only derail the nation from its development objectives but also create a big debt trap for the nation.
They said the country's accumulated loans might increase to US$ 34.87 billion or 33.6 per cent of gross domestic product in next two years if the trend continues.
The accumulated debt was US$ 22.31 billion or 25.4 per cent of GDP as of June 2009. The loan is, moreover, only growing when the grant component of donors development assistance declined to almost 3 per cent now compared to 44 per cent in 1990.
Such loan is not helpful and the country should work on its own development planning to achieve sustainable growth without falling into the debt trap, they cautioned ahead of the BDF meeting next week.

  BDBL outlines business plan
BSS, Dhaka

Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL) has outlined its strategic and business plan for making the newly formed bank a profitable organization.
The bank's board of directors today discussed the plan with some prominent businessmen who were also among the clients of former Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (BSB) and Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha (BSRS). BDBL was launched on January 1 this year by merging the two loss-incurring state entities-BSB and BSRS.
BDBL Chairman Nazim Ahmed Choudhury and Managing Director Mizanur Rahman briefed businessmen the plan, which would be finalized through further discussions at different levels.
The directors of the bank and the businessmen discussed the plan at the meeting, held at Hotel Purbani in the capital city.
The bank's chairman said that the major objectives of the plan are to mobilse adequate deposit and channel resources to business, trade and industries.
He proposed introducing popular and innovative products and services for fund mobilization and disbursing the fund with the primary target of business and industrial development.
Elaborating the proposal, the bank's managing director said the services and products would include both traditional and new items such as retail banking, commercial banking, merchant banking and trade financing.
For rapid business expansion, he said the number of branches would be increased with highly qualified, experienced and skilled staff and efficient services.
Businessmen suggested for taking target-based products and services, which would be more competitive with other banks.
President of Bangladesh Specialized Textile Mills and Power Loom Industries Sharif Afzal Hussain, who was a member of BSB observed that it would not be a good idea of doing conventional banking by a specialized bank like BDBL.
He advocates focused-based banking, which he believes will make the new bank more efficient than its precursors-BSB and BSRS.
Managing Director of Apexadelchi Footwear Limited Syed Nasim Manzur believes that state banks do have some limitations in providing competitive services like private banks and foreign banks operating in Bangladesh. He thinks offering cheaper credit by BDBL can be an additional attraction for good clients, which will also bring the bank good return. Managing Director of Prime Spinning Mills suggested for speedy decision in lending process when Managing Director of Techno Textile Mills Limited Manzurul Huq advised the bank provide working capital with project financing.
Responding to the proposal, BDBL chairman said they would primarily emphasis skilled development for ensuring better services and than would offer demand-based products and services.

  EU promises to support Greece over deficit crisis
AFP, Brussels

European leaders promised solidarity to debt-stricken Greece on Thursday but held back from offering an immediate hard cash bailout.
Billions of euros needed to rescue Athens will first and foremost have to come from further slashing of its own spending, in return for which "eurozone members should be ready to safeguard financial stability in the eurozone area as a whole," according to EU president Herman Van Rompuy. Markets were anticipating strong supportive action to avert growing fears that the debt contagion could hit the entire euro area.
Van Rompuy, chairing his first European Union summit, announced a "deal" after two hours of intense negotiations in Brussels centred on German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.
Van Rompuy stressed that their agreement involves Greece doing "whatever is necessary, including additional measures" to meet targets agreed with the European Commission, which polices EU countries' budgets.
Greece has to reduce its public deficit this year by four percentage points from the current 12.7 percent, he underlined.
Van Rompuy stressed that "the Greek government has not requested any financial support."
But the vow of solidarity left the door open for Germany and others to expand preparatory work exploring whether loans or guarantees could be offered bilaterally to Greece or other countries should national troubles threaten the entire eurozone.
The talks also included European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who called on all EU nations to control their own finances to ensure the continent's financial stability. Going into the full summit of 27 European Union leaders, Merkel said that the bloc, and particularly its inner 16-country eurozone, is "not going to leave Greece on its own" to handle its deficit crisis. "But rules are rules and the rules must also be respected," she underlined, with regard to Greece's deficit, currently more than four times the limit laid down by Brussels.
Prior to the agreement, Papandreou had appealed for "psychological" and "political" support from European partners in a French newspaper interview.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country is foremost among those also suffering from major deficit problems, had conceded overnight that "we have to support Greece, that's clear."

