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Leading News
PM arrives in Kuwait for talks on
aid, investment, labour issues
UNB, Kuwait City
A red carpet was rolled out to greet Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina as she landed at Kuwait International Airport on
Sunday afternoon to begin a 3-day state visit to the Gulf
country. Advisor to the Kuwaiti Prime Minister Dr Sheikh
Rafah al Sabah al Jaber received Sheikh Hasina at the
tarmac as a special airplane carrying her flew into the
airport at 6pm (local time).
The Prime Minister was given a guard of honour by a
smartly turned-out contingent. Bangladesh Ambassador to
Kuwait Shahed Reza was present.
Later, the Prime Minister drove to Bayan Palace in a
ceremonial motorcade.
The Prime Minister will hold official talks with her
Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah
today (Monday) on a wide range of matters of bilateral
cooperation, encompassing development assistance,
investment and labor issues.
Earlier, the special plane sent by Emir of Kuwait Sabah
Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, carrying the Prime Minister
and the members of her entourage, took off from Zia
International Airport at 2:07 pm. Awami League leaders,
including Deputy Leader in Parliament Syeda Sajeda
Chowdury, Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Agriculture
Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, chiefs of the three
services, dean of the diplomatic corps, and high civil and
military officials, among others, saw off the Prime
Minister at the VVIP terminal of the airport.
"At the talks, Bangladesh will seek assistance for
development of communications infrastructures, including
the mega-project of Padma Bridge, and support for the
country's energy sector," one official told UNB.
Presently, Kuwait Development Fund is providing aid worth
US$ 660 million for 21 projects in Bangladesh.
A proposal for recruiting more workforces from Bangladesh
will come up prominently during the talks with the Kuwaiti
leaders, officials in Dhaka said. Some 2.5 lakh
Bangladeshis are now employed in the oil-rich
Middle-eastern country.
Before the official talks, Hasina will pay a courtesy call
on Emir Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah today (Monday)
morning at Dewani Emir. The Prime Minister will return
home early Wednesday.
Judges
should disclose their wealth for transparency: New CJ
UNB, Dhaka
Reaffirming his commitment to take all-out efforts to
ensure even-handed justice, newly appointed Chief Justice
M Fazlul Karim Sunday said the judges should disclose
their wealth for the sake of transparency.
Justice Karim, who is going to take oath of office today
(Monday), made the observation while talking to reporters
at his chamber.
"As the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, I'll make relentless
efforts so that people get even-handed justice within the
shortest possible time," he said.
The new Chief Justice said initiatives will be taken to
ensure fair justice so that none can say outside the court
that there has been injustice in the name of justice.
Justice Karim, the senior-most judge of the apex court,
said a separate secretariat would be set up during his
stewardship in the highest judiciary for making the
subordinate judiciary completely free from the executive.
"It needs administrative support to implement the task of
separate secretariat. I hope that the incumbent democratic
government will take appropriate steps in this regard," he
said.
Outgoing Chief Justice M Tafazzul Islam, who was present
on the occasion, told the reporters that the court
management would be updated soon with information
technology so that a litigant woman who lives in a village
could know her latest case position by browsing her
laptop.
Earlier, lawyers of the apex court accorded a traditional
farewell to outgoing CJ M Tafazzul Islam who went on
regular retirement today at the age of 67.
Speaking on the occasion, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam
and Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president AFM
Mesbahuddin heaped praises on him for his outstanding role
in development of the judiciary.
In response, Justice Islam said the credit goes to the
members of the bar, the bench and the court officers for
the little things he did for the betterment of this
institution during his last 47 days. "Whatever the
shortcomings are there are of my own, I take the full
responsibility of that," he added.
JCD
enforces strike at DU
Protest against attack on Salahuddin
Tuku, death of Abu Bakar
UNB, Dhaka
No classes were held at Dhaka University Sunday as
Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal enforced a strike to protest the
attack on its President Sultan Salahuddin Tuku and the
death of student Abu Bakar Siddique during a Chhatra
League factional clash.
However, DU Controller of Examinations Bahlul Haque
Chowdhury said, "Examinations at the university were held
as per schedule at the Arts Faculty Building and Curzon
Hall."
Witnesses said activists of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD),
the student wing of opposition BNP, tried to stage a
procession on the campus at about 9am but could not enter
the varsity premises through Shahbag and Katabon entry
points as police obstructed the processions.
The mainstream JCD leaders and activists cannot do their
organizational activities for obstruction by rebels
reportedly backed by BCL since the JCD factional clash and
attack on Tuku, campus sources said. The pro-Awami League
Bangladesh Chhattra League (BCL) activists also
demonstrated on the campus against the JCD-called strike.
However, BCL leaders demanded exemplary punishment of
those who were involved in the tragic death of Abu Bakar
Siddique.
They made their demands at a rally held in front of the
Arts Faculty Building at noon.
Siddique, a meritorious 3rd-year student of the department
of Islamic History and Culture and resident of Sir AF
Rahman Hall, was critically injured during Tuesday's BCL
factional clash over establishing supremacy at the dorm.
Later, he died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
The JCD called the strike to press their six-point
demands, which also include stopping 'admission trade' in
educational institutions and ensuring co-existence of all
student political outfits on the campus.
Govt to float tender
for Padma Bridge soon: Minister
UNB, Dhaka
The government is going to float tender for construction
of the much-awaited Padma Bridge soon, as ministers in a
coordination meeting Sunday placed the tender documents
with the donors.
"We will float the tender as soon as possible,"
Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain said after the
coordination meeting in the NEC conference room.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith presided over the meeting
attended by Planning Minister AK Khandaker, Advisers to
the Prime Minister Dr Mashiur Rahman and HT Imam, Finance
Secretary, ERD Secretary, Planning Secretary, country
directors of the World Bank and ADB, representatives from
JICA and IDB and government high officials.
The Communications Minister said, "The donors earlier had
given different procurement guidelines and we held the
meeting to harmonize those. We prepared a draft tender
document and submitted to the donors for their
evaluation."
Abul Hossain informed that the funding agencies would put
forward their final recommendations after reviewing the
draft tender documents.
Answering to a question, he said there might be some
small-scale amendments to the draft tender documents and
"suggestions of the donors will be considered in preparing
the final tender documents".
Planning Minister AK Khandaker said that finance for the
project is almost assured and the work is going on in this
regard. "The donors will assist, and hopefully the
construction of the bridge will be completed by 2013."
Echoing the Communications Minister's views, he said that
the tender would be floated very soon for construction of
the gigantic bridge that will connect country's
southwestern part with the capital and remove the ages old
hurdles of crossing the confluence of two mighty
rivers-the Padma and the Jamuna-by ferry vessels.
Initially, the total construction cost for the Padma
Bridge was estimated at US $1.4 billion, which in final
estimate almost doubles to US $ 2.4 billion.
791 new titles hit Ekushey Book Fair in a
week
TBT Report
Book lovers in thousands thronged the Ekushey Book Fair at
Bangla Academy on Sunday also. The number of those who
purchase book is also increasing. Yesterday many visitors,
young and old were found returning from the fair with new
books.
BSS adds: Seven hundred and ninety-one new titles hit the
month-long Ekushey Book Fair at Bangla Academy in seven
days.
Last week's new titles included 158 novels, 151
collections of poems, 68 collections of essays and 88
collections of short stories.
The total number of new titles in the first week of the
Ekushey Book Fair last year was 606, academy sources said.
A total of 95 new books hit the fair on Sunday. The new
titles included 29 collections of poems, 16 novels, seven
collections of stories and seven collections of essays.
The Bangla Academy, as part of its regular programmes,
held a discussion on Sunday on 'The Language Movement. A
colourful cultural function followed the discussion.
Bangladesh wins six more gold medals
Gold tally in SA Games
rises to 14
UNB, Dhaka
It was a great day for Bangladesh as its players stole the
show on the 10th day of the 11th South Asian Games on
Sunday clinching six more gold medals -- four in Karate
and one each in Taekwondo and Cricket -- at different city
venues.
With the day's six gold haul, Bangladesh's gold tally rose
to 14.
Bangladesh earned four gold medals in the Women's Team
Kata, Women's Individual Kata, Men's Team Kata and Women's
Individual Kumite (-45 kg) at Shahid Suhrawardy National
Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.
Jaw-U-Pru of Bangladesh got the women's individual Kata
gold beating Indian rival Snadhya. WM Ariyarathana of Sri
Lanka and Zohrah of Pakistan bagged bronze.
Bangladesh women's team also won the event's team gold
defeating their Sri Lankan rivals. Pakistan team took the
bronze medal.
Bangladesh also pocketed the men's team event Kata gold
medal outplaying Pakistan while Nepal and Sri Lanka teams
bagged the event's bronze medal.
Morium Khatun of Bangladesh clinched the 4th karate gold
medal for Bangladesh in the women's individual kumite (-45
kg) group beating her Indian opponent Valena. Zohrah of
Pakistan took the event's bronze.
The gold medal of men's individual kata went to Edward of
Sri Lanka while the gold medal of men's individual kumite
(-55 kg) to Sunil of Nepal.
Shammi Akhter clinched the day's lone gold for Bangladesh
in Taekwondo in the Women's Under-49 kg group defeating
Samiya Imdad of Pakistan by 4-2 points at the NSC
gymnasium here.
Bangladesh cricket team brought off the sixth gold of the
day defeating Sri Lanka by six runs at Sher-e-Bangla
National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.
Back Page
Zillur
asks private varsities to create opportunities for rural
students
UNB, Dhaka
President Zillur Rahman Sunday urged the authorities of
private universities to create opportunities of higher
education for the children of the country's rural people.
"Many of the country's people are being deprived of the
opportunities of higher education," he said while
addressing the 5th convocation of BRAC University at
Bangabandhu Inter-national Conference Center.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid attended the
convocation as special guest while Professor Martha Alter
Chen from Harvard University delivered her speech as the
convocation speaker.
Speaking on the occasion, Zillur Rahman obse-rved that
although children of the well-off section living in urban
areas are getting opportunities of higher education in
private universities, the children of rural people are
getting deprived of. "The main reason is that the
guardians cannot afford the educational cost of their
children in these private universities," he said.
Appreciating the BRAC University for including some
applied subjects in its curricula, the President hoped
that students would be able to adjust themselves with
learning of new subjects like biotechnology and
informational technology.
"I hope such new subjects will play a significant role in
building 'Digital Bangladesh' alongside spurring the rural
economy," he said.
Describing universities as centers of excellence, Zillur
Rahman hoped that the authorities would make sure
education is not provided only based on textbooks.
"All the universities through their academic activities
will have to prove that we're not lagging behind in
providing education of international standard," the
President said.
Congratulating the new graduates, Zillur said they will
have to utilize the immense potentials of Bangladesh with
their wisdom, talents and intelligence.
Addressing the convocation, Education Minister Nurul Islam
Nahid said the government is relentlessly working to
ensure quality education in all private universities. "The
Private University Act 2010 is being formulated for
bringing transparency and accountability in private
university activities," he said.
Vice Chancellor of the BRAC University Prof Dr Jamilur
Reza Chowdhury and President of its Governing Board Sir
Fazle Hasan Abed also spoke on the occasion.
A total of 561 students, including 385 in under graduate
and 176 in graduates, received certificates in the
convocation.
Govt files stay
petition with Appellate Division
UNB, Dhaka
The government on Sunday filed an application with the
Appellate Division for halting operation of the High Court
ruling for reshuffling bigwigs' positions in the Warrant
of Precedence, as it prefers leave to appeal.
The Attorney General's Office filed the petition on behalf
of the government, court sources said. On Thursday
(February 4), the High Court, upon a Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) writ petition filed by a district judge,
declared illegal the revised Warrant of Precedence (WoP)
and ordered reshuffling the state hierarchy with
constitutional post-holders and district judges placed
above the military chiefs and the top government
bureaucrats.
The HC also directed the Cabinet Secretary to prepare the
draft of a new Warrant of Precedence within 60 days in
compliance with its 8-point guideline and submit it before
the court for scrutiny.
The Warrant of Prec-edence is an enforceable law which is
generally used for the purpose of invitation of
dignitaries to state and other important official
functions, and in general to determine protocol.
18,000 pilgrims can
go by ship to perform Hajj this year
UNB, Dhaka
The government has taken initiative to send 18,000
pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year by ship so people can
perform the holy Hajj at lower expenses than airfares.
Meanwhile, a private shipping corporation has made some
proposals to the government for carrying the pilgrim
passengers at 40 percent less than the cost of travel by
airplane, an official announcement said Sunday.
Under the arrangement, each passenger needs to spend a
minimum of US$ 850 for the voyage to Saudi Arabia for the
pilgrimage.
The plan was unveiled at a meeting of the Shipping
Ministry with Minister Shahj-ahan Khan in the chair.
The shipping lines, with its two ships, would carry the
pilgrims to and from Chittagong seaport and Jeddah Port
from October 1 on six up and down trips each. Each trip
can carry 3,000 passengers.
This year Hajj is likely to be held in mid-November At the
meeting, an 11-member committee, with joint secretary of
the ministry (Comm-ercial) M Abdul Quddus as convenor, was
formed to implement the proposals.
The step also helps avert perennial problems involved in
carrying thousands of pilgrims by air for aircraft
shortages and other hassles.
Representatives from the ministries of Religious Affairs,
Finance, Home Affairs, Civil Aviation and Tourism, Foreign
Affairs and NBR, Ctg Port, Bangladesh Shipping
Corporation, Mercantile Marine Depar-tment and Shipping
Lines are among others made committee members.
UP elections to be
held from May: CEC
UNB, Pabna
Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda said union
parishad elections will be held from the first week of May
this year.
"The Election Commission is working in this regard," he
said talking to journalists after visiting electoral
server station in Bera upazila Sunday.
The local government ministry performs preparatory works
for local-government polls. "Legal complexities are one of
the obstacles to holding local-government elections," the
CEC said, apparently to explain delays in holding local
elections.
Despite that, the EC is working to hold local-government
elections from the first week of May, he told the
journalists. The last UP elections were held in 2003.
He later visited server stations in Sathiya and Atgh-aria
upazilas. Works for establishing server stations in 465
upazilas will be completed within this year, the CEC said.
Judith assures
Bangladesh of more US assistance
She eyes 20,000 BD
students going to US each year
BSS, Dhaka
Visiting US under secretary of State Judith A McHale on
Sunday assured Bangladesh of providing more assistance
from her country.
He also praised the programmes of the present government
for overall development of the people as well as the
country.
Judith gave the assurance and appreciated the works of the
government when she called on Prime Mini-ster Sheikh
Hasina at her official residence Jamuna this morning.
The PM and the US under secretary also discussed on
different issues including democracy, human rights,
education system, climate change, economic developments
and strengthening existing friendship between the two
countries.
Referring to the longtime friendship between Bangl-adesh
and the United States, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
requested the US government to solve the problems facing
the expatriate Ban-gladeshis in the USA. The US under
secretary responded positively in this regard, Azad said.
