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Leading News
One killed, 2 hurt in police
firing in Munshiganj
UNB, Munshiganj
A man was killed and two others received bullet wounds as
police opened fire on a group of demonstrators on the
Dhaka-Maowa highway at Kuchiamora in Sirajadkhan Upazila
on Thursday.
The deceased was identified as Moslem, 32, son of M Ehsan
of Keyain Maddachar Village. Munshiganj Assistant
Superintendent of Police Sayduzzaman Farooque confirmed
the incident.
The incident took place when the demonstrators blocked the
highway demanding a speed breaker as a schoolboy was
killed in a road accident at the place on Wednesday
evening.
Police opened fire on the students and local people when
they attacked the law enforcers present on the scene as
the speed breaker has not been put till 12:00 noon,
leaving Moslem dead on the spot. The demonstrator pelted
brickbats that injured five police officers, including ASP
Sayduzzaman Farooque, OC Mijanur Rahman and second officer
Mushfiqur Rahman. Police also threw 20 round rubber
bullets, 20 bullets and 12 teargas canisters during the
clash.
Earlier on Wednesday, the students of Adarsha High School
along with local people blocked the highway for two hours
since 6:15pm after Mehedi Hasan, a student of class-VII of
the school, was killed, witnesses said. Later, they
put-off the blockade after getting assurance of putting a
speed breaker at Kuchiamora from the local administration.
BNP
discusses party strategy
Khaleda demands release of Nizami, Mujaheed, Sayedee
UNB, Dhaka
BNP national standing committee, the party's highest
policy making body, sat for urgent meeting on Thursday
night to discuss its strategy over the arrest of top
leaders Jamaat-e-Islam, a major partner of BNP-led 4-party
alliance.
The meeting with BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair
at her Gulshan office commenced at 8:15 pm.
On Tuesday Jamaat Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary
general Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujaheed and Nayeb-e-Ameer
Delwar Hossain Sayedee were arrested.
BNP standing committee members including Khandaker Delwar
Hossain, Dr RA Gani, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain,
Barrister Moudud Ahmed, M Shamsul Islam and Lt Gen (retd)
Mahbubur Rahman attended the meeting that was continued
till filing this report at 8:50 pm. On Wednesday night a
2-member delegation of Jamaat M Qmaruzzman met with
Khaleda Zia to discuss about the latest situation
following arrest of their top echelons.
Meanwhile, Khaleda Zia Thursday night denounced the arrest
of three top Jamaat-e-Islam leaders and demanded their
immediate release.
In a statement Khaleda termed 'rude' example of political
repression in autocratic way the arrest of the top three
leaders of Jamaat in a 'funny' case and then taken them on
remand for 16 days in a number of 'false' cases against
them.
She called for withdrawal of all restrictions on peaceful
activities by all the legal political parties as per the
constitution and law.
Khaleda said when Jamaat-e-Islam comes forward in support
of the political programs of BNP, Awami League resorts to
repression on Jamaat. She said no conscience people can
accept such repression and political vendetta. Describing
the recent arrests as political 'repression and 'misrule',
Khaleda urged the people to carryout movement peacefully
against the 'fascist' government saying the democracy is
at stake and the country is under the clutch of the
fascist.
The BNP chairperson demanded arrest and exemplary
punishment of those involved in the attack of BNP leader
Mirza Abbas' residence and on Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie
MP through fair investigation.
She wanted to know from the government about the
whereabouts of DCC ward councilor and BNP central
executive committee member Chowdhury Alam and demanded his
immediate release.
PM
for taking up project for dev of pearl farming
BSS, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday asked the
authorities concerned to take up a project-based programme
soon for development of pearl cultivation in the country.
She gave the directives during a power-point presentation
on 'Pearl Farming in Bangladesh: Present State, Problems
and Tasks' by the Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute
under the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry at the Prime
Minister's Office (PMO).
Among others, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif
Biswas was present at the power-point presentation
meeting. After the meeting, Press Secretary to the Prime
Minister Abul Kalam Azad briefed newsmen.
The Prime Minister put utmost importance on pearl farming
in the country to create income generation, especially for
the women. She said the country could earn a considerable
amount of foreign exchange by exporting pearls to the
global market fulfilling its demands.
Sheikh Hasina said her previous government in 1998 took
steps for flourishing pearl farming in the country, but
the BNP- Jamaat alliance government did not support those
properly. After taking office this time, Hasina said, the
government again took a decision to expand pearl farming
in the country.
She asked the authorities concerned to take assistance
from the countries adept in pearl farming for proper
establishment of pearl cultivation in the country. She
mentioned that pearl farming could be carried out with a
small capital and this could help the country make a good
progress in the economic arena.
Sheikh Hasina mentioned that as the country has vast
wetlands, this farming has a huge potentiality that will
help propel the country towards prosperity.
Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute informed the Prime
Minister that four kinds of pearl farming is going on in
the country.
These are Lamellidess marginails, Lamellidens corrianns,
Lamellidens Phenchooganjensis and Lamelliem jenkinsianus.
Of the varieties, Lamellidess marginails and Lamellidens
corrianns have the higher rate of productivity.
Mujahid, Sayedee taken to DB office
for interrogation
UNB, Dhaka
Paltan Thana police on Thursday took Jamaat-e-Islami
leaders Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Delwar Hossain
Sayedee into their custody from Dhaka Central jail for
interrogation in connection with a case.
Jamaat ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general
Mujahid, nayeb-e-ameer Sayedee were sent to jail on
Wednesday after a Dhaka court granted 16 day's remand for
each in five cases, including one in Paltan thana.
Earlier, on February 17, police filed a case with Paltan
thana against some Jamaat leaders and activists on charge
of rioting and assault on police. Sub-Inspector Zillur
Rahman is now investigating the case.
Official sources said the two Jamaat leaders were taken to
the office of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan
Police in city's Minto Road from Dhaka Central Jail
Thursday afternoon due to accommodation crisis at Paltan
thana.
Investigation Officer SI Zillur will interrogate the two
Jammat leaders at the DB office, they said, adding that
Jamaat ameer Nizami will be interrogated later. The three
Jamaat leaders, arrested Tuesday in connection with a case
of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims, were granted
bail in the case on Wednesday.
Leasing system goes at Sadarghat
Terminal
BSS, Dhaka
Sadarghat Terminal, the gateway to capital Dhaka by river
routes, was made free from leasing system after 42 years
as the government handed over the port operation to
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA)
Thursday.
"The leasing system of Sadarghat Terminal has been
cancelled to free passengers from harassment by private
operators," Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan told
journalists at a press conference.
He however, said Waiz Ghat, Simpson Ghat, Parking Yard and
Cargo Ghat would be run under the traditional leasing
system, although steps would be taken to free the river
terminals all over the country from leasing in future.
According to BIWTA, passengers would have liberty to carry
their luggage and goods on their own paying a lump sump
amount of Taka 4 (four) only to the terminal authority.
Besides, a group of designated labour force in sky colour
dress would remain engaged to help passengers carry
luggage and goods at a rate fixed by the authority.
"This new system of handling of labourers would
drastically cut the harassment of passengers by syndicated
labour force in the terminal," said a BIWTA official on
the sidelines of the press conference.
Mugger killed
in ‘gunfight’ with police in city
TBT Report
An alleged mugger was killed in a gunfight with police at
Natun Bazar road in city's Gulshan thana early Thursday
taking the total of such extra judicial killings to 135 in
11 months from August 1, 2009 to July 1, 2010.
With this 43 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 mugger died and
another sustained bullet injuries after a gunfight with
police in city's Gulshan thana early Thursday.
Police said mugger Manik, 30, received injuries in his
left leg and his accomplice Mizan, 29, in both legs.
Later, they were admitted to Dhaka Medical College
Hospital where Mizan died at about 6am. Police said six
muggers traveling in a private car fired on them as they
challenged the criminals in front of House No. 38 of road
no. 43 in Gulshan at about 1:00am. Later, the gunfight
ensued as police returned fire leaving them injured.
At one stage, police detained bullet-wounded Manik and
Mijan and also two other accomplices-Aslam, 35, and Jalal,
28, while two others fled from the scene. One pistol and
four bullets were also recovered from Manik's possession.
Two police constables Abdul Malek and Shahidullah were
also injured in the incident.
However, deceased Mijan's wife Taslima alleged that her
husband was killed in police custody. Gulshan thana police
detained Mijan on Tuesday night, Taslma told reporters at
DMCH.
How Mijan committed crime Wednesday night as he was in
police custody, Taslima said. Refuting the allegation
Gulshan thana Officer-in-Charge (OC) Kamal Uddin said that
the gangsters were engaged in mugging people, especially
foreign women rickshaw passengers, in Gulshan, Banani and
Dhanmondi areas in last two months. They reportedly
committed 20-30 muggings in the Gulshan area in the last
two months, the OC said.
PDB to purchase 200 mw electricity
without tender
UNB, Dhaka
The state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) on Thursday
signed contracts with two private companies to purchase
200 MW electricity from quick rental power plants (QRPP).
As per contracts, the IEL Consortium and Associates, a
subsidiary of Orion Group, will set up a 100 MW plat at
Meghnaghat in Narayanganj within next nine months and the
PDB will purchase electricity from the plant for next 5
years at a rate of at Tk 7.78 per unit (per kilowatt
hour).
Similarly, Dutch Bangla Power Ltd will set up a 100 MW
plant at Siddhirganj in Narayanganj in the next nine
months and PDB will buy electricity from the plant at the
same rate. Obaidul Karim, Chairman of Orion Group, signed
the contract on behalf of his company while Alauddin Ahmed
Chowdhury, who served as protocol officer to Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina during her last tenure, signed the
contracts on behalf of his company Dutch Bangla Power Ltd.
PDB secretary Md. Azizul Islam signed the agreements on
behalf of his organisation.
With the signing of latest contracts, the PDB so far
signed a total of 7 contracts with different private
sponsors to set up rental power plants with a total
capacity of about 700 MW.
Back Page
Dhaka seeks more help from rich
nations to combat climate challenge
BSS, Dhaka
State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud
Thursday urged leaders of the developed nations to extend
more financial and technology support to the developing
world to face the challenges of climate change.
"Not the developing countries, but humanity will suffer
due to inadequacy and delay in delivering adequate support
to cope with challenges of climate change," he said.
Dr Hasan was addressing the 7th meeting of the Major
Economic Forum (MEF) on Energy and Climate in Rome, Italy
today, official sources here said. He attended the two-day
meeting on special invitation of the forum where 13
ministers from 20 developed and developing countries
including the USA, the UK, Canada, China, Germany, India,
Japan, Russia turned up. Environment minister of Italy
Stefania Prestigiacomo inaugurated the meeting on June 30.
The MEF leaders discussed the issues related to world
environment, Copenhagen Accord, Kyoto Protocol, and other
issues leading to Cancun Conference to be held in November
next.
Dr Hasan reminded all about the differentiated
responsibilities of all parties with regard to mitigation
efforts and highlighted the needs for national efforts by
developed nations to combat climate change. With regard to
global mitigation efforts he said, "we must bear in mind
that humanity as a whole should not make the same mistake
as they have done in the past".
The state minister mentioned that there should be enough
incentives for the developing countries and LDCs in the
form of technology transfers and financial assistance to
pursue mitigation as well as adaptation efforts.
Despite their different opinions, the leaders highlighted
the importance of ensuring equity, transparency and
necessity of Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV)
of climate mitigating actions.
JS body to probe irregularities in
purchase of paper for textbooks
BSS, Dhaka
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education Ministry
on Thursday formed a sub-committee to probe alleged
irregularities in the purchase of printing and cover paper
for secondary school textbooks of academic year 2010.
The three-member sub-committee, formed at the 16th meeting
of the standing committee, will submit its report within
15 days, said a press release.
Standing Committee Member Sheikh Abdul Wahab is the
convenor of the sub-committee while Kazi Faruq Kader and M
Shah Alam are members.
Held at Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Bhaban with committee Chairman
Rashed Khan Menon in the chair, the meeting discussed in
detail the report of the probe body formed on
irregularities in recruitment at National University
during the last four-party alliance government.
The meeting asked for a report within two months on
implementation of seven guidelines issued by the education
ministry to National University. It also discussed about
the letter sent by the parliamentary standing committee on
land ministry.
Committee members Mirza Azam, Moudud Ahmad, Kazi Faruq
Kader, Biren Sikder, M Shah Alam, M Ziaur Rahman and Alhaj
Mamtaz Begum attended the meeting.
Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Land
Ministry AKM Mojammel Haq attended the meeting on a
special invitation.
Education Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman, University Grants
Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof Nazrul Islam and senior
officials concerned were present at the meeting.
ADB
extends loan for food security
BSS, Dhaka
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) extended financial
assistance to Bangladesh to grow high-value crops
including vegetables, spices and fruits that will boost
incomes for poor farmers and support the nation's food
security.
ADB's concessional Asian Development Fund sanctioned a
loan of 40 million US dollars to support the development
of high-value crops in 27 districts in the southwest and
northwest of the country, an ADB press release said on
Thursday.
The focus of the project will be on crops with proven
market demand, high profitability, and potential for
commercialization, including fruits, vegetables, pulses,
spices, cut flowers, potted plants and value-added
agro-products.
With Bangladesh highly susceptible to extreme weather
events due to its low-lying position along the Bay of
Bengal, the project will also pilot test climate-resilient
varieties of crops in drought and flood-prone areas.
Under the project, training in production and post-
harvest processing and marketing of high-value crops will
be provided to reduce post-harvest losses and improve
produce quality.
The loan, which will finance 87 percent of the total
project cost of $45.8 million, has a 32-year term with an
eight-year grace period.
Interest during the grace period is set at 1 percent per
annum, rising to 1.5 percent for the rest of the term. The
government is extending $5.42 million, with farm
communities extending around $390,000. The Department of
Agricultural Extension and Bangladesh Bank are the
executing agencies for the project, which is expected to
be completed by June 2016.
Govt sincere to make development
process much more transparent and inclusive: Planning
Minister
UNB, Dhaka
Planning Minister AK Khandaker on Thursday said that the
present government is very much sincere about making the
development process much more transparent and
participatory.
"The mutual participatory mindset between the government
and the development partners can play a great role in
successful implementation of the development projects," he
said while addressing the inaugural session of 'Review of
Government and UNDP Run Programmes' held at the NEC-2 in
the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. Chaired by Economic
Relations Division (ERD) Secretary M Musharraf Hossain
Bhuiyan, UNDP resident representative Stefan Priesner also
addressed the occasion as guest of honour.
