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Leading News
Homage
paid to army officers killed in Peelkhana carnage
UNB, Dhaka
Wreaths were placed on behalf of President Zillur Rahman
and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a memorial at Banani
army graveyard Thursday morning to pay respects to the
martyred army officers slain during last year's BDR mutiny
on the first anniversary of the Tragedy.
Fifty-seven brilliant army officers who were deputed to
the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles as commanders were
killed by rebel BDR jawans at the BDR HQs at Pilkhana on
February 25-26, 2009. Of the 57 martyred army officers, 48
were buried at the army graveyard.
Asst Military Secretary to the President Lt Col Zakir
Hossain and Military Secretary to the Prime Minister Brig
Gen Salahuddin Miaji placed the wreaths at the memorial
about 9:15am in state homage to the martyrs.
Home Minister Sahara Khatun, State Minister for Home
Shamsul Huq Tuku and Chiefs of the three services also
placed wreaths at the memorial, observed one-minute
silence and offered Fateha seeking peace and salvation for
the departed souls.
Later, Leader of the Opposition and ex-PM Khaleda Zia paid
floral tributes to the late army officers by placing a
wreath at the memorial. Family members of the martyred
army officers also visited the graveyard, placed wreaths
and offered fateha.
"A heartrending scene was created at the time as some
family members burst into tears remembering the tragic
deaths of their kith and kin. Some prayed to almighty
Allah for the punishment of the killers," says a firsthand
report.
Meanwhile, the home Minister attended a milad Mahfil at
the central mosque of Pilkhana after Johr prayers.
Director-General of BDR Maj Gen Mainul Islam, senior BDR
officers and jawans were present in the praying function.
Talking to reporters after the Milad, the Home Minister
said, "The bright sons of the soil (slain army officers)
were brutally killed, which is an irreparable loss for the
nation."
Home Minister Advocate Sahara told her audience at the
haunted BDR headquarters that they are moving forward so
that "the killers are brought under fair trial." She
mentioned that the trial of mutineers already started and
the trial of killers will be started "as early as
possible" on completion of the investigation.
Curfew
re-imposed in Khagrachhari
Road-waterway blockade enforced peacefully
UNB, Khagrachhari
Nighttime curfew was imposed again for a third day
Thursday in the trouble-torn Khagrachhari municipal area
as situation in the aftermath of a terrible ethnic
violence was not under full control, officials said.
Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Abdullah ordered clamping the
curfew on the hill town, saying that it would remain "in
force from 9pm to 7am to ward off any trouble".
The curfew was first imposed as fresh troubles erupted
during Tuesday' s road blockade over Baghaichhari clashes
that had left two indigenous people dead and scores
wounded and houses torched. Tuesday's clashes between
Bengali settlers and tribal people left a settler killed
and some 50 houses burnt.
Meanwhile, section 144 has still been in force in the
troubled district town in the wake of clashes and tensions
in the aftermath.
Army troops, paramilitary BDR, police and RAB personnel
were seen patrolling the town and trouble-torn areas
today.
Thursday's road-waterway blockade was observed peacefully
in all the three CHT districts in protest against the
violent tribal-settler clashes in Baghaichhari.
Bangalee Chhatra Parishad enforced observed today's strike
that halted traffic all over the hilly region.
Earlier, the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF)
enforced a daylong blockade in Rangamati and Khagrachhari
Tuesday.
All modes of vehicle went off the roads while launches and
steamers remained anchored at the riverbanks during the
two days' transport strike in the districts.
Although many educational institutions remained open, the
students remained indoors in fear of further flare-ups of
violence.
Meanwhile, peace processions were held in both
Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts after a spell of
violence between the indigenous and Bengali communities
over a land dispute in the backwoods.
BSF
killing spree continues
Another Bangladeshi killed on C'nawabganj border
TBT Report
One more Bangladeshi citizen was killed along
Chapainawabganj border early Thursday as the killing spree
of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on Bangladesh border
continues unabated despite India's repeated pledges to
stop such killings.
With this BSF killed 97 Bangladeshis in the last 13
months. The number of Bangladeshis killed by BSF during
the nine years period from January 1, 2000 to February 25,
2010 stands at 822. BSF also injured 858 and abducted 897
Bangladeshis in the same period.
According to UNB News Agency, BSF gunned down a
Bangladeshi national opposite Fatehpur border in Shibganj
upazila in Chapainawabganj early Thursday.The deceased was
identified as Mukul, 28, son of Faring Ali of Khaisapara
village in same upazila. Local sources said BSF jawans of
Shabghati outpost fired on Mukul as he entered Indian
land, killing him on the spot at about 5:30am.
The 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. But this
pledge is seldom implemented.
Meanwhile, on last Wednesday Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and
Border Security Force (BSF) of India exchanged fire on the
Chowka border under Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj
district.
Operation Officer of 39 Rifle Battalion in the district
Major Nazrul Islam said members of the Sabdolpur BSF camp
in India fired 4-5 bullets at the BDR jawans, who
retaliated with 10 bullets. The BDR troops were on patrol
duty near border pillar number-175 at around 3 am. Later,
the BDR sent a protest note to the Malda BSF battalion.
However, the border situation was normal, the BDR major
said.
BNP points finger at govt men behind BDR HQ carnage
UNB, Dhaka
Opposition BNP leaders Thursday made a sweeping allegation
that 'government men' were behind the BDR Headquarters
carnage, as the first anniversary of the Pilkhana tragedy
was observed today.
The allegation came from a commemorative meeting organized
at the Jatiya Press Club by BNP in memory of the army
officers who were killed during the mayhem on February
25-26 last year.
Addressing the condolence meet BNP
standing-committee-member Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah
alleged former army chief Gen (Retd) Moeen U Ahmed is
mainly responsible for the BDR HQ incidents and "many
people of the government had linked with the former army
chief".
The former army officer-turned-politician went on to says
that "the Prime Minister also knew what had happened
inside the Pilkhana premises on that days from her meeting
with the rebel BDR group".
Reacting to the Prime Minister's recent remarks, he said,
"She (Hasina) and her party-men hatched conspiracy
regarding the BDR HQ killings episode."
Referring to newspaper reports Brig Gen Hannan further
fulminated that "many people of the government were
involved in the BDR carnage".
Another BNP standing-committee-member, Dr Khandaker
Mosharraf Hossain, said the BDR HQ carnage was
pre-planned, not any isolated incident.
Reacting to Prime Ministers' remarks, he asked why she (Hasina)
does not hunt down "provocateurs of Pilkhana incident in
her own party".
Presided over by BNP standing-committee-member Nazrul
Islam Khan, the meeting was also addressed by Zainul Abdin
Farooque MP, Shafiul Alam Prodhan, Dr Mahbubullah and
former BDR director-general Maj Gen (Retd) Fazlur Rahman.
Committee for giving Ijtema place to Tablig
Jamaat
UNB, Dhaka
The government formed a committee for permanently leasing
out the Ijtema place on the Turag riverbank to the Tablig
Jamaat authority for holding the mammoth annual Islamic
congregation in a more organized way.
Dhaka Divisional Commi-ssioner has been made head of the
land-makeover panel formed Thursday at a meeting at the
Religious Affairs Ministry with State Minister for
Religious Affairs Advocate Shahjahan Mia in the chair.
Dhaka City Corporation, Gazipur District Adminis-tration
and the representatives of Rajuk are included in the
committee.
Tablig Jamaat authority informed that the Religious
Affairs Ministry has sought a master plan to ensure water
supply, road communications and construction of pontoon
bridge over the Turag River.
Back Page
PM issues directive to explore gas
urgently
BSS, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday directed the
authorities concerned to take immediate steps to start
exploration of gas to meet the growing demand of the
natural resource especially for power generation.
The Prime Minister gave the directives while presiding
over the 31st meeting of the Board of Governors of
Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) at her
office here Thursday morning. Addressing the meeting, she
also directed the authorities concerned to construct a
power plant in Bhola to help mitigate the existing power
shortage of the country.
The Prime Minister asked the BEPZA to set up industrial
parks at different places of the country to attract
domestic and foreign investments in order to alleviate
poverty through employment generation.
In this connection, she called upon the countrymen to pay
tax, customs and other duties and fees spontaneously
leaving tax evading mentality to help the government in
running the state smoothly. Laying emphasis on increasing
the revenue income, the Prime Minister directed the
authorities concerned to set up a branch of revenue
offices at Mongla EPZ as there is no customs office there
at present. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the
authorities of Bangladesh Export Procession Zone Authority
-BEPZA to construct dormitories for the workers especially
for the female workers in respective EPZ areas to solve
their accommodation problems.
Sheikh Hasina said if the workers could be provided with
better housing facilities instead of their existing
unhealthy slum dwelling, their productivity will be
increased.
During the meeting, the members of the Board of Governors
of BEPZA also held an elaborate discussion on the agenda
of the on Thursday's meeting and reviewed progress of the
Wednesday meeting.
Among others, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning
Minister AK Khondakar, Home Minister Advocate Sahara
Khatun, Industries Minister Dilip Barua, Commerce Minister
Faruk Khan, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Shipping
Minister Shahjahan Khan, State Minister for Power, Energy
and Mineral Resource Enamul Haque and BEPZA Executive
Chairman Brigadier General Jamil Ahmed Khan attended the
meeting.
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Bangladesh Bank
Governor and secretaries concerned were present on the
occasion.
Jamuna waters to give
Buriganga a new life
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh Water Devel-opment Board has taken up an
initiative to give a new lease of life to the rivers of
Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya by supplying water
from the Jamuna river.
"To this end, the Water Resources Ministry would start
work for supplying fresh Jamuna water to the Buriganga
within this year by withdrawing its polluted water," Chief
Planner of the Water Development Board (WDB) Engineer Md
Abdul Wadud told BSS on Thursday.
Explaining the Development Project Proposal (DPP) of the
Water Development Board to purify the waters of the
rivers, including the Buriganga, around Dhaka city, he
said the Water Resources Ministry has undertaken a
four-year river development plan.
"Before taking up the Water Development Project of the
Buriganga river at a cost of Taka 998 crore, the WDB
carried out a three-year feasibility study," he said,
adding that the Water Resources Ministry has sent a
project proposal to the Planning Commission on February 18
which is under ECNEC consideration.
Engineer Wadud said Jamuna water would be brought to the
Turag and Buriganga through the New Dhaleshwari in Tangail
as well as the Poongli and the Bangshi rivers. He said
water flow would be created by connecting 163 meter
waterways so that stream of fresh water flow is created,
by removing polluted water from the rivers around Dhaka
city
Due to these steps, he said, Dhaka WASA will be able to
provide safe water to 15 million Dhaka city people.
Buriganga will get a new lease of life, and it will become
a sanctuary for aquatic life, including fish, he said.
Besides, people will easily move through river routes
around Dhaka city by taking fresh air, Engineer Wadud
said.
BERC set to increase
power tariff from March 1
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh Energy Reg-ulatory Commission (BE-RC) is set to
increase the power tariff at the retail level from March
1.
Officials of the BERC told BSS here Thursday that the
power tariff would be increased by 3 to 5 percent. The
government last increased the power tariff in 2007 by 5
percent at the retail level.
The tariff would be incre-ased at the retail level for all
electricity distributing agencies including DPDC, DESCO,
REB, WZPDCO and PDB.
The BERC completed public hearing on the power tariff
increase proposal of all distributing agencies last year.
The officials said the DPDC proposed increase in power
tariff by 12.33 percent, DESCO by 10.18 percent, REB by
11.52 percent, WZPDCO by 15.18 percent and the PDB by
24.31 percent. According to the PDB's proposal, the
difference between the power supply cost and the sale
stands at Taka 0.87 per unit, 24.31 percent higher than
the billing cost.
However, it added, the high cost power plants would
increase the production cost of the state run
organization. A top official of the BERC said that the
price would not affect the poor and the agriculture sector
consumers.
Two more killed in
‘gunfight’ in city
102 extra judicial killings in about
seven months
TBT Report
Two more alleged terrorists were killed in 'gunfight'
between their cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at
Rustampur, Pallabi in Dhaka Wednesday midnight taking the
total of such extra judicial killings to 102 in about
seven months from August 1, 2009 to February 25, 2010.
With these two ten extra judicial killings took place in
the new year 2010. Earlier, an outlawed party leader, a
ringleader of a robber gang, a criminal, an outlawed party
leader, a terrorist, a alleged outlawed party leader and a
ring leader were killed in shootouts on 9, 11, 12, 30
January and 10, 16, 19 and 23 February respectively.
According to UNB News Agency, two terrorists were killed
in a 'gunfight' with RAB at Rustampur, Pallabi in Dhaka
Wednesday midnight. The identity of the dead, both aged
about 25, was not immediately known.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of RAB raided the area at
11:15pm when a group of terrorists was preparing for
committing crimes.
Sensing the presence of RAB the terrorists opened gunfire,
which was returned by the RAB. Soon the gangsters
retreated leaving behind two of them dead. Pallabi thana
officer Iqbal Hossain confirmed the incident.
The unlawful killings are taking place despite mounting
protests by human rights activists, civil society members
and political parties and repeated assurances of the
government that such killings would be stopped and actions
would be taken against those found responsible.
Meanwhile, Odhikar, a leading human-right watc-hdog,
claimed recently that 138 people have been killed "in the
name of crossfire or encounter" since January last year.
Rights groups at home and abroad as well as some donor
agencies/countries have called for an end to such
extrajudicial killings.
RAB recently said as many as 577 people were killed in
'crossfire' in 472 incidents until Aug 31, 2009 since the
formation of the elite force on March 26, 2004.
2,879 new books
arrive at Ekushey Fair so far
BSS, Dhaka
Some 2,879 new titles hit the Ekushey Book Fair till
Thursday with only four days left for end of the
month-long event being held on the premises of Bangla
Academy in the city.
Collections of poems top-ped the list of new books
followed by novels, while four complete works and a
dictionary on different religious faiths also hit the fair
till date.
