MONday, JANUARY 4, 2010 Poush 21, 1416, muharram 17, 1430 Hijri

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Leading News

Fifth Amendment
SC vacates stay on HC verdict

UNB, Dhaka

The historic judgment declaring illegal the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution stands effective as the apex court Sunday vacated its order of stay on the High Court verdict, meaning the revival of the fundamentals of the 1972 Constitution.
Legal experts say the lifting of the stay restores the Preamble, Articles 6 (citizenship), 8 (fundamental principles), 9 (promotion of local government institutions), 10 (participation of women in national life), 12 (secularism and freedom of religion), 25 (promotion of international peace, security and solidarity), 38 (freedom of association) and 142 (power to amend any provision of the Constitution) as stipulated in the original 1972 Constitution of the country.
The High Court in its judgment stated that the aforesaid provisions remain as it was in the original Constitution of 1972. Besides, Article 95, as amended by the Second Proclamation Order of 1976, is declared valid and retained, it said.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court passed the order while allowing a pending government plea for withdrawing the leave to appeal against the High Court verdict on the fifth amendment of the Constitution.
The apex court, upon time petitions moved by TH Khan, the counsel for BNP Secretary- General Khandaker Delwar Hossain, and Moudud Ahmed, the counsel for three pro-Jamaat-e-Islami lawyers who became interveners in the case, adjourned the hearing on their applications for leave to appeal against the High Court verdict until January 18.
In an instant reaction over the Supreme Court orders, Barrister M Amir-Ul Islam, one of the framers of the Constitution, told UNB that following the withdrawal of the main appeal by the government as well as the Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust and the vacation of the order of stay, the leave petitions which are not yet filed became "merely an academic exercise".
"The High Court judgment on the fifth amendment case now remains operative and effective following the vacation of the stay order," he said.
Another senior advocate, Anisul Huq, said whatever happened on the basis of the fifth amendment now stands "null and void".
But, he observed, those amendments which are not directly related or dependent upon the fifth amendment remained valid.
Earlier, advocate TH Khan raised the question of the constitution of the bench comprising five members instead of seven.
In reply clarifying the matter, Chief Justice M Tafazzul Islam, who heads the bench, said the bench was reconstituted as the two other judges would go abroad for treatment.
Advocate Khan further raised another question as to how the SC chamber judge earlier had fixed January 3 for hearing the leave-to-appeal applications along with the stay-vacating petition without intimating him.
"The matter is dubious," Khan told the court and alleged that it was done by the government by "creating pressure on the judge".
Interrupting TH Khan, Barrister Ajmalul Hossain denied the allegation and said that on instruction of his client he usually went to the chamber court and moved his stay-vacating petition after serving notice to the government. Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam also opposed the contentions raised by TH Khan and prayed for dismissing the government petition for leave to appeal as being "not pressed".
On Aug 29 in 2005, the High Court declared the fifth amendment to the constitution "illegal", meaning the regimes of Khandker Mushtaque Ahmed, Abu Sadaat Mohammad Sayem, and Maj General Ziaur Rahman since the August 15, 1975 changeover till April 9, 1979 were unlawful.
The verdict came upon a writ petition filed by Bangladesh Italian Marble Works Ltd company that had challenged the Martial Law Regulation (MLR) 7 of 1977 issued to legalize all extra-constitutional acts of the martial law governments prior to that time.
In the verdict the HC ruled that martial law as a whole is illegal and unconstitutional and all the actions, laws, and rules made under martial law illegal. "The changes of government between August 15, 1975 and before the national elections of 1991 were not carried out constitutionally."
The High Court bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice ATM Fazle Kabir also said the Constitution does not permit anyone to assume power by any means other than the ones mentioned in it [constitution]. "If anyone does so, it will amount to sedition."
The court, however, noted that although all government activities between August 15, 1975 and April 9, 1979 have been declared illegal, the history cannot be altered.

 Bangabandhu murder
Death warrants issued against 5 convicts

BSS, Dhaka

A Dhaka court on Sunday issued death warrants against five of the 12 condemned ex-army officers in line with the apex court verdict rejecting their appeal prayers in the Bangabandhu Murder Case.
"Dhaka's District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Abdul Gafur has signed the death warrants," a court official familiar with the development said.
He said the warrants were sent to the district magistrate and the jail super in "red envelopes", as prescribed under the Jail Code for issuance of death warrants, for execution of the verdict between next 21 and 28 days.
The court sources said Gafur signed the warrant as the court officials submitted the papers in a folder 17 days after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court issued the full final judgment after the protracted trial process which had began in 1996.
The then district and sessions judge of Dhaka originally tried the case and in line with the law the death warrants were needed to be issued by the same court after the exhaustion of the appeal processes.
The public prosecutors were present at the chamber of the judge as he signed the warrant against the five who are now in jail to face the verdict.
The five convicts are sacked lieutenant colonels Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shariar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed (artillery) and AKM Mohiuddin and sacked major Bazlul Huda.

 Minister threatened for move to protect playground water bodies: PM

UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday disclosed that miscreants are threatening one of her cabinet members for pursuing government move to preserve water-bodies and playgrounds in the capital city, as these are disappearing for unauthorized building constructions.
She said the threat to the minister concerned with housing works came as the government has decided not to give permission for any housing project if the developing companies do not incorporate in their housing projects preservation of existing water-bodies and playgrounds.
The Prime Minister, who is spearheading a campaign against the calamitous global climate change, said her government is determined to protect country's environment "at any cost".
"Not a single unplanned work will be allowed in the capital from now on as without proper plan and its implementation it will not be possible to build a comfortable and modern Dhaka," she categorically said in her tough message for unscrupulous builders.
The Prime Minister made the disclosure while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the two-day 3rd International Conference on Bangladesh Environment (ICBEN)'2010 at Osmani Memorial Auditorium. Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) and Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) have jointly arranged the conference at DU Senate Bhaban in collaboration with various public and educational institutions, including the University of Dhaka.
Explaining a latest recipe for building a new-look expanded capital, Sheikh Hasina said the government has decided to divide Dhaka into various zones and expand the city on the zoning basis.
"This time we will not allow anybody to construct buildings here and there," she said, indicating what is satirically called 'concrete jungle'.
The Prime Minister unveiled government plan for setting up four satellite cities surrounding the capital to divert pressures on the crowded city. She said her government attaches highest importance to water and rail communications to ensure smooth and cheap transport for the people. She said the government is going to cleanse the riverbeds of the Buriganga, the Turag, the Sitalakkhya and the Balu of all the piled-up wastes before going for massive dredging of these rivers around the capital.
Presided over by Chairman of BAPA Prof Mozaffar Ahmed, the function was also addressed by State Minister for Forests and Environment Dr Hasan Mahmud, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice-President of BAPA Dr Nazrul Islam, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Conference Organizing Committee Prof Nazrul Islam and General Secretary of BEN MA Matin.

 Dhaka’s demand on Teesta water sharing unrealistic: Indian official

BSS, New Delhi

India's plan to carry out construction work on some rivers that share borders with Bangladesh might have received a setback with the neighbouring country resolving to block all proposed projects till the Teesta river water dispute is settled, leading English daily Hindustan Times in its report on Sunday said.
It said, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been briefed on the Teesta dispute and the issue is likely to be in the agenda when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will meet him in New Delhi on January 11.
Ahead of Hasina's visit, an Indian team led by Water Resources secretary UN Panjir left for Bangladesh on Saturday, the paper wrote.
However, a top Indian official who visited Bangladesh December last to hold negotiations on the issue said, "They told us that if India didn't agree to their demand on sharing Teesta waters, they won't discuss other river-water issues." But the demands are "unrealistic and anti-India," the Hindustan Times quoted the official as saying.
India had been demanding that Bangladesh agree on implementing three projects: dredging and desiltation of river Ichhamati, a project on the river Feni to supply water to Sabroom in Tripura and construction of embankments on other rivers. A Water Resources Ministry official told HT Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and her Indian counterpart SM Krishna had agreed on the issues during talks in September.
However in the December talks, Bangladesh was cold to India 's proposal of carrying out "joint hydrological observations" downstream of the Bangladesh Barrage, especially at Kaunia and Teestamukh rivers, the HT report added.
"With Bangladesh seeking to link the issues with Teesta water sharing, all previous discussions came to a standstill," the HT quoted the official as saying.

  JS session begins today without BNP
UNB, Dhaka

The 9th parliament is going to sit in its winter session at 3pm today (Monday) without the main opposition BNP.
President Zillur Rahman will address the first session of the New Year.
But the main opposition BNP is still stuck to its previous stance not to join this fourth session of parliament, as their demands have not been met yet.
The third session of the ninth parliament was prorogued on November 5.
The opposition has long been boycotting parliament as it joined the first session just for a few days that began on January 25 last year.
Talking to reporters Sunday afternoon, opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farooque said the opposition's demands have not been met yet. "Besides, the congenial atmosphere needed to join parliament has not been created for which we've been abstaining it."
The demands he mentioned include withdrawal of politically-motivated cases against BNP leaders like opposition leader Khaleda Zia and BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman, and strengthen security to the leader of the opposition, withdrawal of lease cancellation order of Khaleda Zia's Dhaka cantonment residence, stopping repression and harassment against opposition leaders and workers and stopping unpleasant remarks inside the House against late President Ziaur Rahman.
The demands also include accepting the opposition's adjourned proposals to discuss in the House on Tipaimukh dam, Asian Highways, maritime boundary, law and order situation and price hike of essentials issues.
"Still, there is time. If the Speaker takes initiatives to meet our demands, we'll join the session," the opposition chief whip said.

Term ‘sick industry’ should be banished from country: Muhith
UNB, Dhaka

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday said the term 'sick industry' should be banished from the country.
"We're going to take a policy for the sick industry, but in that case asset management could be a big problem. Even some of the sick industries may never stand up again," he said.
The Finance Minister was speaking the inaugural function of the newly formed Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL) at a city hotel in the morning.
Earlier, on December 31, 2009, two state-owned specialized banks - Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (BSB) and Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha (BSRS) - merged with their entire undertakings (assets and liabilities) to form the BDBL.
The BDBL, a 100% state-owned company, was registered as a public limited company with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies. BDBL is also allowed commercial banking apart from financing the industrial sector.
BSB and BSRS were established under the Bangladesh Shilpa Bank Order 1972, and Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha Order 1972.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony as chief guest, Muhith said the banking sector had to be nationalized at the beginning of independent Bangladesh, as there was no other alternative because this sector totally belonged to West Pakistani.
The banking sector, opened to the private entrepreneurs in the 80s, advanced a lot over the last 30 years and took significant control of the market, he said, adding "but still problem remains for industrial development."
The Finance Minister said that the country's capital market is not strong enough and investment in the market is limited.
He said the banks should think of managing their current capital at the outset as the entrepreneurs need current loans apart from term loans.
The banks, he added, were not able to show efficiency in all sectors as they have forced many industries to become sick by not providing current loans.
Referring to his meeting with the sick industries association, Muhith said he felt disgraced that he had to sit with such an association. "We have to come out of it."
He hoped that the officials of BDBL would come up with innovative ideas so that it could flourish in the next two years.
Speaking on the occasion, BDBL chairman Nazem Ahmad Choudhury mentioned that the authorized capital of the bank is Tk 1000 crore and the paid-up capital Tk 400 crore while its present strength of officials 579 and employees 267.
He said there is further need for skilled and efficient manpower to put the bank on firm footing.
Terming the investment fund of BDBL as insufficient, he said they have a plan to raise this fund by auctioning their stock exchange membership, offering shares through IPO and also through commercial banking.

Back Page

Khaleda distributes winter clothes among city’s distressed people

UNB, Dhaka

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia distributed warm clothes and blankets among the distressed people in different areas of the city for the second day Saturday night.
She distributed winter clothes and blankets among the destitute men, women and children, as they were sleeping under the open sky on footpaths and alongside roads.
Begum Zia first started distributing the warm clothes at around 1 am in front of Banani Graveyard and completed it in front of the High Court at about 4 am.
The areas she distributed the winter clothes include Mohakhali, Dilkusha, Nagar Bhaban, New Market and Kamalapur.
The Leader of the Oppo-sition in Parliament herself put the warm clothes and blankets on the sleeping poor people.
As they found former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia among them at the dead of night with her helping hand, the distressed people got surprised and thanked her for the unexpected visit.
City mayor and BNP vice chairman Sadek Hossain Khoka and BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas also accompanied Begum Zia.
Earlier, on Wednesday late night, Khaleda Zia had distributed warm clothes among floating people in other areas of Dhaka city.

  Economy makes a turn around after global recession: Atiur
UNB, Chittagong

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman Sunday said Bangladesh economy has made a turn around after the global recession and it is now in a strong position.
"The country's economy has fought back well," he said while addressing a views-exchange meeting with journalists at Bangladesh Bank office in Chittagong.
Dr Atiur said the year 2009 was a bad year for the whole world, but the Bangladesh economy did not bog down due to the right steps taken by the government and it has become vibrant gradually.
A couple of months back, he said, the amount of idle money in banks was Tk 10,000 crore and now it has come down to Tk 3,000 crore.
He said the call money rate has gone up from one percent to 14 percent.
The central bank boss said local investment in October last year was 15 percent higher than in the month of January, 2009.
The foreign direct investment, he said, has incr-eased by US$ 17 million in the first three months of the current fiscal, which was US$ 111 million higher than the last three months of the last fiscal. "Revenue collection has increased by 14 percent than that of the previous year." Dr Atiur said the remittance inflow has marked a rise by 24.4 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal.
He mentioned that the current foreign exchange reserve is now at the record level of US$ 10336.03 million. The central bank Governor said the monetary policy would be announced after consultation with all stakeholders for a pro-growth economy.

  SSC exams from Feb 1: Nahid
BSS, Dhaka

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Sunday said Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations will be held on February 1 and zero tolerance shown to copying.
Stern legal measures will be taken against persons, including teachers, involved in the bad practice of copying in the examinations, he warned.
He was briefing the journalists after a meeting with chairmen and controllers of education boards, and officers of district administrations and education departments at the conference room of the ministry.
Education Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman and senior officials were present.
Nahid directed the officials to ensure hundred percent copying-free environment in the examination centres across the country so that the students could appear in the exams peacefully.
"Those who want to adopt unfair means in the upcoming SSC examinations sho-uld not come to centres," he said and suggested them to study at home before app-earing the exams.
He asked the officials to strictly maintain the law and order in the examination centre areas so that no unwanted person can enter there. Local MPs, upazila chairmen and public representatives should take care of holding peaceful exams in their respective localities, he added.
Nahid urged all concerned to create public opinions in favour of copying-free examinations. Students will not be allowed to carry mobile phones or bags with them, he added.
About 11 to 12 lakh students will appear in the upcoming SSC exams, he said adding that it may take 14 working days to hold the exams.

