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Leading News
Hasina asks DCs
to step up monitoring against militancy
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked the Deputy
Commissioners to strengthen monitoring against militant
activities and attempts to create anarchy in the country.
"Remain alert so that progress of the hard-earned
democracy is not hindered," she urged the DCs while
inaugurating the three-day Deputy Commissioners'
conference at the International Conference Centre in the
PM's Office on Sunday morning.
Prime Minister's Adviser HT Imam and Cabinet Secretary M
Abdul Aziz also spoke on the occasion.
Dhaka District DC Mahibul Haque, Chittagong Divisional
Commissioner Sirajul Haque Khan, Naogaon DC Dr Nazman Ara
Khanom and Panchagar DC Banamali Bhoumik addressed the
opening function on behalf of the Deputy Commissioners.
The Prime Minister instructed the DCs to work along with
the public representatives of district and upazila levels
in a coordinated way to infuse dynamism in the
administration.
She urged them to perform their responsibilities
disregarding any fear, favour and personal likes and
dislikes.
Hasina also instructed the DCs to monitor the demand,
supply and stock situation so that syndicates of
unscrupulous traders could not hike prices of essentials
by manipulating markets during the month of Ramadan.
Expressing surprise that prices of daily necessities are
going up despite sufficient stocks, she said: "Some
dishonest traders are earning extra profit by increasing
prices."
She said upazila parishad chairmen and upazila nirbahi
officers would have to work in coordination with each
other, and the district administration and law enforcing
agencies should also work in a complementary way.
On price of rice, the Prime Minister asked the DCs to be
more active in safeguarding the interests of farmers.
"Make sure that none can exploit our farmers," she said.
Hasina said from the next year, the government is thinking
of purchasing paddy, apart from rice, directly from the
farmers. "To preserve the paddy, more silos will be set
up," she added.
The Prime Minister categorically ordered the DCs to keep a
close watch so that no-one can grab khas lands and fill up
water bodies like rivers, haors, baros and canals across
the country.
Urging them to raise mass awareness about climate change,
Hasina said that at any cost, all the wet bodies of the
country have to be preserved to protect the environment.
Int’l
war crimes tribunal
Hearing today on petition for detention of 4
Jamaat leaders
UNB, Dhaka
International War Crimes Tribunal will hear Monday a
prosecution petition seeking arrest or detention order
against four Jamaat leaders, including its ameer Matiur
Rahman Nizami, for effective investigation into their
alleged crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation
war.
"The hearing will begin at 10:30 am at the tribunal set up
at the Old High Court building," said tribunal registrar
Shahinoor Islam in a written statement on Sunday
afternoon.
He said on the basis of a complaint petition received on
July 21, the designated investigation agency started
investigation into the case against the four accused
Jamaat top brass Matiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad
Mujaheed, Mohammad Qamaruzzaman and Abdul Qader Molla
under section 3 (2) of the International (Crimes) Tribunal
Act 1973.
The prosecution's petition before the tribunal has been
registered as miscellaneous case No-1, the registrar
added.
Earlier, in the day, Chief Prosecutor Golam Arif Tipu said
they have submitted the petition to the tribunal seeking
appropriate steps against the Jamaat leaders so they
cannot impede investigation.
Asked what he meant by appropriate steps, he said it may
be detention or arrest.
Nizami and three other Jamaat leaders are already in jail
custody in different criminal cases.
On March 25 this year, a day ahead of the Independence and
National Day, the government announced a three-member
tribunal headed by incumbent High Court judge M Nizamul
Huq, a 7-member investigation agency and a 12-member
prosecution cell.
After long 39 years of the independence, Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina's government finally initiated the legal
move to try the criminals who committed crimes against
humanity like killing, rape, loot and arson during the
Bangladesh's Liberation War.
In the first session of the present parliament, a
resolution was passed unanimously to hold the trial of the
war criminals. This was one of the major election pledges
of the ruling Awami League.
DCs
seek more power to keep prices stable
UNB, Dhaka
The Deputy Commissioners on Sunday raised several points
of grievances while holding a close-door meeting with
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office.
They informed the Prime Minister of prevailing lack of
coordination between the Upazila Nirbahi Officers and the
Upazila chairmen that hampers local development works.
The DCs, now in the capital to attend a 3-day conference,
also apprised the Prime Minister that district and upazila
law and order maintenance committees cannot work
effectively in many cases due to indifference of a "high
government official".
On soaring prices of essentials, the DCs requested the
Prime Minister to give them "adequate" power to
effectively monitor the market for keeping the prices
within the buying capacity of the commoners ahead of the
holy Ramadan. They said since there is no well-planned
market monitoring system, unscrupulous businessmen are
controlling the market and making extra profits.
On contempt of matters, the DCs demanded enactment of a
new contempt law similar to the Judicial Protection Act to
stop what they called harassment of government officers.
Talking to UNB, several DCs said they have apprised the
Prime Minister that government officers are to face
contempt of court charges on various occasions while
discharging duties to protect government property and its
interests.
The aggrieved DCs said any officer accused of contempt of
court has to answer before the court standing for hours
together. While facing the court procedure, they said the
government officers do not get even any public prosecutor
or any fund from the government. "As a result, the
government officers get puzzled in protecting the
government's interests," one DC said.
The DC informed the Prime Minister that one of the main
reasons behind the existing land management complexities
is because the task of the land registration is reposed on
different authorities. When the Prime Minister asked
whether the DCs should be given the charge of land
registration, he said the matter should be settled as soon
as possible in public interest.
BNP stages
showdown to protest govt’s oppression
UNB, Dhaka
Staging a big showdown in the city on Sunday BNP reminded
the Awami League government that oppression, police, RAB
and army can't keep it in power for long.
The rally at Muktangon was held in the afternoon to
protest denial by the government to use Paltan Maidan for
observing mass hunger strike scheduled for Sunday.
The mass hunger strike was designed on a number of issues
including protesting the government's repressive measures
against the opposition, arrest of the party leaders and
workers and demanding their release, demanding immediate
return DCC ward councilor Chowdhury Alam who has been
missing since June 25, containing price hike of essential
commodities and ensure supply of utility services like
electricity-gas-water.
Thousands of leaders and workers of BNP and its front and
associate organizations as well as some like minded
political parties and partners of BNP-led four-party
alliance thronged Muktangon to raise their voice against
the government's 'undemocratic' actions.
Presided by BNP vice-chairman Shah Moazzem Hossain the
rally was addressed by secretary general Khandaker Delwar
Hossain, Barrister Moudud Ahmed MP, Barrister Raifqul
Islam Mia, Abdullah Al Noman, Selima Rahman, Shamsuzzman
Dudu, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Amanullah Aman, Ruhul
Kabir Rizvi, Fazlul Huq Milon, Zainul Abdin Farroque MP,
Abdus Salam, Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and Habib-un-Nabi
Khan Sohel.
JAGPA president Shafiul Alam Prodhan and BJP secretary
general Shamim-Al Mamun of BNP led 4-party alliance also
addressed the rally. Delwar asked the government to come
to the path of democracy shunning the wrong path of
repression and oppression on political opponents otherwise
it will have to exit for forever. The opposition must be
allowed to exercise the democratic rights inside and
outside the parliament. He said the government could
realize that its popularity has been waning because of
misdeeds. That is why they have become aggressive and
oppressive in dealing with the opposition.
He reminded the government that no government in the past
could stay in power with the help of police, RAB and army.
Time is not far away when the government will face the
wrath of the people. Referring to the government move to
change the constitution Delwar thought that they want to
abolish the caretaker government system to hold general
elections remaining in power and thus facilitate returning
to power. Such an evil design would not succeed, he
warned.
Flood situation
improves but river erosion intensifies
BSS, Dhaka
The flood situation in Jamalpur, Rajbari, Munshiganj and
Sylhet is likely to improve while river erosion took a
serious turn in Tangail, a bulletin of Flood Forecasting
Warning Centre said on Sunday.
The Ganges and the Meghna river system are in rising trend
while the Brahmaputra-Jamuna river system is in falling
trend. These trends are likely to continue during 24
hours.
In Tangail, hundreds houses, different establishments,
trees and farming lands of 55 villages under Kalihati and
Nagpur upazila of the district have been eroded by river
erosion due to rise of water levels of the Jamuna and the
Dhaleshwari rivers. In Kurigram, overall flood situation
has improved due to fall of water levels at four major
rivers of the district.
Flood water receded from low-lying areas at seven upazilas
of the district rapidly.
In Rangpur, the overall flood situation continues to
improve at most places following reduction in the quantum
of inrushing waters from the upper catchments during the
past 24 hours till 6am this morning, official sources
said. At the same time, the Dharla, the Brahmaputra and
the Upper Atari marked significant falls during the period
to come down below their respective DM on Sunday morning.
However, nearly 50,000 people are still marooned by the
flood waters in the low-lying and remote char areas
alongside with the Brahmaputra basin in greater Rangpur,
Bogra and Sirajganj districts, local sources said.
Question paper leak
Inquiry finds 11 responsible
Nine arrested, two absconding
UNB, Dhaka
A 5-member inquiry committee of the Education Ministry has
primarily identified 11 people, with a majority from the
BG press and the PSC, of being involved in the scandal
concerning leakage of question papers of the examinations
for recruiting assistant teachers in secondary schools.
The Education Ministry cancelled the examinations
scheduled to be held on July 9 following the leak of the
question papers in Rangpur on July 8.
The inquiry committee headed by additional secretary SM
Golam Faruq submitted its report to the Education Minister
Nurul Islam Nahid on Sunday.
Briefing reporters on the findings of the inquiry, Nahid
said the 11 people were primarily identified for their
involvement in the scandal. But they were assisted by
other people from different positions in committing the
offence.
Of the 11 persons, six are officials and employees of the
BG Press, one from the PSC and four are outsiders.
They are: Assistant Director Khandaker Mohammad Ali;
Shahidul Islam Fakir, Composer; ASM Mostafa, Composer; Mrs
Laboni Begum, Binder; Hamadul Islam, Binder; Abdul Jalil,
Pressman of the BG Press and Abdur Rashid, Administrative
Officer of the PSC.
Others include Mahfuzur Rahman, Principal, Kishoreganj
Mahila College, Nilphamari; and Atiqul Islam, Safiur
Rahman and Arif who gave a booking at a picnic spot in
Rangpur for the distribution of the leaked question
papers.
Shahidul Islam Fakir and Atiqul Islam are absconding while
the nine others have been arrested.
Asked about any big fish being behind the question
leakage, the Education Minister said an in-depth inquiry
by the Home Ministry, police and intelligence agencies is
needed, as the present inquiry committee is not capable of
an in-depth-investigation to dig out the big fish behind
it.
Back Page
President for coordinated program
to raise fish production
UNB, Dhaka
President Zillur Rahman on Sunday emphasized taking a
coordinated programme, involving the non-government and
voluntary organizations and research institutes to
increase fis production in the country.
"It's not the responsibility of the government or its
Fisheries Department alone to increase fish production,"
he said while releasing fish fry at 'Singha Pukur' (Lions
Pond) at Bangabhaban, marking the National Fisheries
Week-2010.
Addressing the function, the President said apart from the
government organizations, the private agencies, voluntary
organizations, research institutes, fish-feed
manufacturers, fish hatcheries, farmers of fishes and
shrimps and all others involved in fish profession would
have to come up with a coordinated programme for
increasing fish production.
"I firmly believe that all concerned will come forward and
play significant role in increasing fish production."
He mentioned that presently there are some 28 lakh
hectares of water bodies in Bangladesh that could be
utilized to properly preserve and cultivate the indigenous
species of fishes.
Zillur Rahman said apart from increasing production of
indigenous fishes, massive self-employment will have to be
created to eradicate poverty of the rural people through
taking society-based fish management programme.
He said the countrymen should be encouraged to produce and
preserve all species of indigenous fishes to help protect
the environment and the bio-diversity.
"For this, extension activities will have to be
strengthened along with continuing researches on
preservation, reproduction and cultivation of fishes
through taking pragmatic action plan."
The President mentioned that the government has enacted
the Fish Feed and Animal Feed Act 2010 and the Fish and
Shrimp Hatchery Act 2010 with a view to increasing fish
production in the country. "I hope, we' ll soon see the
benefits," he said.
Describing fishes as the main supplier of animal protein,
he said the fish sector has been playing important role in
earning foreign exchange along with creating employment
for the rural people.
President Zillur said: "From time immemorial, fish is
included in our regular diet list."
Fisheries and Livestock Minister M Abdul Latif Biswas,
Director General of Fisheries and Livestock Department
Mahbubur Rahman Khan, among others, also spoke on the
occasion.
Govt to involve DCs to
increase revenue earnings: Muhith
UNB, Dhaka
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday said that the
government would involve the Deputy Commissioners to
increase country's revenue earnings.
"They (DCs) proposed to be involved with the government
bid to increase revenue earnings as well as strengthen the
tax base. We've decided to do this," he said while
exchanging views with the DCs at the Cabinet Division
marking the three-day Deputy Commissioner's Conference
2010.
Talking to the reporters after the meeting, Muhith said
that it is not possible at the moment to set up income tax
offices at upazila level.
"But I've directed the deputy commissioners to keep
information about the wealthy and influential businessmen
at upazila and union level… it needs an indirect survey."