Terming timely and fruitful the implementation of the
development projects as a major challenge, the Minister
said that the government had been laying special emphasis
to operate collective efforts to finish the development
projects in due time.
The Planning Minister mentioned that Bangladesh achieved
large scale progress while attaining the targets of
Millennium Development Goals in some fields which are also
termed 'development surprises' by the economists.
AK Khandaker also said that UNDP had long been assisting
Bangladesh in human resource development, poverty
alleviation, management of natural disasters and reducing
the damages of climate change related impacts.
Six people
killed in road accidents
UNB, Bagerhat
Six people, including two Bank staff members were killed
in separate road accidents in Bagerhat, Sherpur and
Munshiganj on Thursday.
In Bagerhat: Three people including two Bank staff were
killed when a truck rammed into their motorcycle in Foila
area of Rampal upazila on Mongla-Khulna highway early
hours of Thursday. The deceased were identified as Sukanta
Kundu, 29, officer of Agrani Bank Chulkathi branch,
Mizanur Rahman, 48, clerk of the bank and the bike driver
Ali Sheikh, 55, of the upazila.
Police said the accident took place late at night when the
cement laden truck dashed the motorcycle coming from
opposite direction, leaving Mizanur and Ali Sheikh dead on
the spot. Sukanta died on the way to Khulna Medical
College Hospital.
Police said the two bank staff members were returning home
by hiring the motorcycle of Ali Sheikh.
In Sherpur: Two people, including a woman, were killed and
another three injured in a road accident at Nabinagar in
the district town on Sherpur-Dhaka highway. One of the
deceased was identified as Abdul Ahad Sarkar, 26, employee
of the district Palli Bhidyut Samity. He hailed from
Narsingdi district. The identity of the woman, aged about
30 could not be known immediately.
Police said the accident occurred at 9:30pm when a goods
laden truck rammed a three-wheeler tempo in the area
leaving two tempo passengers dead on the spot and three
others, including its driver, critically injured. The
critically injured tempo driver Obaidullah, 25, Budu Miah,
45, and Aynal Haque, 26, were admitted to Sadar hospital.
Another report from Munshiganj adds: A minor schoolboy was
killed as a bus ran over him at Kuchiamora on Dhaka-Maowa
highway in Sirajdikhan upazila on Wednesday. The deceased
was identified as Mehedi Hasan, 11, only son of Mobarak
Hossain of Kuchiamora Kaijjarchar village and a class
seven student of local Adarsha High School.
Plot to murder Hasina
Charge framing defers for five weeks
UNB, Gopalganj
A court in Gopalganj on Thursday deferred by over five
weeks the scheduled hearing on charge framing against
Mufti Hannan, top leader of outlawed JMB, and eight
associates in a sedition case, as no defence lawyer
appeared in court for the accused.
Additional district and sessions judge Gholam Morshed
passed the order and fixed August 8 as the next date for
charge framing. The accused were produced in the dock at
10:30 am amid tight security. They are facing three
criminal cases including plotting murder of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina by planting bombs at the meeting venue in
Kotalipara and nearby helipad on July 20 in 2000.
Several hundred people thronged the court precincts to
have a look at militant leader Mufti Hannan.
Elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police
whisked Mufti Hannan away from the court, preventing press
photographers from taking snaps.
Tk 30 crore
assistance to encourage jute cultivation: Matia
UNB, Dhaka
Agriculture Ministry has allocated Tk 30 crore for
assistance of 15 lakh farmers under 28 districts during
the current jute cultivation season to encourage jute
cultivation.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury disclosed it
addressing a press briefing at her office on Thursday.
The allocation was made mainly to encourage jute farmers
to switch over to modern system of cutting and rotten jute
plant instead of traditional method to check wastage of
jute fibers, reduce production cost, popularize
environment friendly technology and to get quality
jute-stalk Under the scheme each farmer will be provided
Tk 200 cash for buying necessary items include big bowl,
preparing mini pond, polythene and fertilizer for applying
the new method of rotten of jute and removing jute fibre.
15,000 ribboner will be supplied free of cost at 171
upazilas under the targeted 28 districts to extract jute
fibre from jute plant to check fibre wastages, it was
informed at the briefing.
Editorial
Help the flood and
erosion victims
Flood
and erosion situation has deteriorated in different parts of
the country intensifying the sufferings of the affected
people, specially the marooned ones. According to agency
reports, Jamuna and Brahmaputra rivers continued to swell in
Jamalpur and Gaibandha respectively inundating new areas of
the two northern districts and worsening the flood situations
there. The Jamuna was flowing 9cm above the danger level at
Bahadurabad Ghat on Wednesday triggering massive erosion and
extensive inundation in Islampur upazila leaving 1,094
families marooned. Hundreds of people of Kulkandi union took
shelter in safer places after becoming homeless. New breaches
developed in Harindhara embankment.The flood caused extensive
damage to crops, especially jute, sugarcane and vegetables.
In Gaibandha Brahmaputra was flowing 27cm above the danger
mark. Moreover, waters of Tista, Korotoa and Ghaghot rivers
continued to rise sharply on the day, overflowing their banks
engulfing fresh areas. 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. Besides, flood situation deteriorated further
in Sherpur, Sunamganj and Maulvibazar districts rendering
thousands of people marooned who have taken shelter on
embankment and highways under open sky. Reports say that the
sufferings of the people affected by flood and erosion know no
bounds as they are getting very little or no relief material.
Flood and erosion are annual Phenomenon in our country. This
year also these two scourges have hit different areas . Waters
are rolling down from the upstream in India inflating the
Brahmaputra and the Jamuna in northern region and Kushiara and
Surma rivers in Sylhet . Sutarkandi land port has gone under
water and export-import activities with India remained
suspended.
Meanwhile, heavy rains and continuous onrush of hilly waters
caused further rises in the major rivers on the Brahmaputra
basin with sporadic incidents of erosions . With the
continuous rises in the water levels in recent days, stronger
currents caused sporadic erosion in many riverside houses and
lands at various places in Kurigram, Gaibandha and Sirajganj
districts. A sudden rise in the water level of the Brahmaputra
sparked erosion of its banks in Sadar upazila of Sherpur
district devouring 15 houses in Charpakkhimari union, breaking
four try-dams and threatening two school buildings at Bepari
Para .Besides, different rivers are eroding their banks and
devouring land, crop fields and homesteads in different areas.
With the rise of water level, large scale erosion by rivers is
going on at different places of the country. The Padma has
devoured two kilometre crop land in Aliabad union under
Faridpur Sadar thana. The river has devoured two hundred
homesteads and trees and crops recently. Similarly rivers are
eroding their banks at Manikganj, Munshiganj, Shariatpur,
Bogra and Maulbibazar. Many families rendered homeless by
erosion are now passing days under open sky.
Flood and erosion are nothing new in Bangladesh as they ravage
the country every year and leave trails of destruction across
the country. The huge people turned destitute or homeless due
to flood and erosion swell up the number of rootless floating
people streaming to the cities for shelter and livelihood.
Thus flood and erosion cause colossal national loss every
year. But unfortunately, effective measures are not taken to
resolve these problems and check their recurrences annually.
The sporadic and unplanned measures taken in this regard do
not serve any purpose. Well planned concerted efforts are
needed for permanent resolution of the flood and erosion
problems.Government should take steps to construct adequate
number of embankments and dump sandbags there to stop the
erosion and control the fury of the flood. For the moment,
providing shelter and adequate relief materials, food, water
and medicines for the flood and erosion victims is the prime
need. The government should stand beside the marooned people
with help in this hour of crisis.
Law and order
situation
Conflicting
views on the country's law and order situation were expressed
in the Parliament on Wednesday by Independent MP Fakhrul Azim
and Home Minister Sahara Khatun. Fazlul Azim alleged that the
country's law and order deteriorated sharply as extortion,
tender manipulation, rape and land grabbing continue unabated.
He said identified criminals in the name of the government are
carrying out terrorist activities under the nose of the
police. In response, Sahara Khatun said 400 people were killed
in Azim's Hatia constituency during the BNP government when he
belonged to the BNP. She told the House that the law and order
in the country is now much better than any other time in the
past. he law enforcement agencies are providing safety and
security to the people as well as ministers and lawmakers, she
said.
Without entering into the rhetoric on the issue it can be said
that the country's law and order situation is far from
satisfactory. The Home minister may be complacent with the
prevailing situation but the people are worried as there is
virtually no security of life and property even in the capital
city. It is immaterial as to whether the situation is better
or worse than that in the past, but the fact remains that the
present law and order situation is alarming.
The deterioration of the law and order situation in the city
and elsewhere is causing serious concern among the public.
Incidents of extortion, snatching, theft, robbery and murder
have increased in the capital and other parts of the country
in recent days. Against this backdrop, the government should
deal with the law and order situation more stringently to
ensure security of lives and properties of the people. Stern
measures must be taken against the offenders irrespective of
their party affiliation to reassure the people that the
government is not ready to spare anybody if found engaged in
criminal activities.
Analysis
The consulates snag
Until Pakistan is allotted land or a suitable
building in Mumbai to open a consulate there, it is not ready
to grant permission to India to reopen its consulate in
Karachi.
Babar Ayaz
One big snag in
the process of normalisation of relations between Pakistan and
India is the delay in the reopening of the deputy high
commissions in Karachi and in Mumbai, the commercial hubs of
the two countries. Until Pakistan is allotted land or a
suitable building in Mumbai to open a consulate there, it is
not ready to grant permission to India to reopen its consulate
in Karachi.
The former Indian deputy high commission in Karachi - the huge
building on Fatima Jinnah Road - is prime property at a
central location. There is also the unused sprawling residence
of the deputy high commissioner and a large apartment building
for the mission's staff.
Closed since the 1965 war, the Indian deputy high commission
was reopened in 1978 on the understanding
that Pakistan would soon be able to open its consulate in what
was then Bombay.
For its mission there, Pakistan sought Jinnah House, which Mr
Mohammad Ali Jinnah had built for himself in 1939. Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had himself said in a speech that
Pakistan could open its consulate in that building in Malabar
Hills. But Jinnah House served as the British deputy high
commissioner's residence until 1981, when it was vacated by
the British at Pakistan's request, after Islamabad announced
its intention to open its consulate there.
According to Foreign Office sources, the announcement had come
after the Indian external affairs minister at that time
expressed India's readiness for this.
In August 1983 Pakistan appointed a deputy high commissioner
for Bombay in anticipation of its mission opening in Jinnah
House. The diplomat was recalled less than three months later
as it became clear that this was not going to happen.
In migrating from one country to the other at the time of
Partition, refugees lost claims to properties they had left
behind. Such properties, including Jinnah House, were declared
evacuee properties.
And now Mr Jinnah's grandson, Nusli Wadia, has laid claim to
the residence. The matter is before a court, which may take
years to decide the case.
In 1992, in another bid to open a consulate in Bombay,
Pakistan appointed a deputy high commissioner who stayed at a
hotel, from where he conducted consular operations while the
search for alternative accommodation continued. Pakistan
recalled him in March 1994 when a suitable site could not be
found for the building. "After all, we can't operate flying a
Pakistan flag out of a window in some crowded residential
lane," as a Pakistani diplomat commented.
In November 1994, Pakistan asked India to close its deputy
high commission in Karachi, accusing it of involvement in the
bloody political violence then taking place in the city.
In 2008, Pakistan made another bid, but rejected as unsuitable
the land India offered for the building of a deputy high
commission in Mumbai.
Pakistan also tried to rent a building for the consulate. But,
reportedly under pressure from the Shiv Sena and rightwing
Hindu politician Bal Thackeray, the owner withdrew her offer
within days of the finalisation of the arrangements.
Since the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, it has
become even more difficult for Pakistan to get a building. The
project can clearly not succeed without the Indian
government's wholehearted involvement and assistance.
People most affected by this situation are those with family
members and relatives living across the border. Pakistanis in
Sindh who have relatives in the Indian states of, say, Gujarat
and Rajasthan and other parts of that country. Also affected
are Pakistan's Dawoodi Bohra and Parsi communities, mostly
living in Karachi or Hyderabad, who have their respective
religious centres in and around Mumbai.
Given the importance of the two cities, passenger traffic on
the Karachi-Mumbai sector would increase manifold if visa
facilities were made available. At present only 4,500 visa
applications originate from Mumbai. In many cases, applicants
are called for interviews in New Delhi, where the applications
have to be sent, as in the case of applicants from Sindh
having to travel to Islamabad to obtain visas for India.
This additional expense is compounded when an applicant has to
make more than one trip to across the border, since multiple
visas between the two countries are almost non-existent. Any
new trip to the other country first requires a visit to the
respective capital for visa.
India is ready to open its consulate in Karachi, and has
refurbished its buildings in anticipation of the necessary
permission. This is unlikely to be forthcoming as long as
Pakistan does not get suitable property for its consulate and
for the housing of its staff. This is even more difficult now
because of pressure from extremist groups operating in Mumbai.
Pakistan could be magnanimous and allow the Indian consulate
to reopen in Karachi even if it is unable to open a consulate
in Mumbai. Or agree upon another city, say, Pune or Ahmedabad,
for its deputy high commission. However, given the kind of
bureaucratic tit-for-tat both governments engage in, this is
also unlikely. Islamabad will continue to insist on
reciprocity, while New Delhi will not make the serious
intervention that is needed to allow Pakistan to open a
consulate in Mumbai.
And so, the asha (hope) for the reopening of consulates in
Karachi and Mumbai will remain unfilled.
The writer is a freelance journalist. Email: ayazbabar@gmail.com
No easy way
out of Afghanistan
The US civilian and military establishment needs to review
its operational strategies in Afghanistan to evolve
solutions to the questions that baffled McChrystal. The
most crucial issue is how to win the hearts and minds of
the people of Afghanistan
Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi
The
unceremonious exit of General Stanley McChrystal, the
commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
in Afghanistan, asserts the primacy of political rule and
that persons in uniform cannot make controversial comments
in public about their civilian and military superiors and
the official policy.
However, this incident raises issues far beyond decorum
and discipline in professional armies. A senior officer of
McChrystal's stature is not likely to make such a public
statement unless he is under intense pressure for some
reasons. These issues include the inability to
successfully complete the assigned task or sharp policy
management differences with the top civil and military
authorities. These differences can often turn into
personality conflicts, building up intense psychological
pressure to the extent that a person loses professional
modesty.