  Job growth unlikely to curb unemployment rate in USA
AFP, Washington

A new White House economic forecast showed Thursday the US economy is set to start producing job growth this year at a rate of 95,000 per month, but that the unemployment rate will remain high.
President Barack Obama's annual economic report to Congress said the economy is on the verge of pulling out of a period of steep job losses stemming from the worst recession in decades.
But the report also said that the unemployment rate may not come down much from the current level of 9.7 percent, and may even rise because of labor market growth and the return of more discouraged workers to the labor force.
The White House forecast, most of which was previously released with budget documents, calls for growth in gross domestic product of around 3.0 percent in 2010 and an average unemployment rate of 10.0 percent.
"Because projected GDP growth is only slightly stronger than potential growth, relatively little decline is projected in the unemployment rate during 2010," the report prepared by the president's Council of Economic Advisors said.
"Indeed, it is possible that the rate will rise for a while as some discouraged workers return to the labor force, before starting to generally decline. Consistent with this, employment growth is projected to be roughly equal to normal trend growth of about 100,000 per month."
Christina Romer, who heads the president's council, told reporters she expects the trend on job creation to turn position "by the spring."
The report projects more robust job growth by 2011, averaging a gain of 190,000 per month, to bring the average unemployment rate down to 9.2 percent for the year.

  Pubali Bank appoints 3 new DMDs
TBT Economy Desk

The Board of Directors of Pubali Bank Limited has appointed Mahbub Mustafizur Rahman, MA Halim Chowdhury and Safiul Alam Khan Chowdhury as Deputy Managing Directors of the bank recently, says a press release.
Prior to his new appointment, Mahbub Mustafizur Rahman was General Manager of Credit Division of the bank. He was promoted to the rank of General Manager in 2004. He joined Pubali Bank as Financial Analyst in the rank of Asstt.
General Manager in 1994. He obtained his MBA degree from IBA, Dhaka University. Mustafizur Rahman visited Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Nepal, UK, USA for training and other official duty.
Prior to his appointment, MA Halim Chowdhury was General Manager of Credit Division of the bank. He was promoted to General Manager in 2006. He joined Pubali Bank as Principal Officer in 1988.
Prior to his appointment, Safiul Alam Khan Chowdhury was General Manager of General Services & Development Division of the bank. He was promoted to General Manager in 2006. He joined Pubali Bank as Probationary Senior Officer in 1983 through Bangladesh Bank. He obtained B.S.S (Hons) and MSS degree in Sociology from Dhaka University.

  BMCCI demands bilateral FTA with Malaysia
UNB, Dhaka

Leaders of Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BMCCI) urged the government to take initiatives for bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Malaysia to boost trade between the two Muslim countries.
A delegation of BMCCI led by its president Moazzem Hossain meeting with Commerce Minister Faruk Khan Thursday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should seek bilateral FTA with Malaysia during her proposed visit to Kuala Lumpur in May next.
During the meeting the Minister directed the Tariff Commission to submit a feasibility study report within one month about FTA with Malaysia.
BMCCI leaders also demanded for setting up a separate institute to certify 'Halal Product' for exporting to Malaysia where the demand for Bangladesh products has been increasing.
They suggested that the government should set up a trade centre in Malaysia for Bangladeshi products exposition to create demand in Malaysian market.
The Minister assured of active consideration for opening a trade centre in Kuala Lumpur.
He informed that a trade centre has been opened in Trinidad and the process is on for two others in Dubai and Tokyo.