Replying to a question, he said such initiative would
bring some benefit in the next year's revenue collection.
The Finance Minister said that he had especially directed
the DCs to emphasize three issues - eradicating
illiteracy, controlling market and digitization. "I've
told them to hold programmes in association with the NGOs,
local government bodies and local people to eradicate
illiteracy."
On digitalization, he asked the DCs not to limit their
activities only on computer works and power point
presentation.
"Digitization will be there when a person would be able to
know with a single touch what is happening in the thanas,
what is the present state of cases or proceedings or the
number of schools or teachers in a certain area," Muhith
added.
During the meeting, the DCs stressed the need for using
pillars for river demarcation and the Finance Minister
assured them of providing necessary fund for the purpose.
Cabinet Secretary M Abdul Aziz, Finance Secretary Dr.
Mohammad Tareq and Economic Relations Division (ERD)
Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan were also present at
the meeting.
Govt to explore
all options to mitigate energy crisis: Tawfiq
BSS, Dhaka
The government will explore all options to increase energy
reserve to ensure country's energy security, the Prime
Minister's adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, said on
Sunday.
"We are planning to take a pilot project on coal
gasification to tap the energy from all of our coal fields
using modern technology on the basis of experts opinion,"
Tawfiq said.
He was addressing as the chief guest at a seminar on
underground coal gasification at Petrobangla on Sunday.
Energy Secretary M Mezbahuddin Ahmed, Petrobangla Chairman
Dr Hossain Mansur , top officials of energy sector,
academicians and energy professionals were present.
Professor Badrul Imam, country's renowned geologist and a
Dhaka University teacher presented a paper on the topic.
"Bangladesh should go for the non-traditional method in
using its coal reserve as both the open pit and
underground mining are not good because of its
geographical condition," Badrul Imam said.
He said Bangladesh is currently opting for underground
method of coal extraction at Barapukuria and the aquifer
is the main constraint for open pit mining here. So we
could choose the other non- traditional options dubbed as
"Coal Be Methane (CBM) and Underground Coal Gasification (UCG).
"It's a big question that UCG can provide a ready relief
to the present energy crisis as we are probably in a
hurry, but in long term planning we should consider to
think about it," Imam said.
"The risk of open pit mining in Bangladesh is grater than
its benefit as we don't have enough land, money and
technology to address its social, geological and
geographical affects," Professor Badrul Imam said.
Citing example of various countries including Europe, USA,
Canada, Australia, South Africa and India, Badrul Imam
said these countries are now using the CMB method as it
never affect the surrounding areas and produces gas to
meet energy crisis.
HC issues rule
over Money Laundering Prevention Act
UNB, Dhaka
The High Court on Sunday issued a rule upon the government
and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to explain in ten
days why the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2009 should
not be declared unconstitutional and illegal.
A division bench comprising Justice Mamnoon Rahman and
Justice Syeda Afsar Jahan issued the rule upon a Public
Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition.
Zahurul Islam, a lawyer, filed the PIL writ petition
challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.
In the writ, the petitioner stated that the current 9th
parliament made the Act committing "fraud" upon the
people, as the parliament cannot enact the law under the
provisions of articles 7(2) and 26(2) of the Constitution.
As a result, people might be wrongly prosecuted and
punished under the Act. This is inconsistent with the
fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution, the
petitioner said.
The petitioner further said that the very purpose of
article 35(1) of the Constitution was to ensure that no
penal law is enacted with retrospective effect; rather
every penal law must have a prospective time to come into
operation.
In support of his contention, the petitioner submitted
that the Act was enacted by the parliament on February 24,
2009, but it came into operation on April 15 in 2008 with
retrospective effect.
The Act was made by the parliament although it was not
competent to pass any law as a money bill, the petitioner
said.
Barrister Fakhrul Islam appeared for the PIL petitioner.
Experts favours
UCG process
UNB, Dhaka
Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) could be a good
alternative source of gas while the country is plunged
into a deep gas crisis.
Dhaka University Geology Department Professor Dr Badrul
Imam made the statement at a seminar titled 'Prospects of
coal gasification', held at the seminar hall of
Petrobangla at Petrocenter on Sunday.
Dr Imam said that UCG process entails controlled burning
of coal in the mine from where gas is created and used as
the fuel for power plants.
He said that apart from conventional extraction methods
for coal, the unconventional extraction processes like UCG
and Coal Bed Methane (CBM) could be a good source of
energy in the country.
He also said that many countries around the world like
Canada, South Africa, Australia and Uzbekistan are getting
a good amount of power through UCG.
Dr Imam mentioned that many coal mines in India are used
to getting gas from coal mines by using the CBM system.
He mentioned that the Jamalganj coal mine would be the
best choice in getting gas using the CBM system.
On coal extraction using conventional processes like open
pit mining and underground extraction, he said the
north-western part of Barapukuria coal mine would be the
best choice for open pit mining, as the prospects for open
pit coal extraction are quite limited in Bangladesh. He
said that geological factors, social factors and economic
consideration allow very limited scope for Bangladesh to
go for open pit coal mining.
The Dhaka University professor said that Germany and
Australia could go for open pit mining, but Bangladesh
cannot go for that system.
Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury,
who attended the seminar as the chief guest, said the
government has opted to go simultaneously with
conventional and unconventional systems for extracting
coal from mines.
He said the government always welcomes new ideas and
technology as the present government wants to create a
Digital Bangladesh by 2021. He also informed the audience
that the government would go for long-term and medium-term
solutions for the power and energy crisis. Talking to the
reporters, he expressed his optimism about announcing the
coal policy by this year as a draft policy has already
been formulated. Regarding the UCG system, he said that he
has heard about the system and would talk to other experts
in this regard. "After that we would take a decision," he
said. Terming the underground a threat for the coal
extraction, he said that if the UCG system is viable then
the government might go for it. He also urged owners of
industries to improve power supply during the Holy
Ramadan. Last year the industries were closed during the
peak hours in Ramadan.
25 activists of
banned ‘Allahr Dal’ placed on 3-day remand
UNB, Gaibandha
Twenty five activists of banned 'Allahr Dal' arrested from
a village here on Saturday were brought on a three-day
remand on Sunday.
Sadar thana police produced them before a court and sought
for a 10-day remand, but Judicial Magistrate Jalal Uddin
granted only for three-days.
Local people caught the activists while they were holding
a meeting at a house at Rathbazar West Para village in
Sadar upazila early hours of Saturday and later handed
them over to police.
The arrested were identified as Abdur Razzak, Mehedi Hasan,
Mizanur Rahman, Ashraful Alam, Jahurul Haque, Abdur Rauf,
Faruk Hossain, Tajul Islam, Shahidjal, Rabiul Islam,
Alamgir Hossain, Nazrul Islam, Abdul Hamid, Jalal Uddin,
Mizanur Rahman, Rahmat Ullah, Abul Kashem, Raju Mia, Yasin
Ali, Kafil Uddin, Kasim Uddin, Mahtab Hossain, Hasan Ali,
Anwarul Islam and Moyen Uddin.
They all hail from different places of Nilphamari, Pabna
and Gaibandha.
Editorial
Outbreak of dengue
fever
It
is an alarming news indeed. According to an agency report,
dengue, the mosquito-borne virus fever, is occurring
sporadically in the capital, as indicated by a rise in the
number of patients with dengue complications being admitted to
different hospitals, clinics and private medical centers
everyday. The specialist physicians urged the authorities
concerned along with city dwellers to create awareness about
this virus fever and work together to destroy all breeding
places of the mosquito in the city and get rid of the disease.
Dr Khandoker Azaz Ahmed, Deputy Director (Medical) of Holy
Family Medical College and Hospital stated on Saturday that
Some 18 dengue patients have already been admitted to this
hospital. Dr Ahmed, however, said the number of patients
admitted to the hospital is comparatively less than recent
years. Patients with dengue fever are sporadically found in
the capital city this season, beginning from July 1.He also
said the dengue season in the country usually starts with the
beginning of the rainy season and its peak lasts till
mid-September.
Neither the government, nor the public should take the
outbreak of dengue fever in the city lightly as this is a
dangerous disease and it had claimed a number of lives in the
capital in the past years. This disease is common worldwide
specially in big cities. As is known to all mosquitoes are
responsible for the spread of dengue fever and unhygienic
situation works as the breeding place of mosquitoes. In view
of this reality, creation of awareness among the public about
the dengue fever and its origin is urgently needed.
Entomologists of the Dhaka City Corporation have said that the
city dwellers should cooperate with the initiatives taken by
the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) to wipe out all species of
mosquitoes bearing germs of serious diseases like dengue,
malaria and filaria, found in the city. "It is not possible
for the DCC alone to eradicate hundred percent of mosquitoes
found in the city as its workers can't use medicine or go
inside the residences of the city dwellers," said a senior
entomologist of Dhaka City Corporation. Under these
circumstances, the general people should respond to the
request of the DCC and do everything possible to eradicate
mosquito-borne diseases including dengue from the city.
Futile crackdown
on unfit vehicles
The
apparent failure of the ongoing crackdown against outdated
model and unfit vehicles, including bus, mini-bus, truck and
covered van has created disappointment among the people who
want an early end to the sufferings being caused to them by
traffic congestion. The drive began from July 15 in Dhaka City
in a bid to improve the traffic situation and also to prevent
road accidents. Similar drives were taken by the authorities
in the past but those did not yield any positive result, as
most of the outdated vehicles were seen returning to the city
streets immediately after the drives were over.
The current drive against old and unfit vehicles is being
carried out by 16 mobile courts, each headed by an executive
magistrate. However, the crackdown apparently failed to
improve the situation as only 20 vehicles including one truck,
two buses and 17 minibuses were seized till Saturday .Sources
at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said that
1,446 buses, 8,125 trucks and 2,365 minibuses were earlier
identified as outdated. The mobile courts failed to seize a
large number of worn out vehicles as the owners kept those off
the streets since the drive began. Meanwhile, with the drive
already underway, the Communications Ministry on July 21
suddenly revised its decision to allow 25-year-old trucks to
ply in the capital from 11pm-6am in the wake of truck owners
threat to go on strike from August 2.
It goes without saying that the traffic congestion is a
serious problem for the city dwellers, but the magnitude of
the e losses it causes remains unknown to many. According to a
study presented at a seminar, traffic congestion in Dhaka city
causes losses amounting to Tk 20,000 crore a year. The report
identified inadequate transport infrastructure against
transport demand, urban development without traffic impact
assessment and inadequate capacity of intersections as the
main causes for traffic congestion in Dhaka city. The report
estimates traffic jams cause up to 3.20 million business hours
to be lost every day, which is about an hour per working
person. The report said 8.16 million hours are wasted every
day, causing a loss of around Tk 2,000 crore every year. It
was suggested at the seminar that Introduction of mass
transport facilities, high capacity public bus rationalized
routes and route franchising by competitive tendering, grade
separators at all the level crossings, increasing east west
connectivity, commuter trains and development of road
intersections could help reduce traffic congestion in the
capital.
Experts feel that scattered initiatives may not solve the
nagging traffic problems in the capital. They stress that mass
transport and commuter trains, increasing east-west
connectivity, introduction of high capacity public bus,
rationalized routes, route franchising and development of road
intersections could be some of the emergency measures that
could help reduce traffic congestion. They also maintain that
there is no alternative to introducing a mass transport
system.
The revelations made by the experts are alarming but valuable.
The suggestions put forward by them deserve due consideration
by the government. Traffic congestion kills our time, gives
pains and also causes financial losses to us, but we seem
almost unable to get rid of this. The government has been
applying various methods and plans to ease the traffic
congestion in the capital, but all in vain. The crisis is
deepening with every passing day. Against this backdrop, the
government should take into consideration the opinions of the
experts and implement those to ease the traffic congestion in
the city.
Analysis
Correcting a false start
It makes eminent sense for both Pakistan and
India to get into a non-adversarial relationship in
Afghanistan instead of stalking each other there. They should
explore such cooperation.
Praful Bidwai
Both India and
Pakistan damaged their international image during their
foreign ministers' meeting last week--the first ministerial
since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks--by demonstrating
mutual antipathy and refusing to begin a productive dialogue.
This has disappointed many of their citizens who had hoped for
better relations. Ordinary people suffer the most when
bilateral relations sour and mistrust prevails.
Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi was far more
blunt and abrasive than India's S M Krishna. Qureshi
undiplomatically said the Indian minister hadn't come to
Islamabad with a full mandate and had to consult New Delhi
periodically on the phone.
Yet, this wasn't the cause of the talks' failure, but the
effect. The talks failed because India and Pakistan couldn't
agree on the bilateral agenda and a timetable for discussing
issues of mutual concern. This failure is large even by the
standards of the volatile, fractious and often tense
India-Pakistan relationship.
Regrettably, Indian home secretary G K Pillai set the stage
for the breakdown in an interaction with Indian Express
journalists. He maladroitly alleged that Indian interrogators
had obtained irrefutable evidence from David Coleman Headley,
a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative detained in the US, that
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency had plotted the
Mumbai attacks.
The interrogation happened in June. Home Minister P
Chidambaram was briefed on it and raised the issue with his
counterpart Rahman Malik during his visit to Pakistan three
weeks ago. Chidambaram returned assured that Malik "understood
the situation and agreed that we should address [it] with the
seriousness it deserves." The issue was also discussed between
the two nations' foreign secretaries.