A total of 949 books of poems, 585 novels and 384 story
books have arrived in the first three weeks of the fair.
Some 185 books for children also arrived during the
period.
Besides, 281 collections of essays, 88 rhyme books, 79
biographies, 67 research books, 65 books on the War of
Liberation, 59 titles on science, 46 travelogues, 45 on
politics, 37 on history, 35 translation books, 27 on
satire, 24 on medical science and 23 on religion also were
among the list of the new arrivals.
"Many people earlier only visited the fair. Now, they are
buying books," said a salesperson at Oitijjhya stall. The
presence of visitors was remarkably thin till evening, but
after the sunset, the fair venue came to a life as the
people in in large number started crowding different
stalls.
"This is for the third time I have come to the fair for a
Bengali to Bengali dictionary of Bangla Academy, but the
Academy has failed to provide me with a copy," said Rakib,
a student of Dhaka University.
Sales at the Bangla Academy stall were less than that of
the previous year. A cultural function was held at the
fair venue in the evening as part of Bangla Academy's
regular programme.
War crime
trial not to affect BD-Pak ties: FM
UNB, Dhaka
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni Thursday said the
government-planned trial of war criminals would not, by
any means, affect Bangladesh's bilateral relations with
Pakistan.
She made the remark when newly appointed Pakistani High
Commissioner Ashraf Qureshi called on her at her office.
The Foreign Minister informed the Pak envoy that
Bangladesh would try its own citizens for war crimes
through a fair judicial process adhering to highest
international standard.
During the meeting, the Foreign Minister and the envoy
discussed further strengthening of relations both
bilaterally and within the framework of SAARC and
exchanged views on setting in motion the bilateral
institutional mechanisms, including Foreign Office
consultations.
She hoped that the two countries would soon be able to
resolve outstanding issues like formal apologies by the
Pakistan government for the atrocities committed in 1971,
repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh,
division of assets and the like. Dr Dipu Moni also urged
Pakistani entrepreneurs to invest in sectors like
pharmaceuticals, textiles, ICT, telecom and agro
industries in Bangladesh.
Underscoring the need for addressing the trade imbalance
with Pakistan, she said, "The two countries should make
use of ample potential for enhancing bilateral trade."
Dr Dipu Moni pointed out that Pakistan may take steps to
reduce high tariffs on import of jute products from
Bangladesh.
She suggested that the Pakistani High Commissioner may
explore various avenues of bilateral cooperation and
promote greater exchanges and better understanding between
the two peoples.
ECNEC
okays Tk 1,163 cr projects
BSS, Dhaka
The Executive Committee of National Economic Cou-ncil (ECNEC)
Thursday approved nine development projects involving Taka
1163 crore, including a Taka 330 crore project aid.
The approval was given at a meeting of the ECNEC with its
chairperson Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The projects are the Buffalo Development Project and the
Greater Faridpur District Fishery Development Project
under the Livestock and Animal Life Resources Ministry,
the Project for Protecting the Chandpur Irrigation Project
Area (Haimchar) and Left Bank of Banchharampur Upazila
under the Water Resources Ministry, the Transparent Ballot
Box (second revised) Project and the Construction of
Upazila and Regional Server Stations for Electoral
Database (revised) Project under the Election Commission,
the Project for Upgradation of Jorarganj Textile Institute
to a Textile College under the Textiles and Jute Ministry,
the Shyamganj-Zarisha-Bisrishiri-Durgapur Road Development
Project under the Roads and Railway Division, the Project
for Constructing Multistoried Residential and Commercial
Building at Gaj Nabi Road in Dhaka for the Welfare of the
Freedom Fighters under the Ministry of the Liberation War
Affairs and the Hygiene, Sanitation and Water Supply
Project (first revised) under the Local Government
Division.
Finance Minister and Alternate Chairman of ECNEC Abul Maal
Abdul Muhith, Planning Minister Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK
Khandakar, Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury,
Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen, Commerce
Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan, Communications Minister Syed
Abul Hossain, Fishery and Animal Resources Minister Abdul
Latif Biswas, Advisers HT Imam, Dr Mashiur Rahman, Dr
Alauddin Ahmed and Dr Tawfique-e- Elahi Chowdhury and
State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Captain (retd)
AB Tajul Islam attended the meeting.
Editorial
Rampant mugging and
robbery
The
capital Dhaka has become a unsafe city with muggers and other
criminals being active with full fury. People are feeling
insecure as they are unable to move freely in the city
specially during night time for fear of falling victim to
mugging spree of the miscreants. Security is absent even at
day time. This was evident once again when three people
including a grocery shop owner Abul Khaer were shot and robbed
of Tk 30 lakh in Jatrabari area in broad daylight on
Wednesday. Some 6/7 muggers swooped on the wholesale grocery
shop at about 2 pm and kept Khaer and others inside the shop
hostage at gun point. Later the thugs snatched away Tk. 30
lakh in cash from the shop. The miscreants fired
indiscriminately and blasted bombs. Three persons sustained
bullet injury and were admitted to Dhaka Medical College
Hospital.
Meanwhile, a robbery took place at Basila in the city's
Hazaribagh area early on Wednesday. Some eight to ten robbers
broke the back door of a two-storey building in the area
around 3:30am and took away 36 tolas of gold, four sets of
mobile phone, Tk 1.39 lakh and clothes. Selina Akhter, wife of
house owner Monwar stated that robbers wielding sharp weapons
held hostage the members living on the ground and first
floors.
These are two of many such incidents of crime being committed
in the city nowadays. These kinds of crimes are rampant in the
city and elsewhere in the country nowadays as it is a very
easy way of earning money, though illegally. Incidents of
mugging, robbery and murder are on the rise. Specially mugging
has become so irresistible and widespread that it is almost
impossible to lead the life without bowing to the muggers. The
muggers have turned a number of places into their crime spots
and those appear to be dangerous places for the public.
Muggings by miscreants in the Dhaka city is very common now
and nobody is surprised when such a crime is committed, but it
definitely causes surprise when some police personnel also
allegedly engage themselves in crime like snatching. Though
strange and unwarranted such incidents took place in the city
on many occasions. Such incidents are undoubtedly shameful and
unfortunate. Because Police are supposed to protect the lives
and properties of the citizens and not to commit crimes.
Police and government both claim that law and order situation
has improved. The home minister is even on record as saying
that the law and order situation at present is better than any
time before. But the people feel through their bitter
experiences that the situation has deteriorated alarmingly.
The rising crimes, unchecked mugging and robbery and incidents
of murder speak clearly of the aggravation of the law and
order situation. Against this backdrop, instead of being
complacent unreasonably, the government should make all out
efforts to improve the law and order situation with a view to
ensuring security of people's life and property.
Downsizing the
ADP
The
government has downsized the Annual Development Programme
(ADP) to Tk 28,500 crore in its maiden budget for the 2009-10
fiscal year while pushed up the number of uplift projects. The
National Economic Council approved the revised ADP with the
spending cuts in its meeting on Tuesday. With the trimming,
the allocation to the development budget stands at Tk 2,000
crore or 6.6 percent less than the actual ADP size of Tk
30,500 crore.
Under the revised ADP, the number of projects was raised to
1058 from 886 of the original plan. Of the revised ADP, Tk
17,200 crore (60.35 percent) will come from government
exchequer while Tk 11,300 crore (39.65 percent) as project
aid.
The Planning Minister has said that the progress in ADP
implementation (From July 2009 to January 2010) is 35 percent,
which was 31 percent in the corresponding period of the
previous year. There will be efforts to have
project-implementation progress at 100 percent, especially for
the important ones and which are in finishing stages, he
added.
The downward revision of the ADP has come at a time when an
intense debate on the size and rate of implementation of the
ADP is going on as almost every ADP since independence has
been downsized and not a single ADP could be implemented in
full. This fiscal the rate of ADP implementation is 4 per cent
higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year.
But it goes without saying that 35 per cent implementation of
the ADP in seven months is not satisfactory at all. Actually,
announcement of an ambitious ADP, its down-size revision in
the mid-way and the snail's pace in implementation of the ADP
has become a tradition in our country. We must come out of
this. It is implementation and not the size of the ADP that
matters. So, maximum attention should be given to the
implementation of the ADP whatever may be its size.
Analysis
Talks about talks
The army chief also took advantage of his
Indian counterpart's provocative statements to articulate an
appropriate military response to India's Cold Start doctrine.
Tariq Fatemi
On
the day this article is published, the Pakistani and Indian
foreign secretaries will be leading their delegations to the
first formal meeting between them in more than a year. Given
our perilous state of relations, this should give some hope to
the tormented billion-plus who live in the region.
Expectations, however, are not too high given the tortured
history of earlier such encounters. Many are even questioning
if it is worth the time and effort that has gone into it,
particularly as the Indians remain sceptical about Pakistan's
commitment to dismantling alleged terror networks. In fact,
ever since the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, India has refused
to restart bilateral negotiations, known as the composite
dialogue process, while mounting a diplomatic campaign in
major capitals to pressure Pakistan to 'mend its ways'.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has been calling for the
resumption of the process, which is the only formal,
structured format to which both countries have been wedded
since June 1997. This view is reinforced by Islamabad's fear
that Delhi has been trying to wriggle out of the composite
dialogue, opposed as it is to any discussion on Kashmir as an
agenda item in structured negotiations.
While acknowledging India's anger and outrage at the Mumbai
attacks, Pakistan advocated continuing engagement through
existing institutional arrangements. Moreover, the issue of
terrorism cannot be divorced from that of Kashmir, where the
60-plus years of Indian occupation and accompanying atrocities
have created conditions that foment indigenous anger and
resentment, as demonstrated by the strongly burning flame of
azadi.
Making the dialogue process a victim of the Mumbai incident
did neither country any favours. The composite dialogue not
only kept negotiations on track but also achieved considerable
progress on Siachen and Sir Creek. And if former foreign
minister Kasuri's claims are to be accepted, remarkable
headway was made on the issue of Kashmir as well, though in
the 'back channel', and primarily on account of the military
dictator's willingness to abandon Pakistan's historically
established positions.
India's foreign minister has emphasised that the Delhi meeting
may be a one-off exercise, though the home minister has
indicated that India may agree to discuss measures to
strengthen some of the Kashmir-related confidence-building
measures. There are also indications that India may be willing
to listen to our allegations about its involvement in
Balochistan and complaints on water. Nevertheless, there is
speculation as to the reasons that led India to soften its
stance on talks with Pakistan at this time.
For a start, there was a growing realisation that India had
failed to galvanise the kind of international pressure it
wished to exert on Pakistan, with major powers recognising the
complexity of South Asian politics and opting for
non-involvement apart from urging restraint on both sides.
Even worse, India failed to respond to the newly elected
Pakistan government's oft-repeated desire for genuinely
cordial relations, an initiative that enjoyed the support of
the major political parties as well.
Sadly, the Indians appeared to be stuck in a time warp,
nostalgic for an authoritarian regime's proclivity to offer
out-of-the-box proposals. Moreover, with Pakistan then in the
throes of terrorism that included frequent suicide attacks all
over the country, there were many who wanted Pakistan to stew
in its own juice. Consequently, instead of responding to
Pakistan's urgings for cooperation on anti-terror mechanisms,
India decided to pursue a rigid and unimaginative policy,
which dampened Islamabad's earlier enthusiasm for rushing into
talks.
In the meanwhile, the Pakistan Army was able to score major
successes, both in its military operations as well as in
hunting down militant leaders, enabling it to speak with
greater confidence both at home and abroad. It also reiterated
a modified rationale for Pakistan seeking "a strategic depth
in Afghanistan" and a demand to be viewed as "a core player in
whatever the US decides to do in Afghanistan".
The army chief also took advantage of his Indian counterpart's
provocative statements to articulate an appropriate military
response to India's Cold Start doctrine. But most likely the
turning point was the London Conference, where the extent of
India's isolation on Afghanistan, notwithstanding its
billion-dollar investment in that country, must have been
painful to Delhi.
The Obama administration too played a helpful role in nudging
India towards responding to Pakistan's repeated pleas for
resumption of official talks. Senior administration officials
have confirmed that while Washington refrained from injecting
itself into the India-Pakistan equation and even avoided
mentioning the 'K' word in Delhi, it has nevertheless been
supportive of a return to dialogue. US Defence Under Secretary
Michele Flournoy remarked during her visit to Islamabad last
week that "we will do everything in our power to support
successful … talks".
But the US has to do more than merely encouraging dialogue
between Delhi and Islamabad. America has to appreciate that
its enormous power is meaningless unless it is channelled into
positive and productive diplomatic ventures. It cannot
continue to shy away from involvement in major regional
disputes on the plea that it is for those involved to resolve
their problems themselves. If that had been the case, Pakistan
and India would have settled their differences decades ago.
In any case, whether it is realism on India's part or
disappointment at its failure to get the appreciation it
wanted for its role in Afghanistan, it is now incumbent on
both Delhi and Islamabad to recognise that the international
community is simply tired of their constant bickering and
frustrated with their inability to resolve their differences.
Admittedly, both continue to be saddled by the enormous
baggage of a painful history but it is in their common
interest to set aside their inhibitions and to overcome their
fears. India is much bigger and far stronger, and its economy
too has done exceedingly well. These factors have further
fuelled its ambition to play a role far beyond its borders but
it cannot do so as long as it remains mired in a hostile
relationship with Pakistan. The unresolved Kashmir issue
hanging around its neck, albatross-like, doesn't help either.
Pakistan too has to show greater confidence in its own
abilities, especially now that we have a democratic
dispensation which needs to re-orient its foreign policy to
cater to the aspirations of the people. We cannot continue to
pray for fortuitous developments in the region, or to count on
far-off friends, while neglecting to forge cordial and
cooperative ties with our immediate neighbours. Let the Delhi
meeting not merely be talks about talks.
Standing on a
burning platform
The country demands change and change now. The time for
action is now. Strictly speaking, it's long past.
