SUNday, FEBRUARY 14, 2010 FALGUN 2, 1416, SAFAR 28, 1431 Hijri

   Leading news  Back Page  Editorial   Analysis  Viewpoints   International   Business/Economy   National   Sports    Back

Leading News

Crackdown on Jamaat, Shibir continues
Many more arrested, 86 remanded, case against 3000 in Ctg

TBT Report

The police crackdown on Jamaat-Shibir activists across the country continued on Saturday also.
Police filed a case against about 3000 Jamaat-Shibir men in connection with their clashes with law enforcers there on Friday. Besides, police arrested 24 more Shibir activists from Chittagong on Saturday from messes on the campus.
10 Shibir workers were arrested by police from Khilkhet in the Dhaka ctiy on Saturday. On the same day 35 Shibir activists detained from Jessore.
As many as 12 more Shibir workers were arrested from Rajshahi on Saturday.
A BSS report says: Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) has filed a case against at least 2500 to 3000 Jamaat-Shibir men including city unit Jamaat Amir A N M Shamsul Islam MP, Nayeb-e-Amir Ahsanullah and former lawmaker Shahjahan Chowdhury in connection with Friday's clash with law enforcers in the city's Jamal Khan Road area.
Of them, names of 96 Jamaat-e- Islami and Islami Chattra Shibir (ICS) men who were arrested during a clash with police in the city's Jamal Khan Road area and different parts of the city Friday have been mentioned in the case while rests were implicated in the case as unknown men.
Sub-Inspector of Kotwali Police Ruhul Amin filed the case against the Jamaat-ICS leaders and activists under sections 147,148, 149, 427, 332, 353 and 109 of BPC, Section 3 of Explosive Act and Section 16(2) of Special Power Act-1974.
Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali police Mohiuddin Mahmud who was also injured in Friday's clash would investigate the case. Several hundred Jamaat-Shibir activists clashed with police in the city's Jamal Khan Road area when they were demonstrating for claiming the body of the slain Chittagong University student A A M Mohiuddin that left at least 20 injured including 13 policemen.
Meanwhile, Chittagong University (CU) authorities have constituted a 3-member inquiry committee headed by Prof Dr A F Imam Ali of Sociology Department to probe into the killing of A A M Mohiuddin. Other members of the body are Prof Dr Mohiuddin Ahmed of Institute of Forestry and Environmental Science and Prof Ali Ashraf of Economic Department.
Some unidentified assailants hacked A A M Mahiuddin Masum , a master student of political science department to death at Sholoshahar rail station on Thursday evening and dumped the body at railway track.
UNB report from Chittagong says: Police arrested 24 Shibir activists from the Chittagong University campus early Saturday. Police said, they conducted the overnight drive at four dormitories and several cottages situated in the campus and held them.
They were brought to Changaon thana for interrogation.
Meanwhile, police filed three separate cases against 3,000 Jamaat and Shibir men, including 90 named, with Kotwali and Panchlaish thanas following the clash with police on Friday in the city. Nayeb-e-Ameer of city unit of Jamaat Prof Ahsanullah is the main accused in the three cases.
Earlier, police arrested 95 leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir Friday afternoon when they were demonstrating for the body of the deceased Chittagong University student Mohiuddin Masum in front of the Press Club in Jamalkhan area of the port city.
Another UNB reports from Rajshahi says: Police in overnight drive till early Saturday arrested 12 suspected activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir from different parts of the city in connection with the killing of a Chhatra League activist in Monday night's rioting at Rajshahi University. The held youngsters were sent to jail on Saturday following a court order.
As a countrywide anti-Shibir crackdown is underway following the terrible RU incident, police also recovered two cocktails and two ramdaos (machetes) from inside a manhole of Sher-e-Bangla Hall of the university at 11am today.
Meanwhile, RU dormitories as well as hostels of other educational institutions and mushrooming messes look deserted as many students have left for fear of triangular troubles-reciprocal revenge action by rival pro-Jamaat Shibir and pro-government BCL supporters and hunt by law-enforcers.
"An uneasy calm has been prevailing in the city following the fierce clash between Chhatra League and Shibir last Monday night," says an eyewitness account of the scenes in the aftermath.
The clashes left a BCL activist, Faruk Hossain, dead and over 50 others injured.
BSS says: A Chittagong court on Saturday granted 2-day remand to detained Chittagong city unit Jamaat Islami nayeb-e-amir and 85 others in connection with Friday's clash with law enforcers on Jamal Khan Road in the port city.
Police said the law-enforcers are now conducting a combing operation across the Chittagong division to arrest the rest Jamaat-Shibir activists accused in the case. CMP police produced Jammat Nayab-e-Amir Ashanullah and 85 Jamaat-Shibir activists before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Azizul Hoq seeking 7- day remand.
The court, however, granted the 2-day remand after hearing both the parties. Assistant Commissioner (Prosecution) Nirmalendu Bikash Chawkrabarti told BSS that 86 Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists remanded for interrogating them for their involvement in creating instable situation in the region.
BSS reports from Kushtia: Police conducted raids at different places of the district and Islamic University (IU) campus Saturday and arrested one Islami Chhatra Shibir (ICS) activist.
The arrested ICS worker was identified as Masudur Rahman, a student of Kushtia Alia Madrasa.
Police Saturday arrested four Shibir suspects from a train at Ulapara Rail Station in Sirajgonj. The arrested are Abdullah Al Mamun and Yunus Ali from Barisal, Ruhul Amin from Pabna and Rafiqul Islam from Sirajganj.
BSS reports from Bogra, police on Saturday raided various places of the district and arrested seven activists of Islamic Chhatra Shibir (ICS). The arrested are Sohel Rana, 22, Nurunnabi, 21, Golam Mostafa, 24, Lemon Mia, 22, Mehedi Hassan, 21, Juel Hossain, 20, and Tajul Islam, 22.

 Turkish president assures of support for development
BSS, Dhaka

Turkey will provide support for power generation, transport, information and communication technology (ICT), roads infrastructure and other development sectors of Bangladesh.
The assurance came when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on visiting Turkish President Abdullah Gul at his hotel suite here.
During the meeting, they discussed matters relating to different bilateral issues including expansion of trade and business between the two countries and increasing Turkish investment in Bangladesh for the benefit of the two peoples.
Terming Turkey as a development partner of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina called for Turkish investment, especially in railway and waterway sectors of Bangladesh in a large scale.
When the Bangladesh Premier informed the Turkish president of the prevailing investment-friendly environment in the country, Gul expressed the desire to invest in various sectors in Bangladesh.
Sheikh Hasina also sought Turkish cooperation to set up more power plants in the country to address power crisis in Bangladesh and in the country's shipbuilding, agriculture and electricity sectors. The Prime Minister called upon the Turkish authorities to import the international standard pharmaceuticals, leather and leather goods and apparels from Bangladesh.
Emphasising the need for increasing people-to-people contact and business cooperation between the two brotherly Muslim countries, Sheikh Hasina said Turkish aircraft could make stopovers in the international airports of Bangladesh for the benefit of the two countries.
Both the Turkish President and the Bangladesh Premier underscored the need for expediting activities and inter-country relationship in the United Nations, NAM, OIC and other international and regional forums to this end.
About the existing bilateral relations between the two countries, Sheikh Hasina said both the countries are enjoying excellent relations based on historic and cultural ties.

 BNP threatens movement to oust government
UNB, Dhaka

Main opposition BNP Saturday threatened to launch 'oust-government' movement against what they said the ruling party's taking recourse to politics of killing, repression and plunder and failure to fulfill its election pledges.
Senior leaders of the party and its front and associate organizations also demanded immediate resignation of Home Minister Sahara Khatun for 'totally failing' to maintain law and order, "irresponsible" statements and "partisan role" in dealing with law-and-order situation. In the run-up to the movement, the party announced countrywide seven-day programmes from February 14 to 19 in protest against the recent killing of DCC ward-70 councilor Ahammad Hossain, also the president of Jubodal Dhaka city south unit.
The threat, demand and fresh action programmes came from a rally held at Muktangon in protest against the killing of the DCC councilor and demanding trial of the killing. Dhaka city BNP organized the rally to conclude a 3-day progarmme of BNP in protest against Ahammad's assassination in the old part of the city on Tuesday night.
BNP Standing Committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, who addressed the protest rally as chief guest, announced the fresh programmes.
On February 14, demonstrations will be staged in district headquarters by Jubodal alongside submission of memorandum to the district administrations. On February 15, protest rallies will be held in divisional headquarters by Jubodal while memorandum will be submitted to divisional commissioner offices and demonstrations will also be staged in Dhaka city by Shechhasebok Dal.
On February 16, protest rally will be organized by Jubodal in Dhaka city besides submission of memorandum to the Home Ministry. On February 17, protest rally will take place in all wards of Dhaka city under the aegis of BNP.
Milad Mahfil will be organized by Jubodal on February 18 while on February 19 Dhaka city BNP will arrange protest rallies in all thanas in the capital. Addressing the protest rally Dr Khandaker Mosharraf said, "A fit reply to government's all repressions and killings to curb the opposition will be given through ousting the present BAKSAL government wearing the guise of democracy through tough movement uniting all nationalist and patriotic forces under the leadership of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia." He warned the Awami League government's attempt to perpetuate power through "killing and repression" would not be allowed as the people of Bangladesh did not allow it in the past.
Barrister Moudud Ahmed, another standing-committee member of the party and ex-law minister, said the same scenario and situation that had prevailed during the post-independence AL government in 1972-75 period are now prevailing during the present rule of the Awami League. "Politics of killings, rape, plunder, grabbing land, property and shops, and price hike of essentials had marked the post-independence Awami League regime, and same situation is prevailing once again now," he told the rally. Brig Gen (Retd) Hannan Shah told the gathering that the government would have to be forced to quit through movement as he lamented "there is no security of anybody, including students, businessmen, common people and political leaders".

  Spring Festival celebrated
BSS, Dhaka

From the chilly frosts of winter's gaze to the blooming essence of flowers with divine beauty, Spring has again arrived in its bountiful manner as a blessing for all in Bangladesh to wash away sadness and gloom and glorify life and living afresh.
Yesterday was the first day of Bangla month Falgun. Flowers, bloomed or not, Spring knocks the doors Saturday- Subhash Mukhopadhya's famous poem reminded the Bangalees on Saturday.
The nature lovers sizzled with the celebration of Pahela Falgun at various traditional cultural spots in the city are up with renewed vigour and valour at the first flash of spring.
There is hardly any doubt whether the gardens and jungles across the country are resounded with the fragrance of blossomed flowers, the classic rendezvous of the nature lovers like Bakultala on the premises of Dhaka University's Fine Arts Institute, TSC Square and Rabindra Sarovar-were flooded with 'moving spring flowers' making these places sonorous with their rejoicing footsteps. Attired in traditional 'Bashanti' sarees and Panjabis, males, females, boys, girls, children and juveniles in hundreds thronged these places and greeted each other with their usual cheering smiles and exchanged fresh roses symbolizing the eternal glory of Pahela Falgun.

   Jamaat-Shibir conspiring to destabilise country: Sahara
BSS, Mymensingh

Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun Saturday said anti-liberation Jamaat-Shibir clique has been hatching conspiracies to destabilise the country by deteriorating the law and order situation.
"They have already proved that they are in a deep conspiracy to destabilise the country by killing Farukh Hossain, a brilliant student of Rajshahi University," he said while addressing a law and order meeting as the chief guest in the conference room of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) here.
Chaired by DC Mymen-singh AN Shamsuddin Azad Chowdhury, the meeting was addressed, among others, by State Minister for Cultural Affairs Promod Mankin, Motiur Rahman, MP, Captain (Retd) Gias Uddin, MP, Hayatur Rahman Khan, MP, KM Khaled Babu, MP and Abdus Sattar, MP.
The Home Minister said the Jamaat-Shibir as part of their conspiracies has been killing the leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League all over the country including Rajshahi and Chittagong Universities.
She called upon all including members of the law enforcement agencies to come forward unitedly to face the conspiracies of the anti-liberation forces.
Praising the existing law and order of the district, Sahara Khatun said the government under the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during last one year has been working relentlessly to improve law and order of the country.
She also urged the public and the leaders and workers of Chhatra League to extend their all out support to the law enforcers to save the country from the conspiracy of the Jamaat-Shibir clique.
The Home Minister also said all political cases filed during the four-party alliance government would be withdrawn in phases.
She said the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been working to build Bangabandhu's golden Bengal and implement Vision-2021.

Back Page

5.9% GDP growth in first half of fiscal: Experts
BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a dialogue on Saturday said the country attained 5.9 percent GDP growth during the first half of the current fiscal year (July to December 2009) maintaining a steady economic adva-ncement despite global financial turmoil.
"Bangladesh economy showed its mettle in 2009," they said the country has six months more to achieve six percent growth targeted by the present government.
International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICC,B) and Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) jointly organized the dialogue at the auditorium of Dhaka Cha-mber of Commerce and Ind-ustry (DCCI) in the capital on Saturday.
Executive Director of Board of Investment (BOI) Dr SA Samad addressed the function as the chief guest with former adviser to the caretaker government Professor Wahiuddin Mah-mud in the chair.
ICC,B President Mah-bubur Rah-man, Chairman of SME Foundation Aftab-ul Islam, Chairman of Newage Garm-antes Ltd ASM Quasem, President of BKMEA Fazlul Haque, President of DCCI Abul Kashem Khan, among others, spoke.
Anisur Rahman, Inve-stment Policy Officer of BIFC, presented a survey report titled "Business Con-fidence Survey Highl-ights 2009-2010."
Dr SA Samad said scarcity of power has been identified as one of the major bottlenecks for investment. There are enormous scopes for making investment in this sector.
Mentioning that the country has enormous untapped resources which could not be explored yet, he said discovering those resources, Bangladesh can achieve 8 to 9 percent GDP growth easily.
Prof Wahiuddin Ma-mud said the survey report would help businessmen to know what is happening in the business sector at present.
Referring to the World Bank report titled "Bang-ladesh Strategy for Sust-ained Growth" in 2009, Mahbubur Rahman said Bangladesh could possibly turn into a middle-income country by 2016 if GDP growth continues to sustain a 7.5 percent rate throughout the period.
Quoting a research report of Goldman Sachs released on December 4, 2009, he said Ban-gladesh is one of the 11 countries which have a high potential of becoming a leading economy in the 21st century.
In his paper, Anisur Rahman showed that the business confidence in the country improved in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2009, and is expected to sustain during Q1, 2010.

