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Leading News
Indians trespass into BD with BSF support
Two Bangladeshis shot and wounded in Sylhet
TBT Report
A group of Indian intruders with direct support of the
Border Security Force (BSF) trespassed into Bangladesh
territory on Bibirhaor border near Jayantapur in Sylhet,
on Monday but went back in the face of strong protest by
local people.
According to private TV channel-1, the trespassers entered
two hundred years into Bangladesh territory in between
Pillar No. 1284 and 1285 and caught fishes from a pond.
The Indian citizens numbering about 100 were backed by
heavily armed BSF troops and their presence made the local
people panicky. However the locals protested the intrusion
strongly and ultimately all of the intruders returned to
India with huge fishes caught from the pond.
The BSF personnel provided security to the Indian
trespassers. The place of incident is quite away form the
BDR camp at Jayantapur.
It may be recalled that BSF troops had intruded into
Bangladesh territory on Sylhet border twice in recent day,
but were then resisted by BDR.
Earlier, according to a UNB report from Sylhet: Two
Bangladeshi nationals were injured as Indian Khasia
tribesmen opened fire on them at Suraighat frontier in
Kanaighat upazila on Sunday morning.
The injured are Haris Ali, 36, son of Amir Ali and Selim
Uddin, 26, son of Zoynal Uddin of Sonatan Pungi village in
the upazila.
They were admitted to Sylhet Osmani Medical College
Hospital in critical condition.
Local sources said the Khasia people opened fire on the
two Bangladeshis when they went to a place near Pillar No.
1313 at about 8am.
Intrusion into Bangladesh and killings of unarmed
Bangladeshis by the BSF on the border are continuing in
clear violation of the spirit of good neighborliness as
well as international law and despite repeated pledges by
the Indian authorities to stop it. In every meeting
between BSF and BDR and also between the higher level
officials of the two countries, the Indian side assures
that killing of Bangladeshis by its forces on the border
would come to an end immediately. Peace will be maintained
on the border. But this pledge is seldom implemented.
BSF killed 96 Bangladeshis in the last 13 months. The
number of Bangladeshis killed by BSF during the nine years
period from January 1, 2000 to February 18, 2010 stands at
821. BSF also injured 858 and abducted 897 Bangladeshis in
the same period.
People
of Baghaichhari still in panic
UPDF calls road, river blockade today
PCJSS demands parliamentary probe
UNB, Rangamati
The situation in the troubled Baghaichhari hillside
localities is getting back to normal two days after a
spell of violence triggered by confrontation between
Bangalees and tribal people over land dispute.
Sources in the backwoods said both the Bangalee settlers
and indigenous people were still in panic lest there
should be further flare-ups of trouble, while angry
protests went on. A large number of police force was
deployed in the area to keep vigilance while the ban on
gathering under section 144 imposed on Saturday remained
in force for the third day Monday.
Meanwhile, two deaths were confirmed in Saturday's
violence with the recovery of another bullet-hit body of
an indigenous man Sunday.
United People's Democratic Front (UPDF), a forum opposed
to the CHT peace deal, has called blockade on road-river
communications in Rangamati and Khagrachhari districts for
today(Tuesday) to protest the killings.
Meanwhile, Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS)
and Hill Students Council brought out a protest procession
in the district town. "A pickup van of police was damaged
during the demonstrations," says a spot report.
Monday's SSC examination was held in all examination
centres.
State Minister for CHT Affairs Dipankar Talukder visited
the trouble-prone area Sunday to pacify the aggrieved
people. He said those who are involved in Baghaihat
incident would be brought to justice after a fair
investigation.
Meanwhile, BSS says: Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati
Samity (PCJSS) on Monday demanded the formation of a
parliamentary inquiry committee to probe the killing of
tribal people, torching their houses and looting of
Buddhist temples at Baghaihat under bordering Dighinala
and Baghaichhari upazilas.
The PCJSS made the demand at a protest rally at the Deputy
Commissioner's Office premises here. Vice-President of the
organization Lakkhi Prasad Saha chaired the rally.
They also demanded proper rehabilitation as well as
medical treatment of the affected people and exemplary
punishment to the persons responsible for the incident.
Cabinet okays 3 draft
laws
Domestic violence against women not stopped: PM
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Monday said the next
generation has to suffer if domestic violence against
women is not stopped, as her cabinet endorsed a draft law
for a check.
The cabinet in its weekly meeting also approved two other
draft laws governing the newly instituted Climate Change
Trust Fund and animal slaughtering and maintaining
standard of meat.
The three laws are 'The Domestic Violence (Resistance and
Protection) Act 2010', 'The 'Animal Slaughtering and
Control of Standard of the Meat Act 2010' and 'The Climate
Change Trust Act 2010'.
"Domestic violence against women sketches adversely on the
children that ultimately harms the future generations of
the country. This should be stopped," the Prime Minister
said while presiding over the meeting held at the cabinet
division.
She noted with concern that women are the main victim of
domestic violence. This is a social problem of the
country.
In this context, the premier described that this new law
as time-befitting and important for stopping the domestic
violence against women.
She informed the meeting that 89 countries around the
world have enacted such violence-control law to stop
repression on the womenfolk.
The law in the making for the control of indiscriminate
slaughtering of animals is aimed at ensuring the standard
of meat for export as well as local consumption.
The Prime Minister said she came to know that the
slaughtering of animals does not take place at hygienic
places. "This should be done at a clean and hygienic place
for averting health hazards."
In this connection, she mentioned that recently Bangladesh
started exporting meat to Malaysia.
"This act is important for the betterment of the meat
export," she said.
Regarding the climate fund, Hasina said apart from
assistance from international agencies and countries,
Bangladesh on its own has taken various steps to face the
adverse impacts of the global climate change on the
country.
Protest will be turned into resistance: BNP
UNB, Dhaka
Opposition BNP Monday gave a broad hint about throwing
tough nonstop action programmes to compel the government
to rescind its decision to change late President Ziaur
Rahman's name from Zia International Airport.
The nonstop programmes are also designed to protest the
Awami League government's 'failures and misdeeds', leaders
of the party said. In the BNP leaders' view Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina has no right to remain Prime Minister
anymore following her alleged violation of oath as
reflected in her recent remark about teaching BNP a
lesson.
The indication of continuous programmes and allegation
came from a protest rally organized in front of BNP's
Nayapaltan central office in the afternoon by the former
ruling party in protest against police "attack" on their
'peaceful' procession in the city on February 18, and
injury and arrest of party activists. On February 18, BNP
held a protest rally at Muktangon and brought out protest
procession to protest the government's decision to delete
Zia from the name of Zia International Airport and
'attempt to kill' Khaleda Zia by planting bomb in front of
her Gulshan office.
From the rally month-long programmes of mass-contact and
rallies across the country were announced, which will
begin Wednesday. After the series programmes BNP
chairperson Khaleda Zia would announce fresh course of
action from a Paltan grand rally in March.
BNP standing-committee-member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf
Hossain forewarned the government that they would not only
remain confined to staging protest programme but would
turn it into |resistance when there will be none to save
the ruling party". He alleged that people are now
aggrieved by the government's various 'misdeeds', failure
to implement any election pledge and finally signing
agreements with India 'against the country's interests'.
"People are now waiting for movement," said the former
minister. The front-ranking BNP leader called upon all
patriotic and nationalist forces to stand united and
prepared for carrying out what he said "oust-government
movement" under the leadership of his party chairperson
and ex-PM Khaleda Zia.
Load shedding crosses 1000 MW
More sufferings in store for consumers as
demand-supply gap widens
UNB, Dhaka
Peak summer is still far away, but load shedding has
already crossed 1000 MW in the country, an ominous sign
that more sufferings are in store for the electricity
consumers in the coming days.
The consumers in and outside the capital city are
experiencing frequent power cuts, no matter it is day or
night. In some cases, such load shedding total 3-4 hours
in different spells.
According to official sources, the country's highest power
generation was about 3,700 MW on Monday evening against a
demand for 4,700 MW plus during the peak hours.
Normally, the peak summer starts in the country from
mid-April and continues until end of October, and wth the
start of summer, the power consumption starts rising for
various reasons. On the other hand, the demand for
electricity remains relatively much lower in the winter -
from November to April. This year, the power demand varied
from 3,500 MW-4,700 MW in the winter.
Last year, the electricity demand crossed a benchmark of
6,000 MW while the highest generation was 4296 MW in
September 2009. However, the highest demand was official
admitted to be 5,200 MW.
Officials at the state-owned Power Development Board (PDB)
apprehend that this year the demand would go up to 6,600
MW and the highest generation might be 4,600 MW in peak
summer. This means, the gap between demand and supply will
be no less than 2000 MW.
They, however, said increase in electricity supply depends
on many ifs and buts as huge programme undertaken by the
government are under implementation. If the programmes are
successful, then 300-400 MW might be added to the national
power grid within the year.
PDB officials also claimed that a huge number of
generation units, with total 770 MW capacity, have been
forced to keep idle because of gas shortage. "Although our
machines are ready for generation, we could not produce
this huge electricity because of gas shortage," a top PDB
official told UNB.
There is no sign from the state-owned Petrobangla that the
gas supply will be increased soon, he said. Managing
Director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC)
Ataul Masud said the greater Dhaka received about 1200 MW
against a demand of 1600 MW on Monday evening.
He said the demand is likely to rise to 2200 MW in the
peak summer when the greater Dhaka is expected to receive
1400-1600 MW of electrcity. It means about 600-800 MW load
shedding for the consumers in the capital city in coming
summer. He mentioned that a substation in the Ramna
Engineers' Institute faced trouble that triggered a
frequent disruption in different areas of the city on
Monday. But the problem was sorted out by the evening.
Five more bombs recovered from shrimp
encloser in Satkhira
UNB, Satkhira
Police recovered five more bombs from a shrimp encloser at
Dhepukhali in Devhata upazila Monday morning.
With this, 10 bombs were recovered from the same place in
two days.
Theses bombs were put under earth in the shrimp encloser
occupied by one Akram Dakat.
A group of land grabbers led by one Akram Dakat had
occupied the shrimp enclosure owned by Kinkar and Ramesh
of Devisahar village in the same upazila on November 15
last year.
Recently the shrimp encloser was reclaimed from the land
grabbers with the help of police and RAB members.
Kinker and Ramesh informed police when they heard that
bombs had been kept in the shrimp encloser.
Police recovered five live bombs on Sunday evening and
five others today.
A case was filed.
Back Page
Govt to invite pre-qualification
tender for metro rail soon
BSS, Dhaka
About five years has gone after preparing the 20-year
Strategic Transport Plan (STP), the government is taking
steps for metro rail in the city according the plan.
Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain here on Monday
said pre- qualification tender for metro rail will be
invited very soon as the present government is committed
to take up the project as soon as possible.
He said the STP was finalized by Dhaka Transport
Coordination Board (DTCB) in 2005 with the financial
support of the World Bank for addressing the
mass-transport problems in the city. But the then
government showed full inertia to the plan for its
implementation.
The Caretaker Government, in February 2008 approved the
STP in principle, but there no significant headway for its
implementation, said Prof. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, chair
of the consulting committee of the STP. The minister and
Prof. Reza were speaking at the inaugural session of the
workshop on 'Dhaka Mass Transit System- Making use of
Tokyo and Delhi Experience at a city hotel. DTCB and
Ministry of Communications and Japan International
Cooperation Agency, which is conducting study on metro
rail in Dhaka, organized the workshop aimed at reviewing
the experience of recently developed metro system in
Indian cities along with ancient one of Tokyo to make it
useful in Bangladesh.
The Communications Minister said the Prime Minister and
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) have already
approved the project for invitation of tender under
Private- Public-Partnership (PPP) or Build-Operate and
Transfer (BOT) basis and invite pre- qualification tender
for the project.
The STP has proposed for three Metro Lines and three Bus
Rapid Transit Lines for the city, the Communications
Minister said adding his ministry, in addition to STP, has
prepared Rail Master Plan and Road Master Plan. The Rail
Master Plan has given emphasis on metro rail system in
Dhaka and commuter rail service for neighbouring
districts, Syed Abul Hossain said urging JICA for quick
completing of the feasibility study on metro rail.
BDR mutineers stand
trial in Durbar Hall today
UNB, Dhaka
BDR rebels stand trial in their mutiny-mired Durbar Hall
of the Pilkhana headquarters of the border force as the
central special court sits there today (Tuesday), two days
ahead of the first anniversary last year's mayhem.
The special court-5 form-ed under the Bang-ladesh Rifles
Order 1972 will try the BDR members of Dhaka Sector
headquarters at Pilkhana who allegedly took part in the
mutiny inside the BDR headquarters on February 25-26,
official sources said. Bangladesh Rifles (BDR)
Director-General Maj General Mainul Islam will preside
over the special trial court, comprising three members,
which will sit at noon. Two others will come from BDR
officers. Besides, Mohammad Ullah Kislu, a representative
nominated by the Attorney-General, will assist the court
in the much-orchestrated mutiny trial as per law of the
border force. Earlier last year, the government set up six
special courts to try the accused-two in Dhaka and four
outside the capital. On Feb 25-26, BDR personnel staged
the mutiny at the BDR Headquarters at Pilkhana over low
pay and poor condition, and the uprising sparked off
mutinous demonstrations in other establishments of the
para-military border force across the country. The court
will hold the trial of the BDR men only for the mutiny,
not the other acts of crime committed during the revolt,
such as murders, looting and so.
At least 73 people, including 57 army officers deputed to
the border force, were killed at the BDR headquarters
during the February 25-26, 2009 carnage.
Govt working to
prepare new pay scales for teachers: Nahid
UNB, Dhaka
The government is working to prepare new pay scales for
the teachers to mitigate their financial problems and
encourage them more in nation-building activities,
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said Monday.
"More financial facilities along with higher social status
will be ensured for the teachers in the country," he said
at a function at the Teachers' Training College (TTC) in
the city, marking its centenary celebrations.
Addressing the function as chief guest, the Edu-cation
Minister noted that it's the teachers who will prepare the
young generation as skilled and educated citizens with
good character. They would have to play significant role
in building a prosperous Bangladesh by imparting proper
education to the country's young generation, he said. "So,
it's essential for the teachers to have modern and quality
training," Nahid said, adding that the present government
would soon finalize the new education policy with a view
to building the young generation with modern, standard and
quality education.
He said that the government is working to prepare new
curriculum for ensuring more standard and quality
education in the country, as it is not possible to achieve
the goal with the existing syllabus. "Some 42 percent
students drop out at the secondary level," he said, adding
that various programmes have been taken to check the drop
out rate.
BADC imports 25,955
tonnes of TSP fertilizer
BSS, Chittagong
The government has imported 25,955 metric tons of Triple
Super Phosphate (TSP) fertilizer under Bangladesh Agric-ulture
Development Corpo-ration (BADC).