Roedad Khan
In
other countries, crises produce leaders. In our country,
leaders manufacture crises in order to grab or retain
power. This nation is beginning to see the rapidly
unfolding consequences of Gen Musharraf's Faustian bargain
with Zardari. In the words of Chief Justice Iftikhar
Mohammad Chaudhry, "the unity of the judges" alone,
frustrated a crude, melodramatic attempt by Zardari to
recreate the Nov 3, 2007, situation.
On Feb 13, 2010, a day that will go down in history as a
day of infamy. Zardari, in collusion with Gillani,
rejected the recommendations of the chief justice for the
appointment of judges of the superior courts, in order to
pack them with party loyalists. The attempt failed because
it met with stiff resistance from the bar, the bench, some
political parties and the civil society.
Tuesday, Feb 16, 2010, was a memorable day in the
constitutional history of Pakistan. On that day, both
Zardari and Gilani capitulated under tremendous public
pressure, ate humble pie and beat a hasty, ignominious
retreat. In the backdrop of Gilani's tough talk and
bravado on the floor of the National Assembly only a day
earlier, a more humiliating comeuppance is difficult to
envision. Defeat is one thing. Disgrace is another. On
that day we passed an awful milestone in our history, when
the equilibrium between the three pillars of state - the
Presidency, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice, was
deranged.
This is not a victory of the Supreme Court, or of any
political party, or of any class. It is a victory of the
people of Pakistan. It could not have happened without
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. That is for sure. He was
the first to draw the sword against the dictator on March
9, 2007, when he defied him and triggered a revolution in
Pakistan.
Zardari's failed attempt to reverse the judicial
revolution reminds me of a conversation between Hitler and
Goring. Hitler was replying to a complaint by Goring that
the judges had behaved disgracefully in the Reichstag Fire
Case.
"You would think that we were on trial, not the
Communists," said Goring. "It is only a question of time,"
said Hitler. "We shall soon have those old fellows talking
our language. They are all ripe for retirement anyway, and
we will put in our own people." Zardari was never very
comfortable with the reborn Supreme Court. His main
concern was, and is, how to subjugate it and do away with
the rule of law. Not surprisingly, he did exactly what
Hitler had done more than 70 years ago. He resorted to
court packing. But the attempt failed.
Today the political landscape of Pakistan is dotted with
Potemkin villages. All the pillars of state, with the
exception of the Supreme Court, are dysfunctional. In
1837, Tocqueville wrote: "the President may slip without
the state suffering, for his duties are limited. Congress
may slip without the Union perishing, for above the
Congress there is the electoral body which can change its
spirit by changing its members. But if ever the Supreme
Court came to be composed of corrupt or rash persons, the
Confederation would be threatened by anarchy or civil
war." I shudder to think what would have happened if
Zardari had succeeded in his designs.
For his involvement in the cover up of the Watergate
scandal and suppressing the truth, President Nixon was
forced to resign and hounded out of the Oval office.
Twenty-five people were sent to prison because of the
abuses of his administration, and many others faced
indictments, including two attorneys general of the United
States and several top officials of the White House. After
the fall of President Nixon, David Gergen, a White House
advisor to Nixon wrote: "The received wisdom is that
Watergate teaches us one basic rule about politics: never
elect a man of low character to high office." At a time
when leadership is desperately needed to cope with matters
of vital importance to the very survival of the country,
Pakistan is led by a president who lacks both credibility
and integrity. Any other person in his position would have
resigned long ago.
A Japanese leader would have committed hara-kiri. The
tragedy of Pakistan is that Zardari is clinging to office
like an old piece of chewing gum on the leg of a chair.
Today all the symptoms which one had ever met in history
prior to great changes and revolutions exist in Pakistan.
Nobody knows where it was headed without popular
leadership to guide or direct it. The social contract
between the rulers and the ruled has collapsed.
Fundamental issues of far-reaching significance are
churning beneath the placid surface of life. I know that
at the present moment an unusual agitation is pervading
the people, but what it will exactly result in, I am
unable to say. "I can detect the near approach of the
storm. I can hear the moaning of the hurricane, but I
can't say when or where it will break forth." This is the
darkest hour in the history of Pakistan. If Mr Jinnah came
back today and met his successor, he would say, "I am
afraid I need to erase this and start all over again."
Ultimately, the true guardians of democracy are the people
of Pakistan. Time and again in world history - in 1789,
1848, 1871, and 1968, to name only some of the most
historic years - mass protests have kicked out rulers, and
toppled governments. Our rulers know that the street is
all they have to fear. Confronting Zardari has now become
a patriotic duty. Today he is the greatest threat to
Pakistan, not just democracy. Another three years of
Zardari's rule would easily become a life sentence for
Pakistan.
The time has come when the ultimate sovereign - the people
of Pakistan - must assert itself. At long last we have a
chance to throw off the rubberstamp parliament and a
thoroughly corrupt and discredited presidency. The
situation offers endless possibilities for all patriots
and men of vision. The centre of gravity has shifted to
the Supreme Court. It must, therefore, rise to the height
of the circumstances, press home its advantage and enforce
full implementation of its judgment on NRO.
One man, one man alone, is responsible for the mess we are
in today. At this time, all those who see the perils of
the future, whatever their political orientation, must
draw together to pull our country back from the edge of
the abyss. We need to reinvent Pakistan. Our ship of state
has hit rough waters.
It must now chart a new way forward. If we do not act, and
act now, the mess we are in will get even bigger, deeper
and grimmer. We are standing on a "burning platform." If
we don't work quickly to extinguish the blaze, the country
and all of us in it would sink into the sea. The country
demands change and change now. The time for action is now.
Strictly speaking, it's long past.
The writer is a former federal secretary of Pakistan
Email: roedad@comsats.net.pk, www.roedadkhan.com
Viewpoints
The
US is now a police state
Afghan
warlords and thugs responded to the financial incentive by
grabbing unprotected people and selling them to the Americans.
Paul Craig Roberts
Americans
have been losing the protection of law for years. In the 21st
century the loss of legal protections accelerated with the
Bush administration's "war on terror," which continues under
the Obama administration and is essentially a war on the
Constitution and US civil liberties.
The Bush regime was determined to vitiate habeas corpus in
order to hold people indefinitely without bringing charges.
The regime had acquired hundreds of prisoners by paying a
bounty for "terrorists." Afghan warlords and thugs responded
to the financial incentive by grabbing unprotected people and
selling them to the Americans.
The Bush regime needed to hold the prisoners without charges
because it had no evidence against the people and did not want
to admit that the US government had stupidly paid warlords and
thugs to kidnap innocent people. In addition, the Bush regime
needed "terrorists" prisoners in order to prove that there was
a terrorist threat.
As there was no evidence against the "detainees" (most have
been released without charges after years of detention and
abuse), the US government needed a way around US and
international laws against torture in order that the
government could produce evidence via self-incrimination. The
Bush regime found inhumane and totalitarian-minded lawyers and
put them to work at the US Department of Justice (sic) to
invent arguments that the Bush regime did not need to obey the
law.
The Bush regime created a new classification for its detainees
that it used to justify denying legal protection and due
process to the detainees. As the detainees were not US
citizens and were demonized by the regime as "the 760 most
dangerous men on earth," there was little public outcry over
the regime's unconstitutional and inhumane actions.
As our Founding Fathers and a long list of scholars warned,
once civil liberties are breached, they are breached for all.
Soon US citizens were being held indefinitely in violation of
their habeas corpus rights. Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, an American
citizen of Pakistani origin, might have been the first.
Dr. Siddiqui, a scientist educated at MIT and Brandeis
University, was seized in Pakistan for no known reason, sent
to Afghanistan, and was held secretly for five years in the US
military's notorious Bagram prison in Afghanistan. Her three
young children were with her at the time she was abducted, one
an eight-month old baby. She has no idea what has become of
her two youngest children. Her oldest child, 7 years old, was
also incarcerated in Bagram and subjected to similar abuse and
horrors.
Siddiqui has never been charged with any terrorism-related
offense. A British journalist, hearing her piercing screams as
she was being tortured, disclosed her presence. An embarrassed
US government responded to the disclosure by sending Siddiqui
to the US for trial on the trumped-up charge that while a
captive, she grabbed a US soldier's rifle and fired two shots
attempting to shoot him. The charge apparently originated as a
US soldier's excuse for shooting Dr. Siddiqui twice in the
stomach resulting in her near death.
On Feb. 4, Dr. Siddiqui was convicted by a New York jury for
attempted murder. The only evidence presented against her was
the charge itself and an unsubstantiated claim that she had
once taken a pistol-firing course at an American firing range.
No evidence was presented of her fingerprints on the rifle
that this frail and broken 100-pound woman had allegedly
seized from an American soldier. No evidence was presented
that a weapon was fired, no bullets, no shell casings, no
bullet holes. Just an accusation.
Wikipedia has this to say about the trial: "The trial took an
unusual turn when an FBI official asserted that the
fingerprints taken from the rifle, which was purportedly used
by Aafia to shoot at the US interrogators, did not match
hers."
An ignorant and bigoted American jury convicted her for being
a Muslim. This is the kind of "justice" that always results
when the state hypes fear and demonizes a group.
The people who should have been on trial are the people who
abducted her, disappeared her young children, shipped her
across international borders, violated her civil liberties,
tortured her apparently for the fun of it, raped her, and
attempted to murder her with two gunshots to her stomach.
Instead, the victim was put on trial and convicted.
This is the unmistakable hallmark of a police state. And this
victim is an American citizen. Anyone can be next. Indeed, on
February 3 Dennis Blair, director of National Intelligence
told the House Intelligence Committee that it was now "defined
policy" that the US government can murder its own citizens on
the sole basis of someone in the government's judgment that an
American is a threat. No arrest, no trial, no conviction, just
execution on suspicion of being a threat.
This shows how far the police state has advanced. A
presidential appointee in the Obama administration tells an
important committee of Congress that the executive branch has
decided that it can murder American citizens abroad if it
thinks they are a threat.
I can hear readers saying the government might as well kill
Americans abroad as it kills them at home -Waco, Ruby Ridge,
the Black Panthers.
Yes, the US government has murdered its citizens, but Dennis
Blair's "defined policy" is a bold new development. The
government, of course, denies that it intended to kill the
Branch Davidians, Randy Weaver's wife and child, or the Black
Panthers. The government says that Waco was a terrible
tragedy, an unintended result brought on by the Branch
Davidians themselves. The government says that Ruby Ridge was
Randy Weaver's fault for not appearing in court on a day that
had been miscommunicated to him, The Black Panthers, the
government says, were dangerous criminals who insisted on a
shoot-out.
In no previous death of a US citizen by the hands of the US
government has the government claimed the right to kill
Americans without arrest, trial, and conviction of a capital
crime.
In contrast, Dennis Blair has told the US Congress that the
executive branch has assumed the right to murder Americans who
it deems a "threat."
What defines "threat"? Who will make the decision? What it
means is that the government will murder whomever it chooses.
There is no more complete or compelling evidence of a police
state than the government announcing that it will murder its
own citizens if it views them as a "threat."
Ironic, isn't it, that "the war on terror" to make us safe
ends in a police state with the government declaring the right
to murder American citizens who it regards as a threat.
Paul Craig Roberts was an editor of the Wall Street Journal
and an assistant secretary of the US Treasury. His latest
book, "How The Economy Was Lost", has just been published.
Iran’s
Nuclear Tangle: Don’t Scramble the Jets Yet
The most
significant development in Iran has been the displacement
of the clerical elite by the Revolutionary Guards, a
military organisation that is now the centre of power.
Fareed Zakaria
Sarah
Palin has a suggestion for how Barack Obama can save his
presidency. "Say he decided to declare war on Iran," she
said on Fox News last week. "I think people would perhaps
shift their thinking a little bit and decide, well, maybe
he's tougher than we think he is today." Such talk is in
the air again.
Palin was picking up the idea from Daniel Pipes, a
neoconservative Middle East expert who suggested a strike
would reverse Obama's political fortunes. (Actually, Palin
attributed the idea to Patrick Buchanan, but obviously
entirely misread Buchanan's column, which opposed Pipes's
suggestion. It's getting tiresome to keep pointing out
these serial gaffes, but Palin does appear to be running
for president.)
The International Atomic Energy Agency warned last week of
its "concerns" that the Iranian regime was moving to
acquire a nuclear-weapons capability, not just nuclear
energy. But this does not change the powerful calculus
against a military strike, which would most likely delay
the Iranian programme by only a few years. And then there
are the political consequences. The regime will gain
support as ordinary Iranians rally around the flag.
The opposition would be forced to support a government
under attack from abroad. The regime would foment and fund
violence from Afghanistan to Iraq to the Gulf. The price
of oil would skyrocket - which, ironically, would help
Teheran pay for all these operations. It is important to
recognise the magnitude of what people like Sarah Palin
are advocating. The United States is being asked to launch
a military invasion of a state that poses no imminent
threat to America, without sanction from any international
body, and with few governments willing to publicly endorse
?such an action.
Al Qaeda and its ilk would present it as the third
American invasion of a Muslim nation in a decade, proof
positive that the United States is engaged in a war of
civilisations. Moderate Arab states and Muslim governments
everywhere would be on the defensive.
As Washington has surely come to realise, wars unleash
forces that cannot be predicted or controlled. An Iran
with nuclear weapons would be dangerous and destabilising,
though I am not as convinced as some that it would
automatically force Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey to go
nuclear as well. If Israel's large nuclear arsenal has not
made Egypt seek its own nukes - despite the fact that the
country has fought and lost three wars with Israel - it is
unclear to me why an Iranian bomb would.
The US should use the latest IAEA report to bolster a
robust containment strategy against Iran, bringing
together the moderate Arab states and Israel in a tacit
alliance, asking European states to go further in their
actions, and pushing Russia and China to endorse
sanctions. Former secretary of state James Baker suggested
to me on CNN that the United States could extend its
nuclear umbrella to Israel, Egypt, and the Gulf states -
something that current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
has hinted at as well. At the same time, Washington should
back the Green Movement, which ultimately holds out the
greatest hope for a change in the basic orientation of
Iran's foreign policy. It remains unclear how broad or
well organised this movement is, but as a matter of
long-term strategy, we should support groups that want a
more modern and open Iran.