   Khaleda calls on Abdullah Gul
BD will be happy to see Turkey in EU

BSS, Dhaka

BNP Chairperson and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Begum Khaleda Zia said on Saturday Ban-gladesh will be happy if Turkey would be included in the European Union.
Her comment came when she made a courtesy call-on with Turkish President Abdullah Gul at Hotel Sonargaon in the city.
After the meeting, BNP Vice-President Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury briefed journalists about the meeting.
Welcoming the Turkish President to Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia said existing friendly relations between the two countries would further be strengthened in the days to come.
She laid stress on increasing trade relations between Dhaka and Ankara and said she had a meeting with business leaders of Turkey during her visit to the country as the Prime Minister in 2006. Her visit to Turkey, she said, has helped imp-rove trade relations between the two countries.
Referring to multi-dimensional relationship between the two countries, Abdullah Gul said his country is providing scholarships to Bangladeshi students for higher studies.
He said direct air-link between Bangladesh and Turkey will soon start to strengthen the existing relationships.
The meeting, which lasted for 45 minutes, was attended by BNP Standing Committee Member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, former Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan and Adviser to BNP Chairperson Riaz Rahman.

   SC suspends notification elevating judges
Pak govt and judiciary on collision course

Dawn Online, Islamabad

President Asif Zardari on Saturday elevated the chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Khwaja Sharif as a judge of the Supreme Court. The decision was taken without any consultation with Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, prompting him to take a suo motu notice of the judges' appointment.
On the other hand, senior judge Justice Saqib Nisar has been made the acting Chief Justice of the LHC in place of Justice Khwaja Sharif.
The president's decision conflicted with the reported recommendations of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, who had recommended that Justice Saqib Nisar be made a judge of the Supreme Court.
However, the government seems to have done the opposite as a result of which Chaudhry took a suo motu notice against the decision of the president.
TBT International Desk adds: A special bench constituted comprising three judges suspended notification of the government with regard to judge appointment flouting the CJ's recommendation.
While writing this news, all judges of LHC were at a meeting at the residence of LHC Chief Justice Khwaja Sharif.
According to a BBC report, Justice Saqib Nisar has officially refused to take oath. "I will not take oath as acting Chief Justice of LHC," Justice Saqib Nisar told BBC Urdu in an interview. "I will do what CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asks me to."
The president's decision comes after the SC constituted a five-member bench to hear the case of delays in the judges' appointments earlier today.

   Ekushey Book Fair witnesses Pahela Falgun festivity
BSS, Dhaka

Joy and festivity marked the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Saturday on the occasion of Pahela Falgun drawing a huge crowd, including young girls and boys in colourful traditional dresses.
Girls attired in yellow sarees and boys in punjabis in large number gathered on the Bangla Academy premises to welcome Falgun as well as to browse books at the fair.
A total of 127 titles hit the fair on the 13th day of the month-long event with collections of poems dominating the list. The day's arrivals included 27 collections of poems, 19 collections of stories, 23 novels and five collections of essays. A number of books were also launched at the Writers' Corner.
Visitors were found searching collections of poems and novels written by popular writers and poets. Readers mostly browsed the books of Syed Shamsul Haq, Al Mahmud, Mahadev Saha, Rafiq Azad, Nirmalendu Goon, Humayun Ahmed, Ahsan Habib, Selina Hossain, Imdadul Huq Milon, Anisul Haque and Mohit Kamal on the day.
Nur-e-Zannat Jui, a college student, who was at the fair wearing yellow sari, said, 'Like nature, we the young girls like to say goodbye to the old by wearing colourful dresses.'
Poet Al Mahmud said, 'From the time immemorial Bengalee poets have been celebrating the change of seasons notably the Falgun. I enjoy this change in nature. This is a good sign that a large number of young girls in yellow sarees visited the fair on Pahela Falgun this year.'
Sales of books were, however, the highest at the second weekend of the fair after its opening, publishers of different publishing houses said. The fair drew huge crowds and were seen buying books at different stalls since the morning as the fair opened at 11:00am for weekly holiday. Young boys and girls also exchanged books. The day's hot item was volumes of poems especially those having messages of love. A salesman of Anyapraskh said books on romantic novels and poems by different poets and writers were on high demand. Humayun Ahmed's titles were also sold well.
Salesmen of Anwesha, Agami Prakashani, Samay Prakashan, Oitijjhya and others echoed the same. Some publishing houses and stalls of socio-cultural organisations sold greeting cards inscribed with love poems and illustrations.
The Bangla Academy, as part of its regular programmes, held a discussion on 'The Language Movement'.

    First unit of Siddhirganj 120 mw power plant goes into operation today

BSS, Dhaka

One hundred and twenty megawatt more electricity will be added to the national grid from today (Sunday) as the first unit of Siddhirganj peaking power plant goes into operation.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to open the 120-mw power plant at 10 am.
Power Development Board (PDB) sources told BSS on Saturday that Electric Generation Company Ltd (EGCL), a sister concern of PDB, with the technical assistance of Bharat Heavy Electric Limited (BHEL) constructed the plant at a cost of Taka 1,100 crore.
"The construction work of the second unit of the Siddhirganj 120-mw peaking power plant will be completed by this year," the sources said, adding that EGCL is also setting up the plant with technical assistance of BHEL spending Taka 1,100 crore.
The sources said 630-mw electricity was added to the national grid after the Awami League-led grand alliance government assumed power on January 6 last year.
The country now produces 3,800-4,000-mw electricity against the present demand of 5,000-mw, the sources said. The previous AL government during its five-year tenure from 1996 added 1,570-mw electricity to the national grid, while the present AL government has set a target to make the country self- reliant in power by 2014, the sources added.
President M Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have expressed happiness that the first unit of Siddhirganj 120- mw power plant is going to be inaugurated today.
In separate messages, they hoped that the newly built plant would play an important role in meeting the growing demand for power in the country.

    Four children burnt alive in Ctg fire
BSS, Chittagong

Four brothers and sisters of same family, mostly minors were burnt alive, two others critically injured in a fire at a slum at Shantibag under Baizeed Bostami thana Saturday morning.
The fire broke out at a thatched house of Hosne Ara Begum at Ali Basti of Mohammadpur Colony at around 3 :00 am from a kerosene lamp and spread to four adjacent house in the slum. The fire was brought under control at around 4:30am, Fire service sources said Hosne Ara's four children who were asleep and trapped in the blaze.
They are identified as Nurunnabi, 10, Salauddin, 7, Alauddin, 5, and Tanzina, 4 Hosne Ara, wife of late Ali Mia was not in the house during the fire. Two people were also injured and admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

    9 BCL activists suspended for attacking journalists
BSS, Rajshahi University

Rajshahi University (RU) unit of Bangladesh Chh-atra League (BCL) on Saturday suspended membership of its nine workers for attacking journalists on the university campus on February 11.
The workers were Juwel, Rockey, Minnath, Roney, Delwar Hossain, Billal, Masud, Nayon and Monir. The suspension was made in a statement signed by Pres-ident of BCL RU unit Awal Kabir Joy and General Secretary Mazedul Islam Apu.
Five journalists and photojournalists were beaten severely by a group of BCL activists on Thursday on Rajshahi University (RU) campus.

 Road crashes kill 6, injure 32
TBT News Desk

At least six people were killed and 32 others injured in six separate road accidents in four districts on Friday and Saturday, according to news agencies.
In Gazipur, a security guard of Hamim Garment was crushed under the wheels of a bus on Abdullahpur EPZ road Saturday. The deceased was identified as Ataur Rahman, 34.
In Manikganj, a man was killed and 20 others were injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck at Baniajuri on Dhaka-Aricha highway.
In Rajbari, two women were killed in separate road accidents on Friday-Saturday. Meanwhile, another woman, Basanti Rani,58, was killed when a microbus plunged into a ditch at Majlishpur village on Dhaka-Khulna highway on Friday night.
In Rajbari, two housewives were killed and 12 others injured in two separate road mishaps in two upazilas of the district Friday and Saturday.
Pangsha thana police said the victim was identified as Bashanti Rani, 45, wife of Upendra Narayan Sheel of village Gangaprashadpur in Rajbari sadar upazila of the district. Another housewife was killed at Mojlishpur in Rajbari sadar upazila Sat-urday. Police said the victim was identified as Shobha Rani, 50, wife of Moti Roy of village Nehalpur under Shibaloy thana in Manikgang district. Two separate cases were filed.

 Amartya Sen stresses combined efforts to resolve health, education problems

UNB, Dhaka

Nobel Laureate and eminent economist Prof Dr Amartya Sen Saturday underscored the need for taking multilateral and combine efforts to resolve problems in health and education sectors in two neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and India.
"We can solve the complications from health and education sectors using multilateral approach. We have to consider how we can enhance the participation of the government and non-government organizations (NGOs) to address these sectors," he said while addressing a press conference at the BRAC Center Inn in the city after the first day of the Indo-Bangladesh dialogue.
BRAC, a leading non-government organization, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and Pratichi Trust in association with UNICEF, Bangladesh, jointly organized the two-day dialogue on Health and Education: Learning from Neighbours. Referring to the high rate of child and maternal mortality in Bangladesh and India, Amartya Sen said it is one of the top problems in the south Asia region.
"The women are always neglected in this region and most of the children face the health complications because of negligence to mothers," he said. He also stressed the need for taking initiatives to reduce malnutrition, under nourishment, under weight problem of children for better improvement of the health sector in both countries.
Recalling examples of the European counties and Japan, Dr Sen they have successfully improved their health and education sectors within a short period. "We are to learn from those countries for the development of our health and education sectors."
He also urged the government and non government organizations and civil society members to come forward for playing a comprehensive and effective role to solve the problems. Replying to a query, Dr Sen said that the quality and effectiveness of the education can be raised by cutting the dropout rate of children from primary school. School feeding will also reduce the dropouts, he added. CDP Chairman Rehman Sohban and UNICEF resident representative in Bangladesh Carel de Rooy were also present at the press conference.

Editorial

The vexing tailbacks

The capital Dhaka is gripped by vexing tailbacks and heading possibly for being a dysfunctional city. This has been apprehended in a report circulated by UNB news agency on Friday. According to the report, with an increasing number of new vehicles hitting the city streets everyday, officials concerned fear that capital Dhaka may turn into a dysfunctional city within a couple of years. According to statistics, nearly 524,000 vehicles now ply the city streets everyday against 3.03 lakh in 2003, creating vexing tailbacks. The vehicles include nearly 1,47,000 private cars, 59,000 microbuses and jeeps, 29,000 lorries, 8,300 passenger buses, 8,320 minibuses, 6,272 taxicabs, CNG-run auto-rickshaws and auto-tempos 19,591. Besides, the number of motorbikes is 217,800.
BRTA officials said 125 motor vehicles are getting registered on an average everyday and 3,750 vehicles are hitting the city streets on an average every month. If this trend of registering new vehicles continues for the next two years, the already overcrowded city streets would simply be exhausted turning the capital into a stalled city. Dhaka City with 250-300 kilometres of roads has space for around 1.5 lakh vehicles. In other words the number of vehicles is around four times the capacity of the streets in the capital.
In 2007-08, nearly 87,500 new vehicles were registered in Dhaka City while innumerable non-mechanized vehicles like rickshaws, pushcarts and rickshaw vans came on to the streets. But only one kilometre new road was constructed in the last three years. There is no adequate number of traffic police to deal with the situation as only 730 people have been recruited to DMP (traffic) in the last six years.
All these are old stories told afresh only to highlight the gravity of the situation prevailing now. The government is alive to the crisis and is trying to resolve it through various steps, but the progress is very little. In the latest such move, the cabinet on February 1, approved a proposal for dividing the Dhaka city into seven zones and staggered weekly holidays for markets, shopping malls and commercial organizations in those regions for resolving the nagging traffic problem in the city. Those in administration also hope that the move will contribute to reducing the electricity crisis and loadshedding in the capital.
Traffic congestion is a major problem the city dwellers have been facing for long. In the recent past a number of measures have been taken to resolve the traffic jam crisis, which include re-fixing office timings, rescheduling school hours, introducing automatic traffic signalling system and the three- lane traffic system. There have been some initial success, but by now the city has returned to the old terrible situation. Now traffic jam is the common scene in almost all the busy roads of the city. And the city dwellers are suffering as before.
The traffic jam crisis is deep-rooted and it is unlikely to be resolved suddenly. Rather, the problem may continue to aggravate further and as has been apprehended in the UNB report, the vexing tailbacks may ultimately make Dhaka a dysfunctional city. So, attempts should be made to find out ways to resolve the traffic jam crisis permanently. As the traffic jams are created mainly due to the overcrowding of the roads by excessive number of vehicles, unauthorised parking of vehicles and criminal violation of traffic rules, these problems should be addressed extensively to ease the situation. The workforce of the traffic department should also be enhanced to deal with the situation. Above all, the old, unfit vehicles and unauthorized rickshaws should be driven out of the roads immediately.

  Extortion on the rise

Extortion is on the rise across the country and in some cases violent incidents are also taking place over it. According to a national daily, an Awami Swechchasebak League activist was beaten to death by a mob after he stabbed a man to death for refusing to pay extortion money in Bogra on Friday. The deceased were identified as Habibur Rahman Jewel, 28, president of Awami Swechchasebak League Nandigram unit and supervisor of Omorpur Haat Yusuf Ali, 50. Yusuf's son Shamsul Alam was also injured in the incident as he tried to resist the extortionist. A group of extortionists led by Jewel demanded money from Yusuf and at one stage of brawl, Jewel knifed Yusuf injuring him grievously. Yusuf died on way to hospital. Hearing the news, local people and businessmen rushed to the spot and beat Jewel who succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
Jewel has paid for his crime, but what is the consolation of the death of Yousuf? He had to die for no fault of his own other than refusing to pay extortion money. Like many others, he fell victim to the crime of a criminal disguised as a political activist.
Massive extortion in the country is a major problem as it continues to disrupt law and order and cause spurt in the prices of essentials that affects the consumers severely. Demands have been made by different quarters for urgent steps to stop extortion and the government leaders also pledged repeatedly to take stern measures in this regard. But unfortunately no tangible results have yet been yielded. People are the worst sufferers and they want extortion to be stopped at any cost. The sooner it can be done, the better both for the government and the people.

Analysis

Pakistan-India talks

The decision also shows, once again, that Indian coercive diplomacy against Pakistan cannot succeed.

