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Leading News
PM goes to Delhi today, holds
talks with Manmohan tomorrow
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will fly for New Delhi today
(Sunday) on a four-day official visit to India, amid high
hopes for a breakthrough in decades of bipartite
negotiations for resolving the longstanding issues between
the two neighbors.
A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the
Prime Minister and her entourage will take off from Dhaka
international airport at 6pm and land at Palam Air Force
Base at 8pm (local time).
She will stay at Hotel ITC Maurya during her days in the
Indian capital on her high-profile maiden visit to India
after becoming Prime Minister for the second time at a
turning-point in Bangladesh's political scenario.
Hasina will hold official talks with her Indian
counterpart, Dr Manmohan Singh, at 5:30 pm Monday at
Hyderabad House when several agreements or memorandums of
understanding (MOU) are expected to be signed.
Beforehand, in the morning, the Prime Minister will be
given a ceremonial reception at the forecourt of
Rashtrapati Bhaban while she will pay tribute to Gandhi
Samadhi at Rajghat. She is scheduled to meet Indian
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil at Rashtrapati Bhaban
at 12 noon on the day.
Also on Monday, Hasina, also the president of the ruling
Awami League, will have bilateral talks with Congress
President Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janapath and with Indian
Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Indian Foreign
Minister SM Krishna and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
at her hotel suite.
On Tuesday, Sheikh Hasina will be officially awarded
Indira Gandhi Peace Award at a ceremony at the Rashtrapati
Bhaban.
She will have bilateral talks with Indian Railway Minister
Mamata Banerjee at her hotel the same day.
Besides, the Prime Minister will place floral wreaths at
Shakti Sthal, the cremation ground of India's first and
only woman Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and at Vir Bhumi,
the cremation ground of her son Rajiv Gandhi. She is also
scheduled to have interaction with Indian businessmen and
journalists on the day.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will take her breakfast
with media men and at 10 am fly for Jaipur by a special
aircraft to visit Ajmer Sharif, the shrine of great Muslim
saint Khwaza Mainuddin Chisti (Rm). She will fly back for
home from Jaipur Airport by the flight BG 1096 at 3pm
(local time) and arrive in Dhaka at Bangladesh time
5:50pm.
Khaleda
says
Govt came to power riding 6 horses imported by Moeen
UNB, Dhaka
Opposition leader and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on
Saturday night hit out at her political adversaries saying
that the grand alliance got to power by riding the six
horses imported by former army chief General Moeen U
Ahmed.
She came up with this blistering attack on the ruling
coalition at an impromptu press conference held at her
Gulshan office just before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's
visit to India, starting tomorrow (Sunday).
"You all saw who came in to power by promulgating
emergency across the country, who remained in power
unconstitutionally for two years through looting people's
rights, and oppression and repression," said Khaleda,
whose last tenure as PM ended in a fiasco on the political
scene that led to state of emergency following the 1/11
changeover in 2007.
"We did not raise question whether the election under that
government was legal, but it remains as a question and
will continue to be so," she told the journalists at the
crowded press conference.
Khaleda said that the people of the country saw who
"violated" the constitutional and human rights of the
people through emergency. "You all saw who imported six
horses to make the country subservient forever," she said,
in an oblique reference to the six stallions gifted to
Bangladesh by the Indian government during general Moeen's
India tour at the time of rule of the army-backed interim
government.
"The Awami League leader and her party placed all-out
support for them," the BNP chairperson said about her
political archrival's role at the time.
She also struck a note of exclamation over the matter that
when the misdeeds were going on, her (Hasina's) party-men
were facing ordeals, oppression and torture.
"It is very regretful that neither with the support and
labor of the people nor of the party-men but the grand
alliance came to power by riding those six horses," she
said.
Khaleda then quipped: "The stains of this stigma cannot be
washed clean even with the waters of the Bay of Bengal."
The BNP chief lamented that the promulgation of emergency
in 2007 was done to stop Bangladesh's advancement.
BSF
kills two more Bangladeshis
814 killed on border
during last 9 years
TBT Report
The killing spree of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on
Bangladesh border continues unabated despite India's
repeated pledges to stop such killings. Two more
Bangladeshi citizens were killed in separate incidents
along Benapole and Chapainawabganj border early Saturday.
Of the two, one was beaten to death and another was shot
dead by BSF.
With them three Bangladeshis were killed by BSF in first
nine days of 2010 taking the total number of deaths from
January 1, 2009 to January 9, 2010 to 89.
The number of Bangladeshis killed by BSF during the nine
years period from January 1, 2000 to January 9, 2010
stands at 814. BSF also injured 857 and abducted 897
Bangladeshis in the same period.
According to UNB News Agency, a Bangladeshi cattle trader
was beaten to death by BSF along Benapole border early
Saturday. The victim was identified as Hazrat Ali, 30, son
of Jahur Ali of Harishchandrapur village under the port
thana. BDR and local sources said the BSF personnel from
Pipli outpost beat Hazrat Ali mercilessly while he was
returning from India with cattle, leaving him dead on the
spot.
Another UNB News says: A Bangladeshi farmer was shot dead
by the members of Indian Boarder Security Force (BSF)
along Simnagar border in Shibganj upazila in
Chapainawabganj Saturday morning. The victim was
identified as Manirul Haque, 25, of Tarapur Mollapara in
the upazila.
The killings of unarmed Bangladeshis by the BSF on the
border are continuing in clear violation of the spirit of
good neighborliness as well as international law and
despite repeated pledges by the Indian authorities to stop
it. In every meeting between BSF and BDR and also between
the higher level officials of the two countries, the
Indian side assures that killing of Bangladeshis by its
forces on the border would come to an end immediately. But
this pledge is seldom implemented.
Delwar rejects Ashrafuls allegation of
Mosharraf-Anup Chetia meeting
TBT Report
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain on Saturday
rejected the Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful
Islam's allegation of a meeting between the former
Pakistani president Pervez Mosharraf and ULFA leader Anup
Chetia during the rule of the previous BNP-led four-party
alliance government.
"If you (Ashraful) have any facts, figures, data and
information in support of your allegation against the then
BNP-led alliance government, produce it before the nation
or else give up such claim," Delwar said while talking to
the reporters after placing floral wreaths on the occasion
of announcement of party's national executive committee at
the grave of Shaheed president Ziaur Rahman in the
capital.
It may be pointed out that the AL general secretary Syed
Ashraful Islam on January 8 told a roundtable at the
National Press Club that the then BNP-led alliance govt
arranged a meeting at a hotel in Dhaka between the then
Pakistani president Pervez Mosharraf and Anup Chetia was
detained at that time. Due to this reason, the relations
between Bangladesh and India were not normal in the last
seven years, he said.
Khandaker Delwar Hossain said country's democracy will be
flourished if the ruling party's general secretary Syed
Ashraful Islam speaks on the basis of authentic facts,
figures, data and information.
When the Awami League government remains in power, it
thinks that it is maintaining a good relationship with
India. The anti-people deals were signed during the rule
of earlier government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his
daughter Sheikh Hasina's governments. So when and where
friendly relationship between the two countries was
available, he asked.
He criticised the remark of Syed Ashraful Islam who said
the BNP parliamentarians enjoy all sorts of parliamentary
facilities, but they don't come to the circus
(parliament). Earlier, the speaker of the house termed the
parliament has become a fish market while Syed Ashraf
called it a circus.
Regarding the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming
India visit, Delwar wished her a success as the countrymen
don't want any anti-national interest deal which will
never be accepted if country's national interest is
violated.
Dhaka, Yangon reach consensus
Maritime boundary to be
demarcated through coordinated policy
UNB, Chittagong
Bangladesh and Myanmar Saturday agreed to demarcate the
maritime boundary of the two countries through a
coordinated policy having the "principle of equity' and
'equidistance system'.
Both the countries reached the consensus to formulate the
coordinated policy on the last day of a two-day high-level
meeting at Hotel Agrabad here. Additional Foreign
Secretary Rear Admiral (retd) M Khorshed Alam briefed
reporters about it after the meeting.
Khorshed Alam, who led the Bangladesh side at the meeting,
informed the two countries would hold another meeting in
Myanmar before the month of April to formulate the
coordinated policy. He, however, said the talks ended
fruitfully. Deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar Yu Maung
Myint led the Myanmar side.
Replying to a question, he said the nature of the
coordinated system would be fixed through discussions.
"It's a technical matter. We've agreed to continue talks,"
he said. Myanmar Ambassador to Bangladesh U Phae Than Oo
also termed the discussion fruitful and said it would
continue.
During Friday's talks, Bangladesh and Myanmar placed their
respective proposals on demarcation of the maritime
boundary, as they opened the talks on a positive note to
resolve the dispute over the mineral-rich waters of the
Bay of Bengal.
On the first day of the two-day meeting, Bangladesh
proposed fixing the maritime boundary following the
'Principle of Equity' while Myanmar recommended
per-line-based equidistance system. Later, Bangladesh
formally raised the issue at the Arbitration Tribunal of
the United Nations in October, 2009 for a solution.
On the other hand, neither Bangladesh nor India could
extract mineral resources from gas-and-oil blocks in the
deep sea, as both the countries claimed the blocks as
theirs, said a Foreign Ministry source from the meeting.
The sources said Myanmar and India have claimed 18 out of
27 blocks of Bangladesh in the deep sea for long. After 22
years, Bangladesh and Myanmar sat in a meeting in 2008 to
demarcate the maritime boundary, but the talks ended
inconclusively.
Indian, Pak troops exchange fire
Xinhua, New Delhi
Indian paramilitary officials claimed on Saturday that
Pakistani troops fired rockets at the Indo-Pak border town
of Wagah in northern Indian state of Punjab a little past
midnight Friday.
"Four rockets were fired from across the border at 12.40
a.m. today. Two rockets landed near the paramilitary
Border Security Force (BSF) post at Wagah, while the other
two landed in a field. The BSF returned the fire with
small arms and mortars. No casualty has been reported,"
Punjab frontier Inspector General of Police (IGP) Himmat
Singh told the media.
A flag meeting was held with the Pakistan Rangers right
after the incident, he said.
Meanwhile, India has claimed that the country is still
vulnerable to terrorist attacks sponsored by "forces from
across the border", after militants launched an attack
upon a police station earlier this week in
India-controlled Kashmir, in which four people, including
a policeman and two militants, were killed in a 22-hour
gunfighting.
"The incident highlights the fact that the country,
especially Jammu and Kashmir, remains vulnerable to
militant attacks sponsored by forces from across the
border," Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram said on
Friday.
Back Page
President urges pvt universities to
reduce tuition fees
UNB, Dhaka
President Zillur Rahman Saturday urged the country's
private universities to reduce their tuition fess
alongside creating more opportunities of higher education
for the students of middle-class families.
"Offer more scholarships for the poor but brilliant
students," he said while addressing the 13th convocation
of North South University (NSU) at its Bashundhara campus.
The President said universities have huge responsibilities
to serve the interest of the country's common people.
"Keep in mind that education shouldn't be only based on
curricula and certificates, and universities should not be
merely profit-making organisations."
President Zillur asked the universities authorities to
properly discharge their responsibilities in this regard.
"Universities should provide clear knowledge to their
students about the country's history, tradition,
civilization, culture and lifestyle of the mass people."
Zillur Rahman said the students should know the history of
all important movements of the country's people and
contribute towards welfare of the common people imbued
with patriotism.
Congratulating the new graduates, the President called
upon them to always uphold the country's national
interests during their professional life without
compromising with injustice and untruth. "Never forget the
country and its people, wherever of the world you live
in."
Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's declared
'Vision 2021' for building a hunger, poverty and
illiteracy-free IT-based prosperous Bangladesh, the
President urged all, including the young generation, to
make their united endeavors for implementing the vision.
A total of 726 students were conferred upon postgraduate
and undergraduate degrees in different disciplines in the
convocation.
Sonia Ferdous Hoque and Syeda Kamrun Nahar Ahmed were
awarded Chancellor's Gold Medals while Sheehan Rahman and
Nasreen Sultana Rahman Vice Chancellor's Gold Medals in
recognition of their outstanding academic results.
Canadian High Commi-ssioner to Bangladesh Robert McDougall
addressed the convocation as speaker. NSU Vice Chancellor
Prof Hafiz GA Siddiqi and chairman of NSU Foundation MA
Kashem also spoke on the occasion.
Bangabandhu
murder
3 condemned convicts seek clemency
Two others file review
petition
UNB, Dhaka
Three of the five condemned murderers of father of the
nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Saturday
submitted separate mercy petitions to the President
through the jail authorities while the remaining two
petitioned the Supreme Court for a review of their capital
punishment instead of seeking clemency.
Briefing journalists at his office on the latest
developments regarding the fate of the former army cable,
IG (prisons) Brig General Ashraful Islam said condemned
prisoners Lt Col (retd) Muhiuddin Ahmed (Artillery), Maj
AKM Mohiuddin (Lancer) and Major (retd) Bazlul Huda
submitted mercy petitions.
On the other hand, Lt Col (sacked) Syed Faruque Rahman and
Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan sent in review
petitions to the apex court.
"All the five petitions will be sent to the government
Sunday for order," the prisoners' boss said, adding that
the next course of action will be taken as per the Jail
Code after receiving orders from the executive.
Saturday was the last date for the condemned prisoners to
seek mercy from the President in the last resort to get
exempted from being executed, as they already have been
served death warrants.
Prisoners on death row get seven days from receiving the
death warrants to seek clemency as per the law.
On January 3, Dhaka District and Sessions Judge M Abdul
Gafur issued and sent the death warrants to the senior
jail super of Dhaka Central Jail directing him to take
necessary steps to officially inform the confirmation of
death sentence to the five prisoners.
On November 19 last year, the Appellate Division of the
Supreme Court, dismissing their appeals, reaffirmed the
death sentences handed down by the High Court earlier to a
dozen killers in the Bangabandhu murder case.
As per the Supreme Court rules, the condemned convicts can
file review petitions against the apex court's verdict
within 30 days of receiving the certified copy of the
conclusive verdict.
Meanwhile, the counsel for the condemned prisoners
received the certified copies of the verdict of
Bangabandhu murder case and the time for submission of the
review petitions to the SC expires on January 21.
PM calls for freeing
country from polio by vaccinating every child
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday called for freeing
the country from Polio by vaccinating every child of 0-59
months' age against the crippling disease.