The imported fertilizer has already reached Chittagong and
Mongla ports and half of the total TSP fertilizer would be
unloaded at Chittagong Port in a day or two. Mother
vessels carrying the fertilizer imported from Tunisia
reached the Chitta-gong Port on February 7. Joint director
of BADC Shimul Bikash Dash told BSS that the imported
fertilizer will be kept at warehouses of BADC's sales
centres and later the soil nutrient would be distributed
to district and upazila and union levels through dealers.
He said there would be no fertilizer crisis this year
because the BADC has bulk stock of fertilizer in its
stocks. Nonetheless, he said, the government has imported
the fertilizer in view of farmers' interest.
"We are hastening our works to unload the imported TSP
fertilizer so that this essential agriculture input can be
reached to farmers in time," said Shimul Bikash. The BADC
opened 25 sales centres in 19 areas across the country for
fertilizer management this year.
Companies
having unauthorized gas connections to undergo
investigation
UNB, Dhaka
Companies having gas connections without sanction of rules
will come under investigation as a move is underway to
find out the irregularities.
Against the backdrop of gas crunch that forced the
government to go for rationing of the fuel, the
Parliamentary Standing Com-mittee on Energy, Power and
Mineral Resources Ministry Monday asked the authorities
concerned to submit a report against the companies at
fault.
The report will have to be placed at the next meeting of
the committee after investigation. The decision was taken
at the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee, chaired by
its president Subid Ali Bhuiyan MP.
In a further step, the meeting directed taking necessary
measures for completing tender process and ongoing works
of different projects taken during the tenure of the
present government "as soon as possible".
The lawmakers also made a recommendation for removing the
difficulties regarding the contract with the Siemens
Company as well as restructuring different Boards under
the Power Division. The watchdog body also emphasized
observing the production management of solar and wind
power as well as LNG system in Kuwait, Qatar and India for
gaining experience in these fields.
During the meeting, the committee members exp-ressed their
satisfaction over the road shows held in London, Singapore
and New York aiming to attract investment.
Committee members Abdul Matin Khosru, Moha-mmad Abdul
Kader Khan and Sheikh Fazle Nur Taposh, Power Secretary M
Abul Kalam Azad and acting secretary of the Energy and
Mineral Resources Division M Mezbahuddin were among others
present.
UP Chairman
killed by miscreants in Jessore
BSS, Jessore
Acting Chairman of a Union Parishad (UP) under Monirampur
Upazila of the district was chopped and gunned down by a
gang of miscreants here Sunday night.
The victim was identified as Prokash Chandra Saha of
Horidaskathi Union Parishad of the district.
According to police and local people, the acting chairman
was called out from his home at East Hogladanga by M Islam
Fakir of neighbouring Kazirgram at about 11 pm last night.
Islam reportedly made a call to the cell phone of Prokash,
requesting him to come out of his house.
Islam along with his accomplices took him to a structure
housing a shallow tubewell for irrigation near a paddy
field.
They hit on his head with rifle and later gunned him down,
police and local people alleged.
In the morning, some farmers found the body of the
chairman near the shallow machine and informed the police
about the matter.
JS body reviews
progress of power projects
BSS, Dhaka
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Power, Energy
and Mineral Resources Ministry on Monday revie-wed the
progress of various projects taken by the present
government for the development of the power sector.
The committee at a meeting also reviewed the tender
process of different projects and directed the concerned
authorities to complete the process quickly.
They also directed the concerned authorities to complete
the work of the projects within the stipulated time.
The committee put forward recommendations to take
necessary steps to resolve the existing problems with the
Siemens company as well as to reconstitute different
companies under the Power Develop-ment Board (PDB).
The meeting expressed satisfaction over holding the
successful road show in London, Singapore and New York to
attract investment in power sector in Bangladesh.
It also laid emphasis on observation of solar and wind
power production as well as LNG system in Kuwait, Qatar
and India.
Committee Chairman M Subid Ali Bhuiyan presided over the
meeting, while its members Abdul Matin Khasru, M Abdul
Kader Khan and Sheikh Fazley Noor Tapash were present at
the meeting.
Editorial
The International
Mother Language Institute
The
International Mother Language Institute was inaugurated in the
capital Dhaka on Sunday amid the observance of International
Mother Language Day across the world commemorating the supreme
sacrifice of the language heroes for the official recognition
of Bangla on February 21 in 1952. While inaugurating the
institute, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sought cooperation
from litterateurs, linguists and researchers to make the
International Mother Language Institute a key global centre
for practising and protecting all mother languages. "The main
objective of constructing this Institute is to protect all
languages of the world, conducting research and spreading
those languages which are fading out from the globe," she
said.
During her previous regime, Sheikh Hasina had laid the
foundation stone of the institute on March 15, 2001 in
presence of the then UN Secretary General Kofi Anan and she
inaugurated it during the present tenure. The Prime Minister
said, it will be made an autonomous body so that none can play
foul game centering the institution in future. She said this
institute will play a vital role to protect the honour of all
mother languages across the world.
Taking into consideration the objectives of the institute it
can be said that the inauguration of the International Mother
Language Institute is a great event for the people of
Bangladesh as well as those of rest of the world. Because
language is vital for every nation and community and so is its
improvement and promotion. Every language is immensely
potential and that should be explored, improved and utilized
through practice and research. If a language is ignored then
it ultimately faces the fate of extinction. This has happened
to many languages of the world, specially some of those
belonging to ethnic minority people. This process must be
stopped and the research to be done at the International
Mother Language Institute is expected to make substantial
contributions in this regard.
Situated in Bangladesh capital, the International Mother
Language Institute will be a world body with global objectives
as regards protection and promotion of mother languages of all
peoples. The institute is supposed to consist of library,
archive and audio-visual centre where researchers from across
the world can conduct research for further flourishing their
mother languages. The Prime Minister in his speech has hoped
that this institute would play a vital role in protecting the
dignity and honour of all mother languages across the world.
We also share this hope, but like to add that the institute
should be allowed to work really as an autonomous body under
the guidance of scholars and intellectuals. Everyone loves his
or her mother language, but the fact remains that language is
something complicated and it should be handled properly by men
and women of knowledge and prudence.
High prices and
crimes
What
does cause the worst concern among the people nowadays? The
obvious reply to this question is skyrocketing of prices of
essentials followed by spate of the incidents of crimes.
Because, the sufferings of the people continue unabated due
mainly to high prices of essentials and deterioration of the
law and order situation. The prices of essentials specially
rice, lentils, sugar, edible oil, fish, spices have shot up
recently and are continuing to rise while incidents of
hijacking, extortion, snatching and murder have increased
marking deterioration of law and order across the country. It
is true the prices of rice, atta, dal and soybean oil had
fallen during the initial days of this government, but the
prices have soared now causing immense sufferings to the
people belonging to the limited income groups. And there is no
denying the fact that although the prices of these commodities
have shot up, the incomes of the people have not increased.
Needless to say the prices of most of the items including
rice, fish, egg, meat, soyabean oil, onion, spices are very
high and beyond the purchasing capacity of the commoners.
Meanwhile, there has been a deterioration in the law and order
situation causing concern among the public as well as the
administration. Incidents of extortion, snatching, theft,
robbery and murder have increased in the capital itself. The
murders of a Juba Dal leader and a BCL leader in the capital
recently are clear examples of aggravation of the law and
order situation.
However, the government apparently alive to the alarming
situation relating to the high prices of essentials and the
deterioration of the law and order situation marked by growing
incidents of serious crimes is trying to tackle the situation,
but with little effect. The adminitration is trying to monitor
the situation and bring the prices of different commodities to
a tolerable level. To this end TCB is trying to import some
commodities while the food ministry has decided to increase
supply of rice in OMS to check price hike. On the other hand
the home ministry has initiated moves to improve law and order
situation. Law enforcers have already started operation to nab
the criminals and recover illegal arms.
Against this backdrop, the government should deal with the law
and order situation seriously and ensure security, peace and
harmony. Stringent measures must be taken against the
offenders irrespective of their party affiliation to reassure
the people that the government is not ready to spare anybody
if found engaged in criminal activities. Above all the
government should go all out to bring down the prices of the
essentials.
Analysis
India’s belated turnaround
Delhi’s fear is that it would be marginalised
if a peace process which eventually gives the Taliban a share
of the power were to take hold.
Asif Ezdi
The
Indian proposal to Pakistan for open-ended talks at the level
of foreign secretaries to discuss all outstanding issues is a
belated admission by New Delhi that its refusal to engage in a
dialogue with Pakistan more than a year after Mumbai has been
hurting Indian interests more than it is harming Pakistan's.
Reflecting this recognition, Indian officials have
uncharacteristically been quite civilised in their language
and tone towards Pakistan recently, and especially since the
proposal was made.
India has so far shown reluctance to agree to the Pakistani
proposal that the old format of "composite dialogue" should be
revived, but the last word has not yet been said. When the two
foreign secretaries get together later this month, the major
task before them will be to prepare the ground for a meeting
between their prime ministers at the sidelines of the SAARC
Summit in the Bhutanese capital of Thimphu on April 26 and 27.
If things go according to plan, a formal resumption of
bilateral dialogue will be announced at this summit.
Manmohan Singh's willingness, if not keenness, to start the
dialogue process with Pakistan was evident also at the Sharm
el-Shaikh Summit last July, at which he agreed to de-link the
issue of talks from that of terrorism. But Manmohan Singh was
made to backtrack by the unexpectedly strong backlash which
came not only from the opposition BJP but also from within his
own party and the Indian foreign policy and security
establishments.
More than half a year since then, the Manmohan Singh
government has now launched another diplomatic initiative to
resume dialogue with Pakistan. He has a difficult balancing
act to perform. He has to convince Pakistan that the talks
will be not only about terrorism but will cover other issues
of interest to it, while assuring domestic public opinion that
the focus will be on terrorism and that progress on other
issues would be linked to action by Pakistan on punishing the
perpetrators of the Mumbai attack.
According to Prime Minister Gilani, India has been forced to
the negotiating table because of world pressure. This is a
mistaken view. True, Washington has been urging Delhi to
relieve pressure on Pakistan's eastern borders to enable the
Pakistani army to concentrate more on the fight against
terrorists on its western borders. But Delhi's readiness to
resume talks, despite its unhappiness over what it sees as
lack of action by Pakistan against terrorists who seek to
target India, is founded in India's own calculation that its
wider interests and goals are better served by restarting a
dialogue with Pakistan. There are several reasons for this.
First, India recognises that its "coercive diplomacy" towards
Pakistan has failed. In 2004, when India last resumed talks
after a terrorism-related suspension, it extracted a price: a
commitment from Musharraf that he will not permit any
territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support
terrorism in any manner. This time, India initially demanded a
bigger price: a dismantling of the "infrastructure of
terrorism." Since then, India has been scaling down its
demand. On Feb 3 Foreign Minister S M Krishna said that
Pakistan's readiness to accept Ajmal Kasab's confessional
statement as evidence to prosecute the planners of Mumbai was
a constructive signal and that India "should be quite
satisfied with Pakistan taking a few steps to investigate the
Mumbai attacks." This is a far cry from the demand made in
2008 by M K Narayanan, then India's national security adviser,
for "destroying" the ISI.
Second, India has been rattled by the recent US readiness to
take the Taliban on board in an eventual Afghanistan
settlement and by Karzai's offer to hold talks with their top
leaders. India was virtually alone in opposing the endorsement
given by the London Conference to the plan to win over the
Taliban. Besides, there is the emerging recognition by the
international community that Pakistani concerns about Indian
domination of Afghanistan are not without foundation and will
have to be taken into account.
Delhi's fear is that it would be marginalised if a peace
process which eventually gives the Taliban a share of the
power were to take hold. One of India's great strategic minds
has now even proposed that Manmohan Singh should invite Karzai
and Zardari for a trilateral summit on Afghanistan.
Third, India is keen to enter into talks with the "moderate"
faction of the APHC on the grant of autonomy to Kashmir. But
since Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads this faction, lacks broad
support within Kashmir for such a deal, he is reluctant to
take the political risk of negotiating with Delhi without at
least the tacit understanding of Pakistan that Musharraf was
prepared to give him.
India would also like autonomy talks with "moderate" Kashmiri
leaders to proceed in parallel with backchannel talks with
Pakistan on a "non-territorial" settlement of Kashmir which
were initiated under Musharraf. The deal he was negotiating
with Manmohan Singh would have sanctified the division of
Kashmir along the Line of Control in return for
self-governance in different parts of the divided state.
Manmohan Singh sought to revive these talks soon after
Musharraf's ouster from power. This was the "good news"
Zardari promised to the nation in his first press conference
after taking over the presidency.
Left to himself, Zardari would have followed in Musharraf's
footsteps. But after the Kerry-Lugar fiasco and the NRO
judgement, he is not in a position to bypass the foreign
ministry and the military establishment in policy-making on
issues of national security. In a welcome departure from past
practice, the government's response to the Indian offer of
talks has been prepared after careful deliberation involving
all the institutions concerned.
The position taken by Foreign Minister Qureshi on Musharraf's
backchannel deal with Manmohan Singh on Kashmir is
particularly welcome. On Feb 7 he rejected repeated claims
made by his predecessor Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri that the
Kashmir dispute had been close to settlement through
backchannel diplomacy under the Musharraf regime. Qureshi said
that if the previous government had been negotiating with
India on any such proposal, it was a "secret" between some
"selected individuals." It had never been debated in the
government and there was no record of it in the foreign
ministry. If Qureshi's statement means that the government has
now decided to repudiate the deal that Musharraf was
negotiating, it is probably the most sensible foreign policy
decision that this government has taken.
Qureshi also said that though backchannel diplomacy was
important, disputes between nations were always resolved
through formal talks. Since this government has also named
former foreign secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan as its envoy for
talks with India, it owes an explanation to the nation on
where it stands on the question of backchannel diplomacy. Was
our emissary's meeting with S K Lambah last November in
Bangkok a "secret" between "selected individuals" like those
under the Musharraf regime, or was it a part of formal talks?
And if it was wrong for Musharraf to negotiate through the
backchannel, why is it right for this government to do the
same?
Qureshi was right, though, in cautioning that a Kashmir
settlement was unlikely during the tenure of the present
government. That is not a tragedy because a settlement in the
present international environment would be based on the status
quo, which is what the Kashmiri people have been fighting
against all these years. They have suffered a lot but they can
wait because time is on their side.
After a long period of militancy, the movement for azadi has
now entered a new phase. It has become a deeply rooted and
broad-based political movement that cannot be suppressed
indefinitely through brute force. Our policy should aim at
generating international pressure on India to allow this
movement to operate at the political level, while promoting
links between the people in the two parts of the state through
increased trade and travel across the Line of Control. The
rest will follow.
The writer is a former member of the Pakistan Foreign
Service.
A new dawn
The political and military forces are forging a new
alliance, which is healthy for the development and
revitalisation of Pakistan.