National

Permission for 10 TV channels, 55 daily papers given by this govt: Azad

BSS, Sangsad Bhaban

Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad told the House on Thursday that the number of television channels, including BTV and BTV World, in the country is now 13.
Replying to a question from lone independent lawmaker Mohammad Fazlul Azim, the information minister said 11 private TV channels are now in full operation while permission for launching 10 more was already given.
"Besides BTV and BTV World, proceedings, education and development activities will be aired through a new channel," he said adding that permission for the new TV channel would be considered after getting a proper application in this regard.
Responding to another question raised by treasury bench member Begum Shaheen Monwara Haque, the information minister said that the Mass Communication Department is the lone organ under the information ministry at the district level.
"The 'Project for Construction of Tathya Bhaban' has been included in the Annual Development Programme of the 2009-10 fiscal year," he said, adding that the estimated cost of the project is Taka 6239.28 lakh.
He also said that the head office of Mass Communication Department would be shifted to the building to be constructed under the project. Besides, he said, a project proposal will be made for construction of district information offices in the next year's ADP.
On a query from BNP lawmaker Nazim Uddin Ahmed, the information minister said that the present government after coming to power has given permission to publish 55 new daily newspapers.
He said that the issue of overall approval of the newspaper is under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Commissioner. "The declaration of 36 daily newspapers has already been received and, of them, eight newspapers were submitted to the Department of Film and Publications," he said.

  Paddy production faces problems in northern districts
UNB, Rajshahi

Paddy cultivation in the northern districts faces problems during the current IRRI-Boro season for shortage of seedlings and their high prices.
Local farmers said many seedbeds and seedlings in the region were damaged due to severe cold and calamitous fog fall at the fag-end of the winter, creating seed-plant crisis.
To cash in on the situation, some unscrupulous businessmen are making brisk business by selling seedlings at high prices in local markets, they alleged.
Poor and marginal farmers are in problem in purchasing seedlings from the local markets to cultivate the dry-season irrigated paddies.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in the divisional city of Rajshahi, farmers are to grow IRRI and Boro paddy on 70,000 hectares of land this season in the district against 74,774 hectares in the previous year.
"The target of paddy production in Rajshahi region may not be achieved this year due to shortage of seedlings," said one DAE source.
Local farmers fell in trouble as they are not getting seedlings for farming as much they need this season, UNB correspondent MA Razzak found during visit to several areas in Rajshahi district. A farmer, Jainal, of Ratugram village in Durgapur upazila, said, "I have cultivated eight bighas of land this season against 12 bighas last season because of sapling crisis and its high price."
Another farmer, Abdur Rahim, of Laxmipur village said he cultivated 10 bighas of land against 15 of previous year.
He said seedlings for farming in one bigha of land cost Tk 2,000 this year against Tk 500 last season. And there would be irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide costs added to this amount.
As cultivation cost increased, he could not cultivate his other five bighas of land and switched over to other crops, he said.

 Five-day workshop on Climate Change to begin Sunday at BUET

UNB, Dhaka

A five-day training workshop on 'Regional Climate Modelling using PRECIS' will begin Sunday at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to discuss climate modelling and impact predication.
The UK Met Office, in collaboration with the Climate Change Study Cell (CCSC) of BUET, has organized the workshop where more than 20 participants from relevant organizations will take part.
UK's Department for International Development (DFID) will fund the workshop, said an UKaid press release.
PRECIS (Providing Reg-ional Climates for Impacts Studies) is a regional climate stimulation model, which is expected to be instrumental to enhance Bangladesh's capacity on climate change modelling.
The major objectives of the workshop are to build capacity to understand and stimulate climate change models and scenarios, to develop capacity analyse and interpret output from climate models and to create awareness about climate change risks and facilitate incorporation of climate risks in development planning.
Vice-Chancellor of BUET Prof Dr AMM Safiullah will be present at the inaugural session as the chief.

   SSC candidates get precedence over PM’s schedule
UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday set an example attending the 4th National Convention of Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB) one-hour late just to yield passage for SSC candidates for smooth travel to exam centres. "Thursday is the beginning of the SSC examination. I could attend your programme just on time. But I made delay for the convenience of the SSC candidates to appear at their examination," she told her audience about the inadvertent late coming.
After having been assured that all SSC candidates had reached their examination halls, she started for the National Convention of the agriculturists.
"I did not start in due time because for my move the roads would have been blocked and the SSC candidates would have to suffer," she said, apologizing for being late.
The PM also mentioned that to go to any programme she usually starts by taking some extra time in her hand. But this time she did not do that just for the convenience of the SSC candidates whose exams began Thursday across the country. After her remarks, hundreds of agriculturists clapped and appreciated the Prime Minister's gesture.