   Health Minister urges physicians to be more dedicated
UNB, Dhaka

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque on Sunday called upon the physicians to be more dedicated in providing emergency services to the people for saving many lives.
"Physicians can save many lives by promptly providing emergency services… provide health services according to our capability," he said while addressing the 2nd International Conference on Emergency Medicine at Milon Hall of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) in the morning.
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Capt (retd) Mozibur Rahman Fakir, Director General of Health Services Dr Shah Monir Hossain, President of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) Prof Mahmud Hasan, BMA UK unit president Dr Badrul Alam Siddique, BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Dutta and Prof Mirza Mazharul Islam, among others, also spoke at the session.
Recalling the great contribution of the BSMMU in the country's health sector, Dr Ruhal Haque said the emergency unit of the BSMMU had been neglected for long, but the present government is giving special attention to make operate the unit effectively.

   Uninterrupted supply of gas in N’ganj demanded
People blockade road, gherao Titas Gas office

UNB, Narayanganj

Agitated people staged demonstration in the district town on Sunday demanding uninterrupted supply of gas to the domestic consumers.
A large number of people from various parts of the town, including Deobhog, West Deobhog, Tantipara, Nandipara, Sonkhal and Baburail, brought out a procession under the banner of Deobhog Panchayet Com-mittee at 10am. They gathered in front of Narayanganj Press Club at Chashara on Bangabandhu road and blockaded the road, halting movement of all modes of vehicles. Police arrived at the scene at about 11 am and removed the demonstrators from the road.
The agitated people then besieged the Titas Gas zonal office and started to hurl brickbats towards the office, creating panic among the officials and employees who were inside.
The police brought the situation under control as additional police came from Sadar Model Thana in aid of their beleaguered colleagues on the spot.

   Meet 10-point demand by Jan 20 or face tough action programme
UZ chairmen, vice-chairmen ask govt

UNB, Dhaka

Upazila chairmen and vice-chairmen on Sunday asked the government to meet their 10-point demand by January 20 and otherwise threatened to announce tough action program from a rally on January 21.
Saturia Upazila Chairman Adv Abdul Majid Fotu announced the decision at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity.
The 10-point demand includes establishment of Upazila Parishad as auton-omous body by amending relevant rules, filling up of one-third reserved posts for women immediately to make the Upazila Parishad effective, and removal of obstacles to exercising responsibility and power of Upazila chairman as chief executive and exercising power by vice-chairman in absence of chairman.
Abdul Majid Fotu said the ministers of the government had assured them that the Upazila Parishad would be made effective by Dece-mber last year but the circular issued on December 30 was nothing but a jugglery of facts.
The circular defined the powers and authority of Upazila Nirbahi Officer, he said, and demanded amendment to the circular. Abdul Majid Fotu said though they were elected in January last year, but they were kept non-functional through bureaucratic conspiracy. Biswanath Upazila chairman Mohibur Rahman, Nabinagar Upazila chairman Ziaul Huq, Manikganj Upazila vice-chairman Ataur Rahman, Gazipur Upazila vice-chairman Jahangir Alam and Anwara Upazila vice-chairman Rehana Fer-dous were present at the press conference.

 N-region alone needs extra 1,000 MW electricity: Enamul
UNB, Dhaka

State Minister for Power Brig. Gen (retd) Mohammad Enamul Haque on Sunday said that the country's northern region alone would need 1,000 MW of additional electricity in the next March-April period when the peak irrigation season will start.
The government would do its best to meet the extra demand, he said at a seminar at the Jatiya Press Club. Energy and Power magazine organized the seminar titled 'Solar Photovoltatic Water Pumping'.
The state minister, however, did not elaborate as how the government would meet the extra demand. The Awami League government moved for installing some rental power plants, having total capacity of 530 MW, on fast track basis with the commissioning deadline set on March 30, 2009. But the installation process is still pending. Many experts in power industry thought that with the slow progress of the process, it is unlikely that the new electricity would be added to the national grid to facilitate irrigation.
The State Minister mentioned that the government is facing two great challenges in increasing electricity production. Electricity generation by using solar system is easy but highly costly, while reducing the cost is the biggest challenge. On the other hand, he said, 86 percent of our electricity generation is dependent on gas supply. "We should move for renewable energy sources. Because, gas will be finished, but sun light will be there." Brig Gen (retd) Enamul Haque said: "Electricity generation must be increased if we really want to establish digital Bangladesh by 2021."

 Education should be free at all levels: PM
UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday said education at all levels in the country should be free as investment in education is the best investment.
She made the remark when the Committee on MPO allocation led by Education, Social Development and Political Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Alauddin Ahmed handed over a report in this regard to the Prime Minister at her office at Bangladesh Secr-etariat in the afternoon.
The Prime Minister also directed the authorities concerned for ensuring balanced distribution of government's Monthly Payment Orders (MPOs) among the country's educational institutions.
Hasina said the government is firmly committed to fulfilling its election pledge for making education free up to the Degree level. She said the last Awami League government had been successful to take the country's literacy rate up to 65 percent from 45 percent, but after that the last BNP-Jamaat government only could bring it down with their limitless negligence.

Editorial

Regaining lost glory of jute

The government has withdrawn the ban on export of raw jute in the face of pressure from jute traders. The ban on jute export was imposed on December 7 to ensure adequate availability of raw jute for local mills to keep them running. But the ban sparked protests from the jute traders specially the exporters. The government was rather forced to ban export of raw jute as the local mills were facing problems in procuring the raw material due to shortage of stock of raw jute in the country and their high prices.
Price of raw jute was quite satisfactory at the outset of the season, but it fell down after a few weeks. However, the price of jute increased later. Jute is now selling at Tk. 1600-1700 per maund. This price rise is encouraging for the farmers, but unfortunately most of the farmers have already sold out their cash crop. Raw jute production this year is estimated at 55 -60 lakh bales. 32-33 lakh bales of jute are needed to run the jute mills while the rest are exported to different countries including India, Pakistan and China.
Media reports indicate that there is no adequate stock of raw jute in the hands of the farmers and as a result production in the jute mills is apprehended to be hampered. It will be very unfortunate if the jute mills face production setback due to non-availability of raw jute at a time when production at the growers level has been satisfactory and demand of jute goods in the international market. In fact the good price of jute at home and growing demand for jute and jute goods abroad has brightened the prospect of the return of the golden age of jute, which was once termed golden fibre. In the past jute was the principal foreign exchange earner for the country. With the passing of time, importance and glory of jute have faded and farmers' interest in cultivation of jute declined . Now, in the changed global and domestic situation, time has come to revitalise the jute sector.
It may pointed out here that the country used to produce huge quantity of jute every year as it was the main cash crop. During the Pakistan period 90 per cent of export earnings used to come from jute export. In 1952-53 jute production was estimated at one crore bales in then East Pakistan which used to produce about 75 per cent of total raw jute in the world. Even after the independence of Bangladesh jute production stood at 75 thousand bales , but later area under jute cultivation shrunk and production declined due to different reasons including anomalies in the jute sector after nationalisation of the jute mills. Later, a major damage was done to jute by arrival of synthetic fibres. Now, the trend of using synthetics has weakened and the popularity of environment-friendly jute has enhanced globally.
The government has lifted the ban on raw jute export under the pressure of the traders who obviously are all out to protect their business interests. But the government has to look after the overall national interest which can be served best by, among other things, keeping the local mills running. And for this jute, other than that under the process of shipment should not be allowed to be exported to avert severe crisis of raw jute at home. Because non-availability of raw jute may lead the mills to discontinuation of production which will be fatal for the economy. The unique opportunity created for regaining the lost glory of jute must not be missed.

  Shipyard accidents

According to an agency report, thirty workers were killed in accidents in different shipyards in Chittagong in last 11 months raising the death toll from such accidents to more than 1,300 in the last 12 years. Over 10,000 workers were also injured as the rate of accidents in the shipyards, being run without the 'final certificate' of the Explosives Department and ignoring the maritime policy, is increasing alarmingly. Five workers were killed and 28 others injured in a gas explosion at Diamond Shipbreaking Yard in Madambibir Hat last week. Two days later, six workers suffered injuries in another accident. Chittagong Divisional Director of the Department of Environment Abdus Sobhan said there is a provision for obtaining certificate of the department, but most of the yard owners are not abiding by it. There are about 90 shipyards in 14 kilometres stretching from Foujdarhat to Kumira in Sitakunda in the district.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday declared that the government is going to formulate national policy soon for disciplining the mushrooming ship-breaking industry as it cannot be allowed to run damaging country's environment and biodiversity. She said " recently, we had to see death of some people in the industry. Such reckless indiscipline must be stopped."
The Prime Minister has rightly pointed out at right time the 'reckless indiscipline' prevailing in the ship-breaking industry which must end. Every establishment and every industry should function obeying the rule of the land. What disaster may be caused by violation of the rule is evident from the fact that 1300 workers were killed and 10,000 others injured in accidents in different shipyards during last 12 years. Against this backdrop the formulation of a national policy for ship-breaking industry as proposed by the Prime Minister will be a very good step and will, hopefully, bring about discipline in this sector. The sooner such a policy is formulated and implemented properly, the better.

Analysis

Lack of unity holds South Asia back

If countries in the region had a common union they could face the challenges of terrorism and backwardness.

Kuldip Nayar

Europe, which has one visa, one currency stronger than the dollar and one parliament to reflect on the decisions taken by individual parliaments, could not be more different to South Asia, which is troubled by internal conflicts and external threats. The region's two main countries, India and Pakistan, are not even on speaking terms. Even the limited trade between Srinagar and Muzzafrabad was suspended a few days ago.
It's not that the European countries have never quarrelled. They have, in fact, fought wars for hundreds of years. But they were ultimately seduced by the idea of conciliation and cooperation, which has brought them prosperity and stability.
But South Asia remains stagnant. It is still mired in distrust and disruption. Its leaders have never risen above their pettiness and parochialism. It seems that countries in the region realised at one time that they could benefit through friendship and founded the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).
But their egos and enmity towards one another are so great that they have not allowed the organisation to function. They simply cannot cast off their animosity to begin a new chapter.
The result is that South Asia has the largest number of poor and illiterate in the world.
The child mortality rate is also one of the highest, violations of human rights are rife and infrastructure is lacking. Whatever resources these governments have they spend on armaments - the deadlier, the better. And they have enacted so many draconian laws in the name of security that they have encroached on individual freedoms.
What the rulers in the region do not realise is that governance depends not on the police or the paramilitary forces, but the willing consent of the people. Development is the key. The better off people are, the less tension there will be.
India's GDP is increasing by eight to nine per cent per year. But when 70 per cent of its people do not have enough even to afford two square meals a day, what does this growth mean? The fallout has been the increased sway of Maoists, who believe in armed struggle to "free the masses" from poverty. In Pakistan, particularly in Punjab, the growth of Talibanisation has been primarily due to dire poverty. Those wallowing in it have come to believe that fundamentalism is the only solution to their problems.
The Taliban can be defeated provided the army is focused and supported by the political parties. But the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) hopes to gain from the turmoil. I was disappointed by Nawaz Sharif's latest speech, which criticised the Asif Zardari government for not making amendments to the Constitution to make it more democratic but did not have a word to say about the Taliban.
China card
In Nepal, the government feels that it can reap a rich harvest if it plays the China card against India. The Nepalese prime minister has visited Beijing in the belief that if Kathmandu were to court China, this would end New Delhi's 'dominion'. The real malady is that political parties have not learned how to behave in a democratic set-up.
In fact, the point of concern for South Asia is the manner in which China is trying to act as a Big Brother in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and even Bangladesh. Islamabad is already on Beijing's side. Some countries in the region think it is New Delhi that should worry because China's strategy is to surround India. Yet Beijing's real ambition is to dominate the region.
Eight Saarc countries bear responsibility for unleashing the forces of destruction. Pakistan has opened the Pandora's box of terrorism. Many gullible people still believe that the Taliban only want to bring the 'true' Islam to come back. Does this mean killing the innocent and denying women education and freedom?
New Delhi has released the Frankenstein of Balkanisation by proposing to create the state of Telangana. In doing so the Manmohan Singh government has reignited the fires of division. The government may come to rue the day it announced the formation of Telengana.
In Pakistan, there is a demand for autonomy by Balochistan, the North Western Frontier Province and Sind. It looks as if the country faces a real danger of disintegrating.
In contrast, Bangladesh has consolidated itself under democratic government. Decentralisation of power is the only way to keep nations together, but no country in the region seems to realise this. I hope that Sri Lanka has learned this lesson. Otherwise, other elements from among the Tamils may rise and constitute themselves into another LTTE to demand the right to rule themselves.
Governance in South Asia is practically non-existent. In India, there are small fires of defiance burning all over. More stringent measures, the mantra of Home Minister P. Chidambaram, will only lead to increased resistance. This is a lesson for the rest of South Asia.
If countries in the region had a common union they could face the challenges of terrorism and backwardness. But they would rather shoot at their neighbours than cooperate. This is holding South Asia back.


Kuldip Nayar is a former Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom and a former Rajya Sabha member.

  Democracy in 2010

The confrontation between the PPP and the PML-N is going to intensify in early 2010 with a focus on the political future of President Asif Ali Zardari.

