thursday, JANUARY 7, 2010 Poush 24, 1416, muharram 20, 1430 Hijri

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Leading News

PM pledges positive political trend, urges opposition to return to JS
She claims success in controlling inflation, price spirals and ensuring food security

UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested the opposition to return to parliament and play their role as she wants to introduce healthy and positive political trend in the country.
"We want to break the traditional trend of politics, introduce a healthy and positive political trend. Therefore, we request the opposition to return to parliament and play its role," she said in a nationwide address over the state-owned television and radio on Wednesday evening marking the first anniversary of her government.
Hasina, who stepped into the second year of her rule Wednesday, claimed success in controlling inflation, price-hike of essentials and ensuring food security. "I've achieved success to a great extent in meeting my election pledges to bring down the prices and ensuring food security," she said in her address to the nation.
Hasina, who returned to power for a second term after her party's landslide victory in the December 29, 2008 general election, said inflation rate was 10.11 percent when she formed the government on January 6 last year. The rate of inflation now came down to 4.69 percent in August, 2009.
The Prime Minister said despite the global economic recession, flow of remittances has increased 22.4 percent from the previous year and the foreign-currency reserve exceeded USD 10 billion. Her government has allocated Tk 5,046 crore in the national budget as a stimulus package so trade and business run smoothly. In agriculture sector, Hasina said her government provided subsidy worth Tk 3,600 crore for farmers to boost production, and if necessary, it would be increased further. Presently, 11.5 lakh metric tons of food is in stock in the country. "We want to build a poverty-free Bangladesh… We want to bring down the level of poverty to 15 percent by 2021," she told the nation. On the nagging power crisis, the Prime Minister noted that after assuming office, the production of electricity increased to 4,296MW from 3,808 MW against the present requirement of nearly 5,500 MW.
Hasina said new power stations with capacity of 728 MW were put in operation since she took over. More power plants with capacity of 1000 MW would be installed this year.
The Prime Minister said, "We want to free the country from corruption, and for that anti-corruption institutions have been strengthened." She said Bangladesh was included in the list of 10 top corrupt countries in the past, but her one-year rule was able to remove this stigma.
The Prime Minister deplored that the unelected caretaker government in its two-year rule harmed the country's economy through creating a fearful situation "in the name of anti-corruption drive". "Economic and overall development nosedived. My question is who are responsible for the miseries of the two year?"

 Energy ministry okays gas rationing proposal
BSS, Dhaka

The energy ministry on Wednesday approved a proposal of Petrobangla for starting a gas rationing plan to ease the on-going gas supply problem across the country, especially in the capital city soon.
"We decide to start the rationing of gas soon. We will send the minutes of the on Wednesday's meeting to the Prime Minister's Office for final approval and as per the directive of the PMO, we will implement it," M Mohsin, secretary of the energy ministry, told BSS.
According to the Petrobangla, the Titas Gas System is now getting 1425 mmcf of gas against its demand for 1,675 mmcf per day. Due to this huge shortfall, residential consumers and CNG stations are facing a gas crisis during the last few weeks. The power sector and the fertilizer factories also suffer due to the gas shortage.
The present crisis which is a common scenario in winter as the amount of condensate (a petroleum product) has increased in gas that finally creates problems in the distribution system.
"We don't have any system to stop gas supply in any areas or zones as we supply all gas from a common grid. The business community has come forward to help ease the problem and we both agree to start the gas rationing," the energy secretary said.
Aiming at achieving the goal of the Petrobangla, its officials on Tuesday sat with leaders of BKMEA, BGMEA, BTME and FBCCI. The association leaders agreed to start implementing the gas rationing plan in different zones in separate days.
The meeting also decided to cut the gas supply from Siddhirganj Power Plant to facilitate the textile factories and other industries in Muktarpur under Munshiganj district.
At present, the country is producing 1900-1960 mmcf gas per day against the demand for 2400 mmcf. The power sector is now getting 670 mmcfd gas against its demand for 870 mmcfd. The fertilizer sector is consuming 200-215 mmcfd gas against its regular demand for 250 mmcfd to 270 mmcfd and the non bulk (residential, industrial and CNG stations) 1,040 mmcfd against their demand for around 1,200 mmcfd.

 No success of AL govt in any area in last one year: Delwar
UNB, Dhaka

BNP secretary general Khandker Delwar Hossain on Wednesday dismissed the claim of success of the Awami League led Grand Alliance government during its one-year rule and said it has rendered parliament ineffective and democracy a sham.
"The main task of the government was to protect the interest of those who installed them to the power through a conspiracy," said the BNP leader pointing his finger at the army led caretaker government. "They did not consider prudent to protect the interest of common men and the nation."
Briefing the newsmen at the BNP Central office in the afternoon Delwar said Awami League had squarely failed to keep its pledge of making parliament a focal point of all activities by deliberately keeping the opposition out. The sitting arrangement in parliament set by the outgoing Speaker was dismantled only to deprive the opposition of its share of seats in the front row.
The government did not stop there. The ruling party leaders reduced parliament to a centre of hurling abusive and making indecent remarks on the leaders of the opposition Khaleda Zia and her son Tariq Rahman, he added.
Delwar lamented that the government discriminated the opposition. The cases against Awami League leaders filed during the previous caretaker government have been withdrawn. But the cases against BNP leaders including Khaleda Zia and Tariq Rahman have not been withdrawn to continue harassing them.
Moreover, BNP leaders Abdus Salam Pintu and Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu have been implicated in fresh and false cases. He said the government has been nakedly interfering in the judiciary depriving its adversaries from getting fair justice.
The one-year rule of Awami League is marked by secret killings, terrorism, extortion, tender-manipulation, deterioration of law and order and price hike of essentials. Some 224 people have fallen victims of extrajudicial killing. Many BDR jawans died of unnatural death in the custody.

  Drive to clean Buriganga riverbed launched
BSS, Dhaka

Buriganga Bachao Andolon on Wednesday entered into a new phase as the first-ever government project to remove deposited wastes and polythene on river beds was launched here on Wednesday.
At the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has undertaken the Taka 25 crore project to save the dying rivers around the capital.
This is the first project to be funded from Climate Change Trust Fund of the Ministry of Environment and Forests and similar project will be taken on success of the project.
Thousands of people showed their solidarity with the government initiative and arranged boat procession on the Buriganga marking the launching of the project.
Officials said 18.50 lakh metric tons (9.6 cubic meter) polythene and other solid wastes would be removed from the Buriganga and the Turag rivers in one and a half years period under the project.
Shipping Minister M Shajahan Khan, Water Resources Minister Ramesh C. Sen, State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud were present at the inaugural programme of the project held at BIWTC launch terminal at Sadarghat.
Noted environmentalist Prof. Abdullah Abu Syed, Vice chancellor of Dhaka University Prof. AASM Arefin Siddiqui, local MP Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin and chairman of BIWTC Abdul Malek Mia and Chairman of BAPA Abu Naser Khan spoke, among others, on the occasion. Secretary of the shipping ministry Abdul Mannan Hawlader was in the chair.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Paribesh Bachao Andolon highly commended the government initiative to save the rivers and called for appointment of permanent magistrate to monitor pollution and encroachment of the river banks.
Shajahan Khan urged the activists of the BAPA to remain active in their movement and build public awareness on the issue as far as rivers were not completely freed from encroachment and pollution.
Ramesh C Sen said the government is committed to people to provide them with a healthy and pollution free environment. The rivers should be saved to conserve water, fisheries and biodiversity, he said.
Dr Hasan Mahmud said every year the country has to suffer Tk 30 to 50 thousand crore due to environment pollution and loss of water bodies and river course.

   Zia Orphanage trust case
Plea of Khaleda, Tarique referred to Chief Justice

UNB, Dhaka

The hearing on ex-PM Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman's petitions for stay on the trial of Zia Orphanage Trust fund embezzlement case stalled halfway through amid legal wrangles over the jurisdiction of a designated High Court bench Wednesday.
After hearing both sides, the division bench comprising Justice Syed M Dastagir Husain and Justice M Rais Uddin referred the duo-petitions to the Chief Justice for "necessary order", court sources said.
Earlier on October 15 last year, the same HC bench, following petitions, issued separate rule upon the government to explain why the proceedings against the accused in the Zia Orphanage Trust fund case should not be quashed.
Separate quashing petitions were filed with the High Court a week after a sessions' court took into cognizance the charges brought against Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman and four others in the case. That set in motion the trial through recording evidences of the prosecution witnesses.
On July 3, 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case with Ramna Police Station in Dhaka as there had been a purge against graft under state of emergency at the time.

   Country marks remarkable progress in agriculture: Muzaffer
BSS, Dhaka

Former chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Professor Muzaffer Ahmad said, apart from dwindling corruption, Bangladesh has marked a remarkable progress in the agriculture sector as the government undertook some initiatives to increase productivity providing subsidies on fertilizers, diesel and lending farm loans on easy terms.
"As per the election pledge, the government seems to be sincere in maintaining its efforts for attaining sustainable progress in the farm sector," he told BSS expressing his reaction over the performance of the government during its first year in office.
The BSS report on Wednesday said, referring to government's attitude in curbing corruption, he said the government was positive in maintaining zero corruption at ministerial levels and to a great extent, it was successful.
While his attention was drawn to the attitudes of some ministers welcoming TIB report on corruption, he said it was positive that cabinet members for the first time accepted the reports, but it's not time to say how long they would remain tolerable. "The government and its ministers normally get impatient with fall in popularity," he added.
The parliamentary standing committees were formed in the first session and those bodies are functioning well, he said adding the standing committees are holding meetings regularly to monitor activities of the ministries. Other institutions like Anti-Corrup-tion Commission, Election Commission, Information Commission, Judiciary, law enforcement agencies, Public Service Commission and Human Rights Commission should be allowed to function freely with accountability and without political influence, he said.
Bangladesh has marked a significant deep in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) this year as it has ranked 13th from below, which is 139th among 180 countries included in the index this year, he quoted recent TIB report. This report was based on administrative corruption, Professor Muzaffer Ahmad said.

   Plan to develop 4,000-km highways
BSS, Dhaka

The government is mulling developing around 4,000 kilometers of national highways with four lanes and dividers under the private-public partnership (PPP) as the possibility of the support from donors becomes slim to expand road infrastructure in the country.
The Ministry of Communications (MoC) has conceived the idea taking experiences from Malaysia and India, and considering urgency for development of the road sector for the overall economic progress."We are actively considering the option as the financial support from the donors is much below than our requirements," Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain told BSS.The country needs about 20 billion dollars to expand the existing national highways with four lanes and dividers to make the roads safe and easy to drive to avoid accidents. But the response from the donors is insufficient, he said.
"It's a new concept for the country," the minister said adding that it will be the first time to invite the private sector and come out of the traditional public sector venture to develop the communications network in the country.
The idea has already been shared with the higher level of the government, Abul Hossain said adding that a profile of such a project would be submitted to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for approval very soon. The minister said easy and safe communications network is one of the prerequisites for economic growth of people. The road communications now remain in a very dreadful condition as far as speediness and safety are concerned. Once the project is approved, a tender will be floated inviting local and foreign investors to reconstruct the roads under the PPP or the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis," he said.

Back Page

President for patronizing research institutions
BSS, Dhaka

President Zillur Rahman on Wednesday urged the country's wealthy people to supplement the government efforts in patronizing the research institutions of the country.
"You know that without patrons, art, literature and research cannot spread out," the President said while addressing the 13th biennial general meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh at Osmani Memorial Hall here.
The President said research works play a pivotal role along with the education in advancing the society ahead as the future- planning is prepared in line with recommendations of the research works. "I believe the merit, knowledge and wisdom of our illustrious scholars will play a special role in providing directives to the national development," he said.
Describing Asiatic Society as a prestigious research institution in the country over 50 years, the President, who is also the chief patron of the society, said it has been playing an appreciable role in development of education, research and human resources in the South-East Asian region. Recalling that the Asiatic Society of Bengal was established in 1784 by utmost effort of Sir William Jonse, former justice of Calcutta High Court, he said the society's main contents of research are the people and nature of Asia.
Zillur Rahman expressed his hope that the research activities of the Asiatic Society would gradually be more extensive and rich.
The President said the main goal of the independence was to build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh and the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had a dream of turning the country into 'Sonar Bangla'. "But we are yet to able achieving the goal fully after 38 years of our independence," he observed.
President of Asiatic Society of Bangladesh Professor Sirajul Islam also spoke on the occasion while its General Secretary Professor Mahfuza Khanam presented the 13th biennial report of the society.

  BNP to observe 1/11 as ‘Black Day’
UNB, Dhaka

Main opposition BNP will stage countrywide black-flag protests on January 11 to observe the day as 'Black Day" as they say this day in 2007 emergency rule was imposed violating the country's constitution and disrupting the democratic process.
A joint meeting of BNP and its front and associate organizations with BNP secretary-general Khandaker Delwar Hossain in the chair at its central office Wedn-esday afternoon chalked out programmesy for obse-rving the black day, the 74th Birth Anniversary of the late President Ziaur Rahman, the founder of BNP, on January 19 and 'Democracy Killing Day' on January 25.
On December 26, BNP in a joint meeting had taken the decision to observe 1/11 as Black Day and January 25 as Democracy Killing Day, as these are two of the major turning-points in Bangladesh's political landscape.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Khandaker Delwar Hossain said they will observe January 11 as black day through wearing black badges, hoisting black flags and holding protest rallies in all BNP units at district and upazila levels across the country.
In the capital, they will hold discussion meeting at the Institution of Engineers Bangladesh (IEB) at 3pm on January 11 while hold protest meeting in front of the party's Naya Paltan central office in the afternoon on January 12.
To justify the 1/11 chan-geover as a black chapter in the country's political history, Khandaker Delwar Hossain said, "On January 11, 2007 emergency rule was imposed illegally by violating the constitution and democratic process with the active cooperation of a few army officers and personnel." He said they as well as the people consider it as a black day as "1/11 was created through conspiracies to obstruct continuity of the constitutional process".
The party and it wings will observe the 74th birth anniversary of Ziaur Rahman through holding various programmes from January 19 to 24.
On January 19, the party flag will be hoisted at the BNP central office, the Zia faithful will assemble at the mazar of Zia at 10 am to offer fateha and place floral wreaths besides holding milad-mahfil and voluntary blood-donation progarmmes. They will hold a discussion meeting at 3pm at a venue not mentioned.

