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Leading News
50 injured in police-RMG workers
clash at Mirpur
UNB, Dhaka
At least 50 people including two police officers were
injured and eight vehicles damaged as police used batons,
teargas and water canons to clear a 3-km road from
Mirpur-10 to Sheorapra blocked by thousands of angry
garment workers to protest the sudden closure of the
Outwear Fashion Ltd.
The blockade was withdrawn at 12-30pm after over four
hours from 8am following the assurance that local MP Kamal
Ahmed Majumdar will negotiate the problems between the
workers and the owners of the Outwear Fashion Ltd in the
afternoon.
The traffic movement between Mirpur to Dhaka city was
seriously disrupted due to road blockade.
The unrest broke out when workers of the Outwear Fashion
went to their factory at 965 Sheorapara at 7-30am and saw
a notice of indefinite closure of the factory.
The workers grew angry and instantly came out on the
street putting the barricade. Within minutes workers from
three other garment factories housed in the same building
joined the street agitation.
The protestors alleged the management's misbehaviors using
abusive words and overwork without pay. They complained to
media personnel at scene that they were supposed to work
from 8am to 7pm but the management forced them to work
from 7am to 11pm without overtime pay.
Consequently, the unrest had been prevailing in the
factory for pretty long time and it turned worse in last
two-three days. They wanted to talk with the management
but failed.
On Tuesday, the workers put barricade on the road in front
of their factory at Sheorpara from 3-30pm to 5pm to
protest the management's behaviour.
On Wednesday, witnesses said police fired more than 300
tear gas canisters, used coloured water from two water
cannon cars and charged batons to disperse the protestors
and remove the road blockade.
The protestors fought with police with brick bats at
different points in Mirpur-Sheorapara, leaving 10-12 cops
including ADC Mirpur Ilias Sharif and Kafrul Thana OC
Delwar Hossain. They damaged at least eight vehicles
including a police ambulance and Kafrul OC's car. Seven
police men were admitted to hospital. Seriously injured
operator of the factory Mahima was also admitted to local
hospital.
The situation was brought to control and road blockade
removed by police with the help of RAB at about 12-30pm.
PM
urges opposition to shun politics of destruction
She visits hartal victims at DMCH
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged opposition BNP and
its chairperson Khaleda Zia to shun "politics of
destruction" and instead work for people's welfare and
development.
The Prime Minister made the call on Wednesday morning when
she visited Faruk and Suman, the two youths who received
serious burn injuries on Saturday night when miscreants,
reportedly identified as supporters of June 27 (Sunday)
hartal, set fire to a vehicle carrying the two friends
near Maghbazar rail crossing.
Of the two victims, 60 percent of Faruk's body was burnt
while Suman received serious burn injuries on head, face
and other parts of his body.
On her arrival beside the bed of Faruk at the burn unit of
Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Faruk's mother burst into
tears as she hugged the Prime Minister.
"What harm my son had done to the miscreants. Why they set
fire on my son?" she said. Consoling her, the Prime
Minister in an emotion choked voice assured Faruk's mother
of bearing all medical expenses of Faruk and Suman.
"Burning innocent people by enforcing hartal without any
pro-people issue cannot bring anything good for the people
and the nation," she said. "I request the opposition party
to shun politics of destruction and work for people. Come
to the Parliament and do your duty that the people have
reposed on you by giving votes for you," Hasina said.
Faruk's mother narrated how Faruk and his friend Suman
were burnt by the hartal supporters. Faruk and Suman, the
two friends who are small businessmen, were to return home
on Saturday night after buying some kitchen materials. As
the car carrying them stopped beside a shop near Maghbazar
rail crossing, miscreants had sprayed petrol on their car
and set it ablaze. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also
visited several other patients at the burn unit of the
DMCH, who were seriously injured in recent Neemtoli fire
incident. Hasina passed some time beside them and
reassured them of bearing their all medical expenses.
Nizami,
Mujaheed, Sayedee placed on 16-day remand in five cases
UNB, Dhaka
A magistrate court in Dhaka on Wednesday granted 16 days'
police remand for Jamaat Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami,
Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and
Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee in five cases.
The three Jamaat leaders, who were arrested Tuesday in
relation to a case for hurting religious sentiments of
Muslims, have been granted bail in the original case on
bonds of Tk 50,000 each.
The other cases are a sedition case filed with Uttara
thana, three cases of obstructions to police duty filed
with Paltan thana and a case of damaging vehicles and
obstructing police duty filed with Ramna thana.
For the sedition case with Uttara thana, the Jamaat
leaders were put on four days' remand, and three days'
remand for each of the four other cases.
Although the trio was shown arrested in a freedom fighter
killing case in Keraniganj as well as the Rajshahi Chhatra
League leader Faruk murder case, the hearings for these
cases were not held as case documents had not reached the
court. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ali
Hossain gave the remand upon hearing both sides for more
than one hour on Wednesday.
Barrister Abdur Razzak, Wahidul Islam and 25-30 other
lawyers stood for the accused while Adv Mokhlesur Rahman
Badal, Khandaker Abdul Mannan and Abdur Rahman stood for
the complainants.
Protest
staged at parliament compound
BNP MPs demand release of arrested leaders and workers
UNB, Dhaka
Opposition BNP lawmakers on Wednesday formed human chain
in the Sangsad Bhaban compound protesting the arrest of
the party's high profile leaders and workers during the
countrywide hartal on Sunday (June 27) and demanding their
immediate release.
BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas, vice-chairman
Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, student affairs secretary
Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie MP and Jatiyatabadi
Swechchhasebak Dal general secretary Mir Sarafat Ali Sapu
were, among others, arrested in Dhaka city during the
dawn-to-dusk shutdown on Sunday.
Besides, BNP claimed that over 1000 leaders and workers of
the party were arrested across the country during the
hartal hours.
The human chain continued for an hour from 10:30 am-11:30
am. It was joined by about 22 lawmakers including
Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Zainul Abdin Farooque, Jafrul
Islam Chowdhury, Abul Khayer Bhuiyan, Mahbubuddin Khokon,
Golam Mostafa, Nilufar Chowdhury, Syeda Ashrafi Papia,
Rehana Akhter Ranu, Shammi Akhter and Rasheda Begum Hira.
Speaking briefly after the programme, BNP standing
committee member Barrister Moudud alleged that the
government is becoming increasingly intolerant as its list
of failures increases. "The government takes the course of
repression against the opposition to hide its failure," he
said.
Moudud said if the government does not change its policy,
then people will be compelled to topple the government
through movement. Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin
Farroque said they were forced to stage the human chain to
register protest against the "repressive and oppressive"
government.
Delhi completes
5-km fencing on India-Bangladesh border
BSS, New Delhi
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednes-day said
that on the India-Bangladesh border, five kilometres of
fencing and eight kilometres of road works were completed
in June, 2010 under phase two of the project.
"Seven kilometres of fencing were replaced in June, 2010
under phase three of the project," Chidambaram told a news
conference at the Press Information Bureau (PIB) at
Shastri Bhawan in New Delhi on Wednesday evening.
He further said poles for floodlighting were erected on
the India-Bangladesh border on a length of 25 kilometres
during the month of June this year.
While mentioning the border area development programme,
the Home Minister said that the annual action plan for 13
states was received and Rs 17.32 crore was released to
nine States in June, 2010. He said so far Rs. 215.65 crore
has been released to the States.
Referring to the on-going disturbances in Jammu and
Kashmir, the Minister said the State witnessed a revival
of stone pelting and attacks on security forces.
He said beginning June 11, some 11 civilian lives have
been lost and 53 personnel of Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF) were injured.
He said the government has asked the security forces to
adopt maximum restraint while dealing with rioting crowds
or stone-pelters.
"However, the Central Government remains committed to
support the State Government in restoring law and order,"
the Home Minister added.
Chidambaram noted that the CPI (Maoist) continued to
commit acts of violence and during June, 2010, 56
civilians and 35 security forces were killed in 145
incidents and 32 of those killed were labelled as
informers by the naxalites.
He said 18 naxalites were killed in police action, 163
naxalites were apprehended and 81 improvised explosive
devices were recovered.
One more killed
in ‘gunfight’
134 extrajudicial killings in 11 months
TBT Report
One more alleged terrorist was killed during a 'gunfight'
with the law enforcers in Bhanga upazila of Faridpur early
Wednesday taking the total of such extra judicial killings
to 134 in 11 months from August 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010.
With this 42 extra judicial killings took place in the
year of 2010. Meanwhile, RAB DG recently said as many as
622 people were killed in 'crossfire' since the formation
of RAB on March 26, 2004.
UNB news agency reports: An alleged criminal was killed in
a 'gunfight' between his cohorts and law enforcers in
Bhanga upazila of Faridpur early Wednesday. The dead was
identified as Emdad Fakir alias Emda, 32, son of Sayed
Fakir of Nazirpur village in the upazila, reports our
Faridpur correspondent. Rab sources said a joint team of
police and Rapid Action Battalion-8 raided Dr Azizul Haque
College ground at around 3:45 am after receiving
information that a criminal gang was taking preparation
there for committing a robbery. Sensing presence of the
law enforcers, Emda and his cohorts opened fire forcing
them to retaliate. Emda was caught in the line of fire and
died on the spot, the sources said.
Back Page
Floods worsen in Gaibandha,
Jamalpur as Jamuna, Brahmaputra rise further
UNB, Dhaka
Jamuna and Brahmaputra rivers continued to swell in the
last 24 hours in Jamalpur and Gaibandha respectively,
inundating new areas of the two northern districts and
worsening the flood situations there.
Flood Control Cell of WDB told UNB that River Jamuna was
flowing 9cm above the danger level at Bahadurabad Ghat
point on Wednesday triggering massive erosion and
extensive inundation in Islampur upazila.
Four unions of the upazila went under flood waters leaving
1,094 families marooned.
Hundreds of people of Kulkandi union took shelter in safer
places on Wednesday after becoming homeless following
inundation of their homes by sharply-increasing flood
water.
WDB office said new breaches developed in Harindhara
embankment that opened the floodgate in the upazila.
Islampur agriculture office said the floods caused
extensive damage to crops, especially jute, sugarcane and
summer vegetables and submerged almost all the see-beds of
aman.
District Relief and Rehabilitation officials said
emergency relief materials were sent to the worst-affected
Sapdhari, Nearpara, Pathorshi and Kulkandi unions for
distribution among homeless and marooned people.
Our Gaibandha Correspondent adds, Brahmaputra was flowing
27cm above the danger mark near the district town on
Wednesday. Moreover, waters of Tista, Korotoa and Ghaghot
rivers continued to rise sharply on the day, overflowing
their banks engulfing fresh areas on either side.
Flood waters entered low-lying areas of Sadar upazila
where people started to leave their homes for safer
places.
Besides, vast areas of Sundarganj, Saghata and Phulchhari
upazilas went under flood waters leaving 30,000 people
marooned.
Floods also threatened the Gaibandha town protection
embankment that developed breaches at 6 points causing
massive erosions over a stretch of 900-meter of the dam at
West Komornoi area.
WDB officials said erosion intensified on the left side of
the bank of Ghaghot River on Wednesday.
Law and order
much better than any time in the past: Sahara
BSS, Sangsad Bhaban
Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun on Wednesday told the
House that the law and order in the country is now much
better than any other time in the past.
The law enforcement agencies are providing safety and
security to the people as well as ministers and lawmakers,
she said.
The Minister said this in reply to a cut motion raised by
independent lawmaker Mohammad Fazlul Azim on her proposal
for allocating Taka 6,452.10 crore for both development
and non- development expenditure for Home Ministry for the
financial year to end on June 30, 2011.
With instruction from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the
law enforcers have been trying to maintain law and order,
so the anarchists cannot conduct any destructive
activities and create chaotic situation in the country,
Sahara said. She said BNP's pickets during the issueless
hartal on June 27 tried to kill people through arson and
brutal attack.
A government employee Engineer Abul Kashem was seriously
injured while he was on way to office in the morning of
June 27 and now he is fighting for life at Square Hospital
in the city, she said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Square Hospital
yesterday to see for herself the condition of Engineer
Abul Kashem, she told the House.
The home minister said the pickets had also attempted to
kill two persons by setting fire on a CNG autorikshwa.
They are now getting treatment at Dhaka Medical College
Hospital Burn Unit, she said adding that Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina also visited the hospital this morning to
see them.
Dhaka takes bold
steps to resolve problems with neighbours: Dipu Moni
Sangsad Bhaban
The present government under the dynamic leadership of
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has undertaken many bold
steps to resolve the problems, which remained unresolved
for long, to improve the relations with the neighbouring
countries.
"The past governments other than the government led by
Awami League did not take any tangible measures for
resolving the problems with neighbouring countries,"
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni said in reply to a cut
motion raised by lone independent lawmaker Md Fazlul Azim
in the House on Wednesday.
Reiterating the present government's firm commitment to
the foreign policy-'friendship with all, malice to
none'-the Foreign Minister said a new horizon has been
opened up in terms of relations with the neighbouring
countries due to the pragmatic steps taken by the present
government.
The foreign minister said the government has taken
effective initiatives to resolve the long-standing
problems with the neighbouring countries that included
enclave, water sharing, maritime boundary and visa.
Dipu Moni also said that measures have been undertaken to
resolve water sharing problems of 54 common rivers
including Teesta with India and "We are also hopeful that
the two countries would reach a consensus on signing of
interim agreement on water sharing of the Teesta river
very soon".
Regarding the maritime boundary problems with India and
Myanmar, the foreign minister said the government has been
working with utmost sincerity to settle the problems.
Delwar
questions govt’s ‘mysterious’ role over Chowdhury Alam's
disappearance
UNB, Dhaka
BNP has blamed the government for playing a 'mysterious
role' over the whereabouts of DCC ward councilor Chowdhury
Alam.
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain while
addressing a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan
central office on Wednesday afternoon said it is the
responsibility of the government and police to investigate
when any ordinary citizen goes missing.
But he alleged that the government remained 'unconcern and
silent' while a living person and elected ward councilor
of Dhaka City Corporation Chowdhury Alam, also member of
the national executive committee of BNP, has been missing
for the last five days.
"Such behavior is not good but mysterious," he told
reporters, asking the government to immediately take
necessary steps to find out Chowdhury Alam's whereabouts.
The BNP secretary general regretted the fact that the Home
Minister did not meet a delegation of BNP on Tuesday,
which apparently proves that the Home Minister knows about
the matter of Chowdhury Alam. He informed the reporters
that police refused to take GD at Shere-Bangla-Nagar
station when family members of Chowdhury Alam went several
times to file general diary. Chowdhury Alam when missing
on the night of June 25, two-day before the countrywide
dawn to dusk hartal.
Although newspapers reports published arrest of Chowdhury
Alam, police is denying the arrest. BNP and Alam's family
alleged that Chowdhury Alam was picked up by white
uniformed RAB members from the city's Farm Gate area at
9pm on June 25.
Asked whether they are apprehending secret killing of Alam,
Delwar said extrajudicial killings have gone up massively
after the Awami League government assumed power.