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

The political outlook at the beginning of the year does not appear to be reassuring for democracy in Pakistan. The Pakistan People's Party (PPP)-led federal government, including the presidency, find themselves in a siege environment with pressures coming from the superior judiciary, the military and the political opposition, especially the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). One cannot go to the extent of suggesting that there is a carefully planned conspiracy to pull down the government. However, the political fallout of the developments in 2009 has raised doubts if the post-election 2008 system can stay intact for another year.
The political future of President Asif Ali Zardari is not the only thing in jeopardy. There are more serious issues involved here. Given the fact that Pakistan faces a grave terrorist threat and its economy is heavily dependent on external support, increased political wrangling and a 'now-or-never' struggle between the government and opposition can collapse the whole edifice of civilian political order. All political players will lose in the incident of the unravelling of the state and societal order.
The pressures on the current political arrangements are coming from four major sources, in addition to the threats of religious extremism and terrorism. These sources are the military, the judiciary, the opposition political forces and ineptitude of the government.
Traditionally, the military and its allied intelligence agencies have had a profound impact on politics and these continue to be important players even today. However, as the military has adopted a low profile and a subtle approach to power management, the superior judiciary has stretched the domain of judicial activism to build pressure on the civilian political elite, especially those in power. What has increased political bickering is the effort by different political parties to get political mileage against the PPP out of the Supreme Court rulings.
The confrontation between the PPP and the PML-N is going to intensify in early 2010 with a focus on the political future of President Asif Ali Zardari. The statements by Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari on December 31, 2009 clearly show that the battle lines are being sharply drawn. Nawaz Sharif targeted Zardari when he asked the beneficiaries of the NRO to resign and face the courts and argued that "the money deposited in Swiss banks was the property of the people of Pakistan" and that "it must be brought back to national exchequer." This statement means that Nawaz Sharif has adopted the perspective of the hard-line elements in the party that have long argued for taking on the PPP in unambiguous terms.
Zardari's address on December 27 carried a clear message that he will fight back against his adversaries. On December 31, he was more categorical in responding to PML-N's growing hostility towards him. He said that he possessed some "political weapons which he would use when he felt necessary." He did not explain the nature of his political weapons.
It is noteworthy that parliament does not figure in different scenarios that the opposition is constructing for Zardari's exit. No opposition leader talks of impeachment of Zardari on the basis the corruption charges because the opposition knows that unsubstantiated charges do not provide a credible basis for impeachment. Further, they do not have enough votes in the two houses of parliament to adopt this method.
The focus of the PML-N is on the developments outside parliament. Three possible scenarios can be constructed. First, the Supreme Court strikes down the presidential immunity from criminal trial and then Zardari is put on trial and convicted. The most dubious assumption is that the Supreme Court will strike down a clearly written article of the constitution and disregard the internationally established political norm of certain immunities to the head of state.
The second scenario hopes that the military top brass will apply enough pressure from the sidelines for Zardari's resignation and, thus, clear the political deck for the opposition. This scenario is based on the assumption that the military top brass will facilitate the opposition agenda.
Third scenario perceives the PML-N spearheading a nationwide agitation against the backdrop of the alienated judiciary and the military. This agitation will paralyse the government, forcing it to accept the demand for the removal of the president. The dubious assumption in this scenario is that the PML-N can launch a nationwide agitation at a time when its main support is concentrated in Punjab and its political standing is weak in other provinces. Perhaps some religious parties may be willing to help the PML-N but these political parties, too, have major standing in Punjab.
The PPP is not expected to give a walkover to the PML-N, especially when it has strong presence in Sindh and Punjab and has a reasonable presence in the NWFP and Balochistan. There are strong doubts that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) will join hands with the PML-N to oust Zardari.
Another set of assumptions relate to the continuation of the PPP government minus Zardari. The underlying idea is that Yousaf Raza Gilani will play 'Farooq Leghari' and join hands with the opposition and the military establishment to knock out Zardari.
The available evidence suggests that the minus-one formula is not going to work. The PPP is not expected to stay in office if Zardari is ousted. It will not be an easy job to create an alternate political coalition at the federal level around the PML-N.
If the military and the Inter-Services Intelligence/Military Intelligence (ISI/MI) help to contrive a coalition for the PML-N, how long the PML-N led government will play subservient to these king-makers? Will it be in a position to change Pakistan's counter-terrorism policy and pull out of all security and financial arrangements with the United States to satisfy its rightist and Islamist support base? If it does not do that, how far its policy will be different from the current PPP government?
The revised version of the Bangladesh model whereby the PPP and the PML-N are excluded and a government of technocrats, established with the blessings of the military and the judiciary, is going to run into political and constitutional obstacles. Any deviation from the constitution and established democratic norms, including the election of February 2008, will unravel the political institutions and processes. This will compromise Pakistan's effort to cope with religious zealots and other extremists who are challenging the domain of the state. As the political forces get bogged down in unnecessary power struggle, these anti-state forces will have greater freedom of action, thereby causing the fragmentation of the state system.
The major political parties should show restraint in pursuing their partisan agendas. The PML-N and the PPP should work out a working relationship within the existing political arrangements. Any attempt to turn them upside down by any means and for any reason will be self-destructive for the civilian political forces. It may be easy to dislodge the present arrangements, but no credible political alternative is going to be available quickly.
The PPP should go ahead with the consensus constitutional amendments at the earliest. President Zardari needs to step back from active role in policy making and management and the federal government should devote more attention to improving governance. However, both the government and the opposition will have to review their present postures simultaneously, otherwise democracy can run aground in 2010.


Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a Pakistani political and defence analyst

Viewpoints

Sino-India border dispute

India has the McMahon Line in the east and China has the Xinjiang-Tibet highway, which runs through the Aksai Chin plateau of Ladakh.

A.G. Noorani 

One would have thought that there was no boundary dispute more easily susceptible to a solution than the Sino-Indian boundary one. Each side has its vital non-negotiable interest under its own control.
India has the McMahon Line in the east and China has the Xinjiang-Tibet highway, which runs through the Aksai Chin plateau of Ladakh.
The true state of India's northern boundary was accurately depicted in a map of pre-partition India annexed to Mountbatten's elaborate report on his viceroyalty. It showed a firm line in the eastern sector, the McMahon Line. The western sector bore the legend 'boundary undefined'.
On the McMahon Line two incontestable facts stand out. At no time in 1914, whether at Shimla or in Delhi or since, did China object to the McMahon Line. Its objections centred entirely on the line dividing inner and outer Tibet. If it had received satisfaction on this line, it would have, as it offered, signed the Shimla Convention and the map attached to it. Secondly, it was only around 1936 that "the latest Chinese atlas" claimed territory south of the McMahon Line. No claim was made officially by the Chinese government.
On Nov 20, 1950, Nehru declared in parliament "the frontier from Ladakh to Nepal is defined chiefly by long usage and custom…. Our maps show that the McMahon Line is our boundary and that is our boundary - map or no map." Official maps published in 1948 and 1950 showed a firm McMahon Line and an "undefined boundary" in Ladakh, the western sector. The middle sector in UP was also shown with an undefined boundary.
But on July 1, 1954 Nehru issued an important and explicit directive: "All our old maps dealing with this frontier should be carefully examined and, where necessary, withdrawn. New maps should be printed showing our northern and northeastern frontier without any reference to any 'line'. The new maps should also be sent to our embassies abroad and should be introduced to the public generally and be used in our schools, colleges, etc.
"Both as flowing from our policy and as a consequence of our agreement with China, this frontier should be considered a firm and definite one which is not open to discussion with anybody. There may be very minor points of discussion. Even these should not be raised by us. It is necessary that the system of check-posts should be spread along this entire frontier. More especially, we should have check-posts in such places as might be considered disputed areas."
This shut the door to negotiations on the boundary - "not open to discussion with anybody". India unilaterally revised its official map. The legend "boundary undefined" in the western (Kashmir) and middle sectors (Uttar Pradesh) in the official maps of 1948 and 1950 were dropped in the new map of 1954. A firm clear line was shown, instead.
India made a demarche to China on Aug 21, 1958 concerning China's maps. In this letter to Zhou Enlai on Dec 14, 1958, Nehru quoted from the record of their discussions in 1954 and 1956 in which he had proposed to recognise the McMahon Line.
Zhou's reply of Jan 23, 1959, raised the question of the western sector. "First of all, I wish to point out that the Sino-Indian boundary has never been formally delimitated. Historically no treaty or agreement on the Sino-Indian boundary has ever been concluded between the Chinese central government and the Indian government. So far as the actual situation is concerned, there are certain differences between the two sides over the border question. … [T]he Sinkiang-Tibet highway built by our country in 1956 runs through that area. Yet recently the Indian government claimed that that area was Indian territory."
In his reply on March 22, 1959, Nehru contended: "A treaty of 1842 between Kashmir on the one hand and the emperor of China and the lama guru of Lhasa on the other, mentions the India-China boundary in the Ladakh region. In 1847, the Chinese government admitted that this boundary was sufficiently and distinctly fixed. The area, now claimed by China, has always been depicted as part of India on official maps."
This was historically untrue. As late as 1950, to go no further, Indian maps showed the boundary as "undefined". Nor did he relent in his talks with Zhou Enlai in New Delhi in April 1960.
Zhou formulated six points at the press conference. They were, in fact, an elaboration of five points he had put forth to Nehru on April 22 in private after two days of sterile debate on rights and wrongs. "… (iv) Since we are going to have friendly negotiations, neither side should put forward claims to an area which is no longer under its administrative control. For example, we made no claim in the eastern sector to areas south of the McMahon Line, but India made such claims in the western sector." This was an offer for settlement on the basis of the status quo.
India' forward policy in 1961-1962 and China's massive military attack on India on Oct 20, 1962 made matters worse.
When India's then foreign minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visited Beijing to pick up the threads, he was told by China's top leader Deng Xiaoping on Feb 14, 1979 that the eastern sector was of economic value and the area of the biggest dispute, in anticipation of India's expected demand for China's withdrawal to positions it held before the war of 1962. The offers he made a year later would suggest just that - settle on the basis of the status quo of 1980, not 1960; albeit with minor adjustments. This is where matters stand now 30 years later.

The writer is an author and a lawyer.

  Another centre of terror

The inclusion of Yemen on that list should be of interest to Pakistanis, for the rise of Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula could have a direct bearing on our war against terror.

Huma Yusuf

Earlier this week, US President Barack Obama identified Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia as the four places where terrorists were planning attacks against America. The inclusion of Yemen on that list should be of interest to Pakistanis, for the rise of Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula could have a direct bearing on our war against terror.
Not only can we see many parallels between the two countries' fights against militancy, but the international community's involvement in Yemen - particularly that of Saudi Arabia and the US - could also have an impact on Fata-based militant networks.
Even before Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - the Nigerian who tried to bring down a US airliner after spending time in Yemen - made headlines, there had been growing concerns about Al Qaeda consolidating its presence in the Arabian peninsula. In December, Yemeni security forces, backed by US aid and intelligence, carried out two strikes on Al Qaeda hideouts in Yemen, killing over 60 militants. Raids of Al Qaeda camps closed out the year.
These initiatives by the Yemeni government come a year after militants based in Saudi Arabia and Yemen announced a merger to form Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in January 2009, declaring Yemen its base. According to Yemeni officials, there are up to 300 Al Qaeda operatives in the country, including some 85 Saudi Arabians who fled the kingdom's armed campaign against terrorists between 2003 and 2006.
Initially, the government in Yemen tolerated the Al Qaeda presence, and even released 170 detainees with suspected links to Al Qaeda in February 2009. Analysts believed the conciliatory move was an attempt to ward off attacks by Al Qaeda on Yemeni soil. But in August last year, a Yemeni suicide bomber managed to wound Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Nayef, who is in charge of Saudi Arabia's counter-terrorism programme. That attack, along with the Christmas Day US airliner plot, has thrown the spotlight on AQAP.
Security analysts think the resurgence of AQAP may be linked to the Pakistan Army's operations against militants in South Waziristan and Bajaur agencies. Fata has long hosted foreign fighters - last year, reports circulated that there were up to 8,000 foreign fighters in Pakistan - many of them Arabs.
During recent military operations, militants native to the tribal belt have been able to flee into Afghanistan or camouflaged as IDPs have merged with the population of the Frontier province, resulting in the ongoing surge in suicide attacks. Arabs and other foreigners who are more conspicuous have, however, been forced to leave this region. Many have travelled to Yemen and Somalia to join local militant operations there.
It is for this reason that Pakistan should follow AQAP-related developments. A crackdown on Al Qaeda in Yemen could result in a reverse flow of militants back to this region - added incentive for our government and armed forces to secure those parts of the tribal belts that it claims to have flushed of terrorists.
And a crackdown is imminent. After Abdulmutallab's plot was foiled, Obama vowed to accelerate the US offensive against terror cells in Yemen. Rightwing hawks are already calling for pre-emptive action against AQAP in Yemen. Throughout 2009, the US has provided $67m worth of intelligence, surveillance and training to Yemeni forces under the Pentagon's counterterrorism programme, an amount second only to what Pakistan received.
Until now, the Yemeni government has cooperated quite well with the US in targeting AQAP, despite public outrage at the possibility that the US could have conducted December's military strikes and raids against militant hideouts (both governments insist that US involvement is restricted to training and intelligence).
If the Obama administration continues to enjoy cooperation from the Yemeni government - which has, in recent weeks, expressed unambiguous willingness to target AQAP - Washington could put pressure on Islamabad to commit to a similar crackdown against Pakistan-based militants planning attacks on US soil or other foreign targets.
Saudi Arabia's involvement in pursuing AQAP in Yemen could also impact on Pakistan's war against terrorism. The kingdom is aware that a stronger Al Qaeda along its border could result in more terror attacks on Saudi soil.
Already, the Saudi armed forces have launched artillery attacks against Yemeni rebels called Houthis, followers of the Zaidi sect of Shia Islam (Riyadh has alleged that the Houthis have ties to Iran and links to Al Qaeda and are hell-bent on destabilising the peninsula). In previous months, the Houthis have attacked Saudi border guards and soldiers, kidnapping or killing them.
Although there is little evidence of links between Al Qaeda and Houthi rebels, it is acknowledged that AQAP is taking advantage of the unrest along the Saudi-Yemen border to take root in the area. To protect its own interests, Saudi Arabia may well extend its strikes against Houthis to AQAP hideouts as well.
Moreover, analysts believe that the consolidation of the AQAP presence in Yemen could motivate Saudi Arabia to systematically address the issue of terror financing. For years, it has been reported that individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia are a primary source of funding for Al Qaeda. A Council on Foreign Relations report explains that many Saudis fund terror unknowingly because "terror groups collect funds under the guise of Islamic charities and schools".
If the threat of a robust Al Qaeda presence in the Arabian peninsula moves Riyadh to better monitor Saudi charities, thereby curbing terror financing, Pakistan will certainly reap the benefits. After all, there can be no defeating Fata-based militants until their financing is permanently cut off. Ultimately, by dragging Saudi Arabia into the community of nations worried about militant attacks on its soil, AQAP's resurgence in Yemen has indirectly affected the future course of Pakistan's push against militancy in this region.

huma.yusuf@gmail.com

  Time for Iran to follow China’s example

Nowhere else today in the Middle East does anything resembling the people power of Iran's Green movement exist.