Can we live with a nuclear Iran? Well, we're living with a
nuclear North Korea (boxed in and contained by ?its
neighbours).
And we lived with a nuclear Soviet Union and communist
China.?Iran, we're told, is different. The country cannot
be deterred by America's vast arsenal of nukes because it
is run by a bunch of mystic mullahs who aren't rational,
embrace death, and have millenarian fantasies. This was
never an accurate description of Iran's canny (and
ruthlessly pragmatic) clerical elite. But it's even less
so now. The most significant development in Iran has been
the displacement of the clerical elite by the
Revolutionary Guards, a military organisation that is now
the centre of power.
Clinton confirmed what many of us have been pointing out
over the last year and warned of an emerging "military
dictatorship" there. I'm not sure which is worse for the
Iranian people: rule by nasty mullahs or by thuggish
soldiers. But one thing we know about military regimes is
that they are calculating. They act in ways that keep
themselves alive and in power. That instinct for
self-preservation is what will make a containment strategy
work.
Fareed Zakaria is editor of Newsweek International and
author of The Post-American World and The Future of
Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
Challenging History
It is too flammable a subject to even mention at a time
when anyone who dares wield a gun against the
self-designated champions of 'democracy' gets
automatically classified a terrorist.
Ramzy Baroud
When
American historian Howard Zinn passed away recently, he
left behind a legacy that redefined our relationship to
history altogether.
Professor Zinn dared to challenge the way history was told
and written. In fact he went as far as to defy the
conventional construction of historical discourses through
the pen of victor or of elites who earned the right of
narration though their might, power ?and affluence.
This kind of history might be considered accurate insofar
as it reflects a self-seeking and self-righteous
interpretation of the world by a very small number of
people.
But it is also highly inaccurate when taking into account
the vast majority of peoples everywhere.
The oppressor is the one who often articulates his
relationship to the oppressed, the colonialist to the
colonised, and the slave-master to the slave. The readings
of such relationships are fairly predictable.
Even valiant histories that most of us embrace and
welcome, such as those celebrating the legacy of human
rights, equality and freedom left behind by Martin Luther
King, Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela still tend to be
selective at times.
Martin Luther King's vision might have prevailed, but some
tend to limit their admiration to his 'I have a dream'
speech. The civil rights hero was an ardent anti-war
champion as well, but that is often relegated as
non-?essential history.
Malcolm X is often dismissed altogether, despite the fact
that his self-assertive words have reached the hearts and
minds of millions of black people throughout the United
States, and many more millions around the world. His
speech was in fact so radical that it could not be 'sanitised'
or reinterpreted in any controllable way.
Mandela, the freedom fighter, is celebrated with endless
accolades by the very foes that branded him a terrorist.
Of course, his insistence on his people's rights to armed
struggle is not to ?be discussed.
It is too flammable a subject to even mention at a time
when anyone who dares wield a gun against the
self-designated champions of 'democracy' gets
automatically classified a terrorist.
Therefore, Zinn's peoples' histories of the United States
and of the world have represented a milestone in
?historical narration.
As a Palestinian writer who is fond of such luminaries, I
too felt the need to provide an alternative reading of
history, in this case, Palestinian history. I envisioned,
with much hesitation, a book that serves as a people's
history of Palestine.
I felt that I have earned the right to present such a
possible version of history, being the son of Palestinian
refugees, who lost everything and were exiled to live
dismal lives in a Gaza refugee camp. I am the descendant
of 'peasants' - Fellahin - whose odyssey of pain,
struggle, but also heroic resistance is constantly
misrepresented, distorted, and at times overlooked
altogether.
It was the death of my father (while under siege in Gaza)
that finally compelled me to translate my yearning into a
book. My Father was a Freedom Fighter, Gaza's Untold Story
offered a version of Palestinian history was not told by
an Israeli narrator - sympathetic or otherwise - and
neither was it an elitist account, as often presented by
Palestinian writers.
The idea was to give a human face to all the statistics,
maps and figures.History cannot be classified as good vs.
bad, heroes vs. villains, moderates vs. extremists. No
matter how wicked, bloody or despicable, history also
tends to follow rational patterns, predictable courses. By
understanding the rationale behind historical dialectics,
one can achieve more than a simple understanding of what
took place in the past; it also becomes possible to chart
fairly reasonable understanding of ?what lies ahead.
Perhaps one of the worst aspects of today's detached and
alienating media is its production of history - and thus
characterisation of the present - as based on simple
terminology. This gives the illusion of being informative,
but actually manages to contribute very little to our
understanding of the world at large.
Such oversimplifications are dangerous because they
produce an erroneous understanding of the world, which in
turn compels misguided actions.
For these reasons, it is incumbent upon us to try to
discover alternative meanings and readings of history.
To start, we could try offering historical perspectives
which try to see the world from the viewpoint of the
oppressed - the refugees, the fellahin who have been
denied, amongst many rights, the right to tell their own
story.
This view is not a sentimental one. Far from it. An
elitist historical narrative is maybe the dominant one,
but it is not always the elites who influence the course
of history. History is also shaped by collective
movements, actions and popular struggles.
By denying this fact, one denies the ability of the
collective to affect change. In the case of Palestinians,
they are often presented as hapless multitudes, passive
victims without a will of their own. This is of course a
mistaken perception; the Palestinians' conflict with
Israel has lasted this long only because of their
unwillingness to accept injustice, and their refusal to
submit ?to oppression.
Israel's lethal weapons might have changed the landscape
of Gaza and Palestine, but the will of Gazans and
Palestinians is what has shaped the landscape of
Palestine's history.
Touring with My Father was a Freedom Fighter in South
Africa, during a recent visit, was a most intense
experience. It was in this country that freedom fighters
once rose to fight oppression, challenging and eventually
defeating Apartheid.
My father, the refugee of Gaza has suddenly been accepted
unconditionally by a people of a land thousands of miles
away.
The notion of 'people's history' can be powerful because
it extends beyond boundaries, and expands beyond
ideologies and prejudices.
In that narrative, Palestinians, South Africans, Native
Americans and many others find themselves the sons and
daughters of one collective history, one oppressive
legacy, but also part of an active community of numerous
freedom fighters, who dared to challenge and sometimes
even change the face of history. South Africa has;
Palestine will.
Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is a distinguished
Arab American journalist and author. His latest book is My
Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story, (Pluto
Press, London)
International
Rivals India,
Pakistan agree to ‘keep in touch’
Reuters, New Delhi
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, whose
relationship is key to efforts to stabilize Afghanistan,
held their first official talks since the 2008 attacks on
Mumbai on Thursday and agreed to stay in touch.
India blames Pakistan-based militants for the Mumbai
attacks which killed at least 166 people and both sides
are battling for influence in Afghanistan on Pakistan's
western border. The United States sees improved
India-Pakistan relations as crucial so lslamabad, not
having to worry about its eastern border with India, can
focus on fighting the Taliban on its west.
The nuclear rivals will "remain in touch" to build trust
with each other, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao
said after talks with her Pakistani counterpart, Salman
Bashir. Rao did not say if there would be a next round of
talks.
The two met in a former princely palace in a heavily
guarded New Delhi neighborhood that also houses the
parliament and the presidential palace. Rao, wearing a
black and red sari, and Bashir in a dark suit shook hands
in front of the camera before walking into a sprawling
room for a one-on-one meeting followed by delegation-level
talks.
India broke off official talks after the Mumbai attacks,
saying dialogue could resume only if Pakistan acted
against militants on its soil.
Re-engaging Pakistan was a politically fraught move for
New Delhi, given strong Indian public opinion against
talks, but a nudge from Washington and dwindling
diplomatic options saw India reaching out. Expectations
from the talks were modest, and a simple pledge to
continue the dialogue may be the best officials can hope
for.
The two countries have squabbled over which subjects
should be covered in the talks-India wants to focus on
terrorism while Pakistan eyes the disputed Himalayan
region of Kashmir that has been the cause of two of their
three wars.
"Terrorism is a regional, global concern. It's our concern
as well," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit
told reporters shortly before talks began.
"But Kashmir issue is the core .... It is an issue that
continues to bedevil our relationship and not discussing
this issue will not do justice to this meeting." On
Wednesday, Indian border guards in Kashmir came under fire
from Pakistan, an Indian official said, the latest in a
spate of clashes in the Himalayan region.
India accuses Pakistan of cross-border firing to help
militants cross the heavily militarized frontier to join a
20-year revolt in its only Muslim-majority region.
Pakistan says it only gives moral support.
The talks in New Delhi also come amid a foreboding sense
in India that the bombing of a popular bakery in the
western city of Pune this month, which killed at least 16
people, may herald more attacks. A second attack like
Mumbai could shake what has so far proved to be a
resilient Indian economy. It could also snuff out
prospects of a revival in trade between the two countries,
which rose almost four-fold to $2.25 billion between 2004
and 2008.
India admitted involvement
of its citizens in Mumbai Attacks : Rehman Malik
APP, Lahore
Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that
India admitted the involvement of Indian citizens in
Mumbai attacks. He was talking to media at Lahore High
Court Thursday as he had come here in connection with his
two cases. A division bench of Lahore High Court
comprising Chief Justice Khawaja Sharif and Justice Waqar
Hassan Mir adjourned the hearing till March 17. Malik said
said that three terrorist groups had come to light in
India for their terrorist activities.
To a query, he said that Pakistan wanted good relations
with India. "All issues would be discussed in the
dialogue", he said, adding that the dialogue process has
support from the international community.
To a question, he said that Swat operation was complete,
adding that only minor incidents of terrorism were taking
place in tribal areas. "Pakistan government and the Army
deserve appreciation for achieving big success against war
on terror", he said.
Rehman Malik said that all others fighting against
Pakistan have a lesson to learn from this "success" and
thus mend their ways, adding,"All efforts to destabilize
Pakistan would be foiled."
He said that peace in the region is linked with the
stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Afghan flag raised over
town at centre of assault
AFP, Marjah
The Afghan flag was raised over a town at the centre of a
US-led offensive to capture a key Taliban stronghold on
Thursday with the US Marines commander declaring it a
"historic day".
Afghanistan's red, green and black flag was raised over
Marjah by the governor of Helmand province, watched over
by senior US, British and Afghan commanders and a crowd of
several hundred residents, an AFP photographer said.
Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of US Marines
in southern Afghanistan declared it a "historical day" as
authority over the area was handed over to Governor
Mohammand Gulab Mangal after 12 days of fighting.
"It's a very historical day, a new beginning," Nicholson
said at the ceremony, attended by a crowd of several
hundred residents, watched over by US Marine snipers
stationed on the roofs of surrounding buildings.
Around 15,000 US, Afghan and NATO forces launched
Operation Mushtarak ("Together") on February 13 in what
has been billed the biggest military operation since the
2001 US-led invasion brought down the Taliban regime.
Their mission was to capture the Marjah and Nad Ali areas
of Helmand from the Taliban and drug lords in a major test
of US President Barack Obama's troop surge battling to end
the eight-year Afghan war.
Swiss cases can't be
reopened under Swiss law
Internet
Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on
Wednesday was given a briefing on the Swiss cases against
President Asif Ali Zardari and informed that these cases
could not be reopened under the Swiss laws.
Prime Minister Gilani chaired a high-level meeting to
review the progress on the implementation of the Supreme
Court judgment on the NRO. The meeting was attended by
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan,
Attorney General Anwar Mansoor, NAB Chairman Naveed Ahsan
and Secretary Law Justice (retd) Muhammad Aqil Mirza.
The legal, constitutional and international law relating
to the Swiss cases also came under review, particularly
the final closure of the cases by the Swiss authorities
was also deliberated upon.
The meeting was informed that a total of 146 cases were
re-registered under the NAB Ordinance 1999, which had been
shelved under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO),
2007.
The meeting was further informed that in line with the
judgment of the apex court, all these cases had already
been reopened and revived. The meeting was further
apprised that 21 cases, which were under investigation and
closed in pursuance of the NRO, had now been reopened. The
meeting was also informed that in compliance with the
Supreme Court directions to submit weekly reports on the
progress of the accountability trials, it was revealed
that the relevant quarters had submitted eight weekly
reports so far and the last one was submitted on Feb 19,
2010.
The meeting was informed that the services of Abdul Baseer
Qureshi, Additional Prosecutor General NAB, had also been
dispensed with in compliance with the Supreme Court
orders. Whereas the process to remove Dr Danishwar Malik,
NAB Prosecutor General, has already been initiated. Malik
has undergone open-heart surgery and presently
hospitalised.
In pursuance thereof, a show-cause notice has been issued
and a committee has been constituted to take further
action in accordance with the law. Regarding the
appointment of a new NAB chairman, it was stated that an
appointment would be made after consultation between the
leader of the House and the leader of the Opposition under
the relevant law.
N.Korea blasts US-S.Korean
war games
AFP, Seoul
North Korea's military on Thursday blasted an upcoming
South Korean-US military exercise as a prelude to a
surprise attack, and said it could respond to any
aggression with nuclear weapons.
The military said it would retaliate for any attack "with
our powerful military counteraction, and if necessary,
mercilessly destroy the bulwark of aggression by
mobilising all the offensive and defensive means including
nuclear deterrent". The statement from the General Staff
was carried on the communist state's official news agency.
The North routinely criticises war games staged in South
Korea as a rehearsal for invasion, while Seoul and its
ally Washington say they are purely defensive.
The Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercise, slated for March
8-18, will draw 18,000 US troops including 10,000
stationed in South Korea and 8,000 from abroad.
South Korea's defence ministry gave no figure for the
number of South Korean troops taking part but said an army
corps, naval fleets and air force wings would be involved.
Some 26,000 US troops took part in the drill last year.
The US-led United Nations Command has informed the North
about the exercise and its routine nature.