Pillai's remarks couldn't have been more ill-timed. Krishna
also didn't help matters by announcing in Islamabad: "I am
here to see what action Pakistan has taken so far" on
Headley's confessions. It's ludicrous to take the confessions
of a terrorist collaborator, who is looking to be an approver,
as clinching evidence.
Underlying such remarks was India's preoccupation with getting
Pakistan to crack down on terrorist groups like LeT. True, no
Indian government can ignore the scars and trauma of the
Mumbai attacks. This concern is understandable, but not to the
point of virtually excluding all other issues and risking the
talks' failure. That's exactly what happened.
India didn't accommodate Pakistan's concerns, including a
structured dialogue leading to progress towards a Kashmir
settlement, non-interference in Balochistan, improved
cooperation within the Indus Water Treaty framework, and a
settlement on Siachen.
All India offered to discuss--besides action against jihadi
terrorists--is cross-border confidence-building measures,
improved trade relations, and people-to-people contacts. These
issues are unarguably pertinent. But it was unrealistic to
expect Pakistan to shelve its own legitimate concerns.
Nor did India agree with Pakistan's proposed schedule for
secretary- and minister-level meetings. India was apparently
apprehensive that Pakistan would use the timelines to resume
the "composite dialogue"--as if Mumbai hadn't happened.
In the end, the timelines clashed. Pakistan wanted all
outstanding issues addressed in a time-bound manner. India
felt the terror issue must first be comprehensively addressed
"to inject a degree of normality into the situation," as
Indian officials put it. There was no agreement.
There were some sharp exchanges between Indian and Pakistani
leaders. But these were badly exaggerated and distorted by the
media. An Indian paper alleged that Qureshi had called Pillai
a "clone" of LeT leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed. In reality,
Qureshi only said that Pillai's remarks had come up during the
talks and Krishna agreed that they were unhelpful.
But the media declared an irretrievable breakdown--another
"Agra." However, both sides have put a relatively positive
spin on the outcome. Krishna even said he had confined himself
to his mandate and "I am quite satisfied."
Both India and Pakistan must draw some lessons from this
episode. The greater lesson for India isn't that it's futile
to try to engage with Pakistan--as many hawks argue--but that
engagement should be wholehearted and cover all outstanding
issues.
Secondly, rigidity on the terrorism question is
counterproductive. India must recognise that a civilian
Pakistani government that's considered weak and pliant
vis-a-vis India will be vulnerable to extremists.
This would be especially unfortunate just when Pakistan's
public is outraged at the Punjab Taliban's attack on the Data
Darbar shrine. This shrine is an integral part of the Sufi and
Barelvi traditions and Punjab's cultural identity. The
Taliban's harsh Salafi Islam is hostile to Sufism and
shrine-worship and rejects all folk-Islamic traditions.
India must not overreact to Qureshi's abrasive behaviour and
put form and optics before substance. India has a huge stake
in improved relations with Pakistan and in pressing its
concerns with Islamabad patiently. Results from the dialogue
process cannot come instantly. But if there's no dialogue,
negative outcomes are virtually guaranteed.
The lessons for Pakistan are no less important. Islamabad
cannot credibly claim to be a responsible state which acts
against jihadi terrorists if it persists with its two-faced
strategy--of hunting with the Americans while running with
(and shielding) the extremists.
The jihadis have used the support offered by Pakistan's covert
agencies to create independent power centres, which now
threaten the public. As the jihadis increasingly become
uncontrollable, Pakistan will pay for their depredations with
innocent blood. It's in Pakistan's interest to put terrorism
on the bilateral agenda with India--albeit without being seen
to be caving in.
Second, the only way in which Pakistan's civilian government
can consolidate itself, and build on its recent gains in
getting the 18th Amendment passed, is to loosen the military's
hold on power by reining in secret agencies like the ISI. So
Qureshi is probably making a mistake in pushing an agenda that
could endear him to the army and help his political career.
Qureshi is an ambitious politician, who would like to replace
his much-less-articulate fellow-Multani, Prime Minister Yusuf
Raza Gilani. Qureshi comes from a far more powerful and more
wealthy family than Gilani. But it would be disastrous for him
to try and fulfil his ambitions with the army's acquiescence
or help. That course, as many Pakistani politicians have
discovered in the past, is self-defeating.
Third, no matter how hard Pakistan tries, it cannot deny India
a legitimate role in Afghanistan while using that country to
gain "strategic depth" vis-a-vis India. India has had
historically important trade and cultural links with
Afghanistan.
India also enjoys a huge amount of goodwill in Afghanistan
because of its well-targeted $1.75 billion aid programme which
is far better tailored to Afghan needs than Western assistance
programmes, which are typically routed through tiers of
outsourcing agencies and middlemen.
It makes eminent sense for both Pakistan and India to get into
a non-adversarial relationship in Afghanistan instead of
stalking each other there. They should explore such
cooperation.
There is no alternative to a dialogue that consolidates and
puts real content into the notion of peaceful coexistence and
mutually beneficial relations. These alone can free the two
peoples from the burden of rivalry and allow them to realise
the objective of equitable progress with human dignity and
rights for all.
In the coming weeks, Indian and Pakistani leaders must engage
in introspection and find productive ways of mutually engaging
one another.
The writer, a former newspaper editor, is a researcher and
peace and human-rights activist based in Delhi.
How to fix
Afghanistan
Under a
new calculus, America should encourage and mentor
marginalised ethnic groups other than Pashtuns in order to
facilitate power sharing.
Syed Iqbal Hasnain
America's
war effort in Afghanistan remains adrift, a fact
accentuated recently following the firing of General
Stanley McCrystal. Yet the problems that America faces are
in many ways intrinsic to the nation it is trying to
change, and part and parcel of a nation that has not truly
been a single, cohesive entity. It is a state divided into
roughly three parts, with a complex history that must be
understood.
For the US to fix Afghan problem it must appreciate the
ethnic, cultural, and religious mix of present day
Afghanistan. There are three distinct ethno-geographical
regions: western Afghanistan dominated by Persian speaking
Hazaras and Tajik groups, a majority of whom follow Shia
Islam and speak the Dari language; northern Afghanistan
dominated by Uzbek and Tajik of the Sufi Sunni strain of
Islam who speak Turkic languages and Dari; and in the
south and eastern part of the nation where the majority
are Pashtun tribes who speak Pashto and follow the Wahabi
Sunni school of Islam.
These divisions reflect Afghanistan's complex history of
invasion, colonisation, and incomplete efforts to create a
unified, independent state. In 654 A.D Arab armies
colonised and spread the message of Islam across the Hindu
Kush mountains. They defeated the Buddhist rulers and
established Yakub ibn Lias as first Muslim ruler of
Afghanistan. The Ghaznavid dynasty lasted 200 years and
consolidated Islamic rule further eastward into India.
Genghis Khan captured Afghanistan in 1219 and the Mongol
empire was later expanded by Taimur, who ruled from
Samarkand, a city in modern-day Uzbekistan. Shah Rukh was
a great connoisseur of art and culture and under his
patronage, the region saw a unique blend of Persian and
Central Asian culture. The Afghan Lodi dynasty ruled
northern India from Delhi between 1451 and 1526. Babur, a
descendent of Taimur, was driven out of the Fergana
valley, an area shared by Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and
the scene of recent ethnic violence. He first conquered
Kabul in 1504 and later defeated the Pashtun Lodi dynasty
and established Turkic Mogul rule in Delhi, which lasted
until 1857 when the British Army ended it.
In the eighteenth century, the feuding tribes came
together and established modern state of Afghanistan,
driven by the power vacuum created by the decline of
Persian Safavi dynasty in the west and the Turkic Moghul
Empire in Delhi, and Uzbek Janid dynasty in north. Since
then, the three distinct nationalities have never come
together except briefly during the Soviet occupation when
the warlords, tribal chiefs, and religious leaders fought
together with funds and weapons supplied by the United
States to bleed the occupiers.
Since Soviet forces withdrew, and the Soviet Union
collapsed, Pakistan has played an increasingly important
role in shaping the politics of Afghanistan. Pakistan's
trump card was to install Pashtuns as the new rulers and
marginalise the northern and western ethnic groups. The
interior minister of the Benazir Bhutto government, a
Pashtun, conceptualised a strategy with the active
cooperation of Pakistan's Army and Intelligence service (ISI)
to use both Afghani and Pakistani students (Taleban)
studying in various Madrassas as mercenaries to capture
southern Afghanistan and ensure Pakistan's trade and
sphere of influence with Central Asian Republics.
The Obama administration has to deal with many competing
players in the 21st century Afghanistan. These players
include: the Persian Turkic group north of the Hindu Kush
mountains; Persian-speaking Hazaras and Tajiks in the
western flank; the Pashtuns in the south and eastern
regions and across the Durand Line. Another major outside
player is Pakistan with its geopolitical, financial, and
strategic interests in Afghanistan. The overarching aim of
Iran is to support the government in Kabul and covertly
provide aid to Taleban groups so as to bleed America. Iran
also provides financial and material support to the
Persian-speaking Hazara and Tajik populations.
India traditionally has supported the moderate leadership
of the Northern Alliance, but has also been willing to
support any dispensation in Kabul, which can keep the
Jihadi elements under wraps and weaken Pakistan's
influence on Afghanistan.
Under such circumstances, the US cannot act as if it is
fighting a conventional war, as it must constantly deal
with such variegated interest groups. Pakistan has now
positioned itself to fill the power vacuum it expects to
open in July 2011 when US forces begin their withdrawal
from Afghanistan.
The Sirjauddin Haqqani group (mentored by Al Qaeda, the
Pakistani Taleban leadership, and the Pakistani security
apparatus) has been pushed, as an ally of President Hamid
Karzai, by the Pakistani establishment on the pretext of
rehabilitating Taleban groups. This might not bring peace
to Afghanistan, which is inherently unstable, but would
certainly destabilise Pakistan.
Nine years of an American effort to bring peace and
stability to Afghanistan has not only cost billions of
dollars, but is also in a state of disarray. America
cannot expect to change the lifestyle and culture of
Afghanistan. It is a nation in the loosest sense of the
word, with little holding it together and much keeping it
apart. Under the circumstances, it is prudent to
concentrate on neutralising the terrorist activities of Al
Qaeda and the Pakistani Taleban with a limited presence
rather than "winning" the war and wasting billions of
additional dollars in the process.
Under a new calculus, America should encourage and mentor
marginalised ethnic groups other than Pashtuns in order to
facilitate power sharing. Ultimately, Afghanistan needs to
be divided into three regions, with the aim of allowing
the Dari and Turkic language-speaking groups to control
the Pashtuns, and consequently allow for an American
disengagement. America must prepare the country for a
virtual federal structure with three autonomous regions,
and keep Pakistan out of Afghanistan.
Syed Iqbal Hasnain is a visiting fellow at the Stimson
Center. He currently serves as Chairman of the Glacier and
Climate Change Commission established by the State
Government of Sikkim, India.
Viewpoints
Not a fair poll, but still significant
Efforts to
further isolate the junta won't succeed. Instead, world
leaders should reach out.
Jim Della-Giacoma
When
they take place later this year, elections in Myanmar will not
be free and fair. But in a country silenced for 20 years, an
imperfect vote will be better than no election at all. The
international community should be ready to take advantage of
this regardless of who's in power.
Many believe that the military regime in Myanmar, the poorest
country in Southeast Asia, is one of the world's most
repressive and abusive regimes. Forced labour is still
widespread, and the government is known for regular
human-rights violations and violent crackdowns. In March, the
dictatorship announced it was going to hold the first
elections in 20 years. This has drawn a lot of international
attention and scepticism.
In Myanmar's last democratic election in 1990, Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi led her party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), to a landslide victory. But the result was
not accepted by the junta, and since then she has spent most
of the past 15 years in detention.
Suu Kyi will boycott
This spring Suu Kyi announced her party would boycott the
polls if the elections do happen. While she was
constitutionally barred from standing for the office of
president, ambiguities in the new election law meant that it
was not automatically apparent that she would have been barred
from running for parliament. With her boycott, however, those
wishing to vote against the regime now have less choice.
The election will bring into force a flawed constitution, but
it will be one that creates new political institutions. There
will be a presidential system, two houses of parliament as
well as 14 regional governments and assemblies. Despite the
fact that most of the spots will probably go to the regime's
cronies, it will be the most wide-ranging transformation in a
generation and offers an opportunity for a change in the
future direction of the country.
Also, the wake of the elections will come with a generational
change in leadership as the ageing Senior Generals Than Shwe
and Maung Aye are likely to step down or take on ceremonial
roles. Of course, this is not automatically a step for the
better, but it is nonetheless highly significant.
Critics argue that participation in an election is pointless
(or wrong in principle). Some argue an election should not
take place until conditions are perfect. They say voters -
including those in the regime and their family members, many
who would have voted for the NLD in 1990 - could not possibly
be in a position to cast their votes freely this time around.
But such arguments belittle the bravery of the ordinary
citizen who in an act of defiance has often wrought change
against decades of oppression.
Consider what happened in Timor-Leste: It would not be a free
nation today except for the courage of hundreds of thousands
of individuals each casting their own vote. The possibilities
for intimidation and vote-rigging in Myanmar should not be
underestimated, but neither should the bravery and
determination of voters. Even if the elections are nothing but
a good relations publicity-stunt, as they likely are, the
international community and citizens within Myanmar should be
determined to make the best of a flawed situation.