Roger Cohen 

It has come to this: The Islamic Republic of Iran killing the sons and daughters of the revolution during Ashura, adding martyrdom to martyrdom at one of the holiest moments in the Shia calendar.
Nothing could better symbolise Iran's 30-year-old regime at the limit of its contradictions. A supreme leader imagined as the Prophet's representative on earth - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's central revolutionary idea - now heads a militarised coterie bent, in the name of money and power, on the bludgeoning of the Iranian people. A false theocracy confronts a society that has seen through it. The emperor has no clothes.
Still, let us give this theocracy credit. It has brought high levels of education to a broad swathe of Iranians, including the women it has repressed. In a Middle East of static authoritarianism, it has dabbled at times in liberalisation and representative governance. It has never quite been able to extinguish from its conscience Khomeini's rallying of the masses against the Shah with calls for freedom. The result, three decades on from the revolution, is precisely this untenable mix of a leadership invoking transplantation from heaven as it faces, with force of arms and the fanaticism of militias, a youthful society far more sophisticated than the death-to-the-West slogans still unfurled.
Nowhere else today in the Middle East does anything resembling the people power of Iran's Green movement exist. This is at once a tribute to the revolution and the death knell of an ossified post-revolutionary order.
Something has to give, someone has to yield. If the Islamic Republic is incapable of honouring both words in its self-description - that of a religious and representative society - it must give way to an Iranian Republic. The former course, of reform rather than overthrow, would be less tumultuous and so, I suspect, more attractive to a people weary of tumult and flanked by mayhem in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yes, something has to give. Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, whose death this month carried heavy symbolism in a land where symbols are potent, intuited the revolution's unsustainable tensions two decades ago. It was then that the cleric once designated as Khomeini's successor lambasted an earlier round of bloody repression and then that he began to criticise the office of the supreme leader.
Montazeri had been instrumental in 1979 in the creation of the system of Guardianship of the Jurist, or velayat-e-faqih, placing a leader interpreting God's word atop circumscribed republican institutions. But he later apologised for his role in the establishment of the position and argued that he had conceived of it as exercising moral rather than executive authority.
His anger came to a head after the June 12 election then declared: "Such elections results were declared that no wise person in their right mind could believe, results that based on credible evidence and witnesses had been altered extensively." He lambasted what he called "astonishing violence against defenseless men and women."
I witnessed that violence - a putsch in the spurious name of God's will grotesquely portrayed by Khamenei as a glorious democratic moment - and it was clear at once that Iran's leadership had taken a fatal turn. It had shunned the pluralistic evolution of the Islamic order in favor of a lockdown by the moneyed cadres of the New Right, personified by the Revolutionary Guards with their cozy contracts and pathological fears of looming counter-revolutions of the velvet variety.
You can do many things to the Iranian people but you insult their intelligence at your peril. The astonishing, taboo-breaking cry of "Death to Khamenei" echoing from the rooftops of Tehran signalled a watershed.
It is time to rethink the supreme leader's office in the name of the compromise between religious faith and representative governance that the Iranian people have sought for more than a century. It is time for Iran to look West to the holy Shia cities in Iraq, Najaf and Karbala, places from which Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani exercises precisely the kind of moral authority and suasion - without direct executive authority - that Montazeri favoured for Iran.
If the Guardianship of the Jurist can be rethought through compromise the Islamic Republic can move forward. If not, I cannot see the current unrest abating. The Green movement is a loose coalition of divergent aims - much like the revolutionary alliance of 1979 - but is united in its demand for an end to the status quo.
A commander-in-chief transplanted from heaven is not what the Iranian people want, not after June 12; a moral guide, rooted in the ethics and religion of Persia, a guarantor of the country's independence, may well be. It is time for a Persian Sistani.
The sons and daughters of disappointed revolutionaries do not seek renewed bloodshed. They seek peaceful change that will give meaning to the word "republic." Khamenei, bowing to superior learning, in the best tradition of Shiism, should listen to the wisdom of Iran's late turbulent priest.
Iran would thereby preserve its independence, the proudest achievement of the revolution, while better reflecting the will of its people, who overwhelmingly favour normalised relations with the United States.
It is time to retire the stale slogans of a bygone era. It is time for Iran to follow China's example of 1972 in adapting to survive. Perhaps Khomeini, like Mao in Deng Xiaoping's famous formula, was 70 per cent right - and some brave Iranian leader could say that. He would thereby open the way for one of the Middle East's most hopeful societies to move forward.
Speaking of tired slogans, it is also time for the United States - and especially Congress - to set aside formulaic thinking on Iran. Shia Iran is not America's enemy; Sunni Al Qaeda is, whether in Yemen, Nigeria or Pakistan. New sanctions against Tehran would only throw a lifeline to Khamenei and further enrich the Revolutionary Guards. President Obama's outreach is still the smartest approach to Iran, a nation whose political clock has now trumped its erratic, wavering nuclear clock.
Back in February, I wrote: "The Islamic Republic has not birthed a totalitarian state; all sorts of opinions are heard. But it has created a society whose ultimate bond is fear. Disappearance into some unmarked room is always possible."
That was too much for the Iran-as-Nazi-incarnation-of-evil school, who cast me as an appeaser. I also wrote that, "The irony of the Islamic Revolution is that it has created a very secular society within the framework of clerical rule. The shah enacted progressive laws for women unready for them. Now the opposite is true: Progressive women face confining jurisprudence. At some point something must give."
With the birth of the Green movement, and in the spirit of Montazeri, something has given. The further, critical "giving" has to come in the supreme leader's office, where the 30 per cent error of 1979 has entrenched itself and so denied Iran the governance and society its vibrant population deserves.

Roger Cohen is Editor at Large of the International Herald Tribune.

International

Pakistan bomb kills ex-provincial minister
AFP, Peshawar, Pakistan

A suspected Taliban bomb attack targeted a former Pakistan provincial cabinet minister on Sunday, killing him and three other people in the country's restive northwest, police said.
The bomb exploded in Bagto village, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the town of Hangu in an area with a history of sectarian clashes between Pakistan's majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shiite Muslims, and near the tribal belt.
"Four people, including Ghani-ur Rehman have died in the attack," Hangu city police chief Abdul Rashid Khan told AFP.
"The other three are a bodyguard, his driver and a friend," he added.
A controversial figure, Rehman was once irrigation minister in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and a former mayor of Hangu.
He spent time in jail under the previous military regime and was one of the beneficiaries of an amnesty-scrapped by the Supreme Court last month-that protected 8,000 politicians, businessmen and officials from corruption charges.
His son, a member of parliament in NWFP, blamed the Taliban and other extremists for his father's assassination.
"My father was targeted twice before. Taliban and militant groups are involved in this attack," Ateeq-ur Rehman told AFP.
"It was a remote-controlled roadside bomb blast. High-intensity explosives were used. The vehicle was completely destroyed," police spokesman Fazal Naeem told AFP by telephone.
Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants attack daily across northwest Pakistan and the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border that Washington has branded the most dangerous part of the world.
Bagto village is close to Orakzai, home of Hakimullah Mehsud-head of the country's main Taliban faction-and one of the seven districts that make up the semi-autonomous tribal belt.

  Pakistani militants escape police custody: India
AFP, New Delhi

Indian security agencies launched a manhunt on Sunday for three alleged Pakistani militants who escaped police custody just before they were to be deported, police said.
New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the three fled on Friday from a hospital in the Indian capital where they were taken for a routine check-up ahead of their expulsion to Pakistan.
The men had been convicted for two bomb blasts at Delhi's 16th-century Red Fort in June 2000 which claimed two lives. They completed their nine-year jail sentences in October and had been moved from a state prison to a security facility awaiting deportation. "They had served their sentence for the blasts in 2000 and were to be deported back to Pakistan but they escaped from the hospital where they were taken under escort," Bhagat said.
Bhagat said a nationwide alert has been issued for the men and cash rewards offered for information which could lead to their capture.
PTI, New Delhi adds: A reward of Rs 50,000 was today announced by Delhi Police for anyone providing information on the three Pakistani terrorists who escaped while being escorted to a city hospital. They also released the pictures of the trio for identification.
Abdul Razzak, Mohammed Sadiq and Rafaqat Ali, who were arrested in connection with blasts near the Red Fort nine years ago and were to be deported to Pakistan as they had completed their jail term, escaped on Friday, leaving the authorities red-faced and prompting them to sound an alert in the national capital and neighbouring areas.
"We have announced a reward of Rs 50,000 each for providing information on the three Pakistanis. We have also released their pictures," a senior police official said.

  ‘Allah’ ruling
Malaysian government to appeal

AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's minister in charge of Muslim affairs has said the government will appeal a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper the right to use the word "Allah".
Malaysia's high court ruled last week the Herald weekly had the right to use the word "Allah" after a long-running dispute between the government and the newspaper in the Muslim-majority nation.
The paper has been using the word as a translation for "God" in its Malay-language section, but the government argued the word should be used only by Muslims.
Jamil Khir Johari said the country's national fatwa council had ruled in May 2008 that "Allah" could only be used by Muslims in Malaysia, state news agency Bernama reported late Saturday.
"It is important for Muslims here to guard the use of the word and if there is any attempt to insult or misuse the word we must take all legal action as allowed under the federal constitution," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Meanwhile the Herald's website was hacked at the weekend, causing the site to shut down, editor Father Lawrence Andrew told AFP.
"Our website was attacked by hackers and was shut down and we suspect it was done by those unhappy with the present situation," he said, while declining to comment on the government's plan to appeal.
The court ruled on Thursday the Catholic paper had the "constitutional right" to use the word "Allah", declaring the government's ban on the word "illegal, null and void".
Muslim groups have said they plan demonstrate to protest the ruling.
Universiti Teknologi MARA political analyst Shahruddin Badaruddin said the main issue amongst Muslims was the fear that the use of the word by non-Muslims would inflame religious tensions.
"It is all about the fear that allowing use of the word will make it easier for Christians to convert the local population," he told AFP.
Former premier Mahathir Mohamad said the use of the term had to be governed strictly but that Muslims would still be angry over the ruling, according to the New Straits Times.
The Herald is printed in four languages, with a circulation of 14,000 a week in a country with about 850,000 Catholics.
The court case was one of a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being "Islamised".

  Afghan MPs reject most Karzai cabinet nominees
BBC Online

The Afghan parliament has turned down 17 out of President Hamid Karzai's 24 nominees for his new cabinet.
Energy minister nominee Ismail Khan, a former warlord, was among the rejected.
Nominees for justice, health, commerce, economy and women's affairs were among others rejected, but Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak was re-appointed.
The BBC's Kabul correspondent says the results complicate Mr Karzai's efforts to repay political favours with cabinet posts without offending parliament.
He also needs to satisfy international donors who have threatened to withhold funding for any ministry run by a corrupt politician, the BBC's Peter Greste adds.
Western officials have repeatedly emphasised that tackling corruption is key to stabilising the country, following the president's controversial re-election last year.
AP/ UNB adds: The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Sunday that lawmakers' decision to reject 70 percent of President Hamid Karzai's Cabinet nominees was a political setback that will only delay efforts to get a functioning government up and running. Kai Eide called parliament's rejection of 17 of Karzai's 24 picks on Saturday a "distraction" at a time when Afghanistan and the international community are trying to focus on urgently needed reforms.
He told reporters that Karzai now will have to spend political energy nominating new choices, prolonging the time before a functioning government can partner with donor nations. The move also comes amid a military and civilian buildup attempting to stabilize the war-torn country.
Karzai spokesman Waheed Omar acknowledged that "this is obviously not good in terms of the functioning of the government, in terms of services." But he said all ministries were performing duties with caretakers filling any holes in the Cabinet.

  Massive clean-up as Philippine volcano calms down
AFP, Manila

Disaster relief officials in the Philippines launched a massive clean-up on Sunday as tens of thousands of villagers began returning home after the restive Mayon volcano showed signs of calming down.
Joey Salceda, governor of the province of Albay southeast of Manila where Mayon is located, said he expected all 29 public schools converted into temporary shelters would reopen for classes Monday.
"What we are doing now is conducting damage assessment. We are on an early recovery stage," Salceda told reporters. "We are cleaning up schools and classrooms so that classes can resume tomorrow."
He said firetrucks had been brought in to hose down sanitation facilities that were overwhelmed when more than 50,000 people were evacuated over the past three weeks for fear of a possible major eruption.
"It's a massive clean up-operation," he said.
Mayon began rumbling and spewing lava and ash in early December, leading authorities to declared a level-four alert out of a scale of five, meaning that a major hazardous eruption was about to take place.
But Mayon has since shown signs it was calming down, and on Saturday the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology lowered the alert level to three.
The provincial government said more than 46,000 people living some seven to eight kilometres (five miles) from Mayon, the country's most active volcano, had been given the green light to return home.
But more than 3,000 others who live in a six-kilometre zone will have to remain in evacuation centres. "Right now we are not seeing a new rise of magma," chief volcanologist Renato Solidum said in a radio interview.
However, he warned villagers returning to their farms on the foothills of Mayon to remain wary of lava flows or heavy rains that could dislodge volcanic debris from the slopes.

  Tajikistan earthquake leaves 20,000 homeless
AP/ UNB, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Officials in Tajikistan say 20,000 people have been left homeless by an earthquake that hit a mountainous region of the impoverished Central Asian nation.
The Emergency Situations and Civil Defense Committee says no deaths have been reported. The earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.1 occurred Saturday in
the Pamir Mountains. The emergency committee said Sunday that it damaged or destroyed houses in several villages in the Gorno-Badakhshansky region. Earthquakes are fairly common in the mountains of the former Soviet republic.
AFP adds: An earthquake in the Pamir mountains of Tajikistan has destroyed hundreds of homes, leaving some 10,000 people without shelter in the dead of winter, officials said Sunday.
"According to preliminary information, 300 houses have been destroyed," a regional spokesman for the country's Civil Defense Committee responsible for the affected area told AFP. Officials said scores of other homes were damaged.
According to the spokesman, two schools, a clinic and a power line had also been destroyed.
The spokesman reported no deaths but said dozens of sheep and goats were killed in the earthquake that struck around ten high-altitude villages in the Pamir mountains in eastern Tajikistan on Saturday.
The US Geological Survey reported that a 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck 235 km (145 miles) east of the Tajik capital Dushanbe at 07:15 a.m. (0215 GMT) on Saturday. It had a depth of 44.5 km (27.7 miles), the survey said.
Authorities said they were assessing damages, but their work was complicated by the location of the destroyed villages. More than 25,000 people live in the affected area, the Vanj district. The deputy head of the district, Azimjon Shamsiddinov, told AFP preliminary damage estimates were between one million and 1.5 million dollars.
Earthquakes are relatively frequent in Tajikistan, an impoverished Central Asian state bordering war-torn Afghanistan.