Dr Rashid Ahmad Khan

In a significant development, Pakistan and India have moved to soon open bilateral talks at foreign secretaries' level on an open-ended agenda that is also likely to cover the water issue and counter-terrorism. The move comes after more than 14 months of hiatus in relations between the two countries following the November 26, 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The attacks led to unilateral suspension of the four year old Composite Dialogue process under which Islamabad and New Delhi had completed four rounds of bilateral talks for resolving their disputes, including the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. Defying persistent calls from Pakistan as well as from the other leading members of the international community, the Indians had made the resumption of the Composite Dialogue process contingent on what they called credible progress by Pakistan on the prosecution of those suspected to be involved in the Mumbai attacks. Although no dramatic breakthrough is expected, the initiative is a welcome development for easing tension between the two countries, which was escalating due to a communication break and a spate of hostile statements from both sides.
The move has also come amidst the mix of hope and despair witnessed during the last more than one year, regarding the prospects of the revival of the peace process. It was believed, and even some leading sections of the Indian media shared this belief, that the conclusion of the 15th Lok Sabha elections in May last year would enable the new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to restart talks with Pakistan; but the bellicose rhetoric by the Indian leaders foreshadowed the prospects, if there were any, for bringing the peace process again on track. Hopes were again rekindled when President Asif Ali Zardari met the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in Yekaterinburg (Russia) in June 2009 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and discussed with him the prospects of resumption of the Composite Dialogue. As a follow up, Pakistan's High Commissioner in India, Shahid Malik, met India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon in New Delhi on June 23, 2009 to set a date for talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries, but agreement on a new date could not be reached. However, the two countries continued their efforts in search of some meeting point to resume peace talks, which both sides considered essential for normalisation of their relations and resolution of their bilateral disputes. On July 11, Prime Minister Singh, on arriving back at New Delhi airport after attending the G-8 Conference in Rome, disclosed that following his meeting with President Zardari in Russia, the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad, Sharat Sabharwal had met Pakistan's ISI chief and several other high officials in Islamabad in a bid to prepare the ground for revival of peace talks. But these contacts seemed to have made little headway, as Pakistan accused India of dragging its feet on talks because of internal expediencies and the Indian leaders insisted that the atmosphere was not conducive for moving ahead.
The meeting between Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2009 gave a real boost to these hopes, as the two leaders agreed in a joint statement to de-link the issue of terrorism from the Composite Dialogue and proposed a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries during the UN General Assembly Annual Session in New York in September. Pakistan again called for the resumption of the Composite Dialogue, asserting that it was the only way to bring about peace and stability in South Asia by resolving bilateral disputes between Pakistan and India. This call was made by President Zardari in his address to the UN General Assembly Annual Session on September 25 in New York. Although there was no breakthrough on the resumption of the Composite Dialogue, the two countries continued to interact with each other in other areas. There was a meeting in New Delhi between the commerce secretaries of Pakistan and India early in September last year to discuss trade and commerce issues. Speaking about the bright prospects for bilateral trade between the two countries, Pakistan's Commerce Secretary Suleman Ghani had emphasised the resumption of the Composite Dialogue, as it could take annual bilateral trade to $10 billion within 5-6 years from the present level of only $2 billion a year. As a further sign of goodwill, Pakistan, responding to a long-standing request by India, agreed to provide its rail and road facilities for trade with Afghanistan. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect was signed by Pakistan's Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim on September 30, 2009.
Despite these encouraging developments, however, the issue of the resumption of the Composite Dialogue remained unresolved. On the contrary, the relations between the two countries seemed to be sliding back to the pre-2004 phase of rising tensions and mounting hostility. There were skirmishes across the Line of Control (LoC) and clashes across the international border in Punjab; each side accusing the other of 'unprovoked firing'. The repeated incidents of firing across the LoC were particularly worrying, because these incidents threatened to end the six year old ceasefire along the boundary in Kashmir, which was hailed as the most successful Confidence Building Measure (CBM) between Pakistan and India. The Indian Army Chief's statement on his country's strategic doctrine to develop the capability of fighting simultaneously on the Chinese and Pakistani fronts and the reaction from the Pakistani military leadership, added fuel to the fire in an already explosive situation. Resort to coercive diplomacy by India to get Pakistani compliance on the Mumbai terrorist attacks had already alienated Pakistani public opinion; the threatening statements from the Indian military and political leadership, and the treatment meted out to Pakistani cricketers in IPL selection led to the renewal of the old blame game between Islamabad and New Delhi. The elements in both countries who had never reconciled to peace and normalisation between Pakistan and India were quick to exploit the prevailing situation with their agenda of undermining any chance for peace between the two countries. Prime Minister Gilani was right when, early in September 2009, he said in a statement in Karachi that continued suspension of the Composite Dialogue between Pakistan and India could be exploited by the terrorists.
The decision by Pakistan and India to hold a meeting at foreign secretaries' level is fundamentally motivated by a desire by the two countries to prevent a further downslide in their bilateral relations. The decision also shows, once again, that Indian coercive diplomacy against Pakistan cannot succeed. The constant pressure from the international community, which nervously saw Pakistan-India relations relapsing into acrimony and hostility, is also an important factor in pushing these South Asian neighbours to the negotiating table once again. The fast changing geo-political scenario in the region, particularly expected developments after the London Conference on Afghanistan, has also impelled Pakistan and India to revisit their positions vis-à-vis terrorism and peace talks.

The writer can be reached at rashid_khan192@yahoo.com

  Obama’s secret prisons in Afghanistan

Yet a string of recent exposes has shown that Obama is in fact maintaining a battery of secret prisons where people are held without charge indefinitely - and he is even expanding them.

Johan Hari

Osama Bin Laden's favorite son, Omar, recently abandoned his father's cave in favor of spending his time dancing and drooling in the nightclubs of Damascus. The tang of freedom almost always trumps fanaticism in the end: Three million people abandoned the hell of Taleban Afghanistan for freer countries, while only a few thousand fanatics ever traveled the other way. Osama's vision can't even inspire his own kids. But Omar Bin Laden says his father is banking on one thing to shore up his flailing, failing cause - and we are giving it to him.
The day George W. Bush was elected, Omar says, "my father was so happy. This is the kind of president he needs - one who will attack and spend money and break (his own) country". Osama wanted the US and Europe to make his story about the world ring true in every mosque and every mountaintop and every souq. He said our countries were bent on looting Muslim countries of their resources, and any talk of civil liberties or democracy was a hypocritical facade. The jihadis I have interviewed - from London to Gaza to Syria - said their ranks swelled with each new whiff of Bushism as more and more were persuaded. It was like trying to extinguish fire with a blowtorch.
The revelations this week about how the CIA and British authorities handed over a suspected jihadi to torturers in Pakistan may sound at first glance like a hangover from the Bush years. Barack Obama was elected, in part, to drag us out of this trap - but in practice he is dragging us further in. He is escalating the war in Afghanistan, and has taken the war to another Muslim country. The CIA and hired mercenaries are now operating on Obama's orders inside Pakistan, where they are sending unmanned drones to drop bombs and sending secret agents to snatch suspects. The casualties are overwhelmingly civilians. We may not have noticed, but the Muslim world has: Check out Al Jazeera any night.
Obama ran on an inspiring promise to shut down Bush's network of kidnappings and secret prisons. He said bluntly: "I do not want to hear this is a new world and we face a new kind of enemy. I know that... but as a parent I can also imagine the terror I would feel if one of my family members were rounded up in the middle of the night and sent to Guantanamo without even getting one chance to ask why they were being held and being able to prove their innocence." He said it made the US "less safe" because any gain in safety by Gitmo-ing one suspected jihadi - along with dozens of innocents - is wiped out by the huge number of young men tipped over into the vile madness of jihadism by seeing their brothers disappear into a vast military machine where they may never be heard from again. Indeed, following the failed attack in Detroit, Obama pointed out the wannabe-murderer named Guantanamo as the reason he signed up for the jihad.
Yet a string of recent exposes has shown that Obama is in fact maintaining a battery of secret prisons where people are held without charge indefinitely - and he is even expanding them.
The Kabul-based journalist Anand Gopal has written a remarkable expose for The Nation magazine. His story begins in the Afghan village of Zaiwalat at 3.15 a.m. on the night of Nov. 19, 2009. A platoon of US soldiers blasted their way into a house in search of Habib ur-Rahman, a young computer programmer and government employee who they had been told by someone, somewhere was a secret Talebanist. His two cousins came out to see what the noise was - and they were shot to death. As the children of the house screamed, Habib was bundled into a helicopter and whisked away. He has never been seen since. His family do not know if he is alive or dead.
This is not an unusual event in Afghanistan today. In this small village of 300 people, some 16 men have been "disappeared" by the US and 10 killed in night raids in the past two years. The locals believe people are simply settling old clan feuds by telling the Americans their rivals are jihadists. Habib's cousin Qarar, who works for the Afghan government, says: "I used to go on TV and argue that people should support the government and the foreigners. But I was wrong. Why should anyone do so?"
Where are all these men vanishing to? Obama ordered the closing of the CIA's secret prisons, but not those run by Joint Special Operations. They maintain a Bermuda Triangle of jails with the notorious Bagram Air Base at its center. One of the few outsiders has been into this ex-Soviet air-hangar is the military prosecutor Stuart Couch. He says: "In my view, having visited Guantanamo several times, the Bagram facility made Guantanamo look like a nice hotel. The men did not appear to be able to move around at will, they mostly sat in rows on the floor. It smelled like the monkey house at the zoo."
We know that at least two innocent young men were tortured to death in Bagram. Der Spiegel has documented how some "inmates were raped with sticks or threatened with anal sex".
The accounts of released prisoners suggest the very worst abuses stopped in the last few years of the Bush administration, and Obama is supposed to have forbidden torture, but it's hard to tell. We do know Obama has permitted the use of solitary confinement lasting for years - a process that often drives people insane. The International Red Cross has been allowed to visit some of them, but in highly restricted circumstances, and their reports remain confidential. In this darkness, abuse becomes far more likely.
The Obama administration is appealing against US court rulings insisting the detainees have the right to make a legal case against their arbitrary imprisonment. And the White House is insisting they can forcibly snatch anyone they suspect from anywhere in the world - with no legal process - and take them there. Yes: Obama is fighting for the principles behind Guantanamo Bay. The frenzied debate about whether the actual camp in Cuba is closed is a distraction, since he is proposing to simply relocate it to less sunny climes.
Once you vanish into this system, you have no way to get yourself out. The New York lawyer Tina Foster represents three men who were kidnapped by US forces in Thailand, Pakistan and Dubai and bundled to Bagram, where they have been held without charge for seven years now. She tells me there have been "shockingly few improvements" under Obama. "The Bush administration rubbed our faces in it, while Obama's much smoother. But the reality is still indefinite detention without charge for people who are judged guilty simply by association. It's contrary to everything we stand for as a country... I know there are children (in there) from personal experience. I have interviewed dozens of children who were detained in Bagram, some as young as 10."
Today, Bagram is being given a $60m expansion, allowing it to hold five times as many prisoners as Guantanamo Bay currently does. Gopal reports that the abuse is leaking out to other, more secretive sites across Afghanistan. They are so underground they are known only by the names given to them by released inmates - the Salt Pit, the Prison of Darkness. Obama also asserts his right to hand over the prisoners to countries that commit torture, provided they give a written "assurance" they won't be "abused" - assurances that have proved worthless in the past. The British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith estimates there are 18,000 people trapped in these "legal black holes" by the US.
As Obama warned in the distant days of the election campaign, these policies place us all in greater danger. Matthew Alexander, the senior interrogator in Iraq who tracked down Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, says: "I listened time and time again to captured foreign fighters cite Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo as their main reason for coming to Iraq to fight... We have lost hundreds if not thousands of American lives because of our policy." The increased risk bleeds out onto the London Underground and the nightclubs of Bali. I oppose these policies precisely because I want to be safe, and I loathe jihadism.
President Obama has been tossing aside the calm jihad-draining insights of candidate Obama for a year now. Whenever Obama acts like Bush, listen carefully - you will hear the distant, delighted chuckle of Osama Bin Laden, and the needless stomp of fresh recruits heading his way.

Viewpoints

Same talk and little action

Obama finds himself tackling a big agenda, with little to show as he steps up his bipartisanship preaching and tries to lead a country once again decidedly angry.

Jennifer Loven & Liz Sidoti 

Barack Obama's words and goals have remained uncannily the same, from the bone-chilling steps of Illinois' Old State Capitol where he announced his candidacy exactly three years ago Wednesday to the snow-whipped presidential mansion where he sits today.
Yet, his big calls for change are unfulfilled in almost every way.
"Washington has a long way to go. And it won't be easy," Obama said on Feb. 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois.
No kidding. Judging by Obama's long-on-ideas, short-on-accomplishment record, he's certainly found that to be true. Most presidents don't get all they promise o especially the biggest things o in their first year in office, and Obama has only just entered the second year of his term.
What's more, he couldn't have foreseen back at the beginning the state of the country he'd be taking over if he won his improbable White House bid. There was no crushing recession. Wall Street was alive. American auto companies weren't failing. Unemployment wasn't heading rapidly toward double-digits.
But even though Obama stepped into a White House with far more on his plate than he'd expected, he didn't pare back his agenda. He chose to use the political capital he'd earned in the election to reach for as much as he could.
On that freezing February day three years ago, he mapped his agenda outside the building where Abraham Lincoln began his political career. Obama wrapped his speech in lofty language about uniting the nation. He portrayed himself as the new blood that was needed o and able o to lead a new generation to accomplish new feats. Though he was a US senator, Obama talked of being an outsider, with an outsider's disgust with Washington's ways and an outsider's fresh solutions.
"We can build a more hopeful America," he said. "I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change." He defined that change with specifics:
l Reduce partisanship to produce a new, better-functioning political climate.
l End the war in Iraq and bring American combat troops home.
l Reshape the economy for the future with investments in education and new approaches to energy, immigration and health care.
l Achieve universal health care by the end of his first term.
l Rebuild America's image in the world, not least to bolster the fight against terrorism.
Those remain Obama's chief priorities. With health care and other big parts of his agenda at risk, his rhetoric today often sounds remarkably similar to his Springfield remarks.
In his 2007 announcement speech, he said, "What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics o the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems."
And listen to him Tuesday, before reporters in the White House briefing room. "At this critical time in our country, the people who sent us here expect a seriousness of purpose that transcends petty politics," he said. "I won't hesitate to embrace a good idea from my friends in the minority party, but I also won't hesitate to condemn what I consider to be obstinacy that's rooted not in substantive disagreements but in political expedience."
Obama himself has always been a politician who sets big goals but is willing to compromise on the details. Certainly, he's had some successes in his first year, including expanding the children's health insurance program and getting Congress to pass a $787 billion economic stimulus plan. And yet progress is scant on all the largest fronts he laid out three years ago:
l Washington is just as divided now as then, if not more so.
l America is still at war in Iraq.
l The economy is on the mend and Obama has made investments in education. But his efforts to curb climate change and overhaul the nation's immigration system are stalled.
It's almost as if, standing in Illinois, Obama foretold the future, saying: "Too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and the special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own."
Just three years later, Obama finds himself tackling a big agenda, with little to show as he steps up his bipartisanship preaching and tries to lead a country once again decidedly angry.