Any evolution from half a century of authoritarian rule is
going be slow, halting and imperfect. As elsewhere, flawed
elections will be a part of that transition. Some political
space has already been created for such transition: For
example, some parties have started discussing future
legislative proposals and drafting laws. This is hardly a
major step towards democracy, but something that would have
been unthinkable - and illegal - a year ago.
With fresh allegations of military links between Myanmar and
North Korea, as well as indications that Myanmar may be
flirting with nuclear and missile technology, there is fresh
momentum internationally to further reinforce Myanmar's pariah
status. But surrounded by powerful and engaged neighbours such
as India and China as well as integration into the Association
of South East Asian Nations (Asean), the country is far from
isolated.
Reintegrate Myanmar
Sanctions have failed to achieve their objectives over many
years. Rather than go back to what has not worked, efforts
should be made to reintegrate Myanmar with the community of
nations. The international community can use the news of
elections as a window to such change.
To be sure, it seems very likely that the vote will go ahead
without the regime changing course. But the opportunity is
still there. When a new government is sworn in after the vote,
the international community should criticise unfair elections,
but it should also not be blinded to the significance of the
change.
Jim Della-Giacoma is the South East Asia Project Director
of the International Crisis Group. Its latest report, The
Myanmar Elections, is available at www.crisisgroup.org.
Clegg’s
dilemma
Nick Clegg stood at the dispatch box in the British House
of Commons and described the Iraq war as "the most
disastrous decision of all" and the invasion of Iraq as
"illegal".
Simon Jenkins
This
is a 'clarification' from No. 10 Downing Street. When the
deputy prime minister says 'illegal', he means 'legal'.
When he says 'disastrous', he means 'brilliant'. When he
says 'black', he is fumbling for the word 'white'.
On Wednesday, Nick Clegg stood at the dispatch box in the
British House of Commons and described the Iraq war as
"the most disastrous decision of all" and the invasion of
Iraq as "illegal". Downing Street hurriedly explained that
what he actually meant was that the invasion was a triumph
of British arms and as lawful as driven snow.
Earlier in the week, the head of MI5, the British security
service, at the time of the war, Lady Manningham-Buller,
had vindicated Clegg's statement. So, too, had earlier
evidence from Lord Goldsmith, the then attorney general.
To Downing Street, this was of no matter. Clegg was caught
between the whirring flywheel of truth and the crashing
gears of a mendacious diplomacy. He was torn to shreds.
The Liberal Democrat leader appears to have come
unqualified for the task of high office. When pushed
against the wall by the arch-warmonger, Labour's Jack
Straw, he showed himself a serial truth-teller. While this
handicap may not be insuperable at home, in foreign
affairs it is a killer. Clegg was supposed to lie under
political torture, and failed.
The prime minister, David Cameron, who is intelligent
enough to agree with Clegg, was in a difficult position.
He was visiting Barack Obama in Washington at the time. He
knows, with the US president, that Afghanistan is the next
most disastrous decision after Iraq. The two men can say
that in private, but not in public. There they have to
present Afghanistan as a great victory for Nato, a triumph
of liberal interventionism. Britain and the US are
marching to war shoulder to shoulder against Johnny
Taliban. Defeat is not an option.
Cameron and Obama have emerged from this first bilateral
meeting as sensible men who must somehow navigate their
respective ways from an inherited war to an honourable
peace, amid a western foreign policy that has spent a
decade drenched in sophistry. Commentators are often asked
to predict history's verdict on a particular era, and are
well advised to decline. But it is hard not to see western
policy in the first decade of the 21st century as sunk in
a morass of folly. It was subcontracted to a defence lobby
desperate for a role, which it found in exploiting weak
leaders by playing on the ideology of fear.
As a result, at the end of the decade western states found
themselves spending more money to become less safe, with
their global interests more at risk than at the start. The
legacy of the victory over communism was squandered.
Russia’s
self-defeating ‘but’
The two foreign powers are both intent on installing a
friendly government in Baghdad, but neither have yet
succeeded.
Vladimir Voinovich
Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin insists that "without normal
democratic development Russia will have no future". We
Russians are pleased to hear these enlightened words, yet
Putin adds a "but" to his argument, which weakens it
considerably. In fact, Putin's "but" renders his points
senseless.
We have hated this "but", this coordinating conjunction,
ever since the dawn of the Soviet era. Then we were told
that freedom is good, but that one can't live in an
individualist society without common concern for the
communist state. Democracy is great, but only in the
interests of the working class.
Now Russia's prime minister tells us that democracy is
indeed great, but that public protests cannot take place
in public places, say, around hospitals and the like.
Never mind that the Russian constitution does not list
hospitals among places forbidden for public assembly, or
that sick people need democracy, too.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev does understand - with
no "buts" - that "freedom is better than not freedom,"
that "legal nihilism" is bad and democracy is good. He
understands that Stalin was a criminal, that his order to
murder Polish officers in Katyn was an act of depravity
that has no excuse or explanation. The president
understands this; unfortunately, we don't understand the
role our president plays in our society. He says all the
right things, yet they don't seem to be reflected in
reality.
The Dissenters Marches, which take place on the 31st of
every month (article 31 of the Russian constitution
guarantees freedom of assembly), could be (and are) easily
dismissed as a marginal protest of a few hundred people
with no common goals or ideas. Putin's and Medvedev's poll
numbers are so high, many argue, that they don't need to
care about a few dissenters. Besides, most Russians
support the government with no dissent at all, they say.
This doesn't say much, however, because the Russian
majority allays supports the government, regardless of the
policies it implements.
Today's dissenters are indeed a minority and of course can
be disregarded, but only up to a point. After all, this
minority is one of thinkers - musicians, artists, and
writers, and those who move forward Russian science,
technology, and economic innovation. Such people cannot be
dismissed as useless, since we need the innovation that
they deliver, even if we think Russia doesn't need
democracy. True, not all members of the thinking minority
attend the dissenters' marches, yet many more of them
silently oppose the regime.
Our leaders talk obsessively of Russia's industrial
modernisation, of their support for innovations such as
nanotechnology, so that Russia can catch up with the
developed countries. In line with Soviet traditions, a
nanotechnology project was given a piece of land, with
plans to set up various scientific facilities. The best
brains in Russia - engineers, scientists, and inventors -
will gather in one place, and from there begin moving the
country forward. The hope is that not only those living in
Russia but also emigrants will be overcome with patriotic
feelings. They will come back to Russia (also drawn by
high salaries) to make themselves famous and their
motherland proud.
A wonderful plan. But I fear that it won't work. For
example, imagine a genius who left Russia years back. He
has achieved prominence in a foreign country, inventing
something outstanding. Now he is asked to come home: your
motherland is waiting for you, it values your
contribution, it forgives your betrayal, and it will pay
you more than what you are getting elsewhere.
But this brilliant scientist is still a human being. He is
of course nostalgic for the birch trees, his old friends,
ex-wife, and children from the first marriage. He wants to
come back, to revisit all that he has left behind, in the
meantime helping his nation to become economically strong,
technically advanced, and prosperous.
Yet, before making the final decision, he turns on the
radio, watches a bit of TV, browses the Internet, and
finds out what Russia is like. Journalists are killed,
scientists are accused of espionage, and Mikhail
Khodorkovsky remains unjustly imprisoned. Various blogs
tell him that Russia's parliament is just a place for
rubber-stamping decisions already taken at the top. He
reads the confused and confusing speeches of our leaders:
freedom is good, but?
This brilliant scientist learns that Vasily Aleksanyan,
the terminally ill Yukos lawyer, was held in prison in
inhuman conditions. Another lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died
in prison after being refused medical treatment. And yet
another one, Stanislav Markelov, was gunned down on a
Moscow street.
Then this scientist will be surprised (or not) to discover
that the Russian majority views Joseph Stalin as the third
most popular person in a contest to be known as the "Face
of Russia". In the meantime, his junior colleague in
Russia, who still has his whole future in front of him,
does not attend the Dissenters' March, but simply
emigrates, which is also a form of protest.
In Soviet times, communist leaders tried to lure people
into the kolkhozes (collective farms) with promises of
great crops and spectacular meat production. Nothing
worked, because the kolkhoz system was incompatible with
high achievement in the long run.
Similarly, in a country where the concepts of democracy
and freedom are balanced by "but", achievements in
science, technology, and economy are not possible. The
thinking minority needs a system of laws and institutions,
real presidential elections, a working parliament, and
justice that is independent, rather than merely following
orders from above.
The writer, a former Soviet dissident and one of
Russia's most acclaimed novelists, is the author of "The
Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin".
Project Syndicate, 2010. www.project-syndicate.org
It’s
time for consensus on climate change
With COP 16 scheduled to begin on November 29,
decision-makers must start to work towards an agreement.
Mohammad Abdel Raouf
The
international community is trying to create a new climate
regime for the period after 2012 - either by continuing
with the Kyoto Protocol, which puts binding emissions caps
on developed countries, or by creating a new agreement
involving developing countries (or at least the major
emitters among them).
So the question is not so much whether the next regime is
binding or not but whether the next regime should enlist
all major emitters, developed and developing, in the
global battle to keep global warming at a level that is
acceptable to humanity.
Many agree that the Copenhagen accord, which came out of
the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in
Copenhagen in December 2009, represents the most
comprehensive climate consensus among the largest number
of world leaders.
Yet, despite the consensus, individual national interests
are still competing against each to such a degree that it
is now thought that an ambitious and binding framework for
global climate action will have to be built over time.
The goal of COP 16, scheduled to be held in Cancun,
Mexico, from November 29 to December 10, should be a
comprehensive deal. This will be the first round of formal
UN climate talks since the Copenhagen conference last
December.
In the past few months, battle has been waged between
developed and developing countries on emissions, among
other issues. However, in the past few weeks, many reports
and articles questioning the approach and results of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have been
published.
These reports said that the UN body that advises
governments on climate change had failed to make it clear
that its landmark report on the impact of global warming
largely presented the worst-case scenario.
Allegations of bias
A summary report by the IPCC on the regional impacts of
climate change focused on the negative consequences and
failed to make clear that there would also be some
benefits to rising temperatures. Examples of benefits
include the ability to grow new crops in some parts of the
world, and the emergence of shorter Arctic sea routes.
It is a basic reality of life that every action, programme
or activity has merits and demerits. Nothing on earth is
solely positive or negative. So, we always weigh both
sides and come down on one side or the other. In the case
of climate change, of course, the consequences are mostly
negative.
Basic principle
Again, it is one of the basic principles of sustainability
(the precautionary principle) that in order to be on the
safe side we have to concentrate on the negative
consequences of climate change.
The media have claimed that the IPCC report wrongly
suggested that climate change was the main reason
communities have faced severe water shortages while
neglecting to mention that population growth was a much
bigger factor.
Scientifically, there is enough water for every living
creature on earth. Thus, population growth does not really
represent the main reason for water shortages. It is
agreed between water specialists and policymakers that
water management issues and misuse are the main reasons
for water shortages.
However, nobody is 100 per cent sure about the impact of
climate change on water and, in order to be on the safe
side, the report had to highlight the negative
consequences of this issue.
However, I believe the IPCC must clarify the full range of
possible outcomes, with sufficient focus on negative
consequences, and not limit itself to only mentioning
them. Even if there are a few errors, the IPCC's
conclusions would be, by and large, valid and correct.
In fact, climate change is not only about global warming.
It relates to changes in the whole eco-system ('eco' here
may refer to either economy or ecology). It is about
creating a new civilisation, a civilisation that depends
on clean energy and creates a green economy.
Despite the recent setbacks regarding the IPCC
climate-change report, there is still some time left
before the climate-change conference in Cancun, and there
is hope that the international community will be able to
come up with a active climate-change pact which will
guarantee that man's quest for achieving development does
not disrupt the natural ecological balance.
Dr Mohammad Abdel Raouf is in charge of environment
research at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai.
International
Beijing hits out
at US comments on South China Sea
AFP, Beijing
China's foreign minister warned the United States on
Sunday not to internationalise the issue of the South
China Sea, where Beijing's territorial claims conflict
with other nations.
"What outcome can there be if the issue is
internationalised? This can only make matters worse and
more difficult to solve," Yang Jiechi said in a statement
posted on the foreign ministry website. "International
practice shows that the best way to resolve these types of
disputes are direct bilateral negotiations between the
countries involved."
His comments come two days after US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, speaking at the ASEAN Regional Forum in
Vietnam, said resolving disputes over the South China Sea
was "pivotal" to regional stability.
"The United States has a national interest in freedom of
navigation, open access to Asia's maritime commons, and
respect for international law in the South China Sea," she
said at Asia's largest security dialogue.
China and several countries belonging to the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) group make competing
territorial claims over the resource-rich area, which is
also a major source of tension between Beijing and
Washington. The United States has called for unfettered
access to the area that China claims as its own, and
accused Beijing of adopting an increasingly aggressive
stance on the high seas.
Yang, who said Sunday that Clinton's "seemingly fair"
comments were actually an "attack" on China, pointed out
that the South China Sea was currently a peaceful area.
He added ASEAN was not an appropriate forum to resolve the
issue.
