SATURday, JANUARY 16, 2010 magh 3, 1416, muharram 29, 1430 Hijri

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Leading News

80 injured in BCL-Shibir clashes at Khulna, Meherpur, Dinajpur

TBT Report

Fierce clashes between pro-Awami League Chhatra League and Pro-Jamat Chhatra Shibit at Khulna BL College, Meherpur Govern-ment college and Dinajpur Govt. college on Friday left around 80 students injured. The three places were turned into battle grounds due to the clashes between the activists of two rival student organisations. Dinaj-pur college was closed sine die.
UNB reports from Khulna: At least 50 people, including five journalists, were injured in a fierce clash between the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Islami Chhatra Shibir at the Government BL College here Friday.
The academic council of the college asked the residential students to vacate their halls by Friday evening after an emergency meeting held following the clash, apparently to avert further trouble. Police and witnesses said activists of the two rival student bodies took out separate processions welcoming the admission seekers after the college admission test for 2010 academic session was held in the morning under the National University. The clash began when the rowdy activists of the rival groups chanted slogans against each other from their respective processions at about 12:30pm.
At one stage, the two groups equipped with iron rods and sticks attacked each other, leaving 45 students injured from both sides. Five photo journalists of ntv, Bangla Vision, Diganta TV Deshtv, and the daily Prothom Alo were injured during the clash.
BCL activists allegedly attacked the journalists while they were performing their professional duties.
On information, police rushed to the spot and managed to bring the situation under control at about 2:45 pm. Police used 25 canisters of teargas shells to disperse the feuding groups.
The injured were admitted to Khulna Medical College Hospital and other hospitals and clinics. BCL activists set fire to a coaching centre run by Shibir men in the town at about 4pm following the clash. Police detained seven Shibir activists from the spot.
Meanwhile, according to reports reaching Dhaka from Meherpur say:
Some 30 students were injured in a clash between the activists of Chhatra League and Chhatra Shibir at the Meherpur government college on Friday. Following the clash Chhatra League activists ransacked the Meherpur office of Jamaat-e-Islami and declared Shibir activities unwarranted in the district. The BCL men also beat up two journalists .Police rounded up 26 Shibir activists after the clash. Reports indicate that the clash began due to Shibir activists protest against the holding of a reception programme by the BCL to welcome the admission seekers in the college.
UNB Report from Dinajpur: Dinajpur Government University College was closed for an indefinite period Friday following a clash between the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Islami Chhatra Shibir.
Campus sources said BCL and Shibir brought our separate processions on the campus welcoming the newcomers after the admission test for first year honours course.
As the two processions reached Women Hostel at about 12:15pm, the activists of the two rival student bodies hurled brickbats at each other, triggering a clash.
A chase and counter chase took place during the melee. The BCL activists also ransacked 20 rooms of Muslim Hostel and set ablaze the furniture. On information, firefighters rushed in and brought tamed the fire. Later, the college authorities at an emergency academic council meeting decided to close the college for an indefinite period. Students were asked to vacate their hostels within 8pm. Additional police have been deployed in and around the college campus to avoid further trouble.

 Legal battle over 5th amendment will continue: Moudud
TBT Report

BNP Standing committee member and former Law Minister Barrister Moudud Ahmed has said, the legal battle over fifth amendment of the constitution is continue and will continue.
"It is a political issue and will be faced politically", he said at a function held at Hotel Sheraton on Friday on the occasion of unveiling of the cover a book. Titled 'Sangsad-o-Ami" (Parliament and I) written by former BNP minister Abdul Mannan.
Former Chief Justice Syed JR Modasser Ali was the chief guest at the function. Which was also attended by BNP Chair-person Begum Khaleda Zia as a guest. Besides, former DU VC Dr. Emazuddin Ahmed, senior advocate Khandaker Mahbubuddin, BNP standing committee members Dr. RA Gani, MK Anwar, Sarwari Rahman, Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Roy and Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, besides diplomats were present at the function.
In his speech Barrister Moudud said those where upbeat with the fifth amendment should keep in mind that, the constitution was chopped by the fourth amendment. That amendment had destroyed the framework of our constitution. About the fifth amendment he said, nothing will be allowed to go unchallenged.
Speaking at the function former speaker Jamir Uddin Sarker said, those who speak of caretaker government should no that govt. In relinquish power after five years, Chief Adviser would be appointed within 15 days and they must hold election and transfer power within 90 days.
TH Khan said, the country is passing through a critical juncture. The country is not in better position now than during the emergency period.
New Age Editor Nurul Kabir and Senior journalist Mahfuzullah also spoke at the function.

 "Ring of fire" solar eclipse millennium's longest
Reuters, Singapore

The longest, ring-like solar eclipse of the millennium started on Friday, with astronomers saying the Maldives was the best place to view the phenomenon that will not happen again for over 1,000 years.
U.S. space agency NASA said on its website the eclipse was annular, meaning the moon will block most of the sun's middle, but not its edges, causing it to look like a ring.
This blockage will last for 11 minutes, 8 seconds, an annual duration NASA said would not be exceeded until Dec. 23, 3043.
The "ring" will be seen in a narrow stretch spanning Central Africa, the Maldives, southern India, northern Sri Lanka, parts of Myanmar and China. In Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, it will be a partial eclipse, NASA said.
Astronomers said Male, the main island of the Indian Ocean island nation the Maldives, will be the best place on land to witness the eclipse as it will last there for over 10 minutes.
In India, the eclipse gave an added auspicious edge to the Kumbh Mela festival where thousands of people immerse themselves in the Ganges river, an act believed to purge all sins.
"Today (Friday) is a combination of a moonless night and a solar eclipse that (is also happening) during the time of Kumbh Mela. It is a very rare phenomena," Baba Ram Vilas, a Hindu monk in saffron robes, told Reuters Television on the banks of the Ganges river, where the Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years in a different city.
"Taking a holy dip during the solar eclipse is a very pious act. It is very auspicious, it is very fruitful and it can get one salvation," Hindu priest Babu Ram Sashtri added in Haridwar.
Astronomers said the eclipse started at 0514 GMT in the Central Africa Republic, peaking at around 0700 GMT and ending completely at 1007 GMT.
"Many amateur astronomers have taken time off work and spent a lot on money on travel to see it," said Lin Qing, head of the Sheshan Station of Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, told China's official Xinhua news agency.
"We will travel across China simply to witness the magnificent astronomical phenomena," Lin said.
The eclipse, the first of its kind to cross over Sri Lanka since 1955, sent sea birds along the oceanside capital of Colombo looking for a place to roost for the night, shortly after lunchtime.
A pelican looped over the city as the skies darkened from the north and the eclipse neared its peak.
"Wow, it's marvellous," said an army officer, who was on security duty in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. "This is the first time I have seen this kind of eclipse."
According to astronomical websites, the last annular eclipse occurred roughly 1 year ago, January 26, 2009. The next one will happen May 20, 2012.

  Thousands protest move to ban religion-based politics
TBT Report

Different political parties and religion- based organizations on Friday organized rallies and brought out processions in the capital protesting the government's move to restore the constitution of 1972 and to ban religion-based politics.
The protesters, under the banner of national committee to protect the Islamic and religion-based politics, Khelafat Majlish and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon held rallies on Bijaynagar Road and demanded immediate removal of the law minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed.
After holding rallies they brought out the procession from Baitul Mokarram National Mosque after the Jumma prayers and paraded through the city roads.
Earlier on January 4, Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed said religion based politics would be banned if Supreme Court finalised the cancellation of the fifth amendment to the country's constitution.
He, however, added that the words Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim in the preamble of the constitution and its declaration of Islam as the state religion would remain intact.

   Haitian families struggle to find, bury their dead
AP/UNB, Port-Au-Prince

Some of the dead in this shattered city line the roads, carefully placed garments shrouding their faces. Others are carried into the hills for quick burials. Hundreds are arrayed in a macabre tangle of limbs outside a morgue, just feet from the grievously wounded.
The living and the dead here share the same space - the sidewalks, the public plazas, the hospitals. The living are frightened of being inside in case another earthquake hits; the dead are everywhere.
On the doorstep of a pharmacy, six bodies were lined up shoulder to shoulder. On the body of one woman, covered in a sheet, rested a small bundle, the tiny leg of an infant sticking out of the wrap. "It's beyond description. The disaster, the damage, is just so overwhelming," said Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services representative in Haiti. "Everyone has a scarf or something, because the smell is unbearable. ... You literally have bodies all over the place."
The international Red Cross estimates up to 50,000 people were killed in Tuesday's earthquake. For now, few know what to do with the bodies. People say they're being left on roadsides and doorsteps so relatives who may have survived can find them, or for families to find transportation for burials.
Some families wouldn't wait. Relatives of one woman who was killed in the earthquake dug her grave about 20 feet (6 meters) from the road, her body wrapped in a sheet and strapped to a door. Across the street, others dug graves and built a bonfire to keep away flies and ward off the stench. While the odor can be overpowering, health officials sought to dispel worries about the spread of
disease.

    Hasina meets press today, Khaleda's press confce tomorrow

UNB, Dhaka

 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will meet the press today (Saturday) at 4pm at the Prime Minister's Office.
At the press conference, the Prime Minister will focus on various aspects and issues of her recent visit to India.
Sheikh Hasina made a four-day official visit to India, her maiden trip to the neighboring country since the present government assu-med office on January 6, 2009.
During the visit, Bangladesh and India signed three agreements and two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). The agreements are on mutual legal assistance on criminal offences, on transfer of sentenced persons, and on combating international terrorism, organized crimes and illegal drug trafficking, while the MOUs are on power and cultural exchange.
UNB in another report says, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia's press conference on the outcome of the Prime Minister's visit to India has been rescheduled on Sunday.
A BNP press release said a press conference was arranged on Saturday for giving BNP's formal statement on the PM's visit to India but since the Prime Minister will hold a press conference today (Satur-day) afternoon, the date has been rescheduled.
BNP chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia will now address the press conference at her Gulshan office at 3:30pm on Sunday.

Back Page

Two factories catch fire in Chittagong
350 tons processed fish gutted

UNB, Chittagong

An export-oriented fish processing factory and a washing plant in the city were gutted in separate fire incidents on Thursday night.
In the first incident, a devastating fire broke out at the factory of BD Sea Food in city's Sagorika area at about 10am.
The blaze gutted some 350 tons of processed fish stored for export and valuable machinery worth taka several crore. On information, two fire fighting units from Agrabad and Baro pool area rushed to the scene and put out the flame at about 2:45am Friday.
Six people including the officials of the factory were injured in the fire incident.
Of the injured, an official, Mohammad Sarwar, was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital while engineers Arif, Majed and Ishaq to a local clinic.
Factory owners claimed the extent of damage could go up to Tk 100 crore.
In another incident, a raging fire burnt machinery of the washing plant near Didar Market in Chandanpura area on Thursday night.
Fire Brigade sources said the fire originated from electric short circuit at about 11pm and soon engulfed the entire plant.
Fire fighters doused the blaze after one-and-a-half hours of hectic efforts.
Local fire service estimated the losses caused by fire at about Tk 15 lakh.

  Anti-nation accords with India will be resisted: BNP
TBT Report

BNP standing committee member and former law minister Barrister Moudud Ahmed has said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has signed anti-nation accords during India visit keeping the countrymen in dark and so the implementation of those will to be resisted.
He said this while addressing a national associate council 2010 of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Samaj at the National Press club on Friday.
Moudud Ahmed said all sorts of facilities including use of country's seaport and clearance for constructing of Indian corridor in the name of Asian Highway have been given to India. Controversial accords and Memorandums of Under-standing were signed between the two neighboring countries. Keeping the countrymen in dark, the government is mulling implementing these accords but facts, figure, data and information about these are yet to be projected before the nation. Country's nationalist and Islamic forces will never accept the agreements which were signed in India. Protesting the government moves, they will come down on the streets for forming a massive resistance throughout the country.
He said everything including bilateral treaty or whatever it is will have to be concluded in accordance with country's existing constitution but that has been violated frequently. During this very party rule, country's constitution was amended undemocratically. The ruling party is mulling restoring it's 1972 constitution in order to foil religion based politics in the country.
The former law minister said the constitution was retrieved by Shaheed president Ziaur Rahman and "Bismillah" was included in its preamble. A multi-party democracy has been launched through the constitution which ensured constitutional democracy and rights of people in the country.
The evil design of the government for reintroducing its earlier constitution will be resisted by the nationalist forces. They will also come down on the streets if the government strives to implement the accords signed with India.
Among others, Jamaat assistant secretary general Kader Mollah, Islami Oikya Jote secretary general Abdul Latif Nizami spoke at the programme.