  What options left?  

Many Palestinians, Arabs and peace advocates the world over are sick and tired of Israel's games regarding the so-called peace process.

Ahmad Y. Majdoubeh    

Many Palestinians, Arabs and peace advocates the world over are sick and tired of Israel's games regarding the so-called peace process.
Arabs, being geographically close to Israel and directly affected by its expansionist and occupying policies, knew from the beginning that Israel, unlike its claims, is not serious about peace. It is too full of power and arrogance to accept what is axiomatic in civilised society: good neighbourliness, and living and letting live.
This is no clearer than now. The Israeli government is paying lip service to peace, confiscating Palestinian land and evicting Palestinians from their homes on daily basis - actions which go against all peace efforts.
As a matter of fact, the statements that the Israeli government issues regarding peace illustrate Israel's shrewdness and deception. When it says, for example, that it wants peace negotiations without preconditions, it is committing two sins: first, what is required are not negotiations (the Palestinians and Israelis have negotiated for decades) but implementation of the agreements that emerged as a result of these negotiations (which Israel is refusing to implement) and two, it is already creating facts on the ground which become de facto preconditions.
Swallowing Palestinian lands, evicting Palestinians from their homes, expanding settlements are flagrant examples of Israel's subversion of the peace process.
What should Palestinians and Arabs do in light of Israel's intentions and actions?
Much as I hate to say it, they should stop hoping that Israel will convert and become a peace advocate. Continuing to hope hopelessly for peace is wasting valuable time.
Hopes and dreams regarding Middle East peace, as in other contexts in life, should be based on realistic expectations and concrete evidence on the ground. All indications coming from Israel, both as a government and as a society, illustrate that it is not serious about peace. On the contrary, it is working on deliberately subverting peace.
Concerted efforts and concrete plans are needed, which aim at rescuing what is left of Palestine and preventing Israel from further changing the character of Jerusalem and of the occupied Palestinian territories. This is something the Palestinians and Arabs can do, if they put their minds to it, in collaboration with concerned parties in the international community.
Let's turn the tables on Israel: let's demand from Israel real, concrete changes before we accept to "resume" peace talks with it.
Peace is not just in the interest of the Palestinians and the Arabs; it is in the interest of Israel as well. Like us, Israel should hope for peace and work hard to achieve it.
Until that happens, we view Israel's talk about peace as no more than a cover-up for its sinister plans on the ground. This is a reality which the Palestinians, Arabs and peace advocates throughout the world have to come to terms with and face. It seems to me that under the present circumstances, Middle East peace is not an option anymore.

  Invest in the people

Joseph Biden has said he sees Pakistan as the most dangerous country in the world, given the combination of its fragile democracy and deployable nuclear weapons, together with its radicalised extremist minority.

Kamila Hyat    

US vice president Joseph Biden has said he sees Pakistan as the most dangerous country in the world, given the combination of its fragile democracy and deployable nuclear weapons, together with its radicalised extremist minority.
Mr Biden, in his interview with CNN, has also suggested that Pakistan needs to act on calls to step up the urgency with which it is combating terrorism.
The comments come on the heels of insinuations from other US officials that they believe the Pakistani establishment could still be maintaining links with the militants.
All this gives reason for careful thought.
There is, of course, an acute awareness within the country of the threat under which we constantly live. Pakistanis' reluctance to visit public places is just one manifestation of this fear. But the explosive nature of Pakistan's overall situation, quite beyond the issue of bomb blasts and other kinds of terrorist attacks, is one that needs to be thought about harder.
There is at least an element of truth in Mr Biden's words. It would be hard even for the more optimistic among us to deny this. The question we then need to ask is: what is to be done to alter this reality, and to make our country a safer place, especially for those of us who actually live in Pakistan?
The issue of extremism quite evidently lies at the heart of the problems faced by the country. Therefore, the solutions to those problems also centre on it. It can be said without doubt that the militancy needs to be tackled with urgency.
The authorities that make decisions also need to explain to us citizens why they have been so reluctant to go after some categories of militants. Ranking among these are militants based in southern Punjab, as well as the Afghan Taliban.
It is also a fact that people remain sceptical about whether the militants have truly been vanquished as a result of the military operations, which continue in the northern parts of the country. Many people in Swat and elsewhere fear that the militants will make a return once the troops pull back.
The scenario painted by some American think-tanks, of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the extremists, remains an unlikely one. The arsenal is, after all, well secured. But it is not entirely inconceivable that this situation could one day change. Of course, the consequences of this cannot even be contemplated.
The priority for now must, therefore, be to make Pakistan a safer place. The most feasible way of doing so is by investing more in its people, and thus pulling them away from the influence and grasp of the militants.


The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor. Email: kamilahyat @hotmail.com

  Shiv Sena’s Desperate Gamble to Survive

This time there are many targets. The Sena has attacked Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan and now Rahul Gandhi.

Sidharth Bhatia    

Periodically, the Shiv Sena, the parochial regional party that once ruled Maharashtra along with its ally, launches a campaign for the ostensible protection of the sons of the soil, the Marathi manoos (Marathi people).
In its four decades of history, there have been many such programmes-the party first began by asking south Indians to get out of the city, then shifted for a brief moment to Gujaratis, then became an aggressive, anti-Muslim, Hindutva spouting party and is now railing against "north Indians" which translates as Biharis and UPiites.
In addition is its anti-Pakistan rhetoric, which is wheeled out from time to time. The build up and aftermath is more or less consistent-there is some rhetoric, some slogan shouting, occasionally some stray violence against common people and then it all subsides till the next time. It helps to have a high profile target to raise the ante of the campaign.
This time there are many targets.
The Sena has attacked Sachin Tendulkar, Mukesh Ambani, Shah Rukh Khan and now Rahul Gandhi. Shah Rukh has been criticised for saying the IPL should have hired Pakistani players and the others for emphasising the constitutionally correct position that Mumbai belongs to all, not just to Marathi speakers.
The Sena has also "warned" Shah Rukh Khan and darkly hinted that he lives in Mumbai and should be prepared to face the consequences. Mumbaikars are worried that more violence is in store, especially since the ruling combine's past record in managing such trouble is far from heartening.
We have been here before. Nearly two decades ago, the Sena had targetted Dilip Kumar after he got the Nishan-e-Pakistan award. Party activists shouted slogans outside his house and took off their clothes to create a spectacle. Only recently MLAs of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), which is the breakaway group of the Shiv Sena attacked fellow MLA Abu Azmi for taking his legislative oath in Hindi. Periodically, north Indian taxi drivers are beaten up by MNS members. So the threat of violence is real.
The bigger question is: what prompted the Shiv Sena to suddenly start firing on these old issues? The Mumbai-is-for-local plank has been around for years. Why did the Sena raise it now?
To understand this, one has to look back on the last few years. The last five years or so have been the worst in the party's existence. Two leading stalwarts-Narayan Rane and Raj Thackeray-and countless other mid-level office bearers have left the Shiv Sena out of disenchantment at the way it is shaping up. The say the party has lost its way and under Uddhav Thackeray, the supremo Bal Thackeray's son, it has gone into the hands of a small coterie which is keeping old loyalists out.
Raj Thackeray's departure was a major shock, since he was a nephew and close to the party chief. Raj's new organisation the MNS has already demonstrated its nuisance value. In the last general elections the party's candidates cut into the votes of the Shiv Sena in Mumbai and other neighbouring places to the extent that the Sena lost at least four seats, which it could have won.
The situation repeated itself in the state elections in October 2009, when the MNS won 13 seats. The Shiv Sena got 44, a drastic fall from the previous figure of 62. What is more, the Sena came second to its ally the BJP, which made it the junior partner.
The party has been smarting under this humiliation. One of the fallouts was that in the dying months of 2009, Bal Thackeray, who had been keeping a low profile because of health reasons, decided to once again take charge of his party's day to day affairs.
The difference in the way the party functions has been palpable; its newspaper Saamna has become more aggressive and once again there is a sense of direction. The recent campaigns are a direct result of this new-found aggression and all the hallmarks of Bal Thackeray's style are visible in them, from the content to the language and to the tactics. This has made the Sena's key ally the BJP uncomfortable. Faced with an election in Bihar, it has made sure that it disassociates itself from the anti-north Indian platform and has fallen back on the RSS to make that clear.
The BJP cannot afford-yet-to take the Shiv Sena head on though the party chief Nitin Gadkari would be happy to break of ties. The Sena has no alternative but to raise the ante-it is now a question of survival.
If young voters drift towards the MNS and even its own ally starts getting restive, then something must be done to get back lost ground and launching a pro-native campaign is the only way to do it. The party is suffering from lack of imaginative leadership and depleting loyalists in key positions; it knows only its old, familiar tactics.
There is a real danger the old style strategies won't work any more. If the party continues to haemorrhage soldiers and voters, then in the next few years it will be reduced to its former self. The MNS will emerge as the key representative of Marathi speakers. In which case the Sena will become irrelevant. This is therefore a desperate gamble to survive.

Sidharth Bhatia is a journalist based in Mumbai.

International

Secret Document Bares Indian Subversion in Pakistan
APP, New Delhi

Even as India and Pakistan were actively engaged in laying a framework for normalizing their relations in the aftermath of Operation Parkaram (Dec 2001- Oct 2002), R&AW's Counter Intelligence Team X (CIT-X), assigned to conduct subversive operations targeting Pakistan was working relentlessly to destabilize the country.
According to well placed sources, the details of these plans came to light once a copy of the classified document detailing these activities was accidentally lost and became available for public scrutiny.
The strategy to advance the interaction with Pakistan on the diplomatic channels, while perpetrating acts of terrorism on a parallel track was envisaged after the failure of Indian spell of coercive diplomacy vis-a-vis Pakistan during the Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpaee.
The document lays out the extensive espionage network dovetailed into the diplomatic missions in Central Asia, particularly Afghanistan and Middle East which the Indian under-cover intelligence operatives utilize to rake trouble not only in FATA but in Pakistani hinterland as well.
As per details given in the purloined paper, agents for anti-Pakistan subversion were trained in 57 training camps established in the IHK, East Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Assam.
Activists of anti Pakistan nationalist groups were the focus of Indian search for recruits who received cash, weapons and ammunitions from undercover RAW operatives masquerading as Al Qaeda agents. While sections of the Taliban have been named as perpetrators of some of the most heinous and bloody acts of subversion in Pakistan, it were their Indian handlers who manipulated the invisible strings. Mossad's tactics of infiltrating Palestinian resistance acted as model and provided the modus operandi for CIT - X to stir insurgency on Pakistan's Western border than, hitherto fore, had remained free from a military threat.
Apart from concentrating on the FATA Region, stoking the fires of sub-national movements in Pakistan can be identified as one of the vulnerable area where Indian Agencies are focused, reveals the document.
Targeting interior regions of Sind province, Seraiki belt and the Northern Areas of Pakistan forms pivots of the Indian plan, receiving riveting and ceaseless attention of CIT-X, reveals the classified document.

  Sri Lanka president pledges due process for rival
AP, Colombo

Sri Lanka's president promised to follow due process in the sedition investigation of the defeated presidential candidate and ex-army chief whose arrest has pushed the island nation into political turmoil.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa assured a key opposition leader in a meeting Friday that the "rule of law must prevail" and the arrested general will be freed if the allegations against him are not proven, according to a statement on the president's Web site.
Military police arrested Gen. Sarath Fonseka on Monday on sedition charges. The government initially said Fonseka was "plotting against the president while in the military ... with the idea of overthrowing the government." Later, the government added more accusations, saying Fonseka's reported call for the prosecution of anyone who committed war crimes during the country's civil war showed he was "hell-bent on betraying the gallant armed forces of Sri Lanka."
Rajapaksa and Fonseka were close allies in the government's victory last year against Tamil Tiger rebels, who fought 25 years for independence. But after a fallout, Fonseka resigned and contested a bitter presidential election, losing to Rajapaksa by 17 percentage points.
The Supreme Court decided Friday to allow Fonseka to appeal his detention on Feb. 23. Ranil Wickremesinghe, an opposition leader, said the president told him in their meeting Friday that future steps in the case will follow the court's decision.
Wickremesinghe said in a statement said he asked Rajapaksa to immediately release Fonseka.

  Shahbaz calls on Kayani ‘openly, not secretly’
Dawn Online, Islamabad

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif called on Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Friday and later said he had met the general "openly, not secretly". "There should be no apprehensions about the meeting because it had already been announced," the PML-N leader told reporters at Benazir International Airport before leaving for Lahore.
The ISPR issued no press release about the meeting which took place at the Army House, the residence of Gen Kayani, in Rawalpindi.
Sharif had earlier held unannounced meetings with the army chief which had surprised political circles and sparked criticism.
After one such meeting in October last year, PML-N detractors had termed it a 'violation' of Charter of Democracy singed by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. The chief minister termed the fresh meeting "quite beneficial from the point of view of Punjab's security".
PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal told Dawn that issues relating to internal and external security, war against terrorism and training of Punjab police and Elite Force by army personnel had been discussed.
Sharif could not attend a consultative meeting of his party because of his engagement at the Army House.
Mr Sharif is reported to have told Gen Kayani that the army could use the Punjab Training Centre for training police and Elite Force. They also discussed the military operation in Waziristan.