She urged the people of all classes and professions to
inform parents and guardians about the immunization
programme, and pursue them to vaccinate their children
against Polio.
"Even if a child remains unattended, the whole programme
will go in vain," the Prime Minister said while
inaugurating the 18th National Immunization Day (NID)
'2010 and Measles Immunization Campaign' 2010 (February
14-28) at a simple ceremony at her official residence
Jamuna in the morning.
She released balloons and immunized some kids with Polio
vaccine while formally opening the Immunization Day to be
observed tomorrow (Sunday) across the country.
All children of 0-59 months' age, no matter whether they
were vaccinated earlier, will be given two drops of the
Polio vaccine, as the government has decided to observe
the Day this year in a bid to keep Bangladesh free from
the crippling disease.
Apart from the Polio vaccine, all children of 12-59
months' age and from 24-59 months will be respectively fed
Vitamin A capsules and anti-worm tablets.
Addressing the opening ceremony, the Prime Minister
directed all the authorities concerned, including health
officials, to give special attention to the neglected
children and also to the working mothers so that they give
their kids the Polio vaccine and other tablets.
"We must not forget also about disabled children and
parents," she said.Apart from government officials, the
Prime Minister said, all opinion leaders, including
religious leaders and media people, can play a vital role
in making the Immunization Day an all-out success.
Regarding the fight at the national level against Polio,
she said Bangladesh had been declared as a Polio-free
nation during the last Awami League government, but later
the achievement could not be maintained due to negligence
of the authorities concerned.n
Under the present Extended Programme for Immunization (EPI),
Hasina said, programmes are on for immunizing children
against eight deadly diseases.
"These programmes have been helpful in saving some 2 lakh
children from death and crippling," she said.
The Prime Minister said the present government is strongly
committed to reducing child mortality rate to 15 from 65
per thousand by the year 2021. "We want to reach quality
health services to the door steps of the common people."
Hasina said the 18,000 community health clinics closed by
the past BNP-Jamaat government would be reopened to ensure
proper healthcare to all, particularly the mothers and
children in rural areas.
Some 10,723 community clinics established during the last
AL government have already been made functional again, she
said. "Our government will do everything necessary to
ensure the health of the country's growing children," she
said.
PMs India visit to
bolster Dhaka-Delhi ties: Dipu Moni
BSS, Dhaka
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Saturday expressed the
hope that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India
would help further strengthen the existing friendly
relations with the neighbouring country.
"We are eagerly looking forward to the forthcoming visit
to India of the Prime Minister and I strongly believe that
it would enable us to build on the already solid
foundation of our existing friendly relations with India,"
she told a roundtable in the city.
"The opportunities before us are tremendous and both the
countries, I am sure, will join their hands together in
the months and years ahead so that our collective efforts
lead to positive outcomes for the mutual benefits of the
peoples of Bangladesh and India," she added. Bangladesh
Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS)
arranged the roundtable on 'Bangladesh-India Relations:
Exploring New Horizons' in its auditorium.
Chairman of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Professor
Rehman Sobhan presided over the roundtable, while former
foreign secretary CM Shafi Sami, ex-army chief Lt Gen (retd)
Harun-ur- Rashid, former IGP Muhammad Nurul Huda, former
commerce secretary Sohel Ahmed Chowdhury, Maj Gen (retd)
Muhammad Ibrahim, former diplomat Mohiuddin Ahmed, eminent
journalist and columnist Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury, former
FBCCI president Mir Nasir Hossain and Professor Syed Anwar
Hossain took part in the discussion, among others.
Director General of BIISS Sheikh Md Monirul Islam
delivered the welcome address, while Chairman of Board of
Governors of BIISS Major General Firdaus Mian gave vote of
thanks.Former ambassadors Dr Afsarul Quader and Mohammad
Zamir, Adviser of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and
Industry Yussuf Abdullah Harun and former director
(transport) of UN-ESCAP presented papers on 'Management of
Bangladesh-India Border', 'Bangladesh-India Relations:
Sharing of Waters of Common Rivers', 'Bangladesh-India
Economic Cooperation' and 'Regional Transport
Connectivity.'
Rohingyas creating
law and order problems: Tuku
BSS, Cox's Bazar
State Minister for Home Advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku
Saturday said that the Rohingyas are creating law and
order problems in the country.
"Rohingyas are also involved in militancy and creating
various types of law and order problems here," he said
while addressing a law and order meeting at the local
circuit house here Friday.
Chaired by Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Cox's Bazar Md
Giasuddin Ahmed, the meeting was addressed, among others,
by Battalion Commander of 17th Rifles Lt Colonel Sakhawat
Hossain, Commanding Officer (CO) of 22 Rifles Battalion Lt
Colonel Mozammel Hossain, Chief Executive Officer of local
district council Omar Farukh, Additional Deputy
Commissioner Abdus Sukur, Additional Police Super
Nur-e-Alam Mina, Acting President of local Awami League
Advocate AK Ahmed Hossain, General Secretary Salah Uddin
Ahmed, CIP, former chairman of local pourashava Nurul
Afsar and Director of Sonali Bank Saimun Sarwar Komol.
The state minister called upon the people to be alert
against the militants. More 32,000 police personnel would
be recruited within next three years, he said adding, of
them, 17,000 would be recruited and will buy 1500 cars for
the police within this year.
Gas crisis worsens
UNB, Dhaka
People began going back to their old ways of cooking on
kerosene stoves while industries facing setbacks in the
wake of worsening gas crisis as the country's energy
sector made little progress in increasing production of
the fossil fuel, considered a boon for Bangladesh.
Critics blamed inefficiencies of Petrobangla management
for the hardship. Sometimes, self-contradictory position
by some members of the staff of the state-run petroleum
corporation is learnt to be a major bottleneck hindering
its progress.
According to official sources, gas production remained
almost same after one year of assumption of office by the
Awami League government.
Last January, when the Awami League government took over,
the country's daily gas production was between 1800 and
1900 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD).
After the completion of its one year in power, the gas
production remained the same as it was before. On January
6, 2009, the country produced 1,968 MMCFD. The only
increase was about 70MMCFD gas that came from Jalalabad
and Moulvibazar gas fields after installation of a spur
line.
Apart from this, there has been no mentionable production
enhancement in the Petrobangla-operated gas fields.
The Petrobangla's failure in increasing gas production
leads to problem for the country's power sector as it
largely depends on gas supply.
Because, sources said, country's 86 percent of power
plants are gas-based. Last year, the Power Development
Board (PDB) had to suspend operation of a huge number of
its generation units having a total of 700-MW production
capacity on account of gas shortages.
"The situation may aggravate further this year as gas
demand rises further, but production remains same," said
one Petrobangla official.
None to be spared if
involved in extortion, militancy: Sahara
UNB, Noakhali
Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun Saturday warned that
nobody would be spared if found involved in extortion,
tender-manipulation and militancy.
"Stern actions will be taken against anyone irrespective
of party affiliations if involved in such misdeeds," she
said while addressing a meeting on local central Shahid
Minar premises in the afternoon.
The district Awami League organized the meeting marking
the one year completion of AL-led grand alliance
government.
Chaired by district AL president Prof. M Hanif, the
meeting was also addressed, among others, by Ekramul Karim
Chowdhury MP, and Bir Bahadur, MP.
In her address, Sahara said that massive looting took
place during the tenure of the previous four-party
alliance government, which worsened country's economic
condition.
The prices of essentials also went out of purchasing
capacity of the common people during the rule of the
four-party alliance government, she said. During the one
year rule of the present grand alliance, the prices of
essentials, including rice, dal and edible oil, have come
down, which is one of positive steps by the government for
development.
Earlier, she unveiled the plaque of regional passport
office built under Machine Readable Passport project at
Jabukha in Begumganj upazila and also addressed another
meeting on local law and order at the conference room of
district administration.
Eviction
of hawkers demanded in Uttara
Shop owners announce non-stop programmes
BSS, Dhaka
Leaders of shop owners association of Uttara unit Saturday
announced non-stop programmes for the eviction of hawkers
from different roads, in front of markets and shopping
malls in Uttara in the city.
They also expressed serious dismay over the inaction of
field level police officials in evicting illegal shops and
other establishments from Rajluxmi to Azampur areas which
was started Saturday morning.
The members of shop owners association along with a
contingent of police started eviction of hawkers and other
illegal shops and establishments at about 11 am that
continued to 2 pm.
The evicted hawkers and vendors were reinstate themselves
to their previous positions within an hour of the eviction
but police did not take any action against them, ATKM
Azmol, president of shop owners association Uttara zone
alleged. Not only that, in some cases, the field level
police officials helped the hawkers and vendors to reset
their illegal shops, Azmol added.
He said, they will start mass campaign against the hawkers
from today (Sunday) and stage demonstrations against the
illegal occupants and their collaborators from Monday.
They will also submit memorandums to local Deputy
Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka in
this regard.
He said, these programmes will be continued for next few
days if the illegal hawkers and vendors are not evicted
from their positions.
Researchers, scientists
asked to invest efforts saving bio-diversity
BSS, Chittagong
Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr Mohammad Afsarul
Amin here on Saturday called upon the researchers and
scientists to invest their best efforts to save the
country's bio-diversity from its degradation.
The minister was addressing as the chief guest the
inaugural session of a two-day annual 'Botanical
Conference-2009' at Chittagong University (CU).
Dr Abu Yousuf, Vice Chancellor of CU, presided over the
function while Dr Mohammad Alauddin, pro-vice chancellor
spoke on the occasion as the special guest.
Dr Atiqur Rahman, dean of Biological science, Dr M A Gafur,
Chairman of Botany Department, Dr Z N Tahamina Begum,
president of Bangladesh Botanical Society and Prof Dr
Mamtaj Begum, among others, spoke.
Afsarul Amin said Bangladesh is considered as a land of
'mega bio-diversity' due to her huge plants, animals and
other natural resources and called for preserving the
resources in the greater national interests.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presented the
country's real environment scenario to the Copenhagen
Conference in a proper way.
Editorial
Fire at slums
Two
stories relating to fire incidents at slums and their
aftermath have appeared on the back page of this paper on
Saturday. One story says: At least 220 shanties at the city's
South Begunbari slum were gutted in a fierce fire Friday
evening. The fire originated from a leaked gas pipeline of a
shanty of the slum and soon raged through other shanties. On
information, firefighters and police rushed to the spot and
put out the flame after nearly three hours of hectic efforts.
However, there was no report of any casualty immediately. But,
firefighters said many minors still remained missing.
The second story states: Around 5,000 people at the city's
Malibagh slum that was ravaged by a fierce fire nearly two
months back have been passing their days under the open sky
amid severe cold. Locals said the slum was gutted in November
this year, just a week ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, damaging
valuables and shanties of the hapless people. "We've been
passing our days under the open sky amid severe cold, as we've
lost whatever we had in the fire. You can't imagine what a
painful life we're now leading," Maleka Banu, a victim who
hails from Mymensigh, told newsmen. Sources said a section of
musclemen are capturing the slum taking advantage of the fire
incident. "They're reconstructing the fire-ravaged shanties
and renting those at Tk 1000-1200," said a local resident
wishing not to be named.
Fire incidents take place at city slums frequently rendering
the slum dwellers destitute and shelterless. Some of these
incidents may be genuine accidents, but in most cases there
are reasons to believe that the slums are set ablaze by
interested quarters to dislodge the people living there and
occupy the places. Exactly this has happened at Malibagh slum
as some musclemen have set up some sort of new shanties on the
ruins of fire-ravaged slums and started renting those on
payment of money. This is undoubtedly criminal act and should
be dealt with severely.
It is no wonder that almost the same has happened after the
destruction of other shanties in fire incidents in the city.
The issue is serious and should be looked into by voluntary
organisations, human rights watchdogs and the government. If
there is any reasonable need to evict any city slum that
should be done in a legal way by the government. But setting
fire to slums by musclemen or other interested quarters and
evicting the poor slum dwellers must be stopped. With a view
to saving the slum dwellers from the greed and evil designs of
the musclemen and slum grabbers the government should properly
investigate the fire incidents at slums in the city and bring
those responsible to book. Meanwhile, adequate relief and
rehabilitation measures should be taken to redress the
sufferings of the slum fire victims who are practically
penniless, shelterless destitute. Non-government organisations
and those providing social services should also extend their
helping hands towards these needy hapless men, women and
children.
Ensuring quality
education
Quality
education is a longstanding necessity and demand of all, but
it remains a distant goal. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also
stressed the need for ensuring quality education. Addressing
the opening ceremony of the National Primary Education Week
2009 on Thursday, the Prime Minister asked for reducing the
backbreaking volume of school syllabuses and enhancing the
standard of textbook contents to ensure easy but effective
quality education for students. The Prime Minister directed
the authorities concerned to think about how the syllabi could
be downsized and the quality upgraded. She favoured building a
well-educated population as an effective instrument of
all-round change in society. The Prime Minister also declared
that her government will make education up to degree level
free to facilitate poor sections of people to achieve higher
education.
But good and proper education is hardly available in our
country as anomaly, corruption and various shortcomings grip
the education system itself. The educational infrastructure at
the lower level is very week. Education provided for the
students at primary and secondary levels is not rich enough to
help them grow as good students at higher levels. Even college
and university education is not well and rich enough to create
worthy citizens.
It is evident from both words and deeds that the present
government sincerely want to improve the quality of education,
spread of education by making it easily accessible and turn
education into a tool of national progress and prosperity of
the country. To this end the government has taken some steps
too which include reaching free text books to the students at
the outset of the academic year. Now, people expect the
government to do more to bring about a qualitative improvement
in the whole education system. It should be kept in mind that
primary level is the basis of all education and so the
much-needed efforts to ensure quality education has to be
started from the primary level. If the boys and girls get
quality education from qualified and efficient teachers they
will be able to grow up as well educated good citizens.
Analysis
Kicking and screaming
Now Zardari is following the same disastrous
course in order to keep his wealth and power.
Asif Ezdi
Zardari's
speech at Naudero on the second anniversary of Benazir
Bhutto's assassination was that of a frightened man who has
got himself into a corner and, finding no way out of his
predicament, flails at everyone and everything around him. He
spoke of unspecified threats and of conspiracies from unnamed
quarters. But he also held out a warning of his own. "If
anyone casts an evil eye on democracy," he declared, "we will
gouge out their eyes."