  Petrobangla to hold 2nd round of talks with ConocoPhillips on Jan 19

BSS, Dhaka

Petrobangla will hold its second round of talks with the US oil gas company ConocoPhillips on January 19 with a view to exploring the hydrocarbon potentials in the Bay of Bengal, officials of the energy division said here on Wednesday.
On October 5 last, Petrobagla held its first round of talks with the conoco Phillips. To award the offshore blocks, Petro-bangla started negotiations with two companies- Con-oco Phillips and Tullow-but could not reach any conclusion, they said.
According to the officials, the Conoco Phillips has offered to spend $2.496 million to conduct a two-dimensional seismic survey of 1,200 'line kilometres' in a five-year initial mandatory work programme for exploration, $58.1665 million for conducting a three-dimensional seismic survey of 500 square kilometres and drilling one exploration well in the first extension period of two years, and $50 million for drilling another exploration well in the second extension period of two years. The US company has made almost similar offers for the six other blocks, the officials said.
The Conoco Phillips has submitted four bids for eight deep- sea blocks-numbers 10, 11, 12, 17, 15, 16, 20 and 21. The company is interested to sign four production-sharing contracts, each for two blocks while the cabinet, however, nodded to award two blocks (10,11) to them, they said.
In the first round of talks, Conoco Phillips asked the Petrobangla to allocate them more blocks as the areas of block 10 and 11 are being overlapped by the Indian borders.

   Ershad not to oppose 72 constitution if ‘Bismillah’ retained
UNB, Dhaka

Former President and Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad Wednesday said he is not disappointed about the Awami League-led grand alliance's government though it completed one year of rule with some lacking.
"Although there is a difference between our expectations and achievements from the government, I am not disappointed. I am optimistic about the government," he told a big rally marking the 24th founding anniversary of JP at Paltan Maidan in the afternoon.
Ershad said if they can strengthen the government apart from Jatiya Party, the differences between expectation and achievement can be reduced. On the current issue of restoration of the '72 constitution, the former military ruler said he won't create any obstacle if the Awami League assures that they will not try to erase Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim from the constitution.
The JP chairman called upon the party faithful to be united to strengthen the party for contesting the next parliament elections individually. "If we strengthen the party through well organizing it, we can ensure our expectations and goals."
Criticizing the recent moves of the opposition parties, he said the BNP-led four-party alliance is trying to gain political advantage over Tipaimukh Dan issue. "I believe the government will not take any step which will harm the interests of the nation." He claimed that his Jatiya Party is the mainstream of the nationalist force, not BNP. "Those who give shelter to the war criminals cannot be a nationalist force," he said.
Referring to the ongoing acts of extortion and tender-manipulation he said, "Though extortion and tender-grabbing prevails in the country, the Home Minister will control it with a strong hand." Ershad urged the government to introduce provincial government system to save Dhaka from untold sufferings caused by traffic jam.
JP secretary-general ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader, JP leader and Minister for Civil Aviation GM Qader, Rawshan Ershad, Firoz Rashid, Barri-ster Anisul Islam Mahmud, Nasim Osman and Adv Mahbubur Rahman also addressed the rally.

   UK strong democratic system: British Minister
UNB, Dhaka

UK Minister for Communities and Local Government John Denham MP Wednesday said establishing a strong democratic system as well as instrumental arrangements could attract more foreign investment in Bangladesh.
Addressing a pre-departure news conference at Bay's Galleria he said developing investment vehicle would make it easier for the British-Bangladeshi entr-epreneurs to put money for investment in this country.
UK-Bangladesh trade was worth over 800 million pounds in 2008. Despite the global economic downturn, the bilateral trade to June this year has seen a healthy increase. Much of this is due to the British and Bangladeshi businesspersons and women.
Denham said there are opportunities to increase the level of investment by the British-Bangladeshi businesspersons. In reply to a question, the British Minister would not comment on the current political scenario where the opposition is abstaining from parliament.
However, he mentioned that though not attending the plenary session of parliament, they are attending the meetings of parliamentary standing committees.
"We support fully functioning democracy," the British Minister told the journalists.
Denham said the British government wanted to see a return to parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh where Britain had played a significant role in preparing the digital voter list ensuring free and fair elections on Dec 29, 2008. During his 3-day visit, the senior UK Minister held series of meetings with the Prime Minister, the LGRD Minister, the Education Minister and the Foreign Minister and had interactions with community representatives in Sylhet Division.
Denham reiterated UK's commitment to assist Bangladesh in the fields of education, climate change and democracy.

   BTCL to give 10 lakh more telephone connections
BSS, Dhaka

Bangladesh Telephone Company Limited (BTCL) has decided to install 10 lakh new fixed telephone connections across the country in view of increasing demand.
The last board meeting of BTCL on December 20 took a decision in principal to initiate a project in this regard at a cost of Taka 1,000 crore from its own fund.
Earlier, the BTCL took another project to install 1.71 lakh new connections through optical fiber in the capital at a cost of Taka 200 crore.
The BTCL has taken these initiatives in line with the government's plan to raise the number of fixed phone connections up to one crore by 2012 with a view to building the IT-based digital Bang-ladesh, Managing Director S M Khabiruzzaman told BSS here on Wednesday.
The demand for fixed phone has sharply increased across the country including Dhaka after reducing the BTCL call charge to Taka 0.30 per minute, he said. Presently, the BTCL is providing 6,29,861 fixed phone connections in Dhaka division against the capacity of 6,69,176 connections from the existing 179 multi-digit exch-anges, BTCL officials said.
The BTCL Managing Director also said that the telephone exchanges, installed during the last four-party alliance government, are very substandard facing difficulties to keep them in order.

Editorial

PM’s directive to police

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in his address on the occasion of Annual Police week, has issued a very important directive to the police. While inaugurating the Police Week-2010 at Rajarbagh Police Lines in the city on Tuesday morning she ordered the police to take stern actions against offenders without considering their party affiliations for maintaining law and order in the country. Sounding a note of caution, she said any negligence to take actions against the lawbreakers, curbing extortion and all sorts of crimes would not be tolerated as her government is committed to ensuring a secured and peaceful life of the people. "You will be awarded for success in discharging duties and shall be accountable to the people for failures," she said. Sheikh Hasina urged the police to earn people's confidence saying their success in curbing corruption and improving the law and order largely depends on supports from the people.
Later, addressing the top police officials at International Conference Center (ICC) in the Prime Minister's Office on the occasion Sheikh Hasina said she would not buy enmity for the country through allowing militants and terrorists to use Bangladesh for carrying out attacks in another country. "They (militants and terrors) will use the land of Bangladesh to conduct their terrorism in another country and we will buy enmity by harbouring them-this cannot be," she said in an oblique reference to recent developments. The Prime Minister said she knows that there are so many risks for such kind of stance. "I know there are risks. I also have life threat, but, for the sake of the country and its sovereignty, I will not allow that," she said . Hasina said for the sake of independence and sovereignty, she is taking the risk to protect the country from being used as "the base of another country's militants and terrorists".
The Prime Minister's remarks were very important and significant. The main messages she conveyed on Tuesday to all concerned are that the police have to take stern actions against offenders without considering their party affiliations for maintaining law and order in the country, that they will be rewarded for success and accountable for failure and that the terrorists and militants will not be allowed to use the soil of Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister's intention appears to be good and her determination seems to be firm. It is vitally needed to take stern action against the offenders and protect the soil of the country from being used by terrorists and militants. But the problem remains that it is not very easy to accomplish these tasks as there are always obstacles to such work. Sincerity, dedication and relentless hard work are essential for translating the orders of the Prime Minister both at political and distractive level and that have to be ensured at all costs. Any lapse or neglect in this regard will frustrate the efforts to achieve the goal.
So, the Prime Minister herself has to remain ever vigilant to ensure the implementation of her directives. Because corruption is allegedly rampant in the police department on the one hand and on the other, politicians with evil designs often use the police to serve their own purposes. It is open secret that the criminal do have their patrons among a section of dishonest police officers and in most cases the godfathers of the criminals happen to be politicians. In fact there is an alleged nexus between the criminals and a section of police or a section of politicians. This nexus has to be broken and police must be kept beyond political and administrative influences to check crimes, violence and terrorism in the country.

  Need of the hour

Stabilising the market seems to be the most important task ahead of the governemnt in the new year as the prices of essentials specially rice and pulses continue to increase. The government is reportedly considering some immediate measures including OMS (open market sale) of rice to ensure a stable market. The measures will also include food for work and distribution of rice and wheat through test relief and vulnerable group feeding (VGF) programme. But before the government could take any concrete action prices are on the brink of an intolerable level although the ministers frequently made pledges to keep the prices at tolerable level.
There is valid reasons to be worried as the prices of rice have recorded a rise by Tk.5-6 per kg in a span of two weeks putting great pressure on the common people. Besides, lentil, which is most essential along with rice, is selling at Tk. 140 per kg marking a rise by Tk 25-30 per kg in over one month. Moreover, the price of soyabean oil has also increased and is selling at Tk. 95-100 per liter now. Prices of garlic, onion and other spices have also increased. Fishes are scare and dearer than any time in the recent past. Beef also is costing more although broiler chicken price is stable and the prices of different kinds of winter vegetables are comparatively cheaper now.
Against this backdrop, the announcement of the food minister that the government is considering some immediate measures including OMS of rice is encouraging as these measures are expected to contribute positively to easing the alarming situation. As the people are plunged in economic hardship and are unable to bear the growing cost of living, it is urgently needed to do something effective to check the price hike specially of rice, lentil, edible oil, onion, garlic etc. Introduction of OMS immediately is the need of the hour.

Analysis

Religious Angle of Militancy and Terrorism

Indeed Western scholars consider that the Muslims were a threat to Western Christendom long before they become a problem.

Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan

Mr. W. Claes, the Former Secretary General of NATO while issuing a warning to the world said in February 1996, that, "Islamic Fundamentalism is as much a threat to the Western alliance as Communism once was". Earlier in 1990, Bush Junior compared Islam with Nazism and declared it as challenge the Western civilization must undertake to meet collectively. Indeed Western scholars consider that the Muslims were a threat to Western Christendom long before they become a problem. With reference to these statements one can easy forecast that U.S. and West are maintaining an attitude against Islam and Muslims like the one they had against Communism and Soviet Union during the entire period of cold war. Indeed a lot has already been done by the United States in the Muslim world in the garb of so called "Islamic Militancy", a term coined by the Western world after the end of cold war.
While trading out the conceptual aspects of the term 'militants and militancy', a number of academic material and historical evidences have been researched. As per the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the term, 'militant' is defined as, "having a combative character; aggressive, especially in the service of a cause". The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, however defines the terms as, "aggressively active (as in a cause)". However the origin of the term can be traced back to a 15th Century Latin world "militare" which means to serve as a soldier. Traditionally, the term militant has been used for the warriors who do not belong to an established government military organization. Nowadays a militant is more often referred as the terrorist engaged in violence. The term can also be referred to an individual or a group displaying the aggressive behavior or attitudes. The militancy is thus the state of being militant.
Historically there have been very fewer linkages of the terms like, militancy or militant with the religion except a connection, found in the Christianity where the term was used to express the continuous battle between the members of Christian Church in their struggle against sin. Under this struggle the Catholic Church is divided into three categories; the Church Militants; comprises of living Christians. The Chiben Triumphant consists of those Christians who are in heaven. And the Church Suffering (Church Expectant) comprises of the Christians presently in Purgatory (purification) and would surely go to heaven.
In today's world the militancy and terrorism are being used inter-changeably. Unfortunately, both are being labeled with Islam and the phenomenon is named either as the "Islamic militancy" or "Islamic terrorism". According to famous Roman historian Josephus, terrorism has existed in one or the other form ever since the origin of human being. However the act was formally known to be called as, 'Reign of Terror' (terrorism) during the French Revolution (1789-1799), in the Christen and Jewish dominated world, as cited by Jacobins. In spite of clearly available evidence, at that time, and even thereafter, neither the Christans nor the Jews were labeled as terrorists or the term was dedicated for their religious beliefs. However, in the ensuring history of mankind, this act of violence has been committed by people from various religious beliefs, areas, communities and casts/creeds, but never ever it was linked with a religion to call it either; Jewish, Islamic or Christen terrorism. It was only in the post cold war developments and especially after the incident of 9/11 that the term was dubbed as the 'Islamic Terrorism'.
An analysis of the Islamic dictate on the subject would reveal that; Mischief comprises all forms of anarchy and terror that remove security, comfort and peace. Whereas Islam teaches peace and tolerance and orders its believers to compassion and justice; thus Islam, militancy and terrorism cannot stand side by side. Islam forbids militancy and terrorism and aims to bring peace and security to the world. Indeed, if original that of other religions is available like the Holy Quran. It would reveal that no divine religion permits militancy, terrorism and violence. As Holy Quran says, "If someone kills another person-unless it is in retaliating for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth is as he had killed all mankind". Thus, the teaching of Islam is that, 'a person who kills even a single man indeed commits a crime as if he had murdered all mankind on earth and such people will have a painful punishment. In no part of the Holy Quran does God command believers to "respond to violence with violence", but commands Muslims to "respond to evil with goodness".
Islam indeed is a religion of peace and tolerance. The above mentioned directive from the Holy Quran and the practical life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are sufficient evidences to dispel the Western disinformation in the name of, "Islamic Militancy or Islamic Terrorism". In reality those conduct and harbor these acts of terrorism in the name of Islam cannot be regarded as Muslims, as Islam do not allow such inhuman acts. In fact, whether a conspiracy or otherwise, against the essence of Islam, these militants use Islam, as a tool of barbarism. In fact the beginning of this barbarism, which may well be called, "third world fanaticism" is the benighted initiatives of people who are devoid of love for human being. In 11th century, the way Crusaders distorted and misconstrued the Christianity as a teaching of brutality soma tainted groups of the followers of those who used them at that time might have budded in the Islamic world to get the wrong impassion about Islam through brutal acts of terrorism.
Crusaders and the present day militants and terrorists have lot of parallels owing to their "Bedouin nature as both are were ignorant, unrefined, uncultivated, vulgar, and isolated people" The violence they resorted resulted from this social structure, rather than the religion to which they claimed to adhere. The true message of a religion or another system of belief can be at times excused to distortion by its pseudo adherents. The Crusaders, who constitute a dark episode of Christan history, sel a good example of this.
The ongoing wave of militancy and terror in South West Asia is indeed a fall out of Wastern sponsored Jihad against the invasion of former Soviet Union in Afghanistan (1979-1989). After disintegration of Soviet Union, the Western backed former Jihadis were left out of work as US lead West left the region in haste. A majority of them kept itinerant along Pak-Afghan border until 9/11. Thereafter their presence in tribal areas was mulled over as a budding risk: therefore security forces launched operations to flush them out to which they resorted to terrorist attacks on innocent civilians and security forces.
Beginning with the Pak-Afghan border in 2004, these militants successfully made inroads into our major cities and carried out terrorist attacks across the length and breadth of the country. Over the years these militants were strengthened by acquisition of latest weaponry and equipment and an unending financial support by forces operating from outside the Pakistani borders, having historical rancor against us. In 2008 over 5000 innocent Pakistani have lost their lives in the on going wave of terrorism. The number would increase many fold in 2009, as one can predict seeing the current intensity of the militancy against the institutions and innocent people of Pakistan.
In order to know their Islamic connection it is worth mentioning that Islam preaches peace and tranquility not violence and killings whereas militants kill the innocent people indiscriminately, even those offering prayers in mosques which means that they are pursuing a philosophy other than Islam. In fact the militants fighting against the world in general and Pakistan in particular, are sloppily damaging the Islamic ideology and impression of Islam, which cannot be done by a Muslim. All tangible evidences and analysis are indeed leading to the coherent conclusions that; camouflaged like Muslims,
These militants are operating against Islam. Rather they have an agenda to distort Islamic teaching and Muslims.
As the only ideological Muslim country and the worst sufferer in the world at the hands of terrorists, Pakistan as a nation has to dig dawn the background and future plans of these militants and terrorists, damaging the very basis of its existence by promoting terrorism and extremism. Their uninterrupted flow of finances, most advanced munitions and terrorists and their immoral acts of violence and armed assaults on national, social and religious congregations are seriously leading towards their ling term veiled anti Islam agenda. Their activities have made everyone and any one insecure in Pakistan. They have seriously hampered the economic progress of the country by encumbering the foreign investment through acts like; kidnapping and terrorizing the foreigners. They are openly torching the educational institutions like International Islamic University Islamabad, the very basis of our intellectual growth and quintessence of Islam. Indeed these militants are at war with all the peace loving people of Pakistan for motives better known to them or their abettors.
As in Islam, every divine religion, commands love, justice, mercy and peace in their true teachings. Violence, militancy and terrorism on the other hand are divergent to the religion and promote: brutality, carnage, misery and unscrupulousness. This being the case, the origins of a terrorist act should be sought in disbelief rather than in any religion irrespective of their native religion, people with fascist racist or materialist ideologies should be alleged as possible perpetrators. The name or the identity of the triggerman is not important. If he can kill innocent people without blinking an eye, then he is a nonbeliever, not a believer. Therefore, the misinformation that Islam promotes militancy and terrorism is rather a flawed concept which is opposite to the basic teaching of Islam. The religion of Islam can by no means countenance terrorism, rather, terror in Islam is a great sin, and Muslims are responsible for preventing these acts and bringing peace and justice to the world. And this is what Pakistani as a nation is doing to save itself and the world from terrorists.
Another angle of slandering Islam and the Muslims is highlighted by the prominent writers, scholars and policy makers of United States thief dust to quote the wordings of the United States scholars and analysts like J. Happier and D Luge: "We no longer have the Soviet Union or Communism to serve as enemies justifying expensive and extensive military apparatus. It was in the mid 1980s, the very latest that the search begin for a new enemies to justify arms budgets and offensive military policies, at first as part of Communist threat and then in its place".
As per D. Pipes, another U.S analyst "main elements of any United States policy toward (militant Islam) must be that of long terms, patent but firm and vigilant containment of (its) expansive tendencies." Indeed this was a policy proposed by Kennan a former U.S policy maker and adopted by U.S throughout against the Soviet Union and spread of Communism during the period of cold war. These policy guide-lines clearly indicate that in 1980s U.S and West perhaps prepared the Jihadists from all over the world against former Soviet Union for the ultimate phase, currently undergoing from Morocco in the North Africa to Xinjiang in the Far East (Asia).
In the conclusion I must say that terrorists are carrying out attacks in all corners of the world without carrying a Christian, Muslim or Jewish identity. But the reality is that even if the terrorists are being presented in the Islamic costume, the terror they perpetuate cannot be labeled as "Islamic terror", just as it could not be called "Jewish terror" if the perpetrators were Jews or "Christian terror" if they were Christians. Therefore, is felt that global media, think tanks and intellectual should report to the real motives and un-Islamic practices of the terrorists and those who back them. As terrorists attacking the Mosques (House of Allah) cannot be considered Muslims. Their motive is not supremacy of Islam; rather they are actually playing in the hands of anti-Islamic and Pakistan elements. Indeed they are promoting the cause of global powers for their long terms supremacy over the world politics.

The writers is a South Asian analyst. E-mail: drmk.edu@yahoo.com

  Obama's Af-Pak Idealism: Myths and Realities

Islamabad is now apprehensive that the troop rise will lead to more US drone attacks and military involvement in its border areas.

Muhammed Nawaz Khan

Idealistically framed, President Obama's West Point speech of December 1, 2009 spelling his new strategy on Afghanistan looks like the triumph of hope over experience as depending solely on troops surge it fails to take into account and address the wider regional, political and reconstruction dimensions of the issue. Focused on the safety of US citizens it ignores its immediate fall out on Pakistan and subsequent impact on the region. The strategy downplays the fact that the situation in FATA is the consequence of the collapse of security in Afghanistan and not the other way around.
A large army alone is no guarantor of stability in Afghanistan, especially if the domestic forces and the central government that controls them are driven by factionalism and ethnic tensions. Secondly, the presence of large number of foreign troops in Afghanistan only validates the Taliban claim of occupation, which they use to inflame patriotic feelings, exploit religious sensitivities and recruit fighters.
The main drive of President Obama's strategy lies in turning the war over to the Afghans whose state structure is in a shambles and can bear no such burden. As a politician, Obama has made the choice to appease his domestic constituency but that internal gain is of no consequence as far as the situation in Afghanistan is concerned since the Af-Pak strategy spells out only generalities failing even to address the key problem of making the corrupt and incompetent Karzai government effective in dealing with the worsening internal situation and perform the much needed nation-building work.
However, the new policy is a continuation of the Af-Pak doctrine announced on 27th March 2009 by President Obama and repeats the old rhetoric with one major change: it gives a time frame of 18 months for US military withdrawal from Afghanistan after handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces.
The memories of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Soviet collapse in 1989 leaving the country in chaos are still vivid in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A repeat of that scenario, before stabilizing the security situation in Afghanistan, would be catastrophic as the Afghan government may collapse resulting in even a bloodier civil war, renewed humanitarian crisis and mass refugees exodus putting regional stability at risk of unseen dangers. No better arrangement could have been designed to facilitate the return to power of the Taliban, and its dreaded guests, the Al Qaeda.
It is paradoxical that a force as large as approximately 2,50,000 US-NATO-ANA soldiers is going to fight with a force of fewer than 100 Al-Qaeda members and around 15,000 to 20,000 Taliban according to CIA's own estimates. What is being overlooked is the nature of the strife. It is basically a Taliban-led-Pashtun war fighting foreign occupation. Obama paid no attention to the increasingly visible opposition to the Karzai government and the US occupation from the majority Pashtun population, which makes up the majority of the Taliban who are increasingly defining Afghanistan's civil war as an ethnic war against supporters of the old US-backed Northern Alliance, whose Tajik and Uzbek militants now constitute the majority in the Afghan National Army.
The main strategic flaw in this war is that the US is seeing both the Afghan and Pakistan situations through the lens of the Northern Afghan politics that leads the Americans to believe that stability in Afghanistan comes via Pakistan, a position that ground realities reject as erroneous. Though the strategy is linked to Pakistan, yet there is no cardinal change in the policy towards Pakistan. However, it is for the first time that president Obama has acknowledged that relations with Pakistan have not been maintained by US on the basis of broader cooperation and mutual trust and respect.
The Af-Pak is a neologism used within US foreign policy circles to designate Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single theater of war operations. The strategy puts Pakistan on the same level as Afghanistan, while on ground reality is quite the opposite. Afghanistan has no government and the country is completely destabilized, whereas Pakistan is not. President Obama's Af-pak policy disregards the most important regional dynamics and ignores the need for a broad regional diplomatic strategy. Moreover, the Indian element in the game did not figure in the speech, which ignored Islamabad's growing concerns vis-à-vis India's attempts to use the Afghan soil in its encirclement strategy.
Islamabad is now apprehensive that the troop rise will lead to more US drone attacks and military involvement in its border areas. When extra US troops land in south Afghanistan the Taliban will make a tactical retreat across the porous border to Pakistan's tribal regions. Due to geographical proximity, intense operations in Helmand in summer 2010 may disturb peaceful Pashtun belt of Pakistan, specifically Balochistan and make that restive. The deeper US-NATO push into the southern conflict zones near the Durand Line could suck in Pakistani troops and heavy casualties. The threat of the campaign has already sparked a backlash of suicide attacks in cities, raising fears for Pakistan's stability, which may become the troop surge's worst victim. If things start to go wrong for the US, Pakistan could easily be made into a scapegoat. President Obama has acknowledged that Pakistan is pivotal for the new strategy to work. This makes it all the more necessary for Washington to adjust its policy approach to Islamabad's legitimate concerns The core policy elements involve longer-term reconstruction, rehabilitation and engagement of non-state actors in nation-building process to evolve a stable peace for all ethnic groups like Pastun, Hazara, Tajiks and Uzbeks. Unless a holistic politico-military and engagement-based development approach is adopted and the hearts and minds of the people involved are won, particularly the biggest Pashtun segment, Afghanistan will remain a conflict zone benighting peace prospects in the region.

The writers is an Ex-Police Officer Islamabad Policy Research Institute, (IPRI) Email: nawazverdag915@hotmail.com

Viewpoints

Banning religion-based political parties

Banning religion-based political parties may not meet the objective Awami League has in mind.

Ibne Younus

Law Minister Shafique Ahmed's statement that the Awami League regime will ban religion-based political parties is unfortunate. I think such a move will create further acrimony and disunity among the people of Bangladesh. Subsequent political crisis and clashes may claim lives. Instead of addressing such touchy and unnecessary issues, the government should work hard with the help of the people of Bangladesh to advance our economy and our national standing in the international arena. Whenever we step out of our land, our national pride meets disillusionment, as we become aware that our country lags far behind other nations in terms good educational and political culture and prosperity. Perhaps, our standing in international politics is one of the lowest in the world. The political parties that have been in power are largely to blame for this. Banning religion-based parties will not give us bread and butter. Let us address the pressing issues of poverty, illiteracy, corruption, campus violence and other social and political ills, which have been crippling the nation ever since its birth.
Banning religion-based political parties may not meet the objective Awami League has in mind. Turkey has put such a ban for a long time, and that did not stop the pro-Islamic AK party from coming to power. If Awami League bans Islamic parties in Bangladesh, people involved in those parties will emerge with 'secular' names and will continue the same political activities they have been doing under religious banners. What is more, such a ban is undemocratic and is absent in the Western world.
Europe has a tradition of major Christian parties. For example, Germany has been ruled on-and-off by the Christian Democratic Union for a long time. Other Western countries also have Christian political parties. For example: Australia has Christian Democratic Party; Belarus has Conservative Christian Party of Belarusan Popular Front; Belgium has Christian Democrat and Flemish Party; Canada has Christian Heritage Party; Czech Republic has Christian Democrats - People's Party; Germany has Bavarian ChristianSocial Union; Latvia has Christian Democrats; Lithuania has Christian Democratic Party; Luxembourg has Christian Social People's Party; Netherlands has Christen Democratisch Appel, and Christian Union; New Zealand once had Christian Heritage Party; Norway has Christian People's Party; Russia has Christian Democrats; Serbia has Christian Democrats; Slovakia has Christian Democratic Movement; South Africa has African Christian Democratic Party, and United Christian Democratic Party; Switzerland has Christlich-Demokratische Volkspartei der Schweiz, Christian Social Party, Evangelische Volkspartei der Schweiz (Protestant People's Party), and Catholic People's Party; Uruguay has Christian Democrats; big brother United States of America has Christian Coalition, Christian Coalition of Florida, and Christian Falangist Party of America.
These seem ok and nobody goes for banning them. The problem seems to occur when Islam is associated with political parties. This is unfortunate and part of the process of demonizing this noble religion. Awami League may receive accolades from Western governments for such a move to ban Islamic parties in Bangladesh; and this will only add to their big list of doubt-standard policies.

  Monument to Excellence

But we need that core - the core of civilized values of civil society - to make it work; and unity of purpose in the war against those who war against civilization and innocent civilians.