Police round up over 200
Jamaat-Shibir activists
UNB, Dhaka
In a crackdown on Jamaat-Shibir, police Wednesday nabbed
nearly 200 activists from across the country while they
were protesting the arrest of their top leaders Matiur
Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Delwar
Hossain Sayedee.
The central command of Jamaat-e-Islami earlier announced
countrywide demonstration today demanding the release of
the three leaders arrested on Tuesday in a case of hurting
religious sentiments of the Muslim.
As the Jamaat-Shibir activists staged street protests, a
magistrate court in Dhaka granted 16 days' police remand
for interrogation of Jamaat Ameer Nizami, secretary
general Mujahid and nayeb-e-ameer Sayedee in connection
with five criminal cases.
In capital Dhaka, police charged batons on Jamaat-Shibir
processions in Kotwali and Bijoynagar on Wednesday
afternoon and rounded up 35 activists.
Police arrested 25 activists from Dhaka District Judge
Court area in phases around 11am and six others from
Bijoynagar and four from Kakrail in the afternoon while
they brought out a procession demanding the release of
their leaders.
In Khulna police arrested 21 leaders and workers of Jamaat
and Shibir while they were preparing to bring out a
procession in the city.
In Comilla, police detained 13 Jamaat-Shibir men for
staging the protests and filed cases against 99 activists
in different upazilas of the district on
Tuesday-Wednesday.
In Chandpur, police arrests of the three top Jamaat
leaders Tuesday night.
In Satkhira, Kalaroa thana police held eight Shibir
leaders for organizing a meeting on Tuesday night defying
the government order.
In Kushtia, police arrested 32 Jamaat men, including
district ameer. They were arrested during the police
operation Tuesday midnight through Wednesday afternoon.
In Natore, police arrested 10 Jamaat leaders, workers and
rokons as a step to prevent any subversive acts. Natore
police super Apel Mahmud said the police conducted the
operation as a precautionary measure against any
subversive acts.
In Pabna, 12 Jamaat-Shibir were men arrested by police on
Tuesday from Bara Bazar crossing near New Market following
a series of clashes between police and Jamaat-Shibir men.
In Bogra, two Jamaat-Shibir men - Golam Sarwar and Rezaul
Hassan - were held during serious clashes between the
police and the demonstrators who brought out six group
processions after Zohr prayers Wednesday.
In Kasba of Brahmanbaria, at least 10 people, including
police, were injured in clashes between the police and the
Shibir who brought out a protest procession Wednesday
morning.
In Chapainawabganj, a dozen Jammat-Shibir workers were
arrested. The arrested include secretary of Chapainwabganj
municipality unit of Jamaat.
In Savar, police arrested seven Jamaat-Shibir activists
who gathered at Savar Bus Stand trying to organize
agitation Wednesday afternoon.
In Narayanganj, police arrested local Jamaat ameer Dr
Shahidul Islam from Naz Dental Clinic on Wednesday.
Law and order
has deteriorated : Fazlul Azim
UNB, Sangsad
Bhaban
Independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim Wednesday alleged in
parliament that the country's law and order deteriorated
sharply as extortion, tender manipulation, rape and land
grabbing continue unabated.
Moving a cut motion on the budgetary allocation of Tk
6,452,9,86,000 for the Home Ministry for fiscal 2010-11,
he said identified criminals in the name of the government
are carrying out terrorist activities under the nose of
the police.
He said despite the publication of pictures in newspapers
of terrorists armed with lethal weapons, police did not
arrest them.
On the other hand, he alleged that "over enthusiastic"
police are harassing and misbehaving with respected
citizens and politicians.
Azim, who was once elected on BNP ticket from Hatia, said
the past governments also ignored the allegations against
the Home Ministry and consequently those governments had
to pay the price.
He urged the Prime Minister, who was present in the House,
to recast the law enforcing agencies.
In response, Home Minister Sahara Khatun said 400 people
were killed in Azim's Hatia constituency during the BNP
government when he belonged to the BNP.
She said she took the charge of the Home Ministry as a
challenge. As already instructed by Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, none will be spared of any offence even if he/she
belongs to the ruling party or if he/she is a relative of
the Prime Minister.
The Home Minister renewed the charge that BNP had wanted
to create chaos in the name of hartal by "burning innocent
people and setting fire to vehicles."
Editorial
Poverty alleviation
Poverty
is a major national problem and poverty alleviation is a
popular slogan in the country. It is heard from the
discussions of the participants in the TV talk shows, speeches
of the ministers and MPs in the Jatiya Sangsad session and
politicians' addresses at Paltan Maidan. Poverty alleviation
is one of our topmost national priorities and almost every
successive government since the independence has tried to
eradicate this curse, but the success in this regard is not
satisfactory at all.
However, the efforts for eradication of poverty continues
unabated. Planning Minister Air Vice Marshal (Retd) AK
Khandaker on Wednesday told the Jatiya Sangsad that the main
objective of the present government is to improve the living
condition of the people through eradicating poverty and the
new budget for 2010-11 was designed with a view to fulfilling
that target.The government at first had to formulate a
Perspective Plan in the light of its election manifesto with
focus on the charter of change by 2021 for upgrading
Bangladesh to a middle income country and with this in view
the development budget for FY11 was prepared, he said. Taking
part in the budget discussion, Khandaker said the annual
development programme (ADP) was prepared to create employment
for quick eradication of poverty, attaining food security,
sanitation, safe water, quality education, health, curbing
corruption, generating power and establishing good governance
in the country.
Poverty is widespread and a burning problem in our country.
According to World Food Programme (WFP) officials, in
Bangladesh 4 children are born every minute of whom one is
extremely poor. 30 million of the country's 150 million
population are facing hunger and malnutrition. They are 'ultra
poor.' 200 children die in Bangladesh everyday due to
malnutrition while 28 million people do not have access to
enough food. The poverty rate has come down only slightly over
the years. The number of people living below the poverty line
was 47 percent in 1996 and it has fallen down so far to 40
percent. And, needless to say, the reduction by only 7 percent
over the last few years is not at all satisfactory.
A UN report earlier said hunger in South Asia has reached its
highest level in 40 years because of food and fuel price rises
and the global economic downturn. As much as 100 million more
people in the region are going hungry compared with two years
ago. It named Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan as the worst
affected areas. According to the World Bank, three quarters of
the population in South Asia - almost 1.2 billion people -
live on less than $2 a day.
It may be recalled here that the Dhaka Declaration of SAARC in
1993 set the target of poverty alleviation in the South Asian
region by 2002, but that target has already been missed. In
fact, poverty alleviation remains a very difficult task
despite government efforts and foreign assistance. Poverty
alleviation still remains a distant goal especially because of
the fact that the foreign money has mostly been looted or
misused by organized and privileged groups. In fact, only a
small portion of the foreign assistance is utilized for
poverty alleviation and development of the country. Foreign
assistance is very essential for a poor, developing country,
but is no panacea. And so, we shall have to try sincerely to
reduce dependence on foreign aid, mobilize domestic resources,
create job opportunities, increase production in the fields
and the factories and boost export for attaining self
reliance. Above all, we shall have to refrain from
implementing donors prescriptions and try to reduce poverty on
the basis of our own plans and projects.
Against this backdrop, with a view to rescuing the extreme
poor from endless miseries we need substantial employment
generation through long term plans for poverty alleviation and
price control. The government should act resolutely and
promptly in this regard.
Improving quality
of water
According
press reports, the World Bank (WB) will provide Bangladesh
with 70 million US dollars to improve quality of water in
Dhaka city.The industrial wastes are severely polluting the
rivers of Dhaka as 60 percent of the total pollution is from
around 7,000 industrial units located within the
metropolis.The remaining 40 percent is from untreated domestic
wastes and the heavy contamination of water sources is
threatening the availability of safe and clean water in Dhaka,
said a WB release issued here on Tuesday.
This is a good news as improvement of the quality of water in
the city is urgently essential. Because, most of the City
dwellers have been plunged into a serious crisis of safe water
with the water supplied by Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA)
being severely contaminated, filthy and fetid as well as full
of worms. In most of the areas of the capital the residents
are getting such polluted water. The residents allege that
WASA has been supplying water which is dirty, stinky and
infested with young earthworms and it is not usable at all. As
a result many of the dwellers are forced to purchase water for
drinking purpose.
In many areas of the city WASA water is fetid and full of dirt
due to merging of water pipes with sewerage lines at places.
As a result of mixing up of dirt and sweepings from sewerage
lines with water of WASA pipes the water has become
contaminated and unusable. The situation has complicated
further as WASA is continuing to pump heavily contaminated
water from the Shitalakkya river to Saidabad water treatment
plant and supply it to the city. The water of Buriganga river
is also seriously contaminated, but that too is supplied by
WASA.So, it is time for the government to take urgent steps to
resolve the water crisis and improve the quality of water.
Analysis
Coalescing Strategy with Instability
If the US walks away again, "the hands of those
extremists in Pakistan that branded it as an untrustworthy
ally will be strengthened".
Ikram Sehgal
Authoring an
excellent analysis on US-Pakistan relations as it exists
today, perhaps the best one in recent times, Shuja Nawaz,
Director of Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, says, "well
into President Barack Obama's second year U.S.-Pakistani
relations remains in trouble and require change in how both
sides are managing the relationship". Avoiding the normal
penchant of think tanks in combining facts with perception,
the Report goes on to state, "Perhaps no bilateral
relationship in the world matches that when it comes to its
combustible combination of strategic importance and perilous
instability". The U.S. is still struggling to define how in
the context of the Afghanistan war, it wishes to interact with
Pakistan in one of the most explosive regions in the world.
Noting the deep distrust for the US among the Pakistani people
and the military, the Report maintains objectivity, "the
Afghanistan war may be lost on the battlefields of Pakistan,
where a vicious conflict is now being fought against a
homegrown insurgency spawned by the war across its Western
frontier", Shuja Nawaz emphasises, "There is a dire need to
meet Pakistan's urgent needs in its existential war against
militancy and terrorism".
Espousing common goals but with strikingly different
objectives in fighting terrorism and militancy, in both the
countries domestic political imperatives drive the rhetoric
and as well as the crafting of policy. Seeking to secure its
own territory against an active homegrown insurgency, Pakistan
remains deeply apprehensive about India. Looking for a safe
military exit, the US wants to ensure that in a stabilized
Afghanistan Al-Qaeda does not re-emerge. Progress could have
been complicated by Gen Stanley MaChrystal's unceremonious
exit because of insubordinate remarks about civilian
authority. Fortunately, his immediate boss, Gen Petraeus, well
respected by his Pakistani counterparts, stepped (down) from
US Centcom into the breach. There is no time for giving
on-the-job training to a new kid in the block as well as
orientation to the pragmatic Obama Doctrine for the region, ie
"declaring victory" on or about 01 July 2011 and pulling out
well before US Presidential elections in November 2012.
The nexus between security and governance remains critical,
without tackling these Pakistan risks political and economic
slide, "Pakistan is muddling through in a manner that will not
lift it out of the economic and political difficulties that
arose out of extended autocratic rule". Given the resources
and support from the US, international financial institutions,
and others, Pakistan can turn things around but it must
undertake some major tasks itself, re-ordering the political
system, rearranging its economic priorities, and truly return
power to the people. Shuja Nawaz adds, "With the economy
somewhat stabilized; security, governance, and energy
shortages are major challenges requiring strong, consistent,
incorruptible leadership rather than political brinkmanship,
cronyism, and corruption that remains endemic nationwide".
Shortly after restoration, Chief Justice (CJ) Iftikhar
Mohammed Chaudhry began asserting the Supreme Court's (SC)
role in key areas of governance. Moving toward a democratic
system this provides some counter-balancing of the arms of
governance. "The situation in Pakistan remains on edge, with
some progress toward a democratic polity, it remains in a
constant state of flux because of periodic upheavals and
conflicts between the ruling coalition and the emerging
judiciary".
Successfully game-planning client-patron relationship, Zardari
outsmarted his political rivals in making alliances across the
board and retaining a hand in governing all four provinces.
Notwithstanding the PPP being a partner in the Punjab, the
Sharifs' home turf, the good-cop/bad-cop routine of Prime
Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Zardari has kept the
Sharifs off-balance politically. They have avoided pressing
the Federal Government hard enough, fearing the military would
return if political chaos ensued. Nawaz Sharif's deep-rooted
suspicion about the military makes sense, they do not trust
him at all. His "friendly" opposition having become
controversial among the populace, for the umpteenth time he
has announced becoming a "genuine" opposition. Somebody should
read him the story about "crying wolf".
Zardari's dwindling popularity has become a serious hindrance
to his credibility and effectiveness as a national leader. It
is impossible for him to get rid of his corrupt image. To
frustrate prosecution for corruption, Federal Law Minister
Babar Awan, the govt's supposed pointman for upholding the
rule of law, is flying around the country in chartered
aircraft doing just the opposite, publicly doling out millions
to lawyers to create confrontation with the SC. To stay out of
jail Zardari has no other option but to brazen it out by
blatantly show absolute contempt for the rule of law. When
criminals function in the name of justice, that justice
becomes a crime! On the eve of the July 4 celebrations, the US
should seriously consider whether the ideals that founded this
great nation 234 years ago gel with its support for Zardari.
Pakistani public perception is pervasive that in utter
contrast to its avowed principles the US is propping up
Zardari in furtherance of their own aims. Forget Pakistan,
what is the world view?
Notwithstanding the 18th Amendment, ambiguity exists about the
constitutional transition from the Presidential to a
Parliamentary system, that party leaders can oust
parliamentarians who vote their conscience against the party
leader's will, suits present PPP and PML (N) leaders
comfortable with family-based civilian dictatorships
functioning in the name of democracy. The National Finance
Commission (NFC) Award between the Provinces and between the
Center and the Provinces augers well but implementation is
difficult since the Provinces are not equipped to handle many
of their new financial and fiscal responsibilities. Raised
expectations among the Provinces about resource flows from the
Center is a figment of imagination.
The Atlantic Council Report recommends immediate action, viz
(1) Exceed Pakistan's expectations by offering it rapid
economic and military aid (2) Increase Pakistan's textiles
market access to the United States by giving it lower tarrif
rates, similar to those given to other trading partners (3)
Engage in a civil nuclear deal similar to one offered India to
give Pakistan public perception that it treats Pakistan at par
with India (4) launch massive projects to (a) build
infrastructure that will knit the country together (b) help
Pakistan close its energy gap and (c) with emphasis in the
education and health sectors having longer term impact and
visibility to the general public (5) Build major rail and
highway links between the port of Gwadar and the Afghan border
in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as a signature project.
(6) Assist Pakistan in setting up a central project monitoring
and coordination (7) invest in selected education institutions
as Centers of Excellence (8) As a strategic partner of both
India and Pakistan the US should use its influence for
regional entente to reduce the risk of hostilities and (9)
give Pakistan the tools it needs to fight the war against
militancy, more helicopters as well as specialized
counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism equipment, and better
police and Frontier Corps training.