Agha Haider Raza
Over
the past few days - out of public view - Pakistan has
witnessed a welcome shift in policy. With the capture of
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Mullah Abdul Salam, the
trust deficit between the US and Pakistan, or rather the
ISI and CIA, is slowly diminishing. With a joint effort by
these two premier intelligence agencies, a significant
blow has been dealt to the top brass of the Taliban. The
capture of these mullahs seems to have brought a new dawn
upon the horizon.
The arrest of Mullah Baradar in Karachi is critical in
reducing the influence of the Taliban in Pakistan. The
capture of Baradar, notoriously known as the "defence
minister of the Taliban cabinet", has also exposed the
vulnerability of Karachi. A dynamic city, Karachi has
recently been plagued with target killings and suicide
bombings along with sectarian violence running wild. There
have been numerous reports of the Taliban finding
sanctuary in this vibrant city, but Baradar's capture will
surely have the Taliban re-evaluating their presence in
Karachi.
The love affair between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban
is no secret. Ziaul Haq's military regime proudly
Islamised Pakistan, which allowed a jihadist ideology to
breed amongst the masses. In line with its 'strategic
depth' policy, the establishment blindly supported the
mujahedeen, which in turn created a vacuum, allowing the
Taliban to grab power. Due to the events of 9/11, the army
ended up in a messy divorce from the Taliban, as Pakistan
was threatened by the US to denounce all association with
the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
However, it was not until many years after the US had
entered Afghanistan did the Pakistan Army understand the
true nature and brutality of those who supported and
harboured al Qaeda. Pakistan was wary, fearing the US
would quit Afghanistan the moment its goals were
accomplished, and the much-needed militia for fighting in
the Indian-held Kashmir would be decimated in the
meanwhile. Ties between Pakistan and the US were affected
due to US drone strikes, which caused feelings of hurt
pride and a breach of trust in Pakistan.
Events over the past weeks have painted a different
scenario in terms of governance and policy. The federal
government has consistently decried the drone attacks.
However, it is widely believed that the military and the
cabinet have secretly allowed the US to carry out drone
attacks in the militant-infested regions. The government
(the army has wisely kept away from discussing drone
strikes) does not acknowledge that it has consented to the
drone attacks because this would mean a public admission
of the ineffectiveness of the writ of the state.
The change in the attitude of the Pakistan Army is
definitely a pleasant surprise. General Kayani seems to
have been playing a central role in this respect. Whether
he is flying to Brussels meeting the top command of NATO
or engaging the US Generals in his office at General
Headquarters (GHQ), Kayani seems to now understand the
threat and deadly influence of the Taliban. The capture of
Mullah Baradar will no doubt build rapport with the US
but, more importantly, it shows how our domestic
insecurity is linked to the global dangers posed by al
Qaeda.
With the death of Hakeemullah Mehsud by a drone strike and
now Mullah Baradar's capture, the Pakistan Army may well
be on the path to redemption. It may have taken the
establishment decades to realise the toxic effect of
sleeping with the Taliban, but the capture of Baradar in a
joint operation with the US is proving to be a blessing in
disguise for the Pakistan Army. Although the establishment
has a long way to go to eradicate the militants from
within Pakistan's border, these first steps must be
welcomed.
The political and military forces are forging a new
alliance, which is healthy for the development and
revitalisation of Pakistan. It is time for the PML-N to
stop waiting for the removal of the ban on third-time
premiership and play the role of a vibrant and healthy
opposition. As the leading party of the opposition, it is
crucial that the N-league provides positive criticism in
order to hold the government accountable. Gone are the
days when we played personal politics and made decisions
based on ego. The retraction of the executive order after
the recent clash between the judiciary and the presidency
should be a wakeup call for Nawaz Sharif and Altaf Hussain
that ego has no role in politics anymore for, if no one
else, the Pakistani public is ready to hold all the
players accountable.
A move for peace with India has been initiated, as the
foreign ministers are set to meet on February 25. The
judicial crisis seems to have been subdued, with a smart
decision made by the prime minister in reaching out to the
chief justice, while the army looks to have finally woken
up and is realising the urgency in eradicating militants
from Pakistan, who are hell-bent on killing innocent
people and creating mayhem - all in the name of Islam. We
are finally looking at a new dawn.
The writer is a senior at DePaul University and blogs
at http://ahraza.wordpress.com
Viewpoints
Mideast: A history lesson for Obama
In the
spirit of bipartisanship that he's so dedicated to, I suggest
he look to the way Dwight D. Eisenhower handled a similar
predicament a half-century ago.
Henry Norr
With
US President Barack Obama's Middle East peace plans so
completely - and humiliatingly - shipwrecked on the rocks of
Israeli intransigence, it's time for him to consider a new
approach, at least if he's serious about his announced
objectives.
In the spirit of bipartisanship that he's so dedicated to, I
suggest he look to the way Dwight D. Eisenhower handled a
similar predicament a half-century ago.
First, a quick review of the goals Obama staked out last year
and how much progress his efforts have produced. In his speech
in Cairo last June, he noted that the Palestinian people have
"for more than 60 years ... endured the pain of dislocation"
and "the daily humiliations - large and small - that come with
occupation."
"Let there be no doubt," he proclaimed, "the situation for the
Palestinian people is intolerable. And America will not turn
our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for
dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own." Israel, he
went on, "must live up to its obligation to ensure that
Palestinians can live and work and develop their society."
Specifically, on the key issue of Israeli colonization of East
Jerusalem and the West Bank, he reaffirmed the policy
Washington has subscribed to, at least on paper, since 1967:
"The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued
Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous
agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time
for these settlements to stop."
As to the devastated Gaza Strip, Obama said little in Cairo,
observing only that "the continuing humanitarian crisis in
Gaza does not serve Israel's security." But shortly afterward
the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that his administration
had delivered a diplomatic note to the Israeli government
protesting its blockade of the 1.5 million Gazans and
demanding that Israel open the border-crossings to allow in
desperately needed food, medical equipment, and reconstruction
materials.
Now, 13 months after Obama took office, and almost nine months
since his Cairo speech, how do things look? No one can
seriously claim that the Palestinians are any closer to
"dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own." The only
discernible changes are that Israel has stepped up repression
of grassroots, nonviolent anti-occupation activists and
accelerated its campaign to "Judaize" East Jerusalem.
With regard to settlements, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu promised a 10-month "freeze" on new construction,
but his commitment was riddled with loopholes, and in
practice, as both Israeli and Palestinian media and human
rights organizations have documented, settlement expansion
continues unabated. In the words of the prominent Israeli
pundit Akiva Eldar, "Only an idiot would say Israel has frozen
settlement activity."
Netanyahu himself is no idiot: Last month, after Obama's
special envoy George Mitchell once again left the region in
failure, the prime minister celebrated by planting trees in
several settlements, and just to make sure no one could
misunderstand the symbolism, he spelled out his intent: To
"send a clear message that we are here. We will stay here. We
are planning and we are building." The major settlements, he
declared, are an "indisputable part of Israel forever."
Meanwhile, conditions in Gaza have scarcely changed. Just this
week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a
conference in Qatar that "We have pushed the Israelis to end
the - to increase the trickle to a flood of goods into Gaza,"
but the UN reports that deliveries of goods to Gaza actually
declined last month and now amount to only 17 percent of the
monthly average before Israel launched its full-scale siege in
2007 - a whole lot closer to a trickle than a flood.
When Clinton was grilled about the contradiction in Qatar, her
only response was as vague as it was pathetic: "I hope that we
are going to see some progress. ... there are so many
countries standing ready to help the people of Gaza rebuild.
And we just want the chance to be able to do that."
Obama sounds equally helpless. "This is just really hard," he
told Time magazine reporter Joe Klein a few weeks ago. "This
is as intractable a problem as you get. ... And I think that
we overestimated our ability to persuade" both the Israelis
and the Palestinian Authority. He promised, of course, to keep
working on the issue, but if - as he's shown over the past
year - he's unwilling to stand up to Netanyahu even over core
American objectives, what reason is there to think he'll have
any more success in the coming year?
That's where Ike comes in. 53 years ago this week, he too was
facing a defiant Israeli government. A few months earlier, in
late October 1956, while he himself was in the home stretch of
his re-election campaign, and the world was preoccupied with
the bloody Hungarian revolution against Soviet rule, the
Israelis colluded with Britain and France to launch a surprise
attack on Nasser's Egypt, apparently without so much as a word
to Washington. Israeli forces quickly seized the Gaza Strip
(previously under Egyptian control) and Egypt's Sinai
Peninsula, while the British and the French took over the Suez
Canal.
Miffed at not being consulted, and embarrassed by such a
blatant display of old-fashioned imperialism - instead of the
neocolonial tactics of economic coercion and CIA manipulation
the US preferred - Eisenhower and his Secretary of State John
Foster Dulles forthrightly condemned the attack. At the United
Nations, where Britain and France held veto power in the
Security Council, the US joined the Soviet bloc - even as
Soviet tanks rolled through Hungary - as well as emerging
Third-World governments in taking the matter to the General
Assembly and approving resolution after resolution calling for
a cease-fire, then withdrawal of the aggressors.
Within days the British and French gave in and began pulling
out their troops. A few weeks later Israel grudgingly agreed
to withdraw from the Sinai. But Israeli Prime Minister David
Ben Gurion adamantly refused to give up the Gaza Strip as well
as an area along the Gulf of Aqaba, despite personal pleas
from Eisenhower and a sixth UN resolution calling for
withdrawal. Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, formally
proclaimed the country's intent to keep Gaza.
Meanwhile, in the US, Israel mobilized its lobby - already a
formidable political force, if not quite as dominant as it is
today - to pressure the administration to back off on its
demands. Senate majority leader Lyndon Johnson, with support
from his Republican counterpart, William Knowland, led the
campaign, with support from such luminaries as Eleanor
Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Time Inc. publisher Henry Luce.
Noting the "terrific control the Jews have over the news media
and the barrage the Jews have built up on congressmen," Dulles
complained that "The Israeli Embassy is practically dictating
to the Congress through influential Jewish people in the
country."
"I am aware how almost impossible it is in this country to
carry out a foreign policy not approved by the Jews," he told
Luce, but "I am going to have one. That does not mean I am
anti-Jewish, but I believe in what George Washington said in
his Farewell Address that an emotional attachment to another
country should not interfere."
Eisenhower agreed. On Feb. 11, 1957, he sent another message
to Ben Gurion, offering to guarantee Israeli access to the
Gulf of Aqaba but demanding "prompt and unconditional
withdrawal" from Gaza. Ben Gurion again refused, replying that
"there is no basis for the restoration of the status quo ante
in Gaza."
At that point, instead of an Obama-style cave-in, Ike decided
to take the gloves off. On Feb. 20 he sent another cable to
Ben Gurion threatening to support a UN call for sanctions
against Israel and warning that such sanctions could apply not
only to US government aid to Israel (then modest) but also to
Israel's lifeline at the time, tax-deductible private
donations and the purchase of Israel's bonds. That same
evening the president went on national television specifically
to address the dispute with Israel. "We are now," he told the
American people, "faced with a fateful moment as the result of
the failure of Israel to withdraw its forces behind the
armistice lines, as contemplated by the United Nations
Resolutions on this subject."
"I would, I feel, be untrue to the standards of the high
office to which you have chosen me, if I were to lend the
influence of the United States to the proposition that a
nation which invades another should be permitted to exact
conditions for withdrawal," he continued. "I believe that in
the interests of peace the United Nations has no choice but to
exert pressure upon Israel to comply with the withdrawal
resolutions."
Ben Gurion's initial response was continued defiance, but with
no indication that Eisenhower would back down, and the General
Assembly about to vote for sanctions, he had no choice but to
capitulate. On March 1 Israel's Foreign Minister Golda Meir
announced that her government would withdraw from Gaza after
all, and by March 16 the pullout was complete. On the way out,
the Israelis systematically destroyed all surface roads,
railway tracks, and telephone lines in the area, as well as
several villages. But at least the occupation of the Gaza
Strip came to an end - until the Israelis came storming back
10 years later.
Granted, there was hypocrisy aplenty in Eisenhower's stand,
considering his own administration's activities in Iran,
Guatemala, and elsewhere. (In mid-1958 he even sent the
Marines into Lebanon.) And, of course, the Middle East today
is very different from what it was in 1956-57.
Still, there's a lesson in the events of 53 years ago that
remains relevant today: On the rare occasions when US leaders
have the guts to stand up to the bluster of the Israelis and
their supporters at home, to insist on respect for
international law, to take their case to the American people
and the world, and to back up their demands with the threat of
economic sanctions, even the most recalcitrant Israeli
government has to give in.
If Obama would only learn that lesson, he might yet be able to
achieve the goals he set out last June in Cairo.
Henry Norr is a retired journalist. He was fired by the San
Francisco Chronicle in 2003 after participating in the
International Solidarity Movement in the Gaza Strip, then
getting arrested in San Francisco protesting the war on Iraq.
He welcomes comments at henry@norr.com.
Desperate
tussle for power in Iraq
However, using
the Baath party as a false pretext to ban people from
joining the political process entails other goals that are
not to the advantage of Iraq.
Mohammad Akef Jamal
The
Iraqi campaign for the upcoming March elections was
launched officially on February 12, amidst a highly tensed
up atmosphere between the different participating
political groups and foreign and regional powers.
This situation was expected by observers, as a result of
the importance of the elections internally and on the
regional level, in addition to its importance to the
countries that established the foundations of chaos in
Iraq.
No doubt this election is more important than the last one
which had put Iraq on a new track. These elections will be
the acid test to find out about the true feelings of
Iraqis towards the new route set for them and their
country.
In this election campaign, the Independent High Electoral
Commission is not alone in the field. Political coalitions
and parties are competing for votes as new players have
entered the game.
The Justice and Accountability Commission, which took the
place of the De-Baathification Commission, is one such
entity.
Moreover, the prime minister and other political blocs
have also entered the field, politicising the atmosphere
and raising doubts about the independence of the Iraqi
judicial system. Big foreign players have also entered the
game, such as Christopher R. Hill, the US ambassador to
Iraq, Joe Biden, US vice-president, and Hillary Clinton,
secretary of state.
Other players have joined in behind the scenes, such as a
number of neighbouring countries, while Iran's President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has not concealed his determination to
build a new Iraq which responds to the demands of Tehran's
Council for National Interest.
The participation of all these players who have no
business in Iraq's internal affairs is not positive nor
neutral. In fact, this interference contributes to adding
more stress to the election atmosphere and increased
tensions in Iraq, especially when different parties
entrenched against each other rally people to demonstrate
against one another in an aggressive manner. It also casts
doubt on the impartiality of the election's outcome.
It is worthy to note here that the sectarian issue is not
being used as a basic element to gain votes. The Iraqi
Accord Front, which was a basic parliamentary bloc
representing Sunnis has become secondary in importance
after many of its members left to seek more effective
entities that work on bigger non-sectarian issues.