Lanny J. Davis

I am not an architect, but I have read about the brilliant design and construction of Burj Dubai. I am struck by the similarities of architecture as a metaphor for a successful global economy and peaceful international relationships in the 21st century.
Let's start with the sheer, almost incomprehensible size of the building - comparable, albeit in a different context, to the incomprehensibly tens of trillions of dollars of debt that the world has accumulated in the last decade or so that some day our children, grand children, great grand children, and so on, must be responsible for paying.
As we know, the Burj Dubai Tower is by a good margin the tallest building in the world, the tallest free-standing building in the world, the tallest man-made structure in the world - 160 stories, 800 meters or 2,685 feet (more than one-half mile) in the air.
Almost 45,000 cubic meters (59,000 cubic yards) of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 tons were used to construct the concrete and steel foundation, which features 192 piles buried more than 50 meters (164 feet) deep. Overall, the Burj Dubai will have used 330,000 cubic meters (431,6000 cubic yards) of concrete and 39,000 tons of steel rebar, with the construction taking more than 22 million man-hours.
The weight of its aluminum alone used in the construction is equivalent to five A380 aircraft and the total length of stainless steel built nose fins is 29 times the height of the Eiffel Tower ?in Paris.
Whereas the most famous and magnificent of Egyptian pyramids, at Giza, took 80 years to build, the Burj Dubai took six years from the beginning of excavation to the official launch ceremony today, at the dedication ceremony presided over by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai.
The quantity of materials alone to build such a building and the logistics of raising the building - the supply, delivery, use, sequencing, application of engineering and design, project management, and organisation and management of thousands of workers - rivals mankind's greatest engineering "wonders of the world," such as India's 17th century Taj Mahal or Egypt's pyramids that were constructed nearly 5,000 years ago.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton saw the connection between today's dedication of the Burj Dubai and tomorrow's launch of The Dubai Forum, and the core prerequisites for a stable and peaceful world when she sent her greetings and salutations to His Highness Shaikh Mohammed, and wrote: "Your efforts to create international cooperation in the global economy is an important goal, and I wish you, my friend, the very best in ?this endeavour."
Secretary Clinton's reference to "international cooperation" is of course, metaphorically speaking, no different than the brilliantly conceived mutual dependence and relationships within the Burj Dubai that keeps it stable and enduring: a "triple-lobed footprint, an abstraction of the Hymenocallis flower, composed of three elements arranged around a central core. The modular, Y-shaped structure, with setbacks along each of its three wings, provides an inherently stable configuration for the 160-story structure….Twenty-six helical levels decrease the cross section of the tower incrementally as it ?spirals skyward."
Similarly, without a multiple and diverse group of nations, with a central core based on cooperation and mutual support, the edifice of the global economic inter-related and inter-dependent economic infrastructure can be seriously de-stabilised.
We learned that when America's real-estate melted down and credit markets froze in the spring, summer and fall of 2008, the ripple effects were virtually immediate and devastating, from the United Kingdom to France to Germany to eastern Europe to Russia to the Far East and, yes, to the Gulf States - and Dubai in particular.
The financial cycle of boom and speculative bubbles followed by crash and disaster followed by recovery and regaining balance has just happened…again…for the first time in the 21st century. But I dare say that the dreadful cycle will reoccur just as it happened in 1929 and most of the 1930s - a virus spreading from America's Great Depression throughout Europe and most of the West.
With the impact of the revolution in telecommunications technologies in just the last twenty years, the increased globalisation of economic activities and instruments (in large part as a result these rapid advances in technology), we can now appreciate Secretary Clinton's reference to the word "cooperation" in a much larger context. It is not just necessary. It is mandatory.
Whether it is the temporary economic distresses experienced in the United States, Europe, or the Middle East, we now all know that the answer is that we are all in this together. We have realised that cooperation and mutual respect and construction of national and international economic institutions to regulate the excesses of the speculative markets are among the more important lessons to be learned from the unpleasant develops of the last two years.
We can learn important lessons from real architecture - and from the Burj Dubai.
With planning and international cooperation, mutual respect among nations with different cultures, histories, religions, and traditions, we can achieve stability and security and a victory for civil society - no matter how mammoth and complex and different are the country-by-country economic infrastructures.
But we need that core - the core of civilized values of civil society - to make it work; and unity of purpose in the war against those who war against civilization and innocent civilians.

The author is an attorney in the global law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery and specialises in the unique blend of law, media and communications, and political/public affairs strategies in the US and throughout the globe. He is the author, most recently of "Scandal: How 'Gotha' Politics' Is Destroying America."

  Body scanning not the only way to see bomb

In reality, the cost and implausibility of installing full-body scanners at every port of entry around the world make this impractical.

Ann Woolner

Sixteen days before an Al-Qaeda trained Nigerian with explosives in his underwear boarded a Detroit-bound plane, the director of terrorist screening crowed about the "true information success" of US watch-listing.
"An excellent example of interagency information sharing," Timothy Healy told a Senate committee.
These days Healy is eating those words as he tries to figure out how clues given by US, Nigerian and British authorities about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's apparent slide into terrorism didn't subject him to at least more careful screening.
That's why we need airport scanning devices that capture every crevice and every bulge in every body, some argue. Already they're in limited use here and abroad, including Amsterdam, where Abdulmutallab boarded. But airport officials there weren't using the scans on US-bound passengers at the request of US officials who worried about the privacy of Americans.
In reality, the cost and implausibility of installing full-body scanners at every port of entry around the world make this impractical. And that's if people can get over their privacy concerns or if modifications make the machines less graphic.
No, what this country needs is focused screening of the population most likely to terrorize the United States, meaning, Muslims, claim others. Bad idea. Even if you disregard constitutional and moral qualms about harassing a group of people because of their religion, the truth is that ethnic profiling is ineffective and counterproductive.
Mostly innocents populate the target group, and plenty of terrorists-in-training exist outside it.
Besides, good intelligence requires cooperation from the very people profiling-advocates would target. If you treat everyone within the group as enemy agents, they aren't going to be your friends.
It's worth remembering that the best information the United States received about Abdulmutallab came from his father, who had become alarmed by his son's extreme religious views and disappearance into Yemen.
Targeting for close watch those groups that train people to attack the United States is what's required, whether driven by religious fervor or not.
Before spending billions on more sophisticated airport screeners, before approving government surveillance based on religion or nationality, look at what the United States already has in place. Ask why it didn't stop Abdulmutallab from boarding Northwest 253 in Amsterdam wearing explosives between his legs.
What you'll find is the same thing discovered in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001: Crucial information wasn't given the attention or the distribution it deserved within government agencies.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Minneapolis knew in August 2001 that a foreign national had been attending flight school but showed no interest in landing the giant jets he was learning to fly. French authorities confirmed Zacarias Moussaoui's links to radical groups and to Osama Bin Laden, who by then had declared war on the United States.
So while US officials detained Moussaoui on an immigration violation, they didn't push the investigation further to see whether a larger plot was afoot. No one connected that information to other intelligence pointing to a possible attack using commercial jetliners.
Ah, but that was then. Since 2001, US intelligence operations have had a consciousness-raising and have been ordered to join hands and share information to prevent another attack. In 2004 the government combined its disparate watch lists into one superlist, overseen by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, which Healy directs.
Vast improvement resulted. I have no doubt lives have been saved as a result. And yet ...
An internal FBI report last May found disturbing lapses. Fifteen percent of the subjects of terrorism investigations never were put on the watch list as they were supposed to be, according to the agency's inspector general.
That's the big list naming about 400,000 people for whom authorities have at least some information indicating terrorist leanings. As more solid evidence emerges, or as one piece of intelligence is linked to another, the FBI compiles sub-groups for additional airport screening. In the worst cases, individuals are put on the no-fly list - about 4,000 currently.
The inspector general found that while 15 percent of investigative subjects were omitted completely from the list, 80 percent were added belatedly. That is, agents took longer than guidelines required to add the names to the list.
And when agents received new information, usually they never got around to modifying the list accordingly. If no one adds a new dot, how can it be connected to the old one?
Worse yet, the audit said that people had been entering the United States whose names matched subjects that were supposed to have been watch-listed but weren't.
So when Abdulmutallab boarded the flight to Detroit without so much as a round of questioning, "There was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security," as President Barack Obama put it last week.
Operating without information that clearly pointed to Abdulmutallab's plan, government officials failed to link the bits of information that did come their way, John Brennan, Obama's deputy national security adviser said on NBC and ABC programs Sunday.
The Central Intelligence Agency knew in August that an unnamed Nigerian was being readied for a terrorist attack. In November, Abdulmutallab's father contacted US Embassy officials in Nigeria to report his son's disappearance and apparent shift toward radicalism.
At that point, the CIA added the 23-year-old's name to the watch list, which isn't shared with other countries. If the US and England had been comparing notes, someone might have noticed that the same Nigerian appeared on both.
Then there is the question of why no airline personnel thought it odd that a man would book an international round trip carrying only a back pack. At the least, that should have led to more questioning.
No fancy equipment needed. No ethnic profiling.
Then we might have had what Healy called a "true information success."

International

Four security personnel killed in blast near Rawalakot
Dawn Online

A suicide bomber killed four Pakistani soldiers on Wednesday near the demarcation line with India in Kashmir, the latest in a spike of attacks in the Pakistan-administered zone.
The bombing came a day after President Asif Ali Zardari visited the area - a fault line that has sparked two wars with India and distracted Pakistani attention from an expanding Taliban menace along the Afghan border.
The attacker detonated his explosives outside a barracks in Tarar Khal, southeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. "It was a suicide attack. The target was the army barracks. We have collected evidence and body parts of the attacker which proves that it was a suicide attack," police official Irfan Masaood Kishvi said.
Sardar Khurshid, another senior police officer in the area, said: "I can confirm that four soldiers were martyred and 11 wounded in the blast."
Kashmir was split into two in the bloody aftermath of independence from British rule over the subcontinent in 1947. India and Pakistan each control a part of the mountainous land but both claim the region in full.
Wednesday's attack was the fourth suicide bombing in Pakistan-administered Kashmir since June. On December 27, a bomber killed seven people outside a mosque in Muzaffarabad and analysts warn that the Taliban are extending their reach.
Militants have killed more than 2,890 people across Pakistan since July 2007, until recently concentrating attacks in the northwest, the neighbouring tribal belt and cities rather than the northern mountains and the east.
The elected leader of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Raja Farooq Haider, condemned the attack in Tarar Khal and blamed Taliban-linked extremists.
"The terrorists have attacked the Pakistan army and the entire Kashmiri nation condemns this attack," he told AFP, confirming the death toll of four dead and 11 wounded.
"A foreign hand is involved in all these incidents. These people are not coming across the line of control but from our western borders," he said.
Militants say their campaign, which has become deadlier over the last year, is to avenge military offensives and Pakistan's unpopular alliance with the United States in the eight-war against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

  ‘No apologetic posture in face of Indian threat’
Internet

Pakistan's political and military leadership on Wednesday decided not to adopt an apologetic posture towards India after being threatened by Indian army chief General Deepak Kapoor.
The decision was taken by the Federal Cabinet's Defence Committee in Islamabad.
The committee decided to bring Pakistan's diplomatic and military policies in line with India's aggressive stance towards the country.
It was also updated on the latest security situation in North and South Waziristan by top military officials.
It was decided that there would be no operation in North Waziristan due to foreign pressure.
The participants of the meeting agreed that the final decision regarding a military operation in North Waziristan would be taken only after assessing ground realities.
The meeting was informed that the Nato commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, during his recent meetings with Pakistan's top military leadership, had agreed to re-establish military posts along the Pak-Afghan border near the Waziristan region.

  Japanese project aims to turn CO2 into natural gas
AFP

Japanese researchers said Wednesday they hoped to enlist bacteria in the fight against global warming to transform carbon dioxide buried under the seabed into natural gas.
The researchers at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology aim to activate bacteria found naturally in earth to turn CO2 into methane, a major component of natural gas.
A team led by chief researcher Fumio Inagaki have already confirmed that the bacteria exists in the crust deep under the seabed off the northern tip of Japan's main island, a spokesman for the institute told AFP.
But the project faces a big challenge to develop a method of activating the bacteria and accelerating the speed of methane gas generation, a spokesman for the agency acknowledged.
In the natural environment, the bacteria turn CO2 into methane gas very slowly, over billions of years, he said.
The researchers hope to develop technology within about five years to activate the bacteria and shorten the transformation time to about 100 years, he said.
"The institute still has many hurdles, including the need to secure a budget, before officially kicking off the project," the spokesman said. "But if launched, it would be the first such project as far as we know."
The aim is for the bacteria to produce methane gas from CO2 buried in a layer about 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) under the sea bed, the agency said.
Researchers in Japan and elsewhere are seeking to capture and store carbon dioxide underground in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Such projects are controversial as environmentalists warn that CO2 could seep out.

  N. Korea began uranium program after ‘94 deal
Internet

North Korea appears to have launched a uranium enrichment program as a new way of building atomic bombs soon after its 1994 deal with the U.S. to dismantle its existing plutonium nuclear weapons program, South Korea said Wednesday.
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said in an interview with Yonhap news agency published Wednesday that the North appears to have launched its uranium enrichment program right after the 1994 agreement, or by 1996 at the latest.
If North Korea did launch their uranium enrichment program so soon after the 1994 deal with the U.S. it would underline the deceptive nature of the communist regime that has brandished nuclear threats to extract aid and concessions. It would also raise doubts whether Pyongyang has any intention to give up atomic ambitions.
"It appears the North started the uranium enrichment program right after the 1994 agreement or at least in 1996," Yu told Yonhap.
Atomic bombs can be made with highly enriched uranium or plutonium.
Economic aid, diplomatic recognition
The 1994 pact between Pyongyang and Washington had defused an earlier nuclear crisis over Pyongyang's plutonium-based bomb program. Under that accord, the North agreed to freeze and ultimately dismantle its nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid and diplomatic recognition.
The agreement fell apart in 2002 when the U.S. accused the North of running a secret uranium enrichment program, touching off the latest nuclear standoff.
North Korea had long rejected the uranium allegations. But in an attempt to further escalate tensions after its second-ever nuclear test in May last year, the regime claimed that it has such a program and succeeded in experimental uranium enrichment.