   Bangladesh strong allyof US: Congresswoman Lee
BSS, Dhaka

Bangladesh is a strong ally of the United States and this should be acknowledged by the US in much visible way, democrat Congresswoman from Texas Sheila Jackson-Lee said.
Lee, who is also a member of influential committees on Foreign Affairs, Hom-eland Security and the Judiciary, made this comment when she received Bangladesh Ambassador to USA Akramul Qader at the Capitol Hill on Wednesday, according to a message received here on Friday. Ambassador Qader briefed the Congresswoman about the activities of the incumbent government of Bangladesh during the last one year and sought assistance of the US government in allowing duty free, quota free entry of Bangladeshi products to the US market.
The Congresswoman, who is also a member of Bangladesh Congressional Caucus, assured Amba-ssador Qader of her total support for allowing duty free access of products from Bang-ladesh to the US. She said that Bangladesh deserves this much for her outstanding cooperation with the US.
Ambassador Qader also informed the Congre-sswoman about the government's determination for a Digital Bangladesh and elaborated on different investment opportunities in Bangladesh for US companies.
Congresswoman Lee wanted to know specifically on investment opportunities in energy sector and assured the ambassador that she would personally encourage the investors in her constituency in Huston, Texas in this regard.
She also expressed her satisfaction at the return of democracy in Bangladesh and hoped that all representatives of Bangladesh people would continue their hard work not only for the sake of sustaining democracy but also to further strengthening it for the benefits of the entire nation.
Ambassador Qader tha-nked the Congress-woman for her assurance and hoped that she would continue to support Bangladesh in the Capitol Hill as she has been doing over the years. He also extended an invitation to the Congress-woman to visit Bangladesh at her convenience, which she readily accepted and hoped that she will be able to visit Bangladesh in the not too distant future.
Deputy Chief of the Mission Sheikh Mohammad Belal was also present during the meeting, the message added.

   Ctg might be separated if India given port facility: SQ Chowdhury

UNB, Chittagong

BNP lawmaker and standing committee member Salahuddin Quader Chow-dhury has expressed his apprehension that Chitta-gong might be separated from Bangladesh if India is allowed to use the port.
"The government has thrown the Comilla-Cox's Bazar region, country's sensitive military zone, into a deep threat through signing the unequal treaties with India," he said at a press conference at his Good Hill residence in the port city Friday.
The BNP leader also said that India became the gainer from the joint communiqué signed by the two countries during the four-day India visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Referring to India's loan assistance to Bangladesh, he said this assistance would have no use for the country. Rather, it increases discrimination in the commerce sector. "This loan will expand the area of corruption."
SQ Chowdhury, a senior BNP MP, also threatened to launch a mass movement from Chittagong for "saving" the country from India.
"The Prime Minister, after the agreement, virtually gave India a legal certificate to transport arms to its north-eastern states for curbing insurgency," he said.
Criticizing the deals with India, he said: "India should solve its internal problems in its own way, while we solve ours. We don't want to poke our nose into others internal affairs, nor lock into conflict."

    TIB urges enacting Code of Conduct for MPs Bill
UNB, Dhaka

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has welcomed the private member's bill on 'Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament, 2010' placed in the parliament on January 14 (Thursday).
In a press statement Friday, TIB executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, said if adopted, the bill will not only fulfill a key electoral pledge of ruling Awami League, but it will also go a long way in institutionalizing democracy, promoting dem-ocratic practice and meeting public expectation in Bangladesh.
Awami League MP Saber Hossain Chowdhury placed the bill in parliament. The TIB statement said such an important bill that has now been placed in the Parli-ament, though as a private member's bill, reflects the realization of the importance of upholding the highest ethical and parliamentary standards by the Parliament and Members of the Parliament.
"We are particularly enco-uraged that the bill provides for specific measures for enforcement and monitoring of observance of the proposed Code through self-regulation to be overseen by an Ethics Com-mittee composed of all parties represented in the Parliament," it said.
TIB said several recent studies including an in-depth research by Transparency International Bangladesh showed that there is a huge public demand and expectation of such a code of conduct and its enforcement to prevent abuse of power and to promote transparent and accountable governance.
"Such codes of conduct have also been found to have made extremely imp-ortant contributions in strengthening democracy and the national integrity system in many other countries of the world," it said.
TIB urged all concerned, especially, the Members of the Parliament across the political spectrum, to take immediate necessary steps to enact the bill as a law as soon as possible, and meet the public expectation.

   All recruitments of employees at DMCH suspended
UNB, Dhaka

All recruitments of empl-oyees at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) were suspended Friday in the face of protest by its employees.
The decision was taken at an emergency meeting at the official residence of Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque.
A three-member high-profile committee, headed by Joint Secretary (Hospital and Nursing) of Health Ministry, was also formed to review the overall situation.
The next decision would be taken upon report by the committee.
Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Syed Modasser Ali and Director General of Health Department Prof Shah Monir Hossain were, among others, present at the meeting with the Health Minister in the chair.
On Thursday, the DMCH employees demonstrated in front of its Director's office in protest against "irregularities" in recruitment of employees. Wit-nesses said the employees took position in front of the office of DMCH Director Brig General Dr Bazle Quader at about 8:30am on the day demanding that the "illegal recruitment" be scrapped.
During the demonstration, the employees also manhandled two senior doctors-Assistant Prof Dr Abu Yusuf Fakir and Residential Surgeon Dr Moni Lal Aich Litu-as they tried to enter the Director's chamber.

Editorial

Developing quality of films

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday announced that the government would set up a modern Film Institute and formulate National Film Policy for aesthetic development of the country's film arena, preventing any perversions. "Appropriate steps will be taken for repealing the existing Film Society Control Act, if necessary," she said at the inaugural function of the nine-day 11th Dhaka International Film Festival 2010. The Prime Minister in her speech requested filmmakers, cultural activists and people of all walks of life to remain alert so that in no way ill elements can intrude into the Bengali nation's own culture. The Prime Minister said her government would give all cooperation and assistance in further developing the quality of films in Bangladesh. "It is very unfortunate that quality of our films is on a downturn. As a healthy culture can build a wise, modern and conscious nation, we must have to upgrade standards of our films," Hasina said.
Everyone has the reasons to be disappointed at the present state of our films as they miserably fail to depict the national art and culture in the truest perspective. Today's films are based in most cases on violence, sex and crimes which provide cheap entertainment for the viewers no doubt, but seldom depict true picture of life and struggle of the people and present the national culture and heritage. This is perhaps because of the fact that film making nowadays is guided by commercial interests instead of cultural pursuit. Most of the present day films fetches huge money from the viewers but gives them nothing worthy.
The 11th Dhaka International Film Festival is being observed with the slogan-'Better film, better audience, better society'. But how far the present day films will go in translating this slogan into action is doubtful. It was recalled by the Prime Minister that the Film Development Corporation (FDC) was established by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1957 as the then Commerce and Industry Minister but the FDC has miserably failed to accomplish its task of developing the country's film industry.
It is said that good films are not being produced because of lack of good directors, good artistes, good stories and good viewers. This may be partly true, but the whole truth is that commercial interests are dominating the film domain. This trend should be changed. Films should reflect our history, art, culture and heritage along with the aspects of commerce and entertainment. To this end, people should be trained up in making good films and for that a film institute is very much necessary. Moreover, there should be a sound and healthy national film policy. Now that the Prime Minister has assured of these, it is expected that the country is going to get a film institute and a film policy. It will now be the responsibility of all those connected with the country's film arena to pursue the matter and, with the government assistance as pledged by the prime Minister, to develop the films with a view to enriching our art and culture.

  Human trafficking

Speakers at a seminar on Thursday urged the government to amend the laws and bring recruiting agencies under watch to prevent human trafficking. They said, almost 80 percent victims of the trafficking are women who are forced to be engaged in prostitution in neighbouring India and Middle Eastern countries. They were speaking at the seminar on "Framing the Problems of Human Trafficking: Challenges and Way Forward" at the Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management (BIAM) auditorium. Centre for women and Children Studies (CWCS) arranged the seminar in cooperation with the American Centre of the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka.
Preventing human trafficking is a longstanding popular demand as incidents of trafficking of women and children from Bangladesh take place regularly along the border. Despite concerted efforts Bangladesh is yet to make any significant headway in checking human trafficking from the country. Around 25 thousand children and young women are reportedly being trafficked from Bangladesh by international smugglers every year. Bangladesh is considered as a seriously vulnerable region for human trafficking because of its large population, chronic poverty, illiteracy, large-scale migration from the rural areas and recurring natural disasters. Bangladeshi women are sold, traded, exchanged for sexual slavery and prostitution, and bonded labour in different countries including India, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines as well as some Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia.
The number of women and children trafficked from the country to foreign countries over the last 38 years since independence is estimated unofficially at over 9 lakhs. The trafficking of women and children from Bangladesh is increasing day by day. The US States Department Report 2008 on the issue published in July last year listed Bangladesh as a second grade country in respect of human trafficking and described it as a source of and transit route for trafficking of women and children while US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton said that 'human trafficking is the slavery of the modern age'. Neither the revelation nor the comment can be disputed. So, time has come to step up the efforts to stop trafficking of women and children from the country in the national interest.

Analysis

Pushing for Peace Between India and Pakistan

The key to peace has never been found, although just three years ago it came tantalisingly close when the then military ruler of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, extended the olive branch to India.

Jonathan Power

Last week the Indian minister for home affairs, P.Chidambaram, surprised many when he said that the year 2009 was remarkable for its lack of terror attacks.
His statement came just over a year after Pakistani terrorists attacked Mumbai's great hotel, the Taj, and killed more than 160 people. What he didn't add was that this was the moment that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he was waiting for before he signed up for a peace deal with Pakistan over the disputed northern province of Kashmir.
Kashmir has been torn in two ever since India and Pakistan won their independence from Britain in 1947. Independence provoked a mass exodus of Muslims to Pakistan and Hindus to India resulting in a massive carnage of both. At independence the ruler of Kashmir announced that the state would be part of India even though the large majority of its people were Muslims.
Pakistan claimed the territory belonged to it and that the Indian chief minister had no authority to go against the popular will. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru trying to defuse the situation offered a referendum at some future date.
The dispute has led to three wars, the latest of which, according to former American president, Bill Clinton, nearly became a nuclear one. Today, much to the chagrin of Washington, Pakistan still keeps the bulk of its military on the Indian border supposedly to deter an Indian attack to claim the Pakistani part of Kashmir. Washington would like to see the army transferred to Pakistan's northern border with Afghanistan where Islamic militants close to Al Qaeda are waging guerrilla war against the central government and using it as a base to attack Western troops in Afghanistan.
The situation is even more complicated than that. These extreme Islamic organisations produce many of the militants who aid the militants inside Kashmir who in turn are
active in Afghanistan in support of Al Qaeda. There is a traffic of militants both ways.
The key to peace has never been found, although just three years ago it came tantalisingly close when the then military ruler of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, extended the olive branch to India meeting most of the Indian demands, in particular that Pakistan would no longer claim the Hindu dominated part of Kashmir. (As a result of the first war a UN brokered peace initiative drew a "line of control" between the two halves. This has become the de facto border.)
India appeared to reciprocate, but then when a deal was almost done, drew back. It was hard to understand why.
Singh was known as a dove on this issue but for reasons still unknown he collapsed before the combined onslaught of the foreign ministry, the intelligence services and the military. Maybe he judged that Indian public opinion would not listen to him.
As Pakistani and home grown militants piled on the pressure including an attack on the parliament building in New Delhi, Singh drew in his horns further telling me that he could not be expected to stand against public opinion in such a poisonous atmosphere.
When I told Musharraf this he replied smartly that Singh was "putting the cart before the horse. Peace is the tool to end violence, not the other way round."
After Musharraf was ousted the civilian regime has struggled with the issue. On the one hand the government wants to resurrect the Musharraf deal, not least because the militants who attack India are the same ones who assassinated President Asif Ali Zardani's wife and the candidate prime minister, Benazir Bhutto.
On the other hand Zardari's government is weak and divided and without Musharraf's military hold would have difficulty in selling the deal to the ultra Islamists although most people clearly are more than ready for a deal.
The would-be deal in its essentials is straightforward. It is the Northern Ireland solution. Both sides maintain their own occupied parts of Kashmir on either side of the line of control. The military are mostly withdrawn, the militants de-fanged and the borders made totally porous. (At the moment, thanks to the earlier negotiations, two major crossing points have been opened and a through train service inaugurated.)
Given Indian intransigence until now and the weakness of the Pakistani government, this is the time for Singh to reach out and close the deal. It would be also be a significant contribution to weakening the guerrillas inside Afghanistan. 2009 was the first peaceful year for a long time. This must be the time to move fast before the atmosphere sours again.


Jonathan Power is a veteran commentator on foreign affairs.

  The Quiet American

American client regimes, who used to brand all their local enemies as "communist" in order to procure the help of their patrons, now brand them as "Al Qaeda terrorists".