  Major offensive on Afghan Taliban
BBC Online

Nato-led forces say they are making good progress hours after launching the biggest offensive in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.
There were clashes as more than 15,000 US, UK and Afghan troops swept into the Helmand districts of Marjah and Nad Ali in a bid to secure government control.
The Afghan regional commander said 20 militants had been killed. Two Nato soldiers are confirmed to have died.
A Taliban commander reportedly said his men were retreating to spare civilians.
Operation Moshtarak - which means "together" in the local Dari language - is being led by 4,000 US Marines, supported by 4,000 British troops, with Canadians, Danes and Estonians.
'Heavily booby-trapped'
The BBC's Frank Gardner, with Nato forces at Kandahar airbase, says the test of the operation's success will not be on the battlefield.
It all depends on whether the coalition can hold the ground and bring lasting security and good governance to the population of central Helmand.
A spokesman for Nato's Isaf force has confirmed to the BBC that two soldiers have been killed in Operation Moshtarak.
One died in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack and another from small-arms fire. No further information has been released on the location.
Three US soldiers were also killed by an IED, Nato said, although it is not clear whether they were part of Operation Moshtarak.
Mohammad Zazai, commander of Afghan troops in the operation, said: "So far, we have killed 20 armed opposition fighters. Eleven others have been detained." The casualties and captures were in separate incidents.
Troops have been advancing carefully, picking their way through poppy fields, trying not to set off Taliban bombs.
A canal bridge into Marjah was so rigged with explosives that US Marines had to erect temporary crossings to reach the town, reports the Associated Press.
Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal told a news conference the Taliban had "heavily booby-trapped the area".
Marjah resident Abdul Wahaab told AFP by telephone as he and his family left the town: "We were sleeping when all of a sudden we heard this horrible noise - it was helicopters bringing in soldiers.

  Opposition in Pak NA given polite dressing-down
Dawn Online, Islamabad

The government used concessions and a polite dressing-down in the National Assembly on Friday to calm an opposition outburst against alleged bad faith over issues ranging from judicial appointments to a US jury's conviction of a Pakistani scientist.
The treasury benches were having a smooth sailing before adjourning for a two-day weekend when opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan suddenly raised tensions by accusing the government of making undue delay in making new appointment in the superior judiciary and even talked of "blackmail" while referring to what he called "swiftness" shown by a special parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms over the past three days after "eight months of a tortoise pace".
The opposition leader's threat that his party would not be part of what he described as "the way the (27-member) constitution committee is being used according to the wishes of rulers" could also cause ripples in the 26-member body representing all parliamentary parties in both the National Assemblies and the Senate.
"My party has decided that we will in no case become party of blackmail," Chaudhry Nisar said, alleging the question of judicial appointments had been politicised, and urged Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Giliani to fulfil his promise in the house to fill vacancies in accordance with law and the constitution before the Supreme Court, which is now hearing three petitions on the issue, takes its own decision.

  Time needed to resume NKorea nuclear talks: UN
AP, Seoul, South Korea

A top U.N. envoy said Saturday it could take some time before North Korea rejoins stalled international talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs.
North Korea, believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least a half dozen bombs, walked away from disarmament-for-aid negotiations and conducted a second nuclear test last year, drawing tightened U.N. sanctions.
North Korea has called for a lifting of the sanctions and peace talks formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War before it returns to the disarmament talks, which also involve South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
"This process is a negotiated one and they are talking. My impression is that these talks may go on for a bit of time as they decide to get back," U.N. political chief B. Lynn Pascoe told reporters in Seoul after visiting Pyongyang, North Korea's capital.
Pascoe, the highest-ranking U.N. diplomat to visit the North since 2004, earlier said he made it quite clear to the North Koreans that "we wanted the talks to be re-engaged very quickly to move forward and without preconditions."
His comments came amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts to revive the nuclear negotiations, including a trip in recent days by North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan to Beijing for talks with his Chinese counterpart.
The North's Foreign Ministry said in comments carried by its official Korean Central News Agency that "both sides had an in-depth discussion on the issue of boosting the (North Korea)-China relations and matters of speeding up the denuclearization of the peninsula."
On his return from China, Kim said the issue of resuming the nuclear talks "is still under consultation (with China)," Japan's Kyodo News agency reported from Pyongyang. He declined to give any details on his talks with China, noting "we are in the process of diplomatic contacts."

  Suu Kyi official freed from house arrest in Myanmar
Reuters, Yangon

Army-ruled Myanmar freed a senior member of the party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday after his period of house arrest for a security breach expired.
Tin Oo, 83-year-old vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), was freed after more than six years in detention and said he would resume political activities even though he was warned to desist.
Tin Oo invited reporters into his residence after the departure of a police officer.
"He read out the order lifting the house arrest on me and the order also said I should not be engaged in political activities or create political unrest," Tin Oo said.
But he added: "I'll continue my political activities in my capacity as the vice-chairman of the NLD party."
Suu Kyi is also under house arrest and a minister said last month that she would be released when her latest period of detention ended in November. That would probably be too late for her to play any part in elections scheduled for this year.
She has appealed against her sentence for security breaches but the minister's comments suggested the appeal would fail.
Tin Oo, a former army general, was jailed in 2003 for breaking a draconian anti-subversion law and was transferred to house detention in 2004.
The NLD, which won elections in 1990 by a landslide but was never allowed to rule by the military, has yet to decide whether it will run in the polls due sometime this year.
It is waiting for the junta to unveil election laws governing who can take part and is demanding that 2,100 political prisoners be freed, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi.

 Iraq election officials confirm Sunni candidate ban
Reuters, Baghdad

Iraqi officials confirmed on Saturday that app-eals by prominent Sunni politicians against a move to ban them from next month's election had failed, opening the door to sectarian recriminations that could mar the vote.
Many Iraqi Sunnis are alarmed by a campaign by the Shi'ite-led government against people accused of links to former Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party, and a decision by a panel to ban almost 500 candidates because of Baathist links.
The controversy has threatened to reopen old wounds just when the sectarian slaughter triggered by the 2003 U.S. invasion has begun to fade and Iraq has started to attract multibillion-dollar investments from global oil firms.
Usama al-Ani, deputy head of the independent electoral commission, or IHEC, said the agency had received a formal notification from an appeals panel that only 26 appeals by banned candidates had been successful. One hundred and forty-five appeals were rejected, he said. Other candidates had been voluntarily replaced by their parties.
"Among those whose appeals were rejected were Saleh al-Mutlaq and Dhafer al-Ani," said Ani, referring to two Sunni politicians who are among the most prominent Sunnis in Iraq. The furore over the banned candidates has come to dominate the campaign for the March 7 parliamentary election, which kicked off officially on Friday.
The election will determine who runs Iraq as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2011 and massive oil sector projects kick into gear. If broadly accepted, the vote could help to heal the rift between Sunni and Shi'ite; if it is viewed as unfair by Sunnis, it could lead to more bloodshed and strife.
The panel that drew up the list of banned candidates is dominated by Shi'ite politicians and its actions were viewed by some Sunnis as an attempt to disenfranchise them.

  Isolated and battered, Israeli doves hold protest
AP, Jerusalem

Israel's battered pro-peace camp is showing signs of life with a weekly Jerusalem protest by a motley collection of anarchists, intellectuals and radical rabbis, but they face a public increasingly hostile to their point of view.
Activists have gathered each Friday since November in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes to make room for Jewish settlers. The demonstrations have become a rallying cry for the shrunken left and freedom of speech advocates who say their country has become increasingly intolerant of dissent since waging a bruising winter war in Gaza.
Activists point to a recent campaign vilifying a prominent human rights campaigner, arrests of protesters and attempts by government officials and right-wing groups to halt international funding of Israeli organizations they deemed disloyal.
"It's about time the left in Israel protest against the way the right-wing is kidnapping our future and our life," said Israeli author David Grossman, a leading dove, at a recent protest.
In the latest protest Friday, some 250 demonstrators assembled by a road blowing on shrieking whistles and loudly banging on drums. "You have no shame!" they chanted at Jewish settlers.
Several police officers watched warily across the road, backed by riot police wielding batons and assault rifles. The weekly demonstrations in Sheikh Jarrah began after Israeli police evicted Palestinian families from the flash point neighborhood and allowed Jewish settlers to move into their homes.

  Iran is bluffing on nuclear enrichment
AFP, Paris

Iran's latest nuclear provocation is a bluff, experts argue, and the West should be wary of being drawn into talks with Tehran that might hand a victory to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fragile regime.
This week Tehran more or less managed to muzzle opposition protests called on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, undermining hopes that the grass roots "Green Revolution" might sweep away the regime.
Victory on the streets gave President Ahmadinejad and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei breathing space on the domestic front, but they still face mounting international pressure over their nuclear programme.
France, which holds the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, is preparing a motion that, if passed, would impose crippling sanctions on Iran's oil-dominated economy, a senior Paris official said.
Iran appears defiant in the face of the threat, however, and this week boasted that it had begun enriching its uranium stockpile to the 20 percent level which would allow it to fuel its research reactor.
Western powers believe Iran's eventual goal is to make the highly enriched uranium that would allow it to build a nuclear weapon and radically alter the balance of power in the already unstable Middle East and Central Asia.
But analysts warn that Ahmadinejad may be exaggerating Iran's ability to advance its nuclear programme in order to force the West to come to the negotiating table on his terms and reinforce his shaky position at home.

  US reviewing terrorism suspects procedures
Reuters, Washington

The White House is reviewing a plan that would require the Justice Department and FBI to consult with the intelligence community before deciding whether to inform terrorism suspects arrested in the United States that they have the right to remain silent and to consult with an attorney, according to the Washington Post.
Senior administration officials said the proposed change in policy is the result of a review ordered by President Barack Obama, the paper reported in its Saturday edition. It follows a controversy over the handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a plane headed to Detroit on Christmas Day and who was read his so-called "Miranda" legal rights 10 hours after his arrest.
"We are analyzing lessons learned (in the case) with the goal of ensuring full information from across the government is available to law enforcement personnel on the ground as they conduct interrogations and make decisions on how to handle terrorist suspects," the paper quoted a senior administration official as saying.
"The final decision about Miranda and other law enforcement decisions will continue to lie with the FBI and the Justice Department," added the official, who requested anonymity because the new procedures have not yet been approved.
Republicans have criticized the Obama administration for not consulting with intelligence agencies before FBI agents read Abdulmutallab his rights.

  Tension among Haiti’s religions grows after quake
AP, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

Christian and Voodoo leaders put aside their differences for a moment Friday, joining hands under a canopy of tropical trees as some earthquake survivors on crutches and in wheelchairs mourned the more than 200,000 Haitians killed by an earthquake one month ago.
The catastrophe has driven a wedge between Haiti's religions as Christian gro-ups make inroads among shaken Voodoo followers - some drawn by the steady flow of aid through evangelical missions and others frightened by a disaster they saw as a warning from God.
"People see rice being distributed in front of churches and those homeless now needing papers are being offered baptism certificates that can act as identity documents," Voodoo priest Max Beauvoir told The Associated Press before speaking at Friday's service. "The horrible thing though is that by rejecting Voodoo these people are rejecting their ancestors and history. Voodoo is the soul of the Haitian people. Without it, the people are lost."
Beauvoir said it took weeks of negotiations to arrange his participation in Friday's ceremony, and that some didn't want Voodoo represented in Port-au-Prince on Friday's national day of mourning.
Haitians gathered under the shade of mimosa and powderpuff trees and flooded the streets of the capital in prayer, climbing atop the rubble of destroyed churches and spilling into parks where they stretched their arms to the skies. Hymns reverberated throughout the shattered city.
President Rene Preval broke down in tears, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief as his wife tried to console him. "The pain is too heavy - words cannot describe it," Preval said in one of the first major public addresses he has made in weeks.

  Flying laser zaps missile in first for US
Reuters, Washington

A high-powered laser aboard a modified Boeing Co 747 jumbo jet shot down an in-flight ballistic missile for the first time, highlighting a new class of ray guns best known from science fiction.
The flying laser's long-awaited test on Thursday showcased a potential to zap multiple targets at the speed of light and at a range of hundreds of kilometers, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said in a statement.
"The Missile Defense Agency demonstrated the potential use of directed energy to defend against ballistic missiles when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile," the agency said. "The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense," the statement added.
It cited among other things a low cost per intercept compared with other technologies used to defeat missiles that could be tipped with chemical, biological or nuclear warheads. Directed energy weapons use highly focused rays to attack a target rather than chemical-powered arms. Those in control can tweak the strength involved, unlike a bullet or a bomb, allowing for less-than-lethal uses.
Lasers are well known from science fiction as a type of ray gun. In the real world, they are used for sighting, ranging and targeting for guns.
The experiment marked both the first time a laser weapon has destroyed a ballistic missile and the first time any system has accomplished it in the missile's boost phase of flight.

  Wen warns of challenges as China welcomes new year
Reuters, Beijing

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned his people to keep a "sober mind" about the challenges ahead in the new year as the country welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Tiger with noisy celebrations on Saturday.
"In 2010, China will face a more complicated situation, both at home and abroad," state news agency Xinhua paraphrased Wen as saying, in remarks carried in major newspapers. People must "keep a sober mind and an enhanced sense of anxiety about lagging behind", the premier added.
Priority should be given to "persistence in taking economic development as the central task, forcefully promoting reform and opening up ... and doing a better job responding to the global financial crisis, in order to keep steady and relatively fast economic development".
The government is trying to maintain a balance between the economic growth needed to create jobs for the country's 1.3 billion people, and not letting the economy overheat and drive up the cost of basic goods and housing for residents.
China raised the level of reserves banks must hold for the second time this year on Friday, spooking financial markets on the eve of its New Year holiday by showing it was intent to curb lending and inflation.
"All the things we do are aimed at letting people live more happily with more dignity," Wen said.
China powered to 8.7 percent growth last year, by far the strongest of any major economy, driving demand for everything from Chilean copper to Australian iron ore.