If Zardari did not disclose whose threats and conspiracies he
was worried about and who he was warning, he did reveal what
he is afraid of. There were, he said, only two places for him:
the Presidency or the jail. In plain words, his fear is that
if he leaves the Presidency, he would also have to face the
courts and possible conviction and the loss of wealth
allegedly accumulated by him.
In most democracies, losing power means giving up office,
maybe a stint in the opposition and the possibility of a
return to government when the political tide turns. In
Pakistan, loss of power often takes the form of ouster from
office and usually also brings disgrace. Therefore, our rulers
cling to office, if they can, long past their use-by date.
For Zardari, the stakes are even higher. It is, as he himself
put it graphically, a choice between the Presidency and the
jail. It is therefore no wonder that he is prepared to put
everything at stake to keep his office. If the country suffers
in the process, that is just too bad for the country.
To stay out of jail, Zardari had two options: to fight the
corruption cases against him in the courts and prove his
innocence; or to evade trial through political manoeuvring. He
chose the second course. After the Supreme Court judgement
annulling the NRO, the only protection left against resumption
of prosecution is the constitutional immunity under Article
248.
But this might be of little avail in case the Swiss courts
resume hearing, because they will be guided by their own
domestic law rather than that of Pakistan. The government is
therefore stalling on the implementation of the Supreme
Court's orders to revive money-laundering cases in Switzerland
and other countries.
In an article carried in The Wall Street Journal on Dec 27,
Zardari wrote that his ministers would defend themselves in
the courts if necessary. But Zardari must be aware that if any
of his close associates is convicted, his own political
position would be further weakened and the pressure on him to
face trial would also mount. Therefore, he is not taking any
chances and action seems to have been initiated already to
protect them from conviction.
Administrative control over NAB has been transferred to the
law minister and Babar Awan has been appointed to head that
ministry. Personnel changes are also being made in NAB to fill
key posts with loyalists who can be trusted to work for the
exculpation of those who are close to Zardari. There are also
disturbing reports that key evidence against them may be
destroyed or withheld from the courts.
To shore up his political support, Zardari has been claiming
that he is being victimised because he stands for civilian
supremacy over the military and for the rights of the smaller
provinces against a Punjabi-dominated establishment. While he
has left it to his underlings to play the Sindh card, he has
tried to project himself as the champion of NWFP and
Balochistan. In recent days, he has charged that the
establishment wanted to remove him because of his support for
renaming NWFP as Pakhtoonkhwa and because he wanted
Balochistan to be given its due rights.
There is a real danger that to get out of the logjam in which
he finds himself, Zardari may try a civilian coup as he did
last March. The object then was to take over the Punjab
government and put the Sharif brothers out of action from the
political arena. The attempt failed and a face-saving solution
was found with the army playing a moderating role. Though
Zardari claimed in his Naudero speech that he wished to
prevent a clash between the institutions of state, he may
actually be preparing to take on two of them - the army and
the judiciary - in his effort to hang on to power. Such a
course will not save Zardari, but it is bound to shake the
present political system to its foundations. Short of a
replacement of the army chief, there could be a fresh move to
place the ISI under the interior ministry or even to appoint a
civilian party loyalist to head the agency. As for the
judiciary, it is possible that the government will refuse to
request a reopening of the Swiss case.
Zardari has cut himself off from sane counsel. Within the PPP,
there is hardly anyone who could restrain him from taking the
path of confrontation. Prime Minister Gilani could have played
that role but he has allowed himself to be completely
sidelined. The present situation has similarities with that in
early November 2007 when Musharraf declared his "emergency,"
plunging the country into a prolonged crisis.
In these circumstances, other political parties from the
ruling coalition as well as the opposition have a
responsibility to step up to the plate and stop Zardari from
making any move that would pitch the government against the
army or the judiciary. The ANP has an interest that Zardari
should not rock the boat when the army is engaged in a messy
fight against terrorists in the tribal areas.
The present crisis would probably not have arisen if our
Constitution did not give the president immunity from criminal
proceedings. Zardari would then have had no choice other than
to bow before the courts and try to clear his name.
In South Africa there was a lively debate in 2008 over the
question of immunity for the president. Some of the supporters
of Jacob Zuma, the popular president of the African National
Congress who was then facing corruption charges, called for a
constitutional amendment to prohibit the prosecution of a
serving head of state. One of the arguments given by those who
opposed the move was that if such immunity was given, the
president might not want to leave office because as soon as
that happened, he might be prosecuted.
This is precisely the problem we are facing. All political
parties should therefore be cooperating to amend the
Constitution to limit the president's immunity to official
acts only. This is a more urgent matter than the repeal of the
17th Amendment or of the third-term ban for a prime minister.
The old principle that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
applies here. The presumption of innocence is a sacred rule of
criminal law. But ethical standards for a president and
ministers must be higher than those for common offenders.
Pakistan has a history of autocratic rulers going berserk when
their hold on power weakens. And when they finally go down,
they pull down the institutions of state with them. Musharraf
was the last example. Now Zardari is following the same
disastrous course in order to keep his wealth and power.
Few Pakistani rulers have quit power without a lot of kicking
and screaming. Since Naudero, we have been hearing plenty of
screaming. The kicking is likely to follow soon. We should
brace ourselves for some hard blows and try to limit the
damage.
The writer is a former member of the Pakistan Foreign
Service.
Indias food
security challenge
At the present time our system of monitoring soil
fertility and maintaining it is flawed and needs urgent
attention. We cannot just bury our heads in soil as
ostriches may do.
Lux Lakshmanan
The
state of India's food security is worsening by the year.
The cost of food items is increasing rapidly, making them
unaffordable to a majority of the people. Added to these
woes is the short supply of pulses and edible oils, which
forces the Central government to import them.
Pulses play a critical role in the diet of the people of
India, where large sections are vegetarians. Protein plays
a key role in the human diet. It is the body-building
nutrient that develops muscles and is responsible for body
strength, endurance and productivity at the workplace.
It is established that a human body requires a daily
intake of about 50 gm of protein. While people in the
developed countries and most of the developing countries
have a satisfactory intake of protein, in India the per
capita daily intake is only about 10 gm. This endangers
health and work performance.
Proteins are amino acids. Out of the 22 amino acids
required in the human diet, the body supplies 14. The
remaining eight have to come from food. If all the eight
amino acids are present in a single food item, it is
called a complete protein food.
Since all proteins from animal sources are complete
proteins, it is easy to meet the dietary protein
requirements of non-vegetarians. However, the main sources
of protein for vegetarians are leguminous plants - to
which pulses belong. In general, pulses have lower
concentrations of protein than animal sources. Besides,
none of the pulses - except soybeans - are complete
proteins. Therefore, combinations of two or more pulses
are needed in a vegetarian diet. Dairy products, which are
complete proteins, may also be used to supplement pulse
proteins in vegetarian diets.
Given the important role that pulses play in the human
diet, their availability needs to be increased
indigenously. The common belief that without new
high-yielding varieties the country will have to continue
importing pulses and edible oils to meet the requirements
is not true.
The possibility of improving productivity per acre by an
order of two to three times using existing varieties has
been demonstrated time and again in grower-fields in
India. However, it is not done just by following current
production practices but through the adoption of entirely
new but simple and farmer-friendly technologies and tools
that are now not available to Indian farmers.
The underlying problem of Indian agriculture that
threatens food security is extremely low productivity. For
example, in the case of rice it is only a third of what
has been achieved elsewhere. Cotton productivity is only a
sixth of what has been achieved in developed countries.
The situation is no different in the case of other crops.
In order to progress, the mindset with regard to the
following two factors needs to change:
1. It is not the farmer who makes the food: he is only a
facilitator. Food is actually made by plants. Therefore it
is important to understand the requirements of plants and
supply them without restrictions in order for plants to
deliver food. Since plants do not talk, their needs are
understood through research and experimentation. As
indicated by Dr. R.S. Paroda, a former Director-General of
the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), our
agriculture scientists will not by themselves be able to
cope with the food security challenges that face the
country.
The current policy of pampering farmers with subsidies
will get us nowhere in terms of improving productivity.
This is well understood not only in developed countries
but also in developing African countries like Malawi.
Malawi was a basket case of poverty, malnutrition and food
shortage. Crop productivity improvements have taken it to
the point where the country now exports its surplus food
to neighboring poor countries.
The lesson India has to learn is that instead of
subsidising food supply to the people, the plants need
subsidised food such as fertilizers and other inputs in
order for them to produce the food to achieve food
security.
2. The mindset that assumes that breeding is the solution
to all maladies has to change. Nurturing of plants is
several times more important in crop productivity
improvement than hybrid seeds per se. A hybrid variety
will not produce if planted in non-fertile beach soil. But
it will produce several times more if planted in fertile
soil.
Brazil learnt this lesson years ago and stopped financing
breeding for new varieties.
Instead, it scours countries around the world and selects
promising varieties to test their adaptability to
Brazilian climatic conditions and then provides funding
just to do that. It has taken stem cuttings of black
pepper varieties from Kerala and spent money and effort on
crop production practices. Now Brazil's pepper yield is
1,500 kg an acre compared to India's average of 350 kg an
acre, the lowest among all pepper-producing countries.
India has about 50 million acres of irrigated land and is
second only to the United States with 60 million acres. In
the U.S. it is possible to raise only one crop a year due
to weather constraints. However, many areas in India have
the potential to raise three crops a year, provided we
learn how to sustain the fertility of the soil. This will
be equal to 150 million acres of irrigated land. At the
present time our system of monitoring soil fertility and
maintaining it is flawed and needs urgent attention. We
cannot just bury our heads in soil as ostriches may do.
Finally, we have facilities now in place in Tamil Nadu to
adopt new crop production technologies and tools, where
crop productivity is routinely maintained at 300 per cent
to 500 per cent more per acre than the average in India.
We are now in the process of developing infrastructure for
the rapid propagation of these highly cost- effective crop
production technologies across the country.
(Dr. Lux Lakshmanan, CPAg., CPCS, CPSS, is Director,
California Agriculture Consulting Service, Davis,
California. e-mail: drlux@hotmail.com)
Viewpoints
Muslims and science
God has sent
us the divine message in the form of the Holy Quran so that we
may read, understand and obey the injunctions laid down in it
(see 2: 151).
Sidrah Unis
To
many in the West today Islam has come to be associated with
terrorism and an extremist bent of mind. What most forget is
that while some Muslims do indeed engage in outrageous
activities, there are many who pursue and encourage others to
seek knowledge.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was commanded by God to read when he
was informed about his prophethood: "Read! In the Name of your
Lord Who has created Who has taught (writing) by the pen"
(96: 1-5). The words 'read' and 'pen' are most significant as
they lay emphasis on the need to be literate i.e. to be able
to comprehend and put pen to paper.
God has sent us the divine message in the form of the Holy
Quran so that we may read, understand and obey the injunctions
laid down in it (see 2: 151). The Holy Prophet stressed on the
need to acquire knowledge. According to one hadith, "It is
obligatory for every Muslim to acquire knowledge. Allah likes
those who seek knowledge."
Islam encourages research. It realises that freedom to conduct
research is mandatory for development and progress. While
residing at Madina after migrating from Makkah, the Prophet
once saw some people pollinating date palms. As dates were not
grown in Makkah he was not familiar with the process and
inquired into the matter. When he was informed that they were
pollinating the palms he stopped them from doing so.
As a result, the following year, the date yield was very poor
as compared to previous years. The Prophet asked as to why
this was so and was informed that pollination was necessary
for a good yield. He then admitted that the date growers knew
more about the process than he did, and so he told them to
resume pollination.
Although Muslim scholars have made contributions in various
fields of study, the focus of this article is their input in
the domain of science. During the era of what history refers
to as the Dark Ages in Europe, when superstition overawed
logic, reasoning and rational explanations, Islam brought with
it the urge to explore and invent. Scientific activities were
conducted in Baghdad, Kufa, Basra and Cairo. Muslim scientists
contributed to the study of astronomy, medicine, mathematics,
etc.
Among others, Europe has benefited from the services of two
Muslim physicians i.e. Ibn Sina and Al-Razi. Ibn Sina, known
to mediaeval Europe as Avicenna, studied medicine and
philosophy along with other branches of science. He set up
hospitals which provided services for free and also came up
with treatment for diseases by the use of herbs, hot baths and
major surgery. His book Al Qannun fil Tib was translated into
Latin in the 12th century and was taught in medical schools
throughout Europe. Al-Razi, known as Rhazes in Latin, with his
unsurpassable power of observation, introduced the subject of
psychology, thereby eliminating beliefs in demons and
witchcraft often associated with diseases in the Christian
world at the time.
He was responsible for setting up separate wards in hospitals
for those suffering from mental ailments. One of his books,
Treatise on Smallpox and Measles, was translated into Latin,
then English and then into other European languages.
Mathematics owes a lot to Al-Khwarizmi who is recognised as an
authority on the subject. He authored a book on algebra, Hisab
al Jabr Wal Muqabala. It was translated into Latin and taught
at the university level in Europe until the 16th century.
Important chemicals such as hydrochloric acid, sulphuric acid
and nitric acid as well as processes like crystallisation,
distillation, melting, sublimation, reduction and
calcinations, along with the dyeing of leather and cloth, are
all attributed to Jabir Ibn Hayan known to the West as Geber.
Ibn Al-Haitham recognised the force of gravity. Newton further
developed this theory. Ibn Al-Baitar is renowned for his
collection of plants and herbs from a large area spanning
Spain to Syria. A botanist and pharmacist, he extracted drugs
from plants which he then used for medicinal purposes. Al-Battani,
an astronomer and mathematician, prepared the Islamic lunar
calendar. He also gave an apt explanation for the phenomenon
of the Equinoxes.
Though far from exhaustive, the names and contributions
mentioned here give an apt glimpse into the farsightedness and
the spirit of progress embedded in the Muslim faith as it was
practised in its early years.
Justice
Delayed but War Crimes Punishment on a Roll
The ball rolls
with gathering speed. Early last month, a London judge
issued an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, the leader of
the Israeli opposition and before that foreign minister.
Jonathan Power
It's
all coming along very nicely-the threat to arrest war
criminals and those charged with crimes against humanity.