  Korean cosmetics gain popularity in Asia
Internet

Myeongdong is one of the best-known shopping belts in Seoul, and like many shopping areas in South Korea, home-grown cosmetic shops are a mainstay here.
Many Korean cosmetic brands are no more than 10 years old, but they have established themselves very quickly, thanks to their lower prices compared to Japanese and European brands.
The beauty industry in South Korea is more than skin deep. It's closely linking the Korean drama, tourism and media, as well as Korean culture and tradition.
"Korean stars are very popular in Asia. Rain is the most popular, so we use him to be the face of our brand to attract people to buy our products," said Tad Hwang, the general manager of cosmetic brand Nature Republic's Overseas Department.
"Many Taiwanese come to our store to shop because Korean actor Lee Min Ho endorses our products. And they would ask for his posters," said Jin Hai Ying, a sales assistant with cosmetic brand Etude.
Japanese tourists are the biggest fans of Korean cosmetics.
"It suits me. It's cheap and cute. It's used by the Japanese stars, so it's popular in Japan," said one woman.
"It's cheap. In general, it's cheaper than (the Japanese brands) so I buy a lot," said another.
But demand from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan is quickly catching up.
Sales of Korean beauty products to these three markets now account for half of South Korea's total cosmetic exports.
The growing market has attracted new players like Nature Republic. Although it started business amidst the global recession in early 2009, the company has expanded to nearly 100 stores, and it plans to double that number in 2010.

  Myanmar video journalist jailed for 20 years
AFP, Bangkok

A Myanmar court has handed down a 20-year jail term to a video journalist who worked with exiled media, rights groups said on Wednesday, as the ruling junta continues its crackdown on dissent.
Freelance reporter Hla Hla Win, 25, was arrested in September after visiting a Buddhist monastery in the the town of Pakokku, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association said in a joint statement.
Hla Hla Win was sentenced by a court in Pakokku on December 31 for an alleged violation of the country's Electronics Act, the groups said. A woman accompanying her was sentenced to 26 years in jail, they added.
There was no immediate confirmation of the sentence from authorities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which remains under tight US and EU sanctions because of its record on human rights.
"We are outraged that this young woman has been given a 20-year jail term," the two organisations said in the statement.
The jailed reporter had worked with the Myanmar exile broadcaster "Democratic Voice of Burma" based in Norway, which described the sentence as "unjust", the statement said.
"People had been expecting signs of an opening and goodwill gestures from the military junta in this election year, but this extremely severe sentence on a 25-year-old video maker and the junta chief's recent threatening comments leave little hope that the elections will be free," they said.
Reclusive junta leader Than Shwe said at an independence day ceremony on Monday that plans were underway for elections promised by the regime some time this year, but warned citizens to make "correct choices" at the polls.
Myanmar has handed heavy jail terms to scores of activists, monks, student leaders and journalists for their alleged roles in anti-junta protests in 2007 last year and for helping victims of Cyclone Nargis in May.
Pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for most of the last two decades and had her house arrest extended in August last year, effectively ruling her out of the coming elections.
The United States expressed doubt Monday that the polls would be credible.

  Kashmiris observe self-determination Day
APP, Islamabad

Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and the world over Tuesday observed the Right to Self-Determination Day with renewed pledge to continue the liberation struggle till its logical end.It was on this day in 1949, that the United Nations adopted a resolution, giving Kashmiris the right to decide their future by themselves.
The Day also reminds the world that the UN resolutions on Kashmir remained un-implemented even after the passage of more than six decades. Call for the observance of the day was given by the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who urged India to stop its state terrorism to create a conducive atmosphere for the resolution of Kashmir dispute in accordance with aspirations of Kashmiris. Mir Waiz Umar Farooq and Kashmiri leader Ali Geelani said the Kashmir issue solution is vital for sustainable peace in South Asia.
A joint session of AJK parliament comprising legislative assembly and AJK council in Muzaffarabad was the hallmark of the Day.
In Azad Jammu Kashmir public rallies, special gatherings and processions were held in all nine district headquarters of the state where speakers reiterated Kashmiris principled stance before the world that they (Jammu Kashmir people) would continue their struggle for right of self determination till its achievement.

 55 hurt as activists clash with Egyptian police over Gaza relief convoy

France 24

About 55 people were injured late Tuesday in clashes between Egyptian police and members of a convoy led by left-wing British politician George Galloway trying to take relief supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza strip. AFP - About 55 people were injured late Tuesday in clashes between Egyptian police and pro-Palestinian activists trying to get a relief convoy into the Gaza Strip, militants and medics said.
Some 520 activists belonging to the convoy-led by charismatic and outspoken British MP George Galloway-broke down the gate at the port in El-Arish to protest an Egyptian decision to ship some of the goods through Israel. They blocked the two entrances to the Sinai port with vehicles, and clashed with police. Forty militants were injured, a source close to them said, while medical sources said 15 policemen were also hurt.
The protests were sparked by an Egyptian decision to allow 139 vehicles to enter Gaza through the Rafah bordering crossing, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) from El-Arish, but requiring a remaining 59 vehicles to pass via Israel. Talks in which Galloway and a delegation of Turkish MPs sought to change the Egyptian's minds proved unsuccessful.
Early Wednesday the activists were entrenched in the port surrounded by hundreds of police, an AFP correspondent said.
An Egyptian policeman has been killed in this clash.

  Yemen captures key Al-Qaeda chief as foreign missions reopen

AFP, Sanaa

Yemeni security forces Wednesday captured a key Al-Qaeda leader and two other militants believed behind threats against Western interests in Sanaa which prompted embassies to bolt their doors, police said.
The arrest of Mohammed al-Hanq and the two other suspected extremists at a hospital in Raydah, north of capital, came as Yemen's authorities said Al-Qaeda jihadists were being choked countrywide and forced into "holes."
Hanq had evaded arrest on Monday during a security force raid in Arhab, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Sanaa, in which two of his relatives were killed and three other people wounded.
A security official told AFP security forces had Wednesday morning swooped on a hospital in Raydah, 80 kilometres (50 miles), north of Sanaa in Amran province, where the suspects were receiving treatment.
"Mohammed al-Hanq and two others who were wounded were captured in a hospital in Amran," the official said.
Four men who had transported the wounded to the hospital and hid them from police were also taken into custody, the defence ministry-linked news website 26Sep.net said.
Two other Al-Qaeda suspects meanwhile turned themselves in to the authorities in the region of Marib, east of Sanaa, on Wednesday, and a third surrendered in Arhab, a security official said.
The interior ministry said Wednesday its security forces were repeatedly raiding hideouts of "terrorist elements" in several provinces and had turned their "fight against terrorism into a daily confrontation."
"(Security operations) are not leaving the terrorist elements the chance to take a breath or reorganise their lines," the ministry said in a statement on its website.

  Obama rebuke over bomb plot prompts intelligence pledge
BBC Online

A top US intelligence official has promised action after sharp criticism from President Barack Obama over a failed airliner bomb plot.
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said the intelligence community had to boost efforts to prevent new types of attacks.
Mr Obama had earlier told senior officials that the failure to anticipate the attack was a "screw-up".
The alleged bomber is accused of trying to bring down an airliner over Detroit.
Mr Obama said US intelligence officials had known that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which claimed responsibility for the plot, had been planning an attack against America.
He also said they knew the group had been working with an individual - now known to be Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian charged over the plot. The intelligence community had failed to "connect the dots", Mr Obama said in a statement, adding: "That's not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it."
Reuters adds: U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to act with "utmost urgency" to tighten air security in the aftermath of an attempted Christmas Day plane bombing, as he sought to limit political fallout from the incident.
Emerging from a meeting with his national security team, Obama singled out the intelligence community for criticism, saying they had information that could have averted the Dec. 25 bomb attempt but failed to connect the dots.
He promised changes in particular in the government's terrorist "watchlist" system, which came under fire for failing to identify the threat of the Christmas Day attack.
"I want our additional reviews completed this week," Obama said at the White House. "I want specific recommendations for corrective actions to fix what went wrong. I want those reforms implemented immediately so that this doesn't happen again and so that we can prevent future attacks."
Xinhua adds: Barack Obama's administration, which has been fighting against the economic crisis on the domestic front and mending the country's international image throughout 2009, entered the new year with the national security issue becoming a top priority.

  China again rejects UN sanctions against Iran
BBC Online

China's ambassador to the United Nations, Zhang Yesui, has said the time is not right to consider more sanctions against Iran.
The UN Security Council, including China, has previously called for Iran to stop enriching uranium and has issued three sets of sanctions.
Iran's leaders insist their atomic programme is only meant for energy-generating purposes.
But the US and its allies fear Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
China has the presidency of the UN Security Council during January, and is one of its five permanent veto-holders.
Timing tangle
Mr Zhang told reporters at the UN that "more time and patience" was needed to find a diplomatic solution to the impasse.
The Chinese ambassador's comments come days after after Iran missed an end-of-year deadline set by the US to respond positively to offers of talks about its uranium enrichment programme.
Plans on how to respond are apparently still up in the air, says the BBC's Tom Lane, at the UN in New York.
Diplomats at the UN say senior figures from Europe, the US, Russia and China will meet later this month to exchange opinions, our correspondent says.
US officials have previously called for "crippling" sanctions in the event of a diplomatic failure.
However, recent reports suggest they are currently thinking of "targeted sanctions" that focus on people and companies involved in Iran's nuclear programme, our correspondent adds.
Analysts say it could take Iran from between 18 months and three years to build a nuclear bomb.

  Japan whaler ‘spy flights’ rile Australia
Reuters, Canberra

Australia's government came under pressure from lawmakers on Wednesday to block "spy flights" launched by Japanese whalers from Australian airports to foil hardline anti-whaling activists in the Southern Ocean.
As activists near Antarctica unveiled a third "secret" boat to help them pursue and block the Japanese fleet, influential Australian lawmakers said reconnaissance flights were helping Tokyo breach international anti-whaling conventions.
"What we have here is spy flights, which are helping to breach international law, being conducted from Australian airports under the guise and under the nose of the Australian government," conservative opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt told state radio.
Japan's government-backed whaling fleet aims to harpoon up to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales, classified as endangered, in the Southern Ocean during the current Southern Hemisphere summer.
Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 treaty. But the Japanese continue to cull whales on grounds that this is for research purposes and to monitor their impact on fish stocks, deflecting criticism from anti-whaling nations like Australia, Britain and New Zealand.
Activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vow to disrupt the hunt and on Wednesday revealed a 1,200-tonne former Norwegian harpoon ship refitted in secret to harass the Japanese.
The ice-strengthened ship, the third in the Sea Shepherd fleet, surprised the whalers near Antarctica's Commonwealth Bay.

  Colombians, al-Qaida create ‘unholy’ alliance
AP, Colombia

Colombian guerrillas have entered into "an unholy alliance" with Islamic extremists who are helping the Marxist rebels smuggle cocaine through Africa on its way to European consumers, a U.S. official told Reuters.
Interdiction efforts have made it more difficult to send cocaine straight from Colombia and other Andean producer nations to the United States and Europe.
So criminal organizations including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are going through Africa to access the European market. And they are doing it with the help of al-Qaida and other groups branded terrorists by Washington, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
"In the mid to late 1990s when the Europeans became better at maritime interdiction, off the coasts of Portugal and Spain for example, traffickers started moving their routes southward. So the next progression was to Western Africa," said Jay Bergman, DEA director for the Andean region of South America.
Three West African men accused of ties to al-Qaida were extradited to New York in December on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
It was the first time U.S. authorities established a link suggesting al-Qaida is funding itself in part by providing security for drug smugglers in West Africa.
"As suggested by the recent arrest of three alleged al-Qaida operatives, the expansion of cocaine trafficking through West Africa has provided the venue for an unholy alliance between South American narco-terrorists and Islamic extremists," Bergman said in an interview over the weekend.

  Cuba protests new US air security measures
Reuters, Havana

Cuba signaled its growing anger with the United States on Tuesday by calling in the top U.S. diplomat on the island to protest its inclusion on a list of countries whose U.S.-bound air passengers must get extra security screening.
In a statement, the Cuban government said it had delivered a note of protest calling the new measures a "politically motivated" ploy to justify the United States' 47-year-old trade embargo against the communist island. On Monday, the measures were denounced in Cuba's state-run press as "anti-terrorist paranoia."
"We categorically reject this new hostile action by the United States government," said the statement, which was the latest broadside by Cuba against the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.
The note was delivered to Jonathan Farrar, head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, and to the State Department in Washington.
Relations between the United States and Cuba, ideological foes since the Cuban revolution in 1959, warmed slightly after Obama took office last January, but in recent weeks Cuba has expressed growing dissatisfaction with his policies.
Cuban leaders say he has done nothing to end the trade embargo they blame for most of their country's economic woes.
Last month, Cuba arrested an American it said was illegally distributing satellite equipment on the island, prompting President Raul Castro to say that Obama was continuing the long U.S. policy of trying to subvert the Cuban government.
Obama has said the trade embargo will be lifted only if Cuba releases political prisoners and improves human rights.

Business/Economy

DSE index crosses 4700-point mark on ceaseless rally
BSS, Dhaka

Price index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) reached to a new high on Wednesday on a ceaseless rally of stocks for the 12th day.
The index finished Wednesday at 4707.82, gaining 29.77 points when most of the gaining issues gained on institutional buying. Brokers said the market had been witnessing institutional buying since the beginning of this year when individuals were cashing in the buying spree on profit-taking selling. The transaction in value increased significantly on the day with voluminous trading of big issues like GP, Bextex and Beximco Pharma.
Lankabangla, Navana CNG, Desco, AB Bank and Prime Bank were also on the day's top trading list. The major gainers were the issues under the B-category, a category for the companies with a bit weak track record. Market insiders believed speculative buying before the book-closure could be the main reason behind the price rise of such issues. But DSE data shows most of the today's gaining issues hardly offered any cash or stock dividend in the past.
On the other hand, the day's losing issues consisted of some issues with good track record of income, profitability and cash and stock dividends. Information available from some brokerage houses showed that good number investors sold out the shares of the issues on profit-taking trading.
The day finally closed with 193 gaining and 43 losing issues with a transaction of over Taka 1,113.54 crore. The market capitalization also rose to Taka 196,199 crore, the highest on DSE's record.