The stingy Coalition Support Funds (CSF) agreed to in 2001 by
Musharraf makes the Pakistan Army look like "guns for hire".
The US sinks in US$ 30 billion annually into Afghanistan's
"black hole" including a substantial sum training the Afghan
National Army (ANA) with less than satisfactory results. One
glaring and disappointing omission in the Report,
distinguishing Counterinsurgency operations (COIN) from
Counter-Terrorism (CT), and the need to develop CT Forces in
Pakistan to tackling terrorism on the longer term with greater
effectiveness while relieving the Army from this debilitating
task. CT operations must complement COIN with the same
emphasis, otherwise will remain rooted in the country.
Warning against partisan political squabbles or brinkmanship,
the Atlantic Council Report says, "Pakistan may be pulled into
a downward spiral and be left behind in a region that is
witnessing rapid change and development". If the US walks away
again, "the hands of those extremists in Pakistan that branded
it as an untrustworthy ally will be strengthened".
Re-engagement may be a pipedream the next time around!
Ikram Sehgal is an internationally renowned columnist and
the Editor of the Pakistan Defence Journal
Need for
even-handedness
A nuclearised region cannot afford any adventurism, not
even a limited conventional war. Both sides need to look
at doctrines that are defensive rather than offensive in
intent and nature.
Shamshad Ahmad
South
Asia has acquired a worrisome global dimension following
the nuclearisation of India and Pakistan, and because of
the region's crucial role in the post-9/11 scenario. The
international community has an obligation to promote an
even-handed, comprehensive and non-discriminatory approach
to reduce nuclear disparities in the region. India's
triad-based nuclear doctrine, its aggressive "Cold Start"
strategy and its introduction of an anti-ballistic missile
system constitute a danger to the region's stability.
Policymakers in the world's major capitals, especially
Washington, should have been working to promote a sense of
security and justice in this region by eschewing
discriminatory policies in their dealings with the
India-Pakistan nuclear equation, the only one in the world
that grew up in history totally unrelated to the Cold War.
It is an offshoot of India-Pakistan disputes and the two
countries' perennial mode of confrontation. Durable peace
in this region will remain elusive as long as the
underlying causes of instability and conflict remain
unaddressed. Meanwhile, given their continuing tensions,
the two countries are facing a nuclear precipice with
their future remaining hostage to a single accident or one
strategic miscalculation. The only sure way to avert
Armageddon is for India and Pakistan to revert to
dialogue.
A nuclearised region cannot afford any adventurism, not
even a limited conventional war. Both sides need to look
at doctrines that are defensive rather than offensive in
intent and nature. They need an environment of peace and
security, bilaterally, regionally and globally, for them
to be able to divert their resources to the economic
wellbeing of their peoples. This requires them to maintain
the lowest level of armament.
It is in this context that a group of retired senior
diplomats, military officers and academics from India and
Pakistan recently met in Copenhagen in a Track Two event
called the Ottawa Dialogue. The event was sponsored
jointly by the Near East and South Asia Centre (NESA), the
Hewlett Foundation, the US Institute of Peace and the
Danish foreign ministry. The two countries were urged to
resume their stalled dialogue for discussions on issues of
peace and security, a key item on the agenda of the
Composite Dialogue. Speakers stressed the importance of
keeping their dialogue process insulated from the
political climate.
The members of the Ottawa Dialogue also adopted a
statement on actions their governments could take to help
stabilise the two countries' nuclear relationship. These
included the establishment of Nuclear Risk Reduction
Centres (NRRCs) and a jointly acceptable lexicon of
"nuclear terms" applicable to the two countries,
maintenance of the lowest-possible alert level for nuclear
weapons during peacetime, initiation of discussion on the
implications for South Asia of the introduction of new
technologies--for example, an ABM system, and inclusion of
cruise missiles in the existing pre-notification agreement
on missiles established in the Lahore Memorandum of
Understanding."
It was noted that some of these and various other points
have already been the subject of discussion between the
two sides as part of the Composite Dialogue and many
useful ideas were contained in the Lahore Declaration and
the MoU of Feb 21, 1999. The group recommended that these
frameworks should be revived and the ideas presented in
the session be included in them.
Pakistani participants, in particular, stressed that as
part of the Composite Dialogue the two countries had
already agreed on a number of nuclear and conventional
CBMs, including risk-reduction measures. The process must
continue so that work already done could be build upon,
and for the two countries to move from risk-reduction CBMs
to CBMs on avoidance of conflict and arms race and
conflict-resolution.
In this connection, Pakistan's proposal for a strategic
restraint regime involving nuclear and missile restraint,
conventional balance and conflict resolution will go a
long way in promoting nuclear and conventional restraint
and mutual stabilisation. Likewise, non-induction of ABMs
and other destabilising systems could also serve as an
arms limitation measure. Arms reduction could follow in
due course as the two sides build up trust and confidence.
India remains averse to all these proposals, citing its
extra-regional concerns, although its force potential
continues to be Pakistan-specific. Though Pakistan's
actions in the nuclear and missile fields at each stage
are in response to India's escalatory steps, its policies
have always been marked by restraint and responsibility.
An evaluation of the doctrinaire approach of the two
countries makes one thing becomes abundantly clear:
India's nuclear doctrine is status-driven whereas that of
Pakistan is security-motivated.
Pakistan's nuclear doctrine, though not declared, is based
on credible minimum deterrence and strategic restraint and
responsibility. Unlike India, Pakistan does not subscribe
to a No First Use policy because of its conventional
asymmetry with India. In any case, India's NFU policy
carries no credence and is merely a political ploy linked
to its global ambitions. India itself paid no heed to
China's NFU and opted for nuclear weapons regardless of
Chinese guarantees of no first use and no-use against
non-nuclear states.
In keeping with its history of arms control and
disarmament diplomacy, Pakistan has been urging for
non-discriminatory and criteria-based arrangements as a
way to ensure its equal treatment with India. The US-India
nuclear deal and the subsequent carte blanche that India
received from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for access
to nuclear technology in violation of equitably applicable
criteria undermine the international non-proliferation
regime and detract from its credibility and legitimacy.
It was indeed ironic that the NSG, which was set up in
response to the first act of nuclear proliferation in
South Asia in 1974, and works on the basis of consensus to
prevent further proliferation, decided unanimously to
reward the perpetrator of such proliferation. Given the
consensus rule anyone of these 46 nations could have
blocked this decision. But none of them did so, owing to
expediencies and profit motives, or they simply lacked the
courage of their convictions.
At its last week's meeting in New Zealand's capital,
Wellington, the NSG had an opportunity to rectify its
earlier short-sighted decision and allow an equitable
treatment to Pakistan at par with India. It should have
realised that only criteria-based approaches on the basis
of equality and non-discrimination between the two
nuclear-weapons states would be sustainable. No wonder
there is growing demand for these monopolistic groups to
be replaced by new cooperative arrangements at the
regional level, supplementing the UN system and following
the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.
The international community, on its part, should be taking
steps that encourage India-Pakistan rapprochement and
conflict-resolution, and help promote nuclear restraint
and stabilisation in the region. Durable peace between
India and Pakistan would not only be a factor of regional
and global stability but would also enable the two
countries to divert their resources to improving the lives
of their peoples and eradicating poverty from the region.
And durable peace between the two countries will come only
through mutual dialogue and cooperation, not through
conflict and confrontation. The upcoming meeting of the
two foreign ministers must revive the stalled peace
process. Ironically, India is now allergic to the
nomenclature "Composite Dialogue" that it had itself
insisted to give to the "comprehensive, sustained and
meaningful" dialogue process agreed between the two
countries in June 1997.
Surely, nomenclature is not important but the
multidimensional framework and agenda that the existing
process provides to the two countries for sustainable
engagement, not only on normalisation of mutual relations
but also on crucial issues of peace and security involving
nuclear restraint and stabilisation is irreplaceable. They
must revert to this process, no matter what they call it.
The writer is a former foreign secretary of Pakistan.
Email: shamshad1941@yahoo.com
Viewpoints
Era of the dragon dawns
China's rise
thus is as much Mao's handiwork as it is Deng's. But for
Chinese military power, the US would treat China like another
Japan.
Dr Brahma Chellaney
Success
breeds confidence, and rapid success produces arrogance. That,
in a nutshell, is the problem that both Asia and the West face
in China, and which has been demonstrated once again at the
G20 summit in Canada. Rising economic and military power is
emboldening China's government to pursue a more muscular
foreign policy. Having earlier preached the gospel of its
"peaceful rise," China is now beginning to take the gloves
off, convinced that it has accquired the necessary muscle.
That approach became more marked with the global financial
crisis that began in the fall of 2008. China interpreted that
crisis as symbolising both the decline of the Anglo-American
brand of capitalism and the weakening of American economic
power. That, in turn, strengthened its two-fold belief - that
its brand of state-steered capitalism offers a credible
alternative, and that its global ascendance ?is inevitable.
Chinese analysts gleefully point out that, after having sung
the "liberalise, privatise, and let the markets decide" song
for so long, the United States and Britain took the lead in
bailing out their financial giants at the first sign of
trouble. By contrast, state-driven capitalism has given China
economic stability and rapid growth, allowing it to ride out
the global crisis.
Indeed, despite perpetual talk of an overheating economy,
China's exports and retail sales are soaring, and its
foreign-exchange reserves now approach $2.5 trillion, even as
America's fiscal and trade deficits remain alarming. That has
helped reinforce the Chinese elite's faith in the country's
fusion of autocratic politics and state capitalism.
The biggest loser from the global financial crisis, in China's
view, is Uncle Sam. That the US remains dependent on China to
buy billions of dollars worth of Treasury bonds every week to
finance its yawning budget deficit is a sign of shifting
global financial power - which China is sure to use for
political gain in the years ahead. The current spotlight may
be on Europe's financial woes, but the bigger picture for
China is that America's chronic deficits and indebtedness
epitomise its relative decline. Add to the picture the two
wars that the US is waging overseas - one of which is getting
hotter and increasingly appears unwinnable - and what comes to
mind among China's leaders is the historian Paul Kennedy's
warning about "imperial overstretch."
Against that background, China's growing assertiveness may not
surprise many. Deng Xiaoping's advice - "Hide your
capabilities and bide your time" - no longer seems relevant.
Today, China is not shy about showcasing its military
capabilities and asserting itself on ?multiple fronts.
As a result, new strains are appearing in China's relationship
with the West, and were in full view at last year's Copenhagen
climate-change summit, where China - the world's largest
polluter with the fastest-growing carbon emissions - cleverly
deflected pressure by hiding behind developing countries.
Since then, China has added to the strains by continuing to
manipulate the value of the renminbi, maintaining an
abnormally high trade surplus, and restricting goods
manufactured by foreign companies in China from entering the
domestic market.
On political and security issues, China has aroused no less
concern. For example, China's expanding naval role and
maritime claims threaten to collide with US interests,
including America's traditional emphasis on freedom of the
seas. Yet the plain truth is that America's economic and
military travails are crimping its foreign-policy options
vis-à-vis China. The US seems more reluctant than ever to
exercise the leverage that it still has to press China to
correct policies that threaten to distort trade, foster huge
trade imbalances, and spark greater competition for scarce
?raw materials.
By keeping its currency undervalued and flooding world markets
with artificially cheap goods, China pursues a predatory trade
policy. This undercuts manufacturing in the developing world
more than in the West. But, by threatening to destabilise the
global economy, China threatens Western interests as well.
Furthermore, its efforts to lock up supplies of key resources
mean that it will continue to lend support to ?renegade
regimes.
Still, America shies away from exerting any kind of open
pressure on China. US policy today is a study in contrast
relative to America's unabashed exercise of leverage in the
1970's and 1980's, when Japan emerged as a global economic
powerhouse. Japan kept the yen undervalued and erected hidden
barriers to foreign goods, precipitating strong pressure - and
periodic arm-twisting - by the US for Japanese concessions.
Today, the US cannot adopt the same approach with China,
largely because China is also a military and political power,
and the US depends on Chinese support on a host of
international issues - from North Korea and Burma to Iran and
Pakistan. By contrast, Japan has remained a fully pacifist
economic power.
It matters greatly that China became a global military player
before it became a global economic player. China's military
power was built by Mao Zedong, enabling Deng to focus
single-mindedly on rapidly building the country's economic
power. Before Deng launched his "four modernisations," China
had acquired global military reach by testing its first
intercontinental ballistic missile, the DF-5, with a range of
12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles), and developing a
thermonuclear warhead.
Without the military security that Mao created, it might not
have been possible for China to build economic power on the
scale that it has. In fact, the 13-fold expansion of its
economy over the past three decades generated even greater
resources for China to sharpen its military claws.
China's rise thus is as much Mao's handiwork as it is Deng's.
But for Chinese military power, the US would treat China like
another Japan.
Brahma Chellaney is Professor of Strategic Studies at the
Center for Policy Research in New Delhi and the author of
Asian Juggernaut: The Rise of China, India and Japan.
Warding off
the unrest contagion
The
unrelenting rise in gold prices and the fluctuations we
witness in oil and commodities markets point to
uncertainty and anxiety.
Osama Al Sharif
News
coming from the G-8 and G-20 summits, both of which were
held consecutively in Canada last week, was hardly upbeat.
Doubts over whether we have finally turned the corner in
the wake of the global financial crisis two years ago,
uncertainty over the sustainability of economic recovery,
reverberations of the Greek debt syndrome and fears over
the social and political costs of adopting austerity
measures by world governments, loomed heavy over the two
summits.
The world's richest countries were divided on the best way
forward; to maintain economic stimulus programs requiring
them to spend more, while leaving the problems of budget
deficits and mushrooming national debts aside, or to adopt
tough austerity measures that focus on fiscal reforms that
could end up stifling an already fragile economic
recovery.
There are a number of challenges that face economies today
chief among them is rising unemployment rates and cutting
public spending. For oil-rich countries these are not
pressing issues as of yet. But as the world struggles to
get out of recession the specters of unemployment,
deflation and tight fiscal measures, curtailing access to
easy credit, will affect all.
Demand for oil is tied to economic recovery, and the
export-oriented economies of India, China, Brazil and
Japan, among others, will certainly suffer if US and
European consumers lose confidence. This is the reality of
our global economy today.
Proponents of adopting austerity measures, like the
European Commission, want to protect their currency and
safeguard their economies from facing another Greek
tragedy. But by choosing to implement, what economist Paul
Krugman, calls balanced-budget orthodoxy they risk
unleashing deflationary waves that could bring the world
economy to a standstill. Writing in The New York Times, he
obviously is a supporter of the stimulus approach, where
governments choose to spend in order to avoid falling in
deflationary traps. Failing to do that, Krugman warns of
an impending third depression.
For Krugman the biggest, and long lasting, problem facing
us today is unemployment. He believes that tens of
millions of unemployed people will pay the ultimate price
of these austerity measures.
The United States, under President Barack Obama, has been
imploring other partners to keep the stimulus option
alive, while Europe and others have chosen the orthodox
approach of balancing budgets, cutting spending and
keeping national debts within acceptable limits. What
Krugman and others like Joseph Stiglitz are suggesting is
that the latter approach will be difficult to achieve
without the risk of unleashing deflation, unemployment and
economic stagnation.