General Stanley McChrystal assumed command of the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in mid-June
2009, replacing General David McKiernan who had developed
some differences with his bosses in Washington. McChrystal
took over with the agenda of realising the goals of the
new Obama administration for neutralising the Taliban and
al Qaeda threat in Afghanistan to the extent that the US
administration is in a position, by July 2011, to initiate
the withdrawal of its troops.
McChrystal also requested an additional 50,000 troops in
his August 2009 report, which was leaked to the press,
causing his first controversy. In late November, President
Barack Obama agreed to make 30,000 new troops available to
him.
When the new operation was launched in Marjah and Nad Ali
in Helmand Province in February 2010, the ISAF had five
major objectives: exclusion of the Taliban from the
region; undermining their capacity to regroup and recover;
installing a credible Afghan-led administration in the
areas freed from Taliban domination; economic
reconstruction, and rehabilitation work. There were a
couple of overall goals for the ISAF. These included
curbing the drug trade, weakening or co-opting tribal
chiefs/warlords so as to promote stability, seek their
cooperation against Taliban groups and strengthen the
control of the Kabul government, build the troubled
economy and help the Kabul government check corruption in
the Afghan administration, fast track professional
training of the Afghan National Army and the police and
control cross-border movement of militants across the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
The Marjah operation registered success in its initial
stage and Taliban groups retreated to the adjoining areas.
However, this success could not endure for a host of
reasons, especially because of the lack of a credible
Afghan administrative and security system. The planned
security operation around Kandahar also did not
materialise and the Taliban tactics of 'hit and run'
caused increased human losses to US and NATO troops in the
last two months.
The absence of visible success increased criticism of the
ISAF strategy and the US policy in Afghanistan. It
generated a multi-dimensional and multi-level debate
inside and outside the US administration, focusing on how
to proceed in Afghanistan to produce successes by the end
of the year. Should the US/Afghan authorities build
support for themselves in the Kandahar area by winning
over the common people or should they go for a major
military operation first and then focus on reconstruction
and rehabilitation? The greatest challenge was the
widespread corruption in the Afghan administration and
mafia-like role of Kandahar-based powerful groups
connected with the Kabul government. Still another
perspective talked of greater air power, including drone
aircraft, to fight Taliban groups and local adventurists.
It seems that the key players amongst the US civil and
military authorities diverged on these issues. These
included the ISAF command, US ambassador to Kabul, US
Central Command (CENTCOM), the Pentagon and the department
of defence. The divergence on these issues was accompanied
by intense domestic pressures in the US to produce some
successes in Afghanistan vis-ŕ-vis the Taliban and al
Qaeda. There were no signs that the ISAF could turn the
tide in Afghanistan.
The US plans to initiate withdrawal in July 2011 have
forced various players in Afghanistan to think of the day
after. The major concern is what happens if the US quits
while Afghanistan continues to be in turmoil. President
Hamid Karzai is exploring the prospects of his
government's equation with some Taliban groups. Pakistan
is seeking partners in post-US Afghanistan. Both the Kabul
government and Pakistan are also concerned about the
possible disposition of India, Iran, China and Russia
towards an anarchic Afghanistan.
Pakistan will welcome the appointment of General David
Petreaus, although this is a junior posting to his current
assignment as the commander-in-chief CENTCOM. He maintains
smooth working relations with Pakistan's military high
command and no time will be lost in 'getting to know each
other'. Greater cooperation between the Pakistan Army and
the ISAF is needed for controlling the situation in the
tribal areas and southern regions of Afghanistan.
The US civilian and military establishment needs to review
its operational strategies in Afghanistan to evolve
solutions to the questions that baffled McChrystal. How to
address the challenge of the Taliban by mixing coercive
methods with political measures? The most crucial issue is
how to win the hearts and minds of the people of
Afghanistan and how to provide them security against
threats from different Taliban groups and local warlords.
Both the US military authorities and the Kabul government
should work hard to give 'hope' to ordinary Afghans for
their future. With the exception of the people close to
the Kabul government, the citizens have nothing much to
look forward to in their lives. Nor does the Kabul
government protect them from the Taliban who are bound to
return to the area after US troops leave. Their survival
instinct forces them to yield to Taliban pressure.
The new US policy must also take into account Pakistan's
concerns about the future of Afghanistan. It is perturbed
not only by the growing Indian activism in Afghanistan but
also by the threat of anarchy in Afghanistan, which can
make this country the site for a proxy war by various
countries in the region. A turbulent and strife-ridden
Afghanistan threatens Pakistan's internal security and
stability.
The US may quit the region but this option is not
available to Pakistan whose own future as a functioning
state is more uncertain today than was the case prior to
September 2001.
Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence
analyst
Viewpoints
Latin America: World Cup is not the
only success
Yet, despite
the pluses in its history, which many would argue far outweigh
its negatives, America has never
given Latin America the attention it deserves.
Jonathan Power
If
Latin America disappeared into thin air tomorrow what would it
be remembered for? Historically for the decimation by the
Spanish Conquistadors of the great civilizations of the Incas
and Aztecs, for the 20th century plunder of the Amazon, for
the worst income inequalities in the world, for the highest
crime levels of contemporary society anywhere and for giving
houseroom to the drug mafias.
And the pluses? The near absence of major interstate wars and
the concomitant achievement of relatively low expenditures on
arms, its nuclear-free zone, the first of its kind (not
including the one for Antarctica), its lack of
institutionalized racism (although there is plenty of
discrimination) and the nonexistence in any period of its
history of Jim Crow laws, its outlawing of capital punishment
long before the rest of the world got round to it, and now
home to some of the world's hot spots of economic advance,
particularly Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Colombia. Perhaps we
should add to that its achievement in dominating the final
rounds of the World Cup!
Yet, despite the pluses in its history, which many would argue
far outweigh its negatives, America has never given Latin
America the attention it deserves, unless, as with John F.
Kennedy and Cuba, Ronald Reagan with Central America, George
W. Bush with Chavez' Venezuela, it convinced itself that the
Marxists were about to take over and had to be confronted. And
unless they were the home of major drug traffickers, Colombia
and Mexico in particular.
When Barack Obama became president, facing so many demanding
issues elsewhere, it was assumed that the "backyard" would be
relegated, once again, to the province of an assistant
secretary of state and, drug trafficking aside, all but
forgotten in the White House. It didn't happen. Almost
immediately the administration organized high-level visits to
the continent. It eased the restrictions on travel and the
sending of remittances to Cuba by Cuban Americans. And it
changed the reflex, hostile, attitude to the populist, left
leaning, governments of Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela. It was not going to find
itself on the wrong side of the road as did the administration
of George W. Bush when it welcomed an attempted coup against
Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, only to have to reverse
itself a day later when it became clear the coup had failed.
Nevertheless, only a year and a half later, some of the
positive impetus appears to have been dissipated. Immigration
reform has slipped down the agenda. The administration's
embrace of the campaign to stop the export of small weapons
that were fueling the deadliness of Mexico's drug mafias has
been shelved under the influence of America's powerful gun
lobby. Likewise, it has allowed to lapse an experimental
program that allowed Mexican trucks to enter the US. It has
postponed action on the free trade agreements being negotiated
with Panama and Colombia. It has continued to subsidize US
corn-based ethanol (a substitute for petrol) and maintained
high tariffs on ethanol exported from Brazil.
Washington, or at least the State Department, also seems to
find it hard to accept the emergence of Brazil as a heavy
hitter on the world scene. Brazil makes up half the Latin
American continent and now, after decades of low and unequal
growth and high inflation, it has an economy and a foreign
policy to match its size.
Late last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned
Latin American and Caribbean governments that might be tempted
to "flirt with Iran" to "take a look at what the consequences
might be". When Brazil, alongside Turkey, recently tried to
broker a compromise with Iran on the issue of its uranium
enrichment program the State Department was critical, even
though before the negotiations actually began Obama had sent a
letter to President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva encouraging him
to launch his Iranian initiative.
Although for the Obama administration "regime change" is out
of the window, whether it be Cuba or Venezuela, the threat of
the "big stick" still seems to be the instinct, if not of the
White House, at least of important parts of the American
government. The old assumption that whatever the issue - arms
sales, trade protectionism, immigrant flows, drug running and
foreign policy - it is Washington that lays down the road to
be followed - no longer works.
Not just Brazil but a sizable number of Latin American states
are comfortable in their own skins. They see their economies
growing and are well enough run that even the Great Recession
of 2007-2009 has not badly affected them. They know they are
making progress on poverty. And, increasingly, they recall the
"pluses" of their history which until recently were downplayed
by the world outside and they themselves allowed to be half
forgotten.
Jonathan Power is a London-based foreign policy
commentator.
Petraeus
faces tough choices
Having signed
up last week as replacement for the disgraced Gen Stanley
McChrystal, he presumably believes the Afghan war is still
winnable, as Barack Obama maintains.
Simon Tisdall
If
his record in Iraq and elsewhere is anything to go by, Gen
David Petraeus is not accustomed to losing. Having signed
up last week as replacement for the disgraced Gen Stanley
McChrystal, he presumably believes the Afghan war is still
winnable, as Barack Obama maintains. But this appears
increasingly to be a minority view.
Petraeus has few real options. He can persevere with the
twin-track counterinsurgency strategy pursued by
McChrystal, using military pressure to create time and
space for Afghan civilian governance and reconstruction.
But his predecessor recently acknowledged the strategy was
not working well in key southern battlegrounds.
McChrystal's admission was amplified by CIA chief Leon
Panetta at the weekend.
"It's harder, it's slower than I think anyone
anticipated," Panetta told ABC News. "Is the strategy the
right strategy? We think so ... This is going to be
tough," he said.
Petraeus may try to buy time by persuading Obama to fudge
his July 2011 'deadline' for beginning American troop
withdrawals. He implied this month that any drawdown would
be determined by conditions on the ground. But if he goes
down this road, he will collide head-on with the
vice-president, Joe Biden, and Democrats worried about
re-election.
Biden is adamant: "In July of 2011, you're going to see a
whole lot of people moving out. Bet on it," he said.
On the other hand, the defence secretary, Robert Gates,
was more ambiguous - an indication, if Petraeus needed
one, of what a can of worms Afghan policy has become.
Petraeus may also try to reduce the political heat by de-emphasising
the importance of a scheduled White House progress review
and Nato's Lisbon summit in November, where allies are
seeking firm exit timelines. He could throw his weight
behind attempts to draw Taliban elements into talks, as
Pakistan, the UN and others have attempted. He could seek
the replacement of Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador to
Kabul, and Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy, who have
arguably become part of the problem. Or he could chuck
more money at the problem, buying off tribal leaders and
potential foes.
But Petraeus, who made his name with the 2006-07 surge
that reputedly turned Iraq around, may be tempted to try
and pull that trick again.
Speaking before Congress this month, he said it was
"absolutely" possible that if more troops were required in
Afghanistan, more would be sent - in addition to the two
tranches of 20,000 and 30,000 reinforcements dispatched by
Obama.
In other words, to avoid definitively losing a war many
already believe lost, Petraeus could decide to go for
broke with a third Afghan surge. Obama may oppose him. The
president has sacked two commanding generals in
Afghanistan in two years. He simply can't afford to lose
another one. Nor can he afford, politically, to "lose"
Afghanistan.
But for Petraeus, escalating an unpopular war might be
just as hazardous as not doing so. Either way, his goose
could be cooked. "The administration is hoping that
Petraeus can replicate his Iraq miracle," said US
columnist Charles Krauthammer.
Spy case embarrasses Russia
To have deep-cover agents identified before they could do
any serious spying is a blow for Medvedev.
David Hearst
It
is heartening to know that even Russian spies have
problems with their computers. Anna Chapman complained
about the difficulties she had establishing a private
wireless local area network to her handler UC-I, so that
she could communicate with the van parked outside the
coffee shop.
Suspicions were mutual. C or Moscow Centre never quite
understood why the couple who went under the name of
Richard and Cynthia Murphy had to buy that house in New
Jersey: "We are under the impression that C views our
ownership of the house as a deviation from the original
purpose of the mission," they said in an intercepted
message.
The Murphys told C, perhaps somewhat defensively: "It was
a convenient way to solving the housing issue, plus 'to do
as the Romans do' in a society that values home
ownership".
What did C expect? If they want 11 "illegals" to go native
in America in order to establish a long-term, deep cover,
then obviously home ownership in New Jersey beckons. Mrs
Murphy did a good job. She certainly fooled the neighbours.
"They couldn't have been spies," said Jessie Gugig. "Look
what she did with the hydrangeas."
The 55-page indictment filed by the FBI revealing the
existence of 11 (the 11th has been arrested in Cyprus)
alleged spies who had spent years adopting false US
identities, will not, however, make pleasant reading for C
otherwise known as Russia's External Intelligence Service,
the SVR.
The FBI operation represents the biggest penetration of
SVR communications in recent memory. The FBI read their
e-mails, decrypted their intel, read the embedded coded
texts on images posted on the net, bugged their mobile
phones, video-taped the passing of bags of cash and
messages in invisible ink from one agent to another, and
hacked into their bogus expenses claims.
Spies who defect paint a lurid picture of their former
bosses. Their kiss-and-tell books are inevitably presented
as "wake-up" calls to their new masters. Sergei Tretyakov,
who worked as a press officer at the Russian Mission of
the United Nations in New York, but in fact ran a number
of agents in the US and the UN, was the last SVR spy to
defect.
In Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in
America After the End of the Cold War by Pete Earley,
Tretyakov said that nothing had changed.
The "main enemy" defined by Soviet military doctrine in
the Cold War, had simply become the "main target".
Same tactics
"Nothing has changed. Russia is doing everything it can
today to embarrass the US. Let me repeat this. Russia is
doing everything it can today to undermine and embarrass
the US. The SVR residenturas in the US are not less, but
in some aspects even more active today than during the
Cold War. What should that tell you?"
But something, surely has changed. The tradecraft used by
the alleged SVR ring was amateurish, and will send shivers
down the spine of the rival intelligence organisations in
Russia.
This was bungling on a truly epic scale. No secrets about
bunker-busting bombs were actually obtained, but the
network was betrayed.
The defendants are not charged with espionage, but with
charges like conspiracy to act as unregistered agents of a
foreign government. To have a spy ring uncovered before
they could actually do any serious spying, is doubly
embarrassing.
Not that anyone in MI6 in Britain should gloat. In the
last decade they have had two major expulsions of their
spies in Moscow, who were caught on film red-handed trying
to do exactly what the FBI caught the Murphys at. In one
case the British resident spymaster used a mentally
unstable junior Russian diplomat, Platon Obukhov, to spy
on his father, a former Soviet deputy foreign minister and
one of the main negotiators of the intermediate nuclear
forces treaty removing medium-range missiles from Europe.