  Pakistan sugar crisis likely to deepen
Asia News Network

The sugar crisis is feared to deepen further in the next few months, as price of the commodity is expected to shoot up to Rs 90 per kg at the end of present crushing season, The Nation learnt reliably on Tuesday.
"Yes the sugar crises would further deepen in the country after the ending of current crushing season and on the other hand government is importing sugar at a time when its prices in international market are very high," Iskandar Khan, Chairman Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, said while talking to TheNation.
He said current prices of sugar in international market are around $ 720 per metric ton and its landed cost for Pakistan is about Rs 73 per kg after adding transportation cost and sales tax. Prices in international market are on the increasing side and in a few days it has enhanced by $ 20 per metric tones. The prevailing crisis is not as big as feared in near future, he said and added that sugar was available at Rs 44 per kg in March 2009 and it was wrongly reported in some sections of the media that sugar prices were Rs 25 kg on that time.
It is worth mentioning here that presently sugar is available at around Rs 70 to Rs 75 per kg in different parts of the country and in most of the places it is not available even at the higher rates. However it is available at Rs 38/kg at Utility Stores Corporation outlets but not in sufficient quantity to fulfil the public demand.

  Iran parliament advances plan to lift subsidies
AFP, Tehran

Iran's conservative-dominated parliament authorised the creation of a state-run body yesterday that will implement a major plan to scrap costly subsidies on energy and goods, the ISNA news agency reported. MPs approved the establishment of the "Organisation of Targeted Subsidies" to be responsible for spending the extra income generated from the phased out subsidies. Approval must be finalised by the Guardians Council, Iran's legislative oversight body.
The performance of the new government agency will be examined by parliament as well as the state Audit Organisation every six months. Direct and indirect subsidies on goods cost the Iranian government as much as 100 billion dollars a year.
Currently Iran's petrol stations sell both domestically made and imported unleaded petrol at 1,000 rials per litre (10 US cents) and charge 1,500 rials per litre (15 US cents) for higher- quality super unleaded petrol. Electricity costs just six cents per 10 kilowatt hours.
The lifting of subsidies will take place in a staged process, and is due to be concluded by the end of the country's fifth five-year development plan in March 2015.

  Iceland bank payout not ‘a condition’ for aid: IMF
AFP, Washington

The IMF said Tuesday its aid program for Iceland
was not linked to a measure to compensate Britain and the Netherlands for the failed Icesave bank, after the country's president refused to sign the unpopular bill.
"An Icesave agreement is not a condition for Iceland's program with the IMF, so long as the program is fully financed," said Mark Flanagan, Iceland mission chief for the International Monetary Fund.
The reaction came after Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refused to sign an unpopular bill to compensate Britain and the Netherlands over the failure of Icesave bank, leaving the matter to a referendum.
The Icesave bill, narrowly approved by the Icelandic parliament on December 31, called for the payout of 3.8 billion euros (5.4 billion dollars) to the British and Dutch governments for having compensated more than 320,000 British and Dutch savers who lost money in the collapse of the Icelandic bank.

  Greater market access gives impetus for recovery in Indonesia

BSS/Xinhua, Jakarta

An Indonesian senior official has said that the year 2010 promises a new dawn for Indonesia as two Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), that came into effect last week, give the country's exports greater access to regional emerging markets regarded as the main engine of the global economic recovery, a local media reported on Wednesday.
Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said that regardless of mounting concerns and its feared negative impacts on some domestic manufacturers, the reality of wider market should be enough to bring about a recovery in Indonesia's exports.
She said that the Indonesian government had developed ways to make optimal use of these export markets, which are now wide- open, thanks to trade liberalization.
The full implementation of ASEAN-China and ASEAN-6 FTAs took into effect on Jan. 1 and opened the door to the export and import of almost all goods across the countries' borders at zero tariffs.
Among those thought to directly benefit from greater market access to China are the exporters of 10 basic commodities that comprised of CPO and its derivatives, coal, rubber and its derivative, copper, pulp, aluminum, nickel, CD-ROMs, octanol and iron ore.
Mari dismissed on Tuesday assumptions developed in the country that the FTA with China will only benefit commodities. "All products have the potential to penetrate China's market, and not just those that are resource-based. Manufactured products such as glass and branded garments from Indonesia are also big in China,"the minister was quoted by the Jakarta Post daily as saying.
"Trade agreements with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries started since 1992 and with China since 2004. Many sectors have reaped benefits from these FTAs and we saw that our CPO and cacao exports to China have risen,"Mari said.
She called on many parties in the country to consider how to promote trade relations with China that would help improve the competitiveness of Indonesia's manufacturing industries.

  Greece must not expect EU bailout: ECB
AFP, Rome

Greece, struggling with a double-digit public deficit, cannot expect the European Union to "save" it, the European Central Bank's chief economist said in an interview published on Wednesday.
"Greece's problems are decidedly Greek, as Prime Minister George Papandreou has himself admitted," Juergen Stark told the Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
"The markets are fooling themselves if they think that at some point the other EU member states will put their hands in their pockets to save Greece," he said.
He spoke as officials from the ECB and from the European Commission began a mission in Athens to examine with Greek officials a crisis programme to stabilise national Greek finances which the Greek government is to submit to the EU Commission by the end of January.
Greece's deficit, the difference between spending on central, welfare and local government budgets and revenues, is estimated to be 12.7 percent of gross domestic product.
A finance ministry source has said on Tuesday, the day before the EU and ECB mission began work, that Athens had reduced by a year its timetable for reducing its public deficit to the maximum ceiling permitted under the Stability and Growth Pact of 3.0 percent of GDP. This would now be achieved within three years.
Late last month Greece was hit by a financial crisis that has fuelled debate in financial circles about the cohesion of the 16-nation eurozone.
Credit rating agencies downgraded their ratings of Greek debt, the price of government debt bonds used to finance the debt fell and the interest demanded by lenders rose sharply.
In addition, the ECB, which manages eurozone monetary policy, and the European Commission put intense pressure on Greece to produce a revised budget to correct public finances and restore national credibility on financial markets.
"Participation in the Monetary Union doesn't confer any right for a member state to demand financial support," Stark said.
"These past few years (Greece) has not kept its public accounts under control or worked to improve its competitivity," he said.
"These problems are not tied to the global crisis, but are homegrown, and must be addressed with appropriate economic measures," he added.

  Myanmar steps up cooperation with private companies in mineral extraction

Xinhua, Yangon

The Myanmar government has been stepping up cooperation with the private sector in mineral extraction, initiating various mutually- beneficial contracts in the aspects.
A new contract, reached between the state-run Myanmar Mining Enterprise (MME)-2 and the private company of DELCO Tuesday on apportionment of tin and tungsten product quotas for the Kanpauk Mine, signified another close cooperation between the Ministry of Mines and the private sector.
Myanmar has been encouraging local and foreign investment in the mining of such minerals as gold, gems, copper, lead, zinc and tin as well as coal.
As for gold exploration activities, some mining blocks were granted with private companies under a lease term with the state enterprise for at least three years and 35 percent of the gold output from the blocks is set to be shared by the state, while the rest is allowed to be sold by the private investor freely in the domestic market.
So far, 380 small blocks for gold mining had already been granted to the private entrepreneurs and most of the gold are produced from those blocks in Sagaing and Mandalay divisions, according to the MME which also said, besides the two divisions, other small blocks have also been under exploration in Kachin, Mon and Bago states and divisions.
Over the past two years of 2008 and 2009, Myanmar granted some five blocks in Shan state's Mongshu and Namhyar, Kachin state's Moenyin and Sagaing division's Mawhan Mawlu and Mandalay division' s Mogok for domestic investors to carry out gem and jade mining work on a competitive bidding basis.
Earlier in 2006 and 2007, over 500 gems and jade mining blocks were allotted for such undertakings.
With each block measuring one acre (4,000 square-meters), these blocks were normally leased on a three-year term.
For the development of gem industry, Myanmar has been holding gem shows annually starting 1964 and introducing the mid- year one since 1992 and the special one since 2004. On each occasion, the country's quality gems, jade, pearl and jewelry worth of millions of dollars were put on sale mainly through competitive bidding.

National

Vegetable growers deprived of fair price in Narsingdi
BSS, Narsingdi, Jan-6

Narsingdi, a leading vegetable growing district, generally supplies 40 to 50 percent of its products to the capital city and other district but the vegetable grows are not getting fair price of their products.
A number of dishonest vegetable traders made syndicate for earn were profit. They controlled all the wholesale market in the district and purchase vegetables from the grows at marginal price. They sometimes giving advance money to the growers. The dishonest traders then sell the vegetables to the retailers at higher price.
During the current winter vegetable season farmers in the district cultivated over 8900 hectares of vegetables and they are reaping huge production of vegetables using high yielding variety seeds and application of blanced fertilizers.
BSS correspondent recently visited different wholesale vegetable hats and bazars of Shibpur, Belabo and Raipura upazilas found farmers are selling the vegetables at lower price. Bean and Brinjal are selling at Taka 500 to 550 per mound, Cauliflower and cabbage at Taka 500 to 700 per hundred gourd at Taka 800 to 1000 according to size per hundred, Tomato and Potato are selling at Taka 500 to 600 per mound, radish are selling at Taka 3 to 4 per four pieces, chili at Taka 500 to 600 per mound.
Abdul Haque, a farmer of Adiafad village of Raipura upazila said, he has cultivated bean on five highs land. He advance sold been at a rate of Taka 400 per mound. Now been is selling in the local retail market at Taka 20 to 25 per KG.
Fazlu Miah of Belabo upazila said he cultivated high yielding variety of radish on four Bighas of land and huge production of radish in his fields this year. But in the wholesale market radish is selling at very low prices. He is thinking for his production cost.
The growers said they are deprived as they cannot sell their vegetables in the retail markets directly due to various hurdles created by the middlemen.

  DESCO AGM declares 25pc cash dividend, 5pc bonus shares

UNB, Dhaka

Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) has decided to provide 25 percent cash dividend and 5 percent stock dividend to its shareholders for the 2008-09 fiscal.
This means, DESCO shareholders will get Tk 25 as profit against each share of Tk 100 and 20 bonus shares against each lot of 100 shares. The decision came from the DESCO's 13th annual general meeting (AGM) held at Bashundhara Convention Centre in the city Wednesday.
The DESCO Board earlier endorsed the proposal placed by its management.
DESCO, a state-owned public limited company, was enlisted with the country's two bourses - Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) - in 2006 offloading its shares. The shares of the company have been traded as one of the most valued scrips.
The 13th AGM, presided over by DESCO board chairman and former secretary Md Shahjahan Siddiqui, was addressed by company's managing director Saleh Ahmed. Other top officials including director (technical) Manjur Rahman, director (finance) Qudrat-e-Khuda and the company secretary were present in the AGM.
The AGM was informed that the company made a net profit of about Tk 160 crore in the 2008-09 fiscal after paying taxes and meeting other expenses. DESCO paid a total of about Tk 108 crore to the national exchequer as income tax, duty and VAT. Of the total, about Tk 56.27 crore was paid as income tax while the rest paid on account of customs duty and VAT.
The shareholders were informed that the consumers of DESCO have increased to 4.3 lakh in its command areas in the city and suburb.
Citing DESCO as a success story in the country's power sector, the DESCO chairman assured the shareholders of continuing its success both in business and service to the consumers. The company's system loss came down to 9.79 percent.
The shareholders expressed their satisfaction in the company's performance and urged the DESCO management to go in power generation business alongside its distribution business.
DESCO Managing Director Saleh Ahmed said the company was contemplating to offer uninterrupted power supply at a relatively higher rates to two exclusive areas in the city on pilot basis.
Initially, the consumers at Baridhara Diplomatic Zones and part of Gulshan-2 will be offered this facility. For the exclusive customers, two separate small power plants - one having 3 MW and another 1.5 MW - will be installed to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the areas. If the pilot project is successful, it will be introduced to other areas.

   Farmers put in best effort to make Boro farming successful
BSS, Rajshahi, Jan-6

The enthusiastic farmers have been putting in their level best efforts to make the current season's Boro farming a total success at present defying the sweeping cold weather coupled with dense fog and cooler wind.
The farmers are eagerly waiting to transplant the seedlings after uprooting from the seedbeds as
the seedlings have
become appropriate for transplantation.
According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and farmers' sources, the vacant lands were already prepared for the Boro transplantation and more lands are likely to be prepared for the Boro farming just after harvesting potato and other concurrent crops.
From mid January to mid March is the appropriate time for the seedling transplantation, the sources informed. Now, the farmers have been found very much busy preparing their seedbeds, nursing seedlings, preparing lands, contributing their full efforts in achieving a record production target.
Meanwhile, the government's recent decision to offer subsidy to irrigation fuel after the price-reduction of non-urea fertilizer has encouraged the farmers tremendously.
Apart from this, around 51 lakh farmers are going to receive the agricultural inputs assistance card in the region for the first time within the next few days, by which, they can get the subsidy.
The DAE has fixed a target of producing 65.46 lakh metric tons of Boro rice from 16.22 lakh hectares in 16 districts under Rajshahi division during the current season.
Target has been set to produce around 20.74 lakh tons of hybrid varieties of rice from 4.33 lakh hectares of land, 44.64 lakh tons of high yielding varieties from 11.85 lakh hectares of land and 87,107 tons of local varieties from 4,541 hectares of land.
Deputy Director of DAE Akterul Afghan told BSS that special emphasis has been given to using the latest technology and hybrid seeds this time to help the farmers achieve the target and even exceed it.
He said that top priority was given to cultivation of Boro to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production in the region.