The United Iraqi Alliance, the biggest Shiite
parliamentary bloc, which dominated political
decision-making during the past few years in cooperation
with the Kurdish alliance, has also dissolved to become
two blocs, the Iraqi National Alliance headed by former
Iraqi prime minister Ebrahim Al Jafari and the State of
Law Coalition, headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al
Maliki.
Great game
Some observers consider these new blocs a continuation of
the past Shiite dominated bloc despite a few additions of
non-Shiite elements. However, the Al Dawa Shiite party,
the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the Sadrist
movement is still in control.
The Kurdish alliance on the other hand has become weaker
as a result of the splits that took place lately in the
National Kurdish Union, forcing new balances in the
Kurdish region's parliament.
Two secular blocs have also emerged on the political
scene, the Unity Alliance of Iraq, headed by Minister of
Interior Jawad Al Boulani, and the Iraqi National Accord
headed by former premier Eyad Allawi. Both blocs have a
special attraction to the voters because their mostly
nationalist members do not move under the banner of
sectarian divisions.
That is why Allawi's bloc was targeted by the Justice and
Accountability Commission. A number of its candidates were
barred from joining the elections on the pretext of their
being ex-Baath party members, or were accused of promoting
its policies.
Iraqi elections today have nothing to do with the ordinary
parliamentary competition programmes, nor do they reflect
a democratic approach to the elections. It is a real
bone-breaking battle. Political blocs that have ruled Iraq
and profited from their positions consider these elections
a battle for survival.
Four years ago in the previous elections, the general
atmosphere allowed the employment of religion, sect and
ethnicity. People were misled by candidates who hid behind
religious figures to acquire their votes. As a result a
huge number of people sat under the parliament's dome,
which Iraqis knew nothing about, and did nothing for the
country except multiply the problems it faces.
Today, because Iraqis have come to understand the
political situation that was forced upon their country,
these political groups have decided to change their
agendas, employing new faces to dissect and divide the
Iraqi community in the hope of dominating the country for
another four years.
The battle set up by these political groups is completely
imaginary. The political groups and parties known to
Iraqis during the 1950s, 60s and 70s are mostly gone and
the popular support they enjoyed has diminished. The Baath
party is one of these political entities. However, using
the Baath party as a false pretext to ban people from
joining the political process entails other goals that are
not to the advantage of Iraq.
Dr Mohammad Akef Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in
Dubai.
‘Submerged optimism’
Labour is in part making a virtue of necessity as it
cannot match the millions raised by Cameron and Lord
Ashcroft, his deputy chairman.
Patrick Wintour
Labour
plans to stop the Tories (Conservatives) winning the
general election - expected in May - by tapping into a
'submerged optimism' about the future and by applying
Barack Obama's reliance on word-of-mouth campaigning,
backed by the Internet, says Douglas Alexander, Labour
election co-ordinator.
He also reveals that Labour's campaign slogan will be 'A
future fair for all'- a phrase designed to compete with
what Alexander describes as the "valueless promise of
change" from the opposition Conservative party leader
David Cameron.
The slogan will be unveiled at a rally in Warwick, but
Alexander gave no hint of Prime Minister Gordon Brown
calling an election before May 6, emphasising the need for
a slow reappraisal of Labour to take root.
He said: "We must not allow the Tories to frame the
election as a choice between status quo and change. What
we want is a choice between two competing visions of the
future."
Boosted by two letters in Frida's Financial Times signed
by more than 60 economists endorsing the government's
decision to delay spending cuts until next year, Brown
said: "Conservative dislike of government, bordering on
hatred of government action, would risk recovery now."
But ministers were shocked when James Purnell, the former
work and pensions secretary, announced that he was leaving
parliament. Purnell quit Brown's cabinet last year,
telling him his leadership made a Conservative victory
more likely. Purnell's departure from Westminster is also
a blow to David Miliband, the foreign secretary and a
close ally, who would have liked his support in the event
of a leadership battle after the election.
The meeting comes against a backdrop of a slight narrowing
of the polls, but also a Labour fear that extra spending
by the Tories in marginal seats might mean Cameron winning
a majority with just a six-point national lead, three or
four points fewer than many pollsters predict.
Labour is in part making a virtue of necessity as it
cannot match the millions raised by Cameron and Lord
Ashcroft, his deputy chairman. Alexander also believes
that a cash-strapped populist campaign, bereft of
helicopters and glitz, matches the austere times.
The Guardian, London
International
India plans dam
on River Chenab
Dawn Online, Islamabad
With Pakistan still undecided when to formally seek
intervention of the International Court of Arbitration
against controversial construction of Kishanganga
hydropower project by India in violation of the 1960 Indus
Waters Treaty, New Delhi has started preparations to build
another big dam on River Chenab.
Documents available with Dawn suggest that the government
of Indian-occupied Kashmir has invited bids for a
'topographical survey of Bursar Dam (on Chenab) for
acquisition of land and property'. New Delhi plans to
begin construction by the end of the year.
Bursar Dam is considered as the biggest project among a
host of others being built by India on two major rivers -
Jhelum and Chenab - flowing through the state of Jammu &
Kashmir into Pakistan and assigned to Islamabad under the
1960 Indus Waters Treaty. The proposed dam would not only
violate the treaty, international environmental
conventions and cause water scarcity in Pakistan but would
also contribute towards melting of Himalayan glaciers.
Pakistan's Permanent Indus Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali
Shah had repeatedly asked his Indian counterpart to
provide details of the proposed water storage and
hydropower projects, including Bursar dam. However, India
has taken the stand that it was aware of its legal
obligations and it would let Pakistan know about the
project details and relevant data six months before
construction activities as required under the bilateral
treaty, he said, adding the Pakistan could do nothing more
when such projects were in the planning and investigation
stage.
Responding to a question about Kishanganga hydropower
project, he said he had already requested the government
to move quickly for constitution of an International Court
of Arbitration to stop construction of the controversial
project. Pakistan, he said, had already nominated two
members for the court of arbitration and had asked to do
the same. He said the procedure laid down in the waters
treaty required the two nations to nominate two
adjudicators each of their choice and then jointly
nominate three members to complete the composition of a
seven-member court of arbitration.
He said the procedure also required that in case of a
disagreement over three adjudicators, the complainant
nation should ask the World Bank to nominate these three
members and start formal proceedings. Pakistan, he said,
had even prepared the list of three joint adjudicators
since India had not yet fulfilled its obligations to
nominate its two members and three joint members of the
court. "We have completed the entire process, it was only
a matter of formal launching and only the government could
do that," he said, adding that perhaps Islamabad intended
to wait for the upcoming secretary level talks before
triggering the legal process.
He, however, believed that these issues were of technical
nature and should be processed accordingly as provided
under the treaty.
NATO airstrike kills 33
Afghan civilians
AP, Kabul
A NATO airstrike killed at least 33 civilians in central
Afghanistan, the Cabinet said Monday, the third time a
mistaken coalition strike has killed noncombatants since
the start of a major offensive aimed at winning over the
population.
The top NATO commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal,
apologized to the Afghan president, NATO said.
The Afghanistan Council of Ministers strongly condemned
the airstrike Sunday in Uruzgan province, calling it
"unjustifiable."
Initial reports indicated that NATO planes fired at a
convoy of three vehicles, killing at least 33 people,
including four women and a child, and injuring 12 others,
it said in a statement.
It urged NATO to "closely coordinate and exercise maximum
care before conducting any military operation" to avoid
further civilian casualties.
NATO confirmed that its planes fired on what it believed
was a group of insurgents on their way to attack a joint
NATO-Afghan patrol, but later discovered that women and
children were hurt. The injured were transported to
medical facilities, it said in a statement.
The Afghan government and NATO have launched an
investigation.
Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary earlier said
the airstrike hit three minibuses traveling on a major
road near Uruzgan's border with central Day Kundi
province. There were 42 people in the vehicles, all
civilians, he said.
Bashary said Afghan investigators had collected 21 bodies
and two people were missing. He said he was checking with
Cabinet officials to find out how they had determined that
at least 33 had died.
The NATO statement did not say how many people died or
whether all the occupants of the vehicles were civilians.
NAB chief seeks advice on
Swiss cases
Dawn Online, Islamabad
National Accountability Bureau Chairman Navaid Ahsan has
sent a letter to the law ministry seeking advice on how to
reopen the Swiss money laundering cases in compliance with
a Supreme Court order.
Informed sources told Dawn on Sunday the NAB chief was
said to be in a quandary over the SC order for reopening
cases against President Asif Ali Zardari because the
government and the presidency believed that the Swiss
investigation magistrate was just conducting inquiries
into the matter which never became proper cases.
They were of the view that being president of the country,
Mr Zardari enjoyed immunity and no case could be initiated
against him. NAB officials believed that they could not
ask the Swiss government directly to reopen the cases
against the president as such correspondence was done by
the Foreign Office.
"If the law ministry gives a go ahead to NAB to reopen the
president's case even in that case too the Swiss
government would be approached by the Foreign Office and
not by NAB," a NAB source told Dawn.
Meanwhile, a senior official of the presidency told Dawn
that President Asif Ali Zardari enjoyed immunity under
Article 248 of the Constitution and now the fresh Supreme
Court order was being assessed by the law division.
The President's spokes-man, Farhatullah Babar, said:
"About fresh order of the Supreme Court, Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani, on the floor of the house, has said
that the government will fully comply with the court's
order and the President enjoys complete immunity under
Article 248 of the Constitution."
The spokesman said that after the prime minister's
statement it needed no further elaboration.
India will talk, but
Pakistan must curb ‘terror’: Pratibha
Dawn Online, New Delhi
India said Monday that any meaningful relationship with
Pakistan required Islamabad to crack down on "terrorism" -
as the rivals prepared for their first official talks
since the Mumbai attacks.
In a speech to the opening session of parliament,
President Pratibha Patil left the door open for improved
relations between the neighbours, whose foreign
secretaries are scheduled to meet on Thursday.
"India is ready to explore a meaningful relationship with
Pakistan if Pakistan seriously addresses the threat of
terrorism and takes effective steps to prevent terrorist
activities against India," said Patil.
The talks this week will be the first since India froze
all dialogue in the wake of the November 2008 assault by
gunmen on Mumbai that left 166 people dead.
India blamed the attack on Pakistan-based militants.
New Delhi and Islamabad announced the resumption of talks
on February 12, with India insisting that they would focus
on counter-terrorism issues.
A day later, a bomb blast ripped through a packed
restaurant in the western Indian city of Pune, killing 15
people and leading some opposition politicians to call for
the foreign secretaries' meeting to be put off.
A previously unknown militant outfit, which said it had
splintered from a larger Pakistan-based group, claimed
responsibility for the attack in a telephone call last
week to the Indian English-language newspaper The Hindu.
Japan PM says funds
scandals hurt support
AFP, Tokyo
Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama acknowledged Monday
growing public discontent with his centre-left government
over funds scandals after a ruling-party candidate lost a
weekend gubernatorial race.
The comprehensive election defeat in Nagasaki prefecture
came as a newspaper poll found support for Hatoyama's
government had nearly halved since it came to power five
months ago. "We cannot deny that the political situation
at the national level has affected the outcome. The
problems involving politics and money have had
consequences," said Hatoyama.
Hatoyama also blamed the bad economy, which he inherited
from the previous administration, for the loss. The
world's number two economy is limping out of its worst
post-war recession but is still hobbled by deflation.
Former Nagasaki vice-governor Hodo Nakamura won a
landslide victory over former bureaucrat Tsuyoshi
Hashimoto, a candidate backed by the ruling party, in
Sunday's election in the southern prefecture.
Nakamura beat Hashimoto by 316,603 votes to 222,565 with
backing from the conservative Liberal Democratic Party and
the New Komeito party, which were ousted in September by
Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
The poll defeat came five months after the DPJ won all
four districts in Nagasaki in national lower house
elections that ousted the LDP, who had ruled Japan with
only one break for more than half a century.
Since then Japan's public has watched a series of DPJ
political funds scandals over accounting irregularities
that led to the indictment of former aides of Hatoyama and
accusations against DPJ heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa.
Prosecutors later dropped their investigation against
Ozawa citing insufficient evidence.
The Nagasaki poll, ahead of elections for the national
upper house in July, "showed the 'money-and-politics'
problems... are taking the DPJ's steam," said the
nationwide daily Mainichi Shimbun.
Anti-India clashes in
Kashmir leave 12 injured
AP/ UNB, Srinagar
Police used tear gas and wooden batons Monday to disperse
hundreds of angry protesters who attacked them with rocks
as part of a demonstration in the Indian portion of
Kashmir over the recent arrest of more than 100 people.
At least 12 people, including two television cameramen and
one photographer, were injured as the nearly 500
protesters clashed with police in the main business
district of Srinagar, said Hemant Lohia, a police officer.
The protesters accused Indian forces of using excessive
force to quell recent anti-India demonstrations and
demanded the release of more than 100 people arrested in
the past two weeks during a crackdown on street protests.
Those arrested have been charged with disturbing public
peace and attacking property. Another eight people have
been taken into custody under the Public Security Act,
which empowers police to detain people for two years
without trial for their alleged involvement in separatist
activities, Lohia said.
Kasmiris have been protesting the deaths of two young men
who they say were killed by Indian forces.
Early this month, authorities arrested one India border
guard and suspended 14 others for their suspected
involvement in the shooting death of one of the teens. The
government has ordered an investigation into both deaths.
Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim, is divided between
India and Pakistan and claimed by both. Anti-India
sentiment runs deep in the Himalayan region, where rebel
groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from
India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989.
SKorea to deploy more
patrol planes against NKorea
AFP, Seoul
South Korea's navy will deploy eight more advanced
maritime patrol aircraft this year to guard against any
military threats from North Korea or elsewhere, the navy
said Monday.
The first of eight refurbished P-3CK aircraft from the
United States will be delivered to a naval unit on
Tuesday, a navy statement said.
The countries' disputed Yellow Sea border has been tense
since a firefight last November left a North Korean patrol
boat in flames. In late January the North fired some 370
shells into the sea near the borderline.
Last week it announced new naval firing zones off its
shores, banning shipping from them until Monday, although
no firing has so far been reported.
South Korea, a close US ally, already has eight P-3C Orion
aircraft built by Lockheed Martin in service.
The navy said the more advanced P-3CKs would carry better
surveillance equipment and weaponry, like Harpoon Block II
air-to-ground missiles, to hit "the enemy's coastal
artillery units or missile launchers."
No cost figures were given. Yonhap news agency said the
eight new planes would cost a total of US$550 million.
The Yellow Sea border was the scene of deadly naval
battles in 1999 and 2002.
Despite the tensions, North Korea on Monday proposed that
military officials from the two sides hold talks on March
2 on ways to ease access to a joint industrial estate just
north of the border.
The South had proposed holding the working-level talks on
February 23 and has not yet decided whether to accept the
revised date.