The turmoil we see today in stock markets is a sign of
worry. The social unrest in Europe, in reaction to
austerity measures, could repeat themselves elsewhere. The
unrelenting rise in gold prices and the fluctuations we
witness in oil and commodities markets point to
uncertainty and anxiety.
No country is secure. What happens in Spain or China will
have an effect on the rest of the markets. This is a
global challenge requiring a global solution. But even so
not all countries can afford the same medicine. Struggling
economies may not be able to maintain their own stimulus
programs and will opt for austerity measures. It is
imperative that rich and developing countries take note of
other players on the global stage.
While Europe, the United States, China and others have
chosen a way forward, we in the Arab world are yet to
respond to global economic challenges. Some countries can
afford to bankroll generous stimulus packages, especially
the oil-rich Gulf countries, while others can't. Jordan
recently decided to hike taxes and reduce public spending
in an effort to balance its budget and keep its national
debt under control. The social repercussions of such
measures will be calamitous in the short and medium terms.
Sooner or later other troubled economies will be forced to
do the same.
So far there have been no calls for an Arab approach to
cushion the effects of global economic challenges. This is
both frustrating and problematic. If we are indeed facing
the possibility of a third depression then we must work
together through combined regional effort that takes into
account individual cases. If the recession is almost over
and austerity is the way forward, then smaller economies
must be helped to achieve their targets while reducing the
risk of social and political unrest.
The Arab region is comprised of different economic
structures. While some countries will be able to cruise
through, thanks to its abundant oil and gas resources,
others will have a tough time adapting. But even the rich
cannot afford to abandon their least fortunate neighbors.
Just as economists warned of a debt contagion in the case
of Greece, we must be wary of an unrest contagion
spreading in our region if some smaller economies are left
behind.
Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political
commentator based in Jordan.
Israel remains smug and arrogant
Israel is likely to blame the peace activists for
breaching the blockade against prior warnings and
following it up with attacks on the commandos, forcing
them to act in self-defence. The internal inquiry,
therefore, makes Israel both a judge as well as jury.
S P Seth
Israel's
response to the international outcry over the killing of
nine Turkish peace activists aboard the Mavi Marmara,
carrying relief supplies for the besieged Gaza Strip, has
been a combination of tactical flexibility while
maintaining strategic rigidity. Tactically, it has agreed
to modify the blockade to allow essential civilian items
into the city. But, strategically, the blockade will
remain in place "to prevent the inflow of weapons and war
material".
Because, otherwise, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu,
Hamas would turn Gaza into an "Iranian port". The message
to the West is that Israel is the sentinel of the western
world against the dreaded 'nuclear' Iran, which might soon
rain missiles not only on Israel but on Europe as well. In
effect, Israeli action does not mean much because Gaza
will still be at its mercy. It might at any time choke off
its supplies on a whim. Israel will still be the sole
determinant of what goes in and what goes out. For
instance, all the essential supplies for Gaza will only be
routed through Israel. Not surprisingly, Hamas did not
find Israeli-announced partial lifting of the blockade
satisfying. They "want a real lifting of the siege, not
window dressing".
At another level, Israel has sought to befuddle the issue
of an international investigation into raiding the peace
flotilla, and killing nine Turkish peace activists. It has
announced an internal investigation, with two
international observers. But the observers will have no
say in the conduct of the inquiry by a panel of three
Israelis. And it gets worse. This investigation will also
look into the conduct of peace activists, though they
alone are the victims of fatalities by Israeli commandos.
In the circumstances, one might as well predict the
conclusions of the Israeli investigation. It is likely to
blame the peace activists for breaching the blockade
against prior warnings and following it up with attacks on
the commandos, forcing them to act in self-defence. The
internal inquiry, therefore, makes Israel both a judge as
well as jury. This, by any standards of jurisprudence, is
unacceptable.
One lesson Israel has learnt from the international outcry
over its piracy on the high seas is that in its dealings
with the Obama administration, it must try to harmonise
its actions with the US. In the past, whenever Israel has
come under international criticism, particularly in the
UN, the US has shielded it from censure or sanctions. But
this time its arrogant cowboy syndrome of running amuck
was not appreciated in Washington. The US made two
observations on the raid and the Gaza blockade. First, it
said that an investigation was warranted in the killings
of the peace activists. Second: it observed that the
blockade of Gaza was unsustainable.
Even though Israel has generally been dismissive of
international opinion, rubbishing it as biased and
anti-Semitic, it could not do the same with mild criticism
from the US. That would leave them with no political
cover. Hence, the Netanyahu government went around
hysterically to elicit Washington's approval of its
remedial action to somehow deal with the situation. And
the US was on course to provide political cover by
approving the inclusion of two observers as fulfilling its
international dimension. However, this has not silenced
the critics. Turkey, for instance, is insistent on an
international investigation.
At another level, more and more activists in other
countries are reportedly planning their own flotillas to
break the Israeli blockade. There are reports that an
all-female boat, named Virgin Mary, might be heading
towards Gaza. The Guardian reported some days ago that
another aid ship named after Naji al-Ali, a murdered
Palestinian cartoonist, might soon be taking relief
supplies with 50 journalists and 25 European volunteers,
including members of the European parliament. A heartening
feature is that the peace activists come from all
backgrounds, nationalities and religions, a wonderful
example of the common humanity that we all share.
The international outcry over the killing of nine Turkish
activists had Israel spooked. One retired army general
opined in an Israeli newspaper that, "The long-term goal
of this war (by a coalition of disparate media outlets and
other civilian organisations) is to remove the state of
Israel from the map of the world or, at least, to cause
the state of Israel to cease to be a sovereign Jewish
state." How this will be achieved by a bunch of peace
volunteers and their supporters is left unclear.
However, since drumming up some support for the partial
lifting of the Gaza blockade, Netanyahu is feeling a bit
more confident. We had the spectacle of the politically
dead Tony Blair resurrected as the special Middle East
envoy for the quartet of the UN, the US, Russia and the
European Union, to legitimise Israel's action. The British
Foreign Secretary William Hague said that it was a step in
the right direction, while still safeguarding Israel's
legitimate security needs.
The most welcome for Israel has been US endorsement, with
President Obama now likely to grant Netanyahu a White
House meeting to push the Israeli-Palestinian peace
process (without, of course, Hamas). It will most likely
also include a photo opportunity to show that Netanyahu is
no longer on the outside of the White House.
Netanyahu indeed seems to think that Israel's partial
lifting of the blockade would rob Hamas of its ability to
accuse Israel of harming Gaza's civilian population. He
believes that, "Our friends around the world are standing
behind our decision and providing international legitimacy
for the continuation of a military blockade on Hamas."
This is the kind of smugness and arrogance that has
characterised Israeli policy over the years. Will they get
away with more of the same? Not if the Palestinians can
build on the humanitarian support they have received
lately.
The writer is a senior journalist and academic based in
Sydney.
International
Nepal PM resigns
to end political stalemate
AFP, Kathmandu
Nepal's prime minister announced his resignation in a live
televised address on Wednesday, saying he wanted to end a
long political stalemate in the troubled nation.
Madhav Kumar Nepal had been under intense pressure from
the opposition Maoist party to quit ever since he agreed
last month to make way for a power-sharing government in a
deal with the former rebels.
"I have decided to resign from the post of prime minister
so that the peace process can be completed, a new
constitution drafted and the current political deadlock
resolved," he said.
Nepal's three main parties agreed on May 28 to form a
government of national unity in a deal to extend the term
of the current parliament and avert a crisis that would
have left the country without a functioning legislature.
But there have been fierce disagreements over what form it
should take, with party leaders jostling for power, and it
remains unclear who will take over as prime minister.
Sources said the president would likely ask the
57-year-old Nepal, a former leader of the ruling Communist
Party of Nepal (UML), to stay on in a caretaker role until
a permanent successor could be chosen.
The prime minister was catapulted into the job in May 2009
after the fall of the Maoist-led government in a row over
the integration of the party's former fighters into the
national army. His government was seen as weak from the
start, and his period in office was marred by a series of
power struggles with the Maoists, the largest party in
Nepal's parliament.
The Maoists fought a 10-year civil war against the state
before winning 2008 elections, abolishing Nepal's
240-year-old Hindu monarchy and turning the country into a
secular republic.
But their government fell last year after just nine
months, and they have been agitating for a return to power
ever since, creating a state of near-political paralysis
in the desperately poor country. This month they
threatened to block the passage of the new annual budget
through parliament unless the prime minister resigned, a
move that would have brought further chaos.
Maldives in political
deadlock after cabinet quits
AFP, Colombo
The Maldives was without a government Wednesday, after the
cabinet resigned en masse amid a worsening power struggle
between President Mohamed Nasheed and the
opposition-controlled parliament.
Nasheed's 13-member group of ministers quit on Tuesday,
saying parliament was blocking all its efforts to govern
the Indian Ocean atoll nation and undermining the
authority of the executive. Officials said Nasheed, 43,
who came to power in 2008 as the Maldives' first
democratically elected leader, would hold off on re-naming
a cabinet.
"There is no point in having a new cabinet unless the
crisis in parliament is resolved. What we now have is a
political deadlock," a senior official close to the
president told AFP by telephone. Nasheed's Maldivian
Democratic Party enjoys the support of 32 lawmakers in the
77-member national assembly, while the opposition
Maldivian People's Party (DRP) has the backing of more
than 40 MPs.
Nasheed said Tuesday that the opposition was using its
parliamentary superiority to bring the process of
government to a standstill, by blocking numerous policy
initiatives including an ambitious privatisation programme.
"The majlis is preventing cabinet ministers from
performing their legal obligations," he said in a
statement. "Majlis members are behaving against the spirit
and the letter of the constitution." Attorney General
Husnu Suood said it was becoming difficult to govern the
archipelago of 330,000 Sunni Muslims which is South Asia's
most expensive holiday destination.
"Every passing week, there is another attempt by
opposition MPs to wrestle more control from the
executive," Suood said.
The DRP said two opposition MPs had been arrested on
Tuesday night. Police confirmed the arrests, saying they
were investigating allegations that legislators had been
bribed to secure their support.
DRP deputy leader Umar Nasir said the government was
simply being provocative. "We have asked our supporters to
be calm," Nasir told AFP by telephone from the Maldivian
capital Male.
Taliban attack major NATO
base in Afghanistan
AFP, Kabul
Gunmen Wednesday set off a car bomb and fired rockets at a
NATO base in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, as a
soldier with the alliance died from injuries suffered in
an attack in the same region.
Responsibility for the brazen daylight attack on the
Jalalabad air base was claimed by the hardline Islamist
Taliban.
Several assailants were killed during the attack and two
service personnel were injured, the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said.
"Jalalabad airfield is under attack," ISAF spokesman
Lieutenant-Commander Iain Baxter told AFP as the battle
was under way. A local official said at least six
insurgents were involved in the raid and that all had been
killed. The assault came just days before US General David
Petraeus is due to take up his post as NATO commander in
Afghanistan, after warning of a "tough fight" ahead in the
nearly nine-year conflict.
Concerns about the progress of the war against the
hardline Islamist Taliban have mounted following the
dramatic sacking of Petraeus's predecessor, US General
Stanley McChrystal, and an increasing death toll among
foreign troops. The dramatic surge in military deaths has
raised concerns over what many think is the Taliban
gaining strength despite the deployment of thousands of US
reinforcements.
ISAF announced the death of its 102nd soldier this month,
saying he died Wednesday from injuries suffered in an
attack in eastern Afghanistan. It did not disclose the
exact location or any further details of the incident.
Hundreds of NATO and Afghan troops have been hunting
Taliban insurgents in a major assault in the mountains of
Kunar, which neighbours Nangarhar, in the east of the
country close to the border with Pakistan.
In a telephone call to AFP, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahed claimed responsibility for the attack in Jalalabad,
the capital of Nangarhar-the latest strike to against NATO
bases in Afghanistan in recent weeks. An ISAF statement
said: "Afghan and ISAF forces repelled a number of
insurgents when they attacked Jalalabad airfield this
morning using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device,
rocket-propelled grenades, and small arms fire." The
statement added that the assailants did not breach the
base perimeter.
Several insurgents were killed, it said, without
disclosing how or how many, adding that two members of the
security force were injured. Their nationalities were not
given. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a provincial administration
spokesman, said suicide bombers were also involved in the
strike.
Pakistan lawmakers propose
law on media terror images
AFP, Islamabad
Lawmakers in Pakistan have proposed a code of conduct for
Pakistan's electronic media to restrict their graphic
coverage of militants' terror attacks, a government
spokeswoman said Wednesday.
If approved by the National Assembly, the new code will
also repeal "draconian" laws imposed on the media by
former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, the spokeswoman
said. Presidential spokeswoman Farahnaz Ispahani said the
code was not an attempt to control the Pakistan's fiercely
independent electronic media, and would be similar to one
"practised all over the world."
Ispahani, who is also a member of the parliamentary
committee on information and broadcasting, said the new
rules had been listed in a report by the committee that
would become a bill in parliament's next session, in
August. Among the restrictions that the bill proposed
repealing was a law against journalists defaming Musharraf,
the army or the government, on penalty of a five-million
rupee (82,000-dollar) fine. She defended the proposed new
restrictions, saying that "nowhere in the civilised world
are murderers, terrorists and extremists given air time on
the electronic media to expound their views.
"The Pakistani nation, our government and our military are
fighting and facing death at the hands of these anti-state
actors every day. Thousands of innocent Pakistanis have
already died in this war.
"Showing dead, mutilated corpses and other extreme
pictures and videos give psychological strength to the
extremists and cause emotional grief to the people of
Pakistan," she said.
Aquino takes power pledging
to end poverty in Philippines
AFP, Manila
Benigno Aquino took over as president of the Philippines
on Wednesday with a vow to lift his nation out of poverty
and wipe out crippling corruption that he said thrived
under his predecessor.
In his inauguration speech to a mass of supporters wearing
his family's signature yellow, the 50-year-old bachelor
promised to honour the trust of the millions of Filipinos
who delivered him a landslide election victory.
"Today marks the end of a regime indifferent to the
appeals of the people," Aquino said in one of many
stinging criticisms of Gloria Arroyo, whose nearly 10
years in power were marred by allegations of vote rigging
and massive graft.
"Through good governance in the coming years we will
lessen our problems. The destiny of the Filipino will
return to its rightful place and, as each year passes, the
Filipino's problems will continue to lessen."
Aquino said ending poverty-nearly a third of the nation's
90 million people live in slums-by eradicating corruption
would serve as the foundation of his administration's
six-year term. "Our foremost duty is to lift the nation
from poverty through honest and effective governance,"
said Aquino, an economics graduate who spent the past 12
years as a member of parliament.
Aquino promised to increase funding for education, health
and low-income housing using money that would have
otherwise been lost to corruption.