Business/Economy

Investment in BD picks up in Q4'09 : IFC survey
UNB, Dhaka

Investment picked up in the fourth quarter of 2009 while investment confidence boosts up for first quarter of 2010 in Bangladesh, according a business confidence survey by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.
The Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF), managed by International Finance Corporation (IFC), conducted the survey in partnership with the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Union (EU).
The survey covered about 1,440 businesses around the country to gauge their investment, employment, profitability, and overall performance for July-September and October-December, 2009 quarter, and their expectation for the January-March, 2010 (1st quarter).
BICF conducts the survey on a quarterly basis to check the pulse of the business environment.
The report titled 'IFC-BICF Business Confidence Survey, Q4'09-Q1'10:
A Reflection on Business Sentiments' was unveiled Saturday at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) auditorium.
BICF and the International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICC-B) jointly organized the programme.
Business leaders, prominent economists, key private sector players, civil society representatives and government officials were present at the function to share the results of the survey and stimulate discussions on how to broaden the appeal of business reforms. IFC's Investment Policy Officer Aminur Rahman presented the survey findings and analyzed the results.
The results highlight that business confidence improved in Q4'09 and expected to sustain in Q1'10; while investment picked up in the 4th quarter and investment confidence boosts up for Q1'10.
It further shows that firms across the board performed better in Q4' 09 and firm performance is expected to improve further in Q1'10 with similar pattern across sectors and sizes. Overall performance tended to be better in Sylhet, Dhaka, Chittagong and Barisal compared to Rajshahi and Khulna, while outlook for Q1'10 looks promising for all locations.
Board of Investment (BoI) executive chairman Dr SA Samad was the chief guest at the programme.
In his speech, Dr Samad said although it has been highlighted that electricity is the main obstacle for investment, but the energy sector has enough scope for investment.
Bangladesh has enormous untapped resources and by exploring those resources the country could easily achieve 8-9 percent growth, he added.
Former Adviser to the caretaker government Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud said the survey result will help the businesses to know what is happening currently and subsequently it will be conveyed to the policymakers. Definitely, this will be beneficial to the investors.
Addressing the function, ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman said Bangladesh economy showed its mettle in 2009 and maintained a steady growth despite the global financial turmoil.
Bangladesh attained a 5.9 percent GDP growth in the first half of the current fiscal year (July 2009-June 2010), he said, adding that this leaves six more months to achieve the 6 percent target.
BICF Head James Crittle, SME Foundation chairman Aftab ul Islam, chairman & CEO of Newage Garments ASM Quasem, BKMEA president Fazlul Haque, DCCI president Abul Kasem Khan and BFTI CEO Prof. Ali Taslim were, among others, present at the function.

 Turkish president for Dhaka-Ankara wider business, investment cooperation

BSS, Dhaka

Turkish President Abdullah Gul Saturday said time has come for quick expansion of bilateral trade and investment and lend cooperation to each other in doing business in third countries.
Dr Abdullah Gul, now on a visit to Bangladesh on top of a 100-member trade delegation talked about the business potentials at a breakfast meeting with leaders of Bangladesh business community at a local hotel.
FBCCI hosted the event under the auspices of Turkey-Bangladesh Cooperation Meeting. A Turkish private business house signed a MOU after the meeting to provide US$ 1.0 to Bangladesh Private sector to build infrastructure and city transport system.
Finance minister AMA Muhith, president of FBCCI Annisul Haque, president of the Union of Chambers of Commodity exchanges of Turkey (YOBB) and Foreign Economic Relations Board Rifat Hisarcilkioglu and vice president of Turkish South Asia Business Council Cefi Kamhi spoke on the occasion.
Turkish ministers accompanying the President, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Commerce Minister Faruq Khan, diplomats and senior government officials among others, attended the meeting.
Abdullah Gul recalled the historic ties between the people of Bangladesh and Turkey and said the close relations need to be translated now into various activities to create more business and bring spurts to economic growth.
For that legal aspects dominating such cooperation should also be taken care of, he said pointing out he held discussion on such issues with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, other ministers and senior government leaders. Referring to bilateral ties Abdullah Gul said," we will talk about political issues, we have love and cooperation in political front and solidarity on issues."
He said Bangladesh and Turkey will support each other in achieving development and prosperity and initiate kind of cooperation which will deliver the goods.

  Sri Lanka plans to issue $500m post-war bond
AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka plans to issue a new international bond this year with a 10-year maturity to help defray mammoth post-war rebuilding expenses, the central bank said Saturday.
"We need about 2.7 billion dollars for the next three years to build new roads, utility services, hospitals and schools to get the northern economy up to speed," central bank governor, Nivard Cabraal said.
The northern province, which was the stronghold of the separatist Tamil Tiger guerrillas, is picking up the pieces after troops last May crushed the revolt and ended decades of bloodshed.
The province accounts for just 2.9 percent of the island's 40-billion-dollar economy.
Cabraal said the bond will be issued after the next budget, expected in April.
"We are looking at May or just after that," he said. "We think Sri Lanka has now matured and gained the confidence of investors for a longer tenure instrument."
Sri Lanka's 2010 budget has been delayed due to presidential polls in January which were won by incumbent president Mahinda Rajapakse.
The island has been gripped by tension since authorities arrested ex-army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka earlier in the week.
Parliamentary elections are due on April 08. Sri Lanka issued a 500-million-dollar bond in 2007 and in 2009.
The bonds are trading well above their issue price as investors hunt for high yields in emerging markets and seek to diversify from low-yielding western markets.
Cabraal forecast economic growth of at least six percent this year for the island nation, up from 3.5 percent in 2009.
"We are looking at six percent plus growth. Areas like tourism, transportation and ports, agriculture and fisheries are picking up," he said.

  Recovery ‘fragile’ for eurozone
AFP, Rome

The global economy is recovering but is especially "fragile" in the eurozone, Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi said Saturday.
"The return to growth is fragile, particularly in the euro area," Draghi told an annual meeting of bank executives in southern Naples.
Employment trends are weak and "credit conditions for small and medium- sized enterprises are still tight and hindering recovery," added Draghi, who as a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council also votes on euro- zone interest rates.
Draghi is among front-runners tipped to replace ECB chief Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet in November 2011.
The remarks came after the Eurostat data agency said Friday that economic growth in the 16-nation eurozone was a meagre 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 over the previous quarter, far slower than the growth of 0.4 percent seen in the third quarter.
The figures showed that recovery in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, had ground to a halt, while the Italian economy went back into contraction. Economic growth in France, however, accelerated in the fourth quarter.

  Obama calls for new spending cuts
AFP, Washington,

US President Barack Obama called Saturday for new spending cuts, warning the country must bring its ballooning deficit under control in order to be able to move forward.
"Even as we make critical investments to create jobs today and lay a foundation for growth tomorrow-by cutting taxes for small businesses, investing in education, promoting clean energy, and modernizing our roads and railways-we have to continue to go through the budget line by line, looking for ways to save," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "We have to cut where we can, to afford what we need," he added. The Obama administration acknowledged earlier this month that the budget deficit will swell to a record 1.556 trillion dollars.
Accumulating deficits beyond this year-although expected to decline-would double federal debt held by the public to 15.686 trillion dollars in seven years and push it even higher to 18.573 trillion dollars in 2020.
Measured against the size of the economy, the 1.556 trillion budget shortfall in 2010 would equal a hefty and unsustainable 10.6 percent of the gross domestic product, the basic measure of a country's overall economic output.
Vowing to rein in this trend, the president praised so-called "pay as you go" legislation that he has just signed into law and that prevents Congress from approving new spending unless it is offset by budgetary cuts elsewhere.
But Obama said this measure alone will not be enough. He recalled that this year he had proposed another 20 billion dollars in budget cuts and called for a freeze in government spending for three years.
The president has also proposed a bipartisan fiscal commission to provide recommendations for long-term deficit reduction.
"Unfortunately this proposal-which received the support of a bipartisan majority in the Senate-was recently blocked," Obama noted. "So, I will be creating this commission by executive order."

  UN, world leaders seek ‘innovative’ climate financing for poor nations

Xinhua, United Nations

The United Nations and world leaders are leading a joint endeavor to find "innovative" sources of financing for developing countries in addressing climate change.
By announcing the establishment of a high-level panel that includes top officials from both developing and developed countries, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon sought to help bridge the gap of financing that the world had failed to fill at the recent climate change conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
"It's mission is to mobilize the financial resources for climate change, pledged at the recent UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen," Ban announced at a press conference at UN Headquarters.
The co-chairs of the high-level advisory group-Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown-joined Ban through a video link. The group's other members include heads of state and government, senior ministers and officials from central banks and experts on finance and development.
"The group would develop practical proposals on how to significantly scale up both short-term and long-term financing for mitigation and adaptation strategies in developing countries," Ban said.
In December's UN climate change conference in Copenhagen, world leaders agreed to an accord that included promises of raising 100 billion U.S. dollars annually by 2020.
In particular, the group will look at how to jump-start the mobilization of "innovative" resources, through both public and private sources, to support adaptation, mitigation, technology development and transfer, and capacity building in developing countries, with priority for the most vulnerable countries, Ban said.
The panel members, who will be appointed for a 10-month term, are expected to produce a mid-term report in May and a final report containing recommendations before the next climate change conference in Mexico in December.
Ban said he will ensure that results of the group's work are communicated to the relevant UN conferences or parties with the full expectation that it will help build momentum "towards a successful negotiation of a comprehensive climate change agreement. "
"Let me emphasize the importance of rapid action," the secretary-general said. "It is particularly important to release money for immediate adaptation and mitigation efforts in developing countries, especially for the most vulnerable."
"Providing resources for adaptation is a moral imperative. It is also smart investment in a safer, more sustainable world for all," the secretary-general added.

  Truck recall adds to Toyota's troubles
AFP, Tokyo

Toyota was facing more unwanted publicity Saturday after the world's biggest automaker said it was voluntarily calling in about 10,000 pickups in North America, the latest in a series of recalls.
The Japanese giant has recalled millions of vehicles worldwide in past months due to problems linked to accelerator and brake functions, sullying the company's safety reputation.
The latest vehicle cast into the spotlight is the 2010 model of Tacoma four-wheel drive pickups in the North American market, including 8,000 in the United States and 1,500 in Canada. The voluntary recall was to inspect their front drive shafts, which may include a component that contains cracks that developed during the manufacturing process, the company said.
Earlier global Toyota recalls covered models with "sticky accelerators" that can cause cars to race out of control, a defect cited in several deadly crashes, and later widened to brake system problems in the Prius and other hybrid models. On Friday a US woman filed a federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against Toyota, blaming the company for the death of her husband when the Prius she was driving suddenly accelerated. The Tacoma recall came as the company suspended production of two hybrid models-the Sai sedan and the Lexus HS250h-in Japan on Saturday as it develops a fix for those vehicles' faulty brakes.
Embattled Toyota president Akio Toyoda on Saturday visited a Tokyo dealer where Prius repairs were underway.
"It will be absolutely okay from now on," the scion of the founder family assured as he deeply bowed to a couple who brought their Prius in for a software fix.

  India needs to plan exit from stimulus measures: IMF
AFP, Mumbai

India's government must plan an "appropriate" exit from its economic stimulus programme, a top IMF official said Friday, as economic recovery for Asia's third-largest gathered pace.
The comments by John Lipsky, the International Monetary Fund's first managing director, came as official data showed that India's industrial output in December climbed at its strongest pace in nearly 20 years.
"There is no simple, fit-all solution. India will have to think of an appropriate path of exit... it will be a challenge," Lipsky told reporters in Mumbai.
India's industrial production, exports and services are rising, aided by stimulus measures introduced in late 2008 to help the country out of the global economic slowdown.
The measures currently account for some 12 percent of GDP, while the central bank has injected 120 billion dollars into the economy since October 2008 by slashing rates and taking other measures to boost business.
"I am sure the (Indian) government is thinking of an exit path over the medium-term," Lipsky said, while attending an international banking conference.
Last month the Reserve Bank of India took a key first step away from its aggressively expansionist stance, to keep a lid on resurgent inflation.
It siphoned off excess liquidity from the financial system by raising the cash-reserve ratio-the percentage amount commercial banks must keep on deposit-by 75 basis points to 5.75 percent.
Lipsky said India, like other emerging markets, will also have to deal with the problem of rising overseas capital flows.
"The surge (in foreign funds) is in response to the stop in flows seen in 2008 during the financial crisis," Lipsky said.
Capital controls could be advisable but the IMF saw these as "temporary measures" and only for limited situations, he said.
India's stock market has surged over 80 percent in 2009, led by record foreign fund inflows of 17.45 billion dollars.
Lipsky said India would also need to formulate moves to check the fiscal deficit, which is at a 16-year high.
The deficit had ballooned to 6.2 percent in the year to March 2009 -- more than double the government's target of 2.5 percent-rising on loan waivers for poor farmers, subsidies and stimulus packages to boost the economy.
India's government this month forecast the economy to grow by 7.2 percent in the current fiscal year. 

National

Turkey wishes to build new wing at BSMMU
BSS, Dhaka

Turkey Saturday showed keen interest to help Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) to become a state of art tertiary healthcare facility as well as a world class medical institute in future.
The assurance came Saturday morning when Turkish Health Minister Prof. Recep Akdag visited the university-cum-hospital and saw for himself the quality of healthcare services and academic activities of the institute.
Prof, Recep, who is accompanying Turkish President Abdullah Gul, now in Bangladesh, visited outdoor and indoor facilities, intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, operation theatre and post-operative ward of BSMMU, country's lone medical university.
"Turkey would be happy to help BSMMU to build a separate and new unit on its vacant lands," Prof. Recep was quoted as saying to Vice Chancellor of BSMMU Prof. Pran Gopal Datta during the visit.
He said his country would send a four-member delegation to Bangladesh soon to assess the needs of BSMMU, a facility now looking to find partners to improve its overall structure and services both for academic and healthcare purposes.
Prof. Pran Gopal Datta expressed his gratitude for the Turkish assurance and said BSMMU would be ready to provide any of its four vacant plots for such developments. He said the university has vacant lands on its own premises, near Aziz Market, adjacent to BCS Training Academy and behind the Shahbagh gas station.
"We also sought Turkish support in the fields of technology transfer that include high-tech medical equipments and exchange of medical professionals," said the vice chancellor, adding he was happy with the warmth of reciprocity from Turkish health minister, also a physician by profession.
Prof. Ahmad Amin, chairman of ENT department, said the modalities of the Turkish support would be finalized after visits of delegations from both sides to Bangladesh and Turkey, but insisted that the proposed new wing at BSMMU is likely to be named as 'Turkey-Bangladesh Friendship Wing'.
He said the Turkish health minister appreciated the 'cleanliness' of the hospital-cum-university and said Prof. Recep has commented that 'good management and good wishes together can lead to offer good services even under resource constraints'.
"Turkey offers healthcare as good as other European countries with much low per capita budget for medicare," the minister was quoted as saying. According to Prof. Recep, Turkey spends US Dollar 500-700 per person per year as against of US Dollar 3,000-4,000 of western European countries and US Dollar 7,000 in the United States.
Prof. Amin said the minister has talked to ailing people, especially with elderly and children, and wished their early recovery. He also sought Doa from the people for peace and prosperity of the people of Bangladesh and Turkey, two Muslim- majority friendly countries.
Prof. Recep arrived Dhaka on Friday with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on a two-day official visit.
The President and his entourage are scheduled to leave the capital Saturday evening with a renewed trade promises for US Dollar one billion mark from existing US Dollar 517 million between Bangladesh and Turkey shortly.
He also promised direct air link between Dhaka and Istanbul by Turkish Airlines.