The FBI waited three days after Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev's most successful foreign tour to date before
making their arrests.
During Medvedev's visit, he and Barack Obama shared a
cheeseburger in Arlington, Virginia, and the Russian
president toured Silicon Valley and emerged with his very
own iPhone 4 from Steve Jobs. More than that, he won a
pledge from Cisco Systems to invest $1 billion (Dh3.7
billion) as a tenant in Skolkovo, the Kremlin's pet
project to create its own Silicon Valley outside Moscow.
Revelations about spy rings are the last thing a
politician such as Medvedev, who presents himself as a
moderniser, needs. He has inveighed against the rule of
lawlessness in Russia but struggles to make the case that
he can do anything about it.
Perhaps there was a covert message in all this that
Washington was sending to Moscow. You can have the old
relationship or the new one, but you would get more out of
us through the front door.
Taliban switch tactics
“If the truth be told, there’s still much hard fighting
left to do”, said Maj-Gen Richard Mills, the American
commander of 20,000 US marines and 8,000 British troops in
Helmand.
Richard Norton-Taylor
British
marines deployed in Sangin in southern Afghanistan, where
British troops have suffered a high rate of casualties in
recent weeks, are facing a growing threat from long-range
rifle fire as Taliban fighters change their tactics.
Brig George Norton, deputy commander of British and US
forces in Helmand province, said that the marines will be
reinforced by a contingent guarding the nearby Kajaki dam.
The unit will be replaced by US troops.
More than 800 British troops are based in Sangin, a
strategic crossroads in central Helmand where four marines
have been killed recently. Two were killed by gunfire
recently. The number wounded has not been disclosed. Of
the 307 British soldiers who have died in Afghanistan
since 2001, 98 have been in Sangin.
Asked about the vulnerability of British troops in Sangin,
Norton said: "We are all vulnerable to IEDs [improvised
explosive devices], but the insurgents are increasingly
using long-distance small arms."
Maj-Gen Gordon Messenger, the UK Ministry of Defence's
chief military spokesman, said Taliban-led insurgents were
resorting to what he described as an "increasing use of
single shots at range". British officers said it would be
misleading to describe the shots as coming from snipers, a
word suggesting the use of sophisticated rifles by
well-trained fighters.
They said it was more a question of hidden insurgents
firing from a distance and then fleeing an area difficult
for British troops to attack because of the danger of
civilian casualties.
"If the truth be told, there's still much hard fighting
left to do", said Maj-Gen Richard Mills, the American
commander of 20,000 US marines and 8,000 British troops in
Helmand. He acknowledged it had been a difficult week for
British forces "but they are holding up very, very well."
International
Nepal’s Maoists
stake claim to lead new govt
AFP, Kathmandu
Nepal's Maoists staked their claim on Thursday to lead the
troubled country's next government, a day after the prime
minister resigned under intense pressure from the former
rebels.
The Maoists, who waged a bloody 10-year insurgency against
the state before entering mainstream politics and winning
2008 elections, say that as the largest party in
parliament they should be at the helm of a new government.
"We have decided we will try to garner support from the
other parties for a government of national unity led by
us," party spokesman Dinanath Sharma told AFP after a
meeting of senior Maoist leaders.
Outgoing prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal tendered his
resignation to the president Wednesday after a live
television address in which he said he wanted to end a
long political stalemate.
His 13-month term in office was marred by a series of
power struggles with the Maoists, who have lobbied
aggressively for a return to power since their government
fell in May 2009 after a row with the president.
He has agreed to stay on in a caretaker role until a
replacement is selected, and Nepal's President Ram Baran
Yadav on Thursday asked political leaders to form a
power-sharing government within the next seven days.
"The president has asked the political parties to form a
consensus government by July 7," said Yadav's spokesman
Rajendra Dahal.
"If the parties fail to form a consensus government by
that date they will be asked to form a majority
government."
Political commentators warned that a delay in forming a
new administration could prove disastrous for the
impoverished Himalayan nation.
"There will be chaos. All the government's plans and
policies will be affected," said Kiran Nepal, editor of
the fortnightly magazine Himal Khabarpatrika.
Nepal's 601-member parliament, or Constituent Assembly,
was elected in 2008 with a two-year mandate to draft a new
national constitution and complete a peace process that
began when the country's civil war ended in 2006.
NATO kills over 30 Taliban in Afghan
gunbattle
AFP, Kabul
NATO forces in Afghanistan said Thursday they had killed
at least 31 Taliban fighters and captured a rebel
chieftain after a raid on an insurgent hideout in the
southern province of Helmand.
Troops called in air support during running gunbattles in
the province's troubled Baghran district which erupted
after rebels attacked soldiers moving in on the compound
with machine guns and rockets, it said.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said
in a statement that the Taliban chief of Naw Zad, another
restive district of Helmand, was injured and detained
following the fighting.
"Afghan and international security forces captured the
Taliban district chief of Naw Zad and killed a large
number of insurgents during an operation in remote Baghran
district in northern Helmand province last night," it
said.
German army General Josef Blotz, a spokesman for ISAF,
said at least 31 insurgents had been killed in the
operation.
"Throughout the four-hour firefight enemy forces attempted
to use improvised explosive devices against the security
force," he told reporters, referring to home-made bombs
regularly used by the Taliban.
"However Afghan and coalition forces employed precision
air fire and suppressed the enemy," adding that a huge
arms cache and a quantity of opium had been discovered and
destroyed.
Troops captured several wounded insurgents following the
fighting, ISAF's statement said, and no civilian or
soldier was hurt.
"This joint force operation dealt another significant blow
to the Taliban network," said Colonel William Maxwell,
ISAF Joint Command Combined Joint Operations Centre
director.
Taliban militants are waging an insurgency against tens of
thousands of international troops in Afghanistan under UN
mandate to help keep President Hamid Karzai government's
in power.
China says welcomes visit by US
defence secretary
AFP, Beijing
China's military said Thursday it would welcome a future
visit by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, state media
reported, one month after a planned trip was called off.
"We still welcome him to visit China at a time which is
workable for both sides," Xinhua news agency quoted
General Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of
the People's Liberation Army (PLA), as saying.
The apparent olive branch comes after Beijing called off a
visit by Gates in early June amid military tensions
between the two sides, with Gates saying the cancellation
showed the PLA was reluctant to engage on defence issues.
The brief Xinhua report gave no other information.
China has denounced US arms sales to Taiwan unveiled in
January, and the cancellation of Gates' trip appeared to
fit a pattern of stepping back from exchanges with the
American military to convey displeasure.
After his visit was cancelled, Gates suggested there was a
rift between Chinese civilian and military leaders on the
issue.
The US defence secretary said it was his "opinion that the
PLA is significantly less interested in developing this
relationship than the political leadership of the
country".
Gates had planned to visit Beijing as part of an Asian
tour.
China in January suspended all military exchanges in
protest over the US arms sales to Taiwan, but some
officials from the two sides have since met.
Last month, Gates said Beijing's stance "makes little
sense", noting that such sales had been going for decades.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 after Communist forces
defeated the Nationalists in a civil war and took the
mainland. Self-ruled Taiwan has since relied heavily on US
military hardware to defend the island.
Gates said Washington would not alter its policy and
argued that US weapons sales to Taiwan helped maintain
regional peace given China's growing military buildup.
Tens of thousands march for democracy
in Hong Kong
AFP, Hong Kong
Tens of thousands of people massed along Hong Kong's
streets on Thursday for a pro-democracy rally on the 13th
anniversary of the former British colony's return to
China. In a chaotic scene, protesters heckled lawmakers
who voted in favour of controversial Beijing-backed
political reforms as police kept them apart.
Organisers were expecting around 50,000 protesters to turn
out for the annual July 1 march, down from 70,000 last
year, underscoring fears that a deep split in the city's
opposition camp would deter potential supporters.
The march has become a yearly opportunity for campaigners
to show their opposition to Beijing and the local
authorities.
But last week's passage of the political reforms that
promise an incremental boost to democracy-but not one
person, one vote-divided the opposition camp and turned
many activists against the moderate Democratic Party.
Raymond Wong, of the radical League of Social Democrats
(LSD), told reporters this week that his members would not
encourage supporters to clash with the Democratic Party,
but added, "we can't guarantee anything".
Hundreds of LSD supporters surrounded a Democratic Party
roadside booth in the city's Wan Chai district, booing and
shouting "shameless". Other activists accused Democratic
Party members at the march of "betraying Hong Kong
people", giving its beleaguered lawmakers the thumbs down
and blowing vuvuzela horns to punctuate their discontent.
Previously, the opposition were united in their goal to
fight for universal suffrage for the city of seven million
people in 2012 -- and nothing less.
Thousands of banner-waving activists made their way
through the city's searing summer heat, including domestic
helpers calling for better wages and minorities demanding
an end to racial discrimination,
"I am very dissatisfied about the democratic progress in
Hong Kong in the last 13 years," protester Sheri Lai told
AFP. "We should not rely on political parties anymore. We
should use our voice and sweat to fight for our rights."
Myanmar democracy activists row over
hat symbol
AFP, Yangon
Supporters of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
on Thursday accused former colleagues who are seeking to
set up a new party of copying their symbol of a bamboo hat
ahead of rare elections.
Former top members of Suu Kyi's disbanded National League
for Democracy (NLD) said they would lodge a complaint with
the election commission in the capital Naypyidaw next week
about the use of the image in an official seal.
"We will denounce them for using the bamboo hat," said NLD
co-founder Win Tin, noting that Suu Kyi's party had used
the symbol during 1990 elections which it won but was
prevented from taking power.
"The whole country associates the bamboo hat with Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and the NLD," he said.
A group of former NLD members has applied for permission
to form a new party-under the name of the National
Democratic Force-to run in the country's first election in
two decades, expected some time later this year.
The NLD refused to meet a May 6 deadline to re-register-a
move that would have forced it to expel Suu Kyi-and opted
to boycott the vote, which critics say is a sham designed
to legitimise the junta's half-century grip on power.
Suu Kyi has been locked up for almost 15 of the past 20
years and is currently under house arrest at her lakeside
home in Yangon.
Analysts say that within the NLD there has been friction
between older hardline members and younger more moderate
figures who opposed the boycott decision.
Aquino looks into ‘real’ state of
Philippine finances
AFP, Manila
President Benigno Aquino and his team spent their first
full day in office Thursday inspecting state coffers as a
crucial first step in meeting his vow to root out
corruption and help the poor.
Already stuck with a record budget deficit, Aquino has
accused his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo, of painting an
unrealistically rosy picture of the economy to burnish her
legacy after nearly 10 years in office.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Aquino wanted
to report the real situation to parliament during his
"State of the Nation" address on July 26, when he will
seek funding support for his programmes. "The president
gave his marching orders to each cabinet member. They have
two weeks to get to know the lay of the land," Lacierda
told AFP.
Aquino, a 50-year-old economist, took office on Wednesday
with a vow to lift his nation out of poverty and wipe out
crippling corruption that he said thrived under Arroyo.
The Philippines posted a 162.1-billion-peso
(3.5-billion-dollar) budget deficit in the first five
months, and analysts say the full-year funding gap is
likely to surpass 300 billion pesos.
Aquino ordered a review of all ongoing government
programmes and an inventory of all assets to determine
which can be sold off to support future projects, Finance
Secretary Cesar Purisima told reporters.
The government has pledged increased spending for
education, health and low-income housing.
Over the next few weeks Aquino will also go after tax
cheats and begin implementing programmes specifically
targeted at the very poor, who comprise a third of the
population.
Two soldiers killed in
curfew-hit Kashmir
AFP, Srinagar
Two Indian soldiers were killed in a gunbattle with
suspected militants Thursday along the de facto border
with Pakistan, the military said, as parts of Kashmir
region remained under curfew.
The gunbattle erupted along the Line of Control that
splits Kashmir between nuclear-armed rivals India and
Pakistan after soldiers engaged a group of infiltrating
militants, an Indian army spokesman J.S. Brar said.
The latest fighting was reported from northern Machil
sector. On Tuesday five suspected rebels and three
soldiers were killed in a similar gunbattle.
Violence has risen in recent months in mainly Muslim
Indian Kashmir, where two decades of rebellion against
Indian rule have left thousands of people dead.
Pakistan denies Indian allegations that it arms and funds
rebels.
Elsewhere in Kashmir, Indian troops continued to enforce a
strict curfew in parts of the region as tensions remained
high after the killing of 11 protestors by security forces
during demonstrations this month.
Dozens of women demonstrators, led by the region's leading
female separatist Asiya Andrabi, defied the strict
security lockdown in the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar
and staged a noisy anti-India rally.
The women later dispersed after police tried to block the
raly.
Later, dozens of young men present at the scene hurled
stones at the police, sparking a clash that left six
protesters and three policemen injured.
Iran
tells UN it is ‘more determined’ on nuclear drive
AFP, Tehran
Iran has written to the 15 members of the UN Security
Council insisting that new sanctions slapped on the
Islamic republic will not affect its nuclear programme,
the state news agency said on Thursday.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in the letters
Iran "considers that the adoption of such (UN) resolutions
will not affect its utterly peaceful nuclear programme,"
the IRNA news agency reported.
Instead, Mottaki added in his letters to the foreign
ministers of the Security Council member states, Iran is
now "more determined" than ever to develop its atomic
programme.
He criticised "the hasty adoption, at the insistence of
America and its allies, of an unjust and illegal
resolution against the great nation of Iran."
On June 9, 12 members of the Security Council, including
all five permanent members, voted in favour on imposing a
fourth set of sanctions against Tehran over its uranium
enrichment programme, the most controversial aspect of the
nuclear drive.
Brazil and Turkey voted against and Lebanon abstained.
Mottaki thanked the Turkish and Brazilian foreign
ministers for "resisting the pressure of some specific
nations and voting against the resolution," IRNA said.
He also reiterated Tehran's position that, "nuclear
weapons have no place in Iran's defence and security
policies."
World powers led by Washington accuse the Islamic republic
of seeking to build nuclear weapons and are demanding that
it freeze its uranium enrichment activity, which can be a
key step towards developing an atomic arsenal.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful
purposes only.
The new UN measures authorise states to conduct high-seas
inspections of vessels believed to be ferrying banned
items to Iran and add 40 entities to a list of people and
groups subject to travel restrictions and financial
sanctions.
US President Barack Obama was meanwhile expected Thursday
to sign a separate US package of tough new energy and
financial sanctions on Iran, over and above those approved
by the UN Security Council.