The North, which has twice tested an atomic weapon,
described the upcoming drill as "pilot operations and
nuclear war exercises" aimed at mounting a surprise
pre-emptive attack on it.
In January the North responded furiously when the South's
defence minister said Seoul would launch a pre-emptive
strike to frustrate any imminent nuclear attack by the
North.
Such remarks "brought to light their true colours as war
fanatics keen to bring dark clouds of a nuclear war to
hang over the inviolable land, while seeking escalated
tensions and confrontation only", the military said
Thursday.
The statement came amid international efforts to bring
North Korea back to nuclear disarmament negotiations which
it quit 10 months ago.
The United States stations 28,500 troops in South Korea
under an alliance dating back to the 1950-53 war.
Myanmar court to rule on
Suu Kyi appeal today
AFP, Yangon
Myanmar's Supreme Court will rule today (Friday) on
detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal
against an 18-month extension to her house arrest, a court
notice said.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi had her detention extended in
August after being convicted over an incident in which an
American man swam to her house, while a lower court
rejected an initial appeal in October.
The court will issue its verdict at 10:00 am (0330 GMT),
said the notice posted outside the court building in
Yangon on Thursday.
If the Supreme Court turns down her case, Nobel Peace
laureate Suu Kyi can make a final appeal to Myanmar's
chief justice. She has already spent most of the last 20
years in jail or under house arrest.
"I just heard about the court notice. I do not want to
guess what the Supreme Court's verdict will be, but she is
clearly not guilty," said Nyan Win, one of her lawyers and
the spokesman for her National League for Democracy.
During a meeting on Wednesday, Nyan Win said that Suu Kyi
had jokingly asked if he thought she had behaved well
enough to be released early by Myanmar's ruling
government.
China probes path of seized
North Korea arms
AFP, Beijing
China said on Thursday it was investigating whether a
shipment of North Korean arms destined for Congo in
violation of UN sanctions transited Chinese territory.
manoeuvres
UN diplomats said on Tuesday that South Africa had
notified the UN Security Council panel monitoring
sanctions imposed on North Korea that the weapons had been
seized in November.
"China is looking into this issue... the Chinese side will
also take part in relevant discussions," foreign ministry
spokesman Qin Gang said, in response to a report that the
shipment went through the port of Dalian in northeast
China.
The spokesman refused further comment.
China is North Korea's closest ally and provides
substantial aid to the communist nation that has been
gripped by economic crises and food shortages for much of
the past 15 years.
UN Security Council Resolution 1874, imposed in June 2009
after a North Korean nuclear test, bans all arms exports
from the communist state and authorises UN member states
to inspect North Korean cargo on land, sea and air.
One diplomat at the United Nations said experts from the
council's sanctions panel on North Korea were probing the
case.
China
warns US to ‘act cautiously’
AFP, Beijing
China warned the United States on Thursday to "speak and
act cautiously" to avoid further strains in ties and
denied any military involvement in recent cyberattacks
against Google.
A defence ministry spokesman also said Beijing's position
on suspending military exchanges with the United States
over arms sales to Taiwan remained unchanged, after the
Pentagon said at least three visits had been postponed.
China has said it will sanction US firms involved in the
6.4-billion-dollar deal announced last month which
included Patriot missiles, helicopters and equipment for
Taiwan's F-16 fleet, but no submarines or new fighter
aircraft. Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as part of its
territory.
"The Chinese side urges the US side to speak and act
cautiously to avoid further damage to bilateral relations
and peaceful cross-strait development," ministry spokesman
Huang Xueping was quoted as saying by the state Xinhua
news agency.
A Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday that several planned
exchanges had been put off, including a visit to the
United States by China's chief of the general staff, and a
trip to China by the commander of the US Pacific Command.
Chinese authorities allowed the USS Nimitz aircraft
carrier to visit Hong Kong last week just hours before US
President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama-which also
sparked an angry reaction from Beijing.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said this week he still
planned to visit China later this year. Sino-US ties have
also been rocky since US Internet giant Google said last
month it was considering shutting down its
Chinese-language search engine and leaving the country
altogether over hack attacks and government web
censorship.
Iran parliament head
defends nuclear policy
AP, Tokyo
Iran was within its international obligations when it
enriched some of its uranium stockpile earlier this month
and should not be subjected to U.N. sanctions over its
nuclear program, its parliament speaker said Thursday.
Ali Larijani, speaking in Tokyo, said Iran has been
unfairly singled out for pressure and threats by the
United States over its development of nuclear technology,
which he said was peaceful and intended solely to provide
a source of energy. "I say clearly, we will develop
nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but not seek nuclear
weapons," said Larijani, who is also a top aide to Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "We have enriched our
uranium within international regulations. I don't see why
it is such an issue."
Tehran produced its first batch of uranium enriched to a
higher level earlier this month, prompting the U.S. and
its allies to seek new U.N. Security Council sanctions.
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build atomic weapons,
and fears the enrichment of its uranium stockpile is a
step in that direction. Iran is already subject to three
sets of Security Council sanctions meant to punish its
refusal to stop uranium enrichment. Its recent rejection
of a plan to strip it of most of its enriched stockpile
plus its belated acknowledgment it had been secretly
building a new enrichment facility has increased sentiment
for a fourth set.
Tehran, however, has been undaunted. Iran's vice president
has said the country plans to begin construction on two
new uranium enrichment facilities in the next Iranian
calendar year, which begins March 21.
Iran: US should stay out of
Mideast affairs
AP, Damascus, Syria
The United States should pack up and leave the Middle East
and stay out of regional affairs, Iran's president said
Thursday during a visit to Damascus that follows a string
of U.S. efforts to break up Syria's 30-year alliance with
Tehran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Syrian
counterpart, Bashar Assad, reaffirmed their ties by
canceling visa restrictions between the countries and
vowing cooperation.
"(The Americans) want to dominate the region but they feel
Iran and Syria are preventing that," Ahmadinejad said
during a news conference with Assad. "We tell them that
instead of interfering in the region's affairs, to pack
their things and leave."
A string of high-profile visits to Damascus in recent
months - from the U.S., France, and now Iran - shows
Syria's strategic importance in the Middle East.
U.S. President Barack Obama is determined to engage with
Syria, a country seen as key to peace in the region but
which the State Department has long considered a state
sponsor of terrorism. America's goals include peeling
Syria away from Iran.
Ahmadinejad's trip comes amid rising U.S. tension with
Tehran over the country's nuclear program. The U.S. and
others believe Iran is hiding nuclear weapons development
under the guise of a civilian energy program. Iran insists
that its intentions are peaceful.
On Thursday, Assad signaled his strong support for Iran,
saying America's stance toward the country "is a new
situation of colonialism in the region."
Medvedev objects to
‘endless’ NATO expansion
Reuters, Moscow
Russia's new military doctrine does not identify NATO as
its major threat but Moscow is disturbed by the alliance's
"endless enlargement", President Dmitry Medvedev said in
an interview published on Thursday.
Russia has made future NATO membership for Ukraine and
Georgia, two former Soviet republics, a 'red line' in its
relations with the West. It said in the new doctrine,
published on Feb. 5, that one of the "main external
threats of war" came from the alliance's eastward
expansion to Russia's borders. "NATO is not seen as the
main military threat (to Russia) in the military
doctrine," Medvedev said in an interview with French
weekly magazine Paris Match.
"The issue is that NATO's endless enlargement, by
absorbing countries that were once part of the Soviet
Union, or who are our immediate neighbours, is of course
creating problems because NATO is after all, a military
bloc," he said.
Medvedev's commments clarify the stance towards NATO set
out in the military doctrine, which reiterated Moscow's
long-standing fears of encirclement by the alliance.
Medvedev, who will travel to Paris next month, warned that
Russia would not remain indifferent if NATO continued to
expand and reconfigure missiles near its borders,
according to a transcript published in Russian on the
Kremlin.ru website.
"This can't but disturb us," Medvedev said, adding that it
did not mean Russia was returning to the thinking of the
Cold War, when NATO was the Soviet Union's biggest foe.
Eighteen months after Russia's brief war with pro-Western
Georgia, Moscow's relations with the alliance remain
tense. NATO members have shown little enthusiasm for
Medvedev's call to create a new, umbrella European
security treaty.
Australia warns Israel over
Dubai assassination
AP, Adelaide, Australia
Australia warned Israel on Thursday that if it was
involved in the alleged use of three fraudulent Australian
passports in a Dubai assassination it would not be
considered the "act of a friend," the foreign minister
said.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith summoned Israel's
ambassador and demanded his cooperation in an
investigation into the use of the passports in the killing
of a senior Hamas figure.
Dubai authorities are investigating the use of at least 26
possibly fraudulent passports in connection with the Jan.
19 slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a hotel room in Dubai,
United Arab Emirates.
"I made it crystal clear to the ambassador that if the
results of that investigation cause us to come to the
conclusion that the abuse of the Australian passports was
in any way sponsored or condoned by Israeli officials,
then Australia would not regard that as the act of a
friend," Smith told reporters.
Dubai's police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has
said he was nearly "100 percent" certain that Israel's
Mossad secret service masterminded the killing. Hamas also
has blamed Israel and vowed revenge.
Israeli officials have a policy of not commenting on
allegations about any of its spy agency's activities.
Smith told Parliament that Dubai authorities confirmed to
Australian officials Tuesday that they were investigating
the use of three Australian passports in connection with
the slaying, and a preliminary investigation suggests they
were fraudulently duplicated or altered.
Democrats retreat on new
privacy protections
AP, Washington
Senate Democrats have retreated from adding new privacy
protections to the nation's primary counterterrorism law,
as Republicans refused to lend support and portrayed the
majority as willing to harm terror investigations.
Lacking the necessary 60-vote supermajority, Democratic
leaders settled on a one-year extension of expiring
surveillance and seizure provisions of the USA Patriot
Act.
They tossed aside curbs - and greater scrutiny - on
government authority agreed to by the Senate Judiciary
Committee in October after spirited debate. The extension
passed Wednesday night by voice vote with no debate. The
bill goes to the House, but with key sections of the law
ready to expire Sunday, there's little chance that changes
will be made. Expiration of key anti-terrorism tools, even
for a short time, would seriously hamper law enforcement.
The Democratic retreat is an important political victory
for Republicans, who gained new ammunition for their
election theme that the GOP can better protect America.
The outcome is a major disappointment for Democrats and
their liberal allies, like the American Civil Liberties
Union and supporters who believe the Patriot Act fails to
protect Americans' privacy and gives the government too
much authority to spy on Americans and seize their
property.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., noted
that the bill had been approved in committee by a
bipartisan majority. He said the measure "should be an
example of what Democrats and Republicans can accomplish
when we work together, but I understand some Republican
senators objected to passing the carefully crafted
national security, oversight and judicial review
provisions in this legislation."
Meeting held to discuss
Turkey’s alleged coup plot
AP, Ankara
Turkey's leaders met with the country's military chief on
Thursday to discuss the government's unprecedented
crackdown on high-ranking officers accused of plotting to
topple the country's Islamic-rooted government.
The rare three-way meeting by President Abdullah Gul; Gen.
Ilker Basbug, the military chief; and Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace apparently was
called to discuss tensions caused by the crackdown.
As they met, a Turkish court formally charged eight more
military officers of plotting to topple the government,
increasing the number of officers who have been charged
and jailed to 20 - including five admirals and three
generals.
Police also escorted several other officers - including
former chiefs of the navy and air force and the ex-deputy
chief of the military - to the court house for questioning
on Thursday.
The showdown between Turkey's governing Islamic political
movement and the country's fiercely secular military
officers has worried businesses and investors, shaking the
markets amid calls from opposition parties for early
elections to end the turmoil.
Wiretap evidence and the discovery of alleged plans for a
military coup drafted in 2003 - a year after the current
government was elected - led to the detention of about 50
military commanders by police on Monday. The court must
decide whether to formally charge, arrest and jail them.
Some are accused of plotting to blow up mosques and kill
some non-Muslim figures to foment chaos and trigger a
military takeover.
The purported recordings of the plotters were posted on
several leading Web sites. In one, a top officer accuses
the political leadership of trying to "tear down the
country and carry it into another (Islamic) regime." He
vows: "I will unleash (my forces) over Istanbul. ... It is
our duty to act without mercy."
In another, one officer says: "The measures must be
radical to quickly finish the job in order to protect the
image of the Armed Forces since the religion issue is an
extremely sensitive one."
The Turkish military, for years the final judge of whether
civilian governments were up to snuff, is on the
defensive. The Islamic-leaning government appears to be
waging a dogged campaign to curb military sway over the
country's political life.
Business/Economy
Pay tax
to get better govt service: PM
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina put emphasis on paying tax by
all eligible taxpayers and changing the mindset regarding
taxpaying for getting better services from government.
"People have to change their mindset on paying tax. It is
a prerequisite to pay tax for getting service from the
state," she said.
The Prime Minister said it should be ensured that every
eligible person and office of the country pay their taxes.
The Prime Minister made the comment at the meeting of
BEPZA governing board she presided at the Prime Minister's
Office (PMO). Ministers, Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur
Rahman and high officials concerned were present at the
meeting.
She said that the government has to get revenue for
implementing various development projects in the country,
which ultimately provide service for the people of the
country.
Hasina said that the mindset about getting service from
the government only, without paying due taxes, has to be
changed.
"Everybody should pay taxes and everybody should feel
encouraged for paying taxes to build the country," she
firmly said, adding that taxes from both individuals and
corporate houses should be ensured.
The Prime Minister also directed the authorities concerned
to set up a unit of revenue office at Mongla seaport to
provide smooth services for the exporters and importers
who will use the port. The total revenue-earning target
for 2009-10 fiscal year is set at Tk 79,461 crore--14.86
percent higher than the revised revenue figure for the
bygone fiscal.
Of the total revenue earning, income-tax receipts are
projected at Tk 16,560 crore, an increase of 22.32 percent
from the revised figure of Tk 13,538 crore for the
previous fiscal year.