Police estimated 500,000 people turned up at a seaside
Manila park for Aquino's inauguration, and the event took
on a festival-style atmosphere with a popular folk singer
belting out songs of hope before the oath-taking.
Indonesian military behind
Islamist thugs: lawmaker
AFP, Jakarta
An Indonesian lawmaker on Wednesday accused the security
forces of secretly supporting Islamist vigilantes as a
kind of paramilitary force to intimidate opponents and
commercial rivals.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle lawmaker Eva
Kusuma Sundari said extremist vigilantes known for violent
attacks on bars, minorities and human rights advocates had
direct links to military and police generals.
"The organisation is now part of the conflict management
strategy the Indonesian military exercises to maintain its
power," she told AFP, referring to the stick-wielding
fanatics known as the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).
"There are several military personnel who still 'use' the
services of the FPI... I suspect they maintain and protect
the FPI because they still have interests with them." The
FPI is known for threatening, intimidating and physically
attacking Indonesians with almost complete impunity,
despite repeated calls for the government to ban the
organisation.
On Sunday it threatened "war" against the Christian
minority in the Jakarta suburb of Bekasi and urged all
mosques in the city to create armed militias. Sundari is a
member of a group of MPs who has demanded the government
crack down on the vigilantes after they burst into an
official meeting on health care in East Java last week and
accused the organisers of being communists.
FPI chairman Habib Rizieq hit back at the group's critics,
saying they were part of a conspiracy among communists and
liberals against the imposition of sharia or Islamic law
in the secular but mainly Muslim country.
"Police should not discriminate-whoever propagates
communism should be brought to justice as it is a criminal
offence," he told a press conference at FPI headquarters
in Jakarta.
He did not renounce violence and when a journalist asked
him to respond to community concerns about violence he
accused him of being a communist.
The military, known as the TNI, and the police have denied
any links to Islamist vigilente groups.
"The TNI does not have a pet," Defence Ministry spokesman
Bigadier general I Wayan Midhio was quoted as saying in
The Jakarta Post. National police spokesman Edward
Aritonang said violence by FPI members was under
investigation.
Israeli
demolitions in east Jerusalem a peace obstacle: EU
AFP, Brussels
The planned demolition of Palestinian houses in east
Jerusalem, as part of an archaeological project, is "an
obstacle to peace," EU foreign affairs chief Catherine
Ashton said Wednesday.
Jewish "settlements and the demolition of homes are
illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to
peace and threaten to make a two-state solution
impossible," Ashton warned in a statement.
The European Union's High Representative stressed that the
EU has never recognised Israel's annexation of East
Jerusalem.
"If there is to be genuine peace, a way must be found
through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as
the future capital of two states," Ashton added.
The Palestinians reluctantly agreed to launch the indirect
talks in May after months of shuttle diplomacy by US envoy
George Mitchell, but said they would not move to direct
talks without a complete Israeli settlement freeze.
Ashton called on Israel "to refrain from measures which
may undermine the ongoing (indirect) proximity talks,"
where mediators shuttle between the two parties.
"These talks enjoy our full support and the parties need
to engage seriously in these negotiations," the EU foreign
affairs chief underlined.
Israeli police clashed on Sunday with some 200 Palestinian
protesters in an Arab neighbourhood of east Jerusalem that
is the planned site of the controversial archaeological
park.
The clashes occurred in Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood,
which has been the focus of the plan by Jerusalem
municipality to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an
archaeological park.
Silwan is part of the so-called Holy Basin, just outside
the walls of Jerusalem's famed Old City, and is believed
to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the
biblical kings David and Solomon.
It is now a crowded Arab neighbourhood in a part of the
city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and
annexed in a move not recognised internationally.
Israel considers the whole of Jerusalem as its "eternal
and indivisible" capital while the Palestinians see east
Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.
Russia, US try to
limit spy scandal damage
AFP, Moscow
Russia and the United States sought Wednesday to cool a
heated scandal sparked by the arrest of 11 suspected
Kremlin spies, amid fears the Cold War-style furore could
harm improving ties.
A cautious White House made no move to condemn Russia
after the arrests, prompting the Russian foreign ministry
to say it expected the scandal would not hurt relations
that have seen a significant revival over the last months.
The US Justice Department said Monday that 10 "deep-cover"
suspects, accused of infiltrating US policymaking for the
Kremlin, had been detained on suspicion of seeking details
of US nuclear weapons and foreign policy. Police in Cyprus
arrested an 11th suspect, 54-year-old Christopher Metsos,
who was picked up trying to board a flight on Tuesday to
Budapest after immigration officers discovered his name on
a stop list.
The intriguing nature of the case, in particular the
emergence of Russian suspect Anna Chapman, 28 -- described
as a flame-haired femme fatale in the tabloids-has drawn
comparisons to the heyday of Cold War espionage.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was repeatedly offered
the chance in his daily briefing to condemn Russia over
the alleged spies, but described the operation as solely a
"law enforcement" matter. "I do not believe this will
affect the reset of our relationship with Russia," Gibbs
said.
The State Department meanwhile styled the episode as a
remnant of the Cold War covert intelligence struggle
between spymasters in Moscow and Washington that would not
have a lasting impact on ties.
"We're moving towards a more trusting relationship. We're
beyond the Cold War; our relations absolutely demonstrate
that," said Phil Gordon, assistant secretary of state for
European Affairs.
Kyrgyzstan faces
critical months: UNICEF
AFP, Geneva
A senior UN aid worker warned on Wednesday that Kyrgzystan
needed sustained international attention during a critical
period of instability until parliamentary elections in
October.
Jonathan Veitch, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
representative in the Central Asian nation, said the mix
of ethnic tensions, political uncertainty, displacement
and hardship meant that aid should not be wound down.
"The period between now and October is a very critical
time. It's a very unstable situation," Veitch told
journalists in Geneva.
Kyrgyzstan's provisional government announced Wednesday
that interim leader Roza Otunbayeva will be sworn in as
president this weekend and confirmed that parliamentary
elections would be held on October 10.
About 375,000 people are still displaced in Kyrgyzstan
following the deadly flare-up in violence earlier this
month between predominantly ethnic Kyrgyz and ethnic
Uzbeks in the south of the country.
At least 294 people were killed according to an official
toll.
The vast majority of the more than 75,000 refugees who
fled to neighbouring Uzbekistan have since returned to
Kyrgyzstan after the fighting died down, according to the
UN refugee agency.
But Veitch said he feared that the returns would be taken
by donors and governments as a signal that less aid was
needed.
"The crisis is very much not over yet. When you return to
a situation where you have nothing, this is still a crisis
for you," he added.
Veitch highlighted patches of destroyed homes in the
southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad, destruction of
schools, as well as the large numbers of guns circulating
in the region.
"There was quite systematic and targeted destruction in
some places," he added.
"You can feel the tension on the surface. There were not a
lot of Uzbek men on the streets... They're not confident
enough to come out and walk around Osh."
Sarkozy government under
fire in tax evasion row
AFP, Paris
France's labour minister faced Wednesday a wave of attacks
in a tax evasion scandal involving the heiress of the
L'Oreal cosmetics empire, which has sparked allegations of
government corruption.
"The poison of the Woerth affair," read the front-page
headline in Le Parisien newspaper above an article that
said President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing government was
in "torment" over minister Eric Woerth.
"Can he hang on?" wondered the left-wing Liberation, which
said that Woerth's double role as minister and treasurer
of Sarkozy's UMP party was untenable.
Those damaging headlines came a day after the president's
2007 election rival, the Socialist Segolene Royal, told
TF1 television that "the Sarkozy system is today corrupt."
Woerth was already making headlines in recent weeks as the
man overseeing pension reform that is so unpopular that
last week hundreds of thousands of French took to the
streets to protest against it.
Then on June 16 a website published transcripts of tapes
secretly made by the butler of France's richest woman,
Liliane Bettencourt, the L'Oreal cosmetics heiress with a
fortune worth 17 billion euros (20 billion dollars).
The taped conversations between Bettencourt and her
financial adviser reveal that the 87-year-old allegedly
hid 80 million euros in Swiss bank accounts while making
big donations to friends in the ruling UMP party.
The butler's tapes were the latest twist in a long-running
family feud between the billionaire and her daughter, who
claims Bettencourt is mentally unfit after she gave more
than a billion euros to a photographer friend.
That case was due to reach court on Thursday but may be
postponed due to the emergence of the secret tapes.
DR Congo marks 50 troubled
years of independence
AFP, Kinshasa
Portraits of the four presidents who led the Democratic
Republic of Congo through 50 years of corruption and
conflict glowered down Wednesday on world leaders marking
the African nation's independence anniversary.
As they waited for a grand military parade, UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon, King Albert II of Belgium and a host
of African leaders could look up and see Joseph Kasa-Vubu
(1960-1965) who was ousted in a coup, Joseph Mobutu
Sese-Seko (1965-1997) who robbed the nation of billions
before he was forced out, the assasinated Laurent Desire
Kabila (1997-2001) and his son Joseph Kabila, who now
struggles to establish government authority.
A giant banner near the official tribune read: "The giant
awakes, DRC, heaven on Earth".
About 15,000 soldiers and 400 tanks and military vehicles,
and UN peacekeepers, and even representatives of Chinese
companies helping to rebuild DR Congo, waited to take part
in the parade along Kinsahsa's refurbished Boulevard
Triomphal.
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who only
reconciled with Kabila in 2009, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda
and Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon were among 18 Africa
presidents at the event.
Kinshasa society turned out in their best suits and
dresses though many members of the DR Congo establishment
have publicly professed their disappointment at the
country's achievements.
Merkel braces for
presidential ‘vote of destiny’
AFP, Berlin
Embattled German Chancellor Angela Merkel was hoping
Wednesday to pull her shaky second term back from the
brink as she braced for a presidential vote seen as a
crucial test of her authority.
The normally straightforward appointment of the country's
largely ceremonial head of state has become what the Bild
daily called a "vote of destiny" as Merkel battles to get
her pick, Christian Wulff, elected by a special assembly.
On paper at least, Wulff, 51, a close ally of the
chancellor, is strong favourite as Merkel's ruling
coalition holds a majority in the special body of 1,244
parliamentary deputies and public figures.
But Wulff's rival, former East German dissident Joachim
Gauck, enjoys more public support and speculation has been
rife that the charismatic 70-year-old former pastor could
pull off a major shock and precipitate a political crisis.
Commentators said that defeat for Wulff and hence for
Merkel, whose popularity has plunged since re-election in
September amid squabbling within her coalition and her
handling of the eurozone crisis, would be catastrophic.
"If Wulff were to lose, it would surely amount to an
enormous loss of face," political scientist Nils Diederich
of Berlin's Free University, told AFP.
"But despite the resentment the government has created in
recent months, I don't think there are enough people
breaking ranks to endanger Wulff's election," he added.
Obama Supreme Court pick
spars with critics
AFP, Washington
US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan beat back her critics
Tuesday with quips, legal arguments and assurances she
reveres the US military despite its "unwise and unjust"
ban on gays serving openly.
Over eight and a half hours of grilling by the Senate
Judiciary Committee vetting her confirmation, Kagan joked
easily about the court as she tread warily through
judicial minefields on gun rights, abortion, and
terrorism.
She dropped the meek tone of her opening statement to the
panel on Monday, matched wits and legal reasoning with
lawmakers, and forcefully rejected Republican charges she
was more partisan "activist" than impartial judge.
"I'm not quite sure how I would characterize my politics,
but one thing I do know is that my politics would be, must
be, have to be, completely separate from my judging," said
Kagan, who seemed all but assured of confirmation.
Kagan faced some of her angriest questioning over a
decision to set limits on military recruiter access to
Harvard Law School students during her time as dean over
the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy towards gays.
"I believe that the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy is
unwise and unjust. I believed it then and I believed it
now," she told Senator Jeff Sessions, the panel's top
Republican.
Kagan said military recruiters still had access to Harvard
law school students through a veterans group, stressed
that recruitment had actually increased during her time as
dean, and promised: "I revere the military."
Sessions, who had never been expected to vote to confirm
Kagan, accused her of "punishing the military" and
treating them "in a second-class way" while giving the
committee answers "unconnected to reality."
Business/Economy
Stocks
grow by over 100 pc in FY 2009-10
BSS, Dhaka
Dhaka stocks grew by over 100 percent in all major aspects
in the 2009-10 financial year, ended June 30.
The DSE finished its last trading session of the FY
2009-10 on Wednesday when its major price index closed
almost flat at 6153.67. The general index was 3010.26 at
the close on June 30, 2009. The growth was 104.42 percent
or by 3143.41 points over the financial year when trading
was active on most days. The index, however, reached its
all time of 6332.68 on June 13 this year.
The major contributor to the phenomenal surge in the index
was GrameenPhone (GP), which debut in November last year
added over 700 points to the market benchmark. The GP is
so far the largest company in the country's capital market
that offered over Taka 480 crore ordinary shares to
general public.
Some direct listings with stock market also accelerated
the rise in the price index. Besides, introduction of book
building method in the last fiscal year eased the share
offloading process of bigger companies and strengthened
the supply side on the market.
Investors were seen more confident in buying or profit-
taking selling, resulting in 104 percent rise in the daily
turnover, which used to hover below four figures.
The turnover got a momentum with the highest record of
Taka 2,480 crore on June 16, which came down to Taka 1,887
crore on the fiscal year's concluding session.
The market capitalization surged by 120 percent to reach
at Taka 2,72,788 crore on June 30. The issues from
banking, power and energy and non-banking financial
institutions were the driving force of the market when
investors bagged most of their gains from these sectors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were vigilant
over the financial year and took many regulatory measures
to keep the market on the right directions. Some of its
steps, however, were criticized by certain quarters as
they considered those as too tight for a growing market.
The budget for the 2010-11 financial year also proposed
tax on capital gains by institutional buyers and on the
premium value of IPOs (initial public offerings).
The SEC on Tuesday increased the annual fee of BO
(beneficiary account) to Taka 500 from Taka 300.
Stockbrokers said the investors were now watching the
impact of these measures, which made trading comparatively
slower than last year.
New
FBCCI president focuses on setting up research cell
BSS, Dhaka
Newly elected President of Federation of Bangladesh
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) AK Azad on
Wednesday unveiled a new plan to set up a research cell at
the business body to expand trade and commerce of the
country further.
"I will give special focus on capacity building of FBCCI
and as part of this, setting up of a research will get
first priority," said Azad at a function of taking charge
of his responsibilities from the outgoing president at the
FBCCI conference room.
The outgoing office bearers of the FBCCI including
President Annisul Huq, Vice-President Abu Alam Chowdhury
and first Vice-President Abul Kashem Ahmed joined the
function. Prof Ali Ashraf, MP, who performed as chairman
of the just past FBCCI Election Board, conducted the
session while outgoing secretary general of FBCCI Mir
Shahabuddin Mohammad gave welcome speech. Newly elected
first Vice-President M Jashim Uddin and Vice-President
Mostafa Azad Chowdhury also spoke on the occasion,
participated, among others, by former and past presidents
and directors.