 Navy Ship Kapatakkha returns from Andaman
UNB, Mongla

Bangladesh Navy Ship 'Kapatakkha' returned here Thursday after taking part in "MILAN-2010" in Andamanese capital of Port Blair.
On her arrival at the Mongla port, BNS Kapatakkha was welcomed by senior naval officers of Khulna area, sailors and their family members.
Indian Navy conducted the six-day exhibition where Navy ships, Naval representatives and Navy specialists from 12 countries, including India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand took part. In the exhibition, Naval Forces discussed Naval Warfare Tactics and Sea Exercise alongside Naval security, different obstacles in sea and enhanced co-operation with neighbour and friendly navies to face disaster.
Thirty-seven officers and 67 sailors of Bangladesh Navy under Commander KM Masud of BN ship took part in exhibition under the supervision of Commodore KS Hossain.
It is expected that mutual friendly and diplomatic relation on naval security affairs shall be enhanced between Bangladesh and South-East Asian countries including India and Australia through participation in this programme.

 RCC takes massive steps to make 18th NID, Measles vaccination campaign successful

BSS, Rajshahi

The Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has adopted an extensive program to make the fortnight-long 18th National Immunization Day (NID) and Measles Vaccination Campaign-2010 scheduled to be started from February 14 a successes.
The RCC authorities revealed this at a press conference at the training center of Urban Primary Health Care Project here Thursday morning.
Chaired by RCC Chief Executive Officer Ajaher Ali the conference was addressed, among others, by Ward Councilor Abul Hasnat, Chief Health Officer Dr Abul Fazal and Divisional Coordinator of World Health Organization Dr Mahfuzul Islam Kaiser.
In his address of welcome, Dr Abul Fazal gave an overview of the program while WHO Representative illustrated the national level polio eradication program and measles vaccination campaign along with the anti-measles campaign.
RCC Ward Councilors, government and non-government officials concerned and field level health workers and others concerned attended the meeting devising ways and means on how to make the programs a total success to build a polio-free society.
The meeting was told that around 62,475 babies aged 0-5 will be administered two drops of polio vaccine while 50,270 babies aged from nine months to 5 years to be measles vaccinated.
Around 1440 fieldworkers will be deployed at 288 centers including 30 permanent.
Besides, some specialized places like residential hotel, clinic, medical college hospital, jail, child orphanage, kinder garten and nursery school and other vulnerable places will be brought under the vaccination program, speakers added.

Sports

Bangladesh faces Tajikistan in AFC Challenge Cup opener
TBT report

Bangladesh will kick off its AFC Challenge Cup campaign with the match against Tajikistan on February 16 at Sugathadasa Stadium in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
Eight teams, split into two groups, are taking part in the eight-nation competition. Placed in Group A, Bangladesh will play the other two group matches against Myanmar on February 18 and the host Sri Lanka on February 20 at the same venue.
North Korea, India, Kyrgyzstan and Turkme-nistan are drawn in Group B. After the first round group competitions, the top two teams from each group will feature in the cross-over semifinals on February 24, while the final match is slated for February 27.
Earlier, Bangladesh Foot-ball Federation announced a 20-member Bangladesh squad for the AFC Challenge Cup on Wednesday.
Experienced striker Roko-nuzzaman Kanchan has surprisingly been included inb the Bangladesh squad for the continental contest, while the recent sensation of Bangladesh team Enamul Haque has not found a place in the Zoran Djordjevic' selection.
The squad: Aminul Haque, Biplob Bhatta-charjee, Nasirul Islam, Wali Faisal, Mintu Sheikh, Rezaul Karim, Atiqur Rahman Mishu, Baten Majumder Komol, Mamunul Islam, Touhidul Alam Sabuj, Zahid Hasan Ameli, Shakil Ahmed, Nasiruddin Chow-dhury, Rokonuzzaman Kanchan, Imtiaz Sultan Jitu, Mobarak Hossain, Zahid Hossain, Mamun Mia, Alamgir Kabir Rana and Mithun Chowdhury.