Iran:
work on 2 new enrichment sites to begin soon
AP, Tehran
The head of Iran's nuclear program said Monday his country
hopes to begin construction within a year on two uranium
enrichment facilities, which it plans to build deep inside
mountains to protect them from possible attack.
Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also Iran's vice president, said
Tehran intends to use its more advanced centrifuges at the
new sites, a decision that could add to growing concerns
in the West over Tehran's program because the technology
would allow Iran to accelerate the pace of its program. In
November, Iran approved plans to build 10 industrial scale
uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion of the
program in defiance of U.N. demands it halt enrichment.
"Hopefully, we may begin construction of two new
enrichment sites in the next Iranian year as ordered by
the president," the semiofficial ISNA quoted Salehi as
saying Monday. The Iranian calendar year begins March 21.
"As of now, our enrichment sites ... will be built inside
mountains," Salehi added, according to ISNA.
The decision appears to be aimed at shielding the
facilities from potential military attack.
Israel considers Iran's nuclear program a strategic
threat, and has hinted at the possibility of airstrikes
against Iran if world pressure does not halt Tehran's
nuclear efforts.
Iran's enrichment of uranium is the central concern of the
United States and other nations negotiating with the
country over its disputed nuclear program.
The technology can be used to generate fuel for power
plants and isotopes for medical purposes, but it can also
be used to make weapons-grade uranium for atomic bombs.
EU ‘concerned’ over
passport abuse in Hamas killing
AFP, Brussels
The European Union is "extremely concerned" at the use of
European passports in the killing of a Hamas commander in
Dubai, the Spanish EU presidency said on Monday.
"We are extremely concerned that European passports... can
be used in a different manner for a different purpose,"
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told
reporters as he arrived for a meeting with his EU
counterparts in Brussels.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was due to meet
Moratinos and several fellow European foreign ministers in
Brussels on Monday, seeking to reassure them over the use
of British, Irish, French and German passports in the
assassination of Mahmud al-Mabhuh in January.
"We are going to discuss it and I hope we will issue a
statement expressing our concern about this situation,"
said Moratinos ahead of the talks.
Deputy Israel Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on
Saturday that he foresaw no crisis in Israel's relations
with Europe over the use of foreign passports in the
murder as it had nothing to do with it. But Britain,
Ireland, France and Germany have called in Israeli envoys
for talks at their foreign ministries after passports from
those countries were implicated in the killing.
Amid mounting diplomatic tension, British Foreign
Secretary David Miliband, who will also meet Lieberman,
has urged the Israelis to cooperate "fully" in
investigating the incident.
Washington determined to
encircle China with its anti-missile systems
ANI, Beijing
With its proposed weapon deal with Taiwan, the US appears
determined to encircle China with American-built
anti-missile systems, Chinese military experts have
observed. Taiwan became the fifth global buyer of the
Patriot missile defense system last year following Japan,
the Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates and
Germany.
According to Chinese military strategists, Washington's
weapon deal with Taiwan is the key part of a US strategic
encirclement of China in the East Asian region.
"China is in a crescent-shaped ring of encirclement. The
ring begins in Japan, stretches through nations in the
South China Sea to India, and ends in Afghanistan.
Washington's deployment of anti-missile systems around
China's periphery forms a crescent-shaped encirclement,"
China Daily quoted Air force colonel Dai Xu, as saying.
Ni Lexiong, an expert on military affairs with the
Shanghai Institute of Political Science and Law, said:
"The US anti-missile system in China's neighbourhood is a
replica of its strategy in Eastern Europe against Russia.
The Obama administration began to plan for such a system
around China after its project in Eastern Europe got
suspended".
Another expert, Tang Xiaosong of Guangdong University,
noted that Washington is hoping to sell India and other
Southeast Asian countries the Patriot Advanced Capability
(PAC)-3 missile defense system, and expand its ring.
Israeli soldiers clash with
Palestinian protesters
AP, Hebron, West Bank
A crowd of Palestinian youths pelted Israeli soldiers with
stones and empty bottles on Monday, drawing tear gas and
stun grenades in the most serious violence in this
volatile West Bank city in months.
The clashes erupted a day after Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu enra-ged some Palestinian residents by
adding a disputed Hebron shrine to Israel's list of
national heritage sites.
The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank as part of a
future state, and saw the Israeli move - a largely
declarative step with few practical consequences - as a
provocation.
Hebron merchants shuttered their stores to protest the
decision, and some 100 youths burned tires and threw
stones and bottles at Israeli forces in the city. The
Israeli military said one soldier was lightly wounded,
while Palestinians said three protesters suffered from
tear gas inhalation.
Hebron is one of the most volatile cities in the West
Bank. Several hundred ultranationalist Jewish settlers
live in heavily guarded enclaves in the midst of some
170,000 Palestinians. Under accords signed in the 1990s,
the Palestinians control 80 percent of the city and the
Israeli military controls 20 percent. Hebron has been a
flashpoint for decades, and Netanyahu's move heightened
long-standing tensions around the shrine.
Jews revere the site as the Cave of the Patriarchs, where
the Bible says the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
were buried along with three of their wives. Muslims call
it the al-Ibrahimi mosque, reflecting the fact that
Abraham is considered the father of both Judaism and
Islam. At a special Cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu
added the cave and a second West Bank shrine, the
traditional tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel in
Bethlehem, to the list of heritage sites.
Eight family members
brutally killed, some beheaded, in Iraq
AFP, Baghdad
Gunmen with silencers killed a family of eight in Baghdad
on Monday, beheading some of their victims, amid a spate
of deadly attacks less than two weeks before Iraq's
general election.
Eleven other people were killed in attacks, including
three in a suicide car bombing in west Iraq, and a police
commando was shot dead by a sniper in Baghdad. Police
arrested four men in connection with the brutal killings
shortly after announcing the deaths of the eight family
members at their Baghdad home, saying the group had
confessed to other crimes as well. "A terrorist group
carried out at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) a brutal crime against a
family in Al-Wehdah neighbourhood," the Baghdad Operations
Command said in a statement. "This gang killed eight
members of this family using silencer pistols."
It added: "The criminals have beheaded some of them."
Baghdad police later said in a statement that they
apprehended four people carrying silencers in connection
with the murders. "The arrest came after Iraqi security
forces got information about them," a statement said. The
police did not immediately identify the gunmen and the
motive for the killings was not immediately clear.
Beheadings have been the trademark of Sunni insurgents in
Iraq, particularly Al-Qaeda militants in the violence that
flared after the 2003 US-led invasion. Al-Wehdah is a
predominantly Shiite Muslim neighbourhood about 20
kilometres (12 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
Meanwhile, in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, a suicide
car bomb struck an interior ministry detention centre,
killing a man, his six-year-old son and a policeman, said
a police officer and a doctor at the city's hospital.
Former Turkey military
chiefs held in plot probe: TV
Reuters, Istanbul
Turkish police have deta-ined former heads of the air
force and navy under an investigation into an alle-ged
plot to undermine the Islamist-rooted government and
trigger a military coup, broadcasters reported on Monday.
The swoop, one of the largest in the European Union
candidate country against the secular armed forces,
follows reports of several alleged plots in the past year
which have strained relations between the ruling AK Party
and the military. NTV said former Air Force Commander
Ibrahim Firtina, former Naval Commander Ozden Ornek and
several other senior retired military officers were
detained in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir in
connection with the "Sledgehammer" plot.
Broadcaster CNN Turk said seven serving officers and seven
retired officers had been detained, and the current armed
forces chief General Ilker Basbug had cancelled a trip to
Egypt as a result. There was no immediate official comment
on the reports.
Such detentions would have been unthinkable in the past
for the military, which has ousted four governments in the
last 50 years. However, its powers have waned in recent
years due to democratic reforms aimed at securing EU
membership. Other senior military officers have been
indicted on charges of planning a separate plot to
overthrow the AK Party, which has its roots in political
Islam.
According to previous media reports on the Sledgehammer
plan, den-ied by the military, the army had plotted to
provoke Greek fighter jets into shooting down a Turkish
military jet and planned to plant bombs in mosques and
museums in Istanbul to stir chaos.
Israel unveils new drone
fleet that can reach Iran
AP, Tel Nof Air Force Base, Israel
Israel's air force on Sunday introduced a fleet of huge
pilotless planes that can remain in the air for a full day
and could fly as far as the Persian Gulf, putting rival
Iran within its range.
The Heron TP drones have a wingspan of 86 feet (26
meters), making them the size of Boeing 737 passenger jets
and the largest unmanned aircraft in Israel's military.
The planes can fly at least 20 consecutive hours and are
primarily used for surveillance and carrying diverse
payloads. At the fleet's inauguration ceremony at a
sprawling air base in central Israel, the drone dwarfed an
F-15 fighter jet parked beside it.
The unmanned plane resembles its predecessor, the Heron,
but can fly higher, reaching an altitude of more than
40,000 feet (12,000 meters), and remain in the air longer.
"With the inauguration of the Heron TP, we are realizing
the air force's dream," said Brig. Gen.
Amikam Norkin, commander of the base that will operate the
drones. "The Heron TP is a technological and operational
breakthrough." The commander of Israel's air force, Maj.
Gen. Ido Nehushtan, said the aircraft "has the potential
to be able to conduct new missions down the line as they
become relevant."
Israel's military refused to say how large the new fleet
is or whether the planes were designed for use against
Iran, but stressed it was versatile and could adapt to new
missions.
The plane's maker, state-owned Israel Aerospace
Industries, has said it is capable of reaching the Persian
Gulf, which would put Iran within its range.
Business/Economy
DSE
suffers biggest fall in a decade
AFP, Dhaka
The Dhaka Stock Exchange suffered its biggest fall in a
decade on Monday after regulators placed restrictions on
trading in the shares of a local mobile phone group.
The benchmark DSE General (DGEN) Index shed 137.95 or 2.39
percent to close at 5,622.99 -- the biggest plunge since
the index was introduced in November 2001, the bourse's
research chief Afzalur Rahman told AFP.
An order by the Securities and Exchange Commission that
placed Grameenphone under spot trading-meaning investors
cannot buy shares on credit-triggered the fall, he said.
Grameenphone, majority owned by Telenor of Norway, has
nearly half of Bangladesh's 52 million mobile phone
subscribers and accounts for 15 percent of the DSE index
of leading shares.
Grameenphone, also the country's largest company in terms
of revenue, lost nearly eight percent to close at 332.60
taka-its largest fall since it made its market debut in
November last year.
Experts and regulators say a major correction in the
Bangladeshi market is long overdue, with shares rising
nearly 30 percent since January amid big investments from
local private investors seeking quick profits.
BD
ship breakers protest new environmental standards
AFP, Chittagong
Bangladesh's ship breaking yards ground to a halt Monday
as some 30,000 workers protested a government decree aimed
at improving environmental standards in the industry,
police said.
Under a government order issued in late January said,
ships heading for breaking yards must now be certified as
toxic chemical-free before they are imported and scrapped.
"Ship breakers are demanding the order be reversed and
30,000 ship breaking workers are protesting with a massive
rally in the centre of Chittagong," said local police
chief Monirul Islam, referring to Bangladesh's
second-largest city.
The order comes after a boom year for ship breakers, with
the number of yards growing to around 100 from just 40 in
early 2009 and turnover hitting a record 700 million
dollars.
With no natural iron ore deposits, Bangladesh is dependent
on recycled steel for its fast-growing economy. Some 45
percent of the world's ship breaking happens on the
southeastern Sitakundu coast.
"The government order is tantamount to a death sentence
for the industry," said Jafar Alam, head of the
Bangladeshi ship-breakers association.
"Tens of thousands of workers will lose their jobs because
of the order," he said.
The industry employs an estimated 40,000 people. Activists
hailed the government's order as the "biggest achievement
in many years" in their battle to enforce environmental
and work safety standards in the yards.
"Now the yards cannot import ships that contain deadly
toxic waste like asbestos, mercury and PCPs," said
Mohammad Ali Shaheen, the local head of the rights group
coalition, NGO Platform on Ship Breaking.
"It will ensure the safety of the workers who were made to
clean up these pollutants with their bare hands. The
government has proved that it's stronger than the ship
breakers and I hope it won't back off from this stand."
Last year, 26 people were killed at the ship breaking
yards, a figure that charities call a huge underestimate,
as it only counts on-site accidents and does not include
workers who were laid off after being made ill by toxic
chemicals.
Ships heading for Bangladesh routinely contain chemicals
banned in many developed countries such as asbestos.
Bank Asia’s new ATM Booth at
Panthapath
TBT Economy Desk
Bank Asia launched a new ATM booth in the capital's
Pathapath area on Sunday.
Erfanuddin Ahmed, President & Managing Director of the
bank, opened the booth at a simple ceremony held at DH
Tower premise. SM Khorshed Alam, Deputy Managing Director
and other senior executives of the bank, among others,
were present on the occasion, says a press release.
Coca Cola plans own sales,
distribution operations
BSS, Dhaka
Coca-Cola Company on Monday announced plans to commence
its own sales and distribution operations in Bangladesh.
The company earlier submitted a proposal to the government
for setting up a manufacturing plant in the country to
have direct presence on the local market.
Coca Cola products have been prepared, packaged and sold
in Bangladesh for around 50 years. But it has been
marketing its products through local representatives.
With the imminent launch of sales and distribution
operations, the company will distribute its flagship
products- Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta- to the local market
directly.
Company sources told BSS on Monday that the Coca Cola was
expecting a positive response shortly to its proposal for
setting up a plant jointly with the government. Tabani
beverage, a state-owned company, used to bottle and market
Coca Cola products in Bangladesh until September last
year. But Tabani stopped its operation in September when
Coca Cola made a partnership with a private company for
bottling and marketing of its products. The plan for
setting up a plant and commence own sales and
distributions showed the company's keen interest in
boosting its business and investment in Bangladesh. The
sales and distribution operations will shortly be launched
in Dhaka and Rajshahi, the company said in a press
release.
Beacon claims to be producer
of country’s first cancer drug
BSS, Dhaka
A local pharmaceutical company on Monday claimed it has
developed low-cost anti-cancer drugs for domestic and
international consumption.
The Beacon pharma, which is going to market six
chemotherapy associated injections, on Monday formally
announced the company's success, first of its kind in the
country, at a local hotel here.
Prime Minister's Health Advisor Dr Syed Modasser Ali
attended the function as the chief guest, while State
Minister for Liberation War Affairs Captain (Retd) AB
Tajul Islam and State Minister for Health Mujibur Rahman
Fakir spoke as the special guests. Vice Chancellor of
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Prof.
Dr Pran Gopal Datta chaired the function, also addressed
by director of Becon Pharma Mohammad Ebadul Karim.
Dr Syed Modasser appreciated the innovation of Beacon and
said locally manufactured cancer drugs would usher in a
new era in the treatment of cancer at low prices. He said
many suffer from different forms of cancer and few of them
have access to treatment as it is expensive.