  Collective effort to combat child trafficking stressed
BSS, Rajshahi

Participants at a roundtable here Saturday unequivocally called for a comprehensive measure to combat child trafficking in the greater interest of building a healthy and competent society.
In this regard, they suggested participation of the community people including the leaders of influence in making the nation free of the curse of the social crime and laid emphasis on creating awareness among people especially the vulnerable groups.
Ladies Organization for Social Welfare (LOFS) with assistance from Bangladesh Shishu Adhiker Forum (BSAF) organized the discussion titled "Combating Child Trafficking and Our Roles: Context Bangladesh" at the conference hall of Family Planning Association of Bangladesh.
Civil Surgeon Dr Abul Fazal, Assistant Prof Jannatul Ferdous of Social Work Department of Rajshahi University, Executive Director of LOFS Shahnaj Parveen, BSAF Program Officer Monjurul Islam and News Editor of Daily Sonaly Sangbad Akbarul Hassan Millat addressed the discussion as focal persons. LOFS President Morshed Ahmed Koraishi chaired the session.
NGO Activist Shipak Chandra Dey was the keynote speaker of the roundtable.
The speakers underscored the need for collective efforts of all government and non-government organizations concerned to eliminate the child trafficking and violence against them.
In this context, they viewed that only the government or any single private organization is not capable of uprooting the crime as its root has already gone into far depth.
They, however, favored political will and commitment and proper functioning of the state machineries especially the law enforcing agencies and border guards against the crime.
In addition to creating mass awareness, they noted that proper enforcement of related laws has become essential to make the society free of the menace.
In this regard, they said suggested extending adequate cooperation towards the law-enforcing agencies and the border guards to contain the crime at a greater extent.
Besides, they also recommended that the schools and colleges located in the frontier areas should be brought under awareness programmes so that the students could be made aware regarding the bad effects of trafficking.
Dr Abul Fazal mentioned that poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, demoralization of the social values, lack of proper enforcement of the related laws and regulations, drug-addiction and cross- border trade have, so far, been identified as the main reasons behind the child trafficking. So, he said importance should be given on removing the reasons. For the sake of establishing a sound atmosphere in society the trafficking tendency must be uprooted with an integrated effort of all concerned, he opined.
Public representatives, NGO activists, journalists, professional leaders, cultural personalities, leaders of influence and volunteers attended the workshop discussing ways and means on how to root out social hazard.

 Abnormal price hike of LPG causes concern for middle class people in N-dists

BSS, Rangpur

The middle class people have been affected following repeated and abnormal price hike of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) everywhere in the northern region in recent months, consumers and market sources said.
Sources said prices of the LPG cylinders of various brands marked sharp rises in several phases during the past two months by over Taka 200 per cylinder causing enormous sufferings to the common consumers.
Mos retailers and sellers of the LPG cylinders could not identify the actual reasons for the price hikes, but some of them said prices of the essential commodity have been increased abnormally in the international markets recently.
The consumers claimed that the prices of the LPG gas in the international markets have been reduced sharply in recent months and added that there is no reason for sharp rises in LPG cylinder prices.
At the same time, they urged the government and its concerned departments to look into the issue and find out those, who are involved with the process of artificially hiking LPG cylinder prices for the greater interests of the commoners.
Sources and consumers said there is no supply shortfall of the LPG cylinders anywhere, but its abnormal price hike has created huge resentments and sufferings among the middle class, lower and fixed income group consumers in the northern region.
According to the market sources, prices of the LPG cylinders reasonably marked sharp falls by Taka 300 to 400 per unit after the present pro-people government assumed power in January 2009 and the reduced prices continued then after.
Presently, each unit of Jamuna LPG gas cylinder is being sold at Taka 1,080 though its price was Taka 850 only two months ago.
Similarly, prices of Clean Heat, Total Gaz and Basundhara brand cylinders also rose by up to Taka 200 during the past two months and some retailers apprehended that the prices might increase further without elaborating the reasons.
A number of housewives from the fixed income group families while purchasing the cylinders Saturday in Rangpur told BSS that they would be subjected to immense sufferings unless prices of the LPG cylinders were brought down within their capacities.
Housewife Yasmin Alo of Keranipara area said her family was facing tremendous hurdles in purchasing the LPG cylinders and urged the pro-people government for taking necessary steps on an urgent basis for welfare of the lower income group people.

   Valuables of artist Kalidas in St Martin stolen
UNB, Cox's Bazar

Thieves took away valuables of the country's renowned artist Kalidas Karmakar in St Martin's Island early Saturday.
Kalidas came to the island on Thursday to choose the location of an art camp to be organized by Gallery Cosmos. He was staying in a tent at a private complex at Dakkhinpara.
The thieves sneaked into his tent at about 2am while Kalidas was asleep and took away his camera, mobile phone set, telescope, ipod etc.
St Martin police outpost in-charge Sub-Inspector (SI) Amirul visited the spot.
When contacted, Cox's Bazar Police Super M Sakhawat Hossain said he has directed police to take immediate action.
About 2,500 local and foreign tourists visit the only coral island of the country daily for its panoramic beauty and pristine marine life.
But, they often fall victims of snatching and theft for lack of adequate security thus tarnishing the image of the county and hampering its emerging eco-tourism sector.
Existing patrol teams of police, Navy and coastguard at the island remain busy in tackling crimes and cannot pay attention fully to the plights of the tourists.
Though Bangladesh Police introduced tourist police last year to ensure security of tourists and protect tourism sites, they were not yet deployed in St Martin's Island.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad introduced the new unit of police in Cox's Bazar on August 16 last year to provide assistance to the tourists, building sense of security among them on the sites and handling the tourists especially foreign ones.
Police Super Sakhawat Hossain said a total of 77 police personnel under the command of an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) were supposed to serve as tourist police in the district.
But, only 28 tourist police started functioning at Saikat Police Outpost in the district. The rest of the tourist police personnel will be deployed in the St Martin's Island and Sonadia Island gradually, he said.
Industry insiders said immediate introduction of tourist police or beach guard in the St Martin's Island, more awareness of the local administration and motivation of the local people to receive the tourists cordially would give a boost to the country's tourism sector.

 Massive mango sprouting creates eye-catching looks

 BSS, Rajshahi
As the winter season gave way to spring, thousands of mango trees have started sprouting buds massively in the greater Rajshahi region, traditionally known as the hub of the delicious fruit.
Agronomists, experts and farmers told BSS that around 65 percent mango trees have already sprouted buds as the suitable climate has been prevailing for the farming.
Thousands of mango trees in the orchards and homesteads have worn eye- catching looks with huge bloom everywhere in the region predicting excellent production of mango this season.
Winter's early departure may be another reason for such a massive flowering on the mango trees, they said.
After witnessing the present condition both the growers and the officials are very optimism over an expected yield of the seasonal fruit.
"Huge buds started appearing in mango trees in the region little earlier this season before complete disappearance of winter," said farmer Nurul Islam of Shibganj under Chapainawabganj.
He added that the mango formation and production from the blossomed trees would raise to an excellent level to increase the overall production of the most delicious fruits this year if the climate remains favourable during the next few months.

 Expanded litchi farming ushers new economic revolution in N-regions

BSS, Rangpur

Expanded farming of litchi has ushered in a new era in economic uplifts as hundreds of farmers achieved self- reliance through farming the delicious, juicy and fleshy seasonal fruit in recent years in northern Bangladesh.
Thousands of litchi trees in the orchards and homesteads are now in full sprouting everywhere under favourable climatic conditions predicting a bumper production of the aristocrat seasonal fruits in the region, agronomists and officials said Saturday.
The experts in the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said that the people have been cultivating high yielding and hybrid varieties litchi in more lands in recent years following repeated bumper productions and excellent market prices.
The litchi farming has been gaining popularity consistently as a cash crop in all areas of the region though the quality litchis were being produced mainly in the Barind areas and Dinajpur even a decade ago.
Presently, hundreds of litchi orchards have been set up and the commoners cultivated litchi in their homesteads in Dinajpur, Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Joypurhat, Naogaon, Bogra, Pabna and Sirajganj districts.
Because of its repeated bumper productions and excellent market prices with huge demands, litchi farming has been expanding faster on commercial basis to bring fortunes to hundreds of the enthusiastic farmers, said Dr MA Mazid, a renowned agri-scientist.
Principal of Tazhat Agriculture Training Institute in Rangpur Kamal Shariful Alam told BSS that litchi production would be better side by side with mango in the region this season as the climatic conditions are better for farming both litchis and mangoes.
"Over 90 percent of both litchi and mango trees are now in blooms under the prevailing favourable climatic conditions," he added.
According to available sources, there are nearly 70 million litchi trees in 7,500 small, medium and big-sized litchi orchards in over 4,000 hectares land and homesteads in the region to produce plenty of litchis this season. Commercial litchi farming has been expanding fast in Sadar, Kaharol, Biral, Birampur, Fulbari, Chirirbandar and Birganj upazilas in Dinajpur and nearby Badarganj, Pirganj, Mithapukur, Sadar upazilas of Rangpur, Pirganj upazila of Thakurgaon in recent years.
Besides, the farmers have set up dozens of litchi orchards in almost every upazila of Pabna, Natore, Sirajganj, Bogra, Naogaon, Joypurhat, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Panchagarh districts because of huge profits from the cash crop.
According to the experts, presently there are over 30 million litchi trees in 4,000 different size litchi orchards in about 1,500 hectares land and in most of the homesteads in all 13 upazilas of Dinajpur district alone.
The farmers are cultivating the Madrazi and Bombay varieties litchis in about 70 percent land and the rest varieties like Bedana, China-3, Golapi, Mozaffar and other local varieties being cultivated in the other 30 percent areas, they added.
Many of the litchi orchards have already been sold to the traders in advance and their appointed people have already preparing to look after those that will continue till end of the harvest in June.

  PM to inaugurate International Mother Language Institute building Feb 21

BSS, Dhaka

The first phase of the construction of International Mother Language Institute building has been completed in the capital after a long wait.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the building on February 21, the International Mother Language Day.
Project officials said the last Awami League government has started construction of the building to uphold the glorious history of supreme sacrifice for language by the Bengalis and spread the spirit of February 21 across the world.
But the subsequent BNP-Jamaat alliance government stopped the construction though 80 percent of work of the foundation was completed.
The last caretaker government, however, realised the importance of the project and resumed the construction on 11 April, 2008, at a cost of Taka 14.20 crore.
Construction of three floors of the 12-storey International Mother Language Building is now complete. The building is located on the north of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at Shegunbagicha and east of Ramna Park.
Constructed under the supervision of Education Engineering Department with modern architectural features, the building currently has class rooms, plaza, lobby-lounge, auditorium, museum, library-archive, canteen and VIP meeting room.
Assistant Project Director Saifa Sultana told BSS on Saturday that 95 percent of the work has been completed. The rest of the work would be completed in a few days.
After the inauguration of the building, the work on appointment of manpower will begin, she added.
Academic activities will begin in the institute in July, the official hoped.
Though the main thrust of the institute will be research on language, it will conduct courses on foreign languages to develop skilled manpower keeping in view the demand in international job market.

Sports

Bangladesh football team leaves for Lanka today
TBT report

Bangladesh national football team flies out for Sri Lanka today for taking part in the AFC Challenge Cup, leaving out its Serbian coach Zoran Djordjevic.
Saiful Bari took over as the Head Coach of the Bangladesh football team after Djordjevic had denied to continue his job for a misunderstanding between him and the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF).
Djordjevic, who guided the Bangladesh team to win gold medal in the recently concluded South Asian Games, sought a four-year deal with the BFF but the BFF people want to wait until the end of AFC Challenge Cup before coming to an agreement.
Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir has been named as the Team Leader, while Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu has been appointed as Manager.
Bangladesh faces Tajikis-tan in the opening match of the AFC Challenge Cup on February 16 at Sugatha-dasa Stadium of 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 Turkmenistan 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. Bangladesh Football Federation announced a 29-member Bangladesh squad, which includes 21 players and eight officials, for the AFC Challenge Cup on Saturday.
Experienced striker Rokonuzzaman Kanchan has surprisingly been included in the squad. Prolific striker Enamul Haque, who was dropped from the preliminary squad earlier, also has been drafted into the squad for the continental contest.
Players: Aminul Haque, Biplob Bhattacharjee, 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, Mithun Chowdhury and Enamul Haque.
Officials: Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir ((Team Leader), Hasanuzzaman Khan Bablu (Manager), Saiful Bari (Head Coach), Poniruzzaman (Assistant Coach), Ahmed Syed Al Fatah (Media Officer), Dr. Khurshid Mahmud (Doctor), Dalilur Rahman (Physio-therapist) and Mohammad Mohsin (Baggage Man).

  Smith set to defy pain for key Test
AFP, Kolkata

South Africa captain Graeme Smith Saturday said he was confident about playing the decisive second and final Test against India despite breaking a finger.
Smith, 29, fractured the little finger on his left hand during the team's fielding session on Friday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where the second Test starts today.
"Injuries are a part and parcel of every sportsman's career. It's all about dealing with the pain. We have a very good medical staff here," Smith told reporters at a pre-match press conference. "The big question is whether I can give my best to the team. I need to answer that going into this important game and hopefully I will take the right decision. "I am pretty confident I can deal with the pain and play the match."
South Africa, who won the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs on Tuesday to go 1-0 up in the series, need a draw to dislodge India from the number one position in the official Test rankings.
Smith, however, said the bigger motivation for him and his team was to win the series after coming close in 2008 when they won the second Test after drawing the first.
But India dished out a rank turner for the decider in Kanpur to square the series. South Africa last won a Test series in India in 2000.
"Not many teams get an opportunity to win a series in India. We've got that opportunity now. It's a life-time opportunity for us.
"This is the one thing that we really want to tick off as a team, to win a series here in India. We want to achieve that and we are really excited about it.
"We are fortunate that our guys have played on the emerging tours and in the IPL (Indian Premier League) and are exposed a lot more to the Indian conditions. This team is mature and very professional.
"If we produce good cricket over the next five days, rankings will take care of themselves. Winning this series will be a terrific memory." Smith said the team's plan would be to attack India's bowlers and push them on the backfoot as they did in Nagpur where they piled up 558-6 before bowling the hosts out for 233 and 319.
"India are trying not to panic," he said. "We will try to go after their bowlers, if we do that the pressure will take its toll."
Rival skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni backed fit-again Venkatsai Laxman to fire with the bat and make up for the absence of the injured Rahul Dravid (jaw) and Yuvraj Singh (wrist).
Laxman, 35, has scored 6,993 runs in 109 Tests at an average of 45.70 with 14 centuries. In eight Tests at the Eden, he has amassed 898 runs including an epic 281 against Australia in 2001.