Uri Avnery

The Quiet American was the hero of Graham Greene's novel about the first Vietnam War, the one fought by the French.
He was a young and naïve American, a professor's son, who had enjoyed a good education at Harvard, an idealist with all the best intentions. When he was sent to Vietnam, he wanted to help the natives to overcome the two evils as he saw them: French colonialism and Communism.
Knowing absolutely nothing about the country in which he was acting, he caused a disaster. The book ends with a massacre, the outcome of his misguided efforts. He illustrated the old saying: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
Since this book was written, 54 years have passed, but it seems that the Quiet American has not changed a bit. He is still an idealist (at least, in his own view of himself), still wants to bring redemption to foreign and far-away peoples about whom he knows nothing, still causes terrible disasters: in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now, it seems, in Yemen.
The Iraqi example is the simplest one.
The American soldiers were sent there to overthrow the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein. There were, of course, also some less altruistic objectives, such as taking control of the Iraqi oil resources and stationing an American garrison in the heart of the Middle Eastern oil region. But for the American public, the adventure was presented as an idealistic enterprise to topple a bloody dictator, who was menacing the world with nuclear bombs.
That was six years ago, and the war is still going on. Barack Obama, who opposed the war right from the start, promised to lead the Americans out of there.
In the meantime, in spite of all the talking, no end is in sight. Why? Because the real decision-makers in Washington had no idea of the country which they wanted to liberate and help to live happily ever after.
Iraq was from the beginning an artificial state. The British masters glued together several Ottoman provinces to suit their own colonial interests. They crowned a Sunni Arab as king over the Kurds, who are not Arab, and the Shias, who are not Sunni.
Only a succession of dictators, each of them more brutal than his predecessor, prevented the state from falling apart.
The Washington planners were not interested in the history, demography or geography of the country, which they entered with brutal force. The way it looked to them, it was quite simple: One had to topple the tyrant, establish democratic institutions on the American model, conduct free elections, and everything else would fall into place by itself.
Contrary to their expectations, they were not received with flowers. Neither did they discover Saddam's terrible atom bomb. Like the proverbial elephant in the porcelain shop,
they shattered everything, destroyed the country and got bogged in a swamp.
After years of bloody military operations that led nowhere, they found a temporary remedy. To hell with idealism, to hell with the lofty aims, to hell with all military doctrines - they're now simply buying off the tribal chiefs, who constitute the reality of Iraq. The Quiet American has no idea how to get out. He knows that if he does, the country may well disintegrate in mutual bloodletting. Two years before entering the Iraqi swamp, the Americans invaded the Afghan quagmire.
If they had any knowledge of the country they were about to invade, they might have, perhaps, hesitated. Afghanistan has always been a graveyard for invaders. Mighty empires had escaped from there with their tails between their legs. Unlike flat Iraq, Afghanistan is a country of mountains, a paradise for guerrillas. It is the home of several different peoples and uncounted tribes, each one fiercely jealous of its independence.
The Washington planners were not really interested. For them, it seems, all countries are the same, and so are all societies.
In Afghanistan, too, American-style democracy must be established, free and fair elections must be held, and hoopla - everything else will sort itself out. An American could well ask himself: What the hell are we doing there?
The immediate aim, the expulsion of Al Qaeda from Afghanistan, has ostensibly been achieved. Al Qaeda is not there - if it ever really was there.
The US is always in need of a worldwide enemy. In the past it was International Communism, whose agents were lurking behind every tree and under every floor tile. But, alas, the Soviet Union and its minions had collapsed, there was an urgent need for an enemy to fill the void. This was found in the shape of the worldwide jihad of Al Qaeda. The crushing of "World Terrorism" became the overriding American aim.
That aim is nonsense. Terrorism is nothing but an instrument of war. It is used by organisations that are vastly different from each other, which are fighting in vastly different countries for vastly different objectives. A war on "International Terror" is like a war on "International Artillery" or "International Navy".
A world-embracing movement led by Osama Bin Laden just does not exist. Thanks to the Americans, Al Qaeda has become a prestige brand in the guerrilla market, much like McDonald's and Armani in the world of fast food and fashion. Every militant Islamist organisation can appropriate the name for itself, even without a franchise from Bin Laden.
American client regimes, who used to brand all their local enemies as "communist" in order to procure the help of their patrons, now brand them as "Al Qaeda terrorists".
Nobody knows where Bin Laden is - if he is at all - and there is no proof of his being in Afghanistan. Some believe that he is in Pakistan. And even if he were hiding in Afghanistan - what justification is there for conducting a war and killing thousands of people in order to hunt down one person?
Some say: OK, so there is no Bin Laden. But the Taleban have to be prevented from coming back. Why, for God's sake? What business is it of the US who rules Afghanistan?
But how do you get out? Obama does not know. During the election campaign he promised, with a candidate's foolhardiness, to enlarge the war there, as a compensation for leaving Iraq. Now he is stuck in both places - and in the near future, it seems, he will be stuck in a third war, too.
During the last few days, the name of Yemen has been cropping up more and more often. Yemen - a second Afghanistan, a third Vietnam. The elephant is raring to enter another shop. And this time, too, it doesn't care about the porcelain.
I know very little about Yemen, but enough to understand that only a madman would want to be sucked in there. It is another artificial state, composed of two different parts - the country of Sanaa in the North and the (former British) South.
Most of the country is mountainous terrain, ruled by bellicose tribes guarding their independence. Like Afghanistan, it is an ideal region for guerrilla warfare.
If the Quiet American, in his usual mixture of idealism and ignorance, decides to bring democracy and all the other goodies there, that will be the end of this happiness.
The Americans will sink into another quagmire, tens of thousands of people will be killed, and it will all end in disaster.


Uri Avnery is an Israeli peace activist. He served three terms in the Israeli parliament (Knesset), and is the founder of Gush Shalom peace movement.

Viewpoints

Obama...One Year On

Nowhere was this more evident than in the revised strategy on Afghanistan. Obama's decision to escalate the war marked continuity rather than a break with the Bush paradigm.

Dr Maleeha Lodhi

Barack Obama completes his first year as President with his public approval ratings having fallen from a high of 68 per cent when he entered office to the current low of 47 per cent.
Is this common to American presidents after their first 365 days in power? Does this set a trend line that will persist? Can Obama turn this situation around? The answer to the first two questions is no, not necessarily. The first year certainly sets the momentum and direction for subsequent years but it isn't the only determinant of the rest of the Presidential term. As for the third question, much depends on what Obama does from now on, especially how he manages the economy and handles the two conflicts that America is entangled in. Three aspects of the Obama Presidency are significant in assessing his record so far: a difficult inheritance; the unrealistic expectations raised by his historic victory; and his pursuit of a liberal agenda at home while yielding to the Right on national security strategy and conducting a foreign policy on key geo-political issues marked more by continuity than a break from the past.
President Obama inherited a daunting agenda from a troubled legacy that sharply constrained his room to manoeuvre: two divisive and protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the severest economic crisis since the Depression and a level of debt incompatible with America's status as the world's pre-eminent economic power.
In this backdrop, he devoted much of his attention to domestic affairs: addressing the economic crisis and trying to revive confidence. He made reasonable progress: passing a stimulus package and halting a financial free fall. But high jobless figures at year end and a yawning fiscal deficit served as reminders of the obstacles ahead to achieving an economic recovery.
Obama is also on the verge of securing a health care bill - his signature reform measure that represents a significant piece of social welfare legislation. This may not go as far as the liberal wing of his party may have wished, but will still mark an important accomplishment for Obama. All told not a bad domestic record given the weak hand he inherited. Why then have his job approval numbers steadily dropped during the year? Part of the answer lies in the extraordinary expectations that Obama himself raised by his promise of being a "transformational President." As campaign rhetoric confronted the sobering realities of governance, the inevitable compromises that were made left many of his supporters disappointed and his critics accusing him of naiveté about statecraft. In the transition from a powerful orator of soaring campaign rhetoric to the real world of tough policy choices questions were raised about whether Obama had the determination to pursue the agenda he had set. And priorities there were aplenty, inviting the charge that he had scattered his focus. Critics portrayed him as a leader good at launching initiatives but inconsistent in executing or making them work.
Meanwhile his kid-glove treatment of bankers in the financial bailout, failure to close down Guantanamo and watering down of the health care plan evoked dismay within the Democratic base amid cries of betrayal of the "transformational agenda". But it was in the realm of national security and foreign policy that his first year fell woefully short of the promise. In his initial days in office President Obama offered a fresh start to America's engagement with the world, pledging to temper power by "humility and restraint", reach out to the Muslim world and place a greater emphasis on diplomacy to secure its goals. Other than the welcome change in tone, this did not translate, in practice, into a substantially new approach. Nowhere was this more evident than in the revised strategy on Afghanistan. Obama's decision to escalate the war marked continuity rather than a break with the Bush paradigm.
Together with other decisions (Guantanamo) this suggested that on security policy Obama conceded to the Right rather than respond to the liberal base of his party. The inclination to pursue a conservative international agenda was also signaled by the lack of progress made in the Middle East peace process. Washington's unwillingness to press Israel to halt its settlements in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank meant that the Obama administration failed the litmus test of the change in relations with the Muslim world promised by his inspiring Cairo speech.
But it was on Afghanistan that President Obama made the most consequential decision of his opening year in office. Some American historians invoked the Vietnam parallel to compare him to President Lyndon B. Johnson who set out to "remake America" by an ambitious domestic reform agenda but whose Administration ended up being derailed by the Vietnam disaster. A telling cautionary tale for Obama came in a recently published book, 'Lessons in Disaster', which chronicled the fateful decisions that led to the Vietnam abyss. Its author, Gordon M. Goldstein, subsequently wrote a column in which he summarised those lessons. One of them called 'politics is the enemy of strategy' merits mention. In a polarised political environment, Goldstein wrote, some constituencies are left dissatisfied but presidents should base their decisions on strategic grounds and not let politics cloud military decisions.
Obama's surge-and-exit announcement on Afghanistan sought to placate divergent opinion in a remarkable display of politics determining strategy. In effectively yielding to the hawks on a strategy of military escalation in Afghanistan and ratcheting up drone attacks in Pakistan, Obama staked his political future on a perilous course that risked destabilising the region and also jeopardising his Presidency.
An important factor in Obama's encounter with foreign policy challenges was the reality of operating in a world markedly different from that his predecessors confronted. This is a world that has seen a shift in global power, the rise of China, and the emergence of a more multipolar environment.
In several speeches, President Obama spoke of the need to build coalitions of consent and pursue multilateral solutions. This reflected an acknowledgement of the limits of US power and the imperative of cooperation in an interdependent world. Noting this, a prominent American analyst, Robert Kagan remarked that Obama and his foreign policy team instead of attempting to perpetuate US primacy have been seeking to manage what they regard as America's unavoidable decline relative to other great powers.
A global context in which the US on its own can no longer determine geopolitical outcomes helps to explain Obama's difficulties in pursuing his foreign policy goals, as for example in rallying international support for tougher sanctions against Iran on the nuclear issue. It is in this complex international setting that the war in Afghanistan is expected to be the make-or-break foreign policy issue for Obama's Presidency. The defining domestic issue will be his ability to engender a job-creating economic recovery and manage the deficit, which critics say he was distracted from addressing by his health care initiative. Dealing with the deficit may decide more than Obama's political fortunes. It could also determine America's ability to maintain its position as the world's predominant military power.

Maleeha Lodhi served as Pakistan's ambassador to the United States andthe United Kingdom.

  What the future may hold

The Indian establishment dreams of being the hegemon of South Asia and the adherents of Zionism of the Middle East.