  Record potato production likely as farmers crossed farming target in N- region

BSS, Rangpur

An all-time record potato production is likely this season as the farmers have already exceeded its farming target by almost six percent and sowing of late variety seeds continue in the northern region, official sources said.
Senior experts and officials in the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Wednesday said that the sweeping cold wave will have almost no impact on potato farming.
"The growths of potato plants have not been affected and there would be damage if dense layers of fogs covered the air for a number of consecutive days amid sweeping cold wave and it did not happen," Deputy Director of DAE Kamal Shariful Alam said.
Meanwhile, harvesting of early variety of potato has been continuing and almost all varieties of early potato have appeared in the local markets reducing retail prices further in between Taka 15 and 21 per kg depending on their varieties.
Officials in the DAE said that the farmers have already brought a total of 3,18,301 hectares land, which is higher by 17,318 hectares than the fixed target, under potato farming in all 16 northern districts so far.
As the farmers have already brought about five percent more land under potato farming and still been continuing sowing of the late variety seeds, farming of the crop is expected to cross all previous records to produce a bumper harvest this season in the region.
The DAE officials Wednesday told that the government has fixed an all time record target of producing 49,66,220 tonnes potato from 3,00,983 hectares of land during this Rabi season in the country's northern region.
The farmers have so far brought 1,63,085 hectares land under potato farming against the fixed target of bringing 1,50,639 hectares in eight districts under Rangpur Zone to produce 24,85,544 tonnes potato during this Rabi season.
Besides, the farmers have brought 1,55,216 hectares land under potato farming so far against the fixed target of brining 1,50,344 hectares in the other eight districts under the Rajshahi Zone to produce 24,80,676 tonnes potato this season, they said.
Additional Director to DAE's Rangpur Zone AKM Shakhawat Hossain told BSS that the farmers have become largely encouraged in farming potato this season following further reduction of non- urea fertilizer prices, subsidies on diesel and inputs by the government.
Besides, distribution of the agricultural input cards among the farm families throughout the region has largely encouraged the farmers for increased cultivation of potato and other Rabi crops as their production costs will be the lowest, he added.

  Farmers expect bumper production of mustard
BSS,Kushtia, Jan-6

The farmers of 'Mowla Beel' are expecting a bumper mustard production in the 400 bighas water logged land in the current season thanks to favorable weather.
The land of beel were under water logging months after months, now mustard plants have grown very well every where in the beel of the area. The farmers said, mustered cultivation is growing popularity among them and could contribute to the national economy.
Hundreds of cultivators of the beel had been planting mustard in the lands with the help of agricultural officials.
The whole area are now buzzing with the bees to collect honey from blooming mustard field in the beel.
The farmers of beel have stepped up efforts to setting up hundreds of honey collecting boxes in the field to tap honey in the next year for additional income.
The officials sources said that the hundreds of people of the district are visiting the 'Mowla Beel' to see the beautiful yellow colour blooming mustered field. Farmers and officials said, October and mid-November is the suitable time for mustard cultivation.

  Cold-hit beggars meet DC for warm clothes in Lalmonirhat
UNB, Lalmonirhat

As a sweeping cold wave cripples life across the country, particularly in the northern part, a group of beggars Wednesday met the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district demanding blankets to cope with the chilly weather. The 50-member "beggar delegation", led by Jarip Uddin, president of the district beggars association, called on DC Alauddin Fakir at his office at noon and informed him about their sufferings.
During the meeting, the Beggar leaders informed the DC that nearly 500 beggar families in the district have been passing their lives miserably amid biting cold due to lack of warm clothes. They urged the DC to take immediate steps for assuaging their sufferings through distribution of blankets and warm clothes among the beggar family members.
The DC assured them of providing warm clothes after getting those from the government. The country has been in the grips of severe cold for last couple of days-and the northern districts being close to the Himalayas are worst hit.
Earlier on Monday, the government dispatched 1.50 lakh blankets and two other consignments of warm clothes for the affected people.
Of the blankets, 1.40 lakh pieces have been allocated from the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management. The Ministry also sent 16 cartons of warm wears to different parts of the country.
From the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, another 10,000 blankets were sent to different parts of the northern region along with 8,000 pieces of warm clothes.

  Handloom industries are facing manifold problems in Narsingdi

BSS, Narsingdi,Jan-6

The traditional handloom industries including Jamdani and Katan saree factories in the district are facing manifold problems due to high prices of yarn and dye and unhindered smuggling of Indian fabrics into the country.
Narsingdi district specially Sadar upazila was famous for different artistic sarees like Jamdani, Katan, Bruket out titanic etc. The major producing areas of the same sarees are Rasulpur, Karimpur, Jitrampur, Bhongarchar, Chawala, Satirpara, Bhelanagor and Bhagdi.
Besides, weavers commonly known as "Tanti" make lungi, saree, bedsheet, napkin, tawal and mosquito nets in the different areas of the district. Entrepreneurs of the Jamdani, Katan and Titanic sarees said, the problem aggravated due to scarcity and high price of yarn, dye and with the smuggling of Indian sarees in the local market. As a result demand for traditional Jamdani and Katan sarees are decreasing day by day causing miseries to the weavers. Weavers are also facing competition with smuggled Indian and other countries fabrics as these items are sold at low price. The weavers said once Narsingdi district was famous for handloom fabrics and on the basis of marketing of handloom fabrics, Baburhat the Manchester of Bangladesh was established here in 1937 but day by day handloom industries in the district are on wave and over a large number of looms of the district faced shut down during the last two decades.

  Trouble being created for halting BRTC-run buses
UNB, Thakurgaon

District motor owners association and transport workers union are allegedly putting obstacles to plying of BRTC buses on Bogra-Rangpur-Thakurgaon-Panchagarh routes. For the last several days, the transport workers brandishing sticks are seen waiting at BRTC's passenger shed and preventing passengers from getting into the BRTC buses.
They are forcing the passengers, including women and children, to get down from BRTC buses even in presence of policemen ignoring the appeal of women passengers. Local people apprehend that running of BRTC buses may come to a halt anytime on the routes due to the undue obstruction of the transport workers. Traffic sergeant Momtajul Islam Tuesday admitted the incident saying that the unruly transport workers do not care anybody.
Bus owners association president Osman Gani said men of his association do supervisory works so that local passengers do not avail the opportunity of traveling by BRTC buses.

  Inclusive children club opened in Sirajganj
UNB, Sirajganj

An exceptional inclusive children club arranged by Child Sight Foundation (CSF), an NGO for visually impaired children, was inaugurated in Shahjadpur upazila Wednesday.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mohammad Habibur Rahman inaugurated the club at Beltoil union parishad bhaban.
CSF said all children, including visually impaired, aged up to 14 years will be the members of the club which will be run by the kids.
The club which aimed at creating opportunities for smooth contact between normal and visually impaired children launched its journey with 77 members Wednesday. It has also books and different sports materials for children.
On the occasion, a sports and cultural competition with the participation of both normal and visually impaired children were held and the winners were given prizes.
Teachers, government and non-government officials were also present on the occasion.

  Azad calls for implementation of Vision-2021 for development

BSS, Dhaka

Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs Abul Kalam Azad Wednesday urged the people from all walks of life to come forward to implement the election pledge of this government and Vision-2021 for overall development of the country.
"The government alone would not be able to ensure the development of all sectors," he said while addressing a function at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in observance of the 9th founding anniversary of Destiny-2000 Limited.
Chaired by Chairman of Destiny 2000 Limited Alhaj Mohammad Hussain, the function was addressed, among others, by President of the group Lieutenant General (Retd) M Harun Or Rashid, Bir Protik, Managing Director of the group Md Rafiqul Amin, Deputy Managing Director Md Gofran Ahmed, Director Procurement Md Mesbauddin Swapan and Director Finance Md Said-ur- Rahman.
Azad said the present government has been working for building a digital Bangladesh free from discrimination, exploitation and poverty.
The Destiny Group is also working for achieving the same goals, he added.
Praising the development activities of the Destiny Group, the Information Minister said that the government is ready to help such organizations.
He urged the electronic and print media of the group to make constructive criticism of any government activities through dissemination of authentic and objective news.
"We have achieved the independence through the bloody struggle and War of Liberation under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We are still far away from the main goal of independence," Asad said.
The Minister said 'We must have to achieve economic emancipation to run the country in line with the sprit of liberation war'.
Azad said that the BDR mutiny and carnage and natural disaster AILA could not stop the economic progress of the country due to pragmatic leadership of Sheikh Hasina.
He said a vested quarter had tried to make confrontation between the government and the Army but they measurably failed due to efficient and dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister.

  Labour law of 2006 to be amended: Mosharraf
BSS, Dhaka

Minister for Labour, Employment, Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Engineer Khondoker Mosharraf Hossain said Wednesday the government is planning to modernise the labour law aiming at making it workers friendly.
The government already has taken several programs, including amending the existing labour law-2006, according to the convention of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for welfare of the workers, the minister said as the chief guest while addressing the Jatiya Sramik League meeting at Motijheel Shapla Chattar in the city.
It also has taken a master plan for setting up mills and industries through the opening of the closed industries and establishing new ones, he told the gathering, organized on the occasion of one-year anniversary of the present government.
About the achievements of the present government, the minister said the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken various welfare initiatives in the labour intensive sector, including initiatives for reducing harassment of the expatriate Bangladeshi workers.
Fertiliser prices have been reduced, national pay scales announced, wage commission formed and lowest national wage declared for welfare of the working class of people of the country, the minister added.
Criticising the threat of movement by the opposition, Mosharraf said Awami League is never panicked with this but the opposition should play its constructive role in attending the Jatiya Sangsad sessions.
State minister for labour and manpower Begum Mannujan Sufian, joint general secretary of Awami League Mahbubul Alam Hanif, general secretary of Jatiya Sramik League Roy Ramesh Chandra and labour and manpower secretary of the AL Habibur Rahman Siraj also addressed the meeting. President of the organisation Abdul Matin Master was in the chair.
After the meeting, a colourful procession of workers has been brought out. Thousands of workers joined the procession.

Sports

Bangladesh takes on India hoping to repeat upset
UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh takes on giant India today (Thursday) in the 3rd ODI of the IDEA Cup tri-nation tournament hoping to repeat upset.
The match kicks off at 2:30 pm at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
It is natural that the Bengal tigers will boost up themselves ahead of the tomorrow's match recalling the two sweet memorable wins against India.
Bangladesh earned their first win over India by 17 runs in Dhaka at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on December 26, 2004 and registered a five-wicket victory in the ICC World Cup played at Queen's Park Oval in West Indies on Match 17 2007.
Talking to reporters at the match venue on Wednes-day, Bangladesh vice captain Mushfiqur Rahim said they are hopeful about winning against India if they could score 270 plus in the day-night match.
"Our middle order performed good in the last match and if they click again taking the advantage in the third power play today (Thursday), we will be able to put a fighting total against India", Rahim said.
The Bangladesh vice captain, however, admitted their lack of consistency in bowling department saying "The spinner failed to get expected success in the last match against Sri Lanka."
"We also failed to put pressure in the pace attack on rival in absence of our main pacer Mashrafee bin Mortaza," he said.
Earlier, both the teams lost their opening match against another tournament rival Sri Lanka. Bangladesh was lost by seven wickets while India suffered a five wickets defeat to the islanders.

  U-19 World Cup Cricket
Bangladesh hopes to reach semis

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Under-19 team will leave here for New Zealand today (Thursday) to participate in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup with a hope to reach the semifinal.
Bangladesh captain Mahmudul Hasan, who have been showing consistence in his performance recently, said: "Our target is to reach the last four (of the U-19 World Cup) and we have the ability to do it."
Addressing a pre-departure press conference at
the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium this (Wednesday) afternoon, he said they have taken good preparations ahead of the meet.
Expressing some concern about their bowling department especially in pace bowling, the Bangladesh skipper, however, said they have a strong fielding side.
Head Coach of Bangla-desh team and former national skipper Minhajul Abedin Nannu and Bangladesh Team Manager Tanjeeb Ahsan Saad also spoke on the occasion.
Nannu said the boys have been practicing well ahead of the World Cup. They gained experience through domestic league and played some practice matches to prepare for the World Cup.
"We started our (World Cup) mission last April and have played a good number of home and away matches against England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe."
Replying to a question, the Head Coach said the team has been formed the World Cup based on individual performance. The boys are also mentally fit and ready to give their best.
Skipper Mahmudul Hasan has been our most consistent performer with both bat and ball while Shabbir Rahman is an exciting leg-break bowler who also has tremendous ability with the bat." Bangladesh has been placed in Group D of the Youth World Cup with Pakistan, West Indies and Papua New Guinea.
Bangladesh will play their first match against Papua New Guinea on January 16 at the Fitzherbert Park in Palmerston North, play their 2nd match against West Indies on Jan 17 and the third match against Pakistan on Jan 20 at the same venue. Bangladesh will also play two official practice matches in New Zealand ahead of the meet.
Bangladesh Under-19 squad: Mahmudul Hasan (captain), Alauddin Babu, Amit Majumder (Vice-Captain), Anamul Haque (WK), Arman Badsha, Abul Hasan Raju, Kamrul Islam, Mominul Hoque Sourav, Nur Hossain, Nurul Hasan (WK), Saikat Ali, Shabbir Rahman, Shaker Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar and Tasamul Hoque.