"We have congratulated the speech of President Obama at
Cairo University and also believe that its reflection
would bring welfare for the world community as soon as
possible," Hasina told Judith. While mentioning the role
of President Barack Obama at the climate conference in
Copenhagen, Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh is the most
affected country due to climate change. Sheikh Hasina
explained the programmes taken by her government to face
the calamities created due to climate change before the US
under secretary and sought US cooperation in this regard.
They also elaborately discussed on counter terrorism
initiatives. The US official appreciated the role of
Bangladesh in this regard and assured of extending helps
for this purpose including imparting training to the law
enforcing agencies.
Besides, the education system especially, the new
education policy was discussed during the meeting. The US
under secretary put emphasis on modernizing the madrasa
education.
Later, Judith A McHale on Sunday hoped to see 20,000
students from Bangladesh in his country each year over the
next decade as she disclosed some new initiatives for
bolstering cooperation. She was delivering a lecture on
"Building Bridges Throu-gh Studies in the US' at senate
Bhaban auditorium of Dhaka University (DU).
Judith said only 2,700 Bangladeshi students are now
studying in the United States while the total number of
foreign students studying in the USA stood at 6,50000.
DU Vice-Chancellor Profe-ssor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique
presided over the programme while US Ambassador in Dhaka
James F Moriarty, DU Pro-VC Harun-Or-Rashid, DU Treasurer
Prof Mizanur Rahman and Director of the American Centre
Lauren Lovelace also attended it.
Tough action against those
involved in DU violence: Sahara
UNB, Dhaka
Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun Sunday warned of
tough actions against those involved in Tuesday's violence
on the Dhaka University campus that left a meritorious
student dead. "Investigation is on. No body, whoever he or
she may be, will be spared," she told reporters at her
ministry.
Abu Bakar Siddique, a 3rd-year student of the Department
of Islamic His-tory and a resident of Sir AF Rahman Hall,
died after he was hit by a teargas shell lobbed by police
during a factional clash of BCL early Tuesday.
About reining in the activists of BCL, the student wing of
the ruling Awami League, Sahara Khatun said all sorts of
initiative would be taken to control the BCL boys to put
an end to factional clashes in educational institutions.
Terming Abu Bakar's death 'unexpected', State Minister for
Home Shamsul Haq Tuku said a committee has already been
formed to probe the matter. "Some activists belon-ging to
BCL have already been expelled from the organization and
many others arrested following the incident," he said.
The State Minister also sought cooperation from both
government and opposition sides in restoring congenial
atmosphere on the campus, as both the major parties have
their student wings. About the cause of Bakar's death,
Tuku said: "It'll be clear when we' ll get the postmortem
report."
Earlier, Sahara Khatun chaired a meeting on Annual
Development Programme (ADP) of her ministry.
Shamsul Haq Tuku, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Shikder and
heads of nine departments under the Home Ministry were
present at the meeting. Asked about the outcome of the
meeting, the Home Minister said 37 percent target of the
ADP has already been achieved. She said the government
would set up a DNA lab at a cost of Tk 20 crore. Of the
amount, Japan will provide Tk 5 crore.
MPs code of conduct bill to
ensure accountability
BSS, Dhaka
Speakers at a roundtable on Sunday said enactment of
Parliament Members (MPs) 'Code of Conduct 2010' bill would
help ensure accountability of lawmakers and bring
qualitative change in the politics.After the bill is
passed, the democracy in the country would be
institutionalized and the passage of democratic practice
would be smoothen, which would help fulfill people's
expectation, they said.
They were speaking at a roundtable organized by
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) at CIRDAP
auditorium in the city on Sunday. TIB Trustee Board
Chairman M Hafizu-ddin Khan presided over the function,
while its Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman made a
power point presentation on the bill.
Treasury bench lawmakers Saber Hossain Chowdhury, who
placed the bill in the House, Golam Mowla Rony, Jatiya
Party lawmaker Mujibul Haque Chunnu, BNP lawmaker Nilufar
Chowdhury Moni, former chairman of PSC Dr Mostafa
Chowdhury, former secretary Abdul latif Mandal, SUJAN's Dr
Bodiul Alam Majumder, former adviser to caretaker
government ASM Shajahan, former lawmaker Humayun Kabir
Hiru, alternative secretary general of Jatiya Party (Manju)
Sadek Siddiqui, among others, spoke. The bill includes the
provision of constituting a Morality Committee.
Saber Hossain Chow-dhury said as peoples' representatives,
the parliament members must follow code of conduct. As per
its election manifesto, Awami League had a political
commitment on code of conduct for the lawmakers, he
said.This bill would help fulfill peoples' expectation,
stren-gthen the foundation of democracy and establish good
governance, he added.
Mujibul Haque Chunnu said as a peoples' representatives,
lawmakers should be cautious about their responsibilities.
Coordination between lawmakers and upazilla chairmen
should be established to ensure local development, he
said, adding lawmakers should have involvement in local
development.
UK to cut foreign student
visas from outside EU
UNB, Dhaka
The number of visas granted to students from outside the
EU is to be cut in a crackdown on abuses of the system, UK
Home Secretary Alan Johnson has said.
Last weekend it emerged that the UK Border Agency had
temporarily suspended student visa applications from
northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Johnson said in London Sunday tougher rules would require
applicants to speak English to near-GCSE level and ban
those on short UK courses from bringing dependants. He
said the rules were aimed at those who came to the UK
primarily for work, according to a report of BBC.
The Home Office would not confirm reports the changes may
cut visas issued this year by tens of thousands.
A spokesman said the review of student visas had been
ordered in November. In 2008/9, about 240,000 student
visas were issued by the UK.
News of the measures, which will not require legislation
and will be introduced within weeks, comes a week after
student visa applications from Nepal, northern India and
Bangla-desh were suspended amid a big rise in cases.
The spokesman said the rules were aimed at those who came
to the UK primarily for work. Last year, the UK introduced
a system requiring students wishing to enter the country
to secure 40 points under its criteria.
However, the government has faced criticism that this has
allowed suspected terrorists and other would-be immigrants
into the UK, only for them to stay on despite their visas
being temporary.
In a statement, Johnson said he made "no apologies for
strengthening an already robust system." "We remain open
to those foreign students who want to come to the UK for
legitimate study - they remain welcome.
"But those who are not seriously interested in coming here
to study but come primarily to work - they should be in no
doubt that we will come down hard on those that flout the
rules."
HC asks for report on
traffic rules execution
UNB, Dhaka
The HC Sunday issued a suo moto rule asking the government
to explain within three weeks why it should not be
directed to properly execute the traffic rules by
controlling the speed of vehicles and examining their
licenses.
A division bench comprising Justice AHM Shamsuddin
Chowdhury and Justice Borhan Uddin passed the orders after
browsing the newspaper reports.
The suo moto rule came following newspaper reports on the
tragic death of kindergarten school student Hamim Sheikh
in a city road crash recently. Manzill Murshid, a Supreme
Court lawyer, placed before the court the issues of two
daily newspapers.
The High Court also asked the government to submit a
report every month to the court on the progress in
execution of traffic rules through controlling the speed
of vehicles to prevent road accidents. The report must
include the steps taken to install 'speed governor seals'
in the vehicles as per its earlier verdict, the court
order said.
Editorial
BCL's admission trade
The
pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League has allegedly been
engaged in admission trade in educational institutions all
over the country as the admission process is in progress.
There is widespread allegation that a section of BCL activists
are realizing money from the admission seekers in return for
their entry into colleges under 'BCL quota'. In the latest
such incident, about 500 students were driven out from
admission test in Satkhira College on Saturday by the BCL
activists as the authorities refused to admit any student
under 'BCL quota'.
According to media reports, about 500 students sat for
admission test in Satkhira City College Saturday, but they
were thrown out by BCL activists as the authorities denied
their 'admission quota'. The unruly activists ransacked the
class rooms, damaged furniture and shouted slogans demanding
expulsion of the principal and vice-principal in presence of
police. Principal Imdadul Haq lodged complain to the thana,
Police Super and Deputy Commissioner against nine activists
including the college BCL president Mamoon Hossain and general
secretary Aminur Rahman for leading the hooliganism.
The BCL leaders locked the main gate of the college in the
morning. The authorities broke open the gate and admission
seekers sat for the test. At about 10 am some 20 BCL cadres
armed with sticks and sharp weapons crashed into the classes
and forcibly threw out admission seekers and the teachers.
They ransacked the classes and damaged furniture. Police Super
SM Moniruzzaman said some unruly elements were trying to
vitiate the academic atmosphere of the college. "Police cannot
do anything because of political interference," observed the
police officer.
The report of this shameful incident has sparked condemnation
and concern among the people of all sections as the situation
on the campuses of educational institutions continues to
deteriorate and unwarranted activities of the pro-government
student activists are constantly on the rise. The report of
violence and vandalism at Satkhira College has come in the
wake of a number of incidents over admission and worse still,
the death of Dhaka University student Abu Bakar during
factional clash between two groups of Chhatra League
activists. This meritorious student is the fourth victim of
BCL clashes in one year. In total eight lives have been lost
in violent clashes between rival student organisations,
vandalism to force illegal admission and factional fighting
during the 13- month rule of the present government.
It is alleged that a section of BCL activists have been
forcing the authorities of some colleges to stop admission to
bachelor's courses and are taking money from admission seekers
in a bid to get some students admitted in the name of their
'special quota.' In this process, the BCL is reported to have
disrupted admission process at Government Titumir College,
Government Bangla College, Eden College, Badrunnesa College,
Kabi Nazrul Government College and Government Shaheed
Suhrawardy College in the city and MM College in Jessore and
BL College in Khulna. Besides, violent clashes involving
activists of Chhatra League, Chhatra Dal, Chhatra Shibir and
Chhatra Maitree took place in different educational
institutions.
A national daily reported on Sunday that Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina has been seriously annoyed at the activities of Chhatra
League activists. She may have been embarrassed as well,
because the misdeeds and atrocities of her young supporters
are also telling upon her own reputation. However, we are
constrained to point out that the unruly activists of BCL
should be dealt with severely. Everyone hopes that the Prime
Minister will act resolutely to control BCL and improve the
anarchic situation.
Yaba tablets
Bangladesh
Rifles (BDR) in a drive recovered 50,000 sex stimulant Yaba
tablets from Jaluapara in Model Sadar Upazila of Comilla
Friday night. A special patrol team of 33 Rifles Battalion
conducted a drive at about 8pm on secret information and
recovered the Indian Yaba tablets worth about Tk 4 crore kept
in 50 cartons. This report further support the fact that brisk
trading on various kinds of drugs are going on in the capital
city and elsewhere in the country. Even tender-aged boys and
girls are being engaged by drug peddlers to carry on their
business. According to reports, the much talked-about- drug
Yaba is reported to have returned to the capital belying the
general belief that trading on dangerous drugs including Yaba
has been checked following massive anti-drug drives by law
enforcers in the recent past. It is a very disturbing news
that Yaba and various other drugs are entering the country
from across the border and are on sale again in the posh areas
of the city nowadays.
The sale and use of drugs like phensidyl, ganja, charas,
heroin have been rampant in the capital since long. The latest
addition to this world of illegal drugs is Yaba which is
reportedly very popular among the young boys and girls of rich
families. With the return of Yaba after a break for a few
months, the situation in this regard has reportedly become
very serious. Gulshan, Banani Badda, Dhanmandi, Motijheel and
Shantinagor in the capital are reported to have turned into
hubs of drug trading.
Illegal drugs are serious threat to our moral values and
social fabric as they are causing serious harm to the youths
physically, morally, mentally, and financially. In view of
this, the drive against all illegal drugs including Yaba
should be stepped up by the law enforcers.
Analysis
Kayani's glasnost
He rightfully claimed that perhaps the
Pakistani army is the only success story in the region against
the war on terror, at a cost in terms of human lives much more
than that of the NATO and allied forces in Afghanistan.
Arif Nizami
Chief
of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has embarked on a
glasnost rarely seen among our military commanders. Within a
span of two days he separately briefed foreign and Pakistani
media at the GHQ with the aid of power- point presentations on
the army's strategic paradigm, its views on Afghanistan and
the successes it achieved against the Pakistani Taliban.
During the session with the Pakistani media, the chain-smoking
general looked relaxed and quite satisfied with the results
achieved in a war which is quite different from any of the
ones fought with India. He rightfully claimed that perhaps the
Pakistani army is the only success story in the region against
the war on terror, at a cost in terms of human lives much more
than that of the NATO and allied forces in Afghanistan. He
said that the officers of the army were leading from the front
as, for every ten soldiers, we had lost one officer.
Despite preoccupation with fighting the war on terror, for Gen
Kayani and the institution he leads the major worry remains
India. He said that he had made it clear to Nato commanders in
Brussels that the Pakistani army would remain "India-centric"
owing to the threat perception from India and the unresolved
issues between the two nations. He highlighted Kashmir and the
water dispute in this context.
The main concern of the Pakistani army is India's "Cold Start"
doctrine, according to which, contrary to the traditional way,
war precedes mobilisation. In this backdrop the Pakistani army
has not taken lightly outgoing Indian army chief Gen Deepak
Kapoor's recent statement about starting a two-theatre war
with China and Pakistan.
Gen Kayani reiterated the view, one he also expressed earlier,
that the armed forces have to plan on capability rather than
intentions. Hence, the blandishments of the West that the
badly stretched Pakistani army should shift its focus from its
eastern borders to the western borders cannot be complied
with.
Dialogue with India remains stalled since the Mumbai attack in
November 2008. At the time both Mr Zardari and Mian Nawaz
Sharif were euphoric about starting a new chapter with India
based upon free trade and a visa-free regime, with the Kashmir
issue put on the backburner.
Now with the PPP-led coalition considerably weakened, it is in
no position to run contrary to the strategic paradigm spelt
out by the army. President Zardari's recent statement on a
visit to Muzaffarabad that Pakistan is willing to fight a
thousand years' war with India over Kashmir must be read in
this context. New Delhi has made some half-hearted gestures to
resume dialogue. But it will come to naught, given the present
state of distrust between the two adversaries.
Gen Kayani is an enlightened man. While lamenting that
Pakistan's defence budget, as a percentage of the GDP and in
real terms, has gone down, whereas India's defence budget is
seven times bigger, concedes that defence and development go
hand in hand. He said that while he was all for peaceful
coexistence with India, as army chief it was his job
description to match Indian capabilities. Keeping in mind the
Indian mindset and the Pakistani army's strategic paradigm and
its suzerainty over other institutions, peace with India will
remain an elusive goal
The chief of the army staff was of the view that peace and
stability in South Asia should not be hostage to a single
terrorist incident. He was critical of US defence secretary
Robert Gates' recent statement in New Delhi that if there was
another Mumbai-style incident India would be justified to
attack Pakistan. He said that he told Gates when he called on
him later in Rawalpindi that this was giving a carte blanche
to India to attack Pakistan and at the same time encouraging
non-state actors to conduct such terrorist acts to trigger a
war between India and Pakistan.