Iqbal Jafar 

Their worldviews are structured around their geopolitical ambitions that they make no effort to conceal. The Indian establishment dreams of being the hegemon of South Asia and the adherents of Zionism of the Middle East. As for the neocons, the world is their oyster, or so they insist.
This may seem ambitious enough, but there's more - the regional hegemons, India and Israel, have an extended South Asia and Middle East in mind. As Israel Shahak, a highly regarded Israeli scholar and human rights activist, has pointed out, the subject of Israeli domination and influence is "the entire Middle East from Morocco to Pakistan". Indian scholars and strategists from Sardar K.M. Panikar to Gen Deepak Kapoor consider the Indian Ocean their own (hence a blue-water navy), along with the region from the Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait to be within the Indian sphere of influence.
While the Indian establishment and Zionists are almost synonymous with their respective governments, the neocons are not that powerful in the Obama administration. But surprisingly, their imperial goals still remain a part of American foreign policy. The best that the Obama government has been able to do is to walk briskly on both sides of the street. This is understandable. Impelled by the peculiar dynamics of a superpower, no American administration can roll back the imperial impulse that always finds a place in the worldview of a big power. Even George Washington had referred to the United States as a 'rising empire' in March 1783.
While US-Israeli and Indo-Israeli partnerships have existed for a long time, the Indo-US partnership came into fruition only last year and is likely to be more important than the other two. As William Burns, the US undersecretary of state for political affairs, said recently in a policy speech: "Few relationships will matter more in the course of human events in the 21st century than the partnership between India and the United States."
One may wonder about the future repercussions of the present course of human events and the impact of Indo-US ties, but it can be taken for granted that old and new partnerships will, before long, coalesce into one triangular alliance in pursuit of their common goals in the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. For all we know this may have happened already.
Now, where do we figure on the vast canvas of the allied powers? Well, we happen to occupy a critical spot on it; where their interests converge. These interests are well known but need to be enumerated here to complete the picture. Their first common interest is to denuclearise Pakistan. Second is to eliminate Islamic militants. Third is access to Afghanistan and Central Asia through Pakistan, in which the United States has a special interest as a major player in the New Great Game. Fourth is of special interest to India - persuading or coercing Pakistan to accept Kashmir's accession to India or at least of the area under Indian occupation.
Then there is an intriguing fifth common interest also - the creation of an independent state of Balochistan, an idea that has been in gestation since before the creation of Pakistan. In May 1945, the post-hostilities planning staff of the British war cabinet had recommended stationing "military strategic reserve" to protect sea communications in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea as they were of "great strategic value". It was argued that: "Central Headquarters India has suggested Balochistan as an alternative to India proper, on the grounds that it may be relatively easy to exclude this territory from the Dominion of India."
Some two years later, on Aug 12, 1947, the Khan of Kalat proclaimed the independence of the state of Kalat, comprising the entire Baloch part of Balochistan. The demand for separation and independence has since been a recurrent theme in the politics of Balochistan and has been reiterated by the present Khan of Kalat. Incidentally, he has been living in London for many years now.
The Indian interest in Balochistan was made public when Indira Gandhi, in her victory speech after the fall of East Pakistan in 1971, assured Baloch "brothers" that India had not forgotten them. Now, 38 years later, there are good reasons to believe that the Indian establishment has indeed not forgotten them. The US interest in Balochistan is reflected in various speculations about the future geographical contours of Pakistan, complete with maps, in the US media. Balochistan, thus, remains an important piece on the chessboard of the New Great Game.There are three primary reasons why the idea of an independent state of Balochistan appeals to some strategists in the US and elsewhere. First, it will be far easier for multinationals to exploit the fabulously rich resources of a weak and poor state of ethnic Baloch people - the population is less than five million and the per capita income under half a dollar a day.
Second, it is suitably located for naval and other military bases to complete the chain of existing US bases that stretch back to Afghanistan and Central Asia. This will provide a protected outlet for an oil pipeline from Central Asia via Afghanistan. It will also bypass an already hostile Iran and a potentially hostile and otherwise volatile Pakistan. The bases could also be used to launch an overland assault on Iran's south-eastern coast, opposite Oman, to consolidate control of the Strait of Hormuz, the Achilles' heel of the world economy. Lastly, as a less lethal option, an independent state of Balochistan can be used as a launching pad for a greater Balochistan movement, not only to keep Iran in check but also to make it vulnerable to ethnic fragmentation. Thus, Balochistan as a separate entity offers many temptations to allied powers.
This is what the future holds when viewed from the ever sharpening Indo-US-Israeli focus on our land. And an impending mortal combat, mandated by fate and geography can only be resisted and survived if we stand united under a dedicated leadership. It is as simple and, let's concede, as problematic as that.

iqbal.jafar1@yahoo.com

  Witnesses for the Prosecution and Israeli War Crimes

Last month, the leader of Israel’s main opposition party Kadima and foreign minister during the Gaza war, Tzipi Livni, abruptly cancelled her visit to the UK after a British court issued an arrest warrant against her.

Anand Sagar

In a court of law, often if not invariably, the credibility of the evidence being furnished, examined and evaluated depends quite directly upon the credibility of the prime source or the witnesses involved on either side - be it the prosecution or the defence.
Assuming, of course, that there is a general consensus on this premise, one wonders what to make of the Israeli military's Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi recently ordering the military to "seek legal advice" - not just during the planning stages of a military operation, but (more importantly) also during combat and in the midst of the heat of battle.
Under the new rules of engagement, it is understood that legal advisors will now work in alignment with the Israeli army's divisional headquarters, although not in tandem with its brigade or battalion headquarters, as is the case in several modern western armies.
That the Israeli military establishment felt compelled to take this decision in the wake of widespread international criticism of its forces during the notorious 22-day Gaza offensive over a year ago and continuing accusations of possible war crimes, is obvious.
What is not so obvious, when it comes to future offensives, is to what extent would the Israeli brigade or battalion commanders now allow their actions against the Palestinians to be tempered by the legal advice they are given? Not surprisingly, General Ashkenazi is facing some stiff opposition from some of his own senior army commanders.Amongst some of the complex issues that the military's legal advisors would be expected to quickly comment and advise upon would be four basic questions relating to military necessity, the distinction between legitimate military targets and objectives and unacceptable collateral damage, the proportionality of the strike and various humanitarian considerations - if subsequent allegations of crimes of war are to be effectively avoided.
So far, going by the controversial track record of the Israeli defence forces on each of these four counts, there is growing international agreement that the Laws of Armed Conflict and international humanitarian laws have been observed more in the breach of these injunctions rather that ?their compliance.
But neither the Israeli authorities, nor their powerful American allies in Washington, have ever come close to admitting this fact.
And this, despite the strong indictment of Israeli "atrocities" (during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza) by justice Richard Goldstone who instituted a detailed inquiry on behalf of the United Nation's Human Rights Council. The report has yet to be examined and taken up by the UN ?Security Council.
Prima facie, it would appear, that the Israeli government well aware of the risk of being charged with war crimes and/or crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court at The Hague (even through it is not a signatory to the treaty that would allow the filing of such charges before the ICC) is attempting to pre-empt any further criticism by the international community.
In addition, as was demonstrated rather dramatically recently, there is the real risk of arrest warrants being issued in either the UK or Spain - two countries where citizens are entitled to press charges in cases involving such crimes even though they may not have been committed on ?domestic territory.
Such is the ambit and purview ?of the concept of universal jurisdiction in international law.
Last month, the leader of Israel's main opposition party Kadima and foreign minister during the Gaza war, Tzipi Livni, abruptly cancelled her visit to the UK after a British court issued an arrest warrant against her.
More recently, earlier this month, a delegation of senior Israeli military officers also cancelled their trip to Britain, fearing similar criminal lawsuits and the possibility of being arrested on war crimes charges. In the past, for instance in 2002, a case was filed in a Belgium court against former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, accusing him of war crimes committed during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon when he was the country's defence minister. The former Israeli army chief Moshe Yaalon also faced similar charges for the same attack in a New Zealand court.
The international community, at least till now, has failed to exert enough pressure to ensure that the Israeli defence forces and the government of the day in Tel Aviv is held responsible for its continuing crimes against the Palestinians. But various human rights organisations within the region and elsewhere are ratcheting up their demands in this connection. That they remain rather sceptical of any "internal investigations" by the Israeli military establishment is understandable…and not without good reason.
Still, despite the several inherent conflicts of interest involved, it would be worth waiting a while to see how General Ashkenazi's latest manoeuvre aids in curbing Israeli war crimes as well as crimes against humanity. After all, the neutrality of the Israeli army's legal advisors still remains untested. It would, of course, be best tested, if and/or when they are summoned as witnesses for the prosecution!


Anand Sagar is Khaleej Times' Foreign Editor, Professor Emeritus of the Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore, and Former Visiting Fellow, University of Oxford. He can be reached at anandsagar@khaleejtimes.com

International

Lack of coordination delaying Kerry-Lugar funds
Dawn Online

Lack of coordination among the authorities concerned in Pakistan and the United States is delaying the disbursement of funds under the Kerry Lugar Law (KLL).
Although the law was passed by the US Senate on Sept 24, progress on implementation has been slow, sources in the finance ministry told Dawn.
"Basic issues like procedures for finalisation and execution of projects are still under discussion," an official said, adding that delays were politically damaging for the government.
"The delay ... is preventing the launch of many social sector projects," he said.
The US ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, had acknowledged that there were misunderstandings on both sides about how the funds were to be released.
In a meeting with reporters, she had said Pakistan would get $800 million by March. There is a general perception that after the passage of the law, yearly civilian US aid to Pakistan would triple to about $1.5 billion for the next five years.
However, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin told Dawn that the US authorities had said that Pakistan expected to receive only $500 million under the Kerry-Lugar programme.
"Funds for projects under the programme will be received before June this year," Mr Tarin said, adding that efforts were being made to streamline coordination between authorities in both countries. According to a senior finance ministry official, the main hurdle for the approval of projects was lack of coordination between US administration officials.
"Robin Raphael, David Lipton and Richard Hoolbrooke have different approaches about allocation of funds," the officials said.
Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, supports the idea of executing all projects through the NGO sector in Pakistan.
Robin Raphael, who is expected to oversee non-military US support to Pakistan, supports granting funds for projects through the Pakistan government.
She recently scrapped a working paper to grant projects worth $300 million to NGOs through the USAID, the sources said. David Lipton, director for international economics, National Security Council, is a strong advocate of executing development projects under the Kerry-Lugar programme in areas affected by militancy.

  Japan orders end of refueling mission in Indian Ocean
Xinhua, Tokyo

Japan’s Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa issued an order on Friday to end Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force's (MSDF) refueling missions in the Indian Ocean that have been supporting U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.
The law authorizing the missions that have continued since 2001will expire at midnight and Japan will revise its support of the U.S. in the region to non-military civilian assistance, possibly involving job training for former Taliban soldiers and aiding Afghan refugees in Pakistan, sources with knowledge of the matter state.
Additionally Japan has pledged 5 billion U.S. dollars in civilian aid to Afghanistan.
The MSDF's two ships operating in the Indian Ocean, the 13,500-ton supply ship Mashu and the 4,550-ton destroyer Ikazuchi, will conduct their final refueling and other operational duties on Friday, before permanently withdrawing from the Indian Ocean region and returning to Japanese territory.
According to Japan's Ministry of Defense, Japan's missions in the Indian Ocean, to aid the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations, have involved the provision of some 510,000 kiloliters of oil to vessels from countries operating in the area, including the United States, France, Britain and Pakistan.
According to the Ministry the 938 missions conducted in the area, including refueling missions, has cost in excess of 24 billion yen and has also involved providing some 1,200 kiloliters of fuel for helicopters on foreign ships taking part in operations in the region and the provision of 11,000 tons of water to foreign vessels.
Since 2001, U.S. and Pakistan vessels have been the primary recipients of Japan's refueling endeavors, the Ministry said.

  Plan to attack parliament foiled: Rehman Malik
Dawn Online

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Friday said the police foiled a terrorist plan to attack the parliament in Islamabad.
Talking to DawnNews he said the police recovered a suicide jacket from a remote cave in the Margalla Hills and terrorists had intended to use it to target the parliament.
He disclosed that one suspect had been arrested in connection with the explosives-laden jacket.
Rehman Malik declined to comment on reports regarding Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud being killed in a drone strike on Thursday.
He said all foreigners will have to be registered from now on and anyone found violating that law will be dealt with strictly.
On the Karachi Ashura attack the interior minister said it was a remote-controlled blast carried out by the Laskhkar-i-Jhangavi.
He said security in all major cities, including Peshawar and Lahore, had been beefed up by installing hi-tech scanners and surveillance gadgets along the main roads.

  Kashmir police station attacked
BBC Online

Militants in Indian-administered Kashmir have attacked a police station, killing one police officer and a civilian, officials say.
They say that three policemen and another civilian were injured in the attack in the town of Sopore 55km (35 miles) north-west of Srinagar.
Latest reports say that police and the militants are still exchanging gunfire.
Violence in Kashmir has decreased since 2004 when India and Pakistan signed a peace treaty.
But in recent weeks there have been outbreaks of fighting.
Last week security forces stormed a hotel in Srinagar killing two gunmen and ending a stand-off that lasted almost 24 hours.
Flashpoint
Panicked shop owners in Sopore are reported to be fleeing the latest violence.
"We downed shutters of our shops and started running away as we first heard sounds of explosions followed by gunshots," Firdous Ahmed told the AP news agency.
No rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Earlier this week the Indian defence minister announced that troops had vacated all hospitals and schools in Indian-administered Kashmir because of the improving security situation there. A 20-year insurgency against Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir has claimed more than 47,000 lives since 1990.
Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years and the scene of two of their three wars.