Growth of value-added tax (VAT) is estimated at 13.31
percent, setting the target at Tk 22,795 crore. The
revised figure for current fiscal year is Tk 20,116 crore.
Import duty earning has been projected at Tk 10,430 crore-a
growth of 8.98 percent. The revised figure of the bygone
fiscal year is Tk 9,570 crore. The duty on basic raw
materials has been reduced to five percent from the
existing seven percent.
Supplementary duty growth is set at 14.95 percent, which
will make the total supplementary duty earning Tk 10,485
crore, against the revised figure of Tk 9,121 crore for
the previous fiscal.
India
economy to bounce back to pre-crisis levels
AFP, New Delhi
India's economy will rebound to pre-financial crisis
growth levels of nine percent in two years, the government
said Thursday, and could become the world's fastest
expanding in four years.
"The year began amid the gloom of an economic downturn,
but is ending with clear indicators of a vibrant economic
rebound," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said outside
parliament after presenting the annual Economic Survey.
The report, traditionally unveiled a day ahead of the
budget, said the upturn gives the government room to start
a "gradual rollback" of 162 billion dollars in stimulus
put in place to shield the economy from the global slump.
Mukherjee is expected to take the first steps toward
re-embracing fiscal discipline when he presents the budget
by laying out a roadmap for cutting the deficit, now at a
16-year high.
India's economy was one of the least hit by the global
crisis and has been "one of the growth engines, along with
China, in facilitating faster turnaround of the global
economy," added the finance ministry 2009-2010 overview.
The report projected economic growth would reach 8.75
percent in next fiscal year to March 2011, quickening to
over nine percent in the following year. That compares
with estimated growth of around 7.5 percent for this year
to March 20 and 6.7 growth last year when the economy was
sideswiped by the global slump.
"It is entirely possible for India to move into the
rarefied domain of double-digit growth and even attempt to
don the mantle" of the fastest-growing economy in the
world within the next four years, the report said.
China, which expanded by 8.7 percent in 2009, is currently
the fastest growing.
"The broad-based nature of the recovery creates scope for
a gradual rollback, in due course, of some of the measures
undertaken over the last 15 to 18 months," the report
added.
The survey also urged India to open up faster such sectors
as health insurance, rural banking and higher education to
foreign direct investment.
The survey came as a new World Bank report said South Asia
appeared to have escaped the worst effects of the global
economic crisis, helped by resilient domestic demand
bolstered by government stimulus. The Indian government
study warned food inflation-which figures showed Thursday
had eased slightly to 17.58 percent in mid-February-was a
key problem and could drive up overall inflation, now at
7.3 percent.
2010 eurozone growth to lag well
behind Asian rivals
AFP, Brussels
Economic growth across Europe will be uncertain, fragile
and dwarfed by emerging Asian rivals throughout 2010,
according to new Brussels forecasts released on Thursday.
As nervous euro countries anxiously study developments in
debt-saddled Greece, the European Commission acknowledged
that "uncertainty" surrounding even these projections
"remains rife, as recent developments in financial markets
illustrate well."
Brussels predicts just 0.7 percent expansion for both the
eurozone and the full 27-nation European Union, the
world's biggest open trading bloc, in disappointing
forecasts unchanged from November.
After contractions of 4.0 percent for the 16 countries
that share the euro currency and 4.1 percent across the EU
in 2009, recovery is "materialising" but "still fragile,"
said the bloc's economic and monetary affairs overlord
Olli Rehn.
Static inflation projections tip 1.1 percent for the
eurozone and 1.4 percent across the EU, the commission
also said.
Rehn told a press conference that the absence of any
improvement in the overall European economic picture was
causing fresh concern given "markedly more robust recovery
in the emerging economies, especially in Asia."
He said world trade is expected to grow by a
stronger-than-expected seven percent in 2010 (after a
post-war record slump of 12 percent last year), indicating
rivals on the global economic stage powering ahead.
However, the main downside, Rehn said, remains alarming
conditions on financial markets where the Greek debts and
widened sovereign bond spreads are straining the
eurozone's political ties as experts formulate plans in
case its biggest players have to cough up bailout support.
Detailed projections from seven core economies that make
up 80 percent of Europe's worth-Britain, France, Germany,
Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain-showed a
downwards-revised projection for straggler Britain.
From 0.9 percent growth for the year as predicted in
November, Brussels now sees just 0.6 percent expansion for
Britain, which Rehn largely blamed on an end to lower
value-added tax (VAT) rates.
Spain is forecast to remain in recession right through
2010, although the predicted 0.6 percent contraction shows
improvement from projections before the turn of the year.
Eastern industrial powerhouse Poland, the bloc's top
performer in 2009, is expected to streak even further
ahead in 2010, with its growth forecast jumping from 1.8
percent to 2.6 percent.
Of the traditionally big eurozone economies, major
exporter the Netherlands is now expected to show the
sharpest progress, with projected figures for France and
Germany both static.
Second BGMEA fair for garment
workers in Ctg today
BSS, Chittagong
The daylong 'Workers Fair-2010', under the auspices of
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association
(BGMEA), will be held at M A Aziz Stadium today (Friday).
The Chittagong chapter of BGMEA is arranging the fair for
the second time for the workers of readymade garment
industry to provide them a day with various amusing
functions. Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, first vice president of
BGMEA, disclosed this at a press conference in the
auditorium of the association today.
BGMEA Director Liakat Ali Chowdhury, Engineer Kafil Uddin
Yousuf, Mohammad Musa, Farhad Abbas, Hasanuzzaman
Chowdhury, M Ershadullah and A M Abu Taiyab joined the
press conference, among others.
Nasir told journalists that Labour and Employment Minister
Engineer Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain will attend the fair
as the chief guest and State Minister for Home Advocate
Shamsul Haque Tuku and Chittagong Mayor Alhaj A B M
Mohiuddin Chowdhury as special guests at 2.30 pm.
BGMEA sources said around 50 thousand workers, mostly
women, working at nearly 520 garment factories in this
region and their family members are expected to
participate in the fair.
The fair programmes include painting competition for
children of the workers, orientation session, cultural
function, raffle draw and feast. A total of 32 stalls will
be set up at the fair.
Besides garment workers, popular singers Momtaz, Milla and
Nakul Biswas are expected to perform at the cultural
function.
Doubts grow over European recovery
AFP, Brussels
Europe's belief in the strength of its feeble economic
recovery has faded sharply, according to a closely-watched
survey of business and consumer sentiment released on
Thursday.
"After 10 months of uninterrupted improvement, the rebound
appears to have lost its momentum," the European
Commission said as it unveiled a fall by 0.1 points to
95.9 points for the eurozone in its Economic Sentiment
Indicator.
Lumbering amid fears over Greek debts and with official
growth figures already practically flat for the fourth
quarter of last year, the latest data appeared to confirm
a trend towards stagnation across Europe's economy.
While the index rose narrowly by 0.2 points to 97.4 for
the 27-nation European Union as a whole, there was a heavy
1.9-point drop for France, with confidence weakest in
industry.
Heavy lifting from the EU's fastest-expanding economy,
Poland, where the index rose by 4.2 points, helped the
overall average, with sentiment "broadly unchanged" in
Britain, up by just 0.1 percent, the Commission added.
Britain and Poland are EU member states but are not in the
eurozone.
"Admittedly it is the first drop in sentiment for 11
months and only modest, and hiccups are always likely,"
said IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer.
"Nevertheless, it adds to a recent series of generally
disappointing economic data and surveys for the eurozone."
He pointed in particular at survey breakdown showing
consumer buying intentions over the next year retreated as
unemployment concerns rose. In industry, sentiment was up
in the eurozone, but down in Britain.
Confidence in services showed a sharper improvement, but
was offset by a steep drop in sentiment for the retail
sector-"driven by a significant drop in Germany and
Italy." Financial services and construction each saw
sentiment recover to an extent, but consumer confidence
was down, with Spanish unemployment fears to the fore.
IMF delays loan tranche to Sri
Lanka
AFP, Colombo
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said it would
delay releasing the third tranche of Sri Lanka's
2.6-billion-dollar bailout package until after the
island's new budget in May. Sri Lanka's 2010 budget was
due at the end of last year, but the government held it
back until after parliamentary elections scheduled for
April 8.
In July, the IMF approved the rescue plan after Sri
Lanka's reserves slumped to just over one billion dollars
as security forces pushed ahead with their final offensive
to crush separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.
"We are waiting to see the policy direction in the next
budget before completing our review to release the next
instalment of 322 million dollars," the head of the
visiting IMF delegation to Sri Lanka, Brian Aitken, told
reporters.
Under the IMF's 20-month package, Sri Lanka agreed to
reduce its budget deficit to six percent of gross domestic
product in 2010 and maintain a flexible exchange rate to
build up foreign reserves to cover more than three months
of imports. In 2009, Sri Lanka's budget deficit exceeded
the target by 1.5-1.75 percentage points due to heavy
spending on infrastructure projects, interest payments and
sluggish revenue growth, the IMF said.
The delay would have no material effect on Sri Lanka's
financial security as the island's foreign reserves
climbed to 5.2 billion dollars after the bailout, the IMF
said.
"We are looking at delaying the third tranche by at least
four months,", adding that if the budget was presented as
previously scheduled, the tranche would have been
disbursed by March.
Aitken said the island's post-war economy was poised for
rapid growth next year with tourism and agriculture
expected to perform well.
China’s global profile
increases with key IMF post
AFP, Washington
China has won its highest- ever staff position in the IMF
in a reflection of its growing economic might and the
clamor by emerging nations for a bigger say in global
finance.
International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique
Strauss-Kahn notified the fund's executive board on
Wednesday of his intention to appoint the deputy Chinese
central bank governor, Zhu Min, as his special advisor.
It is the highest-level staff position attained by a
Chinese citizen and follows appeals by China and other
emerging nations for a bigger say in the running of the
IMF and World Bank, the twin Bretton Woods institutions.
Zhu, who joined the Chinese central bank in 2009 after
more than a decade as a senior executive of the Bank of
China, is expected to assume his position on May 3, the
Washington-based IMF said in a statement.
National
Shrimp research institute
constructed in Bagerhat
UNB, Bagerhat
A Shrimp Research Institute was constructed in the
district involving Tk 22.68 crore with a view to maintain
qualitative standard of shrimps in the foreign markets and
raise its production using modern technologies.
The work on the research institute began on eight acres of
land at Boitpur near Doratana river adjacent to the
district town in September 2006. The work has been
completed one and a half years ahead of the scheduled
time.
The research institute was constructed fulfilling the
long-cherished demand of the shrimp cultivators of
South-western zone of the country. The operation of the
institute is likely to be started from March.
Chairman of Lockpur Group Industries S M Amjad Hossain
said with the application of modern technologies it is
possible to export shrimp worth Tk 10,000 crore per year.
Project Director of the Shrimp Research Institute Dr Yahya
Mahmud said four laboratories equipped with modern
facilities have been constructed in the institute.
"The institute will conduct research on maintaining food
and nutrition value of shrimp, checking its diseases,
maintaining quality of soil and water for ensuring
environment friendly shrimp cultivation", he said.
Shrimp cultivators are being given training on modern
technologies of shrimp cultivation in the institute.
President of Bagerhat shrimp cultivators association
Sheikh Illias Mahmud said huge quantity of shrimps die
every year due to virus attack. The cultivators could not
do anything as they lack knowledge to face the situation.
The institute will be helpful for the shrimp cultivators
by giving them training on modern methods of cultivation
and raising its production, he said.
Shrimp is the second biggest foreign currency earner of
the country. But now-a-days this sector is facing
multifarious problems and its export is also declining day
by day.
Export from the sector fell by 13.01 percent to $355.67
million during July-March of 2008-09 fiscal year from $
408.87 million of the previous year.
At present, shrimp is being cultivated using 2.15 lakh
hectares of land in the country and around 1.5 crore
people area directly and indirectly involved with the
industry.
EC receives 590 applications to monitor elections to be
held in next 5 years
UNB, Dhaka
The Election Commission has received a total of 590
applications from different election observer groups to
get registered with it for monitoring elections in
Bangladesh in next five years.
The last date for applications was set on February 18. The
EC will now scrutinize the documents submitted by the
organizations with their applications.
After scrutiny, the EC will publish the list of the
primarily qualified organizations with their detailed
information including names and addresses in daily
newspapers. The EC will also seek public opinions to
ensure whether or not these organizations have any
affiliations for any political party or agency.
If any allegation is found about any election observer
group, the EC will hold hearings at its secretariat to
settle it. "If the allegation is proved, the organization
will not be allowed to monitor the elections," EC sources
told UNB.
The EC would finally prepare the list of the election
observer organizations after considering all aspects so
that there is no question of political affiliation against
any organization.
The EC, earlier, issued a notice seeking applications from
neutral and non-government election monitoring
organizations of the country as per guidelines and rules
formulated for registration of the local election
'Observer Organizations.'
The EC has taken the initiatives for fresh registration as
the duration of one year registration of the election
observer organizations expired in December 2009.
Presently, the EC extended the time of registration to
five years. The election observers registered in 2010 will
be able to monitor all elections to be held within next
five years.
Poor smokers spend Tk 8cr per day for smoking:
study
BSS, Dhaka
The poor people, who do smoke, spend Taka 8 crore every
day or 4.5 percent of their daily income, reveals a study
in the city, asking the government to raise taxes on
tobacco products to protect the poor from their income
erosion and subsequent poverty.
It said each of the poor smokers does spend Taka 8 daily
for bidi from their low wage and together they spend an
estimated over Taka 3,000 annually, an amount which can
ensure a glass of milk and an egg every day for 53 lakh
malnourished children in the country.
It said the saved amount from non-smoking could also buy
485 crore eggs, 29 crore kilos of chickens, 29 lakh cows,
14.6 lakh tonnes of rice as well as 23 lakh rickshaws and
11 lakh small grocery shops for self-employment generation
in rural areas.