The US Senate and the House of Representatives approved
the legislation last week by crushing 99-0 and 408-8
margins respectively.
Turkey, Israel hold secret talks to
repair ties
AFP, Ankara
Turkish and Israeli ministers met secretly in Brussels to
seek ways of mending fences amid a deep crisis over a
deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships last month, officials
said Thursday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Israeli Trade
Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer met Wednesday in Brussels,
where Davutoglu was on a visit to discuss his country's EU
membership bid, a Turkish official said. The talks "took
place yesterday in Brussels upon a request by Israel," he
told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We had already conveyed a note to Israel explaining our
expectations from them... Those expectations were repeated
at the meeting," he said.
An official at the office of Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Ben Eliezer held talks
Wednesday with "a Turkish official" but would not give
other details.
It was the first meeting on a ministerial level since
relations between the once-close allies plunged into deep
crisis on May 31 when Israeli commandos raided a Turkish
ship leading an aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip.
Eight Turks and a dual US-Turkish citizen were killed in
the operation, which shattered bilateral ties, already
strained since Israel's devastating war on Gaza last year
The United States has expressed concern over the
deteriorating ties between the two countries.
The secret talks had been "meticulously prepared" in
conjunction with Washington and with the involvement of
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Israel's military
radio said.
Immediately after the raid, Ankara recalled its ambassador
from Tel Aviv and cancelled three planned joint military
exercises. It also denied permission twice to Israeli
military aircraft to use its air space.
Merkel left weakened
after presidential humiliation
AFP, Berlin
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was left licking her
wounds Thursday after rebels in her coalition turned the
routine exercise of picking a president into a damaging
debacle that left her bruised and weakened.
It took nine hours and three rounds of voting by a special
assembly of MPs and public figures on Wednesday evening
for Merkel's candidate Christian Wulff elected to the
largely ceremonial post of head of state.
With Merkel's coalition holding a majority in the
assembly, the election should have been a shoo-in in the
first round, but a handful of rebels voted against Wulff
in the secret ballot in a blow to the chancellor's
authority.
Following these embarrassing and dramatic first two voting
rounds, the nail-biting third became in effect a battle
for the political future of Merkel, four times named the
world's most powerful woman by Forbes Magazine.
"The double failure of Christian Wulff in the presidential
vote has brought the Merkel government to the brink of
collapse," wrote the left-leaning Frankfurter Rundschau
daily.
Influential mass circulation Bild daily said that the vote
debacle "could be the beginning of a gradual process of
the government simply giving up."
"For Angela Merkel, Christian Wulff was her candidate. The
fact he got no majority in the first two voting rounds
calls into question her leadership ability as party
leader," the paper wrote.
"Wulff's election is Merkel's defeat," said the daily
Berliner Zeitung while Der Spiegel magazine said on its
website it was her "biggest failure."
In his acceptance speech, the 51-year-old Wulff, a former
leader of Lower Saxony, home to carmaker Volkswagen, made
an appeal for unity after what the Tagesspiegel daily
dubbed "the day of the long knives" for Merkel.
"We all need to take responsibility for our country," said
Wulff, after a rousing standing ovation from Merkel's
supporters in which the sense of relief was palpable.
In shadow of spy case, Clinton in
Russia backyard
AP, Washington
On the heels of a sensational Russian spy scandal, Hillary
Rodham Clinton is making her first visit as secretary of
state to four former Soviet states, each with a direct
stake in the Obama administration's campaign to "reset"
relations with the former U.S. Cold War foe.
Clinton was headed Thursday to Ukraine, to be followed by
stops in the south Caucasus states of Azerbaijan, Armenia
and Georgia. She also is scheduled to visit Poland, a NATO
ally whose ties to Moscow have been marked by tensions
throughout history. Clinton was delaying her departure
slightly in order to bid farewell Thursday to Sen. Robert
C. Byrd in the Senate chamber, where he will lie in state
before being returned to his home in West Virginia for
burial.
The trip was planned long before the Justice Department
announced Monday that it had arrested 10 people fingered
as covert intelligence agents of the Russian government.
The case underscores lingering tensions with Russia at a
time when the Obama administration is bragging about the
diplomatic payoff from making a fresh start with Moscow 18
months ago.
Even trickier than the spy allegations, however, are the
politics of U.S. relations with former Soviet republics
like Georgia, which is still smarting from Russia's armed
invasion in August 2008. The Obama administration is
trying to strike a balance between pressing the Russians
to withdraw their forces from the breakaway Georgian
territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and persuading
the Georgian government that building up its military is
not the right solution.
"We don't think that arms sales and military equipment is
the path to the situation in Georgia that we're trying to
get to," said Philip Gordon, the State Department's top
Russia policy official.
Petraeus briefs NATO on Afghan
mission
AP, Brussels
Gen. David Petraeus, NATO's newly appointed commander of
the Afghanistan war, briefed alliance officials on
Thursday about his plans for the escalating conflict.
Officials said Petraeus meting with Secretary-General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen and addressed the North Atlantic
Council, the alliance's top decision-making body.
Petraeus will likely try to smooth ruffled feathers among
European allies contributing troops to the 122,000-strong
international force. Diplomats say member governments were
not consulted about the changeover in command after
President Barack Obama's sudden dismissal of Petraeus'
predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.
Fogh Rasmussen found himself expressing support for
McChrystal after the scornful remarks he made to Rolling
Stone magazine, only to backtrack the following day and
give his backing to Obama's decision to replace him with
Petraeus.
U.S. troops account for most of the 122,000-strong
international force in Afghanistan, while European and
other allies make up about a third of the force.
The top U.S. general is also the commander of the entire
NATO force.
McChrystal's sacking came amid growing disillusionment
with the war in Europe, and a spate of bad news from the
battlefields. Allied deaths have doubled in the first six
months of this year, with June the deadliest month on
record for NATO troops in the nine-year conflict.
Strong earthquake hits southern
Mexico, killing 1
AP, Mexico City
A strong earthquake rattled southern Mexico early
Wednesday, killing at least one man who was crushed
beneath a rafter that fell from his roof.
The magnitude-6.2 quake was felt as far north as Mexico
City, where people fled homes and hotels in their pajamas.
City officials reported no injuries or significant damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered in
a sparsely populated, mountainous area of Oaxaca near the
southern Pacific coast.
"It felt strong, very strong," said Tomas Herrera Sanchez,
a police officer on duty in the town of Santiago Pinotepa
Nacional, the closest sizable town to the quake's center.
"There are people who got scared and left their houses."
Armando Lugo Hernandez, 49, was killed when a beam fell
from his roof in the town of San Andres Huaxpaltepec near
the epicenter, said Carlos Alberto Ramos, director of
Oaxaca state Civil Protection. Ramos said officials were
still trying to assess damages in the remote area, but did
not believe it was extensive. The USGS said the quake hit
at 2:22 a.m. local time (0722 GMT, 3:22 a.m. EDT) and it
was centered about 80 miles (125 kilometers)
west-southwest of Oaxaca city, the state capital. It
initially estimated the magnitude at 6.5. The quake
occurred at a depth of 12 miles (20 kilometers).
Britain moves towards closer ties
with UAE, India: Hague
AFP, London
Britain launched a "taskforce" with the United Arab
Emirates Thursday to boost bilateral ties and premier
David Cameron will seek a similar initiative with India in
an upcoming visit, a minister said.
In a speech in London, Foreign Secretary William Hague
said the UAE taskforce will hold its first meeting later
Thursday as it seeks to strengthen ties "across the
board", including in education, culture, trade and defence.
"I can announce today that the prime minister has launched
a joint taskforce with the United Arab Emirates as part of
our efforts to elevate links with the Gulf," Hague said in
a keynote address on the new government's foreign policy.
He gave no details of who would be on the taskforce or
what it would involve, but it is likely to to comprise
senior officials from both sides, an official said on
condition of anonymity.
Cameron visited Abu Dhabi earlier this month and after a
meeting with President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan
he praised the "deep friendship" between the two countries
based on a shared history and "common future".
"We are committed to strengthening our cooperation on
defence and security, as long-standing friends with shared
vital interests," said Cameron, who took office at the
head of a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in May.
On Thursday, Hague indicated that Britain would be seeking
similar initiatives to the taskforce with other countries,
including India, which he told the BBC the prime minister
would be visiting in one month's time.
"We are actively exploring the scope for similar
initiatives with other countries, including a visit by the
prime minister to India to identify how we can forge a
partnership for the 21st century," Hague said in his
speech.
Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne would also visit
Latin America and Southeast Asia "shortly", and there
would be a "renewed focus" on ties with Japan and the
further development of Britain's partnership with China,
he said.
Business/Economy
US
unveils new initiative to strengthen trade cooperation
with India
PTI, Washington
The United States has unveiled a new initiative to
strengthen commercial co-operation with India, which is
aimed at benefiting from new emerging Indian metropolitans
like Pune and Nagpur.
"The growth in emerging metropolitan sectors like Pune and
Nagpur will accelerate and form new markets for US and
Indian businesses," said the Under Secretary of Commerce
for International Trade, Francisco S nchez.
"Developing the eco-nomies of these cities and states is
critical as we work together as equal partners with mutual
interests," he said at an event jointly hosted by the
US-India Business Council and the Department of Commerce
to announce the Growth in Emerging Metropolitan Sectors
(GEMS) initiative of the United States.
"However, significant and productive the relationship
between our national governments, this new appr-oach to
these growing metropolitan areas can help sink deeper into
the ground the pillars that already support our common US-
India partnership," Sanchez said.
It is expected that nearly 600 million people would live
in India's urban areas, with 68 Indian cities surpassing
one million inhabitants in each of the next two decades.
The annual income of households in cities would grow from
about USD 700 billion today and double every five years
and reach almost USD 4 trillion in 20 years.
"If we can work together to harness the potential of these
new areas of growth, we can grow the economies of both of
our nations. This is a win-win situation," S nchez noted.
"These figures represent the changes we are witnessing in
the world market and the potential for India's growth," he
said in his speech on "Accelerating Inclusive Growth: The
Future of the US-India Commercial Relationship."
With rapid economic development and a growing middle
class, the Indian demand for US goods and services is
increasing and bilateral trade is growing as a result, he
added.
As part of President Obama's National Export Initiative -
with the goal of doubling exports in the next five years -
Commerce's International Trade Administration has targeted
India as one of the most promising global markets, he
said.
"The smaller and medium-sized cities of India are, indeed,
gems. We want to showcase one of these gems at a
conference in the fall when we will bring together
representatives from local and state governments and from
the infrastructure, energy, healthcare and retail sectors
within and from outside India," Sanchez said.
Tata
to set up truck plant at Kishoreganj
BSS, New Delhi
The Tatas are planning to join hands with its car
distributor in Bangladesh - Nitol Motors - for a truck
plant at Kishoreganj near Dhaka.
The facility will manufacture 30,000-40,000 Ace pick-ups a
year, a report published in today's edition of the
Telegraph from Kolkata said. The analysts estimated such a
manufacturing plant would cost about Rs. 1,000 crore.
"What we are looking at is a core plant at Kishoreganj
near Dhaka around which an ancillary industry will grow
up," Telegraph quoted Matlub Ahmed, chairman of Nitol
Niloy Group, that owns Nitol Motors, as saying.
Ahmed said his company was looking to sell about 12,000
trucks in Bangladesh. The rest will be exported to India,
Myanmar and countries where engineering goods from
Bangladesh have duty free access such as Turkey and other
European nations.
Nitol has a joint venture with the Tatas that assembles
vehicles of the Indian company at Jessore. Nitol Motors
sells about 700-800 Ace trucks a month in Bangladesh.
The proposed Kishoreganj plant will be a large set-up with
a supporting auto ancillary hub capable of exporting
vehicles to India.
While the details of the joint venture are not yet clear,
the Tatas would possibly settle for a 50:50 joint venture
with Nitol.
Nitol and Tata Motors are also studying the possibility of
assembling Nanos in Bangladesh, but this "is not on the
immediate radar," the Telegraph added. Earlier, Tata
International had signed a deal with Nitol in April to
make cycles for the global market.
Four years back, the Tata Group had pulled out of a
proposed Rs 10,000-crore venture in Bangladesh to set up a
steel mill, a fertiliser factory and a power plant.
Since then the Tatas along with other corporate entities
have shown interest in the small but fast growing market
of Bangladesh.
The Telegraph further said, Bangladesh, which grew at a
6.2 per cent rate last year, has a per capita income of $
750 and exports goods worth $15.91 billion annually,
mostly to the US, European Union and Japan. India's annual
exports to Bangladesh are valued at $3.375 billion, while
it imports worth a mere $358 million, Telegraph reported.
Walton again reduces
prices of refrigerator, motorcycle
TBT Economy Desk
Walton, the country's leading electrical, electronics and
automobile manufacturing and marketing brand, has reduced
the prices of Walton brand refrigerators and motorcycles
considering the purchasing capacity of local customers.
The company reduced the prices after announcement of the
national budget for the fiscal year 2010-2011.
The comapny also took the decision that from now after
every three-month the compny would announce price discount
for its branded products.
Under the price discount offer, from now, all the
showrooms of Dhaka city, other metropolitan cities and
district towns countrywide will reduce price from Tk 500
to Tk 1000 for every Walton brand product. And this offer
will continue until the next announcement, sources in the
company said.
The budget announcement mostly increases prices of
products especially electronics products in our country
every year. This year many companies have also increased
the prices of their products that are now out of the reach
of common people, but Walton did not increase prices
rather than it has reduced prices, sources said. About the
price reduction, Walton Director (International Marketing)
Mijanur Rahman said: "Most of the people in our country
have low capacity to buy the luxurious essential products,
but prices of those products have been increasing day by
day. Many companies don't consider the common people, and
they have a tendency to try how to earn more profit in the
business. But, Walton does not only want to make profit
but also want to increase sales through serving the
countrymen".
He also said: "Walton wants to know countrymen as a
fast-growing business house in Bangladesh Walton are now
locally manufacturing world standard quality products that
also being exported to the different countries of the
world. Walton always tries to reach their products to the
countrymen at competitive prices and offer different
facilities like after-sales- service, warranty service,
home service, etc. This price reduction is also one of
their efforts to benefit the local customers".
Mijanur Rahman pointed out that considering the purchase
capacity of local customers the company had reduced the
prices although production costs of the products were in
previous increased rates. If the government takes
different initiatives to flourish local heavy industries
they will be able to provide more facilities and
competitive rates to the local customers, he opined. This
initiative to decrease price can be appreciated in the
backdrop of electronics market situation in the country
where taking any opportunity many companies increase
prices, the Walton official also claimed.