"China and some ASEAN nations have territorial and
maritime rights disputes because we are neighbours. It's
not because these countries are ASEAN members that you can
say that this is a dispute between China and ASEAN," he
said. Military ties between China and the United States
have long been tense, and Beijing broke off defence
exchanges with Washington in January over US arms sales to
Taiwan.
Rockets, drones all
in a day's work at Afghan airfield
AFP, Kandahar Airfield
It may be the world's busiest single runway airport in the
world, but few people outside the military have flown into
Kandahar Airfield. Situated southeast of Kandahar city in
the troubled south of Afghanistan, the base is the
logistical linchpin for NATO's efforts in the war against
the Taliban. With 5,300 flights a week, the airfield is
busier than London's Gatwick Airport and used by around 60
different types of aircraft, from drones to massive
Globemaster transport planes.
US Army Brigadier General Reynold Hoover, who is
responsible for the logistics side of the war in the
landlocked country, describes it as "a truly challenging
and expeditionary environment". "I've heard that this is
probably the toughest logistics fight our nation has ever
faced before and it is definitely the largest military
logistics operation since World War II," he said. Bigger
than the Berlin airlift "and much more challenging,
because we had to build the infrastructure," he said.
Central to the war is Kandahar Airfield through which
effectively all supplies and troops pass on their way in
or out of the country. The man in charge of "the biggest
NATO base anywhere" is British Air Commodore Gordon
Moulds, 52, who arrived about three months ago after
serving as commander of British forces in the Falkland
Islands on the other side of the globe.
"It's a change in climate but actually the job is
virtually identical only the scale is larger," Moulds told
AFP in an interview. "It's just the scale here is
breathtaking." As NATO ramps up operations in a push to
crush the Taliban insurgency, the base has undergone a
rapid expansion. "If you go back to two years, there's
about 8,000 people here, 50 to 80 aircraft; we're now up
to just over 25,000 people and just over 330 aircraft and
they expect us to go up to about 400 aircraft by the
fall," said Moulds, commander of Kandahar Airfield.
In addition to the logistical challenges, Taliban rebels
regularly target the base with rockets but Moulds said the
attacks had little impact on airport operations.
Cambodia awaits Khmer Rouge
prison chief verdict
AFP, Phnom Penh
Cambodia's war crimes tribunal on Monday issues its
verdict in the trial of Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, the
first cadre of the brutal regime to face justice in an
international court.
Duch last year repeatedly used nine months of hearings at
Cambodia's UN-backed court to beg forgiveness for
overseeing the murders of around 15,000 people at the Tuol
Sleng torture centre over three decades ago.
But the former maths teacher, 67, one of five senior
members of the communist movement detained by the court,
surprisingly asked to be released in the final day of
hearings on grounds he was not a key leader in the regime.
The verdict on charges of war crimes, crimes against
humanity, torture and premeditated murder is scheduled to
be broadcast live on all television and radio stations in
Cambodia.
Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, is the only
senior Khmer Rouge figure to have acknowledged
responsibility to the tribunal. Prosecutors asked for a
40-year sentence from the court, which cannot impose the
death penalty.
"For Duch, the chamber will have to decide whether his
apology was genuine, especially in light of his change of
plea for acquittal at the end," said Michelle Staggs,
deputy director at the Asian International Justice
Initiative.
The Khmer Rouge, led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot,
emptied Cambodia's cities during its 1975-1979 rule,
exiling millions to vast collective farms in a bid to take
society back to "Year Zero" and forge a Marxist utopia. Up
to two million people were executed in the notorious
"Killing Fields" or died from starvation and overwork
before a Vietnamese-backed force toppled the regime.
US drone attack kills four
militants in Pakistan
AFP, Peshawar, Pakistan
US missiles hit a compound in Pakistan's tribal belt
Sunday, killing four militants in a second drone attack in
as many days in the region seen as al-Qaeda headquarters.
The missiles fired by a pilotless drone targeted the
compound in Shaktoi area in South Waziristan, a Pakistani
security official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
told AFP.
"The US drone fired two missiles into a militant compound
in Shaktoi and we have reports that four militants have
died," he said.
"One missile landed in the compound and another hit a
vehicle soon after it entered the premises," he said,
adding that five other militants were wounded.
An intelligence official and a local administration
official also confirmed the missile strike. A security
official said the target appeared to be the vehicle, which
had arrived from neighbouring North Waziristan. "The
vehicle was destroyed and the compound was badly damaged
causing the casualties," he added. "The identity of the
killed militants was not immediately known.
It was not clear if any foreigners were there, he said,
adding that there were reports that the drone fired four
missiles. Sunday's attack was the second within 24 hours
after a similar drone attack in the region killed 12
militants on Saturday.
South Waziristan, considered a militant stronghold, was
the scene of a major Pakistani offensive last year.
Waziristan came under renewed scrutiny when Faisal Shahzad,
the Pakistani-American charged over an attempted bombing
in New York on May 1, allegedly told US interrogators he
received bomb training there.
The United States has been increasing pressure on Pakistan
to crack down on Islamist havens along the Afghan border.
‘Pragmatic’ India hosts
Myanmar's military leader
AFP, New Delhi
Myanmar's military ruler Than Shwe arrived in India Sunday
for a state visit that underscores the growing strategic
ties between the world's largest democracy and one of its
most repressive regimes.
Shwe began his visit in Bodha Gaya, the temple town and
pilgrimage post in eastern India where Buddha gained
enlightenment. His ceremonial state welcome in New Delhi
will take place on Tuesday.
The red-carpet reception planned for Shwe, who rarely
travels abroad, has been sharply criticised by human
rights groups as a betrayal of India's democratic
credentials and an implicit endorsement of Shwe's junta.
Once a staunch supporter of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung
San Suu Kyi, India began engaging the junta in the
mid-1990s as security, energy and strategic priorities
began to override concerns over democracy and human
rights.
As well as needing the junta's help to counter ethnic
separatists operating along their remote common border,
India is eyeing oil and gas fields in Myanmar and fears
losing out to China in the race for strategic space in
Asia. "India and Myanmar will work towards expanding
engagements at all levels," an India foreign ministry
official said of Shwe's visit.
US, S.Korea stage naval
exercise despite nuclear threats
AFP, Seoul
The US and South Korea on Sunday launched a major naval
exercise involving a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier
in the Sea of Japan despite North Korea's threats of
nuclear retaliation.
The drill is the first in a series intended "to send a
clear message to North Korea that its aggressive behaviour
must stop," US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and the
South's Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young said in a joint
statement this week after talks.
South Korea and the United States, citing the findings of
a multinational investigation, accuse the North of
torpedoing a South Korean warship near the tense Yellow
Sea border in March. The communist North denies
involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan, which claimed
46 lives.
The US-led United Nations Command said the four-day drill
would involve about 20 ships, including the aircraft
carrier USS George Washington, and some 200 fixed-wing
aircraft. Around 8,000 service personnel from the two
allies were to take part in the show of force.
Government set to win
crucial Thai by-election: exit poll
AFP, Bangkok
The Thai government looked set for victory in a "litmus
test" by-election on Sunday, according to exit polls in
the country's first parliamentary race since mass
opposition rallies rocked the capital.
Pitting a leader of the "Red Shirt" anti-government
movement, detained on terrorism charges, against a member
of the elite-backed ruling party, the election was seen as
a telling indicator of public opinion after the protests.
After residents cast their votes amid a heavy police
presence, ruling Democrat Party candidate Panich
Vikitsreth looked set to clinch victory with 52.77
percent, according to exit polls by Rajabhat Suan Dusit
University. Red Shirt leader Kokaew Pikulthong, who was
allowed to leave prison briefly last month to register for
the poll, was expected to take 40.93 percent in the
by-election, triggered by the death of a ruling-party
lawmaker. Kokaew, a candidate for the opposition Puea Thai
(For Thais) party-who has not been convicted of any
crime-was denied a request to be released to campaign and
relied on Red Shirt allies to win support in the coveted
constituency in northern Bangkok. The vote comes two
months after the army broke up the Reds' rally in the
heart of Bangkok and Thai society remains deeply divided
following the political violence, in which 90 people died
and about 1,900 were injured.
Turkey,
Brazil urge Iran to be flexible on nuclear talks
AFP, Istanbul
Turkey and Brazil's foreign ministers urged Iran on Sunday
to be flexible and transparent in dealings with the West
over its nuclear programme as they held talks with their
Iranian counterpart.
Sunday's talks were the first of their kind since Iran was
slapped in June with new UN sanctions over its
controversial nuclear programme, some two weeks after it
struck a fuel swap deal with Brazil and Turkey. Turkey's
Ahmet Davutoglu and Brazil's Celso Amorim came together
with Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki at a luncheon in Istanbul
after holding bilateral talks, Turkish and Brazilian
diplomats said.
The meeting was arranged at Mottaki's request. It was not
clear whether there would be a statement afterwards.
The meeting aims to prepare the ground for reviving talks
between Iran and the P5+1 group-- Britain, China, France,
Russia, the United States and Germany -- and to discuss
ways of moving forward a May deal for Iran to send some of
its uranium stockpiles abroad in return for nuclear fuel,
Davutoglu said.
"What we told the parties right from the start is for
these negotiations to take place at once and for the
parties to discuss all issues in the most transparent and
open manner," he told a joint press conference with Amorim
before the three-way talks. Hardline Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered a freeze on the talks with
world powers concerning its overall nuclear programme
until the end of August after his country was slapped with
fresh UN sanctions
Last week, Mottaki and European Union's foreign affairs
chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1 group,
said the talks could resume in September. Turkey has
offered to host the talks between Ashton and Iran's top
nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Turkey and Brazil also
called for a swift start to negotiations between Iran, the
UN atomic watchdog and the so-called Vienna group --
Russia, France and the United States -- on the nuclear
fuel swap deal signed in May. "Now there is a proposal for
a technical meeting. We have always encouraged Iran to
take a flexible position and to go to this meeting,"
Amorim said.
"We want to preserve Iran's right for a peaceful nuclear
programme, but at the same time give guarantees to the
world in general that this programme has no military
implications," he added.
Under the May 17 deal, Iran agreed to send 1,200
kilogrammes of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey to
be supplied at a later date with high-enriched uranium by
Russia and France.
But it was immediately cold-shouldered by world powers,
which backed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran on
June 9 over its refusal to halt its sensitive uranium
enrichment programme.
The deal was a counter-proposal by Iran to an October plan
drafted by the the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
with the Vienna group in a bid to keep Tehran's uranium
stockpiles in check. That plan became deadlocked, with
each group insisting on conditions unacceptable to the
other.
Uganda calls for
defeat of terrorism in Africa
AFP, Kampala
Uganda's president urged African Union leaders at a summit
here Sunday to "sweep the terrorists" out of Africa,
following recent deadly attacks by Somalia's
Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels.
"Let us now act in concert and sweep them out of Africa,"
Yoweri Museveni said, referring to the perpetrators of the
July 11 blasts in Kampala that killed 76 revellers
watching the football World Cup final.
"Let them go back to Asia or the Middle East where I
understand some come from," he said at the opening of the
three-day summit. More than 30 heads of state from the
AU's 53 members gathered amid unprecedented security in
the Ugandan capital, with a debate on boosting the
organisation's troops levels in Somalia and crushing the
Islamist insurgents in the war-torn nation top of the
agenda.
The AU summit observed two minutes of silence for the
victims of the attacks two weeks ago.
"The African Union stands with you, my brother President
Museveni, and with the people of Uganda," Bingu wa
Mutharika, Malawi's president and current chairman of the
AU, said in his opening remarks. Museveni also said many
of the organizers of the attacks in Kampala have been
arrested. "Their interrogations have yielded very good
information," he added.
Ugandan authorities have not been precise regarding the
number of people detained for their suspected involvement
in the blasts. Last week the inspector general of the
Uganda police force, Kale Kayihura, put the figure at
"more than 20" but several of those individuals have since
been released.
The two bombings were meant to bully Uganda into pulling
out of the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the last thing
standing between the Shebab and total power.
Britain to seek new special
relationship with India
AFP, London
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron goes to India this
week targeting a new special relationship with the former
jewel in its colonial crown, now one of the world's fas-test-growing
economies.
Cameron, accompanied by his most senior ministers and
bosses from some of Britain's biggest companies, hopes to
agree a string of lucrative trade and partnering deals
during the visit.
Since taking power in May, Cameron has said he wants
British foreign policy to focus more on business in a bid
to boost the economy as it emerges from recession facing
deep budget cuts to combat record state debt. "I want to
refashion British foreign policy, the Foreign Office, to
make us much more focused on the commercial aspects...
making sure we are demonstrating Britain is open for
business," Cameron said last week. His coalition
government has singled out India as a key partner, saying
it wants the two countries to forge a "new special
relationship" and backing India for a permanent seat at
the UN Security Council.
Cameron's finance minister George Osborne, who is joining
the trip, wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that this would be
the "strongest British delegation to visit India in modern
times", including bosses from mobile phone company
Vodafone and defence giant BAE Systems.
But some experts question what India has to gain from
building closer ties with Britain when other, much bigger
powers like the United States and Japan are also courting
it.
"The question is, what can we offer India?", Gareth Price,
head of the Asia Programme at London foreign affairs
think-tank Chatham House, told AFP. Ties between Britain
and India go back a long way.
India was known as the "jewel in the crown" of the British
empire until independence in 1947 and up to two million
people of Indian origin live in Britain, its largest
ethnic minority group.