The study, conducted by WBB Trust, said evidence shows
that the number of smokers came down with the imposition
of additional taxes on bidi, cigarettes and chewing
tobacco products in the country, where over 40 percent
people still live on Taka 70 or less than a US dollar of
income per day.
Commenting on the study findings, Dr Mustafa Zaman of
World Health Organization (WHO) said more than 57,000
people die each year and 382,000 people become paralyzed
due to tobacco-related illnesses.
He said the government spends more amount for treatment of
tobacco-related diseases than the amount it receives from
tobacco companies as taxes.
"So, smoking should be discouraged from every level-policy
to implementation," said Dr Zaman, adding high taxes
should immediately be imposed to save poor people from
their income erosion and protect newborns of the families
from malnutrition.
He also urged the government to look into the tobacco
issue from humanitarian and economic grounds and stop
smoking through appropriate measures.
Dr Akramul Islam of The Union, a French-based charity
working for lung health, expressed his utter surprise for
allowing tobacco cultivation in Chittagong Hill Tracts and
deforestation by it.
He said the government should immediately stop tobacco
cultivation on agriculture lands not only to protect the
people from diseases but also from food insecurity.
Rice mills can save husk worth Tk 4b annually
BSS, Dhaka
Country's rice mills can contribute Taka four billion to
national economy annually by saving two million tones of
husk, a by-product of rice, through increasing their
efficiency.
Studies indicate that at least 30 percent rice husk can be
saved if the traditional system of rice parboiling system
is improved, former director general of Bangladesh Rice
Research Institute Dr M A Baqui said.
The saved husk can be turn into much more energy efficient
source of fuel as briquette while rice bran is a high
value animal feed and raw material for oil extraction
plant, he said.
Dr Eng Khursheed-ul-Islam, Senior Adviser of GTZ (German
Technical Cooperation) told BSS that the surplus four
million rice husk has the potentials to produce a little
over about 400 MW of capacity of electricity as
alternative energy across the country. "Four million
tonnes of rice husk could produce a little over about 400
MW of capacity of electricity as one kilo watt electricity
could be generated from 2 kgs of husk," he said.
The electricity, produced from rice husk, could be used
conveniently in the rice mills. Presently, over one lakh
rice mills in the country consume 200 MW electricity per
day from the grid to run their production.
"It means, if husk-based power plants are set up to
mitigate the electricity demand of the rice mills, the
national electricity grid could be relieved of an
equivalent power load of 200 MW," said Khursheed.
According to the source of Rice Mill Owners' Association
of Bangladesh, over one lakh rice mills are in the country
with large rice mills 'cluster areas' in Dinajpur, Bogra,
Naogaon, Chapainawabganj and Ishwardi.
Taking an average capacity range of about 200 kW
electricity consuming rice mills, there is a 1000 MW power
market in these five cluster areas alone, the source said.
Central husk power plants with the capacity of 1-6 MW
could be installed at the clusters areas from which
electricity can distribute to several rice mills, said Dr
Khursheed.
1 killed, 3
injured in Manikganj road crash
UNB, Manikganj
Local people blocked the Dhaka-Aricha Highway following a
road accident that left a man killed and three others
injured on the highway near Borongail bus stand in
Shibalaya upazila Thursday.
The deceased was identified as M Khorshed Alam, 25, son of
Danej Mia at Bhawal Kandi village in Shibalaya thana.
Police said the accident occurred at noon when a
Dhaka-bound coach of Azmiri Paribahan hit a motorcycle and
another rickshaw from behind, leaving motorcyclist
Khorshed dead on the spot and injuring three rickshaw
passengers. Two of the injured, Sribas Karmaker and
Tofazzal Hossain were admitted to Uthali upazila health
complex.
Hearing news about the accident, local people turned angry
and put up a barricade on the highway for one hour and a
half demanding setting up of speed breaker, disrupting
traffic movement on the busy highway.
Police later seized the coach, but its driver managed to
escape. A case was filed with local thana.
‘Fight for Equal Rights in CHT’ for banning
Int’l Commission on CHT Affairs
UNB, Dhaka
Fight for Equal Rights in Chittagong Hill Tracts (FERCHT)
Thursday demanded immediate announcement banning
International Commission on CHT Affairs along with
stopping "unhindered secret activities and roaming of
foreigners" in the CHT in the name of development
organizations.
The rights body also put forward a six-point demand that
calls for peace, harmony and equal rights in the CHT to
bring about a stable situation in the region.
The demands came from a press conference, organized by
'Fight for Equal Rights in Chittagong Hill Tracts', at the
Dhaka Reporters' Unity in the afternoon.
Chief coordinator of FERCHT Moniruzzaman Monir read out
the demands at the press conference.
The other demands are restoring all the army camps in CHT
withdrawn earlier, arrest of armed tribal terrorists of
CHT and recovery of illegal arms, arrest and exemplary
punishment to the culprits who were involved in violence
in CHT from February 19, compensation and rehabilitation
to people affected during violent incidents in
Baghaichhari and Khagrachhari, release of arrested
innocent people and stopping harassment to innocent
people.
Moniruzzaman Monir said they are worried about the violent
incidents that have been taking place in CHT from February
19 till date, and strongly protest and condemn the
incidents that occurred in the last few days.
Former CHT Development Board chairman and BNP Khagrachhari
district president Wadud Bhuiyan also spoke at the press
conference.
News
in Brief
PM condoles death of Abu Rushd
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday expressed deep shock
and sorrow at the death of eminent litterateur, freedom
fighter and educationist Abu Rushd Matinuddin. In a
message of condolence, she recalled his contribution to
the country's Great War of Liberation and Bengali
literature. The Prime Minister expressed her sympathy to
the members of the bereaved family and prayed for the
peace of the departed soul.
Litterateur Abu Rushd died Tuesday in Dhaka at the age of
91.
Activists of Hafajat-e-Islam
set free
UNB, Chittagong
All the 38 activists of Hefajat-e-Islam were set free on
Thursday after it cancelled the road blockade programme
under an accord reached on Wednesday night.
The activists - all students of Hathazari Madrasa - were
arrested on Wednesday following clashes with police that
left about 70 people wounded including 10 police
personnel.
Leaders of Hefajat-e-Islam, a Quomi Madrasa based
religious organization, had announced blockade for an
indefinite period on all the four routes from Chittagong
with an ultimatum for release of its activists by 2pm
Thursday.
1,869 more arrested in
countrywide drive
UNB, Dhaka
Police arrested 1,869 people on various charges in
separate drives across the country in 24 hours till 6am
Thursday. Eight firearms, one cocktail and 281 bullets
were also recovered during the countrywide drive, said a
release of police headquarters.
Besides, 62 motor cycles without valid documents were
seized during the drive and 419 cases filed in this
connection.
Special seminar on
Eid-e-Miladunnabi
UNB, Dhaka
The Centre for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue
(CIID) of Dhaka University will hold a special seminar on
the significance of Eid-e-Miladunnabi at DU on Saturday.
Prof. ARM Ali Haider and Prof. Muhammad Abdur Rashid of
Islamic Studies department and Prof. Emeritus Dr Joseph T
O'Connell of Toronto University of Canada will be the main
speakers at the seminar to be held at seminar Room of the
department of World Religions and Culture of DU at 10am.
Illegal Indian motor parts
seized
UNB, Jhenidah
RAB members recovered a truckload of illegal Indian motor
parts at Arappur bus stand in the town early Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of the elite force raided the
Jessore bound truck from Hili in Dinajpur and recovered
the motor parts worth about Tk one crore at about 2am.
EC to implement Electoral Database
Server project at Upazila level
UNB, Dhaka
Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)
Thursday approved 9 projects involving a total cost of Tk
1163 crore including Tk 330 crore foreign assistance.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting at
the Planning Commission.
Of the projects, an Election Commission's voter ID card
related project received the highest allocation of Tk 326
crore.
The Local Government Division is to implement the Hygiene,
Sanitation and Water Supply project at a cost of Tk 316
crore while Water Resource Management Ministry is allotted
Tk 169 crore to protect Chandpur irrigation area and left
bank of Banchharampur upazila from erosion of Meghna
River.
Liberation War Affair Ministry's project on Construction
Multistoried residential and commercial building project
for Freedom Fighters' welfare at a cost of Tk 65 crore in
Dhaka, the Jute and Textile Ministry's project on
upgrading of Zoarganj Textile Institute to a textile
engineering college at a cost of Tk 46, the Communication
Ministry's project on Shaymganj-Zaria-Bibishiri-Durgapur
Road development project at Tk 90 crore. ECNEC.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning Minister AK
Khandoker, Agriculture Minister Matiya Chowdhury, Water
Resource Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen, Commerce Minister
Faruk Khan, Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain, PM's
Advisors HT Imam and Dr. Mashiur Rahman were among other
attended the ECNEC meeting.
5 killed, 8 injured in Savar
road crash
UNB, Savar
Five people were killed and eight others injured as a
human-hauler turned turtle being dashed by a bus at
Palashbari under Ashulia thana on Thursday night.
Two of the deceased were identified as Rahima Khatun, 55,
and her two-and-a half year-old grandson Almas, of
Joykrishnapur village in Pangsha upazila of Rajbari
district.
Police said the human-hauler 'Laguna' overturned at about
7:15pm as the Dhaka-bound bus of Borak Paribahan smashed
it, killing the five on the spot and injuring others.
The injured included Rahima's husband Wahab Sheikh and
Almas' mother Marjina Begum.
The injured were admitted to local clinics.
On information, police recovered the bodies and sent those
to hospital morgue for autopsy.
A case was filed with Ashulia Police Station in this
connection.
Rape victim refrains from
filing case under threat
UNB, Sylhet
A rapist was let to go unpunished with mere fine of Tk
15,000 in arbitration meeting in a remote village of
Bswanath upazila.
And the poor parents of the rape victim were told not to
go to the court in a bid to suppress the serious crime.
According to the villagers, Saiful Mia sneaked into the
hut of 16-year old Dilara Begum (not the real name) on
Tuesday afternoon when her parents were away for work. He
raped her and left her in a shabby condition. A neighbour
saw the criminal act and the matter soon spread in the
village.
The poor parents went to Biswanath thana to file a case
against the rapist. The police did not accept the case.
Her mother told newsmen that local Awami League leaders
Babul Akhter, Giasuddin and Tajuddin refrained from filing
the case. They gave her Tk 15,000 and sent back home with
a threat not to tell the law enforcers about rape of her
daughter.
On inquiry, thana officer Hamidur Rahman said there was no
allegation of rape. He pleaded ignorance of money given to
the victim's parents.
Babul Akhter said they were not aware of rape. Faisal
assaulted the girl for which he was fined Tk 15,000 in
settlement of the matter and the money was given to her
parents.
Tajuddin admitted he was present in the arbitration
meeting and suggested heavy punishment for the rapist. But
other arbitrators let the rapist go unpunished with a mere
fine.
Workshop on wildlife
concludes
UNB, Dhaka
The two-day workshop on 'Community Conserved areas in
Bangladesh' concluded here Thursday.
Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB), Kalpavriksh of India
and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) jointly
organized the national workshop at BIAM Foundation.
More than 65 experts, scientists, policy makers, from
Bangladesh India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
participated in the workshop.
Environmentalists, experts and professionals from the
European Commission, Department of Environment, IUCN
Bangladesh, Jahangirnagar University, Chittagong
University, Dhaka University, North South University and
BELA were also present at the workshop
The main objectives of the workshop were 1) to discuss CCA
status, trends, challenges and potential, 2) to identify
ways and means for developing a sustainable CCA
constituency in Bangladesh and 3) to discuss strategic
provisions and priority actions in support of CCA. Dr. Md
Anwarul Islam, Professor of Zoology of DU and Chief
Executive of WTB made the welcome speech while Ashish
Kothari of Kalpavriksh presented the introductory
presentations on CCAs. The participants from Nepal,
Pakistan, India, Sri lanka and Chittagong Hill Tracts of
Bangladesh also presented the CCA case studies, their
experiences and lessons learned.
Sports
ITF Junior Tennis begins today
UNB, Dhaka
The 24th GrameenPhone Bangladesh ITF Junior Tennis
Competition, approved by International Tennis Federation,
begins today at Ramna National Tennis court complex.
Some 147 participants -- 87 boys and 60 girls-will take part
in the nine-day meet, sponsored by GrameenPhone, a leading
cell phone operator in the country.
However, the competition will be formally opened by State
Minister for Youth and Sports Ahad Ali Sarkar on Sunday (Feb
28) at 4 pm.
The competition will be held in four events - boys' singles
and doubles, and girls' singles and doubles - with 24
countries including hosts Bangladesh participating in the
meet.
Of the total competition budget of Tk 10 lakh, GrameenPhone
provided Tk 5 lakh.
Bangladesh Tennis Fede-ration (BTF) general secretary
Ishtiaque Ahmed Karen disclosed the details of the meet at a
press conference at the Federation conference room this
(Thursday) afternoon.
BTF vice-president Maj (retd) Mohammad Yad Ali Fakir,
GrameenPhone head of communication channel Aman Ashraf Faij
and tournament director Khaled Salahuddin also spoke on the
occasion.
 School
hockey to take place after six-year gap
TBT report
A total of 31 teams from six divisions are set to feature in
the 6th National School Hockey Championship, organised by
Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) with the sponsorship of
Ecstasy, a garment business house of the country.
National School Hockey Championship, considered as an ideal
breeding ground for the emerging hockey players, is going to
be held under a six years' gap.
The qualification competitions of the National School Hockey
Championship will be held in six venues across the country,
while top two teams from each division will play in the final
round, which is expected to be held in Dhaka next month.
The qualification competition of Dhaka division will start at
Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in the city tomorrow
with six teams in the fray.
BHF General Secretary Khondoker Jamil Uddin promised to
continue the school hockey every year. "We always say to work
at the grassroots level. But if we cannot hold the school
hockey we cannot spread the game at the grassroots level. We
have to revive the school hockey and organise the event
continuously if we really want to improve the standard of our
hockey." Jamil said at a news conference at Moulana Bhasani
National Hockey Stadium on Thursday.