AK Azad, a former president of Bangladesh Chamber of
Industry (BCI) vowed to carry out the development
activities especially reform initiatives undertaken by the
past office bearers led by outgoing president Annisul Huq.
Efforts would be made to construct a high rise building so
that the ongoing activities of he business body can be
expanded further, Azad said added "I will try my best to
keep the FBCCI above politics".
The 20th FBCCI chief pointed out many inconsistencies in
the budget and said those would be resolved to help grow
business activities to a large extent.
As part of his new commitments, he said election process
of the SAARC Secretariat would be followed in FBCCI
election so its election is held in more credible manner
in future.
Annisul Huq said he had tried his level best during his
tenure for the welfare of the country's business community
and expressed his hope that the FBCCI would carry out
wonderful job with the efforts of new office bearers. Prof
Ali Ashraf recalled introduction of FBCCI in 1974 saying
the country's trade and commerce could have been expanded
if the apex trade body business is not formed.
China’s economy moving
in ‘expected direction’: Wen
AFP, Beijing
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao believes the world's
third-largest economy is moving in the "expected
direction", the government said Wednesday, amid fears that
it may be losing steam.
"The domestic economy is developing in the expected
direction under the government's macroeconomic controls,"
Wen said during two days of meetings this week with
economists and business executives.
The comments were posted on the central government's
website ahead of the release of key economic data next
month which is expected to show that economic growth
slowed in the second quarter. They came as the People's
Bank of China said the economy was likely to maintain
steady and relatively rapid growth in 2010, adding that it
would face more "favourable factors" this year, according
to a statement on its website.
Wen said policymakers must continue to strike a balance
between maintaining stable and reasonably fast economic
growth, carrying out economic restructuring and managing
inflation expectations.
"The domestic and international economic situation is
still extremely complex," Wen said.
Wen made no mention of the government's pledge earlier
this month to pursue a more flexible yuan exchange rate.
The currency has appreciated about 0.50 percent against
the greenback.His comments came after Chinese President Hu
Jintao, in a speech to the Group of 20 summit in Canada at
the weekend, called for caution in exit strategies from
economic stimulus programmes to safeguard the global
recovery.
China's economy expanded by a blistering 11.9 percent in
the first three months of the year, fanning inflationary
pressures and raising fears it was at risk of overheating.
Royal Bank of Scotland economist Ben Simpfendorfer has
forecast 11.1 percent growth in the second quarter after
government measures aimed at reining in the real estate
sector and a slowdown in manufacturing activity.
IMF rules out
double-dip global recession
AFP, Washington
IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday ruled out the
immediate prospect of a double-dip recession scuttling the
fragile global economic recovery, despite various risks.
The "recovery will go on without a double dip," the IMF
managing director said to a question at a forum hosted by
the Peterson Institute for International Economics in
Washington.
Global markets went into a tailspin Tuesday as sagging
American consumer confidence, weak Chinese economic
indicators and European financial problems renewed fears
the global economic recovery may falter.
The United States and many other key economies plunged
into the worst recession in decades following an American
home mortage meltdown in 2007 which triggered a financial
crisis sending shockwaves across the globe.
But Strauss-Kahn said "the IMF hasn't changed its views"
on sustained global growth from the recession.
"It's (double-dip) not in the baseline for us... but there
are high tail-risks," he said, citing as examples the
"fiscal situation" in some countries and problems created
by large credit flows to relatively fast-growing Asian and
other emerging nations.
Ireland escapes
long-lasting recession
AFP, Dublin
Ireland escaped a deep recession in the first quarter with
a robust return to growth, official data showed on
Wednesday, but Prime Minister Brian Cowen warned of a
"hard road" to full recovery. Irish gross domestic product
(GDP) soared by 2.7 percent in the first three months of
2010, compared with the final quarter of 2009, as the
eurozone nation's exports surged amid a weak euro.
Separate data from Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO)
showed Ireland's unemployment rate jumped to 13.4 percent
in June from a revised 13.2 percent in May.
Describing the unemployment figures as "disappointing,"
Cowen told parliament that the only way to create more
jobs was to make the economy more competitive and boost
exports further. "This is going to be a difficult and hard
road back to recovery, we know that, and we want to get
back on that road as quickly as possible," he added.
It had been thought that Ireland exited recession in the
third quarter of 2009 but an initial forecast of growth
was later revised to show negative output.
Ireland is one of the last eurozone nations to return to
growth, with highly-indebted Greece remaining in a deep
recession.
European
businesses must engage with rising Asia: HSBC
AFP, Hong Kong
As the global economic axis tilts towards Asia, European
businesses are at risk of being left behind, according to
a report released Wednesday by HSBC bank.
The model where the West did the development work and the
East took care of production with cheap labour is dead, it
says, adding that innovation will increasingly originate
from the East. "Unless European business confronts the
implications of the re-balancing of economic power and the
growth of Asia, business opportunities will be lost and
business threats will increase," it said. The "Looking
East: The changing face of world business" report
investigates the challenges and opportunities of the rise
of Asia for European businesses and identifies current and
future trends. It warns that European companies are at
risk of not engaging with the new economic world order.
"We are no longer looking at when West meets East, but at
how the East will redefine the West and the way we do
business," said Alan Keir, HSBC's group general manager
and global co-head of Commercial Banking.
"It's crucial that European businesses are not only
appreciative of this fundamental and fast-paced change,
but that they are able to respond swiftly and effectively.
Our competitiveness as a region is at risk."
Firms must look at how they can capitalise on Asia's
diverse consumer base, skilled workforce and advances in
research and development, while mitigating the risks posed
by the macro-economic climate.
Booming Eastern populations and consumer wealth will
create unprecedented market opportunities for European
businesses, the report says.
But "the free-market, liberal principles on which the West
was built are often in direct contrast to methods of rule
in the East," it adds.
"European businesses need to be aware that the competitive
playing field is not necessarily level."
"As the influence of the West declines, the importance of
business relationships in Asia will grow: European
companies must not find themselves sidelined in the new
economic and political order."
National
President’s Parade at Naval
Academy held
UNB, Chittagong
Summer Graduation President's Parade marking the
commissioning of Midshipmen 2008 'B' batch of Bangladesh
Navy was held at Bangladesh Naval Academy (BNA) in
Chittagong on Wednesday.
Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral ZU Ahmed attended
the ceremony as chief guest and reviewed the smartly
turned-out parade and took salute at the impressive march
past.
A total of 23 Midshipmen were commissioned in this batch,
said an ISPR release.
He also distributed trophies among the Midshipmen who came
out with excellent performance and results during the
training period. Midshipman Raqibul Hasan, BN was adjudged
as the best all round Midshipman and awarded with the
coveted 'Sword of Honour' and also received 'Osmani Gold
Medal' for his outstanding result in academic subject.
Besides, Midshipman Hasan Iqbal Roni BN received 'CNS
Medal' for his outstanding performance in professional
subjects. Navy is the pioneer force to induct female
officers in the Armed Forces. A total of 16 female
officers and 36 female cadets have been trained at BNA
since 2000.
Navy chief remembered the contribution of Father of the
Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who handed over
the Naval Ensign to Bangladesh Navy 37 years ago and his
commitment to build a balanced naval force. Navy Chief
also mentioned that soon Bangladesh Navy will emerge as a
strong force through steps taken by the present
government.
Addressing on the occasion, Navy Chief called upon all
newly commissioned officers to be honest and remain
vigilant to protect the sovereignty of our motherland,
which was attained through the sacrifice of lakhs of
martyrs. Navy chief also remembered the contribution of
naval personnel, who took part in UN Peace Keeping Mission
and said, "for the success of Bangladesh Navy, it is the
first time that two Bangladeshi War Ship participated in
UN Peace Keeping Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The image of
Bangladesh will increase abroad by joining this two war
ships in UN mission".
He added that, officers and cadets from friendly countries
like UK, Turkey, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Sri
Lanka, Nigeria, India and Pakistan were trained at Naval
Academy during last few years. Navy Chief also mentioned
that efforts are going on to build Bangladesh Navy to a
three dimensional navy to keep pace with other
contemporary world navies. In this regard, he said that
soon two castle class OPV ships and one Ruebek class
survey ship shall be added in Bangladesh Navy.
Besides, process for building two missiles LPC with China
has been completed and building Patrol Crafts at Khulna
Shipyard will also be completed soon. Apart from this,
Maritime Patrol Helicopter will be added in Navy by 2011
and efforts are continuing to add Maritime Patrol Aircraft
(MPA). Among others, Members of the Parliament of
Chittagong, PSOs' of Naval Headquarters, Naval Area
Commanders, Area Commanders of Army and Air Force, high
civil and military officials, diplomats of foreign mission
in Bangladesh, parents and guardians of the Midshipmen
were present on the occasion.
US to continue partnering BD in democratization and
development: Secretary Burns
UNB, Dhaka
Bangladesh is on the right track and the United States
will continue to partner it in promoting democracy, human
rights and development domestically, regionally and
globally.
Ambassador William J. Burns, US Under Secretary for
Political Affairs, made the remarks when he received
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes at the State
Department on Tuesday. Secretary Burns lauded Bangladesh
for its impressive achievements in several areas,
including counter-terrorism.
Describing counter-terrorism as a tough job, Secretary
Burns assured Bangladesh of continued assistance in the
days to come.
The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary reiterated Bangladesh's
resolve to work with regional and global friends,
including the US and added that Bangladesh is committed to
working as an agent of change in the international arena.
Referring to Bangladesh's initiative to adopt a "SAARC
Charter for Democracy", Secretary Quayes described the
political commitment of the government for promoting
representative governance and inclusion.
Highlighting the challenges posed by climate change, the
Bangladesh Foreign Secretary underscored the need to
address the immediate threats to the most vulnerable
countries.
He specifically called for anticipating the multiple
spill-over effects of such consequences as climate change
induced displacements.
Enumerating the contribution of the apparel industries in
social empowerment, particularly of women, the Bangladesh
Foreign Secretary dwelt on the numerous labour issues and
duty free access of Bangladeshi products into the US
market.
He sought the support of the State Department in allowing
duty free access of products from Bangladesh.
Secretary Burns expressed his understanding about the
challenges and linkages. He suggested continued dialogue
with the US Congress and other stakeholders in this
regard.
Earlier in the day, Quayes had a meeting with Ambassador
Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and
Central Asia at the State Department.
Welcoming the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary to USA,
Ambassador Blake stated that US is happy to see the
momentum in Bangladesh-US relations and assured him of
remaining engaged through dialogue and visits.
Ambassador Blake also hosted a lunch in honor of the
visiting Bangladeshi diplomat at the State Department.
Tougher Wildlife Act needed to protect endangered Royal
Bengal
UNB, Dhaka
The world has witnessed the loss of more than 97,000
tigers over the last 100 years. Today, specialists say
there are less than 3000 tigers spread across 14
countries.
If it took 100 years for 97,000 tigers to be extirpated,
one may easily imagine how much, or rather how little
time, it might take for the remaining 3000 to disappear.
Thus the tiger population today is on the verge of
extinction.
According to the Worldwide Fund for Nature, there are some
2,100 Bengal tigers alive today, of which India alone has
1,411. Bangladesh Sundarbans is the home of the largest
single unit of Bengal tigers in the world with an
estimated 300-500 tigers. Bangladesh, therefore, has an
opportunity to contribute significantly to the
conservation of tigers and to benefit from their continued
presence. However, tigers are threatened in Bangladesh by
direct loss, prey depletion, and habitat degradation. To
reverse the situation, the country needs a tougher law in
the vein of what the Union Environment and Forests
Ministry of India is now proposing.
In the amendment proposed to the Wildlife Protection Act
of India, it is said that any illegal hunting in tiger
reserves or any attempt to encroach on reserved land in
the country could incur a jail term of not less than 7
years and a fine up to Rupees 50 lakh (Tk 74 lakh).
Furthermore, poachers having a second run-in with the law
could be face much stiffer punishment, with a fine of up
to Rupees 75 lakh (Tk 112 lakh).
According to the proposed amendment, offences relating to
other animals listed as endangered or critical could incur
a jail term of not less than 5 years with a minimum fine
of Rupees 5 lakh (Tk 7.5 lakh). Repeat offenders will
incur a jail term of not less than 7 years, and they will
be fined up to Rupees 25 lakh (Tk 37 lakh). At present,
the punishment that is mentioned in the Bangladesh
Wildlife Act is a maximum of 2 years imprisonment with a
maximum fine of Tk 2000. This needs to be revised
urgently. It is understood that the government has
recently initiated the revision process. Tiger
conservationists expect the revised punishment to be in
line with what is being proposed in India.
Dr Md Anwarul Islam, Professor of Zoology at Dhaka
University and the CEO of the Wildlife Trust of
Bangladesh, is of the opinion that to save the tiger, we
need to save its prey population. In the Sundarbans, the
spotted deer is the tiger's main prey but rampant poaching
on the fringes of the Sundarbans is rapidly depleting the
spotted deer population. Deer (prey) poaching is much more
harmful than tiger poaching for the existence of the
tiger, he says, as the tigers are heavily dependent on the
remaining spotted deer population in Sundarbans.
So Bangladesh needs to have a tougher, more stringent law
to protect the deer population in the Sundarbans as well.
Disabled students seek special admission quota for higher
education to ensure their rights
BSS, Rangpur
Disabled students and leaders of different organisations
working with the disabled people urged the government to
initiate special admission quotas for the physically
challenged students to the higher educational
institutions.
They said that there are hundreds of talented students
among them with various extents of disabilities among the
total 10 percent disabled people of the total population
in the country and they can work for the nation equally
like the others if provide chances.
Despite uncountable hurdles and financial disabilities,
the disabled students including males and females have
been passing the SSC and HSC examinations brilliantly with
adequate GPA points for admission in the higher
educational institutions, they said.
But, for lack of necessary special quotas, the brilliant
disabled students can not get admissions in the Medical
Colleges, Engineering Universities and Colleges,
Agriculture Universities and Colleges, Universities and
other institutions for higher education.
After passing SSC and HSC examinations amid miserable
physical and adverse economic conditions, the brilliant
students with disabilities are failing to get admitted to
the costly coaching centres for financial constraints for
competitive admission tests.
As a result, the meritorious students with disabilities
are being subjected to compete in the admission tests for
higher education with thousands of the normal brilliant
students coming out of the country's best and reputed
schools and colleges, they said.
The disabled students said that they fail to get even
information about any available admission quotas from the
concerned institutions when they go there as the concerned
people do not pay attention to them.
Faridpur poura budged announced
UNB, Faridpur
Faridpur pourashava announced its Tk 45.25 crore budget
for fiscal 2010-2011 on Tuesday morning.
Acting Municipality Mayor Sheikh Mahtab Ali announced the
proposed budget at the poura conference room in presence
of ward councilors, journalists and local elite.
In the proposed budget over Tk 11.86 crore has been
estimated as revenue income, while Tk 8.80 crore in
development sector and Tk 23.96 crore for special projects
have been earmarked. The acting mayor said Tk 5.20 crore
has been allocated for establishing a modern children's
park and construction of markets for the women
entrepreneurs. Another report from Brahamanbaria adds: A
Tk 17 crore budget of Nabinagar pourashava has been
announced for fiscal 2010-2011 on Tuesday noon in presence
of ward councilors, journalists, politicians and local
elite.