The high cost of cancer drugs has often been leading to
sub- standard drugs smuggled into Bangladesh, a country
where an estimated 200,000 people are afflicted with
cancer every year and 150,000 of them die annually. The
majority of such deaths, he said, could be avoided through
early detection of cancers that mostly happen at lung,
ovary and breast.
Dr Pran Gopal Datta said the drugs of Beacon would only
help people when they would be of high quality and
manufactured through international standards.
Taiwan exits post-war
recession
AFP, Taipei
Taiwan said Monday it had emerged from its worst post-war
recession, as the export-dependent island saw a pick-up in
demand from top buyer China and other key markets in the
region. The island's economy expanded 9.22 percent in the
fourth quarter from the same period in 2008, but the
economy shrank for the year as a whole, the Directorate
General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said.
"The growth was made possible by the pickup in China and
the other emerging economies in the Asia region," said
Shih Su-mei, the head of the directorate general.
The Taiwanese economy had not experienced positive growth
since the second quarter of 2008, before it was engulfed
by the global financial crisis.
"Not only does this mark a return to growth after five
consecutive quarters of decline, it is also the highest
quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2004," the
directorate general said in a statement.
Also contributing to the fourth-quarter figure was strong
domestic demand as a result of a significant rise in the
domestic stock market and a sharp decline in the number of
employees on unpaid leave, Shih said.
Taiwan's main stock index increased by nearly 80 percent
in 2009, ending the year as one of the world's best
performers.
However, the economy contracted 1.87 percent in 2009
year-on-year as the island experienced its most protracted
downturn since modern records began.
S’pore to slow down hiring of
foreign workers
AFP, Singapore
Singapore said Monday it will raise levies to curb the
hiring of foreign workers, amid growing unease among
locals over the influx of guest workers and immigrants in
recent years. The phased-in increase from July 1 is aimed
at reducing dependence on foreign workers, who already
comprise almost a third of the city-state's total
workforce, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said.
"We should moderate the growth of the foreign workforce
and avoid a continuous increase in its proportion of the
total workforce," he said in presenting the 2010 fiscal
year budget in parliament.
"There are social and physical limits to how many more
(foreign workers) we can absorb." But instead of imposing
quotas, Shanmugaratnam said the government will raise the
levies paid by companies for every worker they hire. "This
allows the foreign workforce to fluctuate across the
economic cycle and enables employers who are doing well
and need more foreign workers to continue to hire them
rather than be constrained by fixed quotas."
He said the rise in the levies will be phased-in over the
next three years.
The government will allot 5.5 billion Singapore dollars
(3.9 billion US) in the next five years to help upgrade
the skills of local workers to boost their productivity,
resulting in higher salaries.
The move to slow the influx of guest workers follows a
recent public backlash over Singapore's open-door policy,
with locals complaining that they were having to compete
for jobs, housing, medical care and other needs. Foreign
workers have also been blamed for soaring property prices.
Singapore had earlier taken steps to sharpen the
distinction between locals and permanent residents in a
bid to placate criticism that immigrants were getting
almost the same benefits.
Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew recently
warned against reducing the number of foreign workers
drastically, warning of "low growth, maybe even zero
growth" for Singapore as a result. However, analysts said
the move to raise the levy will affect labour-intensive
sectors but will ultimately benefit the economy. "In the
short term, it will be more expensive for labour-intensive
businesses... like construction," said Ho Woei Chen, an
economist with United Overseas Bank.
Finnish employers pay employees to
quit smoking habits
Xinhua, Helsinki
More and more municipal employers and companies in Finland
are encouraging, and some even paying their employees to
quit smoking habits, according to Finnish media reports on
Sunday.
Municipal employers in Espoo and Nokia have already banned
smoking, while Helsinki, Vaasa and Seinajoki are currently
making their campuses tobacco-free.
Among municipal plans, hospital districts have been the
first municipal employers to initiate smoke-free policies.
Universities in Oulu and Kuopio have also experimented
with smoking bans. In addition, Companies in private
sectors in Finland ranging from the Sokos hotel chain to
dairy and insurance firms are nowadays making their
workplaces no smoking zones.
Smoking is harmful to workers' health. More and more
Finnish employers are quite eager for their employees'
smoking cessation. They believe that their investment will
pay off in forms of more efficient working and less sick
leaves.
However,Professor Kari Reijula at the Finnish Institute of
Occupation Health points out that employers should not
force people into quitting smoking. For this reason,
Finnish employers are either covering the bill for
nicotine replacement therapies or awarding cash incentives
for workers who give up their smoking habits.
National
Artificial knee replacement starts
at BSMMU
BSS, Dhaka
The replacement of total knee is now possible in
Bangladesh as surgeons at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
University on Monday successfully implanted an artificial
knee to an elderly man.
"This is for the first time we have been able to implant a
knee artificially in Bangladesh," chief surgeon and
assistant professor Dr Abu Zafar Chowdhury told
journalists in a post- operative briefing at the
university.
Dr Zafar said the people, who suffer from different forms
of arthritis and could not walk, are needed to undergo
such surgery to replace their knees by artificial ones.
But the country could not provide this medical solution
since independence.
He said the people who need the replacement used to go
India and some other countries to replace their knees at
high expenses. His patient, Nurul Islam, who is aged over
50 and was suffering from osteo-arthritis, is a lucky guy
to have his surgery locally at lesser costs, doctors
claimed.
Dr Zafar said Islam would be able to move freely in next
two weeks- can walk, run and even move on
staircases-except a limitation of not being able to sit
down below chair-heights. He credited two other
surgeons-Dr Shahidullah Kaiser and Dr Tanvir- with the
success.
The surgery costs a total amount of Taka 1.6 lakh, an
amount which is almost one-fourth of the costs being spent
in India for such treatment. The bulk of the expense for
knee replacement is done for purchasing artificial knee,
the surgeon said adding he has bought such knee from
Johnson and Johnson Company of U.S.
Asked about how many such cases are in the pipeline, the
physician said people do not know much about the facility
at BSMMU and right now none is there to have such surgery.
But things would be changed from today (Tuesday) , he
hoped, after the news is published in media.
Dr Zafar also urged people, who have muscle pain,
arthritis and leg deformity, to consult doctors at the
early stage, a practice which is very rare in the context
of Bangladesh.
He said most of the people can get rid of hip and knee
complications provided they rush to hospitals at early
stages.
DMP assigns 13 DCs to
monitor traffic system in 13 sectors
BSS, Dhaka
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) authorities have
divided the city traffic areas into 13 sectors and
assigned 13 Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to monitor the
traffic management to ease traffic congestion in the city.
The DCs will supervise the traffic management and take
stern actions against the lane violators to gear up the
ongoing special drive to bring back the traffic discipline
here, AKM Shahidul Haque, Commissioner of the DMP, said
here Monday.
The special drive began on December 8 last year to bring
back traffic discipline in the city as traffic congestion
is one of the major problems for the city dwellers.
According to official sources, the area of sector-1 is
from Abdullahpur Bridge to Kabi Jasim Uddin Road crossing
at Uttara which will be supervised and monitored by DC
Uttara Zone Nesarul Arif while sector-2 is from Biman
Bandar intersection to Khilkhet Foot over bridge area
where DC Motorized Vehicle and Transport (MT) Md Mosleh
Uddin will supervise the traffic system.
Sector-3 area is from Pragoti Sarani to Dhaka Gate where
Acting Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Traffic North Zone
Bidhan Tripura will supervise the traffic system and DC
Gulshan Zone Md Hafiz Akhter will supervise sector-4 from
Kakoli crossing to Mohakhali Police Box area.
Sector-5 area is from Hotel Sheraton to Bangla Motor
crossing where DC Traffic South Akram Hossain will
supervise and monitor the traffic management while Acting
DC of Estate and Development Prolay Simim will supervise
sector-6 from Science Laboratory crossing to Kalabagan Bus
Stand.
DC Lalbagh Md Anwar Hossain will supervise the sector-7
from Sheikh Russel Square to Asadgate while DC Ramna
Krishna Pada Roy will supervise sector-8 from Sonargaon
Hotel Crossing to Farmgate area.
DC Wari Towfiq Mahbub Chowdhury will supervise the
sector-9 from Farmgate Ananda Cinema to Tejgaon Police
Station while DC Public Order Management (POM) South
Saidur Rahman will supervise the sector-10 area from Bijoy
Sarani to Mohakhali Flyover.
DC Tejgaon Syed Manjurul Kabir will supervise the
sector-11 from Dhanmondi Road number 27 crossing to
Shyamoli crossing while DC Mirpur Zone Md Lutful Kabir
will supervise the sector-12 from Kalyanpur to Technical
crossing and DC Traffic East Md Awlad Hossain has been
given the charge of sector-13 from Kakrail Crossing to
Bangladesh Bank via Fakirerpool crossing.
DMP Commissioner AKM Shahidul Haque today inspected the
traffic management system and on going drive against the
lane violators. He visited the Sheraton Crossing,
Sonargaon Hotel Crossing and Farmgate area to oversee the
traffic movement of the city. The special drive against
the lane violators by the DMP significantly improved the
traffic situation of the capital but recently the city
dwellers have been facing huge traffic congestion like the
previous time.
Pakistan
should seek apology for past misdeeds: Hamid Meer
BSS, Dhaka
Eminent Pakistani journalist Hamid Meer has said his
country should be ashamed and seek an apology to
Bangladesh for their past misdeeds.
He expressed this opinion while taking part in a
discussion arranged by Bangladesh High Commission in
Islamabad on the occasion of the Amar Ekushey and
International Mother Language Day on February 21.
The discussion was also addressed, among others, by noted
media personality Ijaz Gul, branch head of a local private
school Zara Haider and expatriate Bangladeshi ANM
Obaidullah, according to message received here Monday.
The day's programmes in Bangladesh High Commission began
with the hoisting of the national flag at half-mast.
Acting High Commissioner M Mahfuzur Rahman hoisted the
flag.
The discussion was followed by patriotic songs rendered by
Bangladeshi child artistes.
Fateha and munajat were offered seeking eternal peace of
the departed souls of the Language Movement martyrs.
Later, prizes were distributed among the winners of the
poster-painting competition. Bangladesh High Commission
organized the competition on the occasion of the Amar
Ekushey.
Besides officials and employees of the high commission,
expatriate Bangladeshis as well as journalists,
businessmen and educationists of Pakistan and students of
Roots School in Islamabad took part in the Ekushey
programmes, the message said.
Ration Card system to be launched in Khulna in
March
BSS, Khulna
As per the government decision, the local food department
will introduce the 'Ration card system' here in the first
week of March for distribution of rice and wheat at
cheaper prices.
District Controller of Food Md Monirul Islam told BSS here
Monday that each family would be given 20 kgs of rice as
well as 20 kgs of wheat per month under this system. At
least 1,50,000 families in the city are expected to be
benefited by the rationing system.
As many as 1,50,000 families of 31 wards in the city will
primarily get the facility of ration cards to buy their
main foods at cheaper prices," he said.
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
first introduced the ration card system in the country
following the price hike after the Independence.
The present government under the dynamic leadership of
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangabandhu's daughter,
introduced the Open Market Sale (OMS) programme to benefit
the poor people in buying their foods at cheaper prices.
President of Khulna Paddy and Rice Traders Association
Alhaj Munir expressed the hope that the ration card system
would greatly help reduce the soaring price of rice.
Zonal Office of BHBFC launched in Rangpur
divisional city
BSS, Rangpur
Zonal Office of Bangladesh House Building Finance
Corporation (BHBFC) began its journey from Monday after
transforming its Regional Office into the Zonal one in the
newly formed Rangpur divisional city.
A launching ceremony was organised on the occasion at the
conference room of Rangpur Parjatan Motel Monday with
Manager of Rangpur Regional Office of BHBFC Nazrul Islam
in the chair. Chairman of the Board of Director of the
BHBFC M Zanibul Haque attended the auspicious occasion for
the people of new Rangpur division as the chief guest and
its Managing Director Mrs. Raihana Anisa Yusuf Ali
attended as the special guest. Joint convener of Rangpur
district Awami League Advocate Rezaul Karim Raju, General
Manager (Admin) of BHBFC Abdul Kader, Deputy Commissioner
of Rangpur BM Enamul Haque and DGM (Admin) of BHBFC Abdul
Gani, addressed.
Harvest continues, bumper potato production
likely in Joypurhat
BSS, Joypurhat
Harvesting of potato has been continuing everywhere in the
district and a bumper production of the crop is expected
with excellent yield.
Price of potato is reducing as the local markets have been
flooded with huge quantity of newly harvested potato.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) had fixed a
target of producing 5,45,160 tonnes of potato from 36, 870
hectares of land during the current Rabi season in the
district where the crop grew well due to favorable
climatic conditions. The farmers brought about eight
percent more land than the target under potato cultivation
and better yield have created a possibility of all time
bumper production of potato this year.
Sources in the DAE said that the farmers timely completed
sowing potato seeds this time and there was no seed
scarcity following various steps taken by the government
during the cultivation period.
ROSC
brings 5 lakh dropouts to schools
BSS, Dhaka
Over half a million disadvantaged children 15,000 Ananda
schools in the poorest upazilas of the country, who were
dropped out, have been brought back under schooling.
The initiative was taken under Reaching Out-of-School
Children (ROSC) Project for the children who were dropped
out of schools at the right age because of poverty.
The World Bank and Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)
supported the project to bring these children back to
school, a World Bank spokesman told BSS on Monday.
To bring additional disadvantaged children back to school,
the World Bank and SDC is now reviewing the government's
proposal of scaling up the project.
The project targets to support a total of 750,000 out of
school children eventually.
The main objective of the ROSC project is to reduce the
number of out-of-school children through improved access,
quality and efficiency in primary education.
The project reaches out to the poorest and particularly
female children of 60 upazilas with high rates of poverty
and low enrolment. The project will be expanded and scaled
up to cover additional needy upazilas.
The project has substantially achieved its development
objective by fulfilling seven out of eight key performance
indicators.
It has been found that the average student attendance rate
is now above 90 percent, and student learning achievement
in Bangla and Mathematics can be rated good, with 4 out of
5 children achieving the targeted learning levels.
The World Bank and Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)
have examined GOB's proposal for an expansion and modest
scaling-up of ROSC activities.
Following the government's fulfilment of requirements for
ensuring effective implementation, negotiations for
additional financing for the project would begin.
Dipal Barua receives Zayed
Future Energy prize
BSS, Dhaka
Dipal Chandra Barua, Founding Managing Director of Grameen
Shakti (GS) has been awarded the first Zayed Future Energy
Prize for his visionary efforts to bring renewable energy
solutions to the rural people of Bangladesh.
Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and
Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, handed
over the award to Dipal Barua at a ceremony on January 19.
Barua will receive US Dollar 1.5 million to help
accelerate the development of his programs and ideas.