He also lamented for the scarcity of astro turf. "Now we've
only one astro turf. But we need at least two astro turfs in
the country to develop the game. We need the help from the
government because astro turf is very expensive and we alone
cannot manage an astro turf. We can manage sponsors to
organise tournaments but it is impossible for us to procure a
astro turf," he said.
The General Secretary further said that they had a plan to
pick 10 hockey players from each division for a long-term
training programme.
Jamil also thanked the Ecstasy, which is providing Taka 10
lakh to organise the school championship, while the total
amount of the budget is Taka 12 lakh.
The teams of Dhaka division: Armanitola Govern-ment High
School, Paisa High School, Gazipur Sports Academy (Group A),
Momenshahi Academy of Mymensingh, Narayanganj Zilla School and
Arjot Atorjan School of Kishoreganj.
Aussies set for stiff
German test
AFP, New Delhi
Australia is hot favourite to win the men's field hockey
World Cup starting on Sunday, provided it can break the
German stranglehold.
Germany, the reigning Olympic champion and world number
one, defeated the Kookaburras in the final of the last two
World Cups in Kuala Lumpur in 2002 and at home in
Monchen-gladbach four years later.
But the amazing 5-3 victory over the Germans in the
Champions Trophy final in December, after trailing 1-3 at
half-time, appeared to have turned the tide in favour of
the Australians.
Even German coach Markus Weise conceded Australia were the
strongest contenders, but predicted the tournament was
wide open. The Kookaburras will be inspired by their
legendary coach Ric Charlesworth, who was the tournament's
leading scorer when Australia won their only previous
World Cup title in London in 1986.
Charlesworth, 57, now hopes to become only the second
person after Dutchman Hans Jorritsma to win the World Cup
both as a player and a coach.
Australia, who have made the semi-finals in each of their
last eight World Cup appearances, are favoured to top
group B, which includes Spain, England, India, Pakistan
and South Africa. Germany should also make the knock-out
rounds from group A, with the Netherlands, South Korea,
New Zealand, Canada and Argentina fighting for the other
semi-final spot. The Germans will bid to become the first
team to win a hat-trick of World Cup titles with nine
players who helped clinch the Olympic gold in Beijing.
Among other contenders are former champions the
Netherlands, who won the last of their three World Cup
titles in 1998, and Beijing Olympic finalists Spain.
The Dutch, who slumped to seventh place in 2006 and
finished fourth at Beijing, will once again rely on the
mercurial Teun de Nooijer and top penalty corner
specialist Taeke Taekema to deliver.
Spain, often regarded as the best team not to have won the
World Cup, were unbeaten through the league stage of the
2006 tournament, before being ousted by Germany in the
semi-finals through a penalty shoot-out. Veteran Pol Amat
remains one of the most feared strikers in the sport, but
Spain will miss the goal-scoring abilities of Santiago
Freixa.
Carlyle to set up second yuan-based
fund in China
AFP, Shanghai
Private equity giant Carlyle will join forces with Fosun
Group, China's largest private conglomerate, to launch a
yuan-based investment fund to tap into the nation's growth
potential.
The venture is Carlyle's second yuan-denominated fund in
China. It announced in January that it had signed a deal
with Beijing to establish a similar investment vehicle.
Carlyle and Fosun will provide the fund with an initial
100 million dollars, the US firm said in a statement.
"China is one of the best places in the world to invest,"
managing director David M. Rubenstein said in the
statement released late Wednesday.
"By working with local partners like Fosun, we expect to
make investments that benefit high growth companies and
enhance the local private equity industry."
The two companies plan to raise money from local Chinese
investors once the initial investment runs out, the
statement said.
This is the second time that Carlyle and Fosun have
collaborated, after they jointly invested in Guangdong
Yashili Group-one of China's largest infant formula
companies-in September last year, it added.
Fosun is China's largest non-state-owned conglomerate, and
its core businesses include pharmaceuticals, property
development, steel, mining and retail.
England posts eight-wicket win
over BCB XI
UNB, Dhaka
Visiting England recorded second successive win as it
crushed BCB XI by eight wickets in the 2nd warm-up match,
reduced to 37 overs, due to wet outfield at Khan Saheb
Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah on Thursday.
Batting first after winning the toss, BCB XI scored 151
for 8 in 37 overs with tail-ender Alauddin Babu scoring
unbeaten 43 runs off 56 balls that featured five fours
while number seven batsman Tanvir Haider made 35 off 54
balls with two fours.
Middle order Mahmudul Hasan (15), two down Rakibul Hasan
(14) and one down Aftab Ahmed (12) were the other notable
scorers for the hosts.
James Tredwell, Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom captured
two wickets each for 17, 32 and 35 runs respectively.
In reply, England cantered to their target making 155 runs
in 25.2 overs for the loss of two wickets.
One down Matt Prior clobbered nine fours in his unbeaten
64 off 57 balls while opener Alastair Cook smashed 52 runs
off 50 balls with eight fours and a six before he retired
hart.
Middle order Luke Wright scored 20 runs off 16 balls with
two fours and a six while two down Eoin Morgan made 9 off
15 balls.
Alauddin Babu and Mahmudul Hasan took one wicket each for
30 and 41 runs respectively.
Earlier, on Tuesday, England recorded an emphatic 112-run
win over BCB XI in the 1st warm-up match at the same
venue.
England will open their three-match ODI series against
Bangladesh on Sunday (Feb 28) at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium.
Brief score
BCB XI -- 151/8 in 37 overs, Babu 43 no, Tanvir 35, Hasan
15, Rakibul 14, Aftab 12, Nafees 8, Zunaid 7, Tapash no 4,
extras 13, James 2/17, Tim 2/32, Ryan 2/35, Liam 1/21 and
Shahzada 1/26.
England - 155/2 in 25.2 overws, Prior n.o. 64, Cook 52,
Wright n.o. 20, Morgan 9, Pietersen 6, extras 4, Babu 1/30
and Mahmudul 1/41.
Ochoa in four-way tie for lead in Singapore
AFP, Singapore
World number one Lorena Ochoa was tied in a four-way lead
at four-under par after the first round Thursday at the
1.3-million-dollar HSBC Women's Champions tournament in
Singapore.
Joining Ochoa at the top of the leaderboard after carding
68 was US veteran Cristie Kerr, fellow American Angela
Stanford and South Korea's Park Hee-Young.
Japan's Ai Miyazato was one shot behind at three-under par
as she continued her fine form to the season after having
won the tour's season opener in Thailand last week.
Also one shot behind the first-round leaders were American
Christina Kim, Swede Sophie Gustafson and South Korea's
Kim Song-Hee. Ochoa, who won the inaugural title in 2008,
made three birdies each in the front nine and back nine
but her round was marred by a bogey on the 12th and 14th
hole.
She missed a chance for an eagle at the ninth hole and had
to settle for a birdie instead.
"I'm happy about the good day. It was a good start and I
like the position," said Ochoa. The former champion
fancies her chances of regaining the title but said she
needed to continue to score in the 60s to stand a chance
of lifting the trophy on Sunday.
"I think I have a good opportunity to win the tournament
but that means that I need to do four rounds in the 60s
and then not make many mistakes," said the Mexican.
"So like I said before, I'm working on my second shots,
trying to be more consistent and then hopefully we can go
out with another good round tomorrow. "And for tomorrow,
if I play more consistent, I think I have a good chance to
put up a low round."
World number two and defending champion Shin Ji-Yai was
three shots behind at one-under for a total of 71 while
crowd-puller Michelle Wie carded a 72. Wie, making her
first appearance at the tournament, was left frustrated as
she made three bogeys in the back nine. "It was a little
frustrating today trying to make birdies but hopefully
tomorrow I'll make some more," said the American.
"I felt like I hit a lot of good shots out there. Just
need to make a couple more putts and keep hitting my irons
good."
Asked to rate the course at the Tanah Merah Country Club,
Wie said: "It's a tricky course. It's not the easiest one
and it's a good competition course."
Murray, Davydenko, Tsonga join Dubai cull
AFP, Dubai
The cull of leading players at the Dubai Open continued in
spectacular fashion as Australian Open finalist Andy
Murray, Nikolay Davydenko, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all fell
in the second round on Wednesday.
With Roger Federer having announced his withdrawal on
Sunday, and Gilles Simon being beaten in the first round,
it means that only three of the eight seeds have made it
through to the quarter-finals of the two million dollar
ATP event.
Even for a trio to survive it required Novak Djokovic, the
new favourite in Australian Open champion Federer's
absence, to recover from a set and 2-3 down against his
Serbian compatriot, Viktor Troicki, eventually winning
3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Djokovic attributed his difficulties to the speed of the
ball through the air, and his recovery partly to the
lowering sun and spreading shade which he reckoned made
ball control less
difficult.
Davydenko, the ATP World Tour champion, had a damaged
wrist, causing his retirement after losing the first set
6-3 to Michael Berrer, Tsonga has been unwell, and Murray
suggested that trying new tactical combinations had
contributed to his exit.
The world number three from Britain was beaten by yet
another Serbian, Janko Tipsarevic, whose thrillingly
unpredictable 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 6-4, success followed a
dramatic see-saw path and had a great finish.
Bangladesh ODI squad named
Tigercricket. com
The national cricket team selectors have named the
following players for the three-match one-day series
against England starting Sunday in Dhaka.
The players are: Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Mushfiqur
Rahim (Vice Captain/ Wicketkeeper), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul
Kayes, Zunaed Siddique, Aftab Ahmed Chowdhury, Mahmud
Ullah, Naeem Islam, Masrafe Bin Mortaza, Abdur Razzak,
Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Md. Sohrawordhi.
The notable absentee from the team is expe-rienced batsman
Moha-mmad Ashraful. "Ashraful himself wanted a break and
we also felt that the pressure on him had increased to the
extent that his confidence was suffering. We believe that
a gap from international cricket would be beneficial for
him and he will come back strongly soon and do justice to
his calibre," the chief Selector Rafiqul Alam said on
Thursday.
He said the inclusion of uncapped all-rounder Mohammad
Sohrawordhi adds depth to the team. "He is a very capable
cricketer and is in the team as a specialist left-arm
spinner. He can also be a more than handy batsman in the
middle and lower order and he is a top fielder. He is
someone who has progressed step by step through the
development system and has been a consistent performer at
Academy and A Team levels over the years."
Fast bowler Masrafe Mortaza returns to the side after
recuperating for nearly seven months following a knee
surgery. "He has played in the practice match today
(against England) and he has also been declared fit by his
doctor. Someone like Mortaza has got nothing to prove
regarding his ability and we have confidence in him. He is
a big match player," Alam added.
The chief selector said that pacers Nazmul Hossain and
Shahadat Hossain, who had been in the squad that toured
New Zealand recently, were left out because of team
combination while batsman Roqibul Hassan was dropped for
poor form.
Chittagong earns emphatic 218-run
victory
UNB, Dhaka
Chittagong Division brightened its chance to reach the
final of the four-day EBL 11th National Cricket League
with an empathic 218-run victory over Dhaka Division on
the 4th and final day at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in
Khulna on Thursday.
The day's other match between Rajshahi and Khulna
Divisions ended in draw as no single ball could be bowled
on the 4th and final day due to wet outfield at BKSP in
Savar today (Thursday).
With the day's win, Chittagong Division advanced to the
second slot in the four-team super league securing 69
points from seven matches while Rajshahi Division top the
list to ensure the final berth collecting 83 points, also
playing seven matches.
Khulna and Dhaka Divisions bagged 69 and 65 points
respectively from seven league encounters.
In the last round matches beginning on Sunday, Chittagong
will play Khulna at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra
while Rajshahi will meet Dhaka at the Sheikh Abu Naser
Stadium in Khulna.
In the day's match, Chittagong Division (1st innings
312/10) resumed the 2nd innings with overnight 325 for 8
in 90 overs to take 398-run lead over Dhaka Division and
declared the innings at 330 for 9 in 91 overs in the very
first over of the day.
Chasing a huge 404 runs target, Dhaka Division (1st
innings 239/10), opened the 2nd innings today and were
dismissed for 185 in 71 overs to concede a humiliating
defeat.
One down Marshal Ayub scored 47 runs, Mehrab Hossain 35,
Shuvagoto Hom 24, Mohammad Ashraful 21, Uttam Sarker not
out 18, Rony Taluker 12 and Mohammad Sharif 11 runs for
Dhaka Division.
Faisal Hossain grabbed three wickets for 39 runs, Elias
Sunny claimed two wickets for 78 runs, while Iqbal Hossain
and Abdullah Al Mamun took one wicket apiece.
Kazi Kamrul of Chittagong Division was adjudged man of the
match. At the BKSP, Rajshahi Division were forced to
settle for a draw despite taking an overall 247 runs lead
over Khulna Division as the 4th day's play could not be
played due to wet outfield on Thursday.
Afghan team returns to
rapturous welcome
AFP, Kabul
Afghanistan's victorious cricket team returned home
Thursday to a rapturous welcome from hundreds of fans
after securing a berth in the World Twenty20 qualifiers.
Hundreds of people, including lawmakers and sports fans
waving the national flag and singing patriotic songs,
gathered at Kabul's airport to greet the returning heroes.
The national team are living a fairytale for the
war-ravaged country, having qualified for the World
Twenty20 cricket finals by beating Ireland in the final
match of the qualifying tournament in Dubai on February
13.
They had already secured a place in the April 30-May 16
showpiece in the West Indies by beating hosts United Arab
Emirates by four wickets before signing off in style with
a comfortable victory over Ireland.
"Our national cricket team returns home today and we have
come to show them our appreciation for their achievement
and to further encourage them," said Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal,
finance minister and Afghan Cricket Board chairman.
Afghanistan will play India and South Africa in Group C of
the World Twenty20, which is the first major tournament
they have reached.
"Certainly it was a dream of all the players and the
Afghan people, and God fulfilled it," team captain Nowrooz
Mangal told reporters of their winning streak in Dubai.
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