  US warns of possible attack in Malaysia’s Sabah
Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Police stepped up security after the United States Embassy in Malaysia warned on Friday that criminal and terrorist groups were planning attacks against foreigners in the Borneo island state of Sabah.
A "warden notice" posted on the embassy's website (malaysia.usembassy.gov/), dated Friday, said resorts located in isolated areas of eastern Sabah, a state bordering the southern Philippines, were of "present concern". It identified areas of eastern Sabah including Semporna and the islands of Mabul and Sipadan, as well as travel to and from the area.
The warning said there were indications criminal and terrorist groups "are planning or intend acts violence against foreigners", notwithstanding the Malaysian government's ability to detect and prevent such attacks.
"Please avoid or use extreme caution in connection with any travel in these areas or locations," it said.
The state's island resorts are popular with tourists.
The warden notice said the Philippines-based, al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militant group had kidnapped foreigners in eastern Sabah in the past. Criminal elements were also responsible for kidnapping and piracy, it said.
Malaysia's deputy police chief, Ismail Omar, said his officers were taking all necessary steps. "I have alerted all my officers in Sabah to boost security at all these places," he told Reuters.
A U.S. embassy spokesman in Kuala Lumpur said such statements were issued periodically and the latest warning was posted "to enable people to make informed decisions about their security".
The spokesman said there was a possibility the warning would be upgraded into an official travel advisory that would be issued by the U.S. State Department.
The Abu Sayyaf, known for kidnapping and beheading hostages, was nearly eliminated after the death of its founder and leader, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, in the late 1990s.
It sprang back to life when about 20 Malaysian and Western tourists were kidnapped on Sipadan island in 2000. Analysts have said that proceeds from kidnappings may revive the small but deadly group.

  Nuclear issue on Korean Peninsula takes new turn
Xinhua, Beijing

At the beginning of the year 2010,the conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on one side and the United States and South Korea on the other over the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula took a new turn.
In a statement issued on Monday, the DPRK Foreign Ministry said it is ready to discuss signing a peace treaty to replace the Armistice Agreement with relevant states within the framework of the six-party talks.
The DPRK indicated in the statement that only with the signing of the peace treaty is it possible for denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula to materialize, and the lifting of sanctions against the DPRK and other obstacle to confidence building would eventually lead to the restart of the six-party talks.
In response, the White house said the DPRK had to return to the six-party talks first and take steps towards denuclearization before discussion on the peace treaty can make real progress.
Reuters adds: North Korea threatened on Friday to cut off all dialogue with the South in a move that could raise tension on the peninsula and cloud the efforts of regional powers to push Pyongyang back to nuclear disarmament talks.
North Korea, which has sent mixed messages recently, said its threat to cut off dialogue was in response to South Korean media reports this week that Seoul was revising its contingency plans for what it would do if Pyongyang's Korea's leadership falls.
"South Korean authorities should bear in mind that they will be excluded from any kind of peace and security talks and negotiations if they don't apologise," the North's official KCNA news agency quoted a military official as saying.

  US ready to review new screening policy: Holbrooke
Dawn Online

US Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrook, said that the United States is ready to review the new screening regime instituted at US airports.
He was speaking to the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, at the Governor's House in Lahore on Friday.
President Zardari said that the United States' policy of conducting secret drone attacks against militants on Pakistani soil will undermine national consensus on the war against terror. Richard Holbrooke said that the purpose of his visit was to refocus US policy on the region and to gather support for Pakistan. He appreciated the role Pakistan is playing against global militancy and assured full support in its efforts.
The envoy assured president Zardari of the immediate release of $349 million due as part of the Coalition Support Fund and $125 million for the Tarbela Power Plant upgrade process.
President Zardari stressed the need for basing partnership between the two countries on mutual respect, trust and interest.
The President also called for allowing greater market access to Pakistani goods in the US and European markets.
The president said that democratic stability in the country is dependent upon the development agenda and that a plan was needed to overcome local economic problems.

 China to send lower-level envoy to talks on Iran
Reuters, Washington

China has decided to send a lower-level official to talks among major powers in New York on Saturday about possibly imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programs, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.
The development caused consternation among others in the group, which includes Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.
Several diplomats said they did not know China's motive, speculating it might be to illustrate Beijing's resistance to punishing Iran further or its dismay at U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province.
The other nations are expected to send their foreign ministry political directors to the meeting, which the United States and its Western allies hope will focus on discussing fresh sanctions to impose on Iran over its nuclear activities. Washington accuses Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian atomic program. Iran says its nuclear program is designed to generate electricity so it can export more of its valuable oil and gas.
"We are aware that their representation will be below the level of political director," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. "It will be a useful meeting to have regardless of the Chinese representation."
The United States will continue to work with China and other countries "to convince them that the urgency of the situation requires not only additional engagement, which China does support, but additional pressure, which obviously China is still working through," he told reporters. Asked if the United States felt snubbed by the Chinese decision, the spokesman paused for several seconds and then answered the question indirectly, saying "in diplomacy you don't wear a chip on your shoulder."

  Iraq election officials bar nearly 500 candidates from poll
AFP, Baghdad

Iraq's election organisers on Thursday barred nearly 500 politicians and parties from contesting the country's upcoming national poll, including many linked to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party.
"We decided this afternoon to exclude around 500 names and political entities from the list of candidates," said Hamdia Husseini, a senior official with the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC).
Husseini did not specifically mention the Baath party, but said the excluded candidates "fell under the law of the committee of justice and integrity" which bars Saddam loyalists from taking part in elections.
She said those who had been barred had three days to appeal the decision, during which time they could also present an alternative list of names to contest the March 7 vote.
The decision follows the exclusion on January 8 of 14 politicians and parties linked to Saddam, and is likely to be seen as a further blow for national reconciliation efforts.
Among the most prominent to be banned was Saleh al-Mutlak, a secular Sunni lawmaker who heads the National Dialogue Front.
Mahmud Othman, an independent Kurdish MP, said that decision would harm efforts towards national reconciliation, seen as key to reducing instability in a country that was engulfed in sectarian bloodshed in 2006 and 2007. Baath party membership was a key condition for advancement in public sector employment during Saddam's regime.
According to IHEC figures, around 6,500 candidates registered to compete in the March poll, the second national parliamentary vote since Saddam's ouster, from 86 political parties, comprising 12 coalitions, as well as independents.

  Somalia clashes kill 138 in two weeks
Reuters, Mogadishu

Fighting in central Somalia has killed at least 138 people and displaced 63,000 others in the last two weeks, a rights group said on Friday.
Hizbul Islam and its rival, al Shabaab-branded by Washington as an al Qaeda proxy in the region-want to impose a strict version of Islamic sharia law in the Horn of Africa nation that has had no functional central government since 1991.
Their fighters and those of government-allied Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca have been involved in clashes for control of three towns in central Somalia. "At least 138 people died and 344 others were injured in the last two weeks' fighting in central Somalia," Ali Yasin Gedi, the vice chairman of the Elman human rights group, told Reuters.
"The recent fighting between Ahlu Sunna, and al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam on one side has also displaced 63,000 people from Galgadud and Hiiraan regions."
Ahlu Sunna, which is aligned to President Sheikh Shari Ahmed's weak U.N.-backed administration, advocates a more moderate version of Islam. It fought with Hizbul Islam insurgents in Baladwayne. Hizbul Islam also clashed with al Shabaab in Dhobley, a town near the border with Kenya.
Since the start of 2007, violence has killed at least 19,000 Somalis and displaced 1.5 million people.
The United Nation's refu-gee agency said earlier this week the recent fighting in central and southern Somalia was sending more refugees into neighbouring countries.
UNHCR said 3,000 Somalis were registered as refu-gees in Ethiopia in Dece-mber and 4,175 had registered in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp since December. It said the total number of Somali refugees in the region now stood at over 560,000.

  Scientists push ‘Doomsday Clock’ back a minute
Reuters, New York

Scientists pushed back the hands on the symbolic Doomsday Clock by one minute citing hopeful developments in nuclear weapons and climate change.
The symbolic clock that shows how close mankind is to self-annihilation was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which maintains the clock and puts an illustration of it on its cover, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals and collaborate on climate stabilization.
The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the "new era of cooperation is a change in the U.S. government's orientation toward international affairs brought about in part by the election of (U.S. President Barack) Obama."
Nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy at news conference held at the New York Academy of Sciences overlooking the World Trade Center site, said there had been "a shift in world opinion" recognizing that nuclear weapons are "no longer useful to fight wars and are not effective as deterrence."
BAS board member Lowell Sachnoff added, "Global warming is more of a threat than nuclear war."
When the clock was created in 1947, it was set at 7 minutes to midnight. It has been adjusted only 18 times before Thursday' move. The last was in 2007, when the BAS moved it forward by two minutes citing North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions and a renewed U.S. emphasis the military utility of nuclear weapons.

  US air security further tightened in wake of bomb plot
BBC Online

The US is taking additional air security measures in the wake of last month's airliner bomb plot, a senior official has said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the measures included enhanced random screening and more air marshals on some routes. Ms Napolitano referred to the "continued threat" from al-Qaeda. The US had already boosted security following the attempted attack on a trans-Atlantic jet on 25 December.
A 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been accused with trying to detonate a bomb on a flight to Detroit and has been charged with the attempted murder of 290 people. He has pleaded not guilty. Air marshals and better screening were among the measures announced by US President Barack Obama after an intelligence review last week.
'Systemic' failings
Ms Napolitano said on Thursday that the US was "taking an additional set of aviation security precautions to protect the American people". "Some of these measures include enhanced random screening, additional federal air marshals on certain routes and adding individuals of concern to our terrorist watch list system," she said. "As a result of these measures and others we have put in place since Christmas, travellers should allot extra time when flying - particularly into the United States from overseas."
Mr Obama has criticised "systemic" intelligence failings over the plot.
Last week he announced that he had ordered an immediate strengthening of the terrorist watch list, information on security risks would be distributed more widely, and analysis of that information would be improved. Mr Abdulmutallab's name was on a US database of about 550,000 suspected terrorists, but not on a list that would have subjected him to extra screening or prevented him from boarding a flight to the US.

  Russian president inspects latest homemade weapons
Xinhua, Moscow

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev inspected on newest homemade weapons at a shooting range outside Moscow on Thursday.
The president, accompanied by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, first came to the new armored cars developed on the basis of Russian Kamaz trucks, went over the inside structure of the vehicle and inquired the major capability and technical parameters of the vehicle.
The Russian leader was then presented with some multi-functional vehicles designed for sending troops and armaments.
Belonging to the "Tiger" serial armored cars, these vehicles have been deployed to Russian Special Forces. Medvedev then sat in front of the steering wheel and insp-ected its performance on snowy field in person.
The main tasks of Russia's Defense Ministry this year include preservation of strategic nuclear forces, rearming the military forces and providing servicemen with housing, said the president as cited by the Kremlin website. The Commander-in-Chief stressed that rearmament should be carried out using high-tech military equipment, while it is also important to continue developing other types of weapons, including conventional small arms.
In a mid-November address to the Federal Assembly last year, Medv-edev said new military hardware remained a high priority for the army, adding that Russian troops should be equi-pped with modern computerized administration systems and information technology.

  Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan tops $1 trillion
Reuters, Washington

The cost to U.S. taxpayers of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 has topped $1 trillion, and President Barack Obama is expected to request another $33 billion to fund more troops this year.
Over two-thirds of the money has been spent on the conflict in Iraq since 2003. This year is the first in which more funds are being spent in Afghanistan than Iraq, as the pace of U.S. military operations slows in Iraq and quickens in Afghanistan.
HOW MUCH HAS BEEN SPENT ALREADY?
Congress has approved $1.05 trillion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the National Priorities Project, a nonpartisan budget research group that has a continuously running war cost counter on its website.
The tally topped $1 trillion last month, when U.S. lawmakers approved the fiscal 2010 defence spending bill that included $128 billion to be spent on the two conflicts through Sept. 30. The trillion-dollar total includes war-related costs incurred by the State Department, like embassy security.
HOW MUCH WENT FOR IRAQ AND HOW MUCH FOR AFGHANISTAN?
The lion's share of the spending -- $747.3 billion-has been allocated to the war in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion there in 2003.
The other $299 billion has been for Afghanistan, where the United States invaded to fight al Qaeda and topple the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

Business/Economy

15th Dhaka International Trade Fair
EPB eyes Tk 30 cr export orders

UNB, Dhaka

The 15th Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF-2010) is gaining momentum as thousands of people - men, women and children - converged at the fair during the weekend on Friday.
The number of visitors increased to a great extent on the holiday - a chilly sunny day - with hundreds of people seen standing in long queues seeking to enter the fair.
The visitors, especially women and teenagers, were busy buying jewelry, cosmetics, crockery, textile products and other household goods. Since its inception in 1995, the DITF has become an ideal opening for entrepreneurs to expand business, as foreign and local buyers visit such an exposition looking for products of their choice. The DITF-2010, organised by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Commerce Ministry, expects more export orders this time. The fair got a poor response during the last two years because of global economic recession.
"This year, we are hopeful about getting export orders of around Tk 300 million (30 crore)," said Abdur Rahman, EPB director (policy and planning), who expects more foreign visitors this time. Export orders in 2006 were around Tk 24.68 crore, which came down to Tk 22.60 crore in 2008 and Tk 19.91 crore in 2009. Taufiqur Rahman, an executive of Walton Bangladesh Limited, said they are getting good response from the fair.
About response from the foreign buyers, he said two Chinese companies have shown interest about their TVs. Besides, he informed that the process of exporting 100,000 pieces of refrigerators to Malaysia is underway.
Md. Anisur Rahman of Asian Textile Mills Ltd. said buyers from Europe, Yemen and Korea have already taken samples from their special pavilion and they hope to get some good spot orders from them. He said they are displaying different kinds of standard quality fabrics including pant pieces ranging Tk 300-Tk 1800, suit pieces ranging Tk 1500 to Tk 20,000 and shirt pieces ranging Tk 500 to Tk 1500.
While visiting a special Pakistani pavilion, Md Nazimuddin Khan, of 'She N She Traders' said they are getting good response from the local crowd. "Especially our imitation jewelry, ladies' and gents' leather sandals, and woolen shawls are very much in demand."
Talking to UNB, a salesman at an Iranian pavilion said their sales were good, as demand for their products is high. Shuvo, a salesman of 'Craftsman Eco Product Ltd.' under the Jute Diversification and Promotion Center, said their jute-based products including handbags, travel bags, office bags and ornament box, are attracting the visitors. "Buyers from Korea, China and Japan have also taken samples from us," he added.
The month-long fair exhibits a wide range of products including aluminum utensils, leather and leather goods, footwear, handicrafts, agro-based products, light-engineering products, woven garments, knitwear, jute and jute products, frozen foods and bicycles. Besides ceramic tableware, home textiles, household appliances, textile products, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, machinery, agriculture and gardening equipment, chemical and allied products are also on sale.
Different stalls also display an array of cosmetics and beauty aids, dairy products and equipment, electrical and electronic items, foodstuff and grocery, gift and novelty items, furniture, building materials, sports goods, sanitary ware, toys, stationery, watches, clocks and jewelry.
Some foreign business visitors have already shown interest to buy various products from Bangladesh for sale in their countries.
The buyers from China, Iran, Italy, UK, Sweden, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan are visiting the month-long fair looking for Bangladesh's leather items, ceramic ware, jute products and textile products, said EPB sources.

 Business leaders see PM’s India visit as successful
BSS, Dhaka

Leaders of the business community have termed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's recent visit to India as 'very successful' and said the visit has opened up a new horizon of possibilities. This visit has created trust and confidence in bilateral relations removing mistrust and suspicion, they said and stressed the need for making good use of the possibilities created by the Prime Minister's visit.
The business leader thinks that duty-free access of 47 more Bangladeshi products to the Indian market would create a big opportunity for the country.
They said the decision to allow India to use Chittagong and Mongla seaports would enhance development and capacity of the ports along with the country's economic prosperity. They also welcomed the decision to introduce border trade or 'shimanto haat' between the two countries.
Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Annisul Haq said the Prime Minister visit has created adequate scopes to realize trade facilities from the Indian market. Now the country would have to develop capability to utilise the scopes.
He said infrastructure facilities would have to be enhanced to provide the neighbouring countries with port facilities.
The apex trade body chief hoped that India would invest in power, infrastructure and large industry in Bangladesh and take initiative to reduce trade gap as promised during the Prime Minister's visit.
Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Abdus Salam Murshedi said the Prime Minister's India visit was very significant to resolve outstanding issues between the two countries. This visit has removed psychological barriers and opened up a new chapter in bilateral relations, he added.
He said Bangladesh-India trade would expand and Bangladesh would be able to draw the attention of the world community, if the scopes created by the Prime Minister's visit can be utilised. The BGMEA chief welcomed the decision to give duty-free access of 47 products to the Indian market.
FBCCI Senior Vice-President Abul Qashem appreciated the decision to introduce border trade with India.
He also said the decision to import power from India is a positive step.

  Asia to lead global economic recovery in 2010
Xinhua, Hong Kong

Asia ex-Japan will lead the global economic recovery with impressive growths in 2010, with China and India in the spotlight, economists has said. International wealth management firm Invesco said on Wednesday it expected a growth of 7.4 percent for Asia-Pacific in
2010, compared with 2.2 percent for the United States, 1.2 percent for the U.K. and 1.2 percent for the euro zone
The Asia-Pacific refers to economies such as China, India, the four newly industrialized economies and the southeast Asian economies of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. "I expect overall gross domestic product growth for the Asia ex- Japan region of about 4 percent to 5 percent, with China still leading the pack in 2010," Invesco Chief Economist John Greenwood said in Hong Kong. In Asia, the possibility of a second downturn is remote, he said. "Asia is in very good shape because of ... the health of the balance sheets ... good income growth," he said, adding that consumption will be strong in China. Invesco projected a growth of 9.4 percent for the Chinese economy in 2010 and 7.5 percent for India.
Greenwood said the recoveries in the developed world are modest and fragile.
The key question for 2010 would be whether the recovery in the household and private sectors will be strong enough to enable the central banks to exit from the stimulus plans without harming nascent recovery.
The stories are different for the developed and the emerging economies, given that the process of balance sheet repair has just begun in the U.S. and U.K.
"Balance sheet repair is a prolonged process. It cannot happen quickly," he said, adding that balance sheet repair process in the U.K. after the housing boom of the late 1980s lasted for more than half of the following decade.

  Bank Asia holds annual conference
TBT Economy Desk

Annual Conference of Bank Asia was held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Friday. Anisur Rahman Sinha, Chairman of the Bank, inaugurated the conference as chief guest. Vice Chairmen Anwarul Amin and AM Nurul Islam, Directors A. Rouf Chowdhury, Mohd. Safwan Choudhury, Mashiur Rahman and President & Managing Director of the Bank Erfanuddin Ahmed, among others, were present on the occasion, says a press release.
The conference was divided into two sessions. The second session was of technical nature where participants made a critical review of the activities of the Bank during the outgoing year. Based on the experiences of the previous year, strategies and action plans were mapped out to face the challenges ahead. The best performing branches were rewarded at the annual conference.

  Tata brings Nano minicar to Detroit
AFP, Detroit, Michigan

India's Tata brought its Nano minicar to Detroit on Friday to show the Motor City what the world's cheapest car looks like. The Nano was unveiled for the first time in the United States at the Detroit science center, just a few miles away from where Tata's rivals were be displaying their latest wares at the Detroit auto show.
Executives said it will likely be years before the Nano hits US showrooms.
"No decision has been made yet on when to bring the car to the US," said Warren Harris, president and chief operating officer of automotive engineering consulting firm Tata Technologies. However, a decision is expected soon on starting the specific
re-engineering needed to get the Nano ready for the US market by
the middle of the decade, he said. The car needs "stiffer structure in the rear" to meet US crash test standards, Harris said.
It will also need a bigger engine as the top speed of the Nano sold in India only goes 65 miles per hour and the US version would need to get up to 80 or 90 miles per hour, Harris said.
"It also would need more features. It would also need things like iPod connectors, cup holders and USB ports," he said. "At least that was the reaction we got from the students we showed the car to." Tata Technologies played an important role in the development of the Nano, which debuted last year and is one of the most talked about vehicles launched in the past decade because it costs only 2,500 dollars.
The Nano has sparked a race to create other ultra-low-cost cars for the Indian and other emerging markets.
French automaker Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan plan to launch a car to rival the Nano in 2012 that will be built in partnership with scooter and three-wheel specialist Bajaj Auto.

 Walton pavilion at DITF attracts visitors
TBT economy Desk

A large number of people are visiting Walton pavilion at the Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) in the capital's Sher-e-Banglanagar area everyday.
"Thousands of people are thronging to the Walton pavilion as they are getting a wide range of gift items under the magic offer programme of the pavilion" said a sales executive at the pavillion. Walton showrooms all over the country along with the Walton pavilion at DITF have announced the magic offer programme under which customers are getting a wide rage of high quality gift items including 125cc motorcycle, LCD monitor TV, refrigerator, microwave oven, DVD player, digital lamp. Under the programme, customers get a gift card after purchasing a Walton brand product, and by rubbing the card surely they get a gift item.
On the occasion of the month long fair, Walton has significantly reduced prices of its products, especially price of LCD monitor TV. Earlier, an LCD TV was sold at Tk 32,000, and now it is sold at Tk 24,000.
A brand of LCD TV whose previous worth was Tk 65,000 now being sold at Tk 44,900.
An LCD TV with big monitor is being sold at Tk 84,000 in lieu of previous rate of Tk 1,10000. The eye-catching pavilion near the beautiful tower is also one of the reasons to attract the visitors. Mukta Zenifar, a housewife, who came at the fair from the city's Mohammadpur area opined that this year Walton pavilion had got a beautiful place at the fair ground.

 China says Google row will not affect trade ties with US
AFP, Beijing

China said Friday that Google's threat to stop operating in the country would not affect Sino-US trade ties, after Washington pressed for an explanation of China-based cyberattacks on the Internet giant.
However, China insisted that Google must obey its laws, after the company said it would no longer bow to the communist country's army of Internet censors by filtering search results available on google.cn.
The US firm-whose unofficial motto is "Don't Be Evil"-said it could abandon its Chinese search engine, and perhaps shut its offices in the world's largest online market by users, over theft of its intellectual property. "No matter what decision Google makes, it will not affect overall trade and economic relations between China and the United States," commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian told reporters.
"The two countries have multiple communication channels. We are confident in the healthy development of economic and trade relations between China and the United States."
In Beijing's first official reaction Thursday, a foreign ministry spokeswoman insisted China's Internet was "open" but defended its censorship system and said foreign firms must abide by the law.
Yao echoed those remarks, saying foreign firms operating in China should "respect the laws, public interest, culture and traditions in host countries, and take on social responsibilities accordingly."
"China is transferring from a traditional planned economy to a socialist market economy. Stability and development are our top priorities at the current stage," the commerce ministry spokesman said.
He said Google should "make the right choice" about its future, noting that China's development would benefit both the country itself and offer companies doing business there a "good market prospect."
Google said the cyberattacks were likely aimed at gaining access to the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, but has said it does not believe that goal was achieved.
The row has threatened to rattle ties between Washington and Beijing-already frayed over a number of issues, from the Copenhagen climate change debacle to the value of the Chinese yuan and a number of other trade disputes.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded answers from China over the Google case. On Thursday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Chinese embassy and US officials had met in Washington.
Crowley said the issue "raises questions about both Internet freedom and the security of the Internet in China"-home to more than 380 million web users according to latest Chinese government figures.
Google said more than 20 other unidentified firms were targeted in the "highly sophisticated" attacks, believed to have originated in China, while other reports have put the number of companies attacked at more than 30.
Officials in Washington have been reluctant to comment on how the Google case could affect ties, but one official warned of future diplomatic fallout.
"If this was part of a deliberate strategy on behalf of China, it has implications," said the official, who asked not to be named.
US lawmakers on Thursday hailed Google's move and touted a draft bill that would prohibit US firms from storing users' personal information in countries that restrict the peaceful expression of political and religious views online.
Under the proposed Global Online Freedom Act, companies would also have to report to the State Department which search terms countries were trying to filter out.
"Google sent a thrill of encouragement through the hearts of millions of Chinese," Republican Representative Chris Smith, the bill's chief sponsor, told a news conference. "It is a game-changer."
"But IT companies are not powerful enough to stand up to a repressive government like China," said Smith.
"Without US government support, they are inevitably forced to be ever more complicit in the repressive governments' censorship and surveillance."