In the proposed budget Tk 16.72 crores has been estimated
as income and Tk 12.78 crore as expenditure showing a
surplus of Tk 3.93 crore. Another message from Bogra adds:
A Tk 10.36 crore budget of Sherpur municipality here has
been announced for fiscal 2010-11. Acting poura mayor ABM
Mostafizur Rahman announced the proposed budget at its
auditorium in presence of poura councilors, journalists
and local elite on Monday noon.
Newly elected FF District unit command calls on Rajshahi
Mayor
BSS, Rajshahi
Newly elected members of the district unit Freedom
Fighters Command made a courtesy call on Mayor of Rajshahi
AHM Khairuzzaman Liton at his City Bhaban office here on
Tuesday.
Unit Commander Saidur Rahman, deputy commanders Rabiul
Islam and Serajul Islam Mridha, assistant commander Abdus
Samad and freedom fighters Nur Hamim Rizvi, Naosher Ali
and Abdul Malek Chowdhury were, among others, present on
the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion Mayor Liton said the nation would
remember the valiant freedom fighters forever for their
laudable contribution and supreme sacrifice for cause of
the nation's independence.
He said the present government of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina has adopted various need-oriented measures for
welfare of the best sons of the soil.
Likewise, he said the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has
initiated some development programs for livelihood
development of them. Holding tax and water charge were
exempted. RCC is going to implement two housing projects
where the freedom fighters could purchase plots on
reduction rate and long-term installment.
The projects have also provision for construction of
freedom fighters complex.
Besides, he assured of his all possible cooperation
towards full-length implementation of the
government-sponsored programs including ration, monthly
allowance and state honor.
Trade protectionism by
G-20 countries threatens global economic recovery, trade
and employment: ICC
UNB, Dhaka
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has expressed
its disappointment with the G20 Summit in Toronto's
inadequate approach to two key trade issues: trade finance
and the Doha Round of trade negotiations.
The ICC has been championing better treatment for trade
finance since the onset of the financial crisis. In a
statement released to the press, they commended the G20's
recognition at previous summits of the major role of trade
finance in keeping trade flowing. It said that since then,
the business community has strongly criticized proposals
from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to
increase the risk weighting of trade finance under a new
framework to limit bank leverage.
"The ICC regrets that the Toronto summit does not appear
to have heeded these warnings," it said. Despite repeated
commitments by G-20 countries to avoid adoption of such
measures, protectionist policies are being implemented at
an alarming rate, according to a new research report,
"G-20 Protection in the Wake of the Great Recession". The
report was commissioned by the International Chamber of
Commerce' s (ICC) Research Foundation (ICCRF) and
researched and written by the Peterson Institute for
International Economics in Washington, D.C. According to
the findings of the report presented Wednesday at the
World Business Summit in Hong Kong, all G-20 countries
have implemented protectionist trade measures over the
last two years. Gary C Hufbauer, Senior Fellow of the
Peterson Institute for International Economics presented
the report.
By September 2009, G-20 countries were responsible for 172
such measures being implemented, with hundreds more "in
the pipeline". If only half the upcoming measures were to
actually take effect, the world could see a global cycle
of protectionist retaliation not seen since the Great
Depression.
Protectionist trade measures meant to protect jobs have
the opposite effect. This is because other countries
either emulate or retaliate against them, resulting in
lost export-related jobs that typically exceed those saved
through protectionist actions. For example, it's estimated
that the 43,000 jobs that the US government claims to be
saved by the "Buy American" legislation could result in a
loss of over 200,000 jobs because of foreign emulation or
retaliation. Russia, the United States, India, Argentina
and Brazil are the five most protectionist countries based
on measures implemented from 2008-2009, and those "in the
pipeline".
The least protectionist countries are Mexico, Turkey,
Australia, the Republic of Korea, South Africa and Saudi
Arabia. Dr Victor K Fung, Chairman of the ICC, said:
"During a time of economic recovery such as this, the
world needs fewer barriers to trade, not more. The
conclusions of this report should serve as stark reminders
of the dangers of protectionism - especially at times of
economic crisis - and why the world economy needs a
comprehensive, multilateral trade agreement such as the
WTO's Doha Round to foster economic growth and stability."
In closing, the report urges G-20 leaders to take
initiatives to conclude the Doha Round; expedite the WTO's
dispute settlement mechanism; establish a regular G-20
trade ministers meeting; and appoint a G 20 group of
internationally recognized trade experts, or "G-20 Wisemen",
to identify and publicly name the countries implementing
new protectionist measures.
Audit officials need to build their images: CAG
BSS, Dhaka
Comptroller an Auditor General (CAG) Ahmed Ataul Hakim on
Wednesday called upon the audit officials to change their
attitude for highlighting the image of the department. He
also laid stress on maintaining relationship with the mass
media to uphold the success of the audit department before
the people.
Ataul Hakim said this as the chief guest while addressing
a seminar titled 'Getting Your Audit Messages Across
Effectively to Your Stakeholders' under the project of
Strengthening Comptrollership and Oversight of Public
Expenditure (SCOPE) at the Audit Bhaban here this morning.
Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA),
the SCOPE project started in 2008 and it will be continued
up to 2012.
The project has taken for capacity building of the
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and its officials in
preparing the audit reports.
Although the office of the CAG is a constitutional
organization and the organization has so far have done
many more praiseworthy activities including saving huge
public money but the organization is yet to build its
image, he said. Former Auditor General of Canada Kenneth M
Dye presented a keynote paper in the seminar with Deputy
Field Project Manager and former Deputy Auditor General (DAG)AK
Nasim Hyder was in the chair.
Referring to the right to information act, the CAG said
"now all the organizations are bound to disclose their
activities before the media but the CAG cannot walk alone
compare to other organizations."
The CAG admitted that already different donor agencies
including the World Bank are mounting pressure on the
government that the CAG itself need to be audited by other
organizations, which is painful.
He said if any superior body carry out audit of the CAG
department that would be 'prestigious' for the department
but if the government appoint the Chartered Accountants
(CA) to audit the CAG which would be neglecting.
The CAG said the office of the CAG should be turn around
through highlighting the achievement of the department,
otherwise the existence of the department would be under
risk.
All the audit department officials including audit and
accounts officers, superintendents and auditors, among
others, were present on the occasion.
Calls for implementing DAP getting louder
UNB, Dhaka
The urgency of implementing the proposed 'Detailed Area
Plan' (DAP) to ensure a planned and environment-friendly
Dhaka city for coming generations has been stressed once
again, this time by speakers at a discussion Wednesday at
the National Press Club.
The discussion pointed out that if the government fails to
implement the DAP properly, the capital will be unable to
stand up to the pressures of unplanned urbanization, which
may result in it being eventually abandoned within a
decade only, much like Japan's old capital, Kyoto.
The 'Rights of Workers and Consumer Safety and Public
Accountability in Bangladesh' Project of Bangladesh Legal
Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), with support from Safety
and Rights, a human rights organization, and the
Australian High Commission in Dhaka organized the
discussion titled 'Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC):
Implementation and Way Forward'..
Chaired by eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain, the discussion
was addressed, among others, by president of Bangladesh
Poribesh Andolan Prof Mozaffar Ahmed, RAJUK chairman Nurul
Huda, lawyer Barrister Rabeya Bhuiyan, RAJUK director
(Development) Sheikh Abdul Mannan, chairman of the
Department of Law and Justice at South East University M
Assaduazaman and BLAST director general Mohsin Ali Khan.
Architect and Planner Salma A Shafi presented the keynote
paper at the discussion.
Addressing the occasion, RAJUK chairman Nurul Huda said
that there is no way to salvage the city from the ills of
unplanned urbanization except implementation of the DAP.
Pointing fingers at unruly real estate companies, Huda
said a vested quarter has been trying to create hindrances
to implementation of the proposed DAP, as well as other
RAJUK activities.
Revealing the nature of RAJUK activities, he said the
capital development agency has already evicted some 50
unplanned and vulnerable structures around the city.
"We are going to form a special team involving skilled
engineers and planners to detect vulnerable structures in
the city," Nurul Huda said.
Fake RAB man held in Benapole check-post
UNB, Benapole
BDR jawans held a fake RAB member from Benapole check post
on Wednesday afternoon.
The arrested was identified as Shah Alam, son of Idris Ali
Prodhan of Asad Gate Avenue of Mohammadpur in capital. BDR
said Shah Alam, who identified himself as a member of RAB,
pressurized BDR jawans for allowing five people to
illegally go to India.
As he failed to show his identity card, the border guards
held him.
Sports
Villa strike puts Spain into
quarter-finals
AFP, Cape Town
Red-hot David Villa scored his fourth goal of the World Cup to
fire European champions Spain past Iberian arch-rivals
Portugal 1-0 on Tuesday and into quarter-final clash against
Paraguay.
The Barcelona striker pounced in the 63rd minute of an
absorbing encounter that saw plenty of chances and Portugal's
Ricardo Costa sent off, chipping a rebound over goalkeeper
Eduardo after his first shot was saved.
It was enough to put Spain into a last eight showdown on
Saturday against the South Americans, who crushed Japanese
hopes in a dramatic 5-3 penalty shoot-out earlier in the day.
Whoever gets through that match has either Argentina or
Germany awaiting them in the semi-finals. Villa refused to see
Spain as clear favourites against the Paraguayans.
"I am very happy tonight, although there are two favourites
for the quarters. However, I am confident we can come
through," he said. Spanish coach Vice-nte Del Bosque insisted
his side had shown their toughness, and that Fernando Torres,
who was substituted, had done his bit as Spain seek to land
the trophy for the first time.
Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz admitted Spain deserved to win.
In a stadium packed to the rafters, Spain quickly signalled
their intentions with Torres testing Eduardo with a shot from
the edge of the box in the opening minute. The goalkeeper did
well to fist it away and he was in action again soon after
with Villa cutting in from the left and fizzing a shot on
target.
Portugal were all over the place and Villa rifled another
goal-bound in the sixth minute, with Eduardo to the rescue
again.
It was impressive stuff from Spain, who were playing the slick
passing game they are so good at. Port-ugal's record of not
conceding a goal in South Africa was looking decidedly shaky
and Xavi troubled them again by turning and whipping a shot
over the bar from a quickly taken corner.
After weathering the early storm, Portugal finally got a look
in when Tiago blasted a shot from distance, with Iker Casillas
pushing the ball in the air and then having to scramble it to
safety as Hugo Almeida challenged him. Another chance
presented itself when Cristiano Ronaldo teed up a 30-yard
freekick and an edgy Casillas spilled the ball before the
Spanish defence mopped up.
It was finely poised and Portugal almost broke the deadlock
early in the second half when Carlos Puyol got his knee in the
way of a Almeida cross and it looped over Casillas' head and
shaved the post. The match started opening up but it was game
over for Liverpool's Torres, who was hauled off after 58
minutes with Fernando Llorente replacing him.
Llorente seemed to spark Spain into life and seconds later
Villa saw a powerful shot squirm past the post before the
Barcelona striker demonstrated why he is one of the best in
the business. After some quickfire passes on the edge of the
box he found space on the left and while his first shot was
saved, Villa made no mistake with the rebound. Sergio Ramos
nearly made it 2-0 just minutes later and another ferocious
Villa drive stung the goalkeepers' palms with 13 minutes left.
Portugal's misery was completed when Costa was given a
straight red card for an apparent elbow of Joan Capdevila who
fell dramatically to the floor holding his face.
Paraguay
confident but Brazil, Argentina top favourites
AFP, Pretoria
Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino admits Brazil and Argentina
remain the powerhouses among South America's record four teams
in the World Cup quarter-finals, but he is not counting his
side out yet either.
Paraguay advanced to the last eight of the World Cup on
Tuesday by beating Japan 5-3 on penalties after playing to a
goal-less draw after extra time, a victory that gave South
American sides a chance to sweep the semi-final spots.
"Argentina still have a great chance, Brazil as always in the
World Cup are getting better and we're also there trying to do
things right," Martino said.
"I'm not saying we're trying to write a new page in the book
of history. We're just trying to play well." Martino's club
has already made history, putting Paraguay in the last eight
at a World Cup for the first time after three prior
round-of-16 losses.
Now he has players thinking about the chances of capturing the
crown.
"We're all going to have to play very well again if we want to
advance," said Paraguay goalkeeper and captain Justo Villar.
"If we keep working hard, all things are possible."
Paraguay's best-ever showing comes after a strong performance
in South American qualifying last year, a crucible for World
Cup competition.
Martino echoed that sentiment. The only side to eliminate a
South American team was another South American team, when
Brazil ousted Chile in the round of 16.
"If I hadn't seen Brazil last night I would've said Argentina
are the favourites," Martino said. "I deeply regret that Chile
are now eliminated because they had been playing excellent
football. Paraguay's defence has surrendered only one goal in
four matches, but scoring has been at a premium as well.
"Compared to other teams we're more defensively oriented but
we also have attacking options," Martino said. "We have good
players up front but we haven't proved that so far as we
haven't scored many goals."
Revolt
hits Howard’s ICC leadership bid for six
AFP, Singapore
Former Australian prime minister John Howard's bid to lead
world cricket has been thrown out, the International
Cricket Council said Wednesday, after a revolt by Asian
and African nations. A statement from the ICC board at a
meeting in Singapore said the right-wing politician's
nomination to serve as president of world cricket's
governing body had failed to muster enough backing.
"Following lengthy consideration it was recognised that
the nomination (of Howard) put forward by Cricket
Australia and New Zealand Cricket did not have sufficient
support within the ICC board," the ICC said in a
statement. Opposition from Asian and African nations
sealed the fate of Howard, 70, who has no experience in
cricket administration and who clashed repeatedly with
some of the countries opposed to his ICC bid when he was
Australia's premier.
Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke was "gutted" at the
decision, and described Howard as being "extremely
disappointed and extremely upset", the Australian
Associated Press reported. Former BCCI chief Sharad Pawar,
an Indian government minister who has served as ICC
vice-president for the past two years, takes over from
outgoing president David Morgan of England on Thursday.
Howard, who was Australia's prime minister from 1996 to
2007, would have assumed the ICC vice presidency before
assuming full leadership in mid-2012 under a system that
rotates the job between cricket's regional blocs.
Howard had been touted by Cricket Australia as a veteran
political operator who would boost the ICC's profile in
international sport, at a time when more money is coming
into the game than ever before.
Lugano - the model Uruguayan
captain
AFP, Johannesburg
Diego Lugano may lead a rugged Uruguayan defence, but his
male model-like good looks has his female fans swooning in
front of the giant video screens set up back home in
Montevideo.
The 29-year-old may not be the quickest of defenders but
he uses his 6ft 1inch (1.86 metres) stature to good effect
in the air - as has been seen during the Uruguayans run to
their first World Cup quarter-final since 1970 - and his
leadership qualities attracted coach Oscar Tabarez as soon
as he took over the national side in 2006.