  Monty predicts right Royal battle with Asia
AFP, Bangkok

Fiercely determined Colin Montgomerie has called for a "110 percent" effort from the European players as they bid to regain the Royal Trophy from a confident Asia who beat them 10-6 last year.
The 46-year-old Ryder Cup captain knows that his credibility as a leader and Europe's reputation in team golf are at stake after crippling losses to the United States and Asia in the past two years. Montgomerie, regarded as one of the most outstanding Ryder Cup competitors of all time, has taken on the dual role of player/captain for Europe at Amata Spring Country Club from January 8-10.
Montgomerie said he would be looking to see how the players handle the pressure and follow tactics ahead of the Ryder Cup clash with the United States at Celtic Manor in October.
Swede Henrik Stenson, the world number seven, and his 2008 World Cup winning partner Robert Karlsson are the only two players apart from Mont-gomerie with Ryder Cup experience. The Asian team features five players who were in the winning side in 2009 including Japanese wonder kid Ryo Ishikawa and the Thai duo of Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng.
Thongchai and Prayad won all three of their matches last year and the upbeat Ozaki is likely to pair the local heroes together again in a bid to ignite the home crowd. Seve Ballesteros, the mastermind behind the Royal Trophy, told both teams via a live link from his home in Spain on Wednesday that he was extremely proud of the event.
Teams
Europe: Colin Mont-gomerie, player/captain (Scotland), Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Alexander Noren, Peter Hanson (all Sweden), Simon Dyson (England), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) and Pablo Martin (Spain)
Asia: Naomichi "Joe" Ozaki, captain (Japan); Thongchai Jaidee, Prayad Marksaeng (both Thailand), Jeev Milkha Singh, Gaganjeet Bhullar (both India), Ryo Ishikawa, Koumei Oda (both Japan), Charlie Wi (Korea) and Liang Wen-chong (China).

  Britain set for first Hopman Cup final
AFP, Perth, Australia

Great Britain are on the verge of their first Hopman Cup final after Andy Murray and teenager Laura Robson beat Germany 2-1 Wed-nesday to remain unbeaten in the mixed teams tournament.
With Murray looking sharp early in the new season and Robson emerging as an exciting prospect for British tennis, the third seeds secured the Group B tie against Sabine Lisicki and Philipp Kohlschreiber with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the mixed doubles rubber.
It is only the fourth time Great Britain have played at the Hopman Cup and first time since 1992, when they were represented by Jo Durie and Jeremy Bates.
Murray stepped up his preparation for the upcoming Australian Open later this month by trouncing Kohlschreiber in straight sets in the men's singles, 6-4, 6-1, in under an hour.
The fourth-ranked Scot displayed his full repertoire of shots on both sides in an ominous performance for his Melbourne rivals.
Murray, who chose the Hopman Cup over defending his title in Doha to give himself the best chance of a maiden grand slam singles title in Melbourne, has dropped just nine games in two singles matches here.
Unbeaten in four Hopman Cup matches, two in mixed doubles and two in singles, Murray said the tournament was "perfect preparation" for the Australian Open.
Murray had admitted being hampered by a hip problem when he beat Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev in Great Britain's 2-1 win in the opening tie on Monday, but said he was delighted with his form in disposing of Kohlschreiber.

   Ball tampering issue closed
AFP, Cape Town

The International Cricket Council (ICC) will take no action against England players for allegedly interfering with the condition of the ball during the third Test against South Africa at Newlands.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ICC said the umpires had viewed the footage of the incidents shown in television coverage on Tuesday and decided not to bring a charge against any player.
No official complaint was made by South Africa and the deadline for submitting such a complaint passed when play resumed on Wednesday. Television pictures captured fast bowler Stuart Broad stopping, then stepping on the ball with his spikes, while fellow fast bowler James Anderson appeared to be manipulating the seam.
According to South African team spokesman Michael Owen-Smith on Tuesday, the South African team raised its concerns with match referee Roshan Mahanama but he confirmed on Wednesday that no official complaint had been made.
England coach Andy Flower told journalists on Tuesday evening he was unaware of any controversy and said he believed his bowlers had gone about their business "very honestly" and their ability to gain reverse swing, particularly during the team's win in the second Test in Durban, was achieved through skill and not any illegal methods.

  Woods’ absence casts shadow over USPGA season
AFP, Los Angeles

For an invisible man, Tiger Woods casts quite a shadow over the 2010 US PGA Tour season.
Just when and where the embattled world number one will return from his "indefinite break" from golf are questions looming over the season that opens Thursday with the SBS Championship at Kapalua.
But the most intriguing question is how Woods will perform when he does return in the wake of the public relations nightmare that engulfed him at the
end of 2009.
Woods, winner of 82 tournaments worldwide, closed the year with a stunning fall from grace, admitting infidelity to wife Elin, who is reportedly set to divorce him amid reports he had as many mistresses as major titles: 14. Many of Woods' fellow pros say they think he'll return quickly to the form that saw him win six Tour events and seven titles worldwide in 2009, capturing his 10th Player of the Year award in 13 years.
In fact, Woods swept all of the big PGA Tour awards for 2009, although he didn't return to competition until February after a months-long layoff recovering from knee surgery.
But European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie said that after the lurid headlines and sponsor defections, Woods won't have the same "mystique".
"There is no question there was an aura about Tiger Woods over this incredible record he has, not just in majors but in other world events.
That wall has been split slightly and there are cracks," Montgomerie told the BBC. It was just what the PGA Tour, already reeling from a weak economy and sponsor pullouts, didn't need to hear.

  Roddick in cruise control against Aussie Ball

AFP, Brisbane, Australia
Andy Roddick cruised into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International with a comfortable 7-6 (7/0), 6-3 win over Australian Carsten Ball on Wednesday.
The top seed proved far more consistent than his lesser known opponent in a battle of the big servers, seeing off his second Australian in a row following a first round win over Peter Luczak. He now faces Richard Gasquet in the last eight after the Frenchman ended Australian hopes when he ousted qualifier Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-4.
Roddick once again showed no signs of the knee injury that forced him to pull out of October's ATP tournament in Shanghai.
He was in complete control throughout, romping through the first set tiebreaker then breaking Ball in the eighth game of the second set and holding his own serve to clinch victory.
"We both went in knowing that the serve was going to control most of the big points in the match, and that's what happened," Roddick said later.
Roddick, who is making a rare foray into doubles this week in a bid to get some more court time, said he felt as though he was getting better and better the more matches he played.
"I made a lot of returns, I think I had four errors in the match with 24 winners, I served 83 percent first serves, so those are numbers you can be happy with," he said.
Defending champion Radek Stepanek was pushed to the limit by Ukranian qualifier Olex-sandr Dolgopolov Jr, an unknown 21-year-old who played just two matches on the ATP tour in 2009.
A major upset looked on the cards when Dolgopolov took the first set over the world number 12, but Stepanek showed all his fighting qualities to gradually wear down Dolgopolov, taking the second set tiebreak then breaking serve twice in the third set.
After two hours and 20 minutes Stepanek took the match 5-7, 7-6, (7/4), 6-2.

  Ronaldo most popular sports star with Facebook fans
AFP, Madrid

Real Madrid's Portuguese international striker Cristiano Ronaldo is the most popular sports star on Facebook, the sports daily Marca reported on Wednesday.
The flamboyant footballer could count 3.2 million fans on his social network site on Wednesday, putting him ahead of Swiss tennis star Roger Federer with 3.18 million and US swimmer Michael Phelps, 2.86 million.
Ronaldo, 24, arrived in Real Madrid from Manchester United last summer in a world record 94-million-euro deal.
He is also the most profitable player ever in a club which had such stars as Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham, generating 80 million euros in advertising revenues per year.

  Ze Roberto wants to become a pastor
AFP, Berlin

Hamburg's former Brazilian international Ze Roberto said Wednesday he wants to become a pastor once he has hung up his boots.
"I feel a calling to help people. What has happened to me in my life is no accident. God gave me the chance," the 35-year-old told Germany's Bunte magazine.
Despite being on the road a lot with Bundesliga side Hamburg SV, Ze Roberto said he usually manages to go to church once a week, and has even recruited two teammates to a bible study group that he has formed.
Ze Roberto, who was in the Brazil squad for 1998 and 2006 World Cups, but not in 2002 when the South Americans took the title, helped fourth-placed Ham-burg to a strong start to this season before injuring his ankle in November.
The midfiedler joined from Bayern Munich last summer where he spent two highly successful spells from 2002-6 and 2007-9, winning the Bundesliga and Cup double four times with the Bavarian giants.

  South Africa stretch lead beyond 400
AFP, Cape Town

England claimed the wickets of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis but could not stop South Africa stretching their lead beyond 400 on
the fourth morning of the third Test at Newlands
on Wednesday.
South Africa were 397 for four in their second innings at lunch, an overall lead of 415. After the aggressive batting of Smith on Tuesday, it was a relatively sedate morning's play, with South Africa adding 85 runs while England bowled only 24 overs in two. hours.
Smith took his overnight score of 162 to 183 as he and Kallis batted comfortably against the second new ball, which was taken at the start of play.
Smith showed attacking intent as he added 21 runs off 29 balls but was caught on the fine leg boundary when he top-edged a hook against Graham Onions. He made his 183 off 272 balls with 25 fours.
Having successfully asked for a review of a leg before wicket decision when he was on 51, Smith might have survived again had umpire Tony Hill spotted that Onions over-stepped the bowling crease - or Smith asked for another review. England have only bowled two no-balls in the first three matches of the series.
Kallis followed up his first innings century by making 46 before he edged an attempted square cut against James Anderson and was caught behind.
England went on the defensive in the second hour, slowing down their over rate and setting run-saving fields. Only ten overs were bowled after the mid-morning drinks, with Anderson and Stuart Broad both taking six minutes or more to bowl an over.

  Henin's comeback gathers pace
AFP, Brisbane, Australia

Former world number one Justine Henin's comeback gathered pace on Wednesday with a hard fought 6-4, 6-3 win over Sesil Karatantcheva in the second round of the Brisbane International.
Henin remains on track to meet fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in the women's final but she will need to lift several notches if she is to trouble the reigning US Open champion.
After downing second seed Nadia Petrova in the first round, Henin was expected to crush the colourful qualifier from Kazakhstan, via Bulgaria.
However she struggled initially and found it hard to quell the challenge of a determined and aggressive Karatantcheva.
Henin was forced to fight back from early breaks in both sets and despite the Belgian being in control for most of the match, Karatantcheva always seemed in with a chance.
By contrast, Clijsters has demolished both her opponents in this tourna-ment-Tathiana Garbin and Alicia Molik-and is playing almost mistake-free tennis.
Henin explained that she was simply rusty after being away from the game for 20 months.
"It was a night game so we had different conditions (from the first round)," she said. "Playing in the evening, waiting all day long, I'm not used to that so it took me a few games to get into the match.
And the 27-year-old former world number one remained upbeat about her performances so far this week.
"It's only my second match and the fact that I won and I have another opportunity to play a third match tomorrow (against Melinda Czink) gives me a lot of confidence," she said, adding there was still room for improvement.
"I think I realised on the court at some points, especially in the second set that I had to be more offensive, more going to the net and I did that when had to. Henin said there were no second thoughts about coming out of retirement to rejoin the daily grind of the professional tour. "It's great being back on the court and of course every match is important and every point is different," she said.
Earlier in the day the Czech republic's Lucie Safarova booked a quarter-final against Clijsters when she beat Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak in straight games.
Safarova was untroubled in her 6-3, 6-1 romp over the eighth-seeded Canadian and said she was looking forward to her first meeting with Clijsters.
"She's a great player-I will go out and give it my best," Safarova said.
Third seed Daniela Hantuchova, who is seeded to meet Clijsters in the semi-finals, was also impressive in a 6-3, 6-1 win over Agnes Szavay of Hungary.
Anastasia avlyuchenkova set up a quarter-final against Ana Ivanovic after she beat Italian Roberta Vinci 1-6, 6-4, 6-1

  Indian league players in plane harassment charge
AFP, New Delhi

A top Indian football club was embroiled in an embarrassing controversy on Wednesday after two of its Nigerian players were accused of molesting a female flight attendant.
The players, along with the rest of the Churchill Brothers squad, were on their way to Kolkata from Goa when the alleged incident took place, local media reported.
The team was offloaded during a stop-over in Mumbai, where the police arrested Nigerian strikers Odafa Onyeka Okolie and Felix Chimaokwu as well as team manager Mario Soares on charges of molestation, the Hindustan Times said. They were later released on bail ahead of their match in Kolkata on Thursday.
"Some passengers misbehaved with and abused our crew on board flight SG804 from Goa to Kolkata via Mumbai," SpiceJet Airlines said in a statement. "In the interest of the safety of the other passengers, our pilot took a decision to offload them in Mumbai during the scheduled transit halt."
The team's management defended its players.
"Our players were having fun inside the flight," Joaquim Alemao, co-owner of the Goa-based club, was quoted as saying by the paper. "They were raising their arms and while doing so one of our players hit an air hostess by mistake, but he immediately apologised.
"The matter was over but then another cabin crew intervened and was hell-bent on making an issue out of it." Churchill Brothers are the defending champions of iLeague, the country's top soccer division.

  Monfils overcomes injury to join Gasquet in quarters
AFP, Brisbane, Australia

Third seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils overcame a shoulder injury and a tenacious Florent Serra to make his way into the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International on Wednesday.
Serra played some inspired tennis to push Monfils right to the limit, before appearing to tire in the decider and allow his higher-ranked countryman to run away with the match 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
Monfils was forced to call for the trainer at the end of the first set and had his shoulder heavily strapped during the time-out.
The injury seemed to take its toll as Serra opened up a 3-0 lead at the start of the second, but Monfils fought back and took the set to a tiebreak, before running away with the third.
"I pulled my muscle a bit last week," he said of his shoulder injury. "Last week I did a lot of weights and it's been hurting me for some time."I decided today to come on the court without tape and I think that was a mistake." Monfils said he was happy with how he had served despite the pain.
He will now play American James Blake in the quarter-finals after the veteran American outlasted another Frenchman, Marc Gicquel, earlier in the day.
Gicquel had three match points in the third set tiebreak but was unable to convert any of them as Blake secured a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10/8) win.
Richard Gasquet earlier beat Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-4 on an outside court and will now take on top seed Andy Roddick in the last eight.
Gasquet, whose contro-versial doping ban saw him miss much of 2009, dominated the first set but he had to withstand a fightback from the Australian and admitted later he had become too complacent.