Under his leadership, Grameen Shakti has installed more
than 2,00,000 Solar Home Systems, which is the largest and
fastest growing Solar PV programs in the world benefiting
more than two million rural people in Bangladesh.
A pool of 204 submissions was received from more than 50
countries for this award. The jury board has selected
Dipal as winner.
Nobel Laureate Dr Rajendra Pachouri, Chairman of
Intergover-nmental Panel on Climate Change and Chairman of
the jury of the Zayed Future Energy Prize termed the award
as the Nobel for Renewable Energy.
"I'm planning to install one million Solar Home Systems by
2010 and construct five hundred thousand-biogas plants and
10 million Improved Stoves by 2012," Dipal told reporters
following the prize giving ceremony.
He said I want to make Bangladesh a land of renewable
energy and set an example to other countries facing the
same problem and be a Global Ambassador in the fight
against Climate Change.
He awarded for his life term achievement in developing one
of the most successful market-based sustainable models to
reach the off-grid rural people on a mass scale. That
contributes creating income, green jobs in the rural
areas, protecting the environment and health of rural
people by replacing kerosene, reducing cutting down of
trees and promoting organic fertilizers.
The GS now employs 3,500 staffs and has an annual budget
of US Dollar 100 million. It has developed a number of
other initiatives including a biogas technology that
converts cow and poultry wastes into gas for cooking,
lighting and fertilizer and also an improved cooking stove
program that is protecting women from indoor air pollution
and reducing cutting down of trees.
It has installed more than 6,000 biogas plants and over
25, 000 improved cooking stoves. In addition, the GS has
trained rural women to be solar technicians creating Green
Entrepreneurs, according to a press release.
The Zayed Future Energy Prize was launched in January 2008
at the inaugural World Future Energy Summit to honour the
legacy of the UAE's late ruler Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al
Nahyan and his commitment to environmental sensitivity.
Daffodil University
introduces ‘one-student-one-laptop’ programme
BSS, Dhaka
The private Daffodil International University (DIU) on
Monday announced that it is going to introduce
one-student-one-laptop programme free of cost for its
every student from May this year.
The announcement came at a press conference held at Dhaka
Reporters University (DRU) two weeks ahead of the 9th
founding anniversary of the DIU, one of 50 plus private
universities in the country.
"All of our new students will have a brand new laptop
which will be served from the university free of cost,"
Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Aminul Islam told journalists.
He said neither the tuition fee nor other charges would be
raised for the laptop support as laptop costs would be
adjusted through minimizing commercial advertisements for
the university.
Prof. Islam listed number of student programme of the
university and said DIU provides at least 20 percent of
its total income for scholarships to meritorious students
as well as others who come from economically disadvantaged
families. At present, he said, the university provides
full scholarship to 214 students, who are physically
challenged and the siblings of freedom fighters and
tribal.
"We provide quality education almost in a fifty percent
less cost than some other identical universities," said
the vice chancellor and added DIU charges nearly Taka
3,50,000 against Taka 7,00,000 charged by many
universities.
"This is why the students from rural middle classes rush
to DIU for their higher education."
University teacher Syed Mizanur Rahman Raju said they have
launched a 'positive Bangladesh' campaign to motivate
students towards positive outlook. The other objectives of
the campaign include development of creative mental
faculty of students and utilize their skills for a
positive social change.
Established on March 22, 2002, DIU has so far graduated
1,000 students in last nine years and is going to hold its
third convocation in May this year to provide certificate
to 1,500 other ex-students.
The university, with its campus in city's Kalabagan, has
now 6,000 students in 17 departments, said Prof. M
Shahjahan Mina of the university.
RU BCL demands punishment to
Faruque's killers
BSS, Rajshahi Univerity
Rajshahi
University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League Monday
demanded exemplary punishment for the killers' of Faruque
Hossain and immediate ban on the politics of Jamaat-Shibir
on the campus.
At a press conference here, the BCL RU unit leaders
including its president Awal Kabir Joy called for
immediate arrest of the killers of Faruque, financial help
for his family as well as other injured BCL leaders and
activists and administrative action against the Jammat-BNP
backed teachers and employees of the university.
A supporter of RU Chhatra League and also a student of RU
Mathematics Department, Faruque was killed and at least 30
others were injured when the Shibir activists attacked
them on the campus on February 8.
Motihar police recovered the body from a manhole near the
university's Shah Mukhdum Hall.
The BCL leaders said they would launch a signature
campaign from today (Tuesday) to February 25 demanding ban
on the Shibir's activities on the campus. To enforce their
demand, they will also form a human chain on February 24
and wear black badge on February 25.
The BCL leaders said as part of their campaign, they would
give a memorandum to Rajshahi's Mayor, Police Commissioner
and Deputy Commissioner on February 28. They will also
send the memorandum to the Prime Minister, Home Minister
and the Inspector General of Police on the same demand,
the press conference was told.
Besides, the RU unit of BCL will organize a protest rally
and condolence meeting on March 3 and 4 respectively on
the tragic death of Faruque Hossain.
Awal Kabir Joy said, "we will demand resignation of the
university proctor, assistant proctors and respective hall
provosts as they have utterly failed to perform their
duties at the time of February 8 incident."
Sports
Real Madrid overpowers Villarreal 6-2
AFP, Barcelona
A double from Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuain helped Real
Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini celebrate a 6-2 victory over
his former team Villarreal as the winners kept up the pressure
on Spanish league leader Barcelona on Sunday.
Real - who is just two points behind Barcelona - started like
a dream with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring from a brilliant
freekick and dedicated it to the flood victims of his home
island of Madeira, and then Brazilian star Kaka puit them 2-0
to the good with a penalty.
Villarreal, though, struck back through Brazilian Nilmar
before seeing Real add a third as Higuain struck for the first
time, but Villarreal gamely replied through Spanish
international midfielder Marcos Senna.
However, the visitors hopes were finally dashed with 20
minutes remaining when Higuain was on hand to tap home
Marcelo's low pass from the left side of the penalty area.
Kaka somewhat cruelly for Villarreal added a fifth near
fulltime and Xabi Alonso scored a penalty to give the
scoreline an unbalanced look but gave Real the perfect pep-up
following their 1-0 defeat by Lyon in last Tuesday's Champions
League last 16 first leg match in France. That result had
piled the pressure on coach Manuel Pellegrini but he refused
to talk about his job after the game.
"I am not going to say anything. There is no reason for any of
this reaction and since I have been working here I have had a
lot of support. People look at each game how they want," he
said.
"I thought the game was fairly even. Villarreal are a good
team and if there is something that I don't like it was the
way we conceded the second goal.
"It was good to see the way we attacked and we know that if we
had taken the pressure off Villarreal they would have caused
damage."
Athletic Bilbao have a European place in their sights after a
convincing 4-1 win over ten-man Tenerife.
The Basque side are now one point off sixth-placed Mallorca
after a game in which they never looked back following a
penalty taken by Fernando Llorente, after a foul by Jose
Culberas on Gaizka Toquero for which he was sent-off.
Toquero scored himself from a flick-on by Llorente and then
after the break Andoni Iraola added another before Alejandro
Alfaro pulled a goal back. Igor Gabilondo, though, restored
the three-goal advantage with just less than half an hour to
go.
Malaga continued their good run which has seen them pick up
ten points from a possible 12 with a 2-1 win over Espanyol.
The home side went ahead through Fernando Fernandez but Victor
Ruiz drew Espanyol level before half-time and while it was
they who had the better of the second half, Victor Obinna
scored the vital goal to give Malaga victory.
Valladolid lost the chance to win three key points in their
battle against relegation as a late goal from Camunas saw
Osasuna draw 1-1.
In a frantic finale Haris Medunjanin put the visitors ahead
but Javier Camunas gave Osasuna a share of the spoils with
four minutes left. Zaragoza are now just one point above
Valladolid after they lost 3-1 at home to Sporting Gijon.
Mate Bilic and Luis Moran put Sporting into a commanding lead
and then in in injury time there goals for either side from
Angel Arizmendi and David Barral.
On Saturday leaders Barcelona put their injury concerns to one
side as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Racing Santander.
The Catalan side had seen their lead reduced to two points
following their first league defeat last weekend against
Atletico Madrid but despite missing several key players they
were always in charge against Racing.
Andres Iniesta scored the opener and then Thierry Henry and
Rafa Marquez added to the lead with free-kicks before
substitute Thiago Alcantara made the win more emphatic with a
deflected goal six minutes from the end.
On Monday Valencia aim to continue their good run of form
which has seen them only lose once in eight games against
Getafe.
 Naeem
and Roqibul included in BCB XI for warm-up match
TBT report
All-rounder Naeem Islam and batsman Roqibul Hassan have been
included in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) XI for today's
warm-up match against the visiting England.
Alok Kopali has pulled himself out from the match due to
medical reasons.
The match starts at 9:00am at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in
Narayanganj.
Opening batsman Shahriar Nafees skippers the BCB XI in the
first one-day practice match against the tourists.
The second one-day practice match between the two sides will
be played on February 25 at the same venue.
Earlier, England cricket team arrived in Dhaka on Sunday for a
month-long tour in Bangladesh. England will play two Test
matches and three One-Day Internationals against Bangladesh.
BCB XI: Shahriar Nafees (Captain), Imtiaz Hossain,
Nasiruddin Faruque, Roqibul Hassan, Shahin Hossain
(Wicketkeeper), Naeem Islam, Mahmudul Hasan, Shafaq Al Zabir,
Tanvir Haider, Ariful Hoque, Alauddin Babu, Tapash Baishya,
Shamsur Rahman and Mohammad Sharifullah.
Officials: Minhajul Abedin (Head Coach), Zafrul Ehsan
(Assistant Coach), Fahim Muntasir (Manager), Azmal Ahmed (Physio).
England team: Alastair Cook (Captain), Tim Bresnan,
Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan,
Matthew Prior (Wicketkeeper), Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett,
Ryan Sidebottom, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell,
Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Craig Kieswetter (Wicketkeeper).
India to test run
CGames security at hockey World Cup
AFP, New Delhi
India is to impose a security clampdown in New Delhi for
the Hockey World Cup next week as it test runs
counter-terror measures ahead of the Commonwealth Games in
October, officials said Monday.
Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said Delhi police and
paramilitary forces would provide the bulk of the security
presence, with armed commando escorts for the teams as
they travel to and from the national stadium.
"The World Cup hockey is a test case for the Commonwealth
Games," Pillai told a press briefing for foreign
journalists in the Indian capital.
Concerns over security at the hockey tournament and the
Games were fuelled by a bomb blast last week in the
western city of Pune that killed 15 people. It was the
first major attack on Indian soil since the 2008 Mumbai
assault by Islamist gunmen that left 166 dead. Special
police commissioner Neeraj Kumar, who attended the
briefing, said airspace above the national stadium would
be controlled by the Indian Air Force with other armed
assault teams circling the venue in helicopters.
The stadium in central Delhi has already been sealed off
to the public and is dotted with surveillance cameras,
explosives detectors and sniffer dog teams.
Although Pillai stressed there had been no "credible
threat" to the hockey World Cup, Kumar said contingency
plans were in place in case of a chemical or biological
attack. The 12-nation tournament begins on Monday and runs
for two weeks. The Commonwealth Games, the biggest
sporting event in India since the Asian Games in 1982,
will be held in New Delhi from October 3-14.
Querrey defeats Isner to win Memphis title
AFP, Memphis
Sam Querrey rallied for a 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
triumph over fellow American John Isner Sunday in the
final of the ATP Tour's Memphis tournament.
Isner, the sixth seed, overpowered his doubles partner and
newly named Davis Cup teammate in the first set, but
faltered after taking a 5-2 lead in the second-set
tiebreaker.
Eighth-seeded Querrey, who upset top-seeded Andy Roddick
in the quarter-finals, battled back to claim the third
title of his career and first of 2010.
Querrey was injured in October in Bangkok after falling
through a glass coffee table and suffering a cut to a
muscle in his forearm that required 25 stitches.
He missed six weeks and spent the winter rehabbing his arm
and now will jump from 31st in the world to the high 20s
in the world rankings.
"This is the first match we've played," Querrey said of
his first match against his friend, hitting partner and,
for next month's tie against Serbia - Davis Cup teammate.
"Hopefully over the next 10 years we'll play 10 or 15
times. I'm sure I'll win some and he'll win some."
Querrey, who was never broken in the match, won two
straight points on Isner's serve to take a 6-5 lead in the
second-set tiebreaker and rolled from there.
He broke Isner for a 2-1 lead in the third, and broke
again to seal the match.
Isner had been in firm control, taking a 5-2 lead in the
second-set tiebreaker when Querrey mis-hit a return.
But the mistake seemed to focus Querrey, who won five
straight points, starting with an ace.
In the third set Isner's formidable first serve began to
flag, while Querrey's serve got stronger and stronger.
The two were on the same side of the net to win the
doubles title later Sunday with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over
Ross Hutchins and Jordan Kerr.
Poulter wins WGC Match Play Championship
AFP, Tucson
Ian Poulter beat Paul Casey 4 and 2 in an all-English
final to win the Accenture Match Play Championship on
Sunday, earning a long-awaited first victory in the United
States.
Poulter's 10th victory globally was also his first in an
elite World Golf Championships event and will see him jump
to fifth in the world golf rankings.
"I would say my short game this week's been as good as it
has ever been and I putted very, very well," said Poulter,
who collected 1.4 million dollars.
"I'm just so happy to finally win on American soil," added
Poulter, who is perhaps known by US golf spectators for
his flashy clothing as well as his game. "We (British) get
asked all the time 'when are you guys going to win?' So we
get a lot of pressure put on ourselves and we put even
more pressure on ourselves as professionals.
"With nine holes to play in previous wins I'll admit I've
been nervous and excited, but today I just felt calm and
felt I could deliver whatever I needed to deliver."
Poulter deserved his win after outplaying Casey for most
of the 36-hole final.
Poulter trailed only once, after the second hole, but he
took the lead for good at the seventh and was 2-up after
18 holes.
Casey never got closer than that during the afternoon
round, although the quality of his golf improved.
Perhaps he was mentally drained after taking six extra
holes to beat Camilo Villegas in the semi-finals.
Their match was halted by darkness on Saturday night and
they resumed at 7:10 a.m. on Sunday.
Angry Mancini wants Tevez back
AFP, Manchester
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has ordered Carlos
Tevez to return from Argentina, where he has been on
compassionate leave, after the forward ignored repeated
requests to give the club a date for his expected return.
City missed the Argentine striker as it drew 0-0 with
Liverpool at Eastlands on Sunday and Togo international
Emmanuel Adebayor is now Mancini's only fully match-fit
senior striker.
Tevez has been in his homeland for over a week since his
girlfriend gave birth to a child one month prematurely and
has ignored repeated questions from City management about
his return date. The player's girlfriend, and the child,
are now out of danger but Tevez is yet to return, or
indicate when he can be expected back.