 Cold spell kills dozens of homeless in north India
AP/ UNB, New Delhi

More than 30 people have died in cold weather-related incidents in northern India in the past 24 hours, including 10 people killed in train accidents caused by dense fog,police said Sunday.
A cold snap left at least two dozen homeless people dead in Uttar Pradesh state since Saturday, taking the death toll from exposure in the region to 40 over the last week, police spokesman Surendra Srivastava said. Last winter the state reported 151 cold-related deaths.
Authorities began distributing blankets and firewood to the homeless last week. The cold caused dense fog that also led to two separate train collisions that killed 10 people and injured 47 others Saturday in Uttar Pradesh, police said.
In other areas of northern India, including New Delhi, poor visibility grounded or delayed dozens of flights Saturday, said Shashanka Nanda, a spokesman for the Delhi International Airport Limited. Conditions had improved by Sunday, he said.
Local television channels showed footage of hundreds of frazzled passengers and large piles of luggage crowding the airport terminals in the Indian capital.
Continued low visibility also disrupted rail schedules across large swathes of northern India stranding thousands of people, railway official N.K. Srivastava said in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
On Saturday the temperature dipped below 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) in parts of Uttar Pradesh and colder weather is expected, the local meteorological office said.

 China sees long-term stability struggle in Xinjiang
Reuters, Beijing

China's restless far western region of Xinjiang will have to wage a long-term struggle to contain separatist forces and maintain stability there, the region's top leader was quoted as saying by state media.
Xinjiang's capital Urumqi was hit by bloody ethnic rioting last year between majority Han Chinese and minority Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people who call the region home, in which at least 197 people died.
Energy-rich Xinjiang, strategically located in central Asia, has been struck in recent years by bombings, attacks and riots blamed by Beijing on Uighur separatists demanding an independent "East Turkistan".
Many rights groups and exiles say Chinese controls on the Uighurs' religious and cultural rights is the real cause of discontent, and that Beijing overplays the threat of terror attacks to justify its tough line.
Wang Lequan, Xinjiang's long-serving Communist Party chief, said there would be no let up in the fight against the separatists, nor would the government relax its grip.
"Nothing can be done if there is no stability in Xinjiang. The struggle against separatism and separatists is long, complex and acute," the official Xinjiang Daily paraphrased Wang as telling police late last month.
"Unswervingly follow the line that stability trumps all ... (which) is the main task and number one responsibility," he added.
Only with stability can the economy develop, said Wang. "Work hard to create a good political environment for the good and rapid development of the economy and society to make a contribution for Xinjiang's overall stability."
Critics of China's policies in Xinjiang say too little of the billions of dollars of central government investment there flows to Uighurs, and such inequalities have stoked ethnic enmities.

  UK says it, US agree to fund Yemen police unit
Reuters, London

The United States and Britain have agreed to fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen as part of stepped-up efforts to fight terrorism, Britain said on Sunday.
The failed Christmas Day attack in which a 23-year-old Nigerian is accused of trying to blow up a U.S. passenger jet as it approached Detroit has focused attention on both sides of the Atlantic on the growing threat from al Qaeda in Yemen.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office said Britain and the United States had agreed to intensify their joint work to tackle "the emerging terrorist threat" from both Yemen and Somalia in the wake of the failed Detroit attack.
"Amongst the initiatives the prime minister has agreed with President (Barack) Obama is U.S.-UK funding for a special counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen," it said in a statement.
Britain and the United States would also support the Yemeni coastguard, it said.
A spokeswoman for Brown said funding for the measures would be met through existing commitments to Yemen.
The initiatives were the result of ongoing work between Britain and the United States and had been under discussion since before the Detroit attack, she said. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who has been charged with the plane attack, has told U.S. investigators he was trained by al Qaeda in Yemen.
Obama said on Friday he had made it a priority to strengthen the U.S. partnership with the Yemeni government, "training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al Qaeda terrorists."

  Iran says West agreed to wait over nuclear proposal
AFP, Tehran

Iran said on Sunday the West had agreed to wait two months on a proposal to exchange enriched uranium and that a month has now passed, reiterating that if there is no deal it will produce its own fuel for a nuclear reactor.
"Based on the talks Iran had with the relevant parties, it was decided to provide the Tehran reactor with the necessary fuel (from outside), and if not then we will produce it," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehm-anparast was quoted by news agencies as saying.
"Then the (negotiating) parties asked the Islamic republic to give them two months to reach an understanding and we accepted that," he added.
"Now one month of that waiting period is over and one month is left. So if it does not materialise (the provision of fuel) then Iran will take the necessary decision," Mehmanparast said.
He spoke a day after Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki gave the West a one-month "ultimatum" to accept a uranium swap. "The international community has just one month left to decide" whether or not it will accept Iran's conditions, otherwise "Tehran will enrich uranium to a higher level," he was quoted by the state television as saying. "This is an ultimatum," Mottaki added.
Iran, which rejected a December 31 deadline to accept a UN-brokered deal, said on Tuesday it is ready to swap abroad its low-enric-hed uranium for nuclear fuel, insisting however that the exchange should happen in stages.

  Israel acts like the world’s ‘spoilt child’: Saudi
Reuters, Riyadh

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday said Israel was the world's "spoilt child" and got away with what Riyadh said were violations of international law and war crimes without punishment.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal also urged countries to adopt "a firm and serious stance to put an end to the policy of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories and in Jerusalem".
"Not reaching solutions (for the Middle East conflict) is (the result of) the special treatment Israel gets," he said at a news conference with visiting Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu. "When they violate international law, other countries get punished but not Israel ... Israel has become like the spoilt child of the international community.
"It (Israel) gets away with anything it does without accountability or punishment," he added.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is backed by Riyadh, has insisted Israel freeze Jewish settlement building before peace talks for a Palestinian state in territory Israel captured in a 1967 war resume. He has rejected a temporary halt to construction ordered by Netanyahu as insufficient. Israel anno-unced on Monday plans to build nearly 700 new Jewish homes in areas of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem, prompting strong U.S. criticism implying they could undermine peace talks.
Prince Saud said the policy of expanding settlements was "a source of deep concern and condemnation for both us and the international community". "This policy casts doubts on the seriousness of (Israel's) commitment to the peace process," Prince Saud said.

  Salute the Spirit of exploration
BBC Online

We ended 2009 with one anniversary, and we start 2010 with another.
Six years ago on 4 January (GMT), Nasa's Deep Space Network picked up a signal sent 170 million km across the Solar System to Earth.
Engineers promised an initial operational mission of 90 Martian days; and yet, this plucky six-wheeled "mobile geologist" just kept on rolling... and rolling... and rolling.
The US space agency has warned though, that this remarkable robot's days may now be numbered.
For the past nine months the vehicle has been stuck in a sand trap.
With just four working wheels (five intermittently), Spirit cannot get the traction it needs to free itself.
The concern is that the rover will not be able to position its solar panels to make the most of what will soon be a faint winter sun on the Red Planet. Without sufficient power, the robot will not be able to heat its systems, never mind run its science instruments.
If Spirit is unlucky and gets covered by more of the dust that can accumulate on its panels and block out the light (and it doesn't get the wind that can sometimes clean the cells), the rover could die.
Whatever happens in the next few months, the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover will be remembered as a magnificent success.
It was targeted at the 170km-wide Gusev Crater. Orbital images had suggested this near-equatorial location might once have held a giant lake.
The investigation of that watery history got off to a slow start.
Most people will have forgotten by now that Spirit stopped working 18 Martian days into its mission. It took engineers back on Earth about two weeks to find the fix for a flash memory glitch that made the rover constantly re-boot itself.

  Cartoonist attacker targeted Clinton
Somali shot at artist's home was held over plot in Kenya, newspaper says

Internet

A Somali man charged in connection with an attack on a Danish cartoonist was arrested last year over an alleged terror plot targeting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to reports.
Quoting the Danish newspaper Politiken, Britain's Sky News reported that the 28-year-old was among four other suspects who were held over a foiled attack on a bus station and two hotels in Nairobi, Kenya.
The alleged plot coincided with Clinton's visit to the country during an 11-day tour of Africa, Sky News said. The suspect was reportedly released from custody the following month due to a lack of evidence and returned to Denmark. The Somali man was charged with two counts of attempted murder on Saturday after allegedly breaking into the home of a Danish artist Kurt Westergaard, whose Prophet Muhammad cartoon outraged the Muslim world three years ago.
Stretcher
The suspect, who was shot twice by a police officer responding to the scene, was rolled into a Danish court on a stretcher Saturday, his face covered. He was ordered held for four weeks on preliminary charges of attempting to murder the cartoonist, as well as the police officer who shot him.
Efforts to protect Westergaard, 74, were immediately stepped up, as he was moved to an undisclosed location. The suspect, described by authorities as a 28-year-old Somali with ties to al-Qaida, allegedly broke into the house late Friday armed with an ax and a knife. The house is in Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city, 125 miles northwest of Copenhagen.
Jakob Scharf, head of Denmark's PET intelligence agency, said Saturday the man might have attacked spontaneously.
"It seems that he acted alone, and maybe it was a sudden decision," Scharf told Danish broadcaster TV2. He was not immediately available for further comment. Westergaard, who has been the target of several death threats since depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban, has been under round-the-clock protection by Danish police since February 2008.
When he heard someone trying to break into his home, he pressed an alarm and fled to a specially made safe room. His five-year-old granddaughter was also in the house at the time.
Officers arrived two minutes later and tried to arrest the assailant. He threatened the officers with the ax, and one officer then shot him in the hand and knee, Preben Nielsen of the Aarhus police said. Nielsen said the man's wounds were serious but not life-threatening.
'Revenge!'
Westergaard could not be reached for comment, but he told his employer - the Jyllands-Posten newspaper - that the assailant shouted "Revenge!" and "Blood!" as he tried to enter the bathroom where Westergaard had sought shelter.
"It was scary. It was close - really close," he said, according to the newspaper's Web site. The Somali man, whose name cannot be released because of a court order, was accompanied by a lawyer. He arrived at the court in Aarhus from the hospital where he is being treated, and denied the charges.
"He will be in custody for four weeks, and in isolation for two (of those)," said Chief Superintendent Ole Madsen in Aarhus. He said the suspect would be moved to a prison in Aarhus, which has medical facilities.

 Hopes fade for Brazil mudslide survivors
Xinhua, Rio De Janeiro

Hopes are fading to rescue more mudslide survivors from Brazil's worst mudslides that have so far killed at least 64 people, rescuers said.
The death toll on the Grande Island and at Angra dos Reis was put at 39 and the remaining deaths occurred elsewhere in the Rio de Janeiro State where nearly 80 mudslides were reported in recent days, according to the state civil defense authorities.
The Grande Island and Angra dos Reis mudslides occurred on the New Year's Day when 270 millimeters of rain caused the well-soaked red earth to tear off. Rains have been falling since Wednesday in the region.
With the assistance from the navy and local volunteers, 80 firefighters and 20 military policemen have been working on the Grande Island, but rescue was progressing slowly for fear that the use of heavy machinery would trigger new mudslides.
So far, rescuers have pulled out 26 bodies from the Grande Island. They found 12 bodies at Angra dos Reis.
Colonel Pedro Machado, head of the Grande Island firefighters, said that more bodies were expected to be found as some 40 people were believed to be in the Grande Island resort lodge and more people were in nearby houses when the mudslide occurred.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday ordered forces from the navy and the National Integration Ministry to join in the rescue efforts.

Business/Economy

Stocks begin New Year with new record
BSS, Dhaka

Stocks began the New Year 2010 on Sunday, setting a new record for its benchmark price index and raising the investors' confidence further.
The general price index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) reached a new high of 4568.40 at the close of Sunday, the first trading day of the year 2010. The index finished the year 2009 at 4535.56 on December 30.
The beginning is seen as a good sign for the country's stock market and the economy.
"This is of course a positive sign for the capital market," said Yawer Sayeed, a stock analyst and the managing director of the country's premier asset management company, Aims of Bangladesh Limited.
Sayeed observed active participation of the institutional buyers at year's opening, which he believes will eventually increase the confidence of small investors further.
But, he suggests continuous supports from the regulatory authorities and other organisations concerned to help make the positive trend sustainable.
Along with the index, the volume also increased substantially on Sunday when the number of gaining and losing issues was close. A total of 177 issues advanced on the day when 116 declined. This might have happened due to the mixed activity at the market by both the profit taking sellers and buyers, a stockbroker said.
He, however, pointed out that the index gained thanks to the gain on voluminous trading of some big issue including Grameenphone, BATBC, BOC, Beximco, Bextex, Decso and Lankabangla.
Turnover in value crossed Taka 1,000 crore again on Sunday on institutional buying. The turnover for the last time was over Taka 1,000 on December 15, 2009 and was on declining trend due to year-end cautious buying.

 Two insurance-related bills expected to be passed in 4th session of JS

UNB, Dhaka

The winter session of parliament that begins today (Monday) is expected to pass two insurance-related bills, aiming to streamline the country's insurance business.
The two bills are The Insurance Act 2009 and The Insurance Regulatory Authority Act 2009.
"These two bills will be passed in the coming session," Finance Minister AMA Muhith told reporters after a meeting with the Bangladesh Insurance Association (BIA) representatives at his ministry's conference room Sunday.
BIA chairman Rafiqul AKM Islam FCA led the BIA delegation. Finance Minister AMA Muhith would pilot the two bills in Parliament.
On July 9, Muhith had placed the Insurance Bill 2009 and the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 before Parliament to pave the way for strengthening the regulatory process of the insurance sector. After scrutiny, the standing committee submitted the bills to Parliament in September.
However, the Finance Minister had some disagreements with the standing committee over a few clauses of the bills, but eventually the committee ignored his suggestions.
According to sources, the minister proposed that there should not be any restriction on the appointment of the chief of the insurance regulatory authority arguing that the appointment of a person to the highest position should be open.
The minister had also suggested that the number of directors of an insurance company be limited to 15 persons. He also felt that a director of an insurance company should not be a member of the board of any bank or any other insurance company, the sources said.
The Insurance Bill 2009 says that the paid-up capital for a life insurance company will be Tk 30 crore from the existing Tk 7.5 crore and for a general insurance Tk 40 crore from Tk the existing 15 crore. A total of 62 insurance companies are operating in the country and they earned Tk 42.5 billion in premium last year.
The proposed Insurance Act 2009 says the sector needs to be managed properly and be strengthened by reducing business risks, while local and international insurance laws need to be harmonised considering the country's socioeconomic aspects.
The Insurance Regulatory Authority Act 2009 says that there is an increasing need to regulate one of the largest sectors in the country, harmonise local and international insurance laws considering the socioeconomic aspects of the country, and protect the interests of policyholders and other related beneficiaries. The insurance act proposes that insurance companies to be categorised as 'life' and 'non-life' instead of 'life' and 'general.'