His qualities have also been recognised too by rival
coaches, including Brazil's demanding taskmaster Dunga.
"Lugano is an excellent defender," said Dunga prior to the
2007 Copa America semi-final which Brazil went on to win
on penalties. Lugano, who has played for Turkish giants
Fenerbahce since 2006, collecting two league titles, has
marshalled the defence here expertly after a hesitant
start in the opening 0-0 draw with France.
The Uruguayans emerged from the group stages, not only as
winners of it but having not conceded a goal in the three
matches - something never achieved before under the
Tabarez rule. Lugano, whose worth to the defence is such
that the heaviest defeat of a tough qualifying campaign a
4-0 reverse to Brazil came when he was suspended, held up
his hands to being responsible for the South Korean goal
which brought the sides level in their last 16 match last
Saturday. However, he claimed there were extenuating
circumstances for his rare lapse which allowed Lee
Chung-Yong the time to head the ball home.
"I did not want to take any risks in giving away a
penalty," said the father of three, who receives a phone
call from Uruguayan President Jose Mujica before each
match.
Stekelenburg
comes good at World Cup
AFP, Johannesburg
Maarten Stekelenburg has not one but two crosses to bear
at the World Cup.
He is a member of the latest Dutch side trying to end
their winning drought in the competition and he is also
trying to shake off the label of being the goalkeeper who
followed in the footsteps of the great Edwin van der Sar.
The 27-year-old Ajax shot-stopper has so far in the World
Cup finals measured up pretty well, conceding just two
goals, both from penalties, and he has earned the highest
of praise from 'Oranje' coach Bert van Marwijk. Van
Marwijk was especially impressed by Stekelenburg's
performance in the second round game against Slovakia
which the Dutch won 2-1
"Maarten was exceptional, he saved us and allowed us to
stay in control at a delicate moment of the match," said
van Marwijk, who will be looking for a similarly assured
performance against five-time champions Brazil on Friday
in Port Elizabeth. Stekelenburg, who replaced the
130-times capped van der Sar after Euro 2008 when the
Manchester United number one retired from international
football for the second time, had already shown he was
made of the right stuff in conceding just two goals in the
eight qualifying matches he appeared in.
However, his place as national number one looked to be in
danger 18 months ago when he was dropped as Ajax first
choice by then club coach Marco van Basten and replaced by
the younger Kenneth Vermeer.
"Van Basten told me off for having become complacent,"
explained Stekelenburg, who stands at an impressive 6ft
4inches (1.94m).
"That stunned me because I couldn't get enough of
training, and I was certainly not lazy," he added.
However, he bears no malice towards the former AC Milan
and Dutch striking great, who went on to coach The
Netherlands at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008.
Bulgarian press
jubilant over Pironkova’s win
AFP, Sofia
The Bulgarian media was jubilant Wednesday over Tsvetana
Pironkova's stunning win over five-time champion Venus
Williams in Wimbledon's quarter-finals.
"Bravo, Tsveti!" trumpeted the mass-circulation daily Trud
on its front page, after the 22-year-old beat Williams in
two straight sets on Tuesday, becoming the first Bulgarian
ever to reach the semi-finals in Wimbledon.
"Pironkova nailed Venus down! A Bulgarian girl writes
history in world tennis!" wrote the daily 7 Days Sport in
a special two-page article on the Pironkova's sensational
6-2, 6-3 win.
Both Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov and Prime
Minister Boyko Borisov telephoned Piro-nkova to
congratulate her. No Bulgarian has ever reached the
Wimbledon semi-finals before and only one Bulgarian
player-tennis legend Manuela Maleeva-reached a Grand Slam
semi-final at the US Open in 1992 and 1993.
Maleeva herself reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in
1984, followed by her sister Katerina Maleeva twice in
1990 and 1992.
"But history changed yesterday, with Tsveti's
uncompromising win," cheered the left-wing daily Sega.
"This is an incredible success, but Tsveti deserves it.
She can beat (Vera) Zvonareva" of Russia in the
semi-finals on Thursday, Magdalena Maleeva told the daily
Dnevnik.
"I am happy that there is another warrior girl to boost
our record," Katerina Maleeva told the Internet sports
website Gong.bg.
Okada has last
laugh, turns to earthier matters
AFP, Pretoria
Japanese coach Takeshi Okada can approach his likely new
vocation of farming in a confident frame of mind after
probably bowing out of football with his head held high
following Japan's impressive showing at the World Cup
finals.
The bespectacled unde-monstrative 53-year-old could be
forgiven also for cocking a snook at the sceptics, who
ridiculed his target of a semi-final spot for a side that
was on a four-game friendlies losing streak and finding
goals hard to come by.
However, they came within a penalty shootout defeat by
Paraguay in their Last 16 clash on Tuesday of getting
closer to that dream - no shame there and backed up by
group stage wins over Cameroon (1-0) and Denmark (3-1)
while only losing 1-0 to The Netherlands. Okada, though,
was as humble after the Paraguay defeat as he has been
throughout his second spell in charge of the national side
- the former international having guided Japan through the
1998 finals where they lost all three matches. "They have
not come with the sole purpose of surprising you but
they've come with the purpose of surprising you by
winning," Okada said after Yuichi Komano's bungled spot
kick ended Japan's dream of moving forward.
"However to that end, I'm not satisfied because we've
fallen short of that goal (against Paraguay)."
Whether he was happy or not at the Paraguay loss he earned
unstinting praise from an unlikely media source, the
Sankei Sports which only six months ago published a poll
that revealed 86percent of those asked wanted him sacked
and 80percent responded that they didn't think Japan would
win one match at the finals. However, on Wednesday the
Sankei Sports struck an entirely different stance.
"Manager Okada has strongly impressed the world with an
aggressive defence led by a battling spirit," the Sankei
Sports said. Okada was typically philosophical about the
sudden turnaround in the media's estimation of him. "As it
has changed so much, it will change again," he said.
"Either I am praised or get a media-bashing, I won't
change."
Okada got special credit for having changed his tactics
from an all-round style of play, which had worked in Asian
qualifying, to a defensive strategy with rising CSKA
Moscow star midfielder Keisuke Honda boosting Japan's
feeble firepower as a lone striker. "Many people
criticised us before the tournament and I accept that,"
said 24-year-old Honda, who scored two goals and created
one at the finals. "If not for them, I don't know if we'd
come this far."
Okada, a Zen student who has often mixed his team talks
with lectures on religion, philosophy and history, has
repeatedly said he would leave football after the finals
though, he has been suggested as a viable candidate for
the top FA job.
He told a British football magazine that he would retire
to become a "farmer" who reads books when it rains and
toils on the land when the sun shines, a lifestyle
idealised by intellectual recluses in Japan.
"I probably won't do it any longer," Okada said after the
Paraguay defeat.
Okada - who could be replaced as Japan coach by German
1990 World Cup winning defender Guido Buchwald - warned
that the relative success in South Africa doesn't mean
that Japan have established themselves permanently among
the world's elite. "When you keep on piling bricks
vertically, they will eventually crumble," he said. "There
are times when you have to lay them sideways."
Ghana goal ace sets
sights on EPL
AFP, Mogwase
African World Cup hero Asamoah Gyan has set his sights on
a move to the English Premier League after firing Ghana to
the brink of a place in history at the World Cup.
The striker, who currently plays for French club Rennes,
has scored three goals in the Black Stars four matches in
South Africa and is confident he will have shaken off an
ankle injury in time to do battle with Uruguay's
formidable defenders in Friday's quarter-final at Soccer
City, Johannesburg.
It is all a far cry from two years ago when Gyan and his
brother, Baffour, threatened to walk out on their national
squad at the African Nations Cup following criticism of
their performances from their own supporters. But the
24-year-old insists all the acrimony has been forgetten as
he revels in the experience of starring on football's
biggest stage.
"Am I surprised by how well I've played? No. I've had a
good season for my club and I know what I am worth when I
am 100 percent fit," Gyan told AFP at the Ghanaians
training camp close to the Sun City resort in north west
South Africa. Gyan knows that putting himself in
contention to win the tournament's golden boot is bound to
attract attention from Europe's bigger clubs and he would
relish the opportunity to join compatriot Michael Essien,
the Chelsea midfielder who has missed the World Cup
through injury, in the EPL.
Gyan accepts that the Black Stars will go into their
meeting with a Uruguayan side that has impressed here as
slight under-dogs as they seek to become the first African
country to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup.
But he insisted: "This is an African tournament and that
gives us confidence. We are a united squad and we have
already brought pride to Africa.
With Gyan winning his battle to be fit, Ghana have also
been boosted by the return to training of experienced
centreback Isaac Vorsah, who has not played since the
opening win over Serbia because of a knee problem.
Australia, NZ ‘deeply
disappointed’ at Howard snub
AFP, Sydney
Australia and New Zealand cricket officials Wednesday said
they were "deeply disappointed" after Australian ex-prime
minister John Howard was blocked from leading the sport's
governing body.
"We remain convinced it is reasonable for his nomination
to be supported by the ICC executive board and we are
deeply disappointed by the position taken at today's
meeting," they said in a joint statement.
The conservative former leader's candidacy for the world
cricket body failed to win backing from Asian and African
nations at an International Cricket Council meeting in
Singapore.
Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket said they would
consider making a new nomination by August 31, as
requested by the ICC, but said it was premature to comment
further. They described Howard as an "eminent and
well-credentialed international stat-esman who Australia
and New Zealand nominated after a comprehensive sele-ction
process".
"We were delighted that the most senior world figure ever
considered for this role agreed to accept the nomination,"
they added.
Howard won the nomination following months of jarring
debate between Australian and New Zealand cricket
officials over who would be their joint candidate.
The Kiwis had reportedly preferred to put forward former
New Zealand Cricket chairman John Anderson for the job,
which involves juggling the political and cultural
considerations of 10 diverse Test-playing nations.
Officials eventually asked former British Airways chief
executive Rod Eddington to act as an independent arbiter,
and his recommendation led to Howard as the joint nominee.
Howard, 70, is a self-described "cricket tragic" who has
regularly been seen watching the game around the world
since losing office in November 2007.
World Cup dream is
alive and well: Spanish press
AFP, Madrid
Spain's hopes of lifting their first World Cup and adding
it to their European crown gained all round approval from
the previously sceptical Spanish media on Wednesday
following the 1-0 win over Iberian rivals Portugal in
their Last 16 match on Tuesday.
"Spain begins to dream" was the headline in El Pais, while
ABC said that the "dream stays alive." Spain's goalscorer
David Villa, who took his tally to a joint top mark of
four in the finals and edged him ever closer to all-time
Spanish marksman Raul as his total went to 42 just two shy
of the Real Madrid icon, received special praise. "Villa
relaunches Spain's dream," was the headline in El Mundo,
beside a photograph of the Barcelona striker at the moment
of the goal. "Villa, like few people in front of goal, is
a goldmine, or even better, an oilfield on his own,"
commented El Pais. ABC speaks of "Villa the matador".
"There is my Spain," enthused sport daily Marca, for whom
Villa produced a "performance that was out of this world,"
before more soberly recalling: "there we go, we are in the
quarter-finals, but be careful, we have won nothing yet."
Marca said that Spain had performed with "a game full of
subtlety" and assessed that Spain "has finally gone back
to its origins, with overall a superb performance." For
the other sports daily As, the "champions are back" and
that the European champions beha-ved like real
"Bullfighters" in beating Portugal. There is not such good
news for out of form Spanish striker Fernando Torres as
the player who replaced him during the second-half when it
was still 0-0, Athletic Bilbao forward Fernando Llorente,
was praised all round for changing the nature of the
match.
He went close to opening the score shortly after coming on
in the 59th minute and Villa broke the deadlock four
minutes later.
"After an hour of a pretty poor match, played badly by
both sides, Llorente, who did not appear to have a role at
this World Cup, inspired an extraordinary transformation".
Delhi 2010 upbeat
despite missed deadline
AFP, New Delhi
Organisers of the Commo-nwealth Games in New Delhi in
October have struck an upbeat note over widely criticised
preparations for the event despite yet another key
deadline being missed on Wednesday.
The date for venues to be handed over to the organising
committee by city authorities slipped three times and was
still not fully met by the final deadline of June 30.
Three major facilities-the main stadium, the swimming
complex and the athletes' village-are still not ready for
Games officials to move in and begin installing complex
operational equipment.
Hooper has endured a rocky relationship with the Indian
hosts, who last October demanded he be sacked, but he
welcomed recent progress after years of delays and
setbacks. The Commonwealth Games Federation previously
warned New Delhi several times that it faced an enormous
task to be in a position to host a successful event when
the opening ceremony is held on October 3 -- 95 days away.
Many of the transport projects that authorities hoped
would transform the traffic-choked city in time for the
Games are far from complete, with new metro lines and
elevated highways still under construction. More than 600
new buses meant to be supplied by June 30 will now not be
in action until the end of August.
New Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday said she
was confident that preparations were on track, even though
monsoon rains are expected to hit the city within days.
India has undergone dramatic development in the last 15
years and the Commonwealth Games, which will involve 71
nations mostly from the former British empire, are an
important showcase for the nation's modern image. In one
major breakthrough, a huge new terminal at New Delhi
airport will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh on Saturday. Commonwealth Games organisers are
desperate to pull off a glitch-free event to disprove
Delhi's reputation for urban chaos, but admit much still
needs to be done to spruce up the city before the 6,000
athletes arrive.
Another problem that organisers face is attracting the top
stars, with reigning Olympic and world sprint champion
Usain Bolt apparently unlikely to show up due to his
schedule focusing on next year's world championships.
Suresh Kalmadi, a divisive politician who heads the Delhi
2010 organising committee, said all the challenges would
be overcome.
Forlan fired-up for
Uruguay’s Ghana test
AFP, Kimberley
Uruguay striker Diego Forlan said Tuesday he was all fired
up for his team's World Cup quarter-final against Ghana.
"We are well prepared - we are having a good World Cup,"
said the Atletico Madrid striker ahead of Friday's test at
Soccer City in Johannesburg against the sole African
survivors. "We are following the instructions of (coach
Oscar) Tabarez and we are confident we can reach the
semi-finals to give joy to our people," said the former
Manchester United striker. Luis Suarez, with his three
goals in the competition to Forlan's early double against
South Africa, is the man who has been in the spotlight in
recent days thanks to his stellar winner against South
Korea but Forlan says there is no ego contest. "We are a
team and we all work together," he insists.
"The truth is that Luis and I have a great relationship
and I am happy he hit those decisive two goals (against
the South Koreas in the round of last 16.) "That's the
reason we have got to where we are." Uruguay won the World
Cup in 1930 and again in 1950 but have failed to shine
anywhere near as brightly since.
Forlan says he hopes that the strong South American
presence in the second phase will encourage FIFA to
revisit their quota of finals places rather than force the
fifth team in the regional qualifiers to playoff against a
Central American side. Uruguay had to beat Costa Rica to
reach the finals.
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