Who would have thought in the days of the Vietnam and
Cambodia wars, the civil war in ex Yugoslavia, the pogrom
in Rwanda and perhaps soon the architects of torture in
the recent US administration of George W. Bush that the
hand of international justice would be reaching out to
arrest the protagonists, try them and imprison them?
After the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials in 1945 and 1946 of
the wartime leaders of Germany and Japan there was a
hiatus, finally broken when in 1975 most of the world
signed the Convention against Torture. Then there was an
even broader treaty when the Convention Against War Crimes
and Crimes Against Humanity was signed in Rome in June,
1998.
In October, 1998, Scotland Yard arrested the ex dictator
of Chile, General Augusto Pinochet, in a clinic in London.
After long court hearings, for the first time anywhere a
high court decided that sovereign immunity must not be
allowed to become sovereign impunity.
The ball rolls with gathering speed. Early last month, a
London judge issued an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, the
leader of the Israeli opposition and before that foreign
minister.
She was indicted for her role in Israel's so-called
Operation Cast Lead when its forces assaulted the Gaza
Strip earlier in the year. Ms Livni avoided arrest by
cancelling her trip. The British government was
embarrassed but could do nothing.
Effectively she is under the same threat if she visits any
European state, indeed most of the countries of the world,
bar China, India, the US and Russia which have yet to sign
the Rome Treaty. Also last month, Kenya's president and
prime minister stopped a list of politicians implicated in
post-election violence from being sent to the
International Criminal Court by agreeing to set up a
tribunal to try them at home. (This is always the first
choice of the Court.)
The envelope containing the names of those implicated
holds names drawn up by the UN mediator, its former
secretary-general, Kofi Annan.
Last summer Britain again broke new ground when it sent a
former Afghan warlord to prison for torture and hostage
taking even though he committed the crimes outside
Britain.
Chile and Argentina are continuing to clean up the horrors
of the 1970s and 80s when they were both ruled by
murderous tyrants. Many argue for moving on rather than
re-opening old wounds. But the prevailing opinion is that
without justice there can be no healing and no guarantee
of the rule of law. Chile's prime minister's own father
was tortured to death by the Pinochet government.
The other Latin American countries with a legacy of
serious crimes against humanity have only relatively
recently begun dealing with the crimes of the past-
Uruguay, Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Sudan's government decided two weeks ago to go ahead with
the promised referendum on the status of the south where
for decades an insurgency has challenged the central
authority of the government. The government has been
prevaricating, but it seems the threat of prosecution
together with the decline oil revenues have made it more
cooperative.
Already more Africans have been charged by the Court and
its affiliates in Arusha and Sierra Leone than from any
other continent. This is not, as some charge, because of a
racial bias in the courts but because during the 1980s and
90s Africa was the site of the world's most bloody wars.
Now its wars have all but disappeared, but the mess
remains to be cleared up if future evil strongmen are to
be deterred and the families of those tortured, raped and
killed are to be given some peace of mind.
It is very likely that President Barack Obama will lead
his country into the Rome Treaty, but not for a while. The
Senate will be tough on the treaty, even though the
military have softened their opposition now they have seen
how it works in practice. If the US does join the other
recalcitrants won't be far behind.
Meanwhile, the US at home, thanks to its Alien Torts Act
of 1789, is proceeding with a lawsuit alleging that the
Shell oil company was complicit in the death of the
Nigerian poet, novelist and human rights activist, Ken
Saro-Wiwa, who was hanged by the military regime thirteen
years ago. This is only one of a number of prosecutions
involving big multinationals, including pharmaceuticals
and banking, and reaching as far back as the days of
apartheid. The ball rolls on, an immense force in the
battle for raising the standards of human rights
practices.
Jonathan Power is a veteran commentator on foreign
affairs.
Probing UKs Iraq Probe
Based on a policy first mooted in 1992 by two other Jewish
neoconservatives, Paul Wolfowitz and Lewis Libby, the
Zelikow Doctrine provided the justification for the 2003
invasion of Iraq.
Maidhc Cathail
All
too often, official inquiries are conducted by the very
people who should themselves be under investigation. In
this respect, Britainfs Chilcot Inquiry on the Iraq war
bears a distressing similarity to the 9/11 Commission.
In a remarkable symmetry, both inquiries involve a Jewish
Zionist historian, who not only advised his country's
leader to go to war against Iraq, but actually provided
the ideological justification for that unnecessary war.
Perhaps Philip Zelikow was one of the few people who was
not surprised by his appointment as executive director of
the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the
United States, better known as the 9/11 Commission. After
all, the Professor of History at the University of
Virginia had shown uncanny prescience in foreseeing an
event such as 9/11 itself. In 1998, as project director of
the Catastrophic Terrorism Group, Zelikow had written: "An
act of catastrophic terrorism ?that killed thousands or
tens of thousands of people would be a watershed event
in America's history. Like Pearl Harbor, such an event
would divide our past and future into a 'before' and
'after.'"
Yet despite his awareness of an imminent threat of
"catastrophic terrorism" against the United States, in the
Bush administration Zelikow was instrumental in
downgrading the status of the National Coordinator for
Counterterrorism, Richard Clarke. Effectively cutting off
his direct access to the President, this prevented Clarke
from discussing al-Qaeda with George W. Bush before
September 11.
In an even clearer conflict of interest, as a member of
Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Zelikow had
authored the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United
States. Dubbed the "Bush Doctrine" by the Washington
Post's hawkishly pro-Israeli columnist Charles
Krauthammer, it advocated the necessity of "preemptive
war."
Based on a policy first mooted in 1992 by two other Jewish
neoconservatives, Paul Wolfowitz and Lewis Libby, the
Zelikow Doctrine provided the justification for the 2003
invasion of Iraq.
While Bush probably believed he was "ridding the world of
evil," Zelikow knew exactly why Iraq was being targeted.
In a rare moment of candour, he told an audience at the
University of Virginia on September 10, 2002: "Why would
Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us?
I'll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and
actually has been since 1990-it's the threat against
Israel. And this is the threat that dare not speak its
name, because the Europeans don't care deeply about that
threat, I will tell you frankly. And the American
government doesn't want to lean too hard on it
rhetorically, because it is not a popular sell."
Nevertheless, as executive director of the 9/11 Commission
Zelikow did his very best to "sell" the Iraq war to the
American people. The first expert witness he called had
"no special expertise on the events of September 11," but
that didn't seem to matter too much. Instead of discussing
9/11, Abraham Sofaer, a board member of the pro-Israeli
Koret Foundation, made an impassioned speech in support of
the "preemptive war" against Iraq.
An even more controversial "expert" witness called was
Laurie Mylroie. Known as the "neocons' favourite
conspiracy theorist," the American Enterprise Institute
scholar had made a career out of seeing the hand of Saddam
Hussein behind every anti-American terrorist attack during
the previous decade. Exercising a scepticism toward
Mylroie's "batty" theories lacking in much of the media
coverage, one of the 9/11 widows lambasted Zelikow for
this transparent "sales pitch for the Iraq war."
If British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was genuinely
interested in finding out why his predecessor followed
George Bush into the Iraq quagmire, his appointment of Sir
Lawrence Freedman to the five-member Chilcot Inquiry was
an odd choice. As the political editor of the BBC's
Newsnight programme, Michael Crick, pointed out, "Critics
of the war might argue Sir Lawrence was himself one of the
causes of the war!"
Crick was referring to a Freedman memo, which formed the
basis of Tony Blair's 1999 Chicago speech, "The Doctrine
of the International Community." In what became known as
the "Blair Doctrine," Freedman had offered an answer to
the specious question: "When was military action justified
for liberal, humanitarian reasons?"
In addition to the Freedman Doctrine's justification of
military intervention in "rogue states" such as Iraq,
Freedman has admitted that he "instigated" a pre-war
seminar for the British Prime Minister, because he was
"aware of misgivings among some specialists in Iraq about
the direction of policy."
Clearly, Freedman has no such "misgivings" himself about
the illegal invasion of Iraq. It was, he claims, motivated
by "rather noble criteria."
In his recent book, A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts
the Middle East, Freedman is dismissive of those who
suspect less "noble" motives for the war.
"Another popular theory," he writes, "is that US foreign
policy was effectively hijacked by a group of
neoconservatives with a grand design to reshape the Middle
East. A conspiratorial version of this theory argues that
the aim was to help Israel, by removing a leading
rejectionist state from the scene."
Presumably, the consistency of the prescriptions that runs
from Oded Yinon's "A Strategy for Israel in the 1980s,"
through Perle, Feith and Wurmser's "A Clean Break," to the
so-called "Bush Doctrine" is merely coincidental.
Evidently, the learned Professor of War Studies needs to
read "The Israeli Origins of the Middle East War Agenda"
in Stephen Sniegoski's@The Transparent Cabal. Perhaps, it
is also "conspiratorial," or worse, to wonder about the
media's hyping a book which obscures why America
"confronts" Israel's enemies in the Middle East, while one
which exposes the Zionist agenda gets the silent
treatment.
But it certainly is a cause for concern when Freedman's
book, which also opts for the euphemism of a "security
fence" to describe Israel's Apartheid Wall, and repeatedly
refers to the illegally occupied West Bank as Judea and
Samaria, is given such credence.
Just as the Zelikow-directed 9/11 Commission suppressed
evidence that the main motive for the September 11 attacks
was American support for Israel, Freedman's presence on
the Chilcot Inquiry is a clear indication that there will
be no inquiry into the role of Zionist insiders in taking
Britain to war against Iraq-a country that posed a threat
not to British interests but to Israel's regional
hegemony.
Maidhc Cathail is a widely published writer based in
Japan.
International
Pakistan, China
to strengthen bilateral ties
Dawn Online
Pakistan and China have decided to further enhance
bilateral co-operation in the field of defence and
security keeping in view the regional security situation.
The decision emerged during the seventh round of talks
between the two countries held at joint staff headquarters
in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff committee General Tariq
Majeed was leading the Pakistan side in the talks, while
the Chinese side was led by the Deputy Chief of the
People's Liberation Army Staff General Ma Xiaotian.
Both sides expressed satisfaction over the existing level
of defence cooperation between the two countries.
General Tariq Majeed said Sino-Pak ties are strong,
time-tested and enviable, which are set to grow further,
while General Ma assured Pakistan that China will continue
its support in the field of defence.
The Chinese delegation will also meet the PM, acting
President and other high-ranking military officials.
Meanwhile, China and India held the third round of defense
consultation here Wednesday, according to a press release
from the Information Office of China's Defense Ministry
Friday.
Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army (PLA) Ma Xiaotian and visiting Indian
Defense Secretary Pradeep Kumar jointly presided over the
consultation, during which they exchanged views and
reached some consensus on bilateral ties, regional
security, national defense policies and military exchanges
and cooperation.
During the consultations, the Chinese side expressed its
concern to the Indian side over the irresponsible remarks
made by a few Indian leaders and some Indian media's
untrue reports.
The Chinese side stressed that both China and India should
do more work, which will be favorable for boosting healthy
bilateral ties, so as to facilitate the good environment
and conditions for China-India relations. The Indian side
said that India's high-level officials endeavored to
clarify the related remarks and those untrue reports and
hoped to develop the friendly relations between India and
China.
CIA bomber shown on TV with
Hakimullah Mehsud
Dawn Online
A Pakistan television station showed on Saturday what it
said was the suicide bomber double agent who killed CIA
agents in Afghanistan sitting with the Pakistani Taliban
leader, and reported he shared US and Jordanian state
secrets with militants.
Private television station AAJ showed a video of the
bomber, speaking in English but hardly audible, with
Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud beside him.
'Jordanian and American intelligence had offered him
millions of dollars in exchange for spying on the
mujahideen (holy warriors). But he rejected wealth and
joined the mujahideen,' said AAJ of Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal
al-Balawi, a Jordanian. The channel quoted him by his
online persona Abu Dujana al-Khorasani as saying that he
'shared all
secrets of Jordanian and American intelligence with his
fellow (militants)'.
If the video is authentic, it points to huge intelligence
failures for the United States and its key Middle East
ally Jordan.
Pakistan would also feel the heat. It is struggling
against Mehsud's growing insurgency while facing
relentless US pressure to eliminate militant groups that
cross its borders to fight in Afghanistan.
Official sources said that he came to Pakistan with a fake
name and later he traveled to tribal areas with his local
Taliban guide from where he reportedly entered
Afghanistan's Paktia province.
BBC adds: Video purportedly of a Jordanian who blew up CIA
agents in Afghanistan has shown him vowing revenge for
Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud's death.
In a clip broadcast on al-Jazeera TV, a man said to be
bomber Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi says Mehsud must
be avenged "inside and outside America".
Reuters adds: a Pakistan television station on Saturday
showed what it said was the suicide bomber double agent
who killed CIA agents in Afghanistan sitting with the
Pakistani Taliban leader, and reported he shared U.S. and
Jordanian state secrets with militants.
Karzai names new ministers
for Afghanistan cabinet
BBC Online
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has presented parliament
with a 16-strong list of nominees for cabinet posts.
The list includes none of the 17 nominees parliament
rejected last week.
Zalmay Rasul, Mr Karzai's security advisor, was named as
the nominee for foreign minister, a post left vacant in
the first round of voting.
Mr Karzai is hoping to finalise his cabinet before an
international conference on Afghanistan in London later
this month.
Second Vice-President Karim Khalili read out the list of
16 nominees to parliament.
"I request that all the lawmakers think about the national
interest of the country, the current situation of the
country and the desires of the Afghan people and make a
good decision," said Mr Khalili.
Two of the 18 posts - that of the minister for
communications and for water and energy - have been left
vacant.
Mr Khalili said those posts would be announced soon, AP
reported.
Three of the new nominees were women - the only woman on
the first list was rejected.
The BBC's Mark Dummet says Mr Karzai has been under
increasing pressure from his foreign backers to finalise
the new cabinet and that it is seen to be efficient,
corruption free and ready to tackle Afghanistan's many
pressing problems.
Growing number of casualties have changed public opinion
in the UK and US in particular, bringing many to question
why their armies are backing a corrupt and disorganised
government, says our correspondent.
Western officials have repeatedly emphasised that tackling
corruption is key to stabilising the country, following Mr
Karzai's controversial re-election last year.
Miliband arrives in
Islamabad for talks on security
Dawn Online
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in
Islamabad on Saturday for a two-day visit.
During his visit, Miliband will meet with President
Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani and leaders belonging to
other political parties.