  New Zealand overcomes spirited Bangladesh
Cricinfo Online

A determined maiden century from Imrul Kayes and a wonderful spell of slow bowling by Shakib Al Hasan was not enough to deny New Zealand a 3-0 clean sweep after the hosts clinched the final ODI in Christchurch by three wickets. Man of the Match Martin Guptill powered New Zealand towards Bangladesh's modest 241 and, despite a mini collapse towards the end, they reached the target comfortably in the 45th over.
Earlier, Kayes batted for the majority of Bangla-desh's innings, building productive partnerships with the middle order to guide his team to 198 for 4 after 40 overs. Mohammed Ashraful and Shakib both posted 30s after a disappointing showing in each of the previous ODIs, but were unable to kick on to put the New Zealand attack under pressure in the final overs.
Kayes, however, paced his innings intelligently, driving aerially through covers early in the innings before settling in for a long knock during the middle overs. Playing second fiddle to the likes of Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed, Kayes rotated strike effectively and hit the occasional boundary to keep the scoreboard ticking over at a healthy rate, even as wickets fell at regular intervals around him.
He was slightly fortuitous at times, repeatedly beating McCullum with edges to the third-man boundary, but was the glue that held the Bangladesh innings together. He was eventually dismissed for 101, looking for quick runs in the 48th over.
Despite runs coming from the top order, Bangladesh were once again unable to put in a complete batting performance, and failed to accelerate effectively in the batting Powerplay and the death overs. While the visitors did well to reach 198 for 4 after the 40th, the final ten overs yielded only 43 runs for the loss of five wickets and left the score at 241 for 9, when at one stage at total in excess of 260 looked likely.
The visitors' failure at the end was also largely due to an excellent spell from Daniel Vettori, who was wicketless until the 44th over before picking up three scalps in consecutive overs to end with 3 for 42 from his ten. Tim Southee also picked up three wickets, and was the pick of the New Zealand attack, conceding just 37 runs from his full quota.
Brendon McCullum began the New Zealand run chase in belligerent fashion, pulling Shafiul Islam over square leg for six in consecutive overs, but fell attempting an ugly slog, dragging a fuller Rubel Hossain delivery onto his off stump. Martin Guptill came to the crease and was in supreme touch from ball one, timing it superbly to the straight boundary, both along the ground and over the infield. The running between the wickets was especially impressive while Guptill was in the middle, stealing lightning-fast singles to men in the infield.
Shakib then came into the attack dismiss Peter Ingram in his first over, playing inside the line of a well-pitched drifter that hit off stump. Ross Taylor too was stumped off Shakib after a flighted delivery beat the bat and left him well short of his crease.
Guptill, however, batted beautifully to string the New Zealand innings together, punishing the bad deliveries down the ground and through point, while rotating the strike with incredible efficiency to keep the run-rate well above what was required. When he holed out to long off for a run-a-ball 91, New Zealand were well placed to win the match, requiring 47 from 15 overs with five wickets in hand.
The departure of Neil Broom and Jacob Oram in quick succession, however, put some pressure back on the hosts, but Ian Butler and James Franklin had plenty of overs to play with. Despite the tension, they negotiated the remainder of the run chase without much drama. Franklin hit the winning runs in the 45th over, leaving Bangladesh to rue the missed opportunity to score 25-30 more runs, which might have made for a much tighter finish.