At the start of a week in which the club faces a crucial
FA Cup replay at Stoke and an away trip to league leaders
Chelsea, City have ordered Tevez to return. "I don't know
when he will be back. He is in Argentina and it's a big
problem for us," Mancini said. "We have an important week
and we do not have the depth so it is not good.
"He went eight days ago and we have tried to get him back.
I hope he is back in a day or two because we need him.
"I have ordered him to come back but he has ignored us. I
spoke with Carlos three days ago and maybe he is on a
plane now. He has had some problems with his family but I
think they are all resolved now."
City supporters voiced their dissatisfaction at the end of
the game, as they did at the end of last weekend's
disappointing home draw with Stoke in the FA Cup. But
Mancini insists his lack of fully-fit forwards has forced
him into a more cautious style of play.
"Like we did against Manchester United, the team played as
a team, this is important," Mancini said. "But I have a
big problem, I only have Adebayor up front because (Craig)
Bellamy has only been with the team the last few days,
Carlos is in Argentina and Roque Santa Cruz has had a
problem with his knee.
"We tried to win but it is not easy against Liverpool,
they are a good team. But not winning has made it a more
important week."
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez could take greater
satisfaction from the point than his opposite number. The
game also saw Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun,
long-term injury absentees, return as second half
substitutes for the Reds.
"Both players have been important to us in the past and
hopefully they will in the future," Benitez said.
"Fernando will need to improve his match fitness and Yossi
will be the same.
"Our idea early on Friday morning was that Torres had no
chance of playing. But he was so good in training, he was
tackling, challenging going to the floor. He was okay and
David Ngog had an ankle injury so we though we could play
him for 15 or 20 minutes."
The draw with City dented Benitez's chances of seizing a
coveted Champions League after Tottenham moved into fourth
with a win at Wigan.
"You have to think also about Tottenham and Aston Villa
also, it's a race of four teams now," he said.
"We have to do our job and not just look at one team,
City. We have to make sure we can get three points from
every game."
Gibbs to play T20 for Yorkshire
AFP, London
Veteran South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs is to play
Twenty20 cricket for Yorkshire from June, the English
county announced on Monday.
Gibbs, who has played 245 one day internationals and
international T20 matches for his country, will join the
county for the duration of their campaign in the Friends
Provident Trophy.
"I've always enjoyed playing cricket in the UK and have
very good memories of Headingley as I got my first World
Cup hundred there in 1999," the 35-year-old said.
"I'm really looking forward to playing over there and I'll
hopefully help to lead the troops towards some sort of
success. I hope we'll have some good weather and we can
treat the home spectators to some very entertaining
cricket."
Yorkshire's Director of Cricket, Martyn Moxon, added: "Herschelle
will add power, runs and experience to our batting line-up
in this year's T20 competition and he is also a fine
fielder.
"He's a vastly experienced international cricketer with
the ability to win matches on his own if he hits his best
form. I'm looking forward to seeing him play for Yorkshire
this year and I'm sure our members and supporters will
enjoy Herschelle's style of cricket too."
India snatches dramatic
victory
AFP, Jaipur
India overcame the absence of four top stars to beat South
Africa by one run in a thrilling One-Day International on
Sunday and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Wayne Parnell was run out off the final delivery,
attempting a second run that would have tied the match, to
leave the Proteas on 297 all out in reply to India's
298-9.
The tourists were tottering at 225-8 in the 43rd over when
the ninth-wicket pair of Parnell and Dale Steyn swung the
day-night match around by adding 65 off 38 balls.
South Africa, needing 26 off the final 12 deliveries,
smashed 16 runs in the penultimate over of Ashish Nehra
that included a six each by Parnell and Steyn. With nine
runs required from five deliveries, seamer Praveen Kumar
bowled Steyn and conceded just seven more off the next
four to hand India a thrilling win. Parnell hit a defiant
49 off 47 balls and Steyn plundered an 18-ball 35, but the
pair failed to take the tourists across the line at the
Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur.
Earlier, Suresh Raina top-scored with 58 off 63 balls and
Virender Sehwag hammered a typically aggressive 46 off 37
balls as the hosts piled up 298-9 after being sent in to
bat.
South Africa's stand-in captain Jacques Kallis starred for
the tourists with both bat and ball, claiming 3-29 from
seven overs with his medium-pace bowling before making a
fluent 89.The veteran all-rounder hit six fours and a six
before being eighth out, bowled by Shanthakumaran
Sreesanth, 11 runs short of his 17th one-day century.
India took the field in the series opener without bowling
spearheads Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, and frontline
batsmen Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. Harbhajan was
given permission to miss the first two matches due to his
sister's wedding, while the other three were injured.
Kallis led South Africa in the absence of Graeme Smith,
who opted out of the one-dayers with a finger injury
sustained during the Test series, which ended 1-1 last
week.
When India batted, Sehwag and Dinesh Karthik (44) put on
79 for the second wicket in 75 balls after veteran Sachin
Tendulkar was run out for four in the second over of the
match.
Sehwag, who hit two audacious sixes over the third man and
cover region, was unlucky to be run out when a Karthik
drive was deflected to the non-striker's wicket by bowler
Charl Langeveldt.
South Africa made a flying start as Herschelle Gibbs (27)
and Loots Bosman (29) put on 58 for the first wicket off
just 8.4 overs.
South Africa, who was 134-3 at one stage, lost three
middle-order wickets for 27 runs to slip to 161-6 by the
35th over. The second match will be played in Gwalior
tomorrow and the third in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Li Na eyes top ranking
AFP, Kuala Lumpur
China's top player Li Na said Monday she is determined to
be the first Asian star to win a Grand Slam title and be
ranked world number one.
Li Na is participating in the inaugural 250,000 dollar
Malaysian Open women's tournament this week along with
countrywoman Zheng Jie and topseeded Russian Elena
Dementieva.
"Every player wants to be number one in the world and it
is no different with me. This is my goal and I need to
work harder and be more aggressive on the court and start
believing more in myself," she told reporters.
Li kicks off her campaign this week with a match against
Germany's Tatjana Malek on Tuesday.
A relaxed and smiling Li, who turns 28 on Saturday, said
she has recovered from a back injury she suffered at the
Dubai Open last week.
"I have been seeing the doctor and physiotherapists here
in Kuala Lumpur and I feel fine now. There courts are
great and although I'm seeded second, I hope to win this
tournament," she said.
Li Na, the region's top player, was the first Asian to
reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam when she reached
the last eight of Wimbledon in 2006.
She also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open
last month, a result which saw her become the first Asian
to be among the world's top 10 players.
The Chinese ace spoke out against rumours that she had
turned her back on the national team.
"I have never turned my back on the national team. I still
am a proud member of the Chinese national team," she said.
Dementieva, the Beijing Olympics gold medallist, is the
top seed at the event and hopes to extend her winning
streak following successful title wins in Sydney and Paris
recently.
"My shoulder is much better. I had treatment in Dubai and
it is fine now," she was quoted as saying by the Star
newspaper Monday.
"I hope to do well but it will be tough as there are many
good players," she added.
Beckman triumphs in Mayakoba
Classic
AFP, Mexico
Cameron Beckman fired a three-under par 67 on Sunday to
win the Mayakoba Classic by two strokes, capturing the
third US PGA Tour title of his career.
Beckman, 40, finished with a 15-under par total of 269,
adding the title to the Southern Farm Bureau Classic he
won in 2001 and the 2008 Frys.com Open title.
Joe Durant, who had led after each of the first three
rounds, closed with a 72 to settle for a share of second
on 271, alongside Brian Stuard who shot a 66.
"I started off well. I parred the first and birdied the
next two and kind of got going a little bit," Beckman
said. "I was really uncomfortable off the tee today, and I
chipped and putted really well. That's pretty much what
got the tournament won for me."
Beckman bogeyed the sixth, pulled a stroke back with a
birdie on the par-five eighth and added birdies on 13 and
17.
"There's something about, you know, I'm cruising along
playing, and all of a sudden I know I'm tied for the
lead," Beckman said.
"That makes you nervous. Now you know you've got a chance
to win and you've really got to tighten up and
concentrate. A lot of things go through your mind.
"Winning out here is tough," Beckman added. "There's
really no easy way do it. I've done it a couple different
ways now, but it's a great feeling." He admitted he was
feeling the pressure on the 18th tee.
"I was really nervous," Beckman said. "I hadn't driven the
ball all that good the whole all day. You can get in
trouble on that tee.
US dominates Super Sunday
AFP, Vancouver
Flamboyant skier Bode Miller and rock-steady ice hockey
goaltender Ryan Miller allowed the United States to seize
control of Super Sunday at the Winter Olympics.
American dominance of the pistes continued with Bode
Miller surging to the men's super-combined gold before the
US stunned hosts Canada 5-3 to clinch a first win over
their neighbours in Olympics ice hockey for 50 years.
On the Whistler slopes, Miller came home ahead of Croatian
Ivica Kostelic and Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland in a
combined total over a downhill and slalom of 2min 44.92sec
for America's eighth medal out of a possible 18 from six
alpine disciplines so far.
"I can't ask for anything more," said Miller, the reformed
bad boy of skiing, who last week won super-G silver and
downhill bronze.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, the reigning world
super-combined champion, led after the downhill portion
but skied out of the slalom in sight of the finish line,
while American reigning Olympic champion Ted Ligety came
fifth.
But it is hockey that gets Canadians excited, with big
crowds in party mood swarming downtown Vancouver.
They were brought down to earth when the USA shocked
Canada's team of NHL superstars 5-3 in a qualifying game,
with Brian Rafalski scoring two goals and Ryan Miller
making an incredible 42 saves.
It was the Americans' first win over their neighbours in
an Olympic clash since the 1960 Squaw Valley Games.
"We had chances in the game, some hard chances. In the
third period we had a lot of powerplays but we just ran
out of time," said Canada's Pittsburgh Penguins playmaker
Sidney Crosby.
"Sometimes you run into a hot goalie but we had some bad
luck sometimes."
Earlier, Russia beat the Czech Republic 4-2 as Evgeni
Malkin scored two goals and Alex Ovechkin had two assists
and a bone-crushing hit on Jaromir Jagr early in the third
period that forced a turnover at centre ice.
It helped set up Malkin's second goal to lead Russia to
victory.
"Of course it is a big win," Malkin said. "It was a great
hit and that was a great moment for the Olympic Games."
Later Sunday, Sweden beat Finland 3-0 but both sides
reached the quarter-finals.
Olympic figure skaters, meanwhile, rallied around Canadian
champion Joannie Rochette after her mother died just two
days before she is just due to compete.
Many learnt the news of 55-year-old Therese Rochette's
death from a heart attack after leaving their practise
session on the rink at the Pacific Coliseum.
"I just hope that she can get through this quickly and get
back into competition," said South Korean star Kim Yu-Na,
the gold medal favourite and world champion.
In the women's 12.5km mass start biathlon, German pin-up
Magdalena Neuner won for her third medal of the Games to
go with the gold she captured in the pursuit and silver in
the sprint.
"It is a surprise for me (to have three medals), but I
know what I can do and I believe in myself, I have three
now and it is unbelievable for me," she said.
An unbelieving Evgeny Ustyugov realised a long held dream
by winning gold for Russia in the men's 15km spirnt.
The exciting sport of ski cross made its Olympic bow with
Switzerland's Michael Schmid landing the inaugural gold in
an event that pits four racers against each other down a
motocross-style course.
Leverkusen pips Bayern to
top spot
AFP, Berlin
Bayer Leverkusen equalled a Bundesliga record of 23
straight games unbeaten on Sunday as they overhauled
Bayern Munich on goal difference at the top of the table
with a 2-2 draw away to Werder Bremen.
Following a disappointing 1-1 draw away at lowly local
rivals Nuremberg, Bayern are one goal behind Leverkusen,
who were left to rue a lack of concentration that allowed
Bremen to score an agonising last-minute equaliser.
Despite drawing two games the in-form leaders would have
hoped to win, they nevertheless stretched their lead over
third-placed Schalke to four points after they slipped up
2-1 to last season's champions Wolfsburg.
But Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes dismissed what he
described as premature talk of lifting the Bundesliga
crown. "I let other people talk about the championship or
the title.
I think it's best at the moment to take each game and each
opponent as they come," he said. "But of course, we are
confident because the team is living up to its huge
potential, showing that we can play football and we have
also learned to defend."
Leverkusen's German international defender Manuel
Friedrich, however, was bitter at the last-minute header
from Bremen's Per Mertesacker, after a spectacular strike
from Bayern Munich old-boy Toni Kroos had put them ahead.
"That felt like a defeat," Friedrich said.
Fourth-placed Hamburg, without star signing Ruud van
Nistelrooy who has picked up a thigh strain, also failed
to take advantage of the winless top three, playing out a
disappointing 0-0 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, bottom club
Hertha Berlin finally gave their fans something to cheer
as a double strike from Brazilian midfielder Cicero
inspired them to a 3-0 away win at fellow strugglers
Freiburg.
The win means Hertha are now only two points adrift at the
foot of the table with only four points separating four
clubs - Hertha, Nuremberg, Hanover and Freiburg - in an
increasingly tight relegation dogfight.
Friedhelm Funkel, Hertha's coach, was overjoyed with his
team's dramatic improvement. "I'm delighted ... we were
more stable, didn't concede and scored a couple of
wonderful goals," he said. "This win was a very important
step to get us out from the bottom ... we still need
plenty more points to reach our target," he added.
Freiburg, in a precarious position after what was
effectively a relegation six-pointer, were "unbelievably
disappointed," according to coach Robin Dutt. "You could
hear a pin drop in the changing room. After we went 1-0
down, the team disintegrated mentally. That was our worst
game," he said.
Meanwhile, in by far and away the best game of the
weekend, Stuttgart got the ideal preparation for the
Champions League visit of Barcelona with a 5-1 drubbing of
Cologne, with German striker Cacau the star, hitting four.
Ireland looks to new
generation
AFP, Dublin
Ireland has named three uncapped players in its squad for
next week's friendly against Brazil, including Scots-born
Wigan midfielder James McCarthy.
McCarthy, who last month turned down the chance to pledge
his allegiance to the country of his birth, joins another
19-year-old, Manchester City defender Greg Cunningham, and
Portsmouth defender Marc Wilson in the 23-man squad for
the friendly at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London.
It will be Ireland's first outing since Thierry Henry's
infamous handball contributed to their defeat in a World
Cup play-off against France.
Notable absentees include Manchester United defender John
O'Shea, who is still suffering from a leg injury he
sustained against France, Celtic defender Darren O'Dea and
Hibernian duo Liam Miller and Anthony Stokes. Ireland's
head coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, said he was looking
forward to putting the disappointment of missing out on
the World Cup behind him and his squad. "The priority now
is to build on the progress made during the last campaign
and prepare ourselves over the coming months mentally and
tactically for an important Euro campaign," the veteran
Italian said.
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