Gen Kayani delved at length on the strategic viewpoint of the
Pakistani army on the Afghan conflict and how it impacts upon
Nato in conducting operations in Afghanistan. He said that,
being Afghanistan neighbour, Pakistan has long-term goals and
interests in that country. "Afghanistan is my past present and
future," he added. He was of the view that when the West
eventually leaves Afghanistan, Islamabad will be left in the
lurch if it does not take a long-term view of safeguarding its
strategic interests. Earlier, while briefing the foreign
media, he had clearly stated that Pakistan wants a strategic
depth in Afghanistan without the desire to control it.
Translated in simple language, while fighting the Pakistani
Taliban, Pakistan has no desire to take the fight to the
Afghan Taliban, whom in the long run it considers a strategic
asset. In the context Gen Kayani clarified that, although the
Pakistani army has deployed one division of its troops in
North Waziristan for search operations since the local Waziris
are cooperating, minimum force will be applied. However, he
did not entirely rule out going after the Jalaluddin Haqqani
network in the future, reiterating that a successful operation
in South Waziristan has helped in the North, which is now
isolated.
Islamabad is keen to train the Afghan National Army and
police, a task which the Indians are undertaking with the
blessings of the US and Afghan president Hamid Karzai. Gen
William B Caldwell, commander of the NATO Training Mission in
Afghanistan, is in Pakistan on a second visit.
However, there is stiff resistance to this proposal from the
Afghan government, that perhaps feels that soldiers trained by
Pakistan will be infiltrated by ISI agents. The killing in Dir
of three American soldiers ostensibly on a training mission
could make this goal even more elusive.
From Islamabad's strategic point of view, a 250,000-strong
Afghan army hostile to Pakistan would put it into a nutcracker
situation with both its western and eastern neighbours.
Pakistan has drawn a redline, stating that predominant Indian
influence in Afghanistan is not acceptable.
Gen Kayani also briefed the media on the cost Pakistan is
paying for its role in the war in terror in terms of loss of
life, infrastructure and to its fragile economy. He confirmed
that there have been more terrorist attacks in Pakistan during
the past year than Iraq and Afghanistan combined. He conceded
that despite vigilance and military successes this problem
couldn't be wished away. "We cannot go on like this forever,
we have to find a remedy," he said in an emotional tone,
conceding that ultimately the war cannot be won without
winning hearts and minds.
He explained that the contribution of the army was building
schools and mosques. During his interaction with high-ranking
civilian and military visitors from the US he impressed upon
them the need to invest in projects that make a qualitative
difference in the lives of the people of Pakistan. Reportedly,
he even asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her recent
visit to Pakistan for the US to invest in a 1,000-megawatt
power project. Ironically, the $1.5 billion a year earmarked
under the Kerry Lugar Bill, $300 million will be spent on a
monitoring mechanism alone, and in the end not much will be
left for economic development with a visible impact.
There has been a lot of talk about the ISI facilitating talks
between the US and the Afghan Taliban. Gen Kayani made it
clear that in order for that to happen, the US must first be
clear about its own priorities and strategy regarding whom to
talk to and at what stage, as without a proper framework
nothing could be achieved. The US has changed its vocabulary
about the Taliban, as instead if making no distinction between
the so-called good and bad Taliban, now it speaks in terms of
"reconcilable and irreconcilable" Taliban. But the army does
not view this change in nomenclature as enough to work upon.
Gen Kayani declined to answer a question about recent
insinuations by President Zardari that some elements in the
military were destabilising his government and that there was
a nexus between the courts and the army to oust him. He said,
"Since we are not doing it and are fully supportive of the
system, I refuse to be drawn in." While he said this, however,
his body language was a mixture of anger and disappointment.
Clearly he is not happy about the aspersions cast.
The writer is a former newspaper editor. Email: arifn51@hotmail.com
A license to
drive, everywhere in India
Is it compulsory to hate Pakistan and Pakistanis in order
to live in Mumbai? Is that the new oath you have to take
before Bal Thackeray?
M.J. Akbar
An
opposition talks (when it is not dumb). government acts
(when it is not indolent). A government is measured by
what it does. The government of the Indian state of
Maharashtra says that Mumbai belongs to every Indian, but
decides that its 24,000 taxi licenses belong only to a
language-specific group. There is the usual fudge around
the decision, typical of a government, which wants to hunt
with the Shiv Sena and run with the Bihari vote.
One wonders if each licensee will actually be driving the
cab himself. Here is a much more likely scenario:
Mid-level businessmen ready to deal with the rough and
ready side of Mumbai, in cahoots with politicians on both
sides of the fence, will pick up the licenses and then
hire cab drivers at competitive wages. Since eager Biharis
- that term includes people from Uttar Pradesh, signaling
the cultural power of Bihar - will be ready to work for
lower wages than Mumbaikars, they will be eventually
hired.
It is a cheaper route to the status quo for both the
politician and the businessmen; the first gets cheap votes
and the second gets cheap labor.
There is something odd about the controversy. Common sense
suggests that it is in any taxi driver's interest to pick
up the local language: Why would he want to lose business
by ignorance of the passenger's language? A taxi driver
does not need to be literature doctorate; just know enough
language to be cordial and communicative. The whip-up is
more about politics than jobs, which is why it is riddled
with inconsistency.
Nationalism always falters against chauvinism, unless
nationalism becomes chauvinist. Thus, the Shiv Sena or its
antagonist offshoot headed by Raj Thackeray, will demand
the return of an Akhand Bharat from the Khyber Pass to the
Chittagong Hill Tracts, but deny an impoverished
fellow-Indian marginal space in Mumbai.
The sharpest tweak to the Sena froth came not from its
foes but from its friend, the BJP, which raised an
interesting contradiction. How could the Sena, which
opposed Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir, demand
protective restrictions for Mumbai?
There was no answer, of course, because there isn't one.
My regret is that the question has not been asked more
often. But it was a relief to witness all national parties
taking on the Senas not only on Mumbai but also on their
menacing and communal threats to Shah Rukh Khan. The BJP's
support to Shah Rukh was important not only for the actor
but also for the party. It was an opportunity for the BJP
to move a step or two away from its image, and it did so.
Is it compulsory to hate Pakistan and Pakistanis in order
to live in Mumbai? Is that the new oath you have to take
before Bal Thackeray? Will the Senas send squads to drive
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh out of Delhi because he has
agreed to restart talks with Pakistan?
There was a time when investment in conflict offered
regular returns. The Senas have not understood a basic
message from a series of humiliating electoral defeats:
Significant sections of the Indian electorate, and
increasing numbers of the urban young, have decided that
this is arid yield from a low-return idea. They understand
something that seems to have escaped politicians at the
apex: Economic growth cannot coexist with a culture of
intimidation and violence. Indians have not fallen in love
with their neighbor. Emotion, in any case, is unnecessary
baggage. But war has never raised the living standards of
men, unless you have notions of becoming an imperial
ruling class, and that doesn't work anymore, thank heaven.
A taxi driver has an iconic status, a signature presence,
in any great city - and Mumbai is one of the great urban
centers of the modern world. It must sustain both aspects:
It must belong to the world, and remain modern as well. A
city either grows or decays; it cannot stay stagnant.
Mumbai cannot grow by becoming isolationist, nor can
Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore or Chennai. Kolkata gave shelter
and nourishment to the Sikh taxi driver without demanding
he learn Bengali; but he did learn Bengali, and today his
children have passed out from schools and got jobs. That
is what a great city does; it welcomes the forlorn and
lifts them. Mumbai's extraordinary film industry is the
most exciting meeting place of India; its skyscrapers were
built with steel from Jamshedpur; its markets are full of
food and goods from India and the globe. Mumbai does
belong to Maharashtra, but it is also the present and
future of India.
The author is an eminent
journalist of India.
Viewpoints
Obama starts playing a dangerous game
Obama won't
be the first president to engage in this political
brinksmanship, portraying himself as a reasonable type who is
willing to give while painting the other side as
obstructionist and petty.
Jennifer Loven
Slapping
Republicans with one hand, extending olive branches with the
other, President Barack Obama is playing a dangerous political
game. It's not a new one. And it just might work.
Fearful of losses in the November congressional and
gubernatorial elections, Democrats have been urging Obama to
help them stay competitive by throwing tougher punches at
Republicans. Those calls grew louder after the Democrats'
stunning loss two weeks ago of a Senate seat in Massachusetts,
seen as an indictment of Democratic control over Congress and
the White House and a potentially disturbing bellwether for
the fall voting. Obama has been complying. Since last
Wednesday's State of the Union address, the president has held
two campaign-style town hall meetings, including one Tuesday
in New Hampshire, where two House races and a Senate seat are
in play this year, using both to call out Republicans for
opposing him on health care, federal spending and other
issues.
He also spoke at a meeting last week of House Republican
lawmakers, where each side aired complaints against the other,
sometimes sharply. But even if his newly combative approach
notches the president some rhetorical wins, he risks
alienating people at the same time. As a candidate, Obama
built a winning brand as a change agent, a politician above
politics. That outsider, reformer image, while attractive to
voters, is difficult for any politician to maintain once the
messy obligations and barriers of governing take over; it is
even easier to lose it once the bare-knuckled zingers start
flying. What's more, Obama's sharper tone comes at a time of
deepening voter ire about Washington's politics of division
and inability to solve pressing problems.
"That's the rub," said White House Press Secretary Robert
Gibbs, acknowledging that the White House knows it risks
losing more than it gains. Sensing opportunity, Republicans
have taken note. Countering Obama's portrayal of himself as
above the political fray, the Republican National Committee
sent out video of what it called the president's "perpetual
campaigning" of late.
So the White House is treading carefully. Even as the
president turns up the heat on the Republicans, he will
continue to reach out to Republicans, asking them to work with
him in certain areas - such as offshore drilling, nuclear
power, clean-coal production, education reforms and deficit
reduction - where cooperation may be possible. This serves two
purposes: Showing himself the willing conciliator, and putting
Republicans on the spot. On Tuesday, in New Hampshire, as he
has done almost daily of late, Obama made a play for
bipartisanship. He urged Republican lawmakers to work with
him. "Democrats can't do this alone - nor should we," he said.
While he spoke there, the White House pressed the message on
another front, releasing a letter from Obama to US Chamber of
Commerce President Tom Donohue asking for the leading business
lobby's support for his jobs proposals. "Let us build on the
progress we've seen and work together wherever possible,"
Obama wrote. The cooperation plea is actually the flip side of
one of the main lines of criticism Obama is lobbing at
Republicans: That they, too, even as the minority party in
Congress, must be held accountable for solving the nation's
ills. Specifically, Obama took Republicans to task for
switching positions on important issues recently just to score
points with voters.
For instance, he said some of those who opposed last year's
$787 billion economic stimulus package and who continue to
argue that it isn't creating or saving jobs haven't shied away
from taking credit back home for projects the legislation paid
for. "They've found a way to have their cake and vote against
it too," Obama said, naming no one in particular. He also
criticized Republicans for opposing a bill to create a
bipartisan commission on reducing the deficit. He said seven
Republican senators who once cosponsored the bill later voted
against it. The language was the sharpest he's unleashed yet.
And he's not done.
As Obama seeks to right his presidency and his agenda amid
falling poll numbers and ballot box losses, he and his
advisers have concluded that the gloves must come off more
often. He intends more tough talk for Republicans in the
coming weeks, a senior administration official said. The idea
is to stop allowing Republicans to define the White House
through their nearly unanimous opposition to Obama's proposals
and to start using them as a foil to better define Democrats,
said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to more
freely describe private White House planning. Obama also plans
another line of criticism: Draw clearer contrasts between the
Democratic and Republican approaches to the nation's problems.
As Gibbs said, "You may not be sold completely on what we've
been doing but look at the alternative."
Obama won't be the first president to engage in this political
brinksmanship, portraying himself as a reasonable type who is
willing to give while painting the other side as
obstructionist and petty.
A year of
US-China discord?
In a recent
Pew Poll, 44 per cent of US respondents named China as
"the world's leading economic power". Just 27 per cent
chose America.
Ian Bremmer and David Gordon
In
2009, Forbes magazine named US President Barack Obama and
Chinese President Hu Jintao the "world's most powerful
people". In 2010, we will discover that neither has the
power to keep US-Chinese relations on track. That is bad
news for those who believe that US-China cooperation is
essential for reviving the global economy, meeting the
challenge of climate change, containing threats of nuclear
proliferation, and managing a host of other problems
without borders. It is also bad news for America and
China.
Ten is the number to watch: America's 10 per cent
unemployment and China's potential 10 per cent GDP growth
are set to collide like weather fronts generating a storm.
American populism will meet Chinese pride. And the fevered
political climate created by US mid-term elections means
that the world's most important bilateral relationship is
headed for real turbulence this year.
America and China now live with a kind of mutually assured
economic destruction, and both presidents know it. The US
needs China to finance its mounting debt, and China needs
Americans to buy its products.
Indeed, the short, sharp shock that China absorbed from
the financial crisis has proven that its economic growth
still depends on consumer demand in America, Europe and
Japan - and will for some time to come. Chinese leaders
would like to shift China's growth model towards greater
reliance on domestic consumption, but that is a long-term
project. For the foreseeable future, they will depend on
local manufacturers to create the jobs that protect both
China's development goals and the Communist Party's
monopoly on domestic political power.
Fear of shuttered factories and lost wages pushed China's
government last year to launch a massive stimulus
programme to protect jobs and restore growth. It worked.
China, with much less exposure than the West to toxic
banking assets, is off to the races again as America
struggles to its feet.
In a recent Pew Poll, 44 per cent of US respondents named
China as "the world's leading economic power". Just 27 per
cent chose America. To be sure, an eventual US recovery is
inevitable, but job growth usually takes longer to
recover. As long as voters are worried about their
wallets, Democrats and Republicans will compete to defend
American workers. As November's elections approach, many
US lawmakers will demand that the country with 10 per cent
unemployment persuade the country with 10 per cent growth
to stop bending trade rules and manipulating the value of
its currency.
China's leadership, for its part, will want to know why
free-market champions in Washington are threatening more
protectionism. For, as China's growth accelerates, trade
imbalances heighten US frustrations, and elections loom,
lawmakers of both US political parties will threaten
punitive action against China on a variety of subjects.
The Obama administration has already moved against Chinese
exports of tyres and steel pipes, but this year's
confrontation will extend well beyond trade. When Congress
takes up the debate over climate change, for example, and
some lawmakers call for a cap-and-trade system, others
will demand to know why America should accept binding
commitments to limit emissions while the Chinese refuse.