Sources from the British High Commission told DawnNews
that a bilateral meeting between Foreign Minister Shah
Mehmood Qureshi and British Foreign Secretary Miliband is
in progress at the Foreign Office.
After the bilateral meeting both foreign ministers are
expected to address a joint press stakeout at the foreign
office. Miliband will meet Prime Minister Gilani and
discuss mutual understanding, regional and global issues,
anti-terrorism campaign, Indo-Pak relations, security
scenario in Pakistan and Afghanistan and also the
prospects for the forthcoming international conference on
Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Miliband said on Saturday that stability and
security in war-torn Afghanistan depended on Pakistan and
its own battle with Taliban militants.
Miliband made the comments during a visit to the Pakistani
capital Islamabad for talks with the government about
security and cooperation on Afghanistan, ahead of a
January 28 summit in London on Afghanistan's peace and
security.
"Pakistan is a vital partner in finding solutions and
progress in Afghanistan," Miliband told a joint press
conference after holding talks with Pakistani counterpart
Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Hundreds protest at UN
centre in Kashmir
AFP, Srinagar
Hundreds of residents staged a protest against Indian rule
Saturday outside a UN office in Indian Kashmir's main
city, accusing the police of shooting a teenaged boy,
witnesses said.
The protesters said the 16-year-old Muslim boy was fatally
injured in firing by police during an anti-government
demonstration the previous day in Kashmir's summer capital
Srinagar.
The boy died in hospital Saturday, sparking the protest.
Police said they were investigating the death.
The protesters-who defied a police ban on
demonstrations-marched to the UN office and shouted
anti-India slogans, witnesses said.
The UN centre in Srinagar houses personnel who monitor
violations of a ceasefire by India and Pakistan along the
Line of Control, the de facto border which divides Kashmir
between the two nuclear-armed rivals.
The demonstrators, including relatives of the recently
deceased boy, blocked a street and demanded action against
the officers alleged to have shot him.
Elsewhere in Srinagar, police fired teargas and used
batons to break up similar protests, the witnesses said.
On Friday, 20 protesters and four policemen were hurt in
an anti-India demonstration, which erupted a day after
troops killed two militants holed up in a Srinagar hotel.
Kashmir is in the grip of a two-decade-long insurgency
against Indian rule that has so far left more than 47,000
people dead by official count.
Meat soup for all still a
pipe dream in N.Korea: Kim
AFP, Seoul
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has admitted failing to
deliver an acceptable standard of living for the communist
nation's people, state media reported Saturday.
Rodong Sinmun, the official daily newspaper of the ruling
Communist Party, quoted Kim as saying much remains to be
desired in people's quality of life although the country
has become "politically and militarily powerful".
Kim's father, Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994, has been
named as president for eternity of North Korea.
"The president has said that people should be allowed to
eat white rice and meat soup, wear silk clothes and live
under tiled roofs," Kim Jong-Il was quoted as saying by
Rodong.
"But we've so far failed to carry out this goal," he said.
"I will certainly resolve the issue of people's livelihood
within the shortest possible period and achieve the
president's last wish," he said.
It was because Kim Jong-Il wanted to help improve people's
living standards that he made a raft of visits to inspect
industrial facilities in provincial cities last year,
Rodong said.
The paper urged North Koreans to step up efforts to
increase production of food and other necessities.
North Korea has been suffering chronic food shortages.
Last month, it carried out a drastic currency revaluation
aimed at weakening the role of free markets and
strengthening the socialist system.
Xe Services aiming for
Afghan police training deal
AP/ UNB, Washington
Blackwater Worldwide's legal woes haven't dimmed its
prospects in Afghanistan, where the company is a contender
to be a key part of President Barack Obama's strategy for
stabilizing the country. Now called Xe Services, the
company is in the running for a Pentagon contract
potentially worth $1 billion to train Afghanistan's
troubled national police force. Xe has been shifting to
training, aviation and logistics work after its security
guards were accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians
more than two years ago.
Yet even with a new name and focus, the expanded role
would seem an unlikely one for Xe because Democrats have
held such a negative opinion of the company following the
Iraqi deaths, which are still reverberating in Baghdad and
Washington.
During the presidential campaign, then-Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton, now Obama's secretary of state, backed
legislation to ban Blackwater and other private security
contractors from Iraq. Xe eventually lost its license to
operate as guardian of U.S. diplomats in Iraq and the
State Department, with Clinton at the helm, elected not to
rehire the company when the contract expired in 2009.
Delays in getting a new company in place led to a
temporary extension of the State contract.
A federal judge on New Year's Eve dismissed criminal
charges against five of the Blackwater guards, citing
repeated missteps by federal prosecutors. The Iraqi
government has vowed to pursue the case, a new strain on
relations between the U.S. and Iraq. Xe on Wednesday
reached a settlement in a series of civil lawsuits in
which dozens of Iraqis accused the company of cultivating
a reckless culture that allowed innocent civilians to be
killed.
Palestinians
say peace talks require full settlement freeze
AFP, Ramallah, West Bank
The Palestinians on Saturday insisted on a full Israeli
settlement freeze before renewing peace efforts, putting a
damper on a US call to revive talks with no preconditions.
"A resumption of peace talks requires the complete halt of
settlements" in the occupied West Bank, chief Palestinian
negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
Erakat also demanded that Israel comply with its
commitment under the 2003 peace roadmap, which calls for a
"halt to all settlement activity including natural growth
and Jerusalem." Erakat also said negotiations should be
picked up from the point they were left when they broke
down in December 2008. So far, there has been no reaction
from the Israeli government.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged
Israelis and Palestinians to resume the peace talks
without preconditions, in Washington's latest bid to
return the sides to the negotiations table.
Clinton backed the key Palestinian aim of creating a state
along the borders that existed before the 1967
Israeli-Arab war, but said the lines would be modified
through mutually agreed land swaps, presumably to account
for some Israeli settlements that would remain.
The Palestinians have insisted the borders of their
promised state encompass all of their land Israel occupied
in 1967, including mostly Arab east Jerusalem-which Israel
later annexed in a move not recognised by the
international community-as their capital.
"Resolving borders resolves settlements. Resolving
Jerusalem resolves settlements," the chief US diplomat
told reporters after meeting Jordanian Foreign Minister
Nasser Judeh in Washington.
"We are working with the Israelis, the (Palestinian
Authority), and the Arab states to take the steps needed
to relaunch the negotiations as soon as possible and
without preconditions," Clinton said.
The parties can reach a solution that "reconciles the
Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based
on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps and the Israeli goal
of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders," she
said.
President Barack Obama administration's efforts to revive
the peace talks have so far been frustrated despite heavy
pressure on Israel, the Palestinians and Arab states to
make positive gestures.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in
November a partial suspension of settlement activity in
the West Bank but not in occupied east Jerusalem as a
gesture ahead of the resumption of talks.
Not guilty plea in
Detroit plane bomb case
BBC Online
A "not guilty" plea has been entered on behalf of the
Nigerian man accused of attempting to detonate a bomb on a
Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.
A Detroit judge took the action after Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab declined to enter a plea during his first
court appearance.
Mr Abdulmutallab, 23, is charged with the attempted murder
of 290 people and five other counts.
The incident has led to dozens of new security measures
being introduced.
Mr Abdulmutallab, wearing leg shackles, walked slowly into
the court room.
He confirmed his name and its spelling, as well as his age
in a soft voice, prompting the judge to ask him to speak
up.
Asked if he had had time to read the indictment, he
answered "yes". He also confirmed he understood the
charges. Asked if he had taken any drugs in the previous
24 hours, he said he had taken some pain killers.
Mr Abdulmutallab was treated for burns after his arrest at
Detroit airport after he allegedly tried to detonate a
device concealed in his underwear on Northwest Flight 253
from Amsterdam to Detroit. The plane landed safely after
passengers and crew overpowered him.
He faces life imprisonment if found guilty. The attempted
attack prompted widespread criticism of US intelligence
services for failing to prevent the plot. On Thursday,
President Barack Obama announced new terrorist watch list
guidelines and other security upgrades.
While criticising "systemic" failings, he said: "The buck
stops with me."
The US had failed to "connect and understand" intelligence
received prior to the failed attack on the airliner, he
added, delivering a televised statement from the White
House on Thursday.
He announced that he was ordering an immediate
strengthening of the terrorist watch list.
China denounces U.S. arms
sales to Taiwan
Xinhua, Beijing
China's Defense Ministry expressed strong indignation and
firm opposition to the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, urging
the U.S. to respect China's core interests and immediately
withdraw related arms sales items.
"The U.S. side clings obstinately to the Bush
administration's plan of arms sales to Taiwan, which
severely undermines the mutual trust between the two
militaries," said Defense Ministry spokesman Huang Xueping
in a statement.
"It also greatly hinders the improvement and development
of China-U.S. military ties," Huang said. "We reserve the
right of taking further actions."
Huang's remarks came amid reports that the U.S. Defense
Department had recently awarded Lockheed Martin Corp a
contract for selling an unspecified number of advanced
Patriot missiles to Taiwan.
"We urge the United States to sever military links with
Taiwan, in order to avoid further damaging relations
between the two countries and the two militaries and the
peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," he said.
This was the fourth official announcement made by a
Chinese spokesperson in a week. Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Jiang Yu had previously denounced the U.S.
move three times.
Jiang told a regular press conference on Tuesday that
China had raised solemn concerns to the U.S. government
and urged it to cancel and cease arms sales to Taiwan.
Then China on Thursday again warned the United States of
the severe consequences of its arms sales to Taiwan,
saying the move would undermine Sino-U.S. cooperation.
"We also persuade the relevant company to stop pushing or
participating the arms sales to Taiwan, and refrain from
doing anything to harm China's sovereignty and security
interests," Jiang said in a statement on Thursday.
Iranian wants WWII
reparations
AP/ UNB, Tehran
Iran's hardline president has ordered the formation of a
team to study the damages the country suffered from the
1941 Allied invasion in order to demand compensation.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran suffered immensely after it
was invaded by Britain and the Soviet Union during World
War II despite its declared neutrality and was never
compensated. "A team has been assigned to calculate all
the damages (inflicted on Iran) in the Second World War.
This will be an invoice they (Allies powers) must pay to
the Iranian nation," he said in remarks broadcast live on
state television Saturday.
Ahmadinejad didn't elaborate on the details but he had
earlier said he would write to United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon to ask that Iran be compensated for
the damages caused to its people during the war and for
the use of its territory and resources by Allied powers.
Britain and the Soviet Union invaded Iran on August 26,
1941, codenamed "Operation Countenance" to secure Iranian
oil fields and ensure supply lines for the Soviets
fighting Axis forces.
Food, fuel and other essentials were scare amid mounting
inflation and there was great hardship on the Iranian
people as the needs of invading powers were given
priority. "You inflicted lots of damages to the Iranian
nation, put your weight on the shoulders (of the Iranian
people) and became victors in the World War II. You didn't
even share the war profits with
Iran," Ahmadinejad said. "If I say today that we will take
full compensation ... know that we will stand to the end
and will take it."
Ahmadinejad also warned that Iran may also demand
compensation for the damages it suffered during World War
I, the Western support for the former Pahlavi Dynasty and
its hostility towards Iran since the 1979 Islamic
revolution.
Chavez says Venezuela jets
intercepted U.S. plane
Reuters, Caracas
President Hugo Chavez said he ordered two F-16 jets to
intercept a U.S. military plane that twice entered
Venezuelan skies on Friday, but Washington said none of
its planes flew over the South American country's
airspace.
Brandishing a photo of the plane, which he described as a
P-3, Chavez said the overflight was the latest violation
of Venezuelan airspace by the U.S. military from its bases
on the Netherlands' Caribbean islands and from
neighbouring Colombia. "They are provoking us ... these
are warplanes," he said.
Chavez said the F-16s escorted the U.S. plane away after
two incursions lasting 15 and 19 minutes each.
A spokesman for the the U.S. Defence Department denied
Chavez's assertion, saying in an e-mail: "We can confirm
no U.S. military aircraft entered Venezuelan airspace
today. As a matter of policy we do not fly over a nation's
airspace without prior consent or coordination."
Senior Obama administration officials said the U.S.
Southern Command was unaware of any incident involving
U.S. government aircraft in Venezuelan airspace on Friday.
The perceived threat of U.S. intervention has become a
central element of Chavez's political discourse and a
rallying cry for his supporters. Foes say Latin America's
loudest U.S. critic is hyping the idea of a foreign threat
to distract Venezuelans from domestic problems such as
economic recession, rampant crime and inadequate public
services. The socialist leader surprised the diplomatic
world in December when he accused the Netherlands of
abetting potential offensive action against his government
by granting U.S. troops access to its islands close to
Venezuela.
The Dutch government says the U.S. presence on Curacao and
Aruba-where about 250 Air Force crew and ground staff are
based-is only for counternarcotics and surveillance
operations over Caribbean smuggling routes.
France 24 says, the United States has denied the charge.
Is Osama Bin Laden dead or
alive?
BBC Online
Osama Bin Laden died eight years ago during the battle for
Tora Bora in Afghanistan, either from a US bomb or from a
serious kidney disease.
Or so the conspiracy theory goes.
The theory that has developed on the web since 9/11 is
that US intelligence services are manufacturing the Bin
Laden statements to create an evil bogeyman, to justify
the so-called war on terror in Afghanistan, Iraq and back
at home.
So is the world's most wanted man still alive?
For a decade, Osama bin Laden has managed to evade the
world's superpower and the biggest manhunt in history.
Bruce Riedel, who chaired President Barack Obama's
Afghanistan/Pakistan policy review, and who has seen the
intelligence on Bin Laden, says the trail has not so much
gone cold as "frozen over". "We don't have a clue where he
is," he says. In the absence of any concrete intelligence,
Bin Laden has become shrouded in myth and rumour.
'Certainly fake'
Numerous audio and video statements purporting to be
from Bin Laden have been released, but their authenticity
has been continually questioned.
The veracity of all of the videos is questioned by David
Ray Griffin, a former theology professor and member of the
9/11 Truth Movement, which also questions mainstream
accounts of the attack on the World Trade Centre.
"None of them can be proven to be authentic," he says. "At
least three of them can be shown to be almost certainly
fake.
"And if somebody is faking Bin Laden videos, then that
leads to the suspicion that all the videos and audio tapes
have been faked."