  Venezuela begins 2010 with electricity rationing
AFP, Caracas

Oil-rich Venezuela ushered in 2010 with new measures rationing electricity use in malls, businesses and billboards, as Hugo Chavez's government aimed to save power amid a crippling drought.
The new regulations came into effect January 1, with businesses required to comply with reduced consumption limits and authorities warning of forced power cuts and rate hikes if the measures are not followed.
A decree published on Christmas Eve states that commercial centers may operate from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm on the electricity grid, but beyond that establishments would have to operate off-grid, using their own generators. Venezuela is flush with oil-the country's primary export-and natural gas, but relies mainly on hydroelectric generation to meet domestic energy demand.
With the country in a widespread drought, late last year Chavez announced a sweeping campaign to reduce widespread energy "waste," stressing that rationing was necessary to avoid a systemic "collapse." The power crunch is expected to have an impact on a wide variety of businesses, including cinemas, casinos and bingo halls.

  India eyeing Gulf market for horticultural export
PTI, Bangalore

India is planning to organise horticulture fairs to showcase a variety of its produce in the Gulf region to boost exports, Union Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas said on Saturday.
The Gulf offers a huge export potential, he told reporters after inaugurating the 'Orange Festival' at the 3rd Inter-State Horticulture Fair at the famous botanical gardens, Lal Bagh, here.
A total of Rs 1,200 crore has been allocated for the National Horticulture Mission out of which Rs 700 crore has already been spent by different states, Thomas said. "On the basis of the amount spent by the state, the Central government will release additional funds if required," he said.
The Government has been conducting horticulture fairs in different parts of the country to provide farmers a common platform to exchange technical knowhow about the latest technologies, Thomas said.
To a question on the diseases afflicting certain fruits including orange, he said the matter has been referred to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
India is one of the world's biggest producers of horticultural products growing nearly 11 per cent of all the world's vegetables and 15 per cent of fruits, he said.
Farmers from different states including Punjab, Maharashtra and North-East are participating in the fair.

  Eurozone faces 2010 debt crisis
AFP, Frankfurt

The eurozone's new year heralds a debt crisis that has alarm bells ringing and markets tracking government plans to tame the growing shortfall.
Officials have borrowed heavily to pull the 16-nation zone out of its first recession, and debt levels are set to smash a huge hole in the ceiling set by the European Union in its Stability and Growth Pact.
Soaring budget deficits, low growth and banking sector support "are feeding into significantly higher public debt levels," the European Commission has warned.
Average eurozone "public debt could reach 84 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) by 2010, an increase of 18 percentage points from 2007," it said, far above the pact's limit of 60 percent.
Government debt ratings have been downgraded in Greece by all three major international agencies, and by some of them in Ireland and Spain as well.
The Fitch agency has urged all governments with top ratings to tame debt, mentioning in particular Britain, which is not a eurozone member, along with France and Spain, which are.
Germany, long considered the cornerstone of eurozone fiscal discipline, forecasts public debt at around 78 percent of GDP this year, while in France, the second biggest eurozone economy, public debt jumped to a record 75.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
Greece says its shortfall come to 120 percent of output in 2010.
Debt is raising the cost of borrowing for many countries and adding to the weight of reimbursing obligations on future budgets.
With unemployment rising and weak growth expected in 2010, officials cannot count on increased tax revenues for much help in paying down debt, a lot of which is owed abroad.
"The (economic) crisis is weighing on the sustainability of public finances and potential growth," the EU commission has warned as economists leave open the possibility of a "double dip" recession this year.
Finances will be undermined further by an ageing population that will need expensive health care in the years to come.
But tightening the financial screws, as many capitals have pledged to do, could choke off an economic recovery if officials act too soon, analysts warn.

  Electric power demand to be fulfilled over next five years in Myanmar

Xinhua, Yangon

Electric power demand will be fulfilled in Myanmar when the ongoing hydropower projects are completed over the next five years to add a total of 3,478 megawatts (mw) to the country's generating capacity, sources with the Ministry of Electric Power-2 said on Sunday. Of the ongoing 16 hydropower plant projects, four will be in operation this year, five in 2011, three in 2012 and four in 2015 when electricity will be in surplus, the sources predicted.
The four emerging hydropower plants during this year are known as 75-mw Shwegyin in Bago division, 790-mw Yeywa in Mandalay division, 10-mw An in Rakhine state and 74-mw Kyeeohn Kyeewa in Magway division.
The others to follow suit mainly include 140-mw Upper Paunglaung in Mandalay division, 240-mw Tapein-1 in Kachin state, 120-mw Thaukyaykhat-2 in Bago division, 1,200-mw Htamanthi and 380- mw Manipu in Sagaing division. Meanwhile, 27 planned hydropower plants to be implemented in the future are expected to add 30,661 mw more to the generating capacity.
At present, 856 mw of electricity is being produced and distributed in average and alternately to the public from the national power grid in order to keep balance between supply and demand against the demand of the whole country which stands over 1, 555 mw, the sources disclosed. Of the 1,555 mw, Yangon consumes 666.78 mw, while Mandalay 141. 64 mw and other states and divisions 746.83 mw.
The rapid development of Myanmar such as the establishment of new towns and industrial zones by the government, housing projects and use of electric-powered household goods by the people had increased the demand for power supply.
The sources added that while the government is implementing new hydropower projects, the ministry of energy is building 24- inch wide 287-kilometer pipeline offshore and onshore from the Yadana natural gas platform to Yangon at a cost of 270 million U.S. dollars for supplying enough natural gas to gas-fired power plants.

  Dubai financial uncertainty overshadows tower opening
AFP, Dubai

Dubai was preparing Sunday to inaugurate the world's tallest tower, a symbol of the Gulf emirate's unbridled ambitions, amid ongoing fears about a financial catastrophe.
The city state, which borrowed heavily to finance its grandiose projects, is nowadays striving to restructure its mountain of debt and face a serious crisis in its once-booming real estate sector. Some observers appear more confident about Dubai's ability to navigate its way out of the crisis, after many predicted bankruptcy when it requested a debt repayments standstill for its largest group Dubai World in late November.
Dubai was bailed out with a last-minute lifeline of 10 billion dollars from neighbouring emirate Abu Dhabi, which enabled Dubai to pay its imminent debt. "We are much more confident about the situation of Dubai now, after Abu Dhabi's support as well as the comprehensive restructuring plan, than we were a one month ago," said Mahdi Mattar, chief economist at Shuaa Capital.
"The debt story is not as bad as the market initially thought, when investors were assuming the worst," he told AFP.
Dubai World began negotiations with its creditors in late December with the hope of reaching an agreement over restructuring debt of 22 billion dollars, owed by its troubled subsidiaries. The talks followed Dubai World's payment of 4.1 billion dollars in maturing bonds owed by its real estate arm, Nakheel, thanks to Abu Dhabi's help. But the emirate, which has little oil resources, has to deal with a total debt burden amounting to around 100 billion dollars, according to estimates.

  Boozing becoming too heavy a burden for Britain
Xinhua, London

Heavy drinking is causing Britain as many health problems as it is costing the country too much money that could have been spent on genuine health care, according to studies by medical expert groups.
One in six Britons drinks above sensible limits while one in 60 has a level of alcohol addiction and the so-called boozing culture costs Britain over 4 billion U.S. dollars a year.
But these might be just the tip of an iceberg.
"With only one in 18 people dependent on alcohol receiving treatment ... we know that more needs to be done to help identify and treat patients," said Steve Barnett, chief executive of the National Health Service (NHS) Confederation which unveiled the figures in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians.
This is because the bulk of the 4 billion spent on boozers goes to hospitals and ambulance services which are forced to deal with people who get into difficulties after drinking too much, said the report compiled by the confederation and the college. Half of all assaults are related to alcohol, along with more than a fifth of accidental deaths and almost a third of all suicides.
Nearly 15,000 people died in 2008 alone from alcohol abuse, or 3 percent of all deaths, according to figures from the Liverpool John Moores University.
The report warned that the increase in alcohol consumption in Britain, by 19 percent over the last three decades to reach a level now higher than any other European country, has led to greater demand for NHS service.
In the 2006/2007 period, alcohol was estimated to cost the national service 4.38 billion dollars, almost doubling the 2000/2001 expenditure of 2.38 billion dollars, the report said.
Though NHS offers free service to everyone in Britain, the pressure to react to drinkers' urgent and increasing health needs has made it difficult for preventive measures to keep pace, the report said. Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "The nation's growing addiction to alcohol is putting an immense strain on health services, especially in hospitals.... The burden is no longer sustainable."
He said the National Health Service should not just be about treating the consequences of alcohol-related harm but also about active prevention, early prevention, and working in partnership with services in local communities to raise awareness of alcohol- related harm.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed in 2008 that between 1985-2005 alcohol consumption increased in Britain by 22 percent, whereas it fell in Italy by 37 percent, in France by 27 percent and in Germany by 29 percent.
Over the same period deaths from liver disease fell in Italy by 58 percent, in France by 50 percent, and in Germany by 28 percent, but rose in Britain by 136 percent, the organization added.
Policy Exchange, a right-wing think tank in Britain, even proposed punitive measures against boozers.
Henry Featherstone, head of the Policy Exchange's health and social care unit, said, "Alcohol misuse in Britain is at a level where it constitutes a public health epidemic. The costs of being admitted to hospital to sleep off alcoholic excess should be met by individuals, not the NHS.
"Those admitted to hospital for less than 24 hours with acute alcohol intoxication should be charged 532 pounds (862 dollars)."
Policy Exchange has estimated that the cost for NHS of treating people who drank too much on New Year's Eve, a night of wild and often alcohol-fuelled partying across Britain, would have reached 37.2 million dollars this year to cover ambulance services and accident and emergency staff costs.

Japan to double credit line for troubled JAL
AFP, Tokyo

Japan agreed on Sunday to give a new lifeline to troubled Japan Airlines by doubling a state-funded loan for the carrier to 200 billion yen (2.2 billion dollars).
The government decision comes after shares in Asia's largest carrier plunged to a record low last week when investors were spooked by reports that bankruptcy was a possible option for the beleaguered airline.
In November, the state-run Development Bank had set a credit line of 100 billion yen for Japan Airlines and has already paid out just over half of the total.
The extra funding was agreed at a meeting of cabinet ministers including Transport Minister Seiji Maehara and Vice Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the day before the stock market resumes trading after a New Year break.
"The ministers confirmed that we will have JAL rehabilitate itself while it keeps flying." Maehara told reporters.
Kan said the amount of the loan "enables JAL to cope with every possible circumstance."
JAL, battered by the global recession and swine flu pandemic, is scrambling to slash costs and is seeking its fourth government bailout since 2001 in the face of mounting losses.
Local media have reported that the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp (ETIC), which is overseeing JAL's restructuring, is considering the possibility of the carrier filing for protection from creditors.
ETIC is expected to decide on a financial package for the carrier in mid-January.
But airline president Haruka Nishimatsu said in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper published on Sunday that he was opposed to any bankruptcy filing and also had no plans to halt international flights.
"Legal liquidation gives an image that will affect us and reduce the number of our clients," he said.
The airline, which lost about 1.5 billion dollars in the six months to September, has said it plans thousands of job cuts and a drastic reduction in routes as part of its efforts to return to profitability.
On Thursday, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported that the government was discussing a plan which which would see rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) take over JAL's international flights.
But Nishimatsu dismissed such a plan as "impossible."
"Demand for air traffic, particularly in Asia, is rapidly expanding.

National

8,500 rural post offices to be turned into e-centres by 2015

BSS, Dhaka

Country's 8,500 rural post offices will be turned into information technology equipped 'e-centre' by 2015 in line with the present government's pledge to build a prosperous IT-based digital Bangladesh.
The Postal Department has taken the initiative under a project titled 'post e-centre for rural community' involving Taka 53.25 crore.
The project proposal has already submitted to the Planning Commission for approval, Director General of the Postal Department Mobassher-ur-Alam told BSS Sunday. He said its a major step towards building digital Bangladesh as the benefit of the internet facilities would be reached at the door steps of the rural community after completion of the project.
Besides, the department has started another project styled 'modernization of mail transfer' involving Taka 50 crore, which will end in 2013, the director general said.
The project is expected to bring modernization to the basic work of postal services like collection, transfer and distribution, which will help the Postal Department to keep the core competitive advantage in the country, he said.
Mentioning the need for reshuffling the mail lines of the country in the backdrop of rapid development of the said communication system, he said after completion of the project the mail lines would be facilitated with modern vehicles and equipment under the project.
The chief of the postal service said they have a plan to provide minimum one modern vehicle for each mail line across the country. "As a result, the people allover the country will get a quick and accurate postal services," he said.
Besides, a project involving Taka 10.65 crore has been taken to turn the General Post Office (GPO) building in the capital into an architectural landscape aiming at reviving the image of the postal service as well as gaining confidence of the subscribers. The project will be completed by 2012, a source concerned related to the GPO said.

  Corruption by Ctg Veterinary Varsity VC
UGC starts inquiry

UNB, Chittagong

University Grants Commission (UGC) sent a three-member enquiry committee to Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) Sunday to investigate the allegations of corruption against its Vice Chancellor Dr Nitish Chandra Devnath.
Headed by UGC member Prof Dr Md Abdul Hakim the two members of the committee are - Prof Dr Atful Hye Shiblee and Ferdous Zaman.
Earlier, city mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury brought 29 allegations of corruption against the VC and appealed to the President for investigation on October 1. Later, the three-member inquiry committee was formed.
Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of ruling Awami League, enforced strike on the campus on December 13 for an indefinite period demanding resignation of the VC. The university was closed sine die on December 14.

   ‘NGOs should work along with govt for people’s welfare’
BSS, Dhaka

Deputy leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury Sunday said private and non-government organizations of the country need to work unitedly along with the government for ensuring welfare of people.
"Wherever we work in public or private sectors, we will have to be united under the goal of development," she said when a delegation of the board of directors of Prashika, an NGO, called on her at her parliament office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in the city, a press release said.
Chief Executive of Prashika Mahbubul Karim led the delegation, including members of the executive committee Sirajul Islam, Abdur Rab and principal programme coordinator Nahid Parvin.
During the meeting, the members of the delegation appraised the deputy leader of their various activities as well as problems of the organization.
Sajeda Chowdhury gave them a patient hearing and said the present government would extend its allout cooperation in the interest of the institutions, not for the individuals.