China's leaders, in no mood to play the scapegoat, will
use surging national pride to bolster their position and
strengthen their hand in negotiations. The Chinese
government has invested heavily in recent years in
state-owned companies and privately owned "national
champions", mainly to ensure that China profits from the
power of markets while the leadership controls as much of
the spoils as possible. To help these domestic powerhouses
increase their market leverage, the government often
favours them at the expense of foreign competitors.
Hostile US rhetoric and trade action will give China's
leaders an excuse to accelerate this trend.
The Obama administration also wants China to share more of
the burdens of international leadership. This includes
helping the US to apply pressure on countries like Iran,
Sudan, and Myanmar that continue to defy the will of the
international community - and with which those Chinese
state-owned companies have established lucrative
commercial relationships that serve the Chinese
government's economic and political interests. China's
leaders, unwilling to compromise on any issue that might
undermine their domestic goals, continue to resist.
A full-scale trade war is unlikely. Both governments know
the stakes are too high for both economies, and Obama and
Hu will continue to work hard to try to keep things moving
in a constructive direction. But neither president can
guarantee that recrimination and reproach will not take on
a life of its own.
For example, if another product-safety issue involving
Chinese imports makes headlines in the US, things could
move quickly from disappointment to real anger. Most
Americans care little about China's currency policy or its
stance on intellectual property rights. But if
Chinese-made products threaten their health and safety,
there are sure to be opportunistic lawmakers ready to fan
the flames.
The 2008 US presidential election was the last in which
the overwhelming majority of American voters neither knew
nor cared about where the candidates stood on China.
Officials in Beijing, increasingly sensitive to US
criticism, will prove as ready to trade accusations as
goods and services or good ideas. That is why the "world's
most powerful people" will now have a much harder time
working together to meet today's toughest challenges.
Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group. David Gordon
is Eurasia Group's head of research. ©Project Syndicate,
2010. www.project-syndicate.org
We Need a New System of Education -
and Evaluation
Our education system has been fundamental to our success
as a nation, but the way we prepare students has barely
changed in 100 years.
Bill Gates
During
my first year working full time in philanthropy, I met a
variety of brilliant people, including AIDS researchers,
agronomists developing drought-tolerant crops, and
teachers trying to find new ways to inspire students.
These people all have different jobs, but they have at
least one ambition in common: a desire to innovate.
As the world struggles back from the Recession of 2009,
it's hard to be hopeful about the future. But because of
our constant search for progress, I am very optimistic.
It's our ingenuity that makes the difference between a
bleak future and a bright one.
If we project what the world will be like 10 years from
now without additional breakthroughs in health, energy,
and food, the picture is quite dark. People in poor
countries will continue to die from preventable diseases,
energy costs will escalate, and the world's population
will overwhelm the land available for farming. But
innovations will allow us to avoid these bleak outcomes,
improving lives in the US and around the world. With
better access to vaccines and drugs, health in poor
countries will continue to improve. With better seeds,
training, and access to markets, farmers in poor countries
will grow more food. With a clean way to produce cheap
electricity, we will reduce emissions and avert the worst
effects of climate change.
But unfortunately, society does not generally invest
enough in innovation - especially in areas where it would
help the poor (who aren't an attractive market) and where
there isn't an agreed-upon measure of excellence. In the
US, that means we have not invested nearly what we should
in innovation for education. Our education system has been
fundamental to our success as a nation, but the way we
prepare students has barely changed in 100 years.
If we don't find ways to improve our schools, making them
more effective and more accessible, we won't fulfill our
commitment to equal opportunity, and we will become less
competitive with other countries.
It's amazing how much a teacher in the top quartile can
help a struggling student. But when it comes to feedback,
many teachers lack the guidance to help them be great.
Instead of specific reviews that discuss their
performance, they often get a checklist of basics, like
showing up on time and keeping the classroom clean.
We need a new system of evaluation, one that delves into
specific weaknesses and suggests ways for teachers to work
on them. Such a system must also be predictable, of
course, so teachers won't fear that it's capricious. It
also needs to incorporate things like feedback from
students, parents, and fellow teachers, as well as time
spent reviewing actual teaching. In pursuit of this new
system, our foundation has pledged more than $300 million
to districts in Tampa, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and a
coalition of charter schools in Los Angeles. Teachers in
these cities will be among the first in the country to
receive incentive pay that is based on effectiveness. We
have also set aside $45 million to study fair, reliable
measures of effectiveness.
If most of the teachers in these locations like the new
approach and share their positive experiences, then these
methods will spread. Our goal is for them to become
standard practice nationwide.
Another crucial innovation in education involves using
interactive technology to deliver high-quality materials
for teachers and students. Now that watching videos is a
standard part of the Internet experience, we can put great
lectures online so that everyone can benefit from the best
teachers. (Personally, I like the online physics and
chemistry courses from MIT.)
Alternatively, software can also be used to tailor lessons
to individual students, so kids can stop spending time on
the things they already know and focus on the areas they
are confused about. While it won't replace face-to-face
teaching, it could make remedial courses far more
effective-helping students move on to the next phase of
their education instead of discouraging them into dropping
out. That's the kind of innovation that can lead to a
brighter future for everyone.
Bill Gates is founder and chairman of Microsoft
Corporation and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. This essay is adapted from his 2010 annual
letter, available at gatesfoundation.org/annualletter
International
Pakistan says
seizes Taliban base on Afghan border
Reuters, Peshawar, Pakistan
Pakistani forces have captured a stronghold of al
Qaeda-backed militants near the Afghan border after days
of clashes in which 60 militants were killed, the military
said.
Pakistani security forces mounted a major offensive in the
ethnic Pashtun Bajaur tribal region in 2008 and declared
it largely cleared after months of clashes.
But militants, joined by comrades infiltrating from
Afghanistan, staged a comeback in the region in recent
weeks. Fourteen people were killed in a suicide bombing at
a security checkpost in Bajaur late last month.
Backed by fighter jets and helicopter gunships, Pakistani
security forces helped by members of a militia from the
area launched a new push to clear parts of Bajaur on Jan.
27.
The military says it is now in control of the strategic
Damadola area, about 12 km (7 miles) north of Bajaur's
main town of Khar.
Damadola is an important militant stronghold and was the
first Pakistani area to be attacked by pilotless U.S.
drones.
Intensified Drone Strikes
In January 2006, CIA-operated drones fired missiles into a
house in Damadola in the belief that al Qaeda number two,
Ayman al Zawahri, was there. At least 18 villagers were
killed.
The United States has intensified drone strikes in
Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, known as a hub for
Islamist militants from various parts of the world, since
September 2008, killing hundreds of people, including many
Pakistani and foreign militants.
The fighting in Bajaur follows bigger offensives over the
past 10 months in the Swat valley, northwest of Islamabad,
and the South Waziristan Pakistani Taliban stronghold. The
United States has praised Pakistani action against
militants attacking the Pakistani state, but wants its
ally to extend its fighting to Afghan Taliban based in
lawless border enclaves who attack Western troops in
Afghanistan.
But the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus,
has played down the possibility of any new, large-scale
Pakistani offensive against those insurgent groups in the
immediate future.
Marchers defy protest ban
in Indian Kashmir
AFP, Srinagar, India
Hundreds of Muslims marched in defiance of a ban on
demonstrations in Indian Kashmir's summer capital of
Srinagar on Sunday, in protest against the death of a
second teenage boy in a week. Witnesses accused security
forces of killing a 17-year-old Zahid Farooq on Friday
after a group of boys refused to leave a high-security
area.
Police in the Muslim-majority region, where a revolt
against Indian rule began two decades ago, said they were
investigating the death and have not been able to identify
the killers so far. Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah
vowed strong action over the boy's death and asked the
investigators to complete a probe within a week.
"Incidents of unprovoked or innocent killings will not be
tolerated and whosoever is involved in such killings will
be brought to book and doled out exemplary punishment,"
Abdullah said in a statement. But protests by hundreds of
men, women and children continued for the third day
running in the suburb of Srinagar where the killing took
place. Witnesses said the protesters threw stones at a
motorcade of a senior minister who had gone to meet the
bereaved family.
The region was already in an uproar over the killing of
14-year-old Wamiq Farooq by a police tear-gas shell last
Sunday and the latest death has fuelled more anger against
Indian security forces. The government has banned the
assembly of more than four people in Srinagar but it has
been unable to contain the protests. Indian troops have
also sealed off neighbourhoods in Srinagar and arrested
dozens of activists. Residents of downtown Srinagar, which
has been under a strict unofficial curfew for the past
five days, have complained of depleting food stocks and
medicines.
Taliban dig in for big
assault, say Afghan villagers
Reuters, Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan
Taliban militants are massing and preparing for a big
fight ahead of a major NATO offensive in an insurgent
stronghold in southern Afghanistan, villagers fleeing the
area said on Sunday.
U.S. Marines are set to launch a massive operation within
days to take Marjah, a dense warren of canals and lush
farmland in the center of Helmand, the country's most
violent province.
Military commanders are dubbing the area the last big
Taliban enclave in the province. The offensive, one of the
biggest of the eight-year-old war, will mark the first
major show of force since U.S. President Barack Obama
ordered in 30,000 extra troops.
Washington hopes the Marine operation will help decisively
turn the momentum this year in a war that commanders
accept has not been going their way. They have also not
kept the planned offensive a secret, hoping the militants
will give up the fight.
"It has to do with letting people know what's coming in
the hope that the hardcore Taliban, or a lot of the
Taliban, will simply leave, and maybe there will be less
of a fight," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in
Turkey on Saturday.
According to some of the villagers escaping Marjah in fear
of their lives, fighters are digging in rather than
fleeing.
Pakistani militant
commanders ejected to Afghanistan
Agencies, Islamabad
Militant commander of Tehrik Taliban Pakistan Qari Hussain
has surfaced in Afghanistan soon after the launching of
operation " Rah-e-Nijat" by Pakistan Army.
This was revealed by well placed sources in South
Waziristan who requested not to be named. Few helicopters
were seen entering Pakistan territory from neighbouring
Afghan province of Paktia, close to Pak-Afghan border
which landed on Pakistani soil, reportedly picked up Qari
Hussain and a few others, then departed immediately
towards Afghanistan.
Other sources have also reported foreign helicopters in
the area. Locals when contacted also confirmed to have
seen landing, take off and flying of helicopters in the
aerial direction of the bordering Afghan province of
Paktika and Paktia.
A notable of Makeen, who requested for anonymity attended
local jirga in area close to the border and stayed there
for quite few days revealed that since start of military
operation in South Waziristan, the helicopters traffic of
USA/ Afghan Government had increased manifold in the war
zone for unknown reasons. US troops vacated posts in
Paktika at the crucial time when operation "Rah-e- Nijat"
was progressing well, again thus allowing fleeing
militants space on Afghan soil to regroup and escape
capture.
Meanwhile, Maulvi Fazlullah, who was earlier reported to
have been seriously injured during operation "Rah-e- Rast"
and his hideout destroyed by law enforcing agencies in
Swat, has now been secretly taken to Afghanistan.
He is reportedly residing in Kamdesh district of Nooristan
along with 300 militants and other middle level
Commanders. It was also reported that Maulvi Fazlullah had
remained under treatment in a medical facility under US
troops in Bagram airbase before he returned to Kamdesh
district.
It is the same area where US troops vacated their posts,
most likely with the intention of allowing the fleeing
Pakistani militants space to regroup. His escape was made
possible with the active support of the Afghan
intelligence, financially supported by RAW and other
hostile intelligence operatives operating along Pak-Afghan
border.
Palestinian leader visits
Hiroshima
AFP, Hiroshima
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas kicked off his Asian
tour on Sunday in the Japanese city of Hiroshima ahead of
a meeting with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
Japan is one of the top donors for the Palestinian
territories, providing more than one billion dollars in
aid since 1993.
Abbas, who plans a four-day stay in Japan, will meet
Hatoyama and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada to discuss
strengthening relations and aid from Tokyo, Japanese
officials said.
Hatoyama is expected to express Japan's support for
efforts by Abbas to promote peace negotiations with
Israel, the officials said.
Abbas visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, a site
to remember the US atomic bombing on August 6, 1945, which
killed more than 140,000.
Abbas, escorted by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba,
donated a flower wreath at the memorial.
He told reporters that the world should abandon weapons of
mass destruction including nuclear arms.
After the trip to Japan, his second visit as the
Palestinian head of state, Abbas plans to fly to Seoul and
meet South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.
‘Court martial’ looms for
S. Lanka’s defeated candidate
AFP, Colombo
Defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka
could be hauled before a court martial to answer charges
of plotting a coup to topple the government, a press
report said Sunday.
The government has sought legal advice on using a military
court to fast-track proceedings against Fonseka, who
challenged President Mahinda Rajapakse in the January 26
vote, the Sunday Times said.
"A military court will try retired general Sarath Fonseka
on several charges of conspiracy," it said.
There was no immediate comment from Fonseka, who has
already accused the government of planning to arrest or
assassinate him after he fell out with Rajapakse and
resigned in November.
Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanay-akkara said he
was unaware of plans to bring Fonseka before a court
martial, but added that a senior defence official had
publicly spoken of the possibility.
Fonseka led troops to a crushing victory over Tamil Tiger
rebels in May last year, ending a decades-long separatist
campaign by the guerrillas.
However, he and Rajapakse were at loggerheads over sharing
credit for the spectacular military success and then went
head to head at the ballot box last month.
Fonseka, who was routed by Rajapakse, has vowed to
challenge Rajapakse's election at the Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, Rajapakse sacked a dozen senior
military officers whom the defence ministry said were a
"direct threat to national security."
Security forces kept Fonseka under siege while election
results were being announced the day after the election,
and 36 retired officers working at Fonseka's offices were
later arrested by police.
Japan balks at $2 billion
bill to host US troops
AP, Ginowan, Japan
In a country where land is a precious commodity, many U.S.
bases in Japan boast golf courses, football fields and
giant shopping malls whose food courts offer everything
from Taco Bell to Subway and Starbucks.
They are the most visible point of grievance in a
sharpening debate about the cost to Japan of supporting
the 47,000 American service members here - about $2
billion a year. That's nearly a third of the total, and
about three times what Germany pays to host U.S. forces on
its soil.
But facing economic woes and seeking a more equal
relationship with the U.S., Japan's new reformist
government is questioning whether it should spend so much
on U.S. troops - a topic that was taboo under the
pro-Washington administrations that governed Japan for
most of the post-World War II era. The scrutiny in Japan,
Washington's deep-pocketed ally and most important
strategic partner in Asia, comes at a bad time for the
U.S., whose defense budget is already spread thin in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
Japanese call their share a "kindness budget," implying
the U.S. is getting a free ride, and its opponents say it
is rife with waste. The opposition also reflects a
long-standing feeling, particularly on the left, that the
U.S. is taking its security alliance with Japan too much
for granted. The alliance has come under intense pressure
since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama took office last
September. He says the alliance remains a "keystone" of
Japanese policy, but he wants to reevaluate it.