Heart operation using MRI
BBC Online
A British six-year-old boy has become the first person in
the world to have a heart valve widened using an MRI scan
for guidance rather than X-ray imaging.
Jack Walborn was born with the heart condition pulmonary
valve stenosis, which reduces blood flow to the lungs.
Using MRI means patients are not exposed to radiation-
particularly important for children. The scan also
provides a clearer image, and information about the body's
tissues, in real time during surgery. Jack's condition
meant that the flow of blood from the right side of his
heart was obstructed.
Surgeons decided he needed an operation called a
valvuloplasty to widen the valve and increase blood flow.
This is done by inserting a catheter into a blood vessel
in the arm or groin and guiding it to the heart.
At the tip of the catheter is a balloon which is gently
inflated to widen the narrowed valve.
Glass fibre wire
X-ray imaging is usually used to track the progress of
the catheter through the body. But a team at the King's
Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre in London
has developed a way to use MRI scanning instead.
Business/Economy
BB to
announce monetary policy January 19
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh Bank (BB) will announce the monetary policy for
the second half of the current (2009-10) fiscal on January
19.
The central bank has already finalized the half-yearly
policy after discussions with different groups including
economists, business leaders and some former governors, a
BB official said.
BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman will announce the monetary
policy at a programme at the central bank's headquarters
in the city.
Dr Atiur earlier indicated that the policy would have some
specific directions to keep inflations within the fiscal
target of 6.5 percent. Experts recently raised concern
about the increasing food prices on both the domestic and
the internal markets, which would eventually create high
inflationary pressure on the economy.
The average inflation surged over 10 percent in 2008,
which came down to 5.15 in September last year with
decline in food prices.
The food prices in recent times started showing up trend
again on increased demands at the international markets,
following global recovery.
The monetary policy will focus on the growing concern with
some remedy to anchor the inflation at a comfortable
level, a BB official said.
Besides, the policy will have the outcome of gross
domestic product (GDP) in the first half of the current
financial year and will give an outlook for GDP for the
next six months till June 30.
The policy will also have directions for agriculture,
industries, service sectors and exports to attain the
fiscal target of 6 percent GDP growth.
The central bank has already declared that the country
achieved 5.5 percent GDP growth till December last year
and the growth rate would match the fiscal target in the
next six months.
The central bank on July 19, 2009 announced the monetary
policy for July- December period of the financial year,
emphasizing measures to increase growth and keep inflation
under control.
The average inflation was 7.3 percent in May 2009, which
came down to 5.15 percent in September last year.
Reopening
of laid off mills main challenge before govt: Dilip
BSS, Dhaka
Initiating the process to reopen the laid off mills
remains one of the major challenges for present government
besides formulating a pro-people industrial policy during
its first year. "In the last one year, we have been able
to create a positive impression in the industrial sector
removing all previous negative approach which was created
amid mismanagement in the last seven years," Industries
Minister Dilip Barua told BSS in an exclusive interview
today.
Dilip said the Industries Ministry has taken initiatives
to reopen a number of laid off state owned mills including
Khulna Newsprint Mills, Chittagong Chemical Complex and
Daulatpur Jute Mills. He said the present government has
decided not to privatize the state-owned enterprises (SoEs)
as the privatization program in the past had failed to
achieve its objectives.
"The SoEs privatized earlier were supposed to run
smoothly. But it did not happen. So, we will no more allow
privatization of the existing SoEs," he said.
The Industries Minister said after assuming the portfolio
of industries ministry, his first goal was re-infusing
confidence among the investors as well as secure the
rights of the labourers.
"I think we could restore the confidence of both the local
and international investors to a greater extent and they
are already showed their keen interest in investing in the
country's industrial sector," he said.
He termed the new industrial policy, awaiting cabinet
approval, as a major success of the industry ministry
which will ensure the smooth growth of environment
friendly sustainable labour intensive industrialization
along with securing the rights of the labours in the light
of government's declared Vision 2021. "I am expecting the
policy will be approved soon," he said.
The Minister said another major success of his ministry
was handling production and supply of fertilizers without
any disruption. "No fertilizer crisis was reported during
the last Aman and Boro sessions which helped the farmers
to get bumper production," he said.
Immediately after taking charges the present government
had halved the prices of non-urea fertilizers and in
November there was another reduction of fertilizer prices.
Besides, the government has decided to establish two new
urea fertilizer industries in Sylhet and Sirajganj under
Bangladesh Chemical Industries Cooperation (BCIC) to
mitigate the growing demand of urea.
The Industries Ministry has taken Taka 31.20 crore worth
project styled Employment Generation and Poverty
Alleviation through providing vocational training to
fulfil the government's election pledge of creating
employment for one person of one family.
Fisheries entrepreneurs seek
modern labs to ensure export compliance
BSS, Dhaka
Experts and entrepreneurs on Saturday said the country's
second export earning fisheries sector needed extra care
to protect its export market suggesting installation of
modern testing laboratories to meet compliance demands.
"Bangladesh incurs loss of huge amount of foreign currency
in exports of fish and frozen goods every year due to
absence of such modern labs," said president of Bangladesh
Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) Syed Mahmuduul Haque at
a workshop here.
Bangladesh has such labs but those are not adequate to
deal with huge amount of fish products, experts said and
urged the private sector entrepreneurs to invest in
setting up laboratories in this regard.
They were addressing the workshop on "Compliance with
International Food Safety Requirements: Lessons from Thai
Experiences" in the conference room of Department of
Fisheries (DoE) here. The DoE organized the workshop to
share experiences on last month's study tour to Thailand.
Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) and the DoE
have jointly arranged the study tour.
Joint Secretary of the ministry of Fisheries and Livestock
M Samsul Kibria, who led the 11-member team, presented a
keynote paper on the lessons learnt from the tour while
chairman of Thailand Food Processing Club Paiboon
Ponsuwanna presented another paper on 'Compliance with
International Food Safety Requirments' in the workshop.
Director general of DoE M Abdul Khaleque chaired the
workshop while fisheries secretary M Sharful Alam spoke as
the chief guest and Thai Ambassador to Bangladesh
Chalermpol Thanchiti as special guest.
President of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association
(BFFEA) Musa Mia, president of Thai-Bangladesh Chamber of
Commerce and Industries (TBCCI) MA Momen also spoke as
designated discussants.
Britain faces toughest cuts for 20
years
AFP, London
Finance minister Alistair Darling warned on Saturday that
Britain faces its toughest spending cuts in two decades if
the ruling Labour party wins this year's general election.
Darling also confirmed to The Times newspaper that there
would be a budget before the election, which must take
place by June.
That will quash speculation that Prime Minister Gordon
Brown is preparing to call an early election.
Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in an
interview that severe spending restraints were
"non-negotiable" if he is to bring down the 178 billion
pound (198 billion euro, 285 billion dollar) budget
deficit.
"My priority is to get borrowing down. Once recovery is
established, we have to act," he said.
"The next spending review will be the toughest we have had
for 20 years... to me, cutting the borrowing was never
negotiable. Gordon accepts that, he knows that."
Darling told the newspaper that voters supported his
effort to balance the books.
"Most people know that public spending has doubled over
the last 10 to 12 years, so we are coming off a much
higher base," he said.
"We are not talking about a situation where we have
already cut to the bone."
Darling was speaking after two former ministers, Geoff
Hoon and Patricia Hewitt, launched a
failed attempt to unseat Brown. Opinion polls suggest the
opposition Conservatives will win the general election.
EU chiefs urge stepped-up economic
coordination
AFP, Madrid
The European Union's three chief representatives appealed
Friday for greater economic coordination among member
countries to revive growth in the bloc following the
global crisis.
"Only by working together very closely together at all
levels will we be able to deliver on the main challenges
facing us," said the EU's new permanent president, Herman
Van Rompuy. "And this will indeed be a challenging six
months for us all... We face huge budget deficits in each
of our countries due to the economic crisis.
"In order to limit the deficits, we need reforms, but we
also need economic growth, structural reforms."
He said that if nothing were done, economic growth would
not be higher than 1.0 percent. Van Rompuy was speaking at
a news conference with EU Commission President Manuel
Barroso and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero, whose country assumed the EU's six-month
rotating presidency on January 1.
"Our main objective during this time is united policies,
especially on the economy," Zapatero said.
"If we can move the European economy forward, then
prosperity will be on the horizon for all of us. That is
the main objective we have for this period and it is an
objective that we all share." Barroso echoed those
opinions.
"It is only if we work jointly with ambitious aims that we
can find answers to the concerns of the citizens of
Europe," he said. "Our first priority has to be economic
recovery and the creation of jobs."
Zapatero on Thursday proposed a form of European
"government" on economic issues, with the promise of
rewards for members that meet binding targets-and the
threat of sanctions for those that do not.
Nokia urges mobile developers to
focus on poor nations
AFP, Las Vegas, Nevada
Nokia chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo praised the
mobile phone on Friday as a history-changing tool and
challenged developers to create programs for poor
countries.
"These little devices have done more to improve people's
lives than perhaps any technology in history," the head of
the Finnish mobile phone giant said in a keynote address
at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here.
The Nokia CEO said relatively cheap mobile phones had done
much to improve the lives of people in developing nations.
"Here is the Nokia 1616, nothing to get too excited
about," he said. "(But) it includes a built-in flashlight,
a dust resistant keypad, an FM radio, a speaking alarm
clock.
"Farmers in India and Indonesia can use it to get the
latest information on crops," Kallasvuo said. "The mobile
device has become a necessity for upward mobility.
"For the majority of the world's people, their first and
only access to the Internet will be through a mobile
device-not a PC," he said. "And this access is spreading
very, very fast."
Kallasvuo said there were 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions
among a global population of 6.8 billion people. "We are
near the day where we can talk about the whole connected
world," he said.
He also announced that Nokia was putting one million
dollars behind the first "Nokia Growth Economy Venture
Challenge" to encourage developers to design mobile
products or services that raise the standard of living in
poor nations.
"We want you to come up with new and innovative ways to
help people," Kallasvuo said.
"We've seen what the tech community can do when it focuses
on problems that are also opportunities," he said. "We
want to channel that energy toward improving lives in the
developing world."
Nokia said the Venture Challenge is not limited to
software or hardware that uses its devices or software
platforms. The million dollars will be invested in the
organization with the best idea with the winner announced
in June.
Dhaka Bank arranges training
workshop on Basel II
TBT Economy Desk
Dhaka Bank arranged a training workshop on "Basel II
:Technical Issues, Challenges and Implementation
Initiative" at the bank's head office in the capital
recently, says a press release.
A total of 47 officers and executives from different
branches and divisions of Dhaka Bank, head office took
part in the training program. The workshop was inaugurated
by Khondker Fazle Rashid, Managing Director of Dhaka Bank
and addressed by Shamshad Begum, Principal of DBTI. Kaiser
Tamiz Amin, DMD & Mr. Muhammad Mustafa Haikal Hashmi, SEVP
were also present at the program.
Fiber@Home takes awareness
program on Natl Vaccination Day
TBT Report
Fiber@Home Ltd has extended its hand to support the
government in a bid to eradicate polio on National
Vaccination Day today (Sunday).
To this end, the company has taken awareness programmes
from January 8. As part of the programmes, Baul artists
are singing songs on the trucks plying the main
thoroughfare of the capital to highlight the day's
significance. The programme will run till today, says a
press release.
With a view to developing and deploying nationwide
telecommunication transmission network Fiber@Home expanded
its network to 23 districts with in six months after
getting license in 2009 from BTRC.
Apart from this, Fiber@Home Ltd is in the last phase of
deploying robust underground fiber based telecommunication
network which will help remove overhead cluttered telecom
network cable that exists today.
Fiber@Home as a national company will always stand beside
the government initiative to develop the nation and
national interest.
NCC Bank opens SME Service
Centre at Kamal Bazar in Ctg
TBT Economy Desk
NCC Bank Limited has opened a SME Service Centre at Kamal
Bazar in Chittagong. Chairman of the Audit Committee of
the Board Principal M. Wazhiullah Bhuiyan inaugurated the
centre as chief guest recently, says a press release.
Managing Director Mohammed Nurul Amin presided over the
function while Directors Nurun Newaz Salim, Mohammed Ali
and Sponsor Anwar Pasha attended as special guests. In his
speech as chief guest Principal M. Wazhiullah Bhuiyan
said, small and medium scale enterprises are expanding
quickly. NCC Bank is giving priority to this sector.
Managing Director Mohammed Nurul Amin emphasized on
rendering best possible services to the small & medium
entrepreneurs through NCC Bank SME Service Centers and
requested the businessmen to avail of the services.
National
Govt will enroll 100pc students at
primary schools this year
BSS, Rajshahi University
Prime Minister's Adviser for Education, Social Development
and Political Affairs Professor Dr Alauddin Ahmed said,
government will admit 100 percent students in 2010 at
primary level.
He also said that, the present government has been trying
its best to eradicate 100 percent illiteracy in 2014.
Professor Alauddin said it while he was speaking as the
chief guest at the Gold medal award and scholarship
handing over ceremony among meritorious students at
Rajshahi University senate Bhabon here on Saturday
organized by Rajshahi University.
Rajshahi Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and Rajshahi-2
constituency MP Fazle Hossain Badsha spoke as special
guests. Rajshahi University Vice Chancellor Prof Abdus
Sobhan presided over the programme while Member of
Parliament of Rajshahi-1 constituency Omar Faruk Chowdhury,
Rajshahi-5 constituency MP Abdul Wadud Dara, Zinatunnesa
Talukder MP,RU Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof. Muhammad Nurullah,
Treasurer Prof Abdur Rahman and Registrar Prof Abdul Bari
spoke.
Prof Alauddin said, "Because of no real implementation of
any full-fledged education policy in last 38 years,
present government has been trying to formulate an
education policy for quality universal education".
"Those who will drop out at primary level, government will
provide them training without any cost for their income",
he said adding, "We respect religious and moral education
very much. We will not cut a single of those but they also
should be cordial to the nation and national flag", he
said.
"The present government will set up a government school
and six vocational institutions in all upazilas of
Bangladesh," he said adding, "Government will set up
vocational wings in all schools".
He also informed that he will inform the prime minister to
establish an agriculture university in Rajshahi and two
residential halls for Rajshahi University students on
account of the demand from Rajshahi Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman
Liton and RU VC Prof M Abdus Sobhan.