  RCC takes steps to make 18th NID successful
BSS, Rajshahi, Jan 3

The Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has formulated an elaborated programme to observe the 18th National Immunization Day (NID) scheduled to be held on January 10 to eradicate polio.
The corporation has also taken necessary step to make the measles vaccination fortnight-long campaign 2010 from February 14 next a total success.
To make the programs successful, the RCC authority held a central advocacy meeting at the city bhaban conference hall here Saturday.
Chaired by Ward Councilor Abul Hasnat the meeting was addressed, among others, by Panel Mayor-2 Sazzad Hossain, Ward Councilor Ansar Ali and Chief Executive Officer Ajaher Ali.
In his address of welcome, Chief Health Officer Dr Abul Fazal gave an overview of the programme while Surveillance Medical Officer of World Health Organization Dr Syed Asad Ali illustrated the national level polio eradication program along with the anti- measles campaign.
RCC Ward Councilors, government and non-government officials concerned and field level health workers and others concerned attended the meeting devising ways and means on how to make the programmes a total success to build a polio- free society.
The meeting was told that around 80,000 babies age between 0- 5 will be administered polio vaccine while 60,000 babies age group 1-5 to be fed anti- worm tablet side by side with the vaccine.

  Tobacco farming increases in greater Rangpur
BSS, Rangpur, Jan 3

The farmers have brought more than double areas of land under tobacco farming this season in greater Rangpur as plantation of seedlings has already been completed and the crop grows excellent under favourable climatic conditions.
Farming of the harmful crop has been increasing alarmingly in recent years posing a threat to human and soil health as the 'efforts' to discourage farming and use of all tobacco products have been proved to be 'ineffective' so far.
Tobacco farming was reduced drastically few years ago flowing various motivational activities conducted by the agriculture related departments, but its large-scale farming resumed again from the year 2007, farmers and officials said.
The farmers are being attracted towards tobacco farming following maximum profits and lucrative incentives being given by the multinational and local tobacco companies that increase its farming rapidly in the area, they said.
A large number of farmers have cultivated the harmful crop in two to three times more lands this year than that of the previous seasons and they are expected to bring even more land under tobacco farming next season for the maximum profits.
The farmers told that they have been cultivating tobacco on more lands in recent years as the tobacco companies encourage and provide them with adequate necessary inputs and added that they have cultivated it in record land area this season.
Farmers Echahaq Ali of Kathihara village under Sadar upazila of Rangpur while talking to BSS Sunday said that he has cultivated tobacco on 1.25 acres land this season, which is double than he cultivated last season.
"I have taken no loan or supports from the tobacco companies this year and I am expecting to get a bumper production of Barley variety tobacco to earn a net profit of Taka 75,000 from the land excluding Taka 30,000 net farming expenses," he said.
Farmers Ayub Ali of the same village, Abdul Khaleque and Yasin Ali of village Rofadanipara, Shamsul Haque of village Chankuri, Abul Hossain of village Jahanpur Munshirhat of Rangpur also cultivated tobacco on more than two acres land this season.

  Bumper production of potato likely in Thakurgaon
UNB, Thakurgaon

Farmers are expecting bumper production of potato in the district due to favourable weather.
According to Department of Agricultural Extension, farmers cultivated potato on 25,250 hectares of land this year against 23,270 hectares in the previous year.
Farmers were encouraged to bring more land under potato cultivation as the price of potato is on the rise this year.
DAE crop expert Abdul Majid said 4,16,625 mts of potato are expected to be produced this year.
DAE officials are hopeful about bumper production of potato as favourable weather continues during the current season.
Jaliluddin, Deputy Director of DAE said 1,50,639 hectares land were brought under potato cultivation in eight districts of the northern region with an output target of 24,85,366 mts.
Farmers are spraying pesticides on their potato fields to check attack of leaf blight disease, he said.
Abdul Kader, a farmer of Sadar upazila, said he has cultivated potato on 50 acres land and expecting to get 400 mts potatoes from the land.

  Government urged to give identity of Oraon community
BSS, Panchbibi

Speakers at an Oraon students' conference here have urged the government for recognition of the identity of Oraon community people and protect their social and constitutional rights.
They also stressed for ensuring their rights to education, quota in government services, healthcare and all other constitutional rights and preserving and developing their own language, culture and social traditions.
They urged the government for taking necessary steps so that the Oraon community people could resolve their social issues, disputes and problems through arbitration by their own community leaders and people.
They said this at the concluding ceremony of the two-day 25th education conference of the University and College level Oraon students' representatives organised by Bangladesh Oraon Research and Development Association (BORDA) on Tuesday.
President of BORDA Father Kerobim Bakla chaired the ceremony that was addressed by organizing secretary of Bangladesh Awami League Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan as the chief guest at Patharghata Mission in Panchbibi upazila.
General Secretary of BORDA Boidynath Toppo attended as the special guest while bishop of Dinajpur Dharmo Pradesh Mojesh Kosta CSC was present as the special guest in the inaugural ceremony on Monday.
Oraon students Sudeb Minzi and Bilash Tiggya of Dhaka University and Liliana Toppo of Rajshahi University also addressed the concluding ceremony that was attended by over 150 university and college level Oraon students from all over the country.
In his speech, Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapan said that the present government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken various steps for development of the aboriginal community people and mainstreaming them in the national development activities.
"The government will ensure all rights to the economically backward aboriginal people including the Oraon community throughout the country including the northern region through ensuring their education and all other rights," he said.

  Shivering cold paralyses normal life in n-region
BSS, Rangpur, Jan 3

The weather remains mostly unchanged despite little rises of temperature in the northern region amid a sunny sky but blowing continued cooler winds affecting normal life everywhere.
The situation has been sharply fluctuating in recent days when the minimum temperature marked sharp falls by one to four degrees Celsius causing immense sufferings to the common people and again rising to ease the civic life. Sufferings of the people remained unchanged due to the sweeping cold over the region in recent days and the district administrations have been facing troubles as they are waiting for more allocation of warm clothes to distribute among the distressed people.
Normal activities have been remaining partially affected and fewer people were found out of their homes since last evening till Sunday morning when the public places, hats, bazaars, bus stands and other places remained almost deserted.
The day labourers and farm workers could somehow work in their respective fields to earn their livelihood amid a mostly sunny day Sunday as the thinner layers of fogs disappeared by 8 am everywhere.
The district administrations have sent urgent messages to the higher authorities for allocation of more warm clothes and Rangpur administration has asked for urgent allocation of 30,000 pieces of more clothes for distribution among the cold-hit people.
Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur BM Enamul Haque Sunday talked to the higher authorities in Dhaka over telephone for allocation of more warm clothes to mitigate sufferings of the cold- hit people in the district, officials said.

Prices of warm clothes increase in Khulna
BSS, Khulna, Jan 3

Sales of warm clothes have increased in shops at footpaths and markets in Khulna city and different places of the district.
According to Khulna Met Office, the lowest temperature remained at 5 to 6 degree Celsius during the last ten days. Dense fog and heavy cold wave continued in Khulna region during the last one week. Low and fixed income group people including day labourers were seen buying second-hand warm clothes from the footpath shops and other city markets to protect them from shivering cold.
Traders of old clothes are doing brisk business as demand for used clothes is becoming dearer.
Apart from footpath shops, warm clothes are being sold at KDA New Market, Zalil Tower, Khulna Shopping Complex, Esha Chamber, Boro Bazar, Arong, Shahid Sohwardi Market, Chitrali Market, Khalishpur Market, Daulatpur Market and all markets of nine upazila headquarters. People of slum areas as well as low and fixed income group people are the worst suffers.
Shamsur Rahaman Montu, a footpath shop owner at City's Picture Palace intersection, told BSS that many well-off people were also buying second-hand warm clothes from the market.

Barua unhappy with ADP implementation under his ministry
UNB, Dhaka

Industries Minister Dilip Barua Sunday expressed his dissatisfaction over the implementation rate of Annual Development Programme (ADP) under his ministry in the current fiscal year.
"The development work should be faster, as we're trying to ensure 100 percent ADP implementation this fiscal year," he told a review meeting on ADP under the ministry.
He said the Industries Ministry implemented 98.7 percent of its development projects under ADP last year. "So, we must take the ADP implementation rate to 100 percent."
The minister directed his ministry officials for close monitoring to ensure better quality of the development projects.
According to officials, the government allocated about Tk 358.47 crore for 18 development projects under the Industries Ministry while they have spent about 11.28 percent of the released amount of Tk 78.57 crore till date.
The review meeting decided to lay the foundation stone for Leather Industrial Zone in Dhaka project by February this year. The industrial zone would be set up under ADP.
Besides, Baru said, they would set up an active pharmaceutical ingredient industrial park as soon as possible to attract more investment to the country's this potential sector.

Mahmudur Rahman, two others of Amar Desh get anticipatory bail in defamation case

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court Sunday granted anticipatory bail for three months to Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman and two others as they surrendered before it in one of a bunch of defamation suits filed against them amid a row over a tricky graft report.
Passing the interim orders, a High Court division bench comprising Justice Syed M Dastagir Husain and Justice M Rais Uddin also issued rule upon the government to explain why the petitioners should not be granted regular bail in connection with this defamation case filed in Magura.
The vernacular daily's acting editor, Mahmudur Rahman, its publisher Hasmat Ali and special correspondent M Abdullah moved to the High Court for bail as the court in Magura issued arrest warrant against them on charge of publishing 'false report' about Prime Minister's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.
Convener of Magura District Swechchhasebak League Advocate Ashraf Hossain Liton filed the case with the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, which is among a number of cases being filed in different districts against the trio.
Mentioning the report of the daily in its December 17 issue, headlined 'Allegation of $5 million bribes against Energy Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi and Prime Minister's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy', the complainant alleged that the news item "tarnished the image" of the energy adviser and the Prime Minister's son.
The Amar Desh report was about receiving kickbacks from an unsolicited deal entered into with the US-based oil company Chevron for constructing a gas-compressor station.
Barrister Rafique-ul Huq appeared for the accused petitioners while Attorney-General Mahbubey Alam stood for the government.

UK govt should increase development aid, climate fund Bangladesh: Rushanara

UNB, Dhaka

Rushanara Ali, the Labour Party candidate from East London for upcoming British parliamentary polls, said Sunday that the UK government should increase development aid and climate fund for Bangladesh.
Talking to reporters at Dhaka Reporters Unity, she said the UK fund is important for Bangladesh to combat impacts of global warming and she is lobbying the British government for it.
Oxford graduate Rushanara said the British-Bangladeshi young entrepreneurs want to make investments in Bangladesh and want partnership here, as it's a two-way relationship.
Mentioning maltreatment of Bangladeshi-origin British citizens at the airports in Dhaka and Sylhet in the recent past, she said: "We need Bangladesh to treat us fairly. We sometime face harassments at the airports and we get upset. It creates negative impact."
Rushanara raised the issue during her meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who assured that steps would be taken to ensure their safety.
Replying to a question, Rushanara said she has received the encouraging messages from both Awami League and BNP leaderships to her candidature for the elections to the British House of Commons. The elections will take place before June this year.
She said if elected, she will make sure to have a strong voice of Bangladeshi-Britons and Bangladesh as well in the House of Commons.
Rushanara said she will be fighting to resolve two big issues unemployment and housing facing the people in East London.

8 alleged outlaws arrested in Bagerhat
UNB, Bagerhat

Police, in a raid on Sunday morning, arrested eight alleged outlaws from Manosabazar in Fakirhat upazila.
Acting on secret information, police raided the bazar at about 11 am and held the outlaws along with some posters of their party.
The arrested were identified as Mithun Moholi, Ajmal Hawlader, Monir Lasker, Zakir Sheikh and Mintu Sardar of Rupsha upazila in Khulna district and Pavel Sheikh, Sukumar Pal and Charu Kumar Biswas of Fakirhat upazila in Bagerhat.
Police said the arrested are the members of Purbo Banglar Communist Party (ML-Biplobi).
Officer in-charge of Fakirhat upazila M Salauddin said the outlaws pasted their party posters, containing different provocative statements, at Manosa Bazar early Sunday, creating panic among the people.
The outlaw party members also demeaned toll from a rich mill owner few days ago.

Sports

Tri-Nation Cricket begins today
Bangladesh plays Sri Lanka in opener

UNB, Dhaka

The IDEA Cup Tri-Nation Cricket Tournament involving India, Sri Lanka and host Bangladesh begins today at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Natio-nal Cricket Stadium with
Bangladesh playing Sri-Lanka in the opening match.
The double league basis day-night Tri-Nation series will start at 2:30 pm (Bangladesh Times).
Kumar Sangakkara will lead the youthful Sri Lanka team without key players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajanta Mendis and Lasith Malinga.
All rounder Shakib Al Hasan will lead the Bangladesh side in absence of injury-plagued regular captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
Only pacer Shafiul Islam, who replaces Mashrafe, will make his debut for Bangladesh in the Monday's match.
Both the Indian and Sri Lankan teams arrived in the capital on Saturday and made their practices at the games venue today (Sunday).
In the remaining league matches, hosts Bangladesh will play India on January 7, face Sri Lanka again on Jan 8 and meet India again on Jan 11 while Sri Lanka will play India on Tuesday (Jan 5), Bangladesh on Jan 8 and India on Jan 10.
The final match of the tri-series is slated for January 13.
Meanwhile, the BCB has announced the rate of tickets for the IDEA Cup 2010, which is now available at the Grameenphone outlets.
Ticket rates for the Idea Cup Tri-Nation ODI Series (India-Bangladesh-Sri Lanka) are as follows:
Gallery - Tk 200 for first six matches and Tk 300 for final.
Special Enclosure - Tk 400 for first six matches and Tk 500 for final
Club House - Tk 500 for first six matches and Tk 600 for final
VIP Grand Stand - Tk 2000 for first six matches and Tk 2500 for final.

  Citycell Bangladesh League football
Dhaka Abahani keeps winning

TBT Report

Defending champion Dhaka Abahani maintained its winning streak in the Citycell 3rd Bangladesh League football defeating Rahmat-ganj Muslim Friends Society 3-1 at Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Mohammad Mus-tafa Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.
The two-time Bangladesh League champions, who won their all previous six matches, recorded their seventh victory to remain at the top of the 13-team standings.
Rahmatganj went in front when its Nigerian recruit Felix scored just eight minutes after the kick-off but the Rahmatganj players were unable to hold on to their lead.
Prolific Abahani striker Enamul Haque pulled off the equalizer for the champions when he found the net on 39 minutes, while his Ghanaian teammate Awudu Ibrahim put his side in front just one minute before the breather as the sky-blues ended the first half with a 2-1 advantage.
Dhaka Abahani players put up better performances after the breather and scored one goal more to subdue their opponents.
Enamul struck his second two minutes after the restart to make the game safe for Dhaka Abahani, which claimed 21 points from seven outings.
Rahmatganj, which suffered its third consecutive defeats, remained on one point after six matches. It earned its only point when it drew goalless with Brothers Union in the third round match.
Today's match: Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club vs Farashganj Spor-ting Club (Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Mohammad Mus-tafa Stadium, Dhaka at 2:45pm).