"This will be a very important year for our relationship,"
he said last month. The flash point of the debate is the
southern island of Okinawa, where most of the nearly 100
U.S. facilities in Japan are located. Futenma airfield,
where several thousand Marines are stationed, was to have
been moved from the town of Ginowan to Nago, in a less
crowded part of the island. But that plan came into doubt
last month after Nago elected a mayor who opposes having
the base.
Iran
makes new uranium enrichment challenge
BBC Online
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked the
country's nuclear chief to begin enriching uranium to 20%.
The move comes amid a worsening stand-off over a Western
offer for Iran to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.
The West fears Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons -
and have threatened new sanctions. Iran insists its
programme is peaceful. The US defence secretary urged the
world to "stand together", saying there was still time for
sanctions to work.
"Pressures that are focused on the government of Iran, as
opposed to the people of Iran, potentially have greater
opportunity to achieve the objective," Robert Gates said
during a visit to Italy. In London, the Foreign Office
said Mr Ahmadinejad's announcement was "clearly a matter
of serious concern". "This would be a deliberate breach of
five UNSCRs [United Nations Security Council
Resolutions]," it said in a statement.
In January, diplomats said Iran had informed the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it did not
accept the terms of the deal agreed in October by Iran,
the IAEA and the P5+1 - the US, Russia, China, UK and
France plus Germany.
Earlier this week, the US, Britain and France circulated a
discussion paper on further possible sanctions against
Tehran. But China says the P5+1 must remain patient and
keep pursuing a diplomatic solution to the issue.
Red line
Mr Ahmadinejad made the announcement on Iranian state
television - two days after his foreign minister said a
deal on swapping enriched uranium for nuclear fuel was
close - a claim greeted with scepticism by Western powers.
"I had said let us give them [Western powers] two to three
months, and if they don't agree, we would start
ourselves," Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech broadcast
live.
"Now Dr [Ali Akbar] Salehi, start to make the 20% with the
centrifuges," the president said, addressing Iran's
nuclear chief who was sitting in the audience at a laser
technology plant in Tehran.
Civilian nuclear power requires uranium enriched to about
3%. Weapons grade uranium needs to be enriched to 90%.
The BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne, reporting from
London, says Mr Ahmadinejad's announcement crosses a
significant red line.
Iran says it wants to supply a research reactor with
highly enriched uranium following the breakdown of the
international deal to provide fuel for it.
But some Western analysts say Iran does not possess the
technical know-how to make fuel rods for the reactor, our
correspondent says, and Western countries fear this could
be a stepping stone towards the manufacture of
weapons-grade material.
At the very least, this is a provocative act which will
make negotiations more difficult, our correspondent says.
Existing UN sanctions are meant to prevent the flow of any
items or technology which might aid Iran in enriching
uranium or developing nuclear weapon delivery systems.
The sanctions range from actual sales or supplies to
dealings with named individuals.
Iraq parliament to debate
ban on election candidates
BBC Online
Shia political parties in Iraq have staged demonstrations
ahead of an emergency parliamentary debate on next month's
elections.
They are protesting agai-nst a court's decision to
overturn a ban on candidates with alleged links to
ex-President Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.
If parliament is unable to find a solution, a panel of
judges will have to rule on each individual case. This
would further delay the start of campaigning.
It has already been delayed by five days to allow the
emergency debate. The election itself was pushed back by
nearly two months.
The court ruling, which the government has called "illegal
and unconstitutional", would allow the candidates to stand
for election, and be subject to investigation only after
the polls.
US concern
The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse, in Baghdad, says that
although the controversial list of banned candidates
straddles the sectarian divide, Sunni groups have felt
disproportionately targeted.
He adds that US officials have openly expressed their
concern over the blacklist, fearing that the row could
damage the credibility of the election, which in turn
could affect their timetable for military withdrawal.
There are still more than 100,000 American troops in Iraq.
At Sunday's demonstrations on the streets of Baghdad, Shia
parties' supporters vowed to purge Baathists and chanted:
"No to Baath, No to Saddam." Some voiced fears about what
they saw as American interference in the electoral
process.
Baathism is a form of secular Arab nationalism and was the
ideology espoused by Saddam Hussein when he came to power.
Although a minority, Sunni Muslims were dominant under
Saddam Hussein's rule but have since complained of being
marginalised under the post-Saddam Shia-led government.
Israel arrests two foreign
activists in West Bank
AFP, Jerusalem
Israel's military arrested two foreign activists in a
pre-dawn raid in the occupied West Bank on Sunday that a
pro-Palestinian group said was aimed at intimidating
protesters.
The arrests follow a similar raid last month in which a
Czech activist was detained and deported, and come amid
heightened efforts to curtail Palestinian protests in the
West Bank that are supported by foreigners and Israelis.
The Israeli military said the two were arrested for
"staying in Israel illegally" and transferred to the
custody of the interior ministry. "One of them was holding
fake documents and the other's visa had expired," a
military spokesman said, without providing further
details.
"Both of them were known to be involved in illegal
violence," he added, referring to their participation in
West Bank demonstrations.
Neta Golan, an Israeli co-founder of the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM), admitted the two had overstayed
their tourist visas but insisted their arrest was aimed at
curbing protests against Israeli policies.
"They are being targeted because they are activists, but
because they haven't broken any law the excuse for getting
rid of them is that they have overstayed their visas,"
Golan told AFP. The raid took place in the so-called Area
A, a part of the West Bank under the complete control of
the Western-backed Palestinian Authority but where Israel
reserves the right to operate for security reasons.
Soldiers raided the apartment in the town of Ramallah at
around 3:00 am (0100 GMT) and arrested the two activists,
Ariadna Jove Marti of Spain and Bridgette Chappell of
Australia, acco-rding to the ISM. The soldiers also
confiscated cameras, a computer, pro-Palestinian banners
and ISM registration forms, according to Ryan Olander, a
US activist who was at the home at the time of the raid.
Tougher rules to stop abuse
of student visa system
BBC Online
Tougher rules have been brought in to stop people abusing
the student visa system to remain illegally in the UK.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said 30% of migrants who came
into the UK were on student visas and a number were adults
taking short courses, not degrees.
Under the new rules, applicants will need to speak English
to near-GCSE level and those on short courses will not be
able to bring dependants. The Tories said the system had
been the "biggest hole in border controls". The Home
Office would not confirm reports the changes may cut visas
issued this year by tens of thousands. A spokesman said a
review of student visas had been ordered in November. In
2008/9, about 240,000 student visas were issued by the UK.
News of the new measures comes a week after student visa
applications from Nepal, northern India and Bangl-adesh
were suspended amid a big rise in cases.
'Legitimate study'
Last year the UK introduced a system requiring students
wishing to enter the country to secure 40 points under its
criteria.
However, the government has faced criticism that this has
allowed suspected terrorists and other would-be immigrants
into the UK, only for them to stay on despite their visas
being temporary.
Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, the home secretary
denied the system had been lax before.
"We closed down 200 bogus colleges," he said. "By 2011, we
will have the most sophisticated system in the world to
check people not just coming into the country but to check
they have left as well." He said the UK remains open to
those foreign students who want to come to the UK for
legitimate study. "We are the second most popular location
for people going into higher education," he said.
"We have to be careful that we are not damaging a major
part of the UK economy, between £5bn and £8bn."
Under the measures, effective immediately:
(a) Successful applicants from outside the EU will have to
speak English to a level only just below GCSE standard,
rather than beginner level as at present, (b) Students
taking courses below degree level will be allowed to work
for only 10 hours a week, instead of 20 as at present, (c
) Those on courses which last under six months will not be
allowed to bring dependants into the country, while the
dependants of students on courses below degree level will
not be allowed to work and (d) Additionally, visas for
courses below degree level will also be granted only if
the institutions they attend are on a new register, the
Highly Trusted Sponsors List.
Liberal Democrat shadow home secretary Chris Huhne said
the UK needed to "restore immediately control of our
borders"
Iran arrests people hired
by CIA
Reuters, Tehran
Iran said on Sunday it had arrested seven people accused
of stoking unrest after last year's disputed election,
including some who were hired by the U.S. Central
Intelligence Agency, the official IRNA news agency
reported.
The arrests were reported before possible new
anti-government protests on Feb. 11, when Iran marks the
anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled
the U.S.-backed shah.
Opposition supporters have used such official occasions to
try to revive their protests over the poll last June,
which they say was rigged to secure the re-election of
hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The authorities
have rejected the vote fraud charge and portrayed the huge
demonstrations that erupted after the vote as a
foreign-backed attempt to undermine the Islamic Republic.
They have made clear they will not tolerate more such
unrest.
Western countries have dismissed allegations of meddling
in Iran's internal affairs. "Seven people organisationally
linked to the counter-revolutionaries, the Zionist media
and elements of the sedition have been arrested," IRNA
quoted an Intelligence Ministry statement as saying,
without naming them.
It said the detainees were also linked to a U.S.-backed
Farsi-language radio station and had received training in
Istanbul and Dubai, for example in disrupting public
order, spreading rumours and conducting sabotage.
"A number of them were officially hired by the U.S.
intelligence agency, the CIA," the statement said, adding
that they had played an important role in 'post-election
riots', particularly on the Shi'ite mourning day of Ashura
that fell on Dec. 27.
Eight people were killed in clashes between security
forces and opposition supporters on that day, in the most
serious violence since the aftermath of the June election.
Thousands of people were arrested after the June vote.
More than 80 people, including senior reformist figures,
have received jail terms of up to 15 years.
UK lawyers demand
withdrawal of Dr. Aafia’s case
APP, London
The UK-based Association of Pakistan Lawyers (APL) has
demanded withdrawal of case against Dr Aafia Siddiqui
declaring the conviction unsafe and has called for a
public enquiry regarding her treatment. The APL, according
to its chair barrister Amjad Malik following its executive
committee meeting, has despatched letters to the US
leadership calling for Dr.Siddiqui's immediate
repatriation to Pakistan. The meeting proposed withdrawing
of case against the neuroscientist by the US Government,
Presidential pardon considering the state of mind and
allegations of her torture and maltreatment, conviction
based on fear and not on fact, her unlawful presence at
Bagram airbase, her missing two children, and lastly the
US Government must consider setting up a commission to
adjudicate the questions of true facts surrounding Dr.
Siddiqui's arrest, and her whereabouts between 2003 and
2008. In response to this letter, the US Presidential
correspondence team wrote:" On behalf of President Obama
we appreciate hearing from you. The President has promised
the most transparent administration in history and we are
committed to listening to and responding to you."
Tiny Bubbles Destroy Cancer
Cells
Internet
Tiny bubbles can pack quite a punch - creating nanoscale
explosions that destroy cancer cells. Using lasers and
nanoparticles, scientists discovered a new technique for
singling out individual diseased cells and demolishing
them.
The scientists used lasers to make "nanobubbles" by
zapping gold nanoparticles inside cells. In tests on
cancer cells, they found they could tune the lasers to
create either small, bright bubbles that were visible but
harmless or large bubbles that burst the cells.
The term "nano" generally refers to stuff at the nanoscale
that's no larger than 100 nanometers, where 1 nanometer is
one-billionth of a meter. For comparison, a hair is about
100,000 nm wide.
"Single-cell targeting is one of the most touted
advantages of nanomedicine, and our approach delivers on
that promise with a localized effect inside an individual
cell," said study author Dmitri Lapotko, a physicist at
Rice University in Texas. "The idea is to spot and treat
unhealthy cells early, before a disease progresses to the
point of making people extremely ill."
Previously, the scientists had applied nanobubbles to
arterial plaque, and found the bubbles could blast right
through the deposits that block arteries. "The bubbles
work like a jackhammer," Lapotko said.
In the current study, they tested the approach on leukemia
cells and cells from head and neck cancers. They attached
antibodies to the nanoparticles so they would target only
the cancer cells, and they found the technique was
effective at locating and killing the cancer cells.
Business/Economy
Govt to import sugar before Ramazan
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC)
will import sugar considering the increased demand in the
month of holy Ramazan.
Ministry of Industries on Sunday has taken the decision in
principle and asked the corporation to take all necessary
preparation in this regard, said an official handout.
The decision was taken in a meeting of senior officials of
BSFIC, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Food and
officials of the concerned offices and research
organizations in the ministry.
Industries Minister Dilip Barua presided over the meeting
while secretary of the ministry Jakir Hossain, BSFIC
chairman Ranjit Kumar Biswas, Director General of
Department of Food Pius de Costa and senior officials of
the concerned offices were present.
The meeting decided to produce refined sugar from two
state- owned sugar mills and set up distilleries in two
other mills to make the sugar industries profitable.
The meeting discussed the way for bringing more land for
sugar cultivation in the coming season to ensure supply of
sugar during sugarcane crushing season.
In view of this, the meeting decided to give some
incentives to sugarcane farmers and take highest measures
to allow the farmers supply their products to the factory
without any hassle.
The meeting also asked the BSFIC to import more sweet
variety of sugarcane from abroad, arrange year-long job
for labourers and employees and take step to produce
electricity from shell of sugarcane.
Technical
fault delays DSE opening
BSS, Dhaka
A technical fault delayed the opening of week's trading at
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) today by 15 minutes.
Also the updated trading information on its web site was
not available until 11:20 am due to the technical fault.
A DSE official termed the fault normal saying that such
fault happened in the past for a few times and did not
cause major hindrance to the daily business.
The trading began at 11:15am instead of usual 11am start
and the web site was updated with the real-time database
after five minutes from the beginning of the transactions.
DGEN, the benchmark index, surged near 5500-point mark at
the beginning with the influence of the DBH First Mutual
Fund when it gained around 250 percent to Taka 34.90 on
debut trading. Its price, however, shimmered off to Taka
28.70 with readjusted gain of 187 percent.
There was no circuit-breaker on trading of this mutual
fund on its debut day, allowing more than 10 percent price
movements.
Circuit-breaker, a built-in system at stock exchanges,
does not allow more than 10 percent price movements either
ways in a single day with the exception of debut trading.
Besides the price rise of the new issue, prices of BATBC
rose by 4.38 percent with GP, Beximco, Bextex, Lankabangla
and People Leasing and Finance gained substantially.
Banking sector issues continued to rise on speculation of
good dividend nearing.
The gain in the dominating issues pushed the index further
up, which finished 1.03 percent higher to 5490.10 at the
day's closing.
Transactions in both value and volume declined on the day
when the value was Taka 9,86 crore, well below from Taka
1,144 crore of the last week's closing on Thursday. The
number traded issues was 4,35,89,315, down from Thursday's
4,52,07,121.
DITF
ends
Manufacturers bag Tk 30cr spot orders
UNB, Dhaka
Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2010 concluded in
the city Sunday with manufacturers bagging export orders
worth about Tk 30 crore.
"We have already registered about Tk 25 crore spot orders.
It may cross record Tk 30 crore mark after counting the
total orders in this fair," Commerce Minister Faruk Khan
told the closing ceremony of the fair.