It can be here maintioned that Walton announces special
price reduction offers and facilities for its customers on
the occasion of all most festivals and siginificant events
every year. On the occasion of Dhaka International Trade
Fair this year, Walton offered huge price discount. Then a
LCD Walton television of Tk 32,000 was sold in a Tk 10,
000 less at only Tk 24,000 while another LCD Walton brand
was sold at Tk 44,900 instead of Tk 65,000.
India central
bank warns on global double-dip recession
AFP, Mumbai
Global policymakers must tread carefully to avert a
double-dip recession, a report by India's central bank
analysis wing warned Thursday. "Policymakers will need to
devise a calibrated exit balancing growth and inflation,
the bank said in its Report on Currency and Finance.
Countries should co-ordinate their exit strategies from
easy fiscal and monetary policies put in place to spur
economic growth, it said.
The comments came after India's Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh urged G20 leaders last weekend in Toronto that
priority be given to "consolidating the recovery" and
warned of a worldwide double-dip recession if countries
cut government spending too fast.
The Reserve Bank of India report called it a "challenging
task" for policymakers to develop "credible and coherent
exit strategies to roll back crisis interventions."
The report added that policymakers must also resist
imposing protectionist measures to safeguard their
domestic economies.
US President Barack Obama has pushed for economic stimulus
to continue until global recovery is assured while Germany
and Britain are opting for fiscal austerity.
The G20 summit pledged to shore up fragile economic
recovery while agreeing to clean up debt-laden public
finances.
Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said India's central bank was
keeping a close eye on the European debt crisis in
formulating its own policies.
"We're clearly watching those developments in the context
of our policy making," Gokarn said. The report added
sustained economic recovery will involve strengthening the
regulatory and legal framework governing global financial
institutions to avoid another investment bank-triggered
crisis.
Japan’s business confidence highest in two years
AFP, Tokyo
Japanese business confidence has reached its highest level
in two years, as the world's number two economy continues
to recover from its worst slump in decades, the Bank of
Japan said Thursday.
The index of sentiment among major manufacturers rose for
a fifth straight quarter to one point in June from minus
14 in March, according to the central bank's closely
watched Tankan survey of more than 11,000 firms.
The reading means that optimists outweigh pessimists among
major manufacturers in terms of their view of Japan's
economic climate for the first time since June 2008,
beating analyst forecasts of a reading of minus 4.
The June survey signals an increasingly upbeat mood, with
companies predicting surging profits while planning to
raise spending on plants and equipment, likely boosting an
economy struggling for sustainable growth.
The data will be welcomed by Prime Minister Naoto Kan's
government ahead of elections this month as it puts fiscal
discipline at the core of its agenda to repair Japan's
tattered finances and slash the world's biggest public
debt.
Exports have driven the country's recovery from recession
but recent data showed the domestic picture remains weak,
with unemployment surprising economists by edging higher
in May to 5.2 percent, missing expectations.
Farm spending in rich countries rises in 2009: OECD
AFP, Paris
Government support spending for farmers rose slightly in
the world's leading industrialised countries last year,
the OECD said Thursday, as it called for a cut in
subsidies that distort markets. The Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report that
government support to agriculture was worth 252.5 billion
dollars (203 billion euros) in 2009, or 22 percent of
total farm receipts in the 31 OECD members. The 2009
figured compared with 21 percent in 2008 and 22 percent in
2007.
Official financial aid to farmers rose to 10 percent of
total farm receipts in the United States in 2009 from 8.0
percent the previous year while in Europe the gain was
from 22 to 24 percent.
In Australia, according to the OECD, the overall share of
government support to farners was reduced following an end
to special payments in connection with the restructuring
of the dairy industry.
The report found that "with public budgets under pressure
in the wake of the economic crisis, governments need to
reassess and adapt their farm support policies to meet
specific economic, social and environmental objectives."
"Policy makers should reduce subsidies which distort
markets and cut the link between government payments and
agricultural production."
India’s car makers see surge in sales
AFP, Mumbai
India's carmakers said on Thursday that sales for the
month of June were strong, underscoring consumer demand
and industrial growth in Asia's third-largest economy.
India's top carmaker Maruti Suzuki said sales jumped 17
percent last month compared with the same period a year
ago while Ford India, Tata Motors and General Motors all
also reported a sharp surge. Car sales in India had
tumbled in 2008, hit by higher loan costs and fears of job
cuts amid the global financial crisis. But government
stimulus steps and an economic turn-around led to a
recovery in the sector in 2009.
And analysts see sales remaining strong as the economy
picks up pace.
"There was pent-up demand for cars which has overflowed
into this year," said Mahantesh Sabarad, senior analyst at
Fortune Equity Brokers.
India's economy has expanded by 8.6 percent year-on-year
in the most recent financial quarter and Indian banks are
still lending readily. However, carmakers are hiking the
price of their vehicles to compensate for the increased
cost of raw materials such as steel and rubber, while the
government also announced rises in the price of petrol and
diesel last week. Japanese-owned Maruti Suzuki India said
it sold 88,091 vehicles in June, up from 85,109 the same
month a year ago but down from a record 102,175 units in
May, a fall attributed partly to a plant maintenance
shutdown.
Low automobile pen-etration in India, where many consumers
are buying their first cars, is expected to keep the
market solidly unde-pinned and make the nation a lucrative
destination for global automakers in coming years.
Risk aversion clouds global economy
AFP, London
Fears for the global economy resurfaced on Thursday with
stocks falling on worries about a deadline for European
banks to repay record loans of 442 billion euros, Chinese
data and Spanish debt.
Markets worldwide showed the strain of more poor economic
data, just days after G20 world leaders vowed in Toronto
to slash state debt and nurture a shaky rebound.
European equities were down from the open, as London lost
1.27 percent, Frankfurt fell 1.07 percent and Paris shed
1.95 percent. In Asia Tokyo closed down 2.04 percent to
reach its lowest level since November.
The European Central Bank made unexpectedly big special
loans to help banks pay off the record one-year borrowing
just before Thursday's deadline to repay the 442 billion
euros, with Eurozone banks asking for 111.2 billion euros
(136.7 billion dollars) in six-day loans.
In all 78 banks asked for funds, a day after 171 banks
borrowed 131.9 billion euros for three months in an
operation that initially eased market worries over a
credit squeeze that might hamper a eurozone economic
recovery. Attention will now turn to the release later
this month of bank stress tests designed to determine if
they can withstand exceptional shocks like defaults by
major borrowers.
The loans have added to wider fears for the health of the
eurozone, battered by Greece's debt woes and the threat of
contagion to other European Union nations.
Madrid tumbled by more than 3.0 percent after
international ratings agency Moody's put Spanish
government debt on review for a possible downgrade late on
Wednesday.
The Madrid market clawed back ground later on Thursday to
show a loss of 1.8 percent, after a successful debt bond
placing of 3.5 billion euros for five years.
The ripples were felt across world markets.
"The FTSE opened in desperate fashion this morning on the
news that China's manufacturing growth has slowed and
Spain's sovereign debt problems have intensified," said IG
Index senior sales trader Yusuf Heusen.
South Korea reports record trade surplus
AFP, Seoul
South Korea recorded its largest-ever trade surplus of
7.472 billion dollars in June thanks to healthy overseas
demand, official figures showed Thursday.
Exports rose 32.4 percent from a year earlier to 42.653
billion dollars while imports increased 36.9 percent to
35.181 billion, according to preliminary trade data
released by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
The previous record surplus was 6.5 billion dollars in
June 2009. The figure is the latest in a series of strong
economic data for Asia's fourth largest economy, and will
fuel expectations of an imminent rise in the key interest
rate from its current record low 2 percent.
"A surge in overseas demand for semiconductors and
automobiles cont-ributed to the unpr-ecedented export and
trade balance figures," said An Byung-Hwa, head of the
ministry's export-import division. An, quoted by Yonhap
news agency, said exports of semiconductors jumped 97.3
percent year-on-year and automobiles gained 57.7 percent.n
An said a sharp rise in shipments to China and developing
economies fuelled the gains last month, although exports
to the United States, Japan and the European Union also
rose compared to June 2009.
The ministry report forecast a trade surplus of 18.94
billion dollars in the first half, with exports gaining
35.0 percent on-year to 222.45 billion and imports rising
40.0 percent to 203.50 billion.
Romania to cut 54,000 public sector jobs
AFP, Bucharest
Romania is to cut 54,000 jobs in the public sector in a
move to curb its public deficit, the centre-right
government announced on Thursday.
"53,432 jobs will have to be cut in local
administrations", Interior Minister Vasile Blaga said
after a cabinet meeting.
"We set up the legal frame of restructuring in the public
sector. New job cuts could follow as a consequence of this
process", the government spokeswoman Ioana Muntean told
AFP.
The move is part of the government's measures to keep the
public deficit near the target of 6.8 percent of the gross
domestic product (GDP) stipulated in an agreement with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union.
It comes on top of a 25-percent slash of salaries in the
public sector and a raise of the value-added tax to 24
percent from 19 percent decided in the last weeks.
The IMF board will meet on Friday to decide on a new
tranche of the 20-billion-euro loan package it extended to
Romania, together with the EU and the World Bank, in order
to fight the economic crisis.
Brazil retail sales flag during World Cup fever
AFP, Rio De Janeiro
World Cup fever has taken a toll on Brazilian retailers,
who complain that cust-omers disappear and profits
nosedive whenever the home football team plays in South
Africa, store owners said Wednesday.
In Rio de Janeiro, store owners reported a 50 percent drop
in business when Brazil's team is playing.
If the game falls on the weekend, like the upcoming
quarter-finals match Friday between Brazil and the
Netherlands, it's even worse.
If Brazil wins, store owners said they don't expect
business to pick up until Monday.
"Stores close up earlier and stay closed. Only shopping
malls reopen (after the match), and even there business is
slack," Rio de Janeiro Store Directors' Club president
Aldo Goncalvez told Agencia Brazil news agency.
India auction of oil, gas blocks fetches $1.1b
AFP, New Delhi
Companies have committed 1.1 billion dollars to explore
for oil and gas in India's latest energy auction round, a
statement said Wednesday, but the sum was shy of
government hopes.
However, the government said it expects a much more
enthusiastic response in its next auction thanks to a
decision last week to allow petrol prices to be set by the
market rather than the state.
India, which imports 75 percent of its crude needs, is
seeking to increase explor-ation for natural resources in
a bid to ease its reliance on foreign supplies and meet
the needs of its fast-growing economy.
Some 1.1 billion dollars in investment were committed by a
total of 20 companies to the hunt for oil and gas in 31
exploration blocks, the government said in a statement.
But India had put 70 blocks up for offer in the eighth
round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP),
launched in 1999 to accelerate the development of India's
energy resources.
"Considering the (weak) global economic situation, the
committed investment of 1.1 billion dollars... by these
companies is notable," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said
in the statement.
The auction received a weak response from global energy
giants with most blocks awarded to local companies such as
state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Cairn India, a unit
of Britain's Cairn Energy Plc, won two blocks.
In a bid to spur more interest, the government said it
would move to a new Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP)
under which oil firms can choose the energy blocks they
want to explore without waiting for the government to put
them on offer. Companies will be able to select any area
they wish to explore for oil and gas and approach the
government, which will put it on offer.
National
Govt fails to achieve rice
procurement target this year
UNB, Dhaka
The government has failed to achieve the target of rice
procurement from the local markets this year.
"We signed agreements with rice millers to procure 500,000
metric tons of rice this year at Tk 25 per kg. But we
could procure only 260,000 tons from them because of
sudden price-hike of rice in local markets," Food and
Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said at a
press briefing Thursday afternoon. The briefing was held
at the Food Ministry after the minister attended a meeting
of the Food Planning and Monitoring Committee (EPMC).
About the government initiative to ensure food grain
reserve, the Food Minister said at present, the government
has a stock of 600,000 tons of food grains, including
450,000 tons rice, in government godowns.
The government has already planned to import wheat to
ensure country' s food reserve, he said.
The government has already procured around 100,000 tons of
wheat from India, he said, adding: "We hope they will send
more wheat to Bangladesh in near future."
Dr Razzaque said the rice price has been gradually
increasing in the international market. As such, it would
be very difficult to reduce rice price in the local
market.
He said the government has decided to provide from today
(Thursday) an incentive of Tk 3 on per kg of rice if the
rice millers supply rice to the government as per earlier
agreement.
The Food Minister said that although the government
distributed rice under social safety net programs
including as Test Relief (TR) and Food for Work last year,
it has a plan to distribute wheat under such safety net
programs this year due to shortage of rice.
He also informed that the government has enough capacity
to control the price of food grains in the local markets.
Disabled women for
mainstreaming and access to equitable justice
BSS, Rajshahi
Disabled women at a press conference in Rajshahi on
Thursday called for mainstreaming them and access to
equitable justice for ensuring their dignified position in
the society. They mentioned that most of the disabled
women are being subjected to repression and exploitation
by their surrounding influential and privileged groups due
to their vulnerable physical and social condition.
However, they added that the repressed women, in many
cases, have not access to the legal support. Local unit of
Protibandhi Nari Adhiker Bikash Sangstha (PNABS) organized
the press conference at Sadharan Public Library.
Disability Rights Fund supported the programme.
PNABS Legal Secretary Rakhi Khatun read out the written
statement narrating the inadequacies, deprivations and
problems of the disabled women side by side with their
grim picture in the society.
Chaired by PNABS President Nur Jahan Akter Jharna the
press conference was addressed, among others, by General
Secretary of PNABS Rozina Akhter, Area Coordinator of
Action on Disability and Development (ADD) Monwarul Islam
Mamun, ADD Human Rights Promoter Israt Laila Illa,
Organizing Secretary of District Badhan Protibandhi
Sangstha Asaduzzaman Russel and PNABS Volunteer Pankaj
Chowdhury.
The speakers said emphasis should be given on working for
establishing human rights, empowerment and positive social
change of the disabled women.
Referring to poverty alleviation through involving the
disabled women in various income- generating activities,
the speakers said the disadvantaged group must be brought
under the government-sponsored development programmes to
enable them live a decent life.
Besides, they also underlined the need for ensuring their
legitimate rights including education, health, employment,
development, empowerment and social security so that they
could contribute to the nation building process. They,
however, underlined the need for a concerted effort to
establish a sound and friendly atmosphere for the disabled
persons to ensure a dignified position for them in
society.
BADC imparts training to farmers
on irrigation in Gaibandha
BSS, Gaibandha
A total of 660 farmers of the district were imparted
training on overall irrigation management particularly
Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method by BADC under
its programmes in last fiscal year.