Prof Alauddin Ahmed placed wreath to martyred teacher Prof
Shamsuzzoha's graveyard and monument of Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman hall.
A total 398 students received gold medals, awards and
scholarships for their outstanding contribution from the
chief guest and special guests for the academic years
1999- 2004. Rajshahi mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and Omar
Faruk Chowdhury MP announced scholarship after their
fathers name AHM Kamruzzaman and Azizul Haq Chowdhury
while Zinatunnesa Talukder MP declared a scholarship after
her mother.
River Halda in Ctg to lose its fish resources over next 2
decades
UNB, Dhaka
The Halda River in Chittagong, considered as the major
source of Indian carps, is going to lose its fish
resources over the next two decades due to intrusion of
saline water apprehended to be caused by sea-level rise.
"The Halda River will lose its sweet water flow eventually
damaging the breeding grounds of Indian carps, as the sea
level is likely to rise by 2-3 mitres within 2050 brining
in saline water," Prof Abdul Kader of the Institute of
Marine Science and Fisheries at Chittagong University told
UNB. Prof Kader said the Halda is the richest spawning
ground of Indian major carps, including Catla fish (Catla
catla), Ruhi fish (Labeo Rohita), Mrigal fish (Cirrhinus
Marigala) and Kalbaoush (Labeo Calbasu) in Bangladesh.
"Besides, 60 percent of the country's pond carps culture
is dependent on the fish fry naturally produced in the
river."
He said it is not only the sea-level rise, but there are
also other reasons like over-fishing, massive sand
lifting, water contamination by industrial wastes,
destruction of various species of fish, including fry and
mother fishes, geographical change and unchecked riverbank
erosion are taking their toll on bio-diversity of the
important river.
Prof Noman Ahmed Siddiqiue, a marine scientist and
researcher, said the river is the country's major source
of fish fry, as mother fishes of indigenous species like
Ruhi, Catla, Mrigel and Kaliboush migrate to Halda from
different rivers and lay eggs during March-June period
every year. "If salinity affects the river by 8 ppt (parts
per thousand) in the future, it'll lose its ideal
atmosphere for the breeding of Indian carps apart from the
biodiversity. The downstream of the river is already
affected by salinity, particularly during winter season,"
Prof Noman apprehends. A recent study by the Institute of
Water Modelling (IWM) shows the salinity level in the
river rose to 8 ppt in dry session in 2005 and it may rise
sharply in the future, as the sea level will rise by
around 2-3 mitres by 2050, destroying its fresh water
pockets.
Day-night
work on for Bishwa Ijtema
BSS, Gazipur
Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest world congregation of
Muslims after the holy hajj, will begin at Tongi here on
the bank of the Turag river on January 22.
Day-night work is going on preparatory to the three-day
annual event that will bring together some 40 lakh Muslim
devotees from 150 countries including host Bangladesh,
organisers said.
Prime Minister's Special Assistant Mahbubul Alam Hanif on
Friday visited the Ijtema venue. Local MP AKM Mokammel
Haque, deputy commissioner Kamal Uddin Talukder and Tongi
Pourasabha Mayor Advocate Ajmat Ullah Khan were present.
The visiting team performed Jumma prayers at the Ijtema
ground.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave responsibility to her
special assistant to know about the progress of the
preparation for the Ijtema.
Preparations of the Ijtema include pandels, water supply,
toilets, power, gas, communication and security.
On behalf of the Tablig Jamaat, former education secretary
Ershadul Haque, M Gias Uddin, M Abdul Quddus and senior
officials were also present.
Devotees from across the country are coming to the Ijtema
venue for joining preparatory work voluntarily for
achieving satisfaction of Almighty Allah.
The Ijtema organizers hoped that the preparations would be
completed within stipulated time. They apprised the
visiting team that steps have been taken to solve all
problems of the musallis, which were identified last year.
Considering the demand of the musallis, 60 lakh gallons of
water will be supplied everyday. Two more water pumps have
been set up to meet increasing demand of water. In total
12 pumps will be in operation for this purpose.
Around the Ijtema ground, 1,768 pucca toilets, 2,500 semi-
pucca toilets and 3,000 temporary toilets have been set up
for the devotees.
The district office of Public Health and Engineering
Department is supervising water and sanitation facilities.
The whole Ijtema ground has been divided into 33 'khetta'
(sections) for convenience of the musallis.
DPHE implements Tk. 266-cr sanitation project in
three northern districts
BSS, Rajshahi, Jan 9
The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) has
been implementing a development project for ensuring easy
access to safe water and sanitation facilities for the
poor in the unserved and underserved areas.
According to the official sources, the four-year project
titled "Hygiene, Sanitation and Water Supply (HYSAWA)" is
being implemented in 200 unions in 25 upazilas of Rajshahi,
Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts at an estimated cost
of Taka 266 crore.
Main objective of the project is to develop and
demonstrate sustainable hygiene, sanitation and water
supply service delivery through local government
institutions in consultation with community people, said
District Project Officer Moniruzzaman. Out of total
estimated cost, the community will contribute 35.51
percent that will ensure community ownership and enhance
scheme management capacity.
Referring to the existing declining condition of the
groundwater table, he said, the shallow water technologies
have become ineffective currently and demand for deep tube
wells has increased in some pocket areas particularly in
the vast tract of Barind area due to rapid lowering of
groundwater table along with arsenic contamination in
shallow aquifer in some areas of the country. But, he
said, cost of the deep tube well is very high and
especially unaffordable for the poor community. In this
situation, our public health is in a threatened condition
due to lack of proper sanitation facilities and inadequate
hygiene practice, he added.
Major activities of the project are to promote safe
hygiene, stop open defecation, protects safe water source,
environmental sanitation and awareness rising on personal
hygiene using community management promotion approach.
Only 36pc of agri loan target attained by Dec in
6 dists of Barisal
UNB, Barisal, Jan 9
Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) failed to attain any
satisfactory level of the agriculture loan disbursement
target in six districts of Barisal division during the
first half of the current fiscal year.
BKB Barisal divisional office sources said of the Tk
311.16 crore agricultural loan disbursement target, only
Tk 113.13 crore was disbursed during the period till
December. This is only 36 percent of the target.
The loans are being disbursed in Barisal, Jhalakati,
Pirojpur, Barguna, Bhola and Patuakhali districts on easy
terms and conditions in low interest rate for agricultural
and economical rehabilitation in Sidr and Aila affected
areas.
Of the disbursed agricultural loan, Tk 26.15 crore out of
the target of Tk 53.4 crore was disbursed in Bhola
district, Tk 21.18 crore out of Tk 54 crore in Pirojpur,
Tk 20.4 crore out of Tk 50.5 crore in Barguna, Tk 19.27
crore out of Tk 63.16 crore in Barisal, Tk 17.34 crore out
of Tk 37.5 crore in Jhalakati and Tk 8.79 crore out of the
target of Tk 52.6 crore was disbursed in Patuakhali
district.
Sixty-four percent of the loan disbursement target is yet
to be achieved while the Boro season is already in its
halfway.
Sheikh Ahmed, general manager (in-charge) of Barisal
divisional office of the Krishi Bank, said ultra poor
farmers and share-croppers often avoid agricultural loan
being failed to manage any guarantor as well as due to
fear of legal harassments in case of their incapability to
repay the loan.
"The agriculture loan disbursement target is yet to be
achieved as the farmers borrow money from the moneylenders
(Mahajans) at a high rate of interests instead of taking
from bank," he said.
However, branch managers and staff members were asked to
change their mindset and behave friendly with the farmers
to achieve the loan disbursement target, he added.
Minor boy killed in road crash in Bbaria
UNB, Brahmanbaria
A minor boy was killed in a road accident at Suhilpur in
Sadar upazila on Friday.
The deceased was identified as Belayet, 10, of the
village. Witnesses said the accident took place on
Comilla-Sylhet highway in the area when a truck ran over
Belayet while he was crossing the road at about 4 pm,
leaving him dead on the spot.
Hearing the death news, the agitated locals put barricade
on the road disrupting vehicular movement for about two
hours.
On information, police rushed to the spot and brought the
situation under control.
A case was filled in this connection.
Constitute independent commission to probe
encroachment in Coxs Bazar: CPBA
BSS, Dhaka
The leaders of the Cox's Bazar Paribesh Bacho Andolan (CPBA)
and Coast Trust on Saturday demanded to constitute an
independent commission to probe into the encroachment of
government owned hills and forests in Cox's Bazar, the
prime tourist center of the country.
They also demanded punishment of the grabbers of
government lands in Cox's Bazar. They made this demand
while addressing a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters
Unity here on Saturday. Professor Shermina Rashmin read
out a written statement on behalf of the CPBA and Coast
Truest.
The leaders will submit a memorandum of understanding
containing a five-point recommendation to the Prime
Minister on January 14 in order to save the country's
unique hills and natural beauty of Cox's Bazar.
Prof Shermina also told the press conference that the
changing pattern of natural disaster and climate,
different human activities including erection of unplanned
structures along the sea beach are responsible for
increasing threats to the world's longest sea beach.
Deputy Director of Coast Trust Sanat Kumar Banik and
Mostafa
Kamal also addressed the press conference
They said Cox's Bazar has become world famous as a place
of tourist attraction for its colourful natural beauty and
every year more and more tourists from home and abroad are
visiting the place. The leaders alleged that Cox's Bazar
town is also under threat as a number of dishonest
persons, politicians and a section of officials of the
administration are making profit by giving away government
lands to the encroachers.
They also mentioned the statistics of Forest Department
that 7,000 acres of hilly lands valued Taka 3,888 crore
went to land grabbers. Later, during the past caretaker
government about 1,800 acres of land were brought under
the Forest Department.
New educational institutions under MPO after
scrutiny: Dr Alauddin
BSS, Rajshahi
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Education, Social
Development and Political Affairs Dr Alauddin Ahmed has
said the new educational institutions would be brought
under the Monthly Payment Order (MPO) after necessary
scrutiny for over all development of the country's
educational system.
He stated this while sharing views with the local
lawmakers and Awami League leaders at Circuit House here
on Friday night.
Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Fazley Hossain
Badsha, MP, Omar Faruque Chowdhury, MP, Abdul Wadud Dara,
MP, and Prof Zinatun Nessa Talukder, MP, were present on
the occasion, among others.
Dr Alauddin noted that development of the educational
sector is the precondition to build Digital Bangladesh.
To this end, he said the present government has formulated
a new education policy and in this line the policy to
bring the new educational institutions under MPO has been
finalized.
He, however, underscored the need for a collective effort
to enhance quality and quantity of the institutional
education system and there is no alternative to attain
this.
Among others, Prof Dr Shafiqul Islam of Rajshahi
University, city unit Awami League Vice-president
Rafiquddin and Juba League President Abu Saleh also
addressed the meeting.
Sports
Citycell Bangladesh League
football
Dhaka Abahani blanks Ctg Mohammedan 2-0
TBT Report
Sheriff Mohamed Deen scored one goal each in either half of
the play as Dhaka Abahani
downed Chittagong Mohammedan Sporting Club 2-0 in the Citycell
3rd Bangladesh League football at MA Aziz Stadium in
Chittagong on Saturday.
Sheriff Deen scored from a penalty after 26 minutes to give
Dhaka Abahani a 1-0 advantage at the half time. The Ghanaian
scored yet another on 73 minutes to ensure the eighth
consecutive win for the defending champions.
Dhaka Abahani tallied 24 points from eight matches, while
Chittagong Moha-mmedan remained with six points after eight
outings.
The other title contender Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club also
maintained its all-win record defeating Brothers Union by the
same margin at Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Mohammad Mustafa Stadium
in Dhaka.
Mohammad Nasir scored the first goal on 36 minutes, while
fellow Nasiruddin doubled the lead two minutes later.
Dhaka Mohammedan's collection reached to 24 points after
eighth round fixture, while Brothers Union earned 10 points
from eight games.
Samir Omari and Mohammad Yousuf were on target as Sheikh
Russel Krira Chakra outplayed Biani Bazar Sporting Club 3-0 in
the other match of the day at Sylhet Stadium.
Omari scored two goals on 25 and 48 minutes, while Yousuf
increased the margin on 81 minutes to earn their team its
seventh win in eight match.
Sheikh Russell secured 22 points from eight matches and Biani
Bazar earned six points playing seven games.
Today's Match: Rahmat-ganj Muslim Friends Society vs
Feni Soccer Club (Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Moha-mmad Mustafa
Stadium at 2:45pm) and Shuktara Jubo Sangsad vs Chittagong
Abahani (Osmani Stadium, Narayanganj at 2:30pm).
ICC
happy with Dhaka's preparations
UNB, Dhaka
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is happy with the
preparations Bangla-desh has taken to stage the ICC Cricket
World Cup 2011.
"I'm very much satisfied, as Bangladesh has made a good
progress in the last few months to stage the ICC Cricket World
Cup 2011," ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat told reporters at
a press conference at a city hotel Saturday.
As one of the three co-hosts of the World Cup, Dhaka will
stage the opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 13
months' time and it will bring in a big opportunity to
highlight the country among huge global audience.
"ICC Vice President and Chairman of the CWC 2011 Central
Organising Committee Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina Friday and the Prime Minister gave her consent to be
present at the opening ceremony in Dhaka on Feb 17 next year,
showing the support we have for the event at the highest
level," Haroon Lorgat said.
Bangladesh will also host eight matches of the ICC Cricket
World Cup 2011, including the opening match and two
quarterfinals.
With Bangladesh preparing to host the biggest sporting event
of its history, the first of its kind in Bangladesh, the ICC
Chief Executive has urged the people to get behind the
tournament when the time comes.
"During the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Bangla-desh along with
two joint-hosts India and Sri Lanka will be the centre of the
sporting world, and it'll be a huge boost for Bangladesh as a
nation," Lorget added.
He went on: "The passion the Bangladeshis have for cricket is
second to none. So, I've every confidence that there'll be a
special atmosphere. In fact, there's already a sense of
excitement building with people talking about putting on a
great show, benefiting such an important sporting occasion."
Replying to a query, the ICC Chief executive told the
journalists, "We've inspected all the World Cup venues here,
including the Banga-bandhu National Stadium. "It's all right,"
he said.
Replying to another question regarding accommodation of VIPs
from allover the world, BCB President AHM Mustafa Kamal said,
"We've all the necessary preparations and facilities to
accommodate our guests during the opening ceremony and also in
the CWC match."