Bilateral trade between the two countries was worth 11.5
billion pounds (13.7 billion euros, 17.7 billion dollars)
last year. Britain is the most popular business
destination in the European Union for Indian companies
such as Tata and ICICI Bank-and the richest man in Britain
is an Indian, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.
EU to hammer Iran with oil
sanctions
AFP, Brussels
The European Union will hit Iran with tough sanctions
against its vital oil and gas industry on Monday in a bid
to lure Tehran back to the negotiating table over its
disputed nuclear programme.
EU foreign ministers will formally approve the sanctions
following Iran's repeated refusals to halt sensitive
nuclear activities, which the West fears are aimed at
building a bomb.
The UN Security Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions
on Tehran in early June, but EU leaders and the United
States decided shortly after to impose their own penalties
against the Iranian energy sector.
The sanctions are part of a twin-track approach with EU
foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton seeking to revive
moribund talks between Iran and six world powers-the
United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
"This (package of sanctions) is about applying pressure,
but applying pressure in order to bring the Iranians to
the table to talk," a European diplomat said.
Western powers have demanded that Iran suspend its uranium
enrichment programme, fearing that Tehran would use the
material to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran says that its
atomic programme is a peaceful drive to produce energy.
The new EU sanctions include a ban on the sale of
equipment, technology and services to Iran's energy
sector, hitting activities in refining, liquified natural
gas, exploration and production, diplomats said.
The EU will ban dual-use goods that can be used for
conventional weapons. It will also step up vigilance of
the activities of Iranian-connected banks operating in the
EU and bar them from setting up branches.
"A number of (EU) member states have had to overcome
considerable problems with their economic interests in
order to adopt this package," the diplomat said.
Iraq arrests three
suspected Qaeda leaders
AFP, Baghdad
Authorities have arrested three suspected senior leaders
of Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, including its
self-styled minister of defence, a spokesman said on
Sunday.
Also among the group detained were two brothers suspected
of masterminding major attacks in the central Iraqi
province of Diyala, defence ministry spokesman Major
General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP. "Iraqi soldiers
arrested Saleem Khalid al-Zawbayi, the minister of defence
for the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)," Askari said.
"He was arrested on Wednesday evening south of Baghdad,"
he added.
Zawbayi is suspected of organising a July 18 suicide
bombing in the town of Radwaniyah, west of Baghdad,
targeting anti-Qaeda militiamen being paid their wages.
Forty-five people were killed and 46 wounded. Askari also
said that two brothers-Jaabar and Qadoori Radhi Khamis al-Zaidi-believed
to have been responsible for operations in Diyala, were
arrested in the northern city of Tikrit, where they were
based.
The two were ISI "emirs", according to Askari.
The arrests came as Iraqi security forces pressed a
manhunt for four suspected Al-Qaeda members who escaped
from a jail on the outskirts of Baghdad last week. The
four who escaped from the Cropper detention facility were
the ISI's suspected ministers of justice and finance,
along with a "judge" and another suspected Al-Qaeda
member, a police source said.
Putin ‘sings songs’ with
deported Russian spies
AFP, Moscow
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin revealed he met and even
sang patriotic Soviet songs with the group of Russian
spies deported from the United States in the biggest
espionage swap since the Cold War.
Putin, who himself served as a KGB agent in the ex-East
Germany, said the group included the glamorous young spy
Anna Chapman, 28, and predicted they would have an
"interesting, bright" future.
"I met with them. We talked about life. We sang. It was
not karaoke but live music," Putin told Russian reporters
on a visit to Ukraine, according to a transcript posted
Sunday on the government website.
"We sang 'From Where the Motherland Begins'," a Soviet
song made famous in the wildly popular 1968 USSR film "The
Sword and the Shield" about a Soviet spy working in Nazi
Germany.
"I'm not joking, I'm serious. And other songs with a
similar content," said Putin.
The group of 10 spies, many of whom had been working for
years undercover in the United States as sleeper agents,
returned to Russia earlier this month in a sensational spy
swap that saw Moscow send four Russian convicts to the
West.
The 10 Kremlin agents had been arrested in an FBI swoop
that initially threatened to derail a recent warming in
Russia-US relations championed by Putin's successor in the
Kremlin, President Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin hinted that the agents' cover had been blown as a
result of "treason" and that he knew the names of those
responsible.
"This was the result of treason and traitors always end
badly. They finish up as drunks, addicts, on the street,"
said Putin.
Putin added, enigmatically, that "recently one (traitor)
for instance ended his existence abroad and it was not
clear what the point of it all was."
He did not give further details on the individual.
African leaders seek to
beef up Somalia force
AFP, Kampala
African Union leaders began a three-day summit in Kampala
Sunday to boost the organisation's troop levels in Somalia
and obtain a mandate to crush Islamist insurgents in the
war-torn nation.
More than 30 heads of state from the AU's 53 members
gathered amid unprecedented security in the Ugandan
capital, two weeks after suicide attacks in the city
claimed by Somalia's Shebab group killed 76 people.
The bombings that ripped through crowds watching the World
Cup final were meant to bully Uganda into pulling out of
the AU mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the last thing
standing between the Shebab and total power.
Uganda reacted by saying it could send 2,000 more troops
and urged more decisive international support, while the
embattled Somali government argued the attacks were
evidence Somalia required the world's attention.
"Guinea is ready to immediately dispatch a battalion," AU
chief Jean Ping said at a press conference in Kampala on
Friday. "We are going to quickly top the 8,000 mark... I
think the current trend could take us over 10,000."
Diplomats in Kampala say that Angola, Mozambique and South
Africa may also pledge troops, whose current deployment
consists of just over 6,000 Ugandans and Burundians.
Islamist leader jailed for
spitting at Israeli policeman
AFP, Ramla, Israel
Hardline Islamist leader Sheikh Raed Salah on Sunday began
serving five months behind bars after being convicted of
spitting at an Israeli policeman during a protest in east
Jerusalem.
Around 200 supporters of the Israeli Arab leader, who
heads the radical wing of the Islamic Movement,
accompanied him to a prison in Ramla near Tel Aviv, waving
the movement's green flag as well as Palestinian flags, an
AFP reporter said.
Salah was convicted of assault for an incident that took
place in February 2007 during a demonstration in annexed
Arab east Jerusalem, in which court documents said he
insulted a border policeman and spat in his face.
Earlier this month, a Jerusalem court reduced his sentence
from nine months to five. The assault, which Salah has
always denied, took place during a protest outside the
Dung Gate in the southern wall of the Old City where the
Israeli authorities were carrying out restoration work
near the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
The compound is the third holiest site for Muslims and the
holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple
Mount. It has been the scene of several outbreaks of
violence over the course of the decades-old Israeli-Arab
conflict.
Business/Economy
Market
responses to SEC's desire
BSS, Dhaka
The bunzi jump like fall of the price indices at Dhaka and
Chittagong stock exchanges on Sunday satisfied none but
the regulator as its latest dose proved effective to tame
the market.
The index at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dropped below June
22 position with a freefall of 204.75 points or 3.19
percent when it closed to 6200.21 on Sunday.
The index at the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) did not
have any option than follow the prime bourse with 366.46
points of 2.94 percent slide to close to 11903.84.
The fall was highly attributed to the lending cut policy,
which the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) practised
a few times in the recent past.
After investigating portfolios of the 50 big players of 31
merchant bankers and 26 brokerage houses, the watchdog has
fixed highest loan exposure limit for a single investor.
Merchant banks will be allowed to provide up to Taka 10
crore and stock brokers Taka 5 crore credit for a single
client. Even if an individual qualifies for more credit
grading according to 1:1 rule no sum is to be permitted to
be disbursed beyond the new single borrower limit.
The latest move came into effect today (Sunday) when some
investors rushed to sale to get out of market,
apprehending further fall in the future.
All the market heavyweights lost huge margin Sunday as
sale pressure outnumbered demand side substantially. The
mostly traded banking issues lost around 6 percent when
the fall in the active issues from power sector was around
3 percent.
Some other big issues like Beximco, Batbc and GP were also
on the downstream, putting extra pressure on the reverse
gear of the price index.
Daily turnover also dropped hugely to Taka 1,449 crore
from Thursday's Taka 1,784 crore as buyers were cautious
in investment.
Stockbrokers apprehended further slide in the index as
Sunday's nose-dive would prompt panic sale in the coming
days.
IFC
workshop on pvt sector development held
UNB, Dhaka
A 'Core Group Alumni Program' Workshop was held on
Saturday at Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka. The International
Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World
Bank Group, in association with the Ministry of
Establishment, Government of the People's Republic of
Bangladesh has undertaken the "Core Group Alumni" (CGA)
Program.
The CGA is a networking and follow-up program for the core
group graduates to create further learning opportunities
for them and sharpen their knowledge and skills related to
private sector development. The program intends to create
a platform for proactive change agents to work together on
the investment climate in Bangladesh. It will also create
opportunities for them to continue their support to
ongoing reform initiatives undertaken by the government,
as well as overall regulatory reform issues in Bangladesh.
Mr Farooq Sobhan, President, BEI, Ms. Laura Anne Watson,
Program Manager, BICF IFC Advisory Services in South Asia
and Mr. Aftab Ul Islam, Chairman, SME Foundation and
President, AmCham - Bangladesh spoke on the occasion,
according to a press release. During the open floor
discussion, the participants suggested measures that would
have a significant impact on the attitude of the civil
servants and would surely play a vital role on promoting
private sector development in Bangladesh.
In the afternoon, the workshop participants discussed
various issues like (i) Institutionalizing Regulatory
Impact Assessment (RIA) or Administraive Barrier Review in
different Ministries/Agencies, (ii) Conducting RIA on
Existing Laws or Conducting ABR on any Existing Process
Streamlining, (iii) Facilitating Renewable Energy in
Bangladesh, (iv) Addressing Climate Change Issues in
Bangladesh and (v) Doing Business Indicators : Bangladesh
Perspectives etc. They committed to work intensively in
some of the aforementioned areas this year.
The program, implemented by the Bangladesh Enterprise
Institute (BEI) in partnership with the Institute of
Governance Studies (IGS), BRAC University and KDI School
of Public Policy and Management, South Korea, is based on
the belief that private sector development is the key to
sustainable economic growth for Bangladesh. The Bangladesh
Investment Climate Fund is managed by IFC, in partnership
with the UK Department for International Development (UK
Aid) and the European Union (EU).
Asian trade expo
from August 2
UNB, Dhaka
The 3rd Asian Trade Expo 2010 will be held at the
Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) from
August 2.
Conference & Exhibition Management Services Limited (CEMS)
USA, through its Bangladeshi wing will be organizing the
weeklong international exhibition styled "13th Con-Expo
2010".
Meherun N. Islam, President and Group Managing Director of
CEMS announced the programme at a pre-launch press
conference at the National Press Club on Sunday.
She said the 3rd Asian International Trade Expo 2010 is an
exhibition of Bangladesh, focused on consumers and also
for trade.
"Such an exhibition, displaying products or services is
necessary to bringing the Asian countries together under
one roof, which would also increase trade and bilateral
relations between the Asian nations," added Meherun N.
Islam.
S.S. Sarwar, Group Director (Global Operations) of CEMS
was in the chair for the press conference while Ahbab
Ahmed Sobhan, General Manager (Marketing) was among others
present there.
The international exhibition on Real Estate, Construction
Materials, Method and Equipment will run from August 2
through to August 8.
Over 100 exhibitors from seven countries-Bangladesh,
India, Pakistan, Iran, Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka
will take part in the expo and display their products like
consumer electronic products, household products, Real
Estate Companies, Construction Materials, Fashion &
Accessories and Arts & Crafts.
No double dip
recession
Says US Treasury Secretary
AFP, Washington
The US economy is not headed for a double dip recession
but should gradually strengthen over the next year or two,
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an
interview aired Sunday.
Geithner was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether he
thought the economy would dip back into recession before
things got better. "No, I don't," Geithner answered. "I
think the most likely thing is, you see an economy that
gradually strengthens-over the next year or two. You see
job growth start to come back again," Geithner said.
"Again, investments expanding, manufacturing get a little
stronger, exports better. Those are very encouraging
signs. But we got a long way to go still."
Geithner was pressed on whether, in light of the poor
prospects for growth and high unemployment, President
Barack Obama's 787 billion dollar Recovery Act had been
sufficient to lift the economy. "There is a lot of
stimulus still in the pipeline," Geithner said.
"And we've got some long term fiscal problems, they're
going to be a challenge for the rest of the country. And
we're going to work to fix those problems we inherited,
but the best way to do that is to make sure we're growing,
private investment starts to come back, private firms
start to hire again.
"The government can help, but we need to make this
transition now to a recovery led by private investment,"
he told NBC.
The White House has said the stimulus has created up to
3.6 million jobs, but the Federal Reserve has forecast
worse-than-expected growth and unemployment, currently at
9.5 percent, for the rest of this crucial congressional
election year.
The US government on Friday lowered its 2010 federal
budget deficit estimate by 84 billion dollars to 1.471
trillion dollars on projected spending declines.
That would still be a record-high deficit amid massive
government spending to pull the economy out of the worst
recession in decades.
The new deficit estimate amounts to 10 percent of gross
domestic product, down from 10.6 percent of GDP in
previous estimates for fiscal 2010, which ends September
30.