The aim of the training was to give ideas about proper
irrigation management, to motivate the farmers to use
surface water of various water bodies as irrigation and to
popularize the AWD method locally known 'Magic Pipe' to
them to boost production of crops mainly Boro paddy
through saving the fuel cost of irrigation.
Of the total, some 450 farmers received training under
Gaibandha District Minor Irrigation Development Programme
while some 210 farmers took the training under Monga Pilot
Project of the corporation in batches through out the
fiscal.
Executive Engineer of BADC M Rafiqul Islam, Assistant
Engineer M Nurul Alam, Upazila Agriculture Officers,
Upazila Agriculture Engineers, and Assistant Directors of
BADC (Seed) conducted the training sessions as resource
persons.
Concerned UNOs formally inaugurated the training at their
upazila headquarters as the chief guests.
Talking to the BSS, Executive Engineer M Rafiqul Islam
said various workshops on irrigation and AWD method were
also held at upazila and district level under the
programmes during the period.
A larger number of upazila and district level officials,
farmers' representatives, farm managers and Krishak League
leaders and journalists took part in the workshops, he
also said.
Public representatives urged to
formulate UP budget with participation of all
BSS, Gaibandha
Speakers at a workshop in Gaibandha on Wednesday urged the
public representatives to formulate their union parishad
(UP) budget openly through ensuring the participation of
all including the poor to make the UP more active,
functional and acceptable to the people.
"Every year the UP formulates a budget, but the people of
the are don't have any ideas about it, even they don't
know when, why and for whom the budget is formulated. If
the people are involved in the budget and other working
plans of the UP, it can play a vital role to lead the
union and its people towards development," they said.
They were addressing the workshop on 'Plan and budget of
UP' organized by Sadullapur Upazila Parishad in its hall
room in the district in cooperation with a reputed
organization RDRS Bangladesh. Upazila Parishad Chairman SM
Khademul Islam Khudi attended the function and addressed
it as the chief guest and upazila vice chairmen Sadek Ali
Pramanik and Akter Banu Lucky were present as the special
guests.
The ke-ynote paper on the subject was presented by project
manager of the organization Tapan Kumar Saha.
Presided over by Upazila Nirbahi Officer M. Ariful Haque,
the workshop was also addressed, among others, by field
coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh KM Rashedul Arefin,
Technical Officer Nazrul Islam, Bangram UP Chairman Fazlul
Kaiyum Huda and Jamalpur UP Chairman Rabiul Karim Dula, UP
Secretary Abdul Latif Mondal. Urging the UP chairmen and
members to display their UP budget in the billboards at
important places of the respective unions to ensure their
transparency and accountabilities to the public Upazila
Parishad Chairman SM Khademul Islam Khudi in his speech
sought cooperation of the NGOs working in the upazila to
create much awareness among the people at the grassroots
level about UP budget and their active participation in
it. All of the eleven UP chairmen, members and
secretaries, upazila level officials, NGO activists and
the local elite including journalists took part in the
workshop.
Govt takes elaborate
programme to observe mourning day on Aug 15
BSS, Dhaka
The government has chalked out various programmes to
observe the 35th martyrdom anniversary of Father of the
Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National
Mourning Day on August 15 in a befitting manner.
The programme was finalised at an inter-ministerial
meeting at the Cabinet Division, said an official release
Thursday.
As per the programme, the national flag would be hoisted
half-mast as the sun rises on August 15 at government,
semi-government and autonomous organisations, educational
institutions and private buildings.
The national flag would also be hoisted half-mast and
discussion meeting held at the Bangladesh Missions abroad.
The President and Prime Minister will place wreaths at the
portrait of Bangabandhu at Dhanmondi Bangabandhu Memorial
Museum at 6:30 am on the day. The armed forces will
present a guard of honour and a special 'munajat' will be
offered.
The Prime Minister will place wreaths at the graves of the
family members of Father of the Nation and other martyrs
at Banani graveyard at 7:30 am.
She will place wreaths at the grave of Father of the
Nation at Tungipara at 10 am. The armed forces will
present a guard of honour and a special munajat will be
offered.
Milad mahfils and munajats after Johr prayers will be held
in mosques while other prayers in temples, churches and
other places of worships on the day.
ABM Nur Uz Zaman
appointed ambassador to Libya
UNB, Dhaka
The Government has decided to appoint former secretary ABM
Nur Uz Zaman as the next Ambassador of Bangladesh to
Libya.
ABM Nur Uz Zaman belongs to the 1981 batch of BCS
(Information) Cadre. During his distinguished career, he
has served in different Ministries of the Government of
Bangladesh in various capacities, said a press release.
He was counsellor (Political), Bangladesh Embassy, Berlin
from 1999 to 2003 and held various positions in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhaka on deputation from 1995
to 1999. He attended a number of international conferences
and seminars during his notable career.
He holds a Post-graduate degree in Economics from the
University of Dhaka. He is married and blessed with one
daughter.
Budget of Melandaha Pourasabha announced
BSS, Jamalpur
The budget of Melandaha Pourasabha for the fiscal
2010-2011 was announced on Wednesday.
Haji Didar Pasha, mayor of the pourasabha, announced the
Taka 35 crore 91 lakh 89 thousand and 466 budget at a
function in the pourasabha auditorium.
In the budget, Taka one crore 25 lakh 62 thousand and 139
was shown as income and Taka one crore 23 lakh 50 thousand
and 120 as expenditure.
The highest Taka 16.10 crore has been allocated for the
health service, Taka six crore for water supply, Taka 5.60
core for upazila town infrastructure, Taka 3.91 crore for
BMDF project, Taka 1.32 crore for flood and rehabilitation
project and Tk. 1.69 crore for road construction and
repairing.
Councilors and employees of the pourasabha and local elite
were present at the function.
Bangladesh Foreign
Policy for inclusiveness, people’s representation : FS
UNB, Dhaka
Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes said Bangladesh foreign
policy strives for promotion of democracy, inclusiveness
and human rights.
He stated this at a discussion on "Bangladesh Foreign
Policy:
Challenges and Opportunities" at the Heritage Foundation
in Washington DC .
The discussion drew a good number of State Department
Officials, Capitol Hill staff, members of think tanks,
academia, press, trade and investment executives,
according to a release of the Foreign Ministry.
Ambassador Quayes said while the government pursues a
foreign policy that ascribes equal space for bilateral as
well as multilateral diplomacy, Bangladesh 's natural
niche has been on the multilateral front.
He said Bangladesh has, over the years, evolved not only
as a responsible member in the community of nations, it
has earned her place as a "contributing" country.
Recalling Bangladesh as the largest troop contributing
country in the UN peacekeeping missions, the Foreign
Secretary expressed the hope for a "peace building" role
of Bangladesh in near future from present "peacekeeping"
role.
Quayes touched on the developments in the South Asia
region including the Prime Minister's visit to India.
About the conflicts in South Asia, he emphasized on the
need for action to stem the spread of extremist
tendencies. He narrated the elements of paradigm shift in
Bangladesh-India relations for the common good of the
peoples of both the countries. Elaborating Bangladesh's
renewed effort for a regional connectivity, Quayes
expressed his satisfaction at the support Bangladesh is
receiving regionally as well as globally.
About Bangladesh's impressive win in the CEDAW election
with highest number of vote, the Foreign Secretary said
that Bangladesh 's good works both at bilateral as well as
multilateral level, are not going unnoticed. He assured
the audience that Bangladesh shall continue her effort for
a peaceful world through active processes and dialogue
with the actors at the regional and global level.
Quayes described the existing relations between Bangladesh
and the US as "excellent" and commented that there is
scope for further cooperation in a host of areas. He drew
attention to the high US tariff on the ready made garment
exports to the US market and underscored the need for
urgent action to remove such impediments to RMG export.
Quayes elaborated on how 16-32% tariff penalty squeeze the
space for manufactures for value addition through better
wages and incentives. He argued that any tariff relief
will eventually help improving wage structure of the
workers in Bangladesh .
Walter Lohman, Director for Heritage's Asia Program
moderated the event. Bangladesh Ambassador to USA Akramul
Qader and other Embassy officials were also present in the
event.
Int'l Bangla festival to be held in USA today
UNB, Dhaka
A 4-day international Bangla festival-2010 and book fair
will begin in New York today (Friday).
Information Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury will
attend the occasion, organized by Muktadhara Foundation,
USA, as special guest.
Muktadhara has been organizing the festival in New York
since last 18 years for growth of Bangla language and
culture.
A large number of poets, artistes and intellectuals from
Indian West Bengal State and Bangladesh participate in the
festival every year.
Fifteen publication institutions and 30 handicrafts
institutions from West Bengal and Bangladesh are expected
to display their products and books in the fair.
Sec l44 imposed in Daudkandi upazila of Comilla
UNB, Comilla
Local administration on Wednesday night imposed section
l44 at Tolplaza in Daudkandi upazila where local BNP and
Awami League called meetings at the same time on Thursday
afternoon.
Police said, first the main opposition BNP called a
meeting at 3pm on Thursday at Tolplaza in the upazila
headquarters.
Later, Awami League also called meeting at the same time
at the same venue, creating tension over the area.
The upazila administration imposed sec l44 at the area
from Wednesday night to Thursday night, banning any public
meeting, procession, rallies or gathering of more than
four people during that period to avert any untoward
incident.
Theatre workshop on technical issues
UNB, Dhaka
A five-day national level training workshop begins at
National Theatre Auditorium in Dhaka on July 3 for
technical skill development of the theatre professionals.
Theatre Designers Institute, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy
and the Embassy of Switzerland are jointly organising the
workshop, a release of the Swiss Embassy said Thursday.
Jan Lukas, internationally renowned theatre activist and
technical director of popular Swiss theatre group 'Mummenschanz',
will conduct the training workshop.
The Swiss theatre group Mummenschanz visited Dhaka last
March to perform at the International Theatre Festival
organised by Dhaka Padatik. Gabriele Derighetti, Charge
d'affaires, Embassy of Switzerland and Ms. Saraara Mahmud,
Director, Bangladesh Shilpakola Academy will be present at
the opening session.
18 young and talented theatre set designers coming from
different parts of this country are participating in this
workshop.
The workshop creates an opportunity for theatre designers
of Bangladesh to understand and develop their skills
regarding different theatrical techniques, scenography and
set designing, to enrich their knowledge on light
designing and modern light equipment and also to share
experiences.
Sports
Brazil and Netherlands meet today
AFP, Port Elizabeth
Brazil, without suspended Ramires and injured Elano, face the
Netherlands here on Friday for the fourth time at a World Cup
in what promises to be an explosive quarter-final.
In 1994 Brazil overcame the Dutch 3-2 at the same stage of the
competition before going on to win the title. Four years later
in France the Oranje lost out again, 4-2 on penalties after
drawing their semi-final 1-1. They first met in 1974, with the
European side prevailing 2-0.
The Netherlands are in arguably better shape than they have
ever been to exact revenge on their arch nemesis at the Nelson
Mandela Bay stadium and extend their unbeaten record in South
Africa to five games. Bert van Marwijk's men are seeking to be
crowned champions at the ninth attempt, after falling at the
final hurdle twice - in 1974 and 1978.
Van Marwijk, appointed after Euro 2008 when Holland excelled
in the 'Group of Death' only to run out of steam against
Russia, has claimed his team are the "underdogs". "Brazil are
a very mature and stable team. "They convey a positive form of
arrogance, that others cannot win. We might be the underdogs
against Brazil, for the first time in this World Cup," he
said.
Holland's previous international outings have often been
marked by discord in the camp, sometimes along racial lines,
but one of the hallmarks of the 2010 squad has been its
harmony. That unity was briefly threatened by an outburst from
Robin van Persie who when he was taken off during Monday's
last 16 win over Slovakia reportedly said "it is not me that
should be substituted but Wesley Sneijder".
Van Persie later denied that he had mentioned Sneijder, but
just to be on the safe side van Maarwijk held clear the air
talks between the pair, with Sneijder later insisting nothing
had happened. Dunga's Brazil meanwhile are aiming to become
the first of what could be an all-South American cast list for
the semi-finals.
The Selecao are seemingly coming to the boil at just the right
time judged on their 3-0 last 16 rout of Chile, one of the
most attractive sides at these finals. Goals from Juan, Luis
Fabiano and Robinho put Brazil into the last eight with a
record of three wins and a drab draw with Portugal in Durban.
Brazil suffered a shock quarter-final defeat to eventual
beaten finalists France in Germany in 2006, and are anxious to
atone for that reverse as they seek a sixth world crown.
Gilberto Silva said: "I believe we can win (the title)."
Turning to the upcoming test against Holland the former
Arsenal midfielder added: "We know that if we give them space
it will be very difficult for us and we could have a problem."
Dunga, under enormous pressure to deliver the title, has the
utmost respect for Friday's opposition. In midfield Dunga is
without Ramires, suspended after picking up a second booking
against Chile. Elano, who has scored twice, is also out with
the ankle injury he suffered against the Ivory Coast.
Felipe Melo is also carrying an ankle injury and faces a race
against time to take Ramires' place on the left. Kaka is one
of three Brazilians and no fewer than seven Dutch who will
miss an eventual semi-final should they receive a second
yellow card.
Argentina
and Germany reignite intense rivalry
AFP, Cape Town
Football powerhouses Argentina and Germany reignite their
intense rivalry on Saturday in an eagerly-anticipated World
Cup quarter-final, with both sides boasting they will win.
The two countries met at the same stage in 2006 with Juergen
Klinsmann's side going through 4-2 on penalties after
over-cautious counterpart Jose Pekerman left Lionel Messi on
the bench.
That shootout ended in a brawl when the South Americans
reacted angrily after German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saved
Esteban Cambiasso's spot-kick to confirm victory.
The coaches are different now but the desire of both teams to
get their hands on the World Cup again hasn't changed.
Argentina lifted the trophy in 1978 and 1986 while the Germans
have won three times, in 1954, 1974, and 1990.
Their rivalry stretches back a long way, with the Argentines
beating Germany in the 1986 final before losing to them in the
1990 decider, games that featured Diego Maradona.
Now coach, the former midfield maestro is confident his team
can counter the current German threat, despite them being high
on confidence after crushing old enemy England 4-1 in the
round of 16.
Argentina, along with the Netherlands, are the only countries
left with a 100 percent record after comfortably beating
Nigeria, Greece and South Korea before ending Mexican dreams.
In-form Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez said they do not
fear consistent Germany, who have not failed to reach the last
eight since 1938.