  Dementevia edges closer to Paris Indoor final
AFP, Paris

Russian top seed Elena Dementevia marched into the semi-finals of the WTA Paris Indoor Open on Friday by beating Germany's Andrea Petkovic 3-6, 6-4,
6-2.
The world number seven struggled to hit top form from the start, dropping the first set against the unseeded 22-year-old.
Petkovic fought hard in the second but the 28-year-old Russian's first serve was too strong and Dementevia went on to win in three sets for a last four match-up against unseeded American teenager Melanie Oudin.
Dementevia hailed Petkovic's determination and admitted her victory over her younger opponent was hard-fought.
"It was a tough one for me to win today."
"I wasn't quite sure what to expect at the beginning of the match as we had never played against each other before. I was impressed with how aggressive she (Petkovic) played," the Russian added.
Petkovic said she was pleased with her overall performance despite going out.
"I think that I started very well, Elena was a bit surprised," Petkovic said after the match.
"However against players like Elena, one moment can change the whole match and that is what happened today. I 've got to learn a lot from this match but I will improve I think," she said in French.
On Thursday, the German revealed she wanted to set up her political party back home to represent young people.
That prompted a question on Friday from a journalist about her views on French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Petkovic replied by describing the French head of state as "the little Napoleon."
"I don't have a very strong opinion of him because I have not read a lot about politics in France but I think that he is very active," she said in French.
Also Friday Italy's Flavia Pennetta made quick work of her compatriot Tathiana Garbin.
The number two seed and world number 12 took just 58 minutes to send her fellow Italian home, winning the match 6-1, 6-3 to book a semi-final clash with the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova.
Safarova, an Australian Open quarter-finalist in 2007, knocked out Israeli Shahar Peer in straight sets 6-3, 6-0.
Peer, ranked number 22 in the world, struggled with Safarova's return of serve, who showed the same form that powered her to the final of this tournament three years ago.
"I was trying to stay focused on each point and each game from the beginning of the match on," the Czech said. "But of course in the end, I'm happy that it went so well."

  Roddick, Verdasco reach San Jose semifinals
AFP, San Jose

Top seeds Andy Roddick and Fernando Verdasco booked their semi-final berths Friday at the SAP Open ATP tennis tournament.
America's Roddick, seeking the fourth San Jose title of his career, defeated fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).
Between them Roddick and Berdych belted 34 aces - 16 for Roddick and 18 for Berdych. He next faces seventh-seeded compatriot Sam Querrey, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Michael Russell. Second-seeded Verdasco defeated Lithua-nian qualifier Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).
Berankis, ranked 225th denied Verdasco a break chance in the second set.
But the 19-year-old, who was the first Lithuanian-born player to reach the ATP Tour quarter-finals, couldn't hold off Verdasco in the tiebreaker.
Verdasco will have the advantage in experience over his semi-final opponent as well, when he takes on unseeded Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Istomin downed sixth-seeded German Philipp Kohlshreiber 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the first semi-final of his career.

   Milan ends winless streak
AFP, Rome

Ronaldinho was at his inspirational best as AC Milan ended a four-game winless streak with a 3-2 success against Udinese at the San Siro to move up to second in Serie A.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored a brace and Pato marked his injury comeback as a substitute with a goal as Milan closed the gap on leaders Inter Milan to eight points.
And the win was a much needed boost ahead of the resumption of Champions League duties next week but if there was any concerns that Milan would have one eye on Manchester United, they were quickly dispelled.
Two-goal hero Huntelaar said he hoped his strikes would help him claim a regular starting berth while he demonstrated that Milan are more concerned with the team immediately below them rather than Inter.
"I have to do my job and score goals, I was happy to play today and to score and I hope I'll play more," he said.
"It was an important game for us, we have to try to keep ahead of Roma, we were two points behind but now we're one ahead, we have to keep on winning," he added before turning his attentions to midweek.
"I think we are ready, we had to win this game, sometimes we play well and sometimes not, like at the end of the first half when we conceded a goal, but I think we are ready, we'll see."
The Sky TV cameras repeatedly cut to United manager Sir Alex Ferguson in the stands alongside his assistant Mike Phelan but Milan's players were firmly concentrated on the task at hand.
They took the lead after just seven minutes after dominating the early action as Ronaldinho teased two defenders on the right and crossed to the near post where Huntelaar, starting as Marco Borriello was injured, lost his marker to head home from three yards.
Udinese did not come just to defend and Serie A top scorer Antonio Di Natale was inches away from converting a cross-come-shot from Mauricio Isla at the back post.
Milan were forced into an early change as Brazilian winger Mancini went off with a thigh problem to be replaced by countryman Pato. And he was straight into the action, running onto a clever Ronaldinho pass and rounding goalkeeper Samir Handanovic before slotting home, only to see he had been flagged for a marginal offside.
Yet the same combination resulted in the second goal on 39 minutes as Ronaldinho played a stunning first time pass over his shoulder with Pato's pace allowing him to surge clear of the backline.
Giovanni Pasquale did well to stay with the speedster and slid in to block his initial shot but succeeded only in helping the ball past Handanovic and allowing Pato to run on and slot home into the empty net.

  Davydenko denies favourite’s tag
AFP, Rotterdam

Nikolay Davydenko is prepared for a battle royale after setting up a semi-final with Swede Robin Soderling as the top three seeds reached the weekend final four at the Rotterdam Open on Friday.
Davydenko, seeded second, rolled Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-2 while Soderling, the tournament number three, was in equally devastating touch as he crushed Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-0, 6-1 in a brief 64 minutes.
Fourth seed Gael Monfils was bidding to make it a sweep at the top after number one Novak Djokovic went through a day earlier due to a walkover.
But the athletic Frenchman was unable to complete the dream lineup, going down in just under three hours to sixth seed Mikhail Youzhny, the 2007 champion, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
Davydenko, a five-year member of the ATP Top ten, has risen in stature over the past six months, winning the Shanghai Masters and the year-end event in London before starting 2010 with a Doha title. But the 28-year-old cannot be confident where explosive 2009 Roland Garros finalist Soderling is concerned.
"He's difficult for me, our last three matches have all been indoors. He's good from the baseline and fast.
"It's really difficult for me to feel like a favourite against him. All of our matches have been struggles, usually three sets," said the world number six about his eight-ranked rival.
Davydenko said that he was pleased with his effort over Melzer, a series in which he improved to 6-1.
"I had good concentration today and didn't get nervous. When I do that, I can play good points."
Soderling credited his first wins of the season this week in Rotterdam to the enforced rest he took after going out in the Australian Open first round.
"I went home and I was finally able to rest, that was what I had needed after a long 2009 season. This is the first time in months that I've felt like I was playing my best." Soderling rushed past Benneteau with six aces and five breaks of serve.
"It's tough to say what to improve when you win like this, but I can improve parts of my game.

  Japan wins East Asian women's football title
AFP, Tokyo

Forward Shinobu Ono scored once to lead Japan to a 2-1 victory over South Korea and win the women's title at the East Asian football championship on Saturday.
Japan ended the four-nation round robin with three straight wins. China had two wins and a defeat, South Korea a 1-2 record. Winless Taiwan were at the bottom.
Earlier in the day China defeated Taiwan 3-0.
"We kept the momentum until we scored two goals, while South Korea were still tuning up. But after that, they started to play more aggressively and it became a difficult game," said Japan coach Norio Sasaki.
Japan got off to a flying start when Ono received the ball in the Japanese field and then dashed forward, getting past the Korean defence line into the area to fire a sizzling shot for the first goal in the seventh minute.
The home side quickly made it two up when Ono sent a straight pass to midfielder Mami Yamaguchi, who hit home into the right side in the 17th minute.
South Korea started to play much better after the break, starting with Cho So-Hyun's header that went wide, and almost controlled the game until the end.
Midfielder Lee Jang-Mi's shot went over the bar, but finally they scored a goal off the Japanese for the first time in the tournament when forward Yoo Young-A netted on a Cho So-Hyun pass in the 75th minute. But it completed the scoring for both teams.

  Thorpe hopes to keep business afloat
AFP, Sydney

Australian Olympic swi-mming great Ian Thorpe has taken a hit from the effects of the global financial crisis but is confident his business empire will not go under, reports said on Saturday.
Thorpe, 27, a five-time Olympic gold medallist from the Sydney and Athens Games, said he had suffered serious cashflow problems after shedding lucrative sponsorship deals to focus on his university studies.
Thorpe has interests in a Chinese private equity fund, a share in an online mortgage auction site, sports drinks and tuna steaks, and own-brand underwear and toiletries.
"Like my sporting career, one of my strengths is my resilience to bounce back from any setback," Thorpe told The Daily Telegraph.
Thorpe said he had received help from his bank in restructuring his financial affairs.
Thorpe, who recently completed his first year of a double university degree in linguistics and psychology, said as a consequence he would scale back his studies to part-time so he could devote more time to his business and charity interests.
"I am happy where I am at and this week I finalised some new commercial relationships which will be announced shortly," he said.

Afghanistan qualifies for world T20 showpiece
AFP, Dubai

Afghanistan's fairytale story in the world of cricket continued on Saturday as it defeated host United Arab Emirates to reach its first major tournament, the World Twenty20 finals in the West Indies which runs from April 30 to May 16.
The Afghans won by four wickets, restricting UAE to 100-9 off their 20 overs - Mohammad Nabi taking 3-17 - and then reaching their target in 19.3 overs with opener Noor Ali topscoring with 38 not out.
It is a remarkable feat by the Afghans - most of whom learnt to play cricket in refugee camps over the Pakistan border - as they were in the fifth division of the world cricket league just two years ago.
Afghanistan, who showed their talent when they came within one place of reaching the 2011 World Cup finals, will play either Ireland or The Netherlands - both of them are the joint holders from the previous tournament - in Saturday's final.
The winners of the final will be placed in Group C alongside India and South Africa while the losers will go into Group D with the West Indies and England.

  Portsmouth lifts gloom
AFP, Southampton

Portsmouth lifted the gloom around Fratton Park with a 4-1 victory over bitter rival Southampton that sent the beleaguered club into the FA Cup quarterfinals.
After another chaotic week for the Premier League strugglers, which included a High Court hearing that gave them a temporary reprieve from a winding up order, Avram Grant's side produced a late flurry of goals at St Mary's to give a much-needed boost to everyone connected with Pompey.
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie put Portsmouth ahead in the 66th minute but Rickie Lambert levelled for League One Saints four minutes later. That sparked the vistors back into action and goals from Aruna Dindane, Nadir Belhadj and Jamie O'Hara gave Portsmouth a flattering victory.
With debts of over 60 million pounds and no sign of any takeover on the horizon, Portsmouth's future remains in the balance ahead of their next court date on March 1, but for the moment their supporters will be able to savour this triumph over the old enemy.
Southampton, for so long a top-flight side, know all about the effect financial troubles can have after dropping down to League One and suffering a points deduction this season for going into administration.
Alan Pardew's team have been in good form despite that penalty and reached Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in midweek.
It was no surprise that they looked the more energised team in the early stages, with Papa Waigo N'Diaye forcing Portsmouth goalkeeper David James into action with a header from Lambert's cross.
O'Hara was responsible for Pompey's first efforts on goal, first with a 35-yard free-kick that went just wide, then with a drive that Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis tipped over the crossbar.

Tragedy overshadows Olympic opening
AFP, Vancouver

The Winter Olympics officially opened on Friday but Vancouver's big day was overshadowed by the tragic death of a Georgian luger in a horrific crash.
The BC Place stadium staged a colourful indoor ceremony involving a host of stars linking Canada's past with the modern nation, including a welcome from the country's Native peoples.
It culminated years of planning as some 2,500 athletes drawn from 82 nations prepare to compete in the February 12-28 showpiece, with Canadian governor general Michaelle Jean officially declaring the event open.
With flags at half-mast in honour of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge reminded all athletes of their responsibility as role models.
"Dear athletes, these Games belong to you ... so give them the magic that we all desire through your performances and your conduct," said the 67-year-old Belgian, who is presiding over his final Winter Olympics as he steps down after the Summer Games in London in 2012.
"Remember that you are role models for the youth of the world. There is no glory without responsibility."
Organisers were faced with their worst nightmare when Kumaritashvili died earlier in the day after flying off the Olympic luge track at high speed and smashing into a metal pillar during a training run.
The 21-year-old was knocked unconscious and immediately placed on a stretcher with blood pouring from his face before being air-lifted to hospital and pronounced dead.
"This is a very sad day. The International Olympic Committee is in deep mourning," a visibly shaken Rogge said earlier.
Georgia's shellshocked eight-man team, now reduced to seven, considered pulling out of the Games but decided to compete in honour of Kumaritashvili.
"Our sportsmen have decided to be loyal to the spirit of the Olympic Games and compete and dedicate their efforts to their fallen comrade," said Georgia's minister for sports and culture Nikolos Rurua.
They marched into the stadium wearing black armbands in a sombre mood and were greeted by a standing ovation from the 60,000-strong crowd. There was later a minute's silence.
An investigation into the crash by the Coroners Service of British Columbia, the police, and the International Luge Federation concluded Kumaritashvili came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly.
It said the luge competition would go ahead as planned on Saturday.
With tragedy hanging over the Games, organisers continued to battle warm weather in Vancouver and on nearby Cypress Mountain, the host of the freestyle events.
Tonnes of snow have had to be driven and helicoptered in from higher elevations to Cypress, and rain has further complicated matters.
Up at Whistler, site of the blue-riband alpine skiing events, it is not a case of no snow but too much snow.
The poor conditions and a lack of training runs forced the women's opening alpine skiing event, the super-combined scheduled for Sunday, to be postponed until a yet to be decided day.
The men's downhill event is set for Saturday morning, but with more rain and snow forecast overnight, that too could be in jeopardy.
Despite the conditions, the Olympics began at Whistler with ski jump qualifying.
Six gold medals are set to be decided on the first competitive day on Saturday.
The Games' build-up culminated with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, signalling the end of a marathon which has seen the torch cross 45,000km of the country.