  Barisal, Khulna win in Nat’l Cricket League
UNB, Dhaka

Barisal Division and Khulna Division won their respective 5th round matches in the EBL 11th National Cricket League at separate venues across the country.
Barisal Division notched a five-wicket victory over Rajshahai Division at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna, while Khulna Division earned an eight-wicket win over Chittagong Division at Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi.
Barisal Division vs Rajshahi Division
Barisal Division resumed the second innings on the 4th day today (Thursday) with overnight 162 for no loss and easily reached their target scoring 278 runs in 71.2 overs for the loss of five wickets.
Night watch batsmen Fazle Rabbi contributed 95 runs off 171 balls with 11 fours and two sixes while Shahriar Nafees made 83 off 103 balls with 10 fours and a six.
Besides, one down Hannan Sarkar scored 46 runs off 98 balls with six fours while two down Kamrul Islam made 13 off 21 balls with two fours.
Delwar Hossain captured two wickets for 81 runs.
Earlier, Barisal Division, in their first innings scored 244 for all while Rajshahi Division (1st innings 336 runs) in their second innings were all out for 183 in 58.5 overs setting Barisal a winning target of 276 runs.
Khulna Division vs Chottagong Division
Chasing a small target of 94 set by Chittagong Division, Khulna Division, which began their second innings today (Thursday), cantered to victory scoring 95 runs in 16.4 overs for the loss of two wickets.
Despite losing the early wickets of opener Amit Mujumder (3) and one down Nazmus Sadat (0), another opener Tapash Ghosh and two down Tushar Imran was involved in an inseparable stand to steer Khulna Division towards the victory.
Tapash smashed 55 runs (no) off 51 balls with 12 fours while Tushar hammered 37 runs (no) off 36 balls with seven fours.
Elias Sunny captured two wickets for 23 runs.
Earlier, Chittagong Division resumed their second innings with overnight 318 for 5 and added 22 more runs today for the loss of five wickets.
Dollar Mahmud claimed four wickets for 51 runs while Syed Rasel took three wickets for 58.

  Dementieva cruises into last eight
AFP, Paris

Russian top seed Elena Dementieva beat compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA Paris Indoor Open here on Wednesday.
Dementieva, a second-round casualty at the Australian Open, took the first set 6-4 and was 4-1 up in the second set before Pavlyuchenkova staged a mini-revival, only for the world number seven to eventually prevail 6-4, 6-4.
"It wasn't an easy match to play," said Dementieva, who lost in last year's final to home favourite, the now retired Amelie Mauresmo.
"Anastasia had an opportunity to play on this court already and she was playing with a lot of confidence.
"I don't think I played 100 percent and I was up and down in the match, but in the end it was good to win in two sets. Now I'll focus on my quarter-final match."
Dementieva, who received a bye in the first two rounds, was joined in the last eight by Italian second seed Flavia Pennetta, who beat Russia's Alisa Kleybanova 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Tathiana Garbin followed her compatriot Pennetta into the quarter-finals after downing Russian number eight seed Elena Vesnina in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
Croatian wild card Petra Martic earlier sprung a surprise by ousting third seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgian after winning their first-round encounter 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
"I feel great," said 19-year-old Martic. "She was a big favorite, so I didn't have expectations, but I just played and enjoyed every point, and I made it."
Wickmayer was left to lament a heavy schedule that saw her feature in Belgium's 3-2 Fed Cup World Group II victory in Poland last weekend.
"I was super, super tired today. I had a very hard weekend, playing in Fed Cup, so it was very hard for me," said the world number 15.
"She played a very good match. I tried everything I could but my legs weren't there. She was just too good. That's how it is, that's tennis. You win some, you lose some, and today I lost."
Martic faces Hungary's Agnes Szavay in round two, while French fifth seed Aravane Rezai will play Germany's Andrea Petkovic following a 6-4, 6-4 win against qualifier Evgeniya Rodina of Russia.

   Cash-strapped Brits happy to be at Games
AFP, Vancouver

Britain's cash-strapped Winter Olympics team insisted Wednesday that the embarrassment of seeing their skiing and snowboarding federation go bankrupt on the eve of the Games can never be allowed to happen again.
The British Olympic Association (BOA) had to step in after athletes had been left to fund themselves ahead of the 2010 Olympics, which begin here on Friday. BOA chairman Colin Moynihan said winter sports received a paltry 1.5 percent of the funding afforded to summer sports.
"I don't think the funding for winter sports has been adequate in recent years," said Moynihan.
"There has been a lack of focus on the requirements of the athletes. Clearly, the timing (of the collapse of Snowsport GB) was the worst it could possibly be.
"But if there's a light at the end of the tunnel, it's that the media has focused on the skiers and snowboarders more than they ever would." Britain has a 52-strong team at the Olympics.