The Germans will have Chancellor Angela Merkel, a keen
football fan, in Green Point Stadium watching the match and
coach Joachim Loew is hoping his young team can impress her by
riding the wave of beating England.
While Argentina have been unbeatable in South Africa, Loew
said he had identified weaknesses, without revealing what they
were.
World Cup head-to-head record for Argentina and Germany before
quarter-final in Cape Town Saturday
1958
First round
At Malmo, Sweden
Germany 3 Argentina 1
1966
First round
At Birmingham, England
Argentina 0 Germany 0
1986
Final
At Mexico City
Argentina 3 Germany 2
1990
Final
At Rome
Germany 1 Argentina 0
2006
Quarter-final
At Berlin
Germany 1 Argentina 1 aet
Germany won 4-2 on penalties
Focussed Spain
wary of Paraguay threat
AFP, Johannesburg
Spain will be wary when they face Paraguay on Saturday in
Johannesburg's Ellis Park stadium of not making the same
mistakes as in the past.
Until two years ago when the Spanish finally delivered on
their undoubted promise by winning the European
Championships, they had been known as the perennial
chokers, or underachievers. Such was the bemusement and
indeed amusement in some quarters at Spain's repeated
inability to turn potential into achievement, that the
term "perennial underachievers" actually seemed to have
become a permanent prefix to the word Spain. That was
finally disbanded two years ago in Vienna when they beat
Germany 1-0 to lift the European title and coming into
this competition Spain were seen as joint-favourites
alongside Brazil. But not all lessons had been learned as
the Iberians stumbled in their opening group match and
were beaten 1-0 by Switzerland.
That seemed to focus minds, though, and the Spanish
regrouped and rediscovered their form to move ominously
into the last eight.
Uruguay and Ghana chase last
four dream
AFP, Johannesburg
One-time football power Uruguay are on the verge of their
first World Cup semi-final appearance in 40 years with
African hope Ghana blocking their way at Soccer City here
on Friday.
Before Brazil and Argentina, Uruguay were the dominant
South American team winning two World Cups in 1930 and
1950, two Olympic Games gold medals and eight of their 14
Copa America titles.
La Celeste's World Cup fortunes have been in decline since
their seismic 2-1 upset of Brazil in the 1950 final before
174,000 fans at the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro.
Uruguay reached the semi-finals in 1954 and 1970, but on
Friday Oscar Tabarez's team get their chance to reach the
last four after a break of four decades. Ghana, with all
of Africa behind them, are out to create history of their
own, but Uruguay are surfing the wave of South American
success at South Africa 2010. They have won three of their
four matches after an opening scoreless draw with France
and in Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan Uruguay possess two of
the most potent forwards in the tournament, while the
defence, marshalled by skipper Diego Lugano, has only
conceded one goal.
Ajax striker Suarez's curling right-footer in the 80th
minute of Saturday's last 16 match with South Korea earned
Uruguay a last-eight spot, and also netted him the man of
the match award.
Forlan hopes the strong South American presence in the
quarter-finals will encourage FIFA to revisit their quota
of finals places rather than force the fifth team in the
regional qualifiers to play off against a Central American
side. Uruguay had to overcome Costa Rica to reach the
finals.
"We have to show how strong South American football is and
the strength of the qualifying programme. I hope in doing
so we can have five places and not the current
four-and-a-half for the next World Cup in Brazil," Forlan
said.
Tabarez has already finalised his team replacing defender
Diego Godin and midfielder Alvaro Pereira with Mauricio
Victorino and Alvaro Fernandez.
"Before we began this World Cup, we saw this great harmony
among the players and I said to them, 'The people back
home have aspirations, they have dreams and we have to
deliver them'," Tabarez said. "Our objective is to go as
far as we can in this tournament."
Ghana are bidding to become the first African nation to
reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Pele takes another swipe at Maradona
AFP, Berlin
Brazilian footballing legend Pele's war of words with
Argentina coach Diego Maradona continued on Thursday as he
said the latter was not a good coach because of the
troubled private life he had led.
Pele, who earlier during the World Cup finals said that
Maradona had only taken the Argentinian coaching job
because he needed the money, said Maradona's previous
troubles - which included treatment for a cocaine
addiction - could only have a bad effect on the team.
Argentina - who have won all four of their matches at the
World Cup finals thusfar - face an impressive German side
in Saturday's quarter-final in Cape Town.
"He (Maradona) is not a good coach, because he had a
bizarre lifestyle which cannot go down well with his
team," three-time World Cup winner Pele told German
magazine 11Fre-unde.
By contrast the 69-year-old Pele said there was much to
like about the young and vibrant German side that
destroyed England 4-1 in their Last 16 match last Sunday.
"This young German team is a pleasure to watch," he said.
"It is clear to see that something has changed in German
football, it was already beginning to happen at Euro 2008
(where they lost 1-0 to Spain in the final) and the
youngsters Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller, they are like
their predecessors Wolfgang Overath and Pierre Littbarski.
"They can dribble, deliver pinpoint passes, and produce
something surprising at any moment," added Pele, who
nevertheless feels that they are too young to win at this
World Cup.
Spanish see stats speaking for success
AFP, Potchefstroom
There is far more to the beautiful game than facts and
figures, yet the statistics are starting to speak for
Spain ahead of their World Cup quarter-final against
Paraguay.
Even a shock opening loss to Switzerland has not shaken
the Spanish out of their stride and their solidity at the
back, their mercurial midfield which ensures a lion's
share of possession and the form of David Villa in attack
are factors which can take them all the way, says coach
Vicente Del Bosque.
"We controlled the game well, we kept the ball, we had
depth and defensive solidity," said Del Bosque as he
looked back at a second-round win over Portugal which saw
rival dangerman Cristiano Ronaldo stifled. With Xabi
Alonso and Sergio Bus-quets shielding the back four and
feeding the creative midfield motors of Xavi Hernandez and
Andres Iniesta, and with Villa on top of his game - even
if strike partner Ferhnando Torres is not as yet firing on
all cyclinders - it is difficult to get the ball off the
Spanish. Against the Portuguese they had 61 percent of
possession and over their four games to date their
ball-retaining skills have meant that their overall
possession extended to 139 minutes - compared with 121 for
Brazil and 118 for Argentina.
Successful completion of passes also speaks for Spain at
81 percent - though they will still note that no European
side has won the trophy outside of Europe to date and even
if the South American contingent this year looks more
daunting than ever.
Although critics will point to 19 chances only yielding
Villa's solitary strike, the sheer volume of ammunition is
almost guaranteed given further statistics such as Xavi's
296 passes in four games.
Port Elizabeth in the pink as Brazil and Dutch hit
town
AFP, Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth has put a 'no room at the inn' sign up as
Brazilian and Dutch fans invade this sleepy Eastern Cape
city for Friday's mouthwatering World Cup quarter-final.
This is PE's sixth World Cup game and a full house of
42,000 is expected on Friday for the first time at the
Nelson Mandela Bay stadium which was built at a cost of
2.1 billion Rand (270 million US dollars).
The only fixture that has really stirred the place up to
now was when England and their travelling band of 20,000
plus fans came to town to play Slovenia.
The Three Lions' 1-0 win was watched by over 38,000 at a
Nelson Mandela Bay stadium which in contrast had more than
12,000 empty seats for last Saturday's second round game
between Uruguay and South Korea.
The city's fan fest at PE's historic St George's Park
cricket ground has welcomed around 150,000 through its
gates, a crowd that peaked at 29,000 on the day of the
opening match between South Africa and Mexico.
The city's coffers though have suffered compared to other
host cities like Cape Town and Durban from not having any
teams using it as a World Cup base, with most supporters
flying in and out on match days.
But accountants, hotel, bar and restaurant owners have
their fingers on the till in anticipation of a cash
windfall for Friday's headline last eight clash.
Thursday's edition of the local paper, The Herald,
meanwhile reported a 30 percent increase in visitors since
the World Cup began on June 11.
That could have been even better if teams had been staying
in or around PE, Bed and Breakfast Association chairman
Walter Passet told the paper.
"The fans booked accommodation in cities where their home
teams are based," he explained. "Unfortunately we failed
to host even a single team."
Radisson Hotel duty manager Ravindar Kumar reported all
173 rooms were booked.
Fan Fest director Glenn van Eck revealed that PE's big
screen in St George's Park had attracted the third highest
attendance after Durban and Cape Town of all the 10 fan
parks in South Africa. "By last Friday evening 150,000
people had passed through the turnstiles," he said.
Ghana bids to become first African team into semis
AP, Johannesburg
Uruguay will be chasing its first World Cup semifinal
appearance for 40 years Friday while Ghana is bidding to
make history for Africa.
The quarterfinal match at Soccer City brings together a
two-time, World Cup winner which has not gone this far
since 1970 and another which is in uncharted territory,
carrying the weight of an entire continent.
For decades, Uruguay has been in the shadow of South
American rivals Brazil and Argentina but has now joined
them in the last eight at the World Cup on merit. The 1930
and 1950 World Cup winner, Uruguay has a solid defense and
a three-pronged attacking formation with Diego Forlan
playing just behind Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Coach
Oscar Tabarez went to that system after the team labored
to a 0-0 draw with France, and the result was two strikes
by Forlan in a 3-0 victory over host South Africa. Uruguay
also beat Mexico 1-0 thanks to a goal by Suarez, who then
netted two in a 2-1 victory over South Korea.
"He is quite calm as a coach, with a lot of experience,
who knows how to handle the group very well," Forlan said
of Tabarez. "The experience that he has from (the 1990
World Cup) and other teams has helped us all a lot."
Uruguay has been forced into a change in defense with
Diego Godin ruled out with a thigh injury. But Forlan has
recovered sufficiently from a damaged toe and will face
the Ghanaians. Ghana is without suspended players Jonathan
Mensah and Andre Ayew but striker Asamoah Gyan is expected
to recover from an ankle injury he picked up in the
second-round victory over the United States. The biggest
problem for the last African team left in the competition
is the enormous weight of expectations. But Ghana's
Serbian coach, Milovan Rajevac, says the prospect of
becoming the first team from the continent to reach the
last four will motivate his squad.
"We are not thinking about the pressure. We played very
well at the African (Cup of) Nations so we have already
proved that we are a team that knows how to compete," he
said. "We will try to relax. You know it is good for us to
be here. We are very happy with the whole situation.
"We have no obligation but still we want to use this
opportunity to do our best and to make history."
Zvonareva reaches
Wimbledon final
AFP, London
Russian 21st seed Vera Zvonareva reached the women's
singles final at Wimbledon with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over
unseeded Bulg-arian Tsvetana Piron-kova on Thursday.
Zvonareva fought back from a set down to subdue Pironkova
in a hard-fought semi-final on Centre Court and will face
defending champion Serena Williams or unseeded Czech Petra
Kvitova in the first grand slam final of her career.
"I haven't quite realised what I've done yet," Zvonareva
said. "It is very exciting. It's one of my dreams to be in
the final.
"It was very tough out there, she's a young player but a
very, very tough opponent.
"She started so well and I'm happy with the way I was able
to hang in the match and turn it around. "I played a bit
quicker and more aggressive and managed to get on top."
Since turning professional 10 years ago, Zvonareva has
been dogged by doubts about her temperament as she failed
to fulfil her undoubted potential.
She was perceived as a choker who would crumble at the
most important moments. Injuries have also blighted her
career, but the 25-year-old has become a more confident,
mature player in the last year and had already served
notice of her improved mindset by reaching the Australian
Open semi-finals 18 months ago.
At Wimbledon she knocked out three seeds en route to the
last four, with Jelana Jankovic and Kim Clijsters among
her scalps, and she was able to summon up the will-power
to halt Pironkova's fairytale run as well.
Pironkova's expectations were so low heading into
Wimbledon that she only arranged for accommodation for the
first week of the tournament.
The 22-year-old's apartment booking ran out before the
semi-final so the Bulgarian embassy had to find her
emergency accommodation. Yet, with her confidence sky-high
after stunning wins over Venus Williams and Marion Bartoli
in previous rounds, Pironkova continued to play with
intelligence and freedom in the first set.
Japanese footballers
return home
AFP, Osaka
Japan's footballers returned home from the World Cup to a
hero's welcome on Thursday, greeted by about 4,000
screaming fans.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada and his players thanked fans for
their support during the World Cup, apologised for their
exit after reaching the last 16, and expressed their
gratitude for being part of the team.
Okada defied pre-tournament criticism and targeted a
semi-final spot, but Japan's dream ended in the last 16
with defeat on penalties to Paraguay. The Blue Samurai's
strong showing stunned many at home, where fans and media
had vented harsh frustration at Okada and his team, who
had lacked firepower and offered tame showings on the
international stage.
In South Africa, Japan defeated Cameroon 1-0 and Denmark
3-1, and lost to the Netherlands 1-0 to survive the Group
E opening round, advancing to the knockout stages for the
first time on foreign soil. The performance silenced
critics and prompted a fickle public to heap praise on
Okada, who has gone from much-maligned zero to hero over
the course of four football matches.
South America, Europe
collide at World Cup
AFP, Johannesburg
The first of three World Cup last-eight collisions between
South America and Europe pits Brazil against The
Netherlands in a Port Elizabeth blockbuster on Friday.
And Ghana, sole survivors in the tournament from outside
the two most powerful football regions, face Uruguay later
hoping to become the first semi-finalists from Africa.
There can be few more attractive casts than Maicon, Kaka,
Robinho and Luis Fabiano of Brazil against Arjen Robben,
Wesley Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie of
Netherlands.
This is round four in a great World Cup rivalry with
Brazil winning the previous two after the Johan Cruyff-inspired
Dutch won 36 years ago with its revolutionary 'total'
football. While the South Americans are favoured to win in
the coastal Eastern Cape city, many pundits consider the
Dutch capable of tossing aside the 'nearly men' tag they
have worn since the 1970s after finishing runners-up
twice.
Chasing a record sixth title, Brazil have been efficient
rather than exhilarating in victories over North Korea,
Ivory Coast and Chile and a stalemate with Portugal.
Positives include the form of goalkeeper Julio Cesar, a
defence marshalled by captain Lucio and some razor sharp
finishing with three-goal Luis Fabiano a prime exponent.
But Real Madrid 'galactico' Kaka has yet to stamp his
authority on midfield, collecting three yellow cards and
one red while worrying coach Dunga by failing to score in
three outings. The Dutch have also been methodical rather
than magical, defeating Denmark, Japan, Cameroon and
Slovakia without setting any prairies on fire, and there
is a sense they can scale greater heights.
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