He said the fair successfully ended drawing 30-37 lakh
visitors enabling them an opportunity to compare the
quality of local and foreign products. The minister hoped
such international fair would help achieve this year's $17
billion export target.
He said the government has a plan to construction a
permanent fair venue at a cost of Tk 300 crore within the
next 3-4 years 0at old airport. "The Fair Venue would have
one kilometer covered space," he informed. Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the month-long fair on January
1, which was extended by seven days.
A total of 493 companies and firms from 10 countries took
part in the fair.
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FBCCI) President Annisul Huq urged the government to
arrange more trade fair to spread the message of country's
product quality in the international market.
He hoped of achieving 8 percent GDP growth if the
government extended policy support to the businessmen.
"Although we can't extend geographically our over
populated country's border, the businessmen can expand the
country's economy," he said.
G7 to continue stimulus until
global economy on track
AFP, Iqaluit, Canada
Finance ministers from leading industrialized nations on
Saturday vowed to continue epic deficit spending to
bolster a fragile global recovery at the end of G7 talks
in Canada's far north.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told a closing
press conference that he and his G7 counterparts "need to
continue to deliver the stimulus to which we are mutually
committed, and look ahead to exit strategies."
Measures to shore up the global economy have proved
costly, and while the world's richest nations have
promoted diverging economic and financial policies, the
ministers agreed that investing in their economies
remained vital in order to avoid backsliding.
"We have to make sure as not to undermine the global
recovery," said US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
"We're absolutely committed to maintaining support for our
economies until the recovery is firmly established,"
echoed Alistair Darling, Britain's Chancellor of the
Exchequer.
"We achieved a lot in 2009," he said. "The risk of 2010 is
the world will forget just how serious the situation was
and what more remains to be done."
Concern over soaring public debts, which cast doubt on the
recovery and caused market turmoil in recent days, was to
top the agenda but ended up being pigeonholed at the
talks, which presented no new directions for the Group of
Seven industrialized nations.
The state of the public coffers in Spain and Portugal has
been causing growing unease, with investors fearing a
scenario similar to the budget crisis gripping Greece.
Greece has been placed under unprecedented EU surveillance
as it attempts to implement austerity measures to slash
its massive debt and a 12.7-percent public deficit, while
Portugal's deficit hit 9.3 percent last year, its highest
since 1974.
European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet said
Thursday the high deficit and debt in some countries was
placing an "additional burden" on monetary policy and
undermining the bloc's stability and growth pact.
The G7 nations' combined debt has reached a whopping 30
trillion dollars amid rabid spending to keep their
economies afloat over the last year.
On Friday, the the euro tumbled to its lowest level in
almost a year.
Speaking for his European guests, Flaherty said: "This is
largely an issue to be managed not by the G7, but by the
European Union which is how we left it."
Darling later commented that Greece must "stick to its
plan" to solve its debt woes and would be "backed" by the
eurozone.
"We understand collectively that it's in all our interests
that countries return to good economic health as soon as
they can," he said.
The G7 ministers also agreed to eliminate Haiti's debt, to
"continue to work closely" on banking reforms and to push
China to float its currency in line with a policy
established in Istanbul in October.
Asian airlines soar after
global recession
AFP, Singapore
The boom in low-cost travel and a growing web of
open-skies agreements are expected to power long-term
growth for Asian airlines after the global recession,
industry bosses and analysts said.
Participants in the Singapore Airshow which ended Sunday
expressed optimism that the region, particularly China,
will lead the rest of the world to recovery after the most
harrowing year in global travel.
The world aviation industry lost an estimated 11 billion
dollars in 2009 after a financial crisis that began in the
United States grounded travellers and forced airlines to
cancel or defer plane orders.
Organisers of the Singapore Airshow said 10 billion
dollars' worth of contracts were done during the event,
down from 13 billion dollars in 2008.
"We look forward to the market picking up further as the
industry rides the upturn," said Jimmy Lau, managing
director of the show, Asia's biggest civilian-military
aerospace conference and exhibition.
Top aircraft makers Boeing and Airbus say Asia will be the
world's biggest airplane market in the next 20 years, with
orders expected to surpass 8,000 passenger and cargo
planes worth over one trillion dollars.
A key demand driver is the explosion in budget air travel.
This has allowed many ordinary Asian families to travel by
plane for the first time because of dirt-cheap fares and
services to more destinations outside capital cities,
ending the dominance of big national carriers.
By the latest count, there are at least 45 low-fare
airlines across Asia from Japan to Pakistan. Unlike
premium airlines, many of them managed to soar above the
economic turbulence. Singapore budget carrier Tiger
Airways announced it has brought forward the delivery of
another four Airbus A320s to next year instead of 2016,
bringing to nine the number of planes whose delivery has
been accelerated. The carrier, which started flying in
2004, also announced it had flown its 12 millionth
passenger-less than two months after the 11-million mark.
Garuda president and chief executive Emirsyah Satar said
the Indonesian flag carrier expects to launch a budget
offshoot.
Toyota to announce Prius recall
this week
AFP, Tokyo
Toyota, reeling from car safety woes that have sullied its
global reputation, will this week announce the recall of
300,000 of its flagship Prius hybrid because of brake
flaws, newspapers reported Sunday.
The move by the Japanese auto giant will affect the latest
model of the Prius, a car beloved of Hollywood stars and
environmentalists, following scores of complaints about
malfunctioning brake systems.
The Prius problems have dealt a new blow to Toyota, which
has already had to recall around eight million cars around
the world because of sticky accelerator pedals.
The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said the Prius recall, to
repair a software programme for the anti-lock braking
system designed to prevent skidding, is expected to affect
some 270,000 vehicles in Japan and the United States
alone.
"The company has notified its dealers in Japan that it
would recall all the (new model Prius) vehicles sold in
the country," the mass-circulation paper said, without
giving a source.
"The company will also repair the software free of charge
in the United States and other countries in a similar
manner," Yomiuri said, adding that the company would make
an official announcement this week.
The Nikkei business daily said Toyota would also repair
about 30,000 vehicles sold in Europe, China, Australia,
Middle East and other areas.
"We've been told the automaker will soon give us an
official instruction about Prius," said a Toyota dealer in
Tokyo. Company representatives were not available to
comments.
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, has sold more than
300,000 of the latest Prius in 60 countries and
territories since the new model rolled out in May.
Mandelson says EU failing to lead on banking reform
AFP, London
British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson attacked the
European Union on Sunday for failing to provide stronger
international leadership on banking reform following the
financial crisis.
"I think that both the European Council and the European
Commission have to play a much stronger leadership role,"
Mandelson, regarded as Prime Minister Gordon Brown's de
facto number two, told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
"Heads of government need to set the direction and pace
and the commission needs to be a much more active
implementing body than perhaps we've seen in recent
months."
The former EU trade commissioner deplored a "failure in
the EU to show stronger leadership" on global banking
regulation, adding: "European heads of government need to
show more of a strategic lead to the EU as a whole."
Mandelson also said there was a "surprising lack of
internationalism displayed by the US administration" on
banking reform, after President Barack Obama proposed a
tough package for banks in the United States last month.
"Above all, governments need to speak in an
internationally joined up way," he told the newspaper.
"This is an international banking system we are trying to
regulate and if we have different moves made by various
governments you are opening up the risk of regulatory
arbitrage of competing banking jurisdictions, rather than
encouraging competition within financial markets as a
whole.
Kuwait to post $24b budget surplus
AFP, Kuwait City
Kuwait is set to post a surplus of 24 billion dollars in
the current fiscal year on the back of higher oil prices,
despite projecting a shortfall, an economic report
forecast on Sunday.
Revenues for the oil-rich emirate are expected to hit 61.8
billion dollars in the year to March 31, far above budget
projections of 28.1 billion dollars, said the report by
the private National Bank of Kuwait.
Oil income, which makes up about 94 percent of total
revenue, is expected to reach 57.8 billion dollars, also
considerably higher than the budget forecast of just 24.1
billion dollars.
Kuwait calculated oil income at a conservative price of 35
dollars a barrel, while average price for the year is
expected to be double that at around 69.5 dollars,
according to the report.
Spending is forecast to reach 37.8 billion dollars, about
10 percent below budget projections of 42.1 billion
dollars, the bank said.
Kuwait, the fourth largest producer in the oil cartel
OPEC, posted a preliminary budget surplus of 25.2 billion
dollars in the first nine months of the fiscal year,
according to the finance ministry's website. The huge
surplus is expected to fall in the final quarter due to
end-of-year accounting adjustments when pledged
expenditure not included so far will be added to the
closing statements.
Kuwait had projected a deficit of 13.8 billion dollars for
the current fiscal year.
The Gulf state has projected shortfalls in the past 10
fiscal years but eventually ended with a massive surplus
in all of them.
It finished last fiscal year with a surplus of 9.6 billion
dollars despite making a one-off payment of 19 billion
dollars to the state pension fund.
This would be Kuwait's 11th straight year of budget
surplus. In the past decade, it has accumulated about 123
billion dollars of budget surplus, based on available
official data.
The emirate, which transfers 10 percent of revenues every
year into its sovereign wealth fund run by the Kuwait
Investment Authority, is estimated to have assets worth
about 230 billion dollars.
Kuwait says it sits on 10 percent of global crude reserves
and pumps about 2.2 million barrels per day. It has a
population of 1.1 million of its own citizens, and 2.34
million foreign residents.
National
College student’s death in
Laxmipur road crash sparks violence
Police station comes
under attack
UNB, Laxmipur
Students of a local college attacked Kamolnagar thana
following the death of a fellowman in a road crash in
Kamolnagar upazila Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Mahbubur Rahman Buppy, 17,
an intermediate student of Hajirhat Coastal College and
son of Morshedul Alam Babul of Char Jangalia village in
the upazila. Locals said Buppy, who was traveling in a
Ramgati-bound bus from Laxmipur to go to his college, had
an altercation with the bus helper as the driver declined
to stop it in front of the college.
At one stage, the helper pushed him down from the running
bus, killing him instantly at Hajirhat at about 10am.
Outraged by the accident, his fellow students damaged a
bus on Laxmipur-Ramgati road, disrupting traffic on the
road.
Vehicular movement on the road could not be restored till
filing of the report at about 3:30pm.
Later, 50-70 college students brought out a procession and
attacked the Kamolnagar thana.
Police had to fire teargas shells to disperse the
attackers. Being chased by the law-enforcers, the angry
students then stormed into Hajirhat Bazar and damaged
several shops.
Govt allocates Tk 4.5 cr for Asrayon project in South-West
region
BSS, Jessore
The government has allocated about Taka 4.5 crore for 9th
Asrayon project in six districts of the South- West
region. The money would be distributed among the land-less
disaster affected people of Jessore, Narail, Magura,
Khulna, Sathkhira and Bagerhat districts.
District Administration sources said the Asrayon project
was taken to provide help to the landless people during
the past Awami League government.
Under the project the government distribute lands among
the poor people to build up their houses and also give
interest free loans.
The project was again revived after nine years.
Of the total amount Taka 64.59 lakh has been allocated to
Srikantha Nagar Asrayon project of Jessore, Taka 53.19
lakh to Asthail Asrayon project-1 and 46.63 lakh to
Asthail Asrayon project-2 of Narail, Taka 53.19 lakh to
Kashindia Asrayon project and Taka 41.53 lakh to Srikul
Asrayon project of Magura, Taka 46.63 lakh to Kaukhali
Asrayon project of Kuhlna, Taka 53.19 lakh to Chayasithol
Asrayon project of Sathkhira, Taka 52.99 lakh to
Kanainagar Asrayon project and Taka 53.19 lakh to
Gobindhapur Asrayon project of Bagerhat district.
Commercial orange farming ushers new hopes in
economy
BSS, Rangpur
After huge boosts in the tea sector, successful orange
farming on commercial basis has ushered in a new era in
the economy of Panchagarh and Thakurgaon districts and
adjoining areas in recent years.
Hundreds of farmers in the sub-Himalayan districts have
been successfully cultivating orange in their orchards and
homesteads since 2006 and the initiative has got further
momentum now for expanded orange farming.
Presently, over 80,000 orange trees have been growing in
93 orange orchards set up in 104 hectares land and
homesteads in four upazilas of Panchagarh and more 30,000
orange plants in the 48 hectares land in adjoining
Thakurgaon.
Besides, the concerned agriculture departments and
organisations have planted more 10,000 orange plants in
the exhibition plots with a view to popularizing its
large-scale farming, officials said.
Presently, about 50 tonnes of orange are being produced
annually in these districts where plenty of orange will be
produced from 2011 to meet the local demand and export to
the other parts of the country, local experts, officials
and farmers said.
According to the sources in Panchagarh Orange Development
Project (ODP) Office, orange farming has been divided into
three segments like nurturing of the old fruit-giving
plants, farming in the homesteads and orchard exhibitions.
This season, a total of 1,200 fruit giving orange plants
have been looked after and those are giving excellent
yields and more 1,500 farmers and sub-assistant
agriculture officers were provided trainings on orange
farming.
Besides, 50,000 saplings of orange plants were produced in
a huge nursery last year to assist the people in farming
oranges in their orchards, homesteads and other places,
experts said.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has also
taken steps in expanding and popularizing orange farming
in Panchagarh and Thakurgaon since 2006 and so far trained
over 6,000 farmers to cultivate oranges.
BMDA
takes massive plan to cultivate Boro paddy in N-districts
BSS, Gaibandha
Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) has taken
up a massive plan to cultivate Boro paddy in five northern
districts during the current season providing farmers with
irrigation facilities at a low cast.
Office sources said a total of 25,750 hectares of land of
Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha
districts under Rangpur circle of BMDA would be brought
under the Boro paddy cultivation this year with the
production target of 1,28,750 tonnes of paddy through
operating total 1,030 electricity run deep tubewells.
Of the total land, some 7,425 hectares would be cultivated
by operating 297 deep tubewells in Rangpur district, 3,925
hectares by 157 deep tubewells in Nilphamari district,
6,250 hectares by 250 deep tubewells in Kurigram district,
3,275 hectares of land by 143 in Lalmanirhat district and
4,575 hectares by 183 dep tubewells in Gaibandha district,
the sources said.
In the command areas, UPVC pipes were also installed under
the ground to supply water from all the deep tubewells to
boro land to check misuse and wastage of about 40 percent
water, and save 17 percent arable land used for
constructing drains, said M. Habibur Rahman Khan,
executive engineer of BMDA, Rangpur region.
GM Selim Parvez, a farmer of Hossainpur village under
Fulchhari upazila in the district said, "We are very
grateful to BMDA as it is supplying irrigation water to
our Boro land at a low price." The BMDA also supplied
irrigation water to our Aman paddy field free of cost last
year when a drought-like situation prevailed during the
Aman season, he also said.
Teachers urged to discharge
duties with utmost sincerity
BSS, Rajshahi
Speakers at a meeting here Sunday urged the teachers to
discharge their duties with utmost sincerity and honesty
to improve the standard of education.