National

10,000 people, mostly children, engaged in battery recycling in Ctg alone: Survey

UNB, Dhaka

Over 10,000 people, mostly children, are engaged in unsafe battery-recycling works in the port city of Chittagong and its surrounding areas, exposing themselves to various health hazards, according to a survey.
The survey, conducted by Human Development Society, a leading voluntary organization of the port city, said nearly 1000 recycling factories of the old lead-acid power cells have sprung up in the city and its suburban areas, some of them in even residential areas.
Kapashgola, Bakolia, Madar Bari, Agrabad, Muradpur, Mazirgath, Oxygen, Pahartali, Bhatiari, City Gate and Hamiar Char are among the places where battery-recycling factories are expanding in all diversities.
A section of greedy people are engaged in the old lead-acid batteries dismantling without approval from the Department of Environment (DoE), employing a large number of workers, mostly children, in the hazardous job.
In most cases, the juvenile workers are directly exposed to acid and lead poisoning, and other forms of chemical toxicity because of the unsafe working environment and required safety precautions, according to researchers.
They said that the nation might have to pay a very high price in near future in tackling the health hazards being posed by the chemical toxicity if necessary attention with appropriate remedial approach is not given immediately.
Abul Kalam Azad, a teacher of Communication and Journalism at Chittagong University, said, "The owners of the battery-recycling factories are not only polluting the environment but also violating human rights, as they've engaged children in their factories for dismantling batteries."
Prof Dr. AKM Shajahan Kabir of Chemistry Department at Chittagong University said that Sulfuric acid is being used in making batteries and the workers cannot reuse the acid when they recycle the batteries.
He alleged that the recycling factories have indiscriminately been disposing extracts of the old batteries and toxic substances in drains, canals or even in water reserves in rural or urban areas, exposing public health to chemical toxicity apart from endangering aquatic bodies. "As they cannot reuse the acid, they dump it in cannels or water bodies what is very hazardous for public health as well as other animals," he added.
The experts urged the government agencies, particularly the Department of Environment (DoE), to give more attention to scrapping and recycling factories of old lead-acid batteries in the port city as this has been a great public health concern.
"Chemical toxicity usually works like slow poisoning and it may take several years or even more to develop as visible hazards. It is directly responsible for both chronic and acute diseases," said researcher Prof Noman Ahmed Siddiqi laying emphasis on careful dumping of the toxic elements and their recycling.
No major research, he said, has so far been conducted in the country on the impacts of the careless dumping of toxic metals and substances to make a clear assessment of public health risks.
He also put emphasis on enacting a law as the first step towards putting an end to unsafe recycling of lead acid batteries and introducing a safe method of lead recovery.
Director of Department of Environment (DoE) in Chittagong Abdus Soban told UNB that they had closely observed the situation of the battery recycling factories. "We're also concerned about it, as we've already served notices to the factory owners to stop their unsafe battery recycling to protect the environment," he said.
According to an estimate of the World Health Organization, 120 million people are exposed to lead across the globe every year while 99 percent of the severely affected ones are from developing countries. It said batteries account for more than 75 percent cases.

  Weather continues improving bringing normalcy in N-region

BSS, Rangpur

The overall weather continues improving for the second day Friday with the sunny sky bringing a solace and almost comfortable situation for all everywhere in the northern region.
Both the temperatures-high and low-marked further rises Friday bringing more relief for the common people after four-day long bone- chilling cold wave that swept over the region almost paralyzing normal life and activities till Wednesday last.
The minimum temperature marked rise by one to three degree Celsius on an average at most points while the maximum temperature went high by five to eight degrees at places in the region during the past 24 hours.
Though the cool wind is still blowing from the west and north- western directions, it is not affecting the normal life as the sun appeared strongly since Friday morning.
The day and farm labourers continued their normal activities while business centres, markets, hats and bazars, river ports and ferry ghats, bus stands and terminals and also rail stations are with full attendance.
"Despite improvement in the weather since Thursday, we will complete distribution of the newly allocated blankets among the cold- hit people within the next couple of days," District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer of Rangpur Mokhlesur Rahman Friday told BSS.
Besides, dozens of NGOs as well as BDR, various charitable, voluntary and socio-cultural organizations, business leaders, banks and well-to- do section of the people are distributing warm clothes among the cold- hit distressed people.
"So far, the Rabi crops including BORO seedbeds remained unhurt and improvement in the weather is helping the crop plants grow in overcoming the clod stresses," DAE's Deputy Director Kamal Shariful Alam told BSS Friday.
On an average, the minimum temperature ranged between 9.5 and 12.4 degrees Friday against Thursday's 9.1 and 11 degrees and maximum temperature remained between 22.5 and 24 degrees against the previous day's 15.1 and 19.1 degrees Celsius in the region. The Met Office recorded the country's minimum temperature at 8.1 degrees in Srimangal Friday against Thursday's lowest of 9.1 degrees Celsius at Syedpur. Besides, the minimum temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius were recorded Friday against Thursday's 9.6 degrees in Rangpur, 10 degrees against Thursday's 9.9 in Dinajpur and 9.8 degrees against Thursday's 9.1 degrees Celsius in Syedpur. At the same time, the minimum temperature was 12.4 degrees Friday morning against Thursday's 9.5 degrees in Ishwardi, 12 degrees against 11 degrees in Bogra and 11.4 degrees Friday against Thursday's 9.2 degrees Celsius in Rajshahi.

   Tk 55 cr dev works of PWD progressing fast in Rangpur
BSS, Rangpur

Development works under seven projects of Public Works Department (PWD) involving Taka 55 crore have been continuing fast and are expected to be completed by June next in the district, official sources said.
After completion of these projects, the people of Rangpur will have more facilities in the health care, government services, fire service and civil defense and law and order sectors, senior PWD officials told the national news agency Friday. According to the officials, some of these projects will be completed very soon and the others will be completed by June next year as a part of the Charter of Changes for building a digital and developed Bangladesh within the stipulated period.
The projects include construction of the multistoried and Intensive Coronary Care Unit (ICCU) and Casualty Unit of Rangpur Medical College and Hospital (RMCH) with all of the latest medicare facilities and services at Taka 40 crore.
Over 36 percent of the constructions works of these buildings at the RMCH premises have already been completed and Taka 12.55 crore against the total estimated cost of Taka 40 crore have already been allocated for the project.
After completion of the construction works by June next year, hundreds of the people of the northern districts including will get the most modernized medicare services at the RMCH, officials in the PWD and RMCH Friday told BSS.
The constructions works of the Fire Service and Civil Defense Stations (FSCDSs) at Mithapukur upazila Sadar, Pirgachha upazila Sadar, Kawnia upazila Sadar and Pirganj upazila Sadar have been progressing fast and the works will be completed by March this year.

  Tea garden employees welfare to be improved
BSS, Habiganj

Chief Whip Vice-Principal Abdus Shahid said here Friday the welfare of tea employees would be Improved significantly during the tenure of government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
"The government has stepped up efforts to
introduce rationing system for the tea gardens employee at a free of cost as well as government has adopted a project with the cooperation of World Bank for advancement of education and health of the employees," he told a function. The chief whip, also chairman of National Tea Company(NTC), said this while distributing warm clothes among 200 poor employees of Chandchara and Taliapara Tea guardan of Habiganj Friday.
Abdus Shahid said the land would also be leased, like tea garden owners, among the tea garden employees to build their own houses. Chaired by Managing Director of NTC Mustafa Kamal,the function was addressed, among others, by DC Abdul Kalam Talukder and police super Dr Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan.
The chief whip said the tea garden employees had loved the father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They are loving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana. He said 12 tea gardens of NTC would be brought under computerized system soon.
About 1,200 warm clothes would be distributed among the employees of 12 tea gardens.

  Rehabilitation of mental patients stressed
BSS, Rajshahi

Speakers at a views-sharing meeting here Thursday called for proper rehabilitation of the patients suffering from mental diseases to bring them back to the normal life.
They said the mental patients are always subjected to negligence, injustice, social stigma and other repression and oppressions in society.
On the contrary, they are also deprived of fundamental rights like education, healthcare, recreation, job placement and leadership and this has become a normal phenomenon in society, they said.
However, they underlined the need for a concerted effort to establish a sound and friendly atmosphere for the mentally disabled persons to ensure a dignified position for them in the society.
Action on Disability and Development (ADD) and District Bandhan Protibandhi Sangstha (DBPS) organized the meeting titled "Mental Patients: Development" at ADD Training Centre.
In his address of welcome, DBPS President Sohel Rana gave an overview of the mental patients in the country and their vulnerable position in the society.
He said around 16.1 percent people of the total population aged above 18 have been suffering from various types of mental diseases and 90 percent of those suffer from schizophrenia but their medicare facilities in the country is very negligible.
He also revealed that at least 70 percent of the patients could be recovered if they are brought under adequate treatment facilities.

3 suspected robbers lynched in B’baria
UNB, Brahmanbaria

Three suspected robbers were killed in a lynch-mob attack at Koitola village in Nabinagar upazila early Friday.
The deceased were identified as Tiger Samad, 36, a notorious robber and two of his accomplices Mofiz and Illias, hailed from Chittagong. Police said on secret information that a gang of robbers led by Tiger Samad was preparing to commit a robbery at a house of the village, they rushed to the area at about 2am.
Sensing the presence of the police, the bandits opened fire on them forcing the law enforcers to fire back that triggered a gunfight.
At one stage when Samad and his two cohorts were fleeing villagers after a hot chase caught them and gave them a good thrashing, leaving the three dead on the spot.
Police arrested another activist of the gang, Beauty, hailed from Gazipur district, along with an LG and one round of bullet.
Tiger Samad was wanted in a number of cases, including murder, robbery and snatching, police said.
Additional police super Osman Gani visited the spot.

Schoolteacher killed, 10 injured in road accident in Bogra
UNB, Bogra

A schoolteacher was killed and 10 people were injured as a bus rammed into a bicycle and overturned on the road at Dhankundi in Sherpur upazila on Dhaka-Bogra highway Thursday.
The deceased was identified as Moniruzzaman of Langolemora village in Sherpur upazila and also assistant teacher of Hashra Primay School.
Witnesses said when Moniruzzaman and headmaster of the school Abdul Mannan were going home by a bicycle a Rangpur bound bus turned turtle after hitting the bicycle, leaving Moniruzzaman dead on the spot and injuring Mannan seriously.
Nine passengers of the bus were also injured in the accident. Injured Mannan was rushed to Dhaka in critical condition. The other injured people were given treatment at local clinics.

Implementation of N-Rajshahi Irrigation Project demanded
UNB, Chapainawabganj

A human chain programme was observed in the district town on Thursday demanding implementation of the proposed North Rajshahi Irrigation Project (NRIP) to save the greater Barind area of Rajshahi and Chapainwabganj districts from the process of desertification.
The North Rajshahi Irrigation Project Movement Council organised the programme in front of Sentu market in the town. Several hundred people took part in the human chain.
The speakers said the groundwater level of this region is falling rapidly due to use of groundwater for irrigation work, causing a threat to the environment of the region.
They strongly urged the government for implementing the proposed North Rajshahi Irrigation Project using the water of the Padma and the Mahananda rivers to save the region from desertification.

One awarded 10 years imprisonment for possessing arms in Sylhet

UNB, Sylhet

A court here Tuesday convicted a man and awarded him 10 years rigorous imprisonment for possessing arms.
The convict was identified as Rafiq Miah, of Doarabazar upazila of Sunamganj district.
According to the prosecution, acting on secret information a team of RAB-9 conducted drive at Tukerbazar in Sylhet Sadar upazila and arrested Rafiq along with a revolver. A case was filed.
After examining the records and witnesses, Judge of Additional District Judge court Belayetullah handed down then verdict.

Sports

Archery team vows to fight for gold
TBT Report

Bangladesh Archery Team vowed to give its best efforts to win gold medals in the forthcoming 11th South Asian Games (SAG).
General Secretary of Bangladesh Archery Federation Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapal was upbeat about the opportunity of Bangladesh archers in the South Asian meet.
"We have improved notably. We now have five archers within the top 200 of the world rankings, Sajjad's ranking is 60 and Milon is ranked 72nd. We also have promising archers like Shajib in the team. We will try our best to present surprise to the nation," Chapal said.
Bangladesh Archery Team's English Coach James John Priestman, who won bronze medals in Barcelona and Seoul Olympics, is optimistic to reach the top.
"I was surprised seeing the talents of the Bangladesh archers. They have improved by miles. The realistic expectation is silver but with the home advantage it can turn into gold," Priestman said.
Bangladesh Men's Team: Sheikh Sajib, Imdadul Huq Milon, Sajjad Hossain, Nue-e-Alam; Stand-by: Zia-ul-Huq, Manager: SM Alam.
Bangladesh Women's Team: Mathui Pru Marma, Najmin Khatun, Rina Chakma, Beauty Roy; Stand-by: Nadir Khatun. Manager: Shamima Sattar Mimu.
Coach: Richard John Priestman and Nishith Das (for both men and women teams).

  Golfers seek two golds in SAG
TBT Report

Bangladesh Golf Team targets to win both gold medals of the individual and team events in the 11th South Asian Games (SAG), beginning on January 29 in Dhaka.
"We have been practising hard for success. We have provided all training facilities including a top class gymnasium for practice. The golfers are ready to win gold medals," General Secretary of Bangladesh Golf Federation (BGF) Brigadier General (retd) Shafiquzzaman said at a news conference at Olympic Bhaban in the city on Friday.
The manager of the Bangladesh Golf Team Major (retd) Anis-ul-Islam provided a clear cut analysis of the aspirations. "Scottish Coach John James Little trained the golfers and the way the golfers improved, we have every hope of clinching golds in the SAG. The golfers have played 27 holes per day instead of the normal 18 for the perfection. They have won titles in India and Nepal," Anis-ul-Islam said.
Except Maldives, seven South Asian countries are taking part in the SAG golf competition.
Bangladesh Golf Team: Jamal Hossain Mollah, Shakhawat Hossain Sohel, Dulal Hossain, Zakir Hossain (Players), Babu Ahmed (Coach) and Major (retd) Anisul Islam (Manager).