  Japan batters Taiwan 3-0
AFP, Tokyo

Japan's women battered Taiwan 3-0 in the four-nation East Asian football championship on Thursday, with star player Mana Iwabuchi scoring her first goals for the top national squad.
Following the victory Japan have two wins for six points, while China and South Korea each have three points after one win and one loss each. Taiwan has lost twice.
Japan began scoring in the 36th minute, when the 16-year-old striker, making her second appearance for the national team, dashed to an Aya Miyama cross inside the box, and left-footed her first goal for the team. The best player at the 2008 under-17s women's World Cup, Iwabuchi scored her second goal in the 59th minute after sprinting by Taiwanese striker Tseng Shu-o to slide behind goalkeeper Huang Feng-chiu and send a Manami Nakano cross into the net.
Japan added the third goal in the 85th minute when striker Megumi Takase beat defender Chen Ya-huei in the left side of the box and fired a right-footer deep into the net.
Japan coach Norio Sasaki said he had started some less experienced players for the match to give them an opportunity to play before home fans at the National Stadium. "There were some mistakes. But in the 90 minutes they won 3-0. I respect that," he said.
Despite freezing rain, Japan staged waves of attacks on the Taiwanese goal mouth.
Japan added speed and improved their rhythm after veteran midfielder Homare Sawa replaced Miyama in the 58th minute.
She fired a barrage of shots from outside the box and distributed sharp passes so Japanese attackers could pound Taiwan.
Taiwan coach Chou Tai-ying conceded that her side had remained on the defensive throughout the game under the Japanese onslaught.

  India gets boost ahead of decisive Test
AFP, New Delhi

India's seasoned batsman Venkatsai Laxman will return for the final Test against South Africa after recovering from a finger injury, an official said on Thursday.
"Laxman is fit and will definitely be playing," chairman of selectors Krish Srikkanth told reporters ahead of the decisive Test which starts at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
India, who lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs, need a series-levelling win to retain their top spot in the International Cricket Council's Test rankings.
Laxman, 35, missed the Nagpur match after a finger injury sustained during last month's tour of Bangladesh failed to mend in time.
With star batsmen Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh ruled out of the series with injuries, Laxman was sorely missed in Nagpur as India crashed for 233 and 319 in reply to South Africa's 558-6 declared. Laxman has scored 6,993 runs in 109 Tests at an average of 45.70 with 14 centuries. India were forced to play rookie wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha as a specialist batsman in Nagpur after Rohit Sharma, the first-choice replacement for Laxman, got injured just before the toss. Saha, who made 0 and 36, has been dropped for the Kolkata Test and replaced in the 15-man squad by the more experienced Dinesh Karthik.
The squad
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Subra-maniam Badrinath, Har-bhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Shantha-kumaran Sree-santh, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina.