In addition, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned
US lawmakers on July 21 that the outlook for the US
economy was "unusually uncertain," saying the central bank
could step in if the recovery fails.
Bernanke said the world's largest economy would see
"moderate growth, a gradual decline in the unemployment
rate and subdued inflation over the next several years."
European
governments relieved by bank stress tests
AFP, London
Europe sighed with relief Saturday after all but a handful
of the continent's banks passed financial stress tests,
but analysts warned that the exams might not be tough
enough to restore confidence in the sector.
The euro fell just after the release of the test results
late Friday but made up the lost ground.
US stocks also ended slightly higher but European
governments face a nervous wait for markets to reopen
Monday to get the full global reaction.
Only seven out of 91 banks failed the tests, organised in
hope of reviving investor confidence in Europe's embattled
banking sector. German state-owned lender Hypo Real
Estate, five regional savings banks in Spain and ATEBank
of Greece failed the test of whether they could resist a
new financial shock. All have been ordered to recapitalise
or take state aid.
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS),
which carried out the tests, said the seven banks would
need about 3.5 billion euros (4.4 billion dollars).
Unicredit chief economist Marco Annunziata said that the
results showed that "the bulk of the eurozone banking
system is sound, but there are serious questions on
whether the tests can be considered sufficiently
stringent."
Although the tests were "a first step towards improved
transparency," he said that they were "insufficient to
bring about the rapid and major improvement in confidence
in the European banking system which should have been the
main goal of the exercise."
European banks have faced a crisis of confidence in recent
months over fears that some may bear huge undisclosed
losses on the value of bonds issued by Greece, Portugal
and Spain, which have fallen sharply in price since the
start of the year.
The European Union's Belgian presidency said: "The
aggregate results of the tests show a high degree of
resilience in the EU banking sector as a whole, reflecting
the efforts undertaken over the last years by the banks
and some governments to restore confidence in the European
banking sector."
Spain's Finance Minister Elena Salgado insisted the
results were "satisfactory" despite the failure of the
five savings banks.
"The Spanish financial system has overcome the financial
crisis very well," she declared. IMF managing director
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the tests were "a major
undertaking and represent an important step toward
improving transparency and bolstering market confidence."
Some analysts however said the checks failed to shed much
light on the real state of the banking sector.
The report spared all banks examined in debt-laden
Portugal. Greece, which sparked fears for the stability of
the entire eurozone and was rescued by an EU-IMF bailout,
also got off lightly with just one bank failing.
Neil MacKinnon, an economist at VTB Capital in London,
said it "looks like a whitewash and the initial reaction
is one of scepticism on the part of the markets."
US economy
‘gradually’ improving: Geithner
AFP, .Washington
The US economy is "gradually" improving after the
financial crisis, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
said in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press"
program, to be broadcast Sunday.
"I talked to businesses across the country, and I would
say that is the general view, an economy that's gradually
getting better," Geithner said in excerpts of the
interview released in advance of its broadcast.
Geithner also downplayed the prospects of a "double-dip"
recession, in which the economy sinks again after a short
period of growth.
He said that given the specific drivers of the recent
recession, including the US housing bubble, "what you
would expect is a more moderate paced recovery... and
that's what we're seeing."
Despite the slow pace "you are seeing a recovery. You're
seeing private investment expand again, job growth
starting to come back. And that's very encouraging," he
said.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned US lawmakers
on July 21 that the outlook for the US economy was
"unusually uncertain," saying the central bank could step
in if the recovery fails.
Bernanke said the world's largest economy would see
"moderate growth, a gradual decline in the unemployment
rate and subdued inflation over the next several years."
Compounding fears of a painful exit from recession, he
also warned that private sector hiring was growing at an
"insufficient" pace.
China's economy unlikely to see double-dip
Xinhua, Beijing
While China's slowing economic growth in the second
quarter renewed concerns about a "second-dip" of the
world's third largest economy, analyst said it is not
likely to happen, as the slower pace does not necessarily
mean low level growth.
China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 10.3 percent
between April and June, retreating from the 11.9 percent
growth in the first three months, as the effects of the 4-
trillion yuan stimulus packages weaned off which eased
fixed-asset investment expansion.
Lian Ping, chief economist of the Bank of Communications,
told Xinhua in an interview that though the growth slowed,
but the 10.3 percent was still strong, even 9 percent
growth was high enough for the Chinese economy.
"The growth rate is unlikely to fall below the 6.1 percent
rate in the first quarter of 2009 when the economy
decelerated to a decade low as it was hard-hit by the
global financial crisis. A double-dip is not going to
happen," he said. He noted investment was a crucial engine
for the Chinese economy, therefore it deserved consistent
attention and efforts as exports and consumer spending
were unlikely to play a decisive role in powering growth.
Although China's exports rose significantly in the second
quarter, Lian said that would not continue in the third
quarter as the negative impact of the European sovereign
debt crisis on China's external demand would gradually
emerge.
He said people should not worry too much about the normal
fluctuations of the economy, which was currently still on
track.
Alternative
financing to help Africa deal with global financial
institutions
Xinhua, Kampala
Alternative financing from other countries or institutions
will help Africa deal with global financial institutions
which impose harsh conditions on African countries when
giving them aid, a top official of the African Union (AU)
Commission has said.
Maxwell Mkwezalamba, commissioner for Economic Affairs at
the AU Commission, told reporters here on Saturday on the
sides of the ongoing AU summit that Africa will deal with
partners who are ready to support its development.
"We know that indeed there could be some difficulties that
some of the financial institutions or multilateral
development institutions may have with some of these
partners but for Africa, this is the way to go," he said
citing China which does not impose conditions on its aid.
He said that some of the financial institutions and donor
countries are trying to pressurize China to impose huge
conditions on aid to Africa but the Asian country has
declined.
"When we were in Japan two years ago for the G8 summit,
what the partners were trying to do was to bring on board
China so that in dealing with Africa, they could also be
applying some conditions but you see China is not even
ready for that and that is the good thing about it," he
said.
G8 also known as the Group of Eight consists of eight
major economic powers in the world. Mkwezalamba said
though Africa has tended to depend on the West for aid, it
has to start looking at domestically generated revenues to
boost the development.
'Criticism against Greek political system for
economic crisis is just'
Xinhua, Athens
Criticism against the Greek political system for the
economic crisis that has hit Greece hard this year is
just, said Greek President Karolos Papoulias on Saturday.
Addressing an event on the occasion of the 36th
anniversary of the restoration of democracy in the
country, Papoulias talked of a "decadence that is fairly
attributed by citizens mainly to the political system."
"Since 1974, Greece has become a democracy, but despite
the flow of European funds, we didn't manage to create a
strong production basis, nor a transparent management of
state property," Papoulias said in the presence of
representatives of the political world, such as Prime
Minister George Papandreou and leaders of other political
parties represented in parliament.
Approximately 800 veterans of the struggle against the
military dictatorship which ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974
and army officers also attended the reception.
, which was organized on a lower budget compared to
previous years.
National
Independent body needed for
reliable population census: Experts
BSS, Dhaka
An independent body is a must for post- enumeration
cross-checking of the 5th population and housing census
2011 to get reliable information about the size of
population and household data, the basic prerequisite for
all development plans, experts said.
Academics and researchers, working in the universities and
research organizations, who have both theoretical and
practical knowledge about the issue can ensure
authenticity of the census data, Dr Kazi Saleh Ahmed, a
member of the National Statistics Council, told BSS in
Dhaka on Sunday.
In the past, he said, different local and international
bodies expressed their doubts about our census data and
some of them even went to the extent of saying that the
data was not acceptable. Ahmed, also a former vice
chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, said, "We are not
the only ones saying this. International agencies who are
funding the census also
underscored the importance of involving an independent
body during the post-enumeration period to ensure
reliability, validly and accuracy of the census data."
Dr M Ataharul Islam, Professor of Statistics Department of
Dhaka University, said, "In every census in the past, we
have made mistakes by showing three per cent or higher
variation (more so in urban areas) after enumeration while
finalizing the data."
This happened as people involved with the data collection
were asked to cross-check instead of involving an
independent body for assessing or evaluating the strength
of the data being enumerated, he said.
Prof Islam is a member of the 14-member expert committee
formed by Bangladesh Statistical Council to make the
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) more efficient
through strengthening its core activities.
About the accuracy of the 2011 census to be held in March,
he said that the upcoming census is very much important
for Bangladesh for adopting future plans to develop the
country as a middle-income state by 2021. "I think there
is no alternative to having an independent body during
post-enumeration checking to get reliable data," he added.
The BBS projection for 2001 to 2051 is based on the
assumption that replacement level fertility will be
achieved by the year 2011 but experts differ, as they are
of the opinion that there is no such trend and expressed
the hope that if the government puts in extra effort it
could be achieved before 2021. According to the projection
of BBS, the total population of the country will reach
15.14 crore by 2011, 17.17 crore by 2021 and 19.60 crore
by 2031, 20.65 crore by 2041 and 21.87 crore by 2051.
Noted population scientist Prof Dr AKM Nurun Nabi said
coming census is very much important as it will work as a
database, as the UN theme of the world population day is
"everyone counts". It means to plan for a nation old
segment of composition of the population should be
incorporated accurately to realize the vision 2021 as
desired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Building of digital Bangladesh progressing: Yeafez Osman
BSS, Rangpur
State Minister for Science and ICT Ministry Architect
Yeafez Osman has said the process of building a digital
Bangladesh as envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
has been progressing faster and satisfactorily.
He said that the people from all walks have been taking
part with huge enthusiasm in the ongoing digitalization
process as they already understood the concept and getting
enormous advantages for their developments in respective
fields.
The present government has been working very sincerely
with firm commitments of establishing accountability at
all levels for bringing transparency and cleanliness by
preventing corruptions for achieving quicker developments,
he said.
Yeafez expressed his firm confidence that the people would
soon attain all set goals and indexes of the Digital
Bangladesh, Charter of Changes, Vision-2021 and MDG
programmes to successfully realize Bangabandhu's dream of
building a Sonar Bangla.
He said this as the chief guest at the daylong
accountability programme of 'People and MP - Face to Face'
organised by Badalgachi Nagorik Committee (BNC) and Centre
for E- Parliament Research at Badalgachi Community Centre
in Naogaon that ended Saturday evening.
Convener of BNC and Badalgachi upazila chairman Adv AZM
Shafi Mahmud chaired the programme and hundreds of common
people, officials and employees, professionals,
socio-cultural and women community leaders, politicians
and elite took part.
Civil Surgeon of Naogaon Dr Asheque Hossain, Additional
Deputy Commissioner (Rev) of Naogaon Dr Mozaffar Ahmed and
Additional Police Super Ahmaruzzaman, addressed as the
special guests.
Local MP from Naogaon-3 (Mohadebpur-Badalgachi) seat Dr M
Akram Hossain Chowdhury narrated his development and
public service performances for the past 6-month period
till June last of the ongoing second year tenure of the
present government.
Dr. Akram narrated huge developments conducted during the
past six month period in Badalgachi upazila in all sectors
including rural infrastructures, public and social
welfare, health, communications, family planning and other
sectors.
He also elaborated successes in creating employments,
alleviate poverty, construction, reconstruction,
maintenance and development work of the rural roads,
bridges, culverts, water bodies, ponds, canals and
earth-filling at different institutions.
Dr. Akram, widely known as one of the most honest persons,
informed that number of beneficiaries under the ongoing
allowances for the Freedom Fighters, widows and
handicapped people, VGD, VGF and supply of electricity has
largely been increased.
Trial of war criminals must be completed by this
government’s tenure: Hira
BSS, Jamalpur
Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira has said the trial of war
criminals must be completed by this government's tenure.
He said the new generation has come out with the demand of
trial of war criminals which is helpful for completion of
trial.
Hira said this while exchanging views with the freedom
fighters (FF) and their family members at local FF Command
council office On Saturday.
Local lawmaker Dr Murad Hassan, district Awami League
general secretary Faruk Ahmed Chowdhury, freedom fighters
Manikul Islam, SM Abdul Mannan, Mofiz Uddin and Khairul
Islam, among others addressed the function while district
unit commander Shafiqul Islam Khoka was in the chair.
The Land Minister urged the freedom fighters to be united
for speedy completion of trial of the war criminals.
The speakers demanded arrest of other war criminals and
try them without delay.
They said the situation is favorable as pro-liberation
government is in power and at the same time people are
united.
Liton for expediting conservancy works
BSS, Rajshahi
Mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation AHM Khairuzzaman Liton
has asked the officials and staffs concerned to expedite
the city's conservancy activities for maintaining a
hygienic atmosphere in the city.
"All works relating to collection and disposal of the
house- to-house waste and mosquito elimination must be
intensified," he further said while addressing a special
general meeting of the city corporation at the city bhaban
conference hall here Sunday.
He asked all concerned to be sincere and devoted so that
the civic delivery works could be made proper and
accurate.
Mayor Liton asked them to clean the city's graveyards
before the forthcoming Shab-e-barat and to start a crush
programme to eliminate mosquito from the first week of the
holy Ramadan so that it could be finished before
Eid-ul-Fitr.
He, however, said the city's environment has been improved
to some extent through the laudable contribution of the
conservancy workers and the night-time garbage removal
programme of the corporation has been acclaimed by all
quarters.