In this context, they viewed that at present the standard
of education has been downsized as a whole due to various
reasons, including change of attitude of both teachers and
students.
However, they said, ensuring qualitative and quantitative
education in all educational institutions is the
precondition to advance the nation and to rid of from the
curse of illiteracy.
District unit of Bangladesh Teachers Association (BTA)
organized the teachers and employees conference at
Upashaher Satellite Town School playground.
Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and Engineer
Enamul Haque, MP, addressed the conference as the chief
guest and special guest respectively with BTA district
unit president Zahir Uddin in the chair.
Chief Coordinator of National Teachers Employees Front
Kazi Faruque Ahmed addressed the meeting as the chief
speaker.
"To launch discrimination-free education system and to
establish dignity and rights of the teachers" was the
slogan of the meeting.
The speakers said the present government has given
emphasis on promotion of the country's educational sector
as it is committed to establishing a disparity-free
education system in the country for its overall
development.
In this context, they said the government has been trying
to make the country's educational system time-fitting and
need- oriented to take the nation towards prosperity.
With this end in view, they said, the government has
formulated the "National Education Policy-2009",
incorporating various measures to make the education
policy beneficial to the people as well as the country.
Mayor Liton said the spirit of the great War of Liberation
was reflected in the proposed education policy and that
could be the effective tools for taking nation towards
prosperity.
"We have no alternative to formulate a time-oriented and
realistic education policy to fulfill the hopes and
aspiration of the people side by side with
institutionalization of democracy," Mayor Liton said.
He called for a collective effort to make the education
policy effective through its successful implementation to
supplement the government's efforts.
He, however, said importance should be given on expediting
the classroom-based education system along with
prohibiting its commercialization.
Japan supports ‘NAZIR’ for its
Resource Center in Lalmonirhat
UNB, Dhaka
Japan provided grant of US$ 87,563 (approx. Tk 60 lakh) to
an NGO named "Natun Zibon Rochi" (NAZIR) for Construction
of Resource Center for the disabilities and poor women in
Lalmonirhat.
Harumitsu Hida, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, Japanese
Embassy here signed the grant contract with Nurul Hoque
Sarker, Executive Director of NAZIR under Japan's Grant
Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects (GGHSP).
A release of the Japanese Embassy said since its
establishment of 1997, NAZIR has been working vigorously
to uplifting lives of the poor, especially people with
disabilities and women in Lalmonirhat district.
This time NAZIR will build a two-storied resource center
for the disabilities and poor women in Lalmonirhat using
the grant from the Japanese government.
Through this Resource Center, 1,200 disables can take high
quality physiotherapy every year. In addition, NAZIR can
provide various trainings like farm work, poultry,
tailoring, and button making for 10,350 disables and poor
women in a year.
Call
for transforming sanitation campaign into social movement
BSS, Rajshahi
Speakers at a dialogue here Sunday unanimously called for
transforming the sanitation campaign into social movement
for ensuring a healthy society.
In this context, they also underlined the need for a
concerted effort of all quarters particularly the
community people side by side with the government efforts
to attain total sanitation coverage by 2013.
The hygienic sanitation campaign must be successful for
the sake of keeping the environment free from pollution
along with saving people especially the children from
infecting water borne diseases.
Side by side with strengthening the local government
institutions, they added that the public-private
collaboration has become indispensable to attain the
cherished goal.
Rajshahi Niskrity in association with Village Education
Resource Center (VERC) and some other partner
organizations arranged the dialogue styled "Sanitation for
all families by 2013: Role of the Grassroots communities"
at the conference hall of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and
Industry.
Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton addressed the
meeting as the chief guest while Deputy Executive Director
of VERC Yeakub Hossain, Superintending Engineer of
Department of Public Health Engineering Abul Basher,
Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Abul Fazal, Manda UNO Moniruzzaman
and Union Parishad Chairmen Mokbul Hossain and Mosharraf
Hossain spoke as special guests.
In his address of welcome, Director of Rajshahi Niskrity
SKL Muhammad Lalon gave an overview of the present
sanitation position of the district while VERC Regional
Coordinator Tapan Kumar Shaha made his thanksgiving
speech.
Marking the occasion, four community leaders from Paba,
Godagari and Paba upazilas of Rajshahi and Manda upazila
of Naogaon presented the sanitation scenario of their
respective area.
Mayor Liton said only the government or any single
organization is not capable to attain the target but a
collective effort is indeed.
Although it's a difficult task but we are committed to
achieve the goal in the metropolis through expediting the
motivational and advocacy works along with extending
financial support among the target people.
JU to increase number of seats for
disabled students
BSS, Jahangirnagar University
Jahangirnagar University (JU) is likely to increase the
number of students in the quota system for disabled
students for admission.
Vice Chancellor of the university Prof Dr Shariff Enamul
Kabir said this while inaugurating a two-day workshop on
"Skill Development" organized by Physical Challenge
Development Foundation (PDF) Saturday.
The VC said terrorism and fundamentalism in the country
would reduce creating social awareness. He urged the
youths especially students to come forward turn the
population of the country into human resources.
He called upon all concerned to extend helping hand to
disabled people of the country.
Pro Vice Chancellor of the JU Prof Dr Md Farhad Hossain,
among others, was present at the inaugurating session.
The two-day workshop includes lectures on management
skill, awareness of laws related to the disabled, freshers
reception, discussion cultural function and certificate
distribution among the participants.
Sports
Bangladesh regains bronze in SAG
hockey
TBT report
Bangla-desh staged a brilliant comeback to score a come-from
behind 2-1 win over Sri Lanka to reclaim the bronze medal in
the hockey event of the 11th South Asian Games (SAG) on
Sunday.
Bangladesh successfully negated its first half deficit and
emerged winner when Ashiquzzaman and Mamu-nur Rahman Chayan
scored goals in the second half of the third-place play-off
match at Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka .
It was a sweet revenge for the hosts who lost their bronze to
the same opponents in 2006 Colombo South Asian Games.
Bangladesh coach Gerhard Peter Rach said it was the outcome
their hard work. "We worked hard to regain bronze. It was our
commitment. Boys put a lot of efforts and got the reward. It
would have been happier for me if we would have won the
silver," the German said.
Earlier, Bangladesh had an insipid start in the bronze-decider
and allowed the Sri Lankans to have an edge in the first half.
Though both sides carried out a series of attacks, Sri Lankan
players kept the Bangladesh side on alert and finished the
first half with a 1-0 advantage.
Mulaffer scored for Sri Lanka with a serene shot following a
combined move on 18 minute and though the islanders played
well to preserve their lead before the break, they crumbled
against the hosts' spirited display after the change of ends.
Ashiquzzaman leveled the scores deflecting a powerful straight
shot from Chayan into the goal (1-1) on 50 minutes. Buoyed by
the late success, Bangla-desh players swooped on the Sri
Lankan side with redoubled vigour and frustrated the islanders
with attacks after attacks.
Their relentless pressure eventually paid dividend when drag
flick specialist Chayan hit the top of the net, successfully
converting a penalty corner, taken by Russell Mahmud Jimmy
with five minute remaining to send the fans into a rapturous
celebration (2-1).
Bangladesh: Mehrab Hossain Kiron, Zahid Hossain
(Goalkeeper), Mamu-nur Rahman Chayan, Aasaduzzaman, Moshiur
Rahman Biplob (Captain), Imran Hasan Pintu, Taposh Barman.
Russell Mahmud Jimmy, Sheikh Nannu, Abdus Sajjad John,
Mohammad Kamruzzaman, Pushkar Khisha, Zahidul Islam, Golam
Mustafa, Mohammad Ashiquzzaman, Moshiur Rahman Feroze.
Sri Lanka: Rathnasiri, Fernando (Goalkeeper), Anura
Karunarathen, Darma Dhamarathne, Sameera Perara, Pandi
Panditharathne, Diluka Weerasooriya, Getti Hettiarchchi,
Gazzaly, Anju Hewage, Dammika Abeyarathne (Caption), Duminda
Dissanayaka, Mulaffer, Prabath Wijeyakoon, San-geewa and
Ishanka Jayasundara.
Pakistan
downs India to retain gold
TBT report
Pakistan retained its gold in the hockey event of the South
Asian Games defeating arch rival India 4-3 in tie-breakers in
the final at Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka
on Sunday.
The match rolled into the tie-breakers after the regulation
and extra time ended in a one-all draw.
India tried to subdue the Pakistanis from the beginning with a
flurry of moves and took an early lead when skipper Ajitesh
Roy scored from a penalty corner just six minutes after the
push-off.
Pakistan players toiled hard for an equaliser in the remainder
of the first session but their efforts went futile as their
goal-shy forwards frittered away some easy chances. Pakistan,
which lost to India 5-1 in the preliminary-round match,
started to gain rhythm as the second half wore on and the
defending champions returned to the contention when Wasif
Siddque converted a penalty corner on 45 minutes to put the
match on an even keel.
With the regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw and the extra 15
minutes also failed to separate the two teams, the play moved
into the tie-breakers. Wasif Siddique, Kashif Javid, Tasawar
Abbass and captain Sabtain Raza scored goals in the shoot-out,
while Zeeshan Ali missed the target for Pakistan .
V. Raghunath, Innocent and Vikash scored for India , while
Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt foiled the attempts of Varinder
and Dharamveer Singh to bring off the second successive gold
in the South Asian Games for his country.
Earlier, Pakistan won gold in hockey in the South Asian Games
in 2006 and India in 1995.
Pakistan: Imran Butt (Goalkeeper), Mohammad Khalid, Wasif
Siddique, Zeeshan Ali, Mohsin Bilal, Aamir Shahzad, Waqas
Akbar, Abdul Qayyum, Abdul Khaliq, Sabtain Raza (Captain),
Naghman Ahmed, Kashif Javid, Mohammad Waqas, Zubair Ahmed,
Tasawar Abbass and Mohammad Salim.
India: Mrinal, Harjit (Goalkeeper), Birendra, Belsajar,
Innocent, Varinder, Hamza, Vikash, Dhara-maveer Singh,
Mohammad Aamir, V. Raghunath, Ajitesh Roy (Captain), Amit
Kumar, Roshan, Promod and Bikash.
Pakistan summons coach,
captain over Australia rout
AFP, Karachi
An evaluation committee issued a demand on Sunday for
Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Alam and captain Mohammad
Yousuf to explain the team's dismal performance on their
tour of Australia.
Pakistan lost all their matches on the tour-the Tests by
3-0 and one-day matches by 5-0 before going down in the
only Twenty20 match on Friday.
The results have prompted an investigation by the Pakistan
Cricket Board (PCB). The six-man committee is headed by
former captain Wasim Bari, who is the PCB's chief
operating officer, and includes another former captain,
Wasim Akram, in place of Haroon Rasheed, who was
originally named as a member.
The others on the board are PCB governing Board member
Wazir Ali Khoja, PCB director Zakir Khan, former team
manager Yawar Saeed and PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi.
Bari said the committee will start its work this coming
Friday. "We are starting our evaluation work from Friday
and on the first day coach Alam and manager Raqeeb have
been invited and the following day our captain Yousuf will
appear," Bari told AFP.
Pakistan have a history of probing their defeats, having
also initiated inquiries over the team's first round exit
from the 50-over World Cups in the West Indies three years
ago and in South Africa in 2003.
Earlier Pakistan coach Alam took full responsibility for
the team's dismal show, and vowed not to run away from any
investigation.
"I will not run away and will face an investigation," said
Alam after the team returned home on Sunday. "I am not
going to comment on any resignation but I take full
responsibility for the defeat." Pakistan captain Mohammad
Yousuf, who returned to Pakistan on Wednesday, vowed to
continue as skipper despite a hint from the PCB that there
will be a change of captaincy.
Bari said the terms of references of the committee
included match performance, player discipline and any
other issue relating to the tour of Australia.
The committee will also probe all-rounder Shahid Afridi's
ball-tampering case in the fifth and final one-day in
Perth last Sunday.
Afridi, leading Pakistan in the match in place of rested
Yousuf, was caught biting the ball on two separate
occasions. He was banned for two Twenty20 matches.
IOC defiant on dopers
AFP, Vancouver
As the clock ticks down towards the 2010 Vancouver
Olympics, doubts are being raised over the International
Olympic Committee's (IOC) promise to wage a pitiless war
against the drugs cheats.
The IOC's recent pledge to carry out close to 2,500 blood
and urine tests during the February 12-28 Games, double
the number carried out in Turin 2006, should prove a
sufficient deterrent.
Designed to avoid the kind of scandal that marred the last
two editions, tests will aim to detect performance
enhancers like insulin and growth hormones, among others.
But some experts believe that it is already too late.
German professor Werner Franke, who in the 1990s exposed
the true extent of state-sponsored doping by East Germany
two decades earlier, is a well-known figure in the fight
against doping in sport.
He believes there will be few endurance athletes in
Vancouver who have not been pharmaceutically primed. "I
believe the majority of endurance event athletes in
Vancouver will be doped," Franke said defiantly. Franke
implied that any cheats would reduce the risk by doing
their dirty work beforehand when they can glean precious
advantages over rivals by increasing their training
workloads-an not doping in situ.
"The cheat who goes to Vancouver and gets caught must come
from the planet Mars, because the way the (anti-doping)
tests are being done is totally unintelligent," added
Franke. However, IOC chief Jacques Rogge is set to follow
the lead of other sports, such as cycling, who have begun
banning athletes on the basis of doping suspicion.
Amla boosts South Africa with
double ton
AFP, Nagpur
Hashim Amla smashed his maiden double-century to put South
Africa in the driver's seat on the second day of the first
Test against India on Sunday.
Amla hit 22 fours in his unbeaten 253-run knock as the
tourists posted an imposing 558-6 before declaring their
first innings 26 minutes before scheduled close of play.
At stumps, India were 25-0 with Gautam Gambhir batting on
12 and Virender Sehwag on nine on a slow track at the
Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur.
It was Amla who stole the show with his remarkable innings
which came off 473 balls during a more than 11-hour stay
at the wicket.
The right-hander shared 340 runs for the third wicket with
Jacques Kallis (173) and another 108 runs for the fourth
with AB de Villiers (53) to put India's bowling attack to
the sword.
Amla, 26, reached the 200-run mark in his 42nd Test in
style, driving part-time spinner Virender Sehwag (1-55)
for a scorching four through the covers.
"A double century is always special, be it any
opposition," said Amla.
"But obviously it feels great that it came on Indian soil.
My game plan was to stay at the wicket for as long as
possible and put the team in a strong position."
De Villiers completed his 21st Test half-century before
edging Sehwag to backward point where debutant Subramaniam
Badrinath took a simple catch. He hit five fours in his
88-ball knock.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (2-166) earned India the
second success in the post-lunch session when he trapped
Jean-Paul Duminy plumb in front of the wicket for nine.
Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan (3-96) picked his first
wicket of the day when he had Mark Boucher (39) caught by
Amit Mishra at cover after he had added 78 runs for the
sixth wicket with Amla.
After toiling without success for two sessions on
Saturday, India finally got the key wicket of Kallis in
the morning when Harbhajan had him caught by Murali Vijay.
Kallis, eyeing his first Test double century, got a thick
inside edge on to the pad which popped up to Vijay at
short-leg. He was able to add only 14 runs to his
overnight score of 159.
Amla was lucky to survive at the other end after Vijay
dropped a sitter off Harbhajan when the batsman was on
149.
"Our bowlers bowled their hearts out," said India coach
Gary Kirsten. "You have days when you do not really get
the results that you want, but from my point of view, I am
very happy with the effort that we put in.
"If the batting from the other side is really good, then
you must acknowledge that. Amla played a superb innings.
Both Kallis and he batted exceptionally well.
"Full credit to them, they did a fantastic job considering
they came in to bat when they were two down for six."
Korean women beat Taiwan 4-0
AFP, Tokyo
South Korea battered Taiwan in a 4-0 victory Sunday in the
women's edition of the four-team East Asian football
championship.
Scoring began in the 27th minute when skipper Kim Yoo Mi
sent a cross toward the goal that Taiwan's defenders
failed to clear from the box.
Midfielder Jeon Ga Eul picked it up for a right-footer
that bounced by goalkeeper Huang Feng Chiu into the net. A
minute later, midfielder Lee Jang Mi headed in a Park Hee
Young free kick from the right side of the box to make it
2-0.
Taiwan's decisive opportunity arrived in the 37th minute,
when striker Tan Wen Li received a sharp Tseng Shu O pass
and breached the South Korean defence line, only to see
her shot hit outside the goal net.
Lee again scored with a penalty kick a moment before the
break, after Taiwanese goalkeeper Huang pulled down South
Korean midfielder Kim Joo Hee.
Substitute striker Yoo Young A brought the score to 4-0 in
the 73rd minute, when she pushed in a rob from defender
Hong Kyung Suk that flew above the Taiwanese defenders in
front of the goal.
South Korea, winners of the 2005 championship, stayed
dominant throughout, but it was an anxious match for coach
Lee Sang Yup, with several of his players suffering
injuries and illnesses.
"We have many injuries and the game's content showed it,"
he said.
Several South Korean players were suffering from colds,
influenza and general fatigue after a training camp in
California, he said.
"Coordination among players did not go well. It is a
worrying factor," he said.
Taiwan coach Chou Tai-Ying said her side also had
difficulty preparing because the team was unexpectedly
called to replace North Korea, which qualified but
declined to take part in the tournament.
In the women's edition of the tournament, South Korea and
Taiwan are competing with Japan and China.
England and Wales to clash for Euro place
AFP, Warsaw
Fabio Capello's England will face old rival Wales in its
Euro 2012 qualification campaign after the draw was made
here on Sunday for the tournament to be held in the
Ukraine and Poland.
England have drawn John Toshack's Wales side in Group G as
well as Montenegro, Bulgaria and Switzerland for a place
at Euro 2012 with the qualifiers set to begin this
September and finish in November 2011. "Wales is a really
good team, very young and a derby is never a normal game,"
said Capello whose side are ranked 9th in the world
according to FIFA with Toshack's Wales team listed as
77th.
The Welsh failed to qualify for this summer's World Cup in
South Africa, but the Italian will not be taking the Welsh
lightly with plenty of sporting rivallry between the two
British nations.
Switzerland, under ex-Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld,
are ranked 18th by FIFA while Bulgaria could also present
the Three Lions with some problems.
"I think every game will be really tough," added Capello.
Euro 2008 winners Spain, who beat Germany 1-0 to claim the
Henri Delauney trophy in Vienna on June 29, 2008, face
arguably their biggest test against the Czech Republic as
well as Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein in Group I.
Joachim Loew-coached Germany have drawn 1980 European
Championships finalists Belgium as well as neighbours
Austria, plus Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey, Kazakhstan
and Azerbaijan in Group A.
Current World Cup holders Italy, who had a poor Euro 2008
campaign by their own standards, have drawn World Cup
qualifiers Serbia, as well as Slovenia, Estonia, the Faroe
Islands and Northern Ireland in Group C.
Stosur leads Australia to Fed Cup victory
AFP, Adelaide
Samantha
Stosur inspired Australia to a 3-2 win over Spain in their
Fed Cup World Group II first round tie at Memorial Drive
here on Sunday.
The world number 11 Stosur featured in all three of
Australia's victories and joined with 38-year-old veteran
Rennae Stubbs to gain the winning doubles rubber in the
final match. Australia will now have an April play-off for
elevation to the elite World Group for the first time
since 2004. Stosur, who lost to world number one and
eventual champion Serena Williams in the fourth round at
this month's Australian Open in Melbourne, won both her
singles ties against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and
Anabel Medina Garrigues.
Carla Suarez Navarro had levelled the tie on Sunday with a
6-1, 6-1 win over former world number eight Alicia Molik,
who is on the comeback trail and is currently ranked 170.
But in the deciding tie, Stosur and Stubbs easily got
Australia home with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Spanish pair
Martinez Sanchez and Nuria Llagostera Vives.
Spain were Fed Cup champions five times in the 1990s but
last year were relegated to the World Group II following
losses to the Czech Republic and Serbia. It was only
Australia's third victory in 10 Fed Cup series with Spain.
Bangladesh takes on Afghanistan in men’s
football final today
UNB, Dhaka
Bangla-desh takes on Afgha-nistan in the high voltage
final of the South Asian Games men's football at
Bangabandu National Stadium in Dhaka today.
The match kicks off at 6:15 pm.
Talking to reporters Bangladesh skipper Aminul Haque said
they would continue their winning spree and win against
Afghanistan in the final.
Aminul, the long time server as the national custodian for
Bangladesh, just before to take the final practice session
said, "We presented better football so far and I think we
are almost success rather losing a bit rhythm against
India in the semi-final."
"But in the final we will try our best to keep the tempo
from first to last of the final match," he said.
The country's number one custodian Aminul, who don't want
to take Afghanistan lightly, said that there is no way to
take Afghanistan lightly as they proved worthy by reaching
the final berth."
"Every opponent in the final is certainly strong, so it
will be not easy task to win the final. I was not happy
with the result with India in the semi-final, but I think
Afghanistan is better side than India," Aminul said.
Bangladesh smartly reached into the semifinal with all win
run beating Nepal 3-0 in opener, blanked 4-0 to Bhutan in
the second match and edged past 1-0 to Maldives to emerge
group A champion in the meet.
Westwood stumbles in Dubai
AFP, Dubai
European No.1 Lee Westwood broke out of a four-way tie for
the lead in the Dubai Desert Classic Sunday early into the
final round but was hauled back in by a double-bogey at
the fifth.
The 36-year-old English-man was level at 11-under with
Asian No.1 Thongchai Jaidee, and Spanish pair Alvaro
Quiros and Miguel Angel Jimenez going into the final day.
He parred the two opening holes before back-to-back brides
at the third and fourth gave him the lead at 13 under. He
seemed to have the momentum but a poor drive at the fifth
resulted in a double-bogey six.
The big-hitting Quiros, who is quickly establishing
himself as a top ten player of the future, birdied the
third but immediately dropped a stroke at the next hole to
stay at 11 under, level with compatriot Jimenez who parred
his first five holes.
Thongchai dropped back to 10 under with a bogey at the
fourth. Westwood had predicted "a birdie-fest" on Sunday
to determine who will win the Gulf region's premier
tournament.
Asif not cleared for Pakistan’s
UAE trip
AFP, Karachi
Pakistani paceman Moha-mmad Asif will not be able to play
in the United Arab Emirates as its authorities have
refused to revoke a travel ban on him, an official said
Sunday.
The 27-year-old Asif was deported from the United Arab
Emirates after being detained at Dubai airport last June
when a small quantity of opium was found in his
possession.
The fast bowler was detained for 19 days before the
authorities deported him, saying the quantity of the
banned drug was insignificant to make a court case.
Asif was on his way from India after featuring in the
first edition of the Indian Premier League, where he
tested positive for a banned drug. That earned him a
one-year ban from all cricket, which ended in September
last year.
Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Wasim Bari
confirmed a request was made to clear Asif.
Pakistan will be playing England in two Twenty20 matches
later this month and some other series are also lined up,
"so we made a request with the UAE authorities but they
turned it down as it's not possible under their laws,"
Bari told AFP.
A similar request was also made last year and was also
refused, said Bari.
Pakistan has also invited South Africa for a Test and
one-day series later in the year in the UAE, after South
Africa refused to tour the troubled country in
October-November this year due to security concerns.
Asif has been Pakistan's most successful bowler since his
return. He took 19 wickets in the three-Test series in New
Zealand and another 13 in as many Tests against Australia
on the tour which ended on Friday.
Bari said Asif would not be considered for the selection
of the two Twenty20 matches, for which the team will be
announced on Monday.
Djokovic looks to bounce back
AFP, Rotterdam
Novak Djokovic will strive to show that his recent case of
indigestion at the Australian Open was just a case of bad
luck, with the Serb world number two returning to action
as top seed at the Rotterdam Open starting here today.
Djokovic, who moved up to second in the world behind Roger
Federer after the Australian Open, had to quit with
stomach problems in a quarter-final loss to Frenchman Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga.
Djokovic last played at the Ahoy stadium in this Dutch
port city in 2007, reaching the semi-finals at the ATP 500
series event with a loss to Mikhail Youzhny, the eventual
champion. He opens in the first round against Ukrainian
Sergei Stakhovsky, ranked 66th.
Djokovic takes top seeding after the injury withdrawal of
Rafael Nadal, who is resting a fragile knee on doctor's
orders in Spain with hopes of returning in early March.
Nadal played the 2009 final, losing with a different knee
injury to Andy Murray, who is not returning to defend his
title. The event received another late blow from
Australian Open semi-finalist Tsonga, forced to pull out
due to a stomach muscle injury.
"It bothered me in the quarter-final against Novak
Djokovic and in the semi-final against Roger Federer,"
Tsonga revealed on his website.
Australian Open surprise Nikolay Davydenko returns to
Rotterdam for the seventh consecutive year, with
semi-finals in 2006 and 2007 as his best efforts.
The sixth-ranked Russian turned into the comedy hit of the
Open as his formerly quiet personality sudden took on new
life in a series of entertaining media conferences.
The workaholic of the courts comes back to Rotterdam with
recent success including the title at the year-end
champion-ships in London in November and victory in Doha
in January.
His opening test will be against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez,
who has beaten the Russian in four of five ATP meetings
and is also in form having reached the final of the South
African Open.
Sweden's Robin Soderling, last year's Roland Garros
finalist against Federer, was given a wild card after an
opening round defeat in Australia.
Soderling lost the 2008 final to France's MIchael Llodra,
inserted into the 32-man draw in place of compatriot
Tsonga.
Frenchman Gael Monfils takes the fourth seeding with a
late start expected after he reached the semi-finals at
the South African Open but failed to live up to his top
seed status as Lopez beat him in their last four
encounter.
Spain's Tommy Robredo is seeded fifth ahead of Youzhny.
American James Blake makes his Rotterdam debut with a
first-round encounter with Marcos Baghdatis as the Cypriot
shrugs off concerns of tendinitis in a shoulder.
Real Madrid closes gap with Barca
AFP, Madrid
Brazilian superstar Kaka scored his first league goal in
three months as Real Madrid closed back to within five
points of pacesetters Barcelona at the top of the Spanish
top-flight with a comfortable 3-0 home win over Espanyol.
Barcelona had gone eight points clear with a 2-0 home win
over Getafe earlier on Saturday, despite playing over an
hour of the game with ten men, so the pressure was on Real
and they responded with an 11th consecutive home victory.
Real were without Cristiano Ronaldo, completing his
two-match ban, but didn't need the Portuguese star as
goals from Sergio Ramos, Kaka and Gonzalo Higuain sealed
an easy win. Madrid got off to a great start when Ramos
headed in Esteban Gra-nero's cross after just five
minutes. Kaka netted a second on 29 minutes after captain
Raul, back in the starting line-up, saw his initial effort
saved.
Kaka was all smiles after ending a run of seven league
games without a goal and this was his first goal since he
netted in the 3-2 derby win over Atletico Madrid back on
November 7. "It was nice for me to score after so many
games," said Kaka. "I am coming back from injury and just
finding my best form.
"Barcelona are doing well at the moment and not dropping
points but we just have to continue winning our games."
Kaka almost scored again in the second half when he
rattled the post.
Argentine Higuain made his Real first appearance following
a three week lay-off and came off the bench to score in
the final minute to make it 3-0.
Leaders Barcelona had to show the spirit of champions to
beat Getafe 2-1 at Camp Nou despite the handicap of
playing 65 minutes with ten men after Gerard Pique was
sent off for a late lunge.
Barcelona had taken a fifth-minute lead with Lionel Messi
curling in a brilliant effort for his 16th goal of the
season but defender Gerard Pique got a straight red card
on 25 minutes for a late lunge to complicate matters.
Barca rode out the storm for a fifth consecutive win with
Messi setting up Xavi for the second goal on 66 minutes
and it proved crucial as Roberto Soldado scored a penalty
in stoppage time.
The Getafe match was special for midfielder Andres Iniesta
who made his 200th league appearance for Barca. For
Argentine centre-back Gaby Milito it was a first league
start of the season as he continues his recovery following
serious cruciate ligament injuries.
"Playing with one man less is always difficult and Getafe
are a great team so this was a great win," said Milito.
"On a personal level it was nice to play 90 minutes after
coming back from my injuries."
With just five minutes gone Barca took the lead with Messi
wrapping his left foot around the ball and his bending
shot flew in.
A second goal looked a matter of time but Pique then lost
his cool on 25 minutes lunging at Rafa Gomez and the
referee had no hesitation in reaching for the red card.
Despite being one man less Barca created chances and
Seydou Keita missed a sitter on the hour mark putting his
shot wide from close range.
Fortunately for Keita it didn't prove costly with Messi
showing great balance and control to set up Xavi who made
no mistake to score on 66 minutes. Rafa Marquez was sent
off in the closing stages for giving away a penalty which
Roberto Soldado converted but Barca took the spoils.
Getafe must dust themselves down for Wednesday's Kings Cup
semi-final test against Sevilla trailing 2-0 from the
first leg. Earlier Valencia triumphed 2-0 at home over
Valladolid, moving them six points clear of fourth-placed
Sevilla. "We should have won by a bigger margin," said
Valencia coach Unai Emery. "We found it difficult at home
in the first half of the season but little by little we
are improving and making our fans happy."
For Valladolid's new coach Onesimo Sanchez, who replaced
the sacked Jose Luis Mendilibar, it was a disappointing
start in his first game in charge and the club now lie a
point above the relegation zone without a win in 2010.
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