  UAE progresses to Super Four
AFP, Dubai

Afghanistan's fairytale rise in cricket's world order at one day level carried on on Wednesday as they recorded their second successive victory in the World Twenty20 qualifiers with a 14 run victory over Scotland.
As a result the Afghan team, mainly made up from Afghans brought up in refugee camps over the Pakistan border, top Group A heading into Thursday's final group matches.
Opener Noor Ali scored 42 off 37 balls and Mohammad Shahzad scored 30 as Afghanistan collected 34 runs off the last 24 balls to finish at 131-7. In turn, Scotland recovered from 8-2 to 74-2 before it lost seven wickets for 43 runs in just six overs to finish at 117-9.
However, Ireland, joint-holders from the 2008 edition and pre-tournament favourites to be one of the two teams to progress to the World finals in the West Indies which run from April 30-May 16, are breathing down their shoulders as they rebounded from defeat by Afghanistan on Tuesday to trounce the United States by 78 runs.
Ireland looked unbeatable after posting 202-4 having elected to bat first. Star of their innings was Niall O'Brien, who hit 10 fours and two sixes in his 50-ball 84, while inspirational captain William Porterfield - whose dismissal on Tuesday signalled the end of the Irish run chase against the Afghans - belted five fours and a six in a 28-ball 45.
Ireland's fast bowler Peter Connell then took three wickets in six balls as the USA slipped to 11-5 and then 25-6 before finishing at 124-6, thanks mainly to Aditya Thyagarajan's 72 not out on his debut.
Connell finished with figures of 4-0-14-4 but couldn't deny O'Brien from winning a well-deserved man-of-the-match award.
The United Arab Emirates, who were only invited to participate because they were hosts, became the first team into the Super Four as they defeated defending joint-champion the Netherlands by six wickets.
An unbroken 101-run fifth wicket partnership between Naeemuddin Aslam and captain Khurram Khan steered the UAE to victory after the home side was in dire straits at 67-4 off 7.3 overs while chasing 165 for victory.
Naeemuddin scored an unbeaten 60 off 49 balls with two fours and two sixes while Khurram remained not out on 52 that came off 35 balls and included five fours.
Daan van Bunge gave the Dutch some hope of building a big target to set the UAE with a swashbuckling 76 as they closed on 164-8.
UAE's fast bowler Qasim Zubai was in sparkling form as he returned figures of 5-24. UAE's first victims Kenya bounced back to outclass Canada beating them by nine wickets which means that the Canadians cannot progress.
Their match was most notable for the innings of Alex Obanda, who scored 79 with his half century coming off only 23 balls.
He joined such illustrious company as Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka, Chris Gayle of the West Indies and New Zealand's Aaron Redmond who share the record of the quickest T20 International half-century from 23 balls.

  Ribery scores on return

 AFP, Berlin
France star Franck Ribery made an immediate impact on his first start for Bayern Munich in more than four months on Wednesday as he scored in their 6-2 German Cup quarter-final win over Furth.
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder, who had been out with knee tendinitis, was in sparkling form and set up Thomas Mueller for Bayern's first - the young German star was to score another eight minutes from time - in the fifth minute before scoring himself in the 61st minute.
Despite the final scoreline Bayern were not at their best in the first half, with their second-division opponents drawing level and then taking a shock lead in the 40th minute.
However, Dutch international Arjen Robben put the German giants on level terms in the 58th minute before Ribery's goal finally extinguished their brave challenge.
Another second division side, Augsburg, did upset top-flight opposition on Wednesday as they beat Cologne 2-0, but Schalke's former German international striker Kevin Kuranyi made sure there was not a shock in his side's match as his goal was enough to see off third division Osnabruck.
Holders Werder Bremen qualified for the semi-finals on Tuesday when they beat Hoffenheim 2-1.

  Chappell rejects Pakistan’s offer
AFP, Sydney

Former India coach Greg Chappell said he has rejected an offer to coach Pakistan, preferring to work with the next generation of cricketers in his native Australia, reports said on Thursday.
Chappell, 61, said he had received an approach from the Pakistan Cricket Board, which is yet to officially terminate the employment of Intikhab Alam following Pakistan's disastrous tour of Australia. The former Australian Test captain, who did not extend his two-year stint as coach of India after the 2007 World Cup, said he was committed to his role as head coach of Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence.
"They (Pakistan) basically offered me the job but I told them, 'Thank you very much but I have a contract here with Cricket Australia for the next 18 months,'" Chappell told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Chappell said he was not looking for any further team roles and certainly not at international level, citing the demanding lifestyle accompanying the job."It's a job for the next generation of coaches, so I let them know that I am not in the hunt. "I am really enjoying the Centre of Excellence role and it's a good level at which to work because the influence you can have at this level is probably greater than you can have at the higher level." Chappell is the chairman of the youth selection panel that chose the Australian team that won the recent under-19 World Cup in New Zealand.

  Zola calls for peace
AFP, London

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola drew a line under his row with the club's new owners after his team climbed out of the Premier League relegation zone with a crucial 2-0 victory over Birmingham.
Zola on Tuesday criticised David Gold and David Sullivan for the timing of their announcement of close-season wage cuts for players and staff, but, after the victory at Upton Park, he urged the club to move on and show unity in their survival fight.
"What happened (on Tuesday) doesn't matter, the important thing is that we won the game," Zola said.
"The points that have been made are in the past and now we need to work together, me, the team and the chairman doing their job, to give the team a good position."