COC Convenor Mahbubul Anam said, "We expect a full house crowd
in the opening ceremony of the World Cup, as we watched
similar crowd during the ICC Under-19 World Cup opener
although there was no match for the day."
COC Tournament Director Prof Ratnakar Shetty said the rates of
tickets will be affordable to people, as huge cricket fans
will come to the venues.
ICC Vice President and Chairman of the Central Organizing
Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Sharad Pawar was
also present at the press conference.
Earlier, Sharad Pawar presided over a meeting of the COC of
the World Cup here Saturday morning.
ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, BCB President AHM Mustafa
Kamal MP, Tournament Director Prof Ratnakar Shetty and COC
Convenor Mahbubul Anam also attended the meeting.
Clijsters beats Henin in final of
Brisbane tennis
AFP, Brisbane
Belgium's Kim Clijsters beat fellow countrywoman Justine
Henin 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) to win a drama-charged final of
the Brisbane International tennis tournament on Saturday.
The two great rivals battled it out for two hours, 23
minutes before Clijsters eventually claimed victory on her
fourth championship point.
Henin's hopes of winning her first tournament since making
a comeback to the sport ended with the loss, but she
showed enough to suggest she will be a major force at the
upcoming Australian Open.
Clijsters, who made her own comeback midway through last
year, played some brilliant tennis in the first one and a
half sets and appeared headed for an easy victory.
But she stumbled badly when trying to close out the match
at 4-1, and Henin seized on her opponent's nerves,
attacking relentlessly and winning five straight games to
put the match back on even terms.
Henin kept the pressure up at the start of the third,
winning her first service game, breaking a shell-shocked
Clijsters then holding her own serve to lead 3-0 and take
an apparently firm grip on the final.
Clijsters refused to give in, however, and broke back to
put the set back on serve only to give away the advantage
in the eighth game when she put an overhead smash into the
net to concede the break.
But in yet another twist Clijsters broke back immediately,
winning the game in almost identical fashion, this time
Henin putting a smash into the net.
Henin brought up two championship points in the next game
when Clijsters served at 4-5 to stay in the match, but
couldn't convert either and Clijsters held on, with the
set almost inevitably going to a tie-break.
Clijsters had appeared the more vulnerable throughout the
third set, but she quickly opened up a 4-0 lead in the
tiebreak, taking it to 5-1 with a second serve ace.
One dead, nine hurt in attack on
African football stars
AFP, Luanda
Gunmen shot at buses carrying Togo's football team to the
African Nations Cup in Angola on Friday, leaving one dead
and nine wounded, but organisers insisted the tournament
would go ahead.
Two players were among the injured, while a driver was
killed as bullets sprayed at the team's vehicles as they
crossed into Angola's restive Cabinda province from
Congo-Brazzaville, according to a Togo official.
Many dived under their seats when the gunfire started.
Squad member Thomas Dossevi said the team-one of the
strongest in African football-had been "fired on like
dogs". Two players-goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale and defender
Serge Akakpo-were among the wounded, Dossevi told AFP.
"The assailants were hooded and armed to the teeth. We
stayed under the seats for 20 minutes. It was horrible."
Two English Premiership players-Manchester City striker
Emmanuel Adebayor and Aston Villa midfielder Moustapha
Salifou-emerged unharmed from the attack, their clubs
said.
Angola's government denounced the attack by the separatist
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC),
and in a statement "reiterated its total commitment to
guaranteeing everyone's security".
FLEC, embroiled in a decades-long separatist struggle,
said the team's military escorts were the intended target,
saying one person had been killed and three seriously
injured.
"This operation is only the start of a series of targeted
actions that will continue in all the territory of Cabinda,"
it said in a statement on Portugal's Lusa news agency.
FLEC signed a peace deal with Angola's government in 2006,
but in recent months has claimed a spate of attacks on the
military and foreign oil and construction workers in the
province.
Togo's football federation said members of the team's
sporting, administrative and medical staff were injured.
All were being treated in a hospital in Cabinda city.
Alaixys Romao, a Togolese player for the French top flight
side Grenoble, said the team was in shock and did not want
to take part in the tournament.
His concerns about security echoed across the continent,
but organisers said the games would go on.
"Our great concern is for the players, but the
championship goes ahead," said Souleymane Habuba,
spokesman for the Confederation of African Football. He
said the group's vice president had set off for Cabinda to
find out first hand what had occurred, but questioned why
Togo had elected to travel by road rather than flying.
Togo, one of Africa's top sides and who appeared in the
last World Cup in Germany, were scheduled to start their
campaign against Ghana on Monday in Cabinda.
The other teams in their group are Burkina Faso and the
star-studded Ivory Coast squad which includes Chelsea
striker Didier Drogba and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure.
Despite long-running security concerns, oil-rich Cabinda
is to host seven Nations Cup matches this month. Angola as
a whole is only just emerging from a 27-year civil war
which erupted shortly after it received independence from
Portugal and finally ended in 2002.
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh tweets
for hockey players
BSS/PTI, New Delhi
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan feels awful for Indian
hockey players revolting against the establishment for
their unpaid dues and has tweeted his disgust at the
latest crisis to rock the national sport.
Khan, widely praised for bringing the pathetic state of
Indian hockey into limelight with his portrayal of a
disgraced player who goes on to become a celebrated coach
in the 2007 Bollywood blockbuster 'Chak De India',
supported the revolting players in his latest tweet.
"(I) feel awful for the Indian hockey team. To play for
the country...national sport and have to ask for salary
and we complain we don't win gold (medals)," Khan, who
himself was a hockey player before becoming an actor, said
on his 'Twitter' page.
Indian hockey has plunged into a crisis with players
boycotting the ongoing World Cup preparatory camp in Pune
(a city in western India) for an indefinite period in
protest against non-payment of their dues.
The players took the unprecedented step to stay away from
the camp after Hockey India, the interim body which is
governing the game in the country, failed to resolve the
payment dispute despite the players submitting two
letters.
"We have decided to boycott the camp indefinitely till we
are paid our money. We took such a decision in a meeting
of players last night", Indian Hockey Team Captain Rajpal
Singh has said. "Earlier we used to be paid after every
tournament but it is not the case now. We had reminded the
HI officials a few times, but nothing has been done. We
will now report to the camp only after we are paid."
England duo rejects ball tampering claims
AFP, London
England pacemen James Anderson and Stuart Broad both
insisted Saturday they had nothing to be ashamed of after
being caught up in suggestions of ball-tampering during
the third Test against South Africa.
The Proteas raised concerns over the state of the ball
after television pictures showed Broad stopping the ball
with the underside of his boot and Anderson working on it
with his fingers moments later.
However, South Africa did not follow through with a formal
complaint and the International Cricket Council declared
the matter closed, meaning neither fast bowler would face
disciplinary action. However, former England captain
Michael Vaughan said the duo had been "lucky", with
Anderson especially fortunate to have avoided a ban which
would have ruled him out of next week's series finale.
But Anderson told Saturday's edition of Britain's Daily
Mirror newspaper his actions at Cape Town's Newlands
ground were entirely innocent.
"To be caught up in suggestions of ball-tampering was a
huge disappointment," said the Lancashire quick.
"It led to a lot of comment and cast a shadow over me and
Stuart Broad when we'd done nothing wrong except be a bit
absent-minded and lazy.
"I know my old England captain Michael Vaughan is entitled
to his opinion but I was a little bit hurt by some of the
comments he made about me, because I'd like to think he
knew me well enough to know I wouldn't do something like
that," Anderson insisted.
He added: "I definitely was not altering the ball to try
and help us, I was just looking at it and playing with it.
There was a tuft of leather that had come up and I wasn't
digging in any nails or anything like that into the ball."
Broad meanwhile conceded he'd been lazy in stopping the
ball with his boot but said it was ridiculous to believe
that could help induce reverse-swing or somehow alter the
ball's condition in another way that would aid the
bowlers.
Spain wins Hopman Cup
AFP, Perth
Tommy Robredo lifted Spain off the canvas to win their
third Hopman Cup title with a 2-1 win over Great Britain
in a thrilling final here Saturday.
Great Britain was on the verge of its first success in the
mixed teams tournament when 15-year-old Laura Robson
stunned experienced Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez
to give her side the lead and world No.4 Andy Murray then
breezed through the first set against Tommy Robredo.
Murray, who declared pre-match that he would not lose to
the world No.16, hadn't dropped a set in singles all week
and his early dominance on the back of an impregnable
serve suggested he would finish the 27-year-old Spaniard
off quickly and claim the title for the British.
However the pugnacious Robredo, seeking his second Hopman
Cup title, clawed his way back into the contest as Murray
fell away slightly and ultimately notched a memorable
victory in three sets, setting up a live mixed doubles.
Despite again Robson belying her inexperience with her
poise in a tense doubles clash, Murray struggled to
recapture his best form and the fourth seeds won the
important points to take the deciding rubber 7-6 (8/6),
7-5.
The British held three set points in the first set of the
doubles at 6-3, but then dropped the next five points.
Although the British were able to save two championship
points in the second set, it was third time lucky for the
Spanish and fittingly it was a Robredo backhand winner
down the line that sealed the result.
Spain also won the title in 1990, through Emilio Sanchez
and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, and in 2002, when a teenage
Robredo teamed with Sanchez Vicario. Martinez Sanchez
admitted she thought the final was lost after her defeat
at the hands of Robson.
"It was a great final," he said. "I want to congratulate
Maria, she said today I did great job but here no one wins
alone so it is for her and our team."
Although Great Britain were part of the inaugural Hopman
Cup back in late 1988, it was only their fourth appearance
here and first since 1992.
In the women's singles, Robson, the world No.405, stunned
the 26th-ranked Martinez Sanchez, who hadn't previously
been beaten in singles here this week, in straight sets,
6-1, 7-6 (8/6), confirming her status as a player of
exceptional promise by rattling off 28 winners.
Glover extends lead at SBS golf
AFP, Kapalua
US Open champion Lucas Glover fired an eight-under 65 to
extend his lead to three strokes after the second round of
the season-opening SBS Championship on Friday.
"These guys are the best players in the world, and they're
going to be coming after me," Glover said.
American Glover kicked off a six-hole stretch where he
went six-under by nailing a two-putt birdie on hole No. 5.
His 15-under 131 is the lowest 36-hole score in five years
at the event and missed the tournament scoring record by
two shots.
"I am pretty aggressive anyways, so just pick your spots"
said Glover who also had an eagle. "Still I am going to
have to make birdies."
John Rollins (66) was three shots behind while tied for
third was defending champion Geoff Ogilvy (66), Sean
O'Hair (67), Matt Kuchar (68) and Martin Laird (68) all at
11-under.
"There's quite a few players out there that can win this
thing and are playing some nice golf," O'Hair said.
Glover pulled away by going nine-under through 12 holes in
the middle rounds.
Glover leads the field with 13 birdies over the first two
rounds and has hit 80 percent of his fairways.
Rollins carded a bogey-free, seven-under 66 on the
Plantation Course to reach 12-under-par 134.
Sharapova beats Wozniacki in Hong Kong tennis
AFP, Hong Kong
Russian Maria Sharapova continued her march to the
Australian Open Saturday, sweeping Danish teenaged
sensation Caroline Wozniacki 7-5 and 6-3 in a Hong Kong
exhibition match.
Wozniacki, ranked fourth in the world, initially had
Sharapova on the back foot with several blistering cross
court winners.
But Sharapova's powerful serve and groundstrokes helped
her best the 19-year-old Dane, who lost to American Venus
Williams earlier in the week.
Sharapova, 22, who has been recovering from a shoulder
injury that sidelined her for part of last year, also beat
China's Zheng Jie this week in a come-from-behind victory
at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic.
"It's a great field... a good test for the Australian
Open," Sharapova said of the exhibition tournament.
But she remained circumspect about her chances at the
first Grand Slam of the season, which starts January 18.
"Whether I have a good feeling or not, you never know the
future," she told reporters after her match.
Still, the two wins are good news for the former world
number one, who is now ranked 14, after she crashed out of
Beijing in October in a third-round loss to China's Peng
Shuai.
The Russian three-time Grand Slam winner had arthroscopic
surgery on her right shoulder, and was out of action until
May last year.
The Hong Kong tournament features four teams with three
players each-representing Russia, Europe, the Americas and
Asia Pacific-in singles and mixed doubles play.
Chan parts ways with coach
AFP, Ottawa
Don Laws, coach of reigning Canadian champ Patrick Chan,
will not be at rinkside when the world silver medallist
defends his national figure skating title next week in
London, Ontario.
Laws told Skate Canada he would also not accom-pany
Canadian Olympic contender Chan to the upcoming Winter
Games in Vancouver where the 19-year-old will be under
intense pressure to win a medal on home soil.
The apparent end of their coaching relationship was
announced Friday by Skate Canada. While Laws is based in
Florida where Chan has trained most of the last two years,
the gold medal hopeful shifted his training site to
Colorado Springs in recent weeks. It appears that decision
did not sit well with Laws.
Chan faltered badly at Skate Canada International in
November.
South Africa calls up
Pakistan-born spinner
AFP, Johannesburg
South Africa included Pakistan-born leg-spinner Imran
Tahir in a 15-man squad for the fourth and final Test
against England starting at the Wanderers Stadium on
Friday.
Tahir, 30, was born in Lahore and represented Pakistan A
before moving to South Africa where he married a local
woman. He completed a residential qualification at the
start of the current season.
He has played for the Easterns amateur team and the Titans
franchise in South African domestic cricket. He was the
leading wicket-taker for the Titans, who won the South
African first-class competition, in 2008/09 with 32
wickets at an average
of 27.68.
Tahir has also played in English county cricket for
Middlesex, Yorkshire and Hampshire.
Tahir will be competing with left-arm spinner Paul Harris
for a place in the starting line-up for what selection
convenor Mike Procter described as a "must win" Test.
England lead the series 1-0 and South Africa need a win to
share the honours.
Fast bowler Friedel de Wet was included in the squad
despite bowling only four overs during the last day of the
drawn third Test in Cape Town on Thursday because of back
muscle spasms. De Wet's inclusion will depend on a scan of
his injury.
Left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell was included in the
squad but there was no recall for Makhaya Ntini, who was
dropped from the team for the third Test.
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