 Bangladesh has fair chance to do well: Siddons
UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said they has a fair chance of doing well against Sri Lanka in the Idea Cup Tri-Nation tournament that begins today at
Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Addressing at a pre-match press conference at the match venue the Australian born coach said if they are able to play their best, they have a bright chance of doing well against Sri Lanka, which is without some key players.
"We have got enough preparation before the tournament, we toured West Indies and Zimbabwe last year and boys were almost engaged in domestic job," he told to a questioner.
Siddons said he has finalized the 11-mmemebr squad for the tomorrow's match omitting Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Syed Rusel and Nazmul Hossain.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said they have to play good cricket as the tournament would not be easy for them. "We are excited for the tomorrow's match and I hope the match will be a competitive one."
Replying to a question the dependable all rounder said, "Pacer Mashrafee's absence in the team is really big factor for us. We all miss him, but are hopeful that the rests will do their job."
About exclusion of experienced medium pacer Syed Rusel from the squad he said they are trying to make a good bowling combination keeping faith on Rubel Hossain and uncapped Shafiqul Islam.
"It is a good opportunity for us to show the world that we are an improving side and playing good cricket against the giants," he said.
Sri Lankan team manager Travar Bailis said they have some new faces in the squad who have playing good cricket.
He said Bangladesh has been playing good cricket in last one year. Tomorrow's match would be a competitive and they are hopeful of doing well.
Both the teams made final practices today. Bangla-desh made net practice at the indoor Stadium in the morning while Sri Lanka made net practice at the match venue in the evening.
Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Mohammad Ashraful, Abdur Razzak, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Tamim Iqbal, Roqibul Hassan, Mahmud Ullah, Naeem Islam, Imrul Kayes, Rubel Hossain, and Shafiul Islam.

  Clijsters opens New Year in style
AFP, Brisbane

Belgium's Kim Clijsters opened the New Year in the best possible style when she overpowered Italian Tathiana Garbin 6-2, 6-1 in the first round of the Brisbane International on Sunday.
Despite a nervous start to the match when she lost her serve in the opening game, the reigning US Open champion quickly found her form to overcome Garbin in just 53 minutes.
Garbin had no answer to the 26-year-old Clijsters once the Belgian found her range, with an array of powerful and accurate groundstrokes proving lethal.
Clijsters' forehand was particularly damaging, pinning Garbin back in the corners and forcing a host of errors from her opponent.
The strength of Clijsters' groundstrokes put Garbin's serve under immense pressure and the Italian was unable to cope, making just 51 percent of her first serves.
Clijsters took full advantage and broke twice in the first set and twice more in the second as she booked her place in the second round, where she will face Australia's own comeback queen Alicia Molik.
Molik, granted a wildcard to play the tournament, beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
The match was Clijsters' first on her full return to the WTA tour after retiring in May 2007.
She made a partial comeback last year, playing just four tournaments and culminating in her sensational US Open victory in New York.

   Schalke snaps up Bayern reject
AFP, Munich

Highflying Bundesliga outfit Schalke 04 continued their recruiting on Sunday as they signed German midfielder Alexander Baumjohann from Bayern Munich after he spent just six months at the German giants.
The 22-year-old - who only arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer of 2009 and played just three times for Bayern - signed for an unspecified length of time and no fee was revealed. Baumjohann rejoins the club - who lie second in the championship a point off leaders Bayer Leverkusen - where he came through the youth system. Baumjohann is Schalke's second signing of the weekend, having acquired Brazilian striker Edu from Korean side Suwon Blue Wings.
Bayern by contrast have now offloaded four players during the traditional winter break as Dutch coach Louis van Gaal looks to trim his squad. The others to leave were Italian World Cup winning striker Luca Toni - who was loaned out to AS Roma.

  Asif shines with six on Pakistan's day
Cricinfo Online

Mohammad Asif completed a career-best six-wicket haul as part of Pakistan's broader demolition of Australia that called into question Ricky Ponting's decision to bat first on a Sydney green-top. In union with Mohammad Sami, who dismissed Australia's top three batsmen before the first drinks break, Asif exploited the heavy pitch and atmospheric conditions to full effect to rout Australia for 127 - their second-lowest total batting first at the SCG and worst at home since 1996.
Ponting was left to rue the decision to bat first on a green, seaming pitch after rain delayed the coin toss until shortly before 2pm. Not since his infamous decision to send England into bat at Edgbaston in 2005 has Ponting called correctly and opted to bowl. How he must wish to have his time over.
Only a 44-run eighth-wicket stand between Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz saved Australia from complete embarassment although, as it stood, the humiliation ran deep enough. Sami, playing his first Test in more than two years following a stint in the unauthorised ICL, scythed through Australia's top order with seven overs of express pace and prodigious movement to account for Phillip Hughes, Ponting and Shane Watson before the first drinks break.
Asif then swung into gear in the period leading up to tea with the wickets of Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North and Brad Haddin. He went onto remove Hauritz and Johnson to finish with the career-best figures of 6 for 41 as Australia were rolled inside 45 overs.
Pakistan's opening batsmen, Imran Farhat and Salman Butt, added 14 runs without loss before bad light stopped play 4.1 overs into the tourists' innings. Both survived the odd anxious moment, particularly against Doug Bollinger, but their battles paled into insignificance compared to those experienced by the Australian batsmen against a Pakistan attack at its enigmatic best.
Sami was an eleventh-hour inclusion in the Pakistani side after the withdrawal of Mohammad Aamer, one of the heroes of Melbourne, with a groin injury. The move almost paid immediate dividends when Sami had Hughes, a replacement for the injured Simon Katich, dropped by the hard-handed Umar Akmal at backward point from his first delivery. Retribution followed in the next over, however, when Sami lured Hughes into an aggressive push to a straighter, fuller delivery that flew low to Faisal Iqbal at second slip.
The inspired paceman then removed Ponting with his very next ball, wafting at a shorter delivery that reared off the surface, and might well have completed a hat-trick had Billy Doctrove ruled Watson out to an excellent lbw appeal that struck him on the front toe.
The Pakistanis sent the decision for video review, however Hawk-Eye confirmed Sami's 150kph bolt had struck the batsman outside the line of off stump. Watson successfully dodged that bullet, but was not so lucky in Sami's next over, edging a seaming, straightening delivery to Kamran Akmal.
That left Sami with figures of 3 for 5 from his first four overs, and Australia gasping for breath. Clarke rounded out an eventful hour by successfully overturning Asoka de Silva's decision to adjudge him lbw to an Umar Gul delivery that was comfortably clearing the stumps, but his defiance ended shortly after the drinks break.

  Barcelona drops first home points
AFP, Madrid

Barcelona dropped its first home points of the season on Saturday in a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Villarreal as the Spanish league season resumed after its winter break.
Pedro put Barca ahead after just seven minutes but David Fuster equalised five minutes after the break to prevent the champions from making it a perfect eight wins at Camp Nou.
Real Madrid, three points behind in second, can now move level on points with victory at Osasuna on Sunday.
"We are having a good season and have to continue what we are doing," said Barca captain Carles Puyol.
"We didn't get the three points but we were up against one of the best teams in the league. We have to rest now because we have another game very soon."
Barcelona host Sevilla on Tuesday in the first leg of the Kings Cup last 16.
The Kings Cup was one of six trophies Barca won in 2009 and they presented their silverware to the Camp Nou fans in a pre-match ceremony.
The players were also given a guard of honour by Villarreal before kick-off.
Barcelona rested Lionel Messi while Andres Iniesta started on the bench as he came back from injury but the celebrations continued as Pedro netted the opening goal.
Thierry Henry hammered a spectacular volley against the crossbar and the ball fell to Pedro who controlled brilliantly on his chest and drilled home.
Villarreal refused to be rattled by the early goal and in the 27th minute came within inches of equalising with Cani's cross finding the onrushing Fuster who was unlucky as his downward header looped over the bar.
Close to the interval Alves whipped in another brilliant cross but the lively Henry could not head in as Diego Lopez did enough to put him off.
Minutes into the second half Barca midfielder Sergi Busquets lost the ball and Fuster fired wide. It was a good chance but Barca did not heed the warning and a minute later Villarreal equalised.
Cani floated in a 50th minute cross and Fuster produced a controlled finish at the back post to stun the hosts. Substitute Iniesta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had chances for Barcelona while Giuseppe Rossi had a shot cleared off the line by Puyol two minutes from time.
Sevilla failed to reclaim third place from Valencia following a 2-1 defeat at Atletico Madrid.
Brazilian Renato headed Sevilla ahead on 44 minutes but a disastrous own goal from Ivica Dragutinovic three minutes after the break helped Atletico draw level.
Sevilla had Argentine Aldo Duscher sent off for a malicious challenge and Atletico captain Antonio Lopez scored a last minute header to win the game.

  Soderling, Cilic set for India's ATP event
AFP, Chennai

World number eight Robin Soderling and defending champion Marin Cilic will prepare for the tough season ahead at the 400,000-dollar ATP Chennai Open starting today.
Soderling flies in for his maiden appearance in South Asia's only ATP event from Abu Dhabi, where he knocked out world number one Roger Federer in the semi-final of an exhibition tournament on Friday.
The Swede lost in Saturday's final to Rafael Nadal, who he beat at the French Open last year on the way to his first Grand Slam final.
Soderling is the top seed at the Chennai event, regarded as a warm-up for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on January 18.
The 25-year-old starts his campaign against 100th-ranked American Robby Ginepri, known for a stunning run at the US Open in 2005 when he reached the semi-finals before losing to Andre Agassi in five sets.
Second-seed Cilic won the Chennai and Zagreb titles in a superb start last year, before enduring a mid-season slump and finished 2009 ranked 14th.
"Going into the top 10 is obviously an aim, but I can't be thinking about it yet," the big-serving Croat said Sunday."
The start and the finish last year were great, but it could have been better in the middle of the year.
"I think I was not fit enough for the whole year. I have worked hard on my fitness in the off-season. The important thing is to play at least three or four weeks in a row without any problem."

  India eyes another success in Dhaka tri-series
AFP, Dhaka

India will be keen to extend their impressive run in a triangular series starting in Dhaka today and boost their hopes of becoming the top-ranked side in one-day cricket.
They have won six of their last seven bilateral one-day series under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and a title-triumph here against a new-look Sri Lanka and a resurgent Bangladesh will help them narrow the gap against leaders Australia.
Dhoni's men are currently the top-ranked team in Test cricket and number two behind the Aussies in one-day internationals. And although they cannot overtake the Australians in this series, India are hoping to close in on their rivals.
The tournament opens with a day-night clash between Sri Lanka and the hosts. Each team will play four league matches before the top two qualify for the final on January 13.
India vice-captain Virender Sehwag said ahead of the series his team were focused on maintaining consistency. India will be without batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar, who has been rested for the one-dayers, but they still have depth in batting to give
a good account of themselves.
India, who beat Sri Lanka in both Test and one-day series at home recently, have explosive batsmen in Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni to dominate any attack.
Sehwag said Sri Lanka were a tough side to beat despite missing veterans Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuriya.
Opener Jayasuriya, the world's second-highest scorer with 13,428 one-day runs, was dropped, while spinner Muralitharan and batsman Jayawardene have yet to recover from injuries picked up during the India tour. "I think Sri Lanka still are a good side and Bangladesh can also beat any team. We are not taking them lightly," said Sehwag.
Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said his side could make it to the final despite missing skipper Mashrafe Mortaza and key seamer Nazmul Hossain due to injuries.
Top all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will lead the team, while Shahadat Hossain replaces Nazmal.
"Sri Lanka have brought a team below their best. They have left a few top players behind. We'll be competitive against them and can push them hard. Hopefully, we'll beat them," he said.
He added that Bangladesh were now a better batting side and would also be "competitive" against favourites India.
The series will be a real test for Bangladesh, who will be keen to build on their one-day successes last year.
Bangladesh clinched their one-day series against below-strength West Indies and Zimbabwe in 2009 under Shakib, who led the side in the absence of Mortaza.

   Liaison Officers's training course concludes
TBT Report

A three-day training prog-ramme for the Liaison Officers of the forthcoming 11th South Asian Games (SAG) concluded at the Bangladesh Olympic Asso-ciation (BOA) in the city on Sunday.
Three-hundred Liaison Officers, who have selected for the SAG, took part in the course, organized by the Reception, Protocol and Liaison Committee of the impending South Asian contest.
Convener of the Reception, Protocol and Liaison Committee M Shahriar Alam, MP, Member Secretary Fazlur Rahman Babul, Member Hasanu-zzaman Bablu and other officials attended the concluding ceremony of the three-day course.

   Leeds stuns Manchester
AFP, London

Third-tier Leeds United produced the shock of the third round by knocking record 11-times winner Manchester United out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Fallen giants Leeds, the League One leaders who are 43 places below English champions Manchester United, won thanks to Jermaine Beckford's 19th minute goal and then denied their hosts, second in the Premier League, an equaliser.
It was the first time Manchester United mana-ger Sir Alex Ferguson had lost in the third round of the FA Cup, the stage at which teams from England's top two divisions enter the knockout tournament, since he arrived at Old Trafford 24 years ago. Not since 1984, when beaten by third tier Bournemouth, had Man-chester United lost at this stage of the competition.
Victory was also Leeds's first at Old Trafford since 1981. Their goal came after Jonny Howson's superb 50-yard pass over the head of Wes Brown found striker Beckford and he outpaced the defender before sliding the ball left-footed into the far corner and beyond goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak.
United did threaten and, after Leeds keeper Casper Ankergren had advanced quickly to block Wayne Rooney's initial shot, Jason Crowe had to clear off the line from the England striker. Ankergren then produced another good block to deny Danny Welbeck early in the second-half. United mana-ger Alex Ferguson made a double substitution with veteran forward Ryan Giggs replacing Gabriel Obertan and striker Antonio Valencia coming on for Danny Welbeck.

   Swann's double strike rocks South Africa
AFP, Cape Town

A double strike by England off-spinner Graeme Swann plunged South Africa into trouble on the first day of the third Test at Newlands here on Sunday.
South Africa was 183 for five at tea after being sent in to bat. The host nation appeared to be on the way to recovery after a poor start before Swann took two wickets in two balls to put England firmly in control with South Africa on 127 for five.
Swann, man of the match in the first two Tests, ended a 76-run third wicket stand between Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers when he had De Villiers smartly caught at short midwicket by captain Andrew Strauss for 36.