  Pakistan wilts after Ponting double
Cricinfo Online

Ricky Ponting's fifth Test double-century and Michael Clarke's highest Test score have left Pakistan facing a mountainous task to avoid defeat over the next three days in Hobart. Their already fragile confidence took another hit when Peter Siddle struck twice in one over and Salman Butt ran out two partners to leave them 425 runs adrift. With six wickets in hand, avoiding the follow-on looked as far away as the Australian mainland.
There is every chance that, given the opportunity, Ponting will enforce the follow-on for the second time this summer as there are showers forecast over the next three days and the fast men are on the verge of a two-month break from Tests. He'll also be buoyed by Pakistan's ongoing self-implosion, which continued with the two run-outs.
The captain Mohammad Yousuf went hard for a third, which was refused by an overly casual Butt, and turned back to be caught short for 7.
Yousuf stood by the pitch glowering at Butt before walking off and Pakistan's frustrations continued when Butt and Umar Akmal took off for a single, Butt stopped far too late, and Umar was run-out after his about-face. It was all the more disappointing after Butt and Imran Farhat reached 63 without loss.
Farhat (38) drove away from his body off Siddle and was caught behind and four balls later Khurram Manzoor, the No. 3 brought in for this match, played an ill-advised cut that on the slower pitches in Pakistan might have worked, but here resulted in an ugly edge to second slip. The wickets were a timely boost for Siddle, who had only six in his previous four Tests this summer and has been by far the least potent member of the attack. But there was no doubt that the second day belonged to Ponting and Clarke, as had the first. Their 352-run partnership, which lasted 437 minutes and 626 balls, was Australia's sixth-highest for any wicket in Test history. The stand ended when Clarke tried to pad up to the legspinner Danish Kaneria coming around the wicket but saw it take his off stump on 166.
Ponting's innings of 209 came to a close when he attacked in spite of Pakistan's defensive wide-outside-off line and skied a catch to cover off Mohammad Aamer. The captain Yousuf took the chance, showing Aamer how it should be done after he put Ponting down at deep square-leg before he had scored on the first day. It wasn't the most expensive miss in Test history - in 1938 Ben Barnett missed a stumping off Len Hutton on 40 and he went on to score 364 - but it was depressingly costly for Pakistan.
When Ponting finally departed, fans stood all around the ground to cheer off their local Tasmanian hero, who made his third-highest Test score and his first double-ton since January 2005, the first Test double-century by any player at Bellerive Oval, and the highest Test score by an Australian since Justin Langer's 215 in Adelaide against New Zealand five years ago. He picked up an even hundred runs in boundaries - 25 fours - in a near nine-hour stay at the crease.
Ponting was given another life today on 167 when he drove Kaneria and the ball flew through the hands of Farhat at cover. But by that stage Australia were going for their shots and in truth, Clarke and Ponting were rarely troubled by a defensive Pakistan group that seemed simply to be waiting for a declaration.
That didn't come until the stroke of tea, by which time Brad Haddin had added a quick 41, Marcus North had scratched out 21, and Australia had climbed to 8 for 519. Ponting called an early end to Australia's innings in Melbourne but here seemed intent on grinding Pakistan into the Bellerive turf, both with his own batting and his declaration. Australia have never lost a Test in Hobart and they won't start now.

  Dementieva defends Sydney title
AFP, Sydney

Elena Dementieva successfully defended her Sydney International title on Friday, leaving Serena Williams with injury concerns just days out from the Australian Open.
The Russian fifth seed was always in control of the final, winning 6-3, 6-2 in just 75 minutes but the American world number one appeared inconvenienced by a troublesome left knee she had strapped for the match.
Williams, who is going into next week's opening Grand Slam as defending champion, favoured the knee and she was unusually subdued during the final. "I was struggling a little bit, but she definitely deserves all the credit for what she did," Williams said. "It's definitely not (knee) ligament problems. It's just a little pain but the strapping usually helps the pain go away sometimes."
Williams played down concerns about playing in next week's Australian Open.
"I had a long match the other day. It was good for me to have that long match (against France's Aravane Rezai) and jump back and play today," she said.
"I haven't played for two months on a competitive level, so I think it's good for my body to go through this now, especially since I'm in doubles as well as singles in Melbourne. Now we're ready to go."
The match ended in an anti-climax with Dementieva holding three match points on Serena's serve and thumping a return winner for the championship.
It was Dementieva's 15th career title and she became the first player to win back-to-back titles here since Martina Hingis in 2001-02.
"For sure such a big win gives you a lot of confidence," Dementieva said.
"When it comes to the Grand Slam, it's going to be a new challenge and I have to be ready and recover from this week and be ready from the first round.
"I was expecting a tough match and even though the score was 6-3, 6-2 it didn't show how tense it was out on the court."
The Russian has now won six of her last seven finals and it was her fifth victory against Williams in 12 encounters. She beat Williams in the semi-finals of last year's event.
Dementieva broke Williams's serve five times and dominated the points, 70-47. The top seed committed 40 unforced errors in the 17 games. It is Dementieva's first tournament of 2010 and this time last year she had won her opening two tournaments, going on to win her first 15 matches of the season.
The defeat continued Williams's run of outs at the Sydney International. It was her first final here after three previous losing semi-final appearances at the tournament.

   Flavio, Manucho help Angola down Malawi
AFP, Luanda

Angola avoided another Mali-style collapse to beat Malawi 2-0 and move to the top of Africa Cup of Nations Group A Thursday.
The 2010 hosts put the trauma of seeing a four-goal lead evaporate in the last quarter of an hour of their opening game behind them with goals from Flavio and Manucho.
The result put Angola on four points with Malawi and Algeria on three and Mali, beaten 1-0 by the Algerians in Thursday's first match, propping up the table on one point. "The team put in a fantastic effort," said Angola coach Manuel Jose.
"We had a lot of injuries, I had to take Gilberto off early. If he had stayed on perhaps we could have closed down the game sooner.
"Then there was Flavio and Zuela, who had a problem in the last minute. But they are the sort of sacrifices you have to make if you want to be champions.
"I believed before the game we could win it. The players were free in their minds, their confidence was very high."
Angola captain Carlos 'Kali' Alonso added: "We showed our strength. We felt more secure and our morale was high."
Malawi coach Kinnah Phiri was upset over training facilities accorded to his team in the run-up to the game.
"We've written a letter of protest to (organisers) CAF - they didn't let us train at the stadium, we were denied a chance to train yesterday (Wednesday)."
Angola, with President Eduardo Jose dos Santos, sporting the team's scarf, among the 50,000 crowd, burst out of the blocks. They almost took a lightning lead when Manucho volleyed Flavio's cross only for Malawi keeper Swadick Sanudi to smother the ball.
On 33 minutes Djalma set up former Manchester United and Hull City striker Manucho, whose fierce effort was only stopped by a superb save from Sanudi.
Jose was forced into an unscripted change of personnel when Jamuana came on for injured Gilberto. There was a touch of artistry from Malawi's Peter Wadabwa in the 40th minute when, with his back to the Angola goal, he flicked the ball with his heel at keeper Carlos Fernandes, whose reflex save was equal to the threat. In first half injury time Flavio's corner found Manucho in the box, but the striker headed over the woodwork from close range.

  Rio wins Olympic Games on quality
AFP, Lausanne

Olympic chief Jacques Rogge said Thursday that Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the 2016 Games because of the quality of its bid, not because it brought the showpiece to a new continent.
Rogge indicated that the International Olympic Committee was not ready to sacrifice high standards for the world's biggest sporting event.
"We were very happy to go to Brazil. But we didn't choose Brazil because South America never got the games, we chose it because of the quality," he told journalists.
A South American or African city has never hosted the Olympics.
The success of Rio's bid last year against outwardly wealthier rivals Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo in an IOC vote was partly attributed to the symbolic opportunity of bringing the event to South America for the first time.
Rogge said shortly afterwards that the vote showed that the Games were not all about money.
He insisted Thursday that the IOC was trying to keep costs in check through measures such as limits on the size of the athletes' village, the number of sports, and by preventing the construction of over-ambitious "white elephant" venues that would have little future use.
"Our aim is to make the Games as lean as possible while maintaining the quality of the Games," the IOC president added.
"The purpose of the Olympic Games is for the athletes, not for public opinion. We want good Games for the athletes."
Rogge suggested that rising costs were often due to the way host cities or governments seized the opportunity to make peripheral investments, citing a new airport in Beijing or the Athens metro.
Soaring costs in Vancouver have prompted some local fears that next month's Winter Olympics could leave a legacy of debt. Organisers have set the official operating budget for the Games at 1.8 billion dollars.
That does not include a 1.5 billion dollar high speed rail extension, a one billion dollar waterfront media centre expansion and 600 million dollars for a mountain highway to the ski resort of Whistler.

  Rajshahi declares at 529/7 against Sylhet
UNB, Dhaka

Night watch batsman Naeem Islam's hit a brilliant ton as Rajshahi Division piled up a huge total against Sylhet Division on the second day of the four-day league at Khan
Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Narayanganj on Friday.
Resuming the second day with overnight score of 300 runs for 4 in 91 overs, Rajshahi Division declared their first innings at 529 for 7 in 146 overs.
Night watch batsman Naeem Islam contributed unbeaten 123 runs off 192 balls with 16 fours and a six, another night watch batsman Nasir Hossain made 42 runs off 60 balls with four fours and a six while number eight batsman Anisur Rahman made 79 runs off 112 balls that featured eight fours and a six.
Nasir Ahmed, Abu Zahir Rahi and Nabil Samad captured two wickets each for 68, 75 runs 125 runs respectively.
In reply, Sylhet Division felt serious batting jolt in the face of Rajshahi Division's fierce bowling attacks and scored 86 runs for 6 wickets 35 overs at stamps on the day. Opener Syam Alam scored 27 runs off 74 balls with three fours while one down Rajin Saleh made 23 off 45 balls with four fours.
Tanveer Haider and Tapash Kumar were at the crease with 10 and 13 as the bails were drawn for the second day. Saqlain Sajib grabbed four wickets for 24 runs.
In another national league match at Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi, Khulna Division set 233 runs winning target to Dhaka Division.
Resuming the second day Friday with overnight score of 57 runs for 8 wickets in 22.5 overs, Dhaka Division, in their first innings were all out for 120 runs in 45.4 overs in reply of Khulna Division first innings total of 132 runs for all.
Mosharraf Hossain (31) and night watch batsman Nadif Chowdhury (28) were the notable scorers for Dhaka Division.
Rabiul Islam grabbed four wickets for 48 runs while Murad Khan, Ziaur Rahman and Dollar Mahmud took two wickets each for 8, 24 and 37 runs respectively.
In reply, Khulna Division, in their second innings scored 220 for all in 58.1 overs.
Former national skipper Habibul Bashar contributed 69 runs off 101 balls with 11 fours while opener Nazmus Sadat hammered 60 runs off 48 balls with 11 fours.
Sahagir Hossain (29) and Habibur Rahman (16) were the other notable scorers for Khulna Division.
Talha Jubayer did the major damage for Khulna Division grabbing seven wickets for 59 runs while Mohammad Sharif took 2 for 57. Chasing the target, Dhaka Division started their second innings and scored 17 for no loss in 5 overs as bad light forced to stop the play.
Uttam Sarker and Ronny Talukder were at the crease with 8 and 9 runs respectively.
In another match, Chittagoing Division took an overall 51-run lead over Barisal Division on the second day at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna.
Resuming the day with overnight score of 73 for 3 in 27 overs, Barisal Division, riding on nigh watch batsman Asif Ahmed brilliant ton, scored 239 for all in 83. 3 overs in reply to Chittagong Division first innings' total of 200 for all.
Asif contributed 108 runs off 192 balls with 16 fours while Shaheen Hossain made 65 runs off 180 balls with 10 fours.
Kamrul Islam scalped three wickets for 85 runs while Elias Sunny, Raihan Uddin and Tareq Aziz hauled two wickets apiece for 28, 36 and 40 runs respectively.
In reply, Chittagong Division started their second innings and scored 90 runs for 2 wickets in 33 overs at stump on the second day.
Opener Gazi Salahuddin scored 35 runs off 87 balls with five fours and a six while Mahbubul Karim made 32 runs off 56 balls with five fours.
Nafees Iqbal and Elias Sunny were at the crease with 17 and 4 runs as the bails were drawn for the day.
Sohag Gazi and Monir Hossain took one wicket each for 17 and 17 runs respectively.