In this regard, he said the corporation administration has
been putting in its best efforts to improve the livelihood
of the conservancy workers through enhancing their
privileges.
"We are considering upgrading their daily wages and
providing a set of ware and gumboot yearly from the coming
year," he said.
In the meeting, decision has been adopted to construct
garbage house at each of the wards, two dumping grounds in
the east and the west part of the city and expansion of
the Naodapara dumping place.
RCC Panel Mayor Muslima Begum Belly and Chief Executive
Officer Ajahar Ali were, among others, present at the
meeting.
Study finds 60 pc of rural children under 2 affected by
anemia
UNB, Dhaka
Around 60 percent of children under the age of two in the
rural areas of the country are affected by anemia,
according to a study which also uncovered other causes
besides iron deficiency for the common blood disorder.
The Child Development Unit of ICDDR, B recently conducted
a longitudinal intervention study on iron-deficient anemic
children identified from 30 villages of Monohardi upazila
of Narsingdi district.
Out of 1,237 children under the age of 2 in the study, 60
percent were found to be anemic, but only half the anemic
children were suffering due to iron deficiency, the study
found.
The iron-deficient children responded well to short-term
iron intervention, but understanding the other causes of
anemia is important to delivering effective therapy to
prevent this early childhood problem, the study observed.
Anemia during early childhood affects the immune system,
growth and optimum brain development.
Sports
High-powered committee to ensure
security during cricket World Cup
UNB, Dhaka
A National Security Comm-ittee headed by the Home Minister
will be formed soon with the aim of ensuring foolproof
security during next year's World Cup of cricket, the first
time Bangladesh will be hosting a sporting event of global
importance.
India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be the co-hosts for the
event, which will run from February 17 to March 26, 2011.
Security concerns, however, mean that no games will actually
be played in Pakistan.
Home Minister Sahara Khatun, who chaired a meeting at her
ministry Sunday to discuss the security arrangements for the
tournament, said the government will provide all necessary
equipment and logistical support needed to ensure maximum
security.
Bangladesh, which participated in cricket's showpiece event
for the first time when it was held in England in 1999, is
slated to host 8 games including 2 quarter-finals, the opening
match (Bangladesh v India) and the opening ceremony.
"This is a matter of pride for us and we'll leave no stone
unturned to arrange foolproof security and a smooth passage
for the games," Sahara told reporters after the meeting.
The security arrangements will be in place for 48 days from
February 6 when cricket teams, ICC officials and fans from
abroad start arriving in Bangladesh.
Sahara said the National Security Committee will comprise
senior officials of law enforcing and intelligence agencies,
BCB officials and other relevant personalities.
BCB president AFM Mostafa Kamal MP (Lotus Kamal) who attended
the meeting said police, army and other security agents will
be used to ensure 'infallible' security.
"We don't apprehend any unpleasant incident…we have adequate
preparations to face any eventuality," he said.
The Home Secretary, officials of BCB, representatives of
different law enforcing and intelligence agencies and
officials concerned attended the meeting.
West
Ham ‘mulls role for Beckham’
Internet
Gold views the former Manchester United and Real Madrid
midfielder as the ideal ambassador to secure a deal to move
the English Premier League club to the new ground and is also
mulling the possibility of handing the former England skipper
a short-term playing role.
"David Beckham could play a massive part, because of his
roots, in helping West Ham win the Olympic Stadium. And maybe
he can still play for us in the autumn of his career," Gold
told the Sunday Express.
"For him to join a club like us and help us bring another
dream to fruition would be perfect for everyone. We want him
aboard."
LA Galaxy star Beckham, denied the chance to play at this
summer's World Cup owing to injury, has admitted he would love
to feature for a Great Britain tem at the London Games in his
home city, even though by then he will be 37.
"If I'm still playing and I'm still considered to make a
difference to the team I'd love to, but if not then I'm
definitely going to be there anyway," Beckham said recently.
"It's the east end of London - it's on my manor. To be part of
getting the Olympics to the east end of London... it's one of
the best experiences that I've ever experienced," Beckham said
after working as an ambassador for the successful 2012 bid.
Rio
Ferdinand ‘may be out until September’
Internet
Ferdinand injured knee ligaments in pre-World Cup training
with England on June 4, but in early July United suggested
he might be fit to face Newcastle in the club's opening
Premier League game on August 16.
But Ferguson suggests that will be difficult, telling the
club's official website: "Rio is probably around six weeks
away from playing."
That would likely mean Ferdinand misses England's first
two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland
on September 3 and 7.
Japan’s FA picks new chief after
boardroom revolt
AFP, Tokyo
The Japan Football Asso-ciation (JFA) elected a new
president Sunday, replacing Motoaki Inukai, also its World
Cup bid chief, in a boardroom revolt after two years of
his reputedly forceful rule.
The JFA said that Inukai, 68, had been replaced by his
deputy and longtime FIFA executive committee member Junji
Ogura, 71, following a vote by the association's executive
board. Ogura, who was instrumental in Japan's successful
bid to co-host the 2002 World Cup with South Korea, also
replaced Inukai as president of the country's committee
bidding for the tournament's 2022 edition.
The upheaval comes just days after an inspection team from
the football governing body praised as "very balanced"
Japan's World Cup bid, which includes a plan for 3-D match
telecasts for public viewing around the world.
The FIFA's 24 executives will choose the 2018 and 2022
World Cup hosts on December 2. "We must clearly explain in
our lobbying why Japan wants to host the World Cup again,"
Ogura, who became one of JFA vice presidents in 1998 and
has been a member of the FIFA executive committee since
2002, told a news conference. Ogura, well known in
international football circles and well versed in English,
received the FIFA Order of Merit for his contribution to
football last month. "We must study foreign languages
properly in our effort to globalise our organisation,"
said Ogura, who managed a domestic club before the launch
of the J-League in 1993, and joined the JFA in 1991.
Inukai was elected two years ago with full backing from
his predecessor Saburo Kawabuchi, who had served three
terms, and as a candidate who could serve two two-year
terms to uphold continuity.
He had publicly expre-ssed his wish for a second stint
himself.
But only a "small number" of the JFA's 25 executives
supported him in an unsigned vote of confidence conducted
before the World Cup in South Africa, according to
Japanese media.
The vote result prompted a 10-member panel, tasked with
nominating candidates for top JFA posts, last week to
favour the moderate Ogura. Inukai, who shunned the board
meeting, said in a statement that his resignation was
voluntary.
"I have decided to leave the post after concluding that I
am not able to maintain my mental and physical strength to
fulfill my heavy responsibility in the next two years,"
the statement said. Japanese media have highlighted
Inukai's high-handed approach over the weekend as his
resignation became inevitable. He has campaigned to change
the J-League's spring-autumn season to synchronise with
Europe's autumn-spring season. But J-League chairman Kenji
Onitake has opposed a hasty change as many domestic clubs
prefer not to play in midwinter in snow-bound areas
without adequate facilities.
Inukai, a former president of J-League club Urawa Red
Diamonds, has also pushed for footballing exchanges with
Spain and other powerhouses to develop young talent at
home. The influential Asahi Shimbun said Inukai had "at
times done business without securing sufficient consensus
within the organisation."
The business daily Nikkei said Inukai's ideas were
"reasonable." "He has breathed life into a partly
bureaucratic organisation," it said. "But unfortunately he
has been somewhat forceful in his approach and provoked
antipathy."
Goerges
advances to Gastein Ladies final
AP, Bad Gastein
France's Alize Cornet 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday to reach the
final at the Gastein Ladies.
Goerges advanced into the first final of her career and
will play second- seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland
for the title later Sunday.
"I played very well, put (Cornet) under a lot of
pressure," the 65th-ranked Goerges said. "Maybe it's an
advantage for the final that I've already played a match
today. I am ready for it." The 21-year-old Goer-ges, who
has not played Bacsinszky before, lost to Flavia Pennetta
in the last four of the Palermo Open last week. She is now
1-4 in semifinals.
The 52nd-ranked Bacsinszky reached her first final of the
season Saturday, defeating Austria's Yvonne Meu-sburger in
three sets before the semifinal between Goerges and Cornet
was canceled because of rain.
Bacsinszky is looking to win her second career title after
her victory in Luxembourg in 2009.
Goerges dominated the first set with powerful ground
strokes and converted all three break points against
Cornet. Both players struggled to hold serve in the second
set before ssGoerges took victory with a forehand winner
on her first match point.
The Gastein Ladies is the last clay-court tournament of
the season.
Pietersen in
England squad despite lack of cricket
AFP, Leeds
Kevin Pietersen was named in England's 12-man squad on
Sunday for the first of four Tests against Pakistan
starting at Trent Bridge on Thursday despite not having
played any cricket for nearly a month bec-ause of a thigh
injury.
England's selectors wanted Pietersen to play for Hampshire
on Sunday but the county have not included him in their
team after he announced his intention to leave the south
coast side at the end of the season.
Former Ireland batsman Eoin Morgan retained his place
after two moderate displays in England's 2-0 home series
win against Bangladesh in May and June. Fast bowler Stuart
Broad and all-rounder Paul Collingwood have returned to
the Test squad after being rested for the Bangladesh
series.
Promising quick Steven Finn also retained his place, as
did Yorkshire seamer Ajmal Shahzad, who made his debut
against Bangladesh.
Ian Bell though will miss all four Tests - England's last
before they begin their defence of the Ashes in Australia
in November - after the batsman broke a foot fielding in a
shock one-day international defeat by Bangladesh at
Bristol on July 10.
Pakistan go into this series on the back of a three-wicket
win over Australia at Headingley on Saturday that saw them
level a two-Test encounter at 1-1. England national
selector Geoff Miller said: "We have picked a very strong
squad for the first Test against a Pakistan side that will
be high on confidence following their recent win against
Australia. "We've been encouraged by the form shown by a
number of England players involved in County Champio-nship
matches this week and those that are coming back from
injury or rest, such as Kevin Pietersen, have been working
very hard ahead of the first Test next week." Former
England off-spinner Miller added: "Ian Bell's untimely
foot injury was obviously a disappointing blow but he is
now focused on his rehabilitation and should make a full
recovery in due course.
"Ian's absence provides other batsmen with the chance to
impress against a world-class Pakistan bowling attack."
England squad: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook,
Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Colling-wood, Eoin
Morgan, Matt Prior (wkt), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann,
James Anderson, Steven Finn, Ajmal Shahzad.
Depleted Sri
Lanka eye series win over India
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka hope to overcome a weakened bowling attack and
secure a series-clinching win in the second Test against
India, which starts on Monday, their first match in the
post-Muttiah Muralitharan era.
The world bowling record holder bid farewell to Test
cricket last week by leading the hosts to an emphatic
10-wicket win in the first match in Galle, claiming eight
scalps to end his career with 800 wickets.
Sri Lanka suffered a further blow ahead of the second Test
at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) when sling-arm fast
bowler Lasith Malinga, who grabbed 5-50 in the second
innings at Galle, was ruled out with a knee injury. Sri
Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara was confident the absence
of Muralitharan and Malinga, who claimed 15 of the 20
Indian wickets between them, will not hamper his team's
progress in the series.
"We are focused on winning the series," said Sangakkara.
"We have bowlers who are looking for a chance to make a
mark for themselves. This is their opportunity to prove
themselves." Unorthodox spinner Ajan-tha Mendis will
replace Muralitharan, while fast bowler Dilhara Fernando
is expected to come in for Malinga. Mendis, 25, is no
stranger to the Indians, having grabbed 26 wickets in
three Tests against them on his debut in 2008 to help Sri
Lanka to a 2-1 home series win. Mendis, who has 44 wickets
so far in 10 Tests, reminded the Indians of his prowess
when he took 6-67 in a three-day practice match at the
start of the current tour. Sangakkara said the SSC wicket
will be as batting-friendly as in the past and urged his
bowlers to maintain a tight length and line to keep the
Indian batsmen in check. The absence of Muralitharan and
Malinga will bring relief to the Indians, who folded for
276 and 338 in good batting conditions at Galle to put
their number one Test ranking at stake.
India cannot afford another slip-up, as a 2-0 or 3-0
series scoreline in Sri Lanka's favour will remove
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men from the perch and lift the
hosts to the top spot. "If we lose the number one ranking,
we will try to get it back," said Dhoni. "We just have to
play well and the rankings will take care of themselves."
Mano Menezes named as new Brazil coach
AFP, Brasilia
Mano Menezes was on Saturday named as Brazil's new coach,
succeeding Dunga, who was axed after the team were knocked
out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) had said
earlier on Saturday that they had offered Corinthians
coach Menezes the chance to lead Brazil to the 2014 World
Cup, which is being playing on home soil. "I have the
honour to inform you that I was approached by the
Brazilian Football Confederation to take over the post of
national team coach," 48-year- old Menezes told a news
conference at the Sao Paulo headquarters of Corinthians.
"I have come here to officially confirm that I have
accepted the offer." Menezes moved into the frame on
Friday after Fluminense refused to release top choice
Muricy Ramalho from his contract which runs until
December. "I don't give a damn that I wasn't number one on
the list," added Menezes.
"We have 30, 40, 50 great coaches in Brazil. If I am the
number two, that's fine with me." Menezes coached Gremio
from 2005 to 2007. In his last year with the club, he took
Gremio to the final of the Copa Libertadores where they
were defeated by Argentina's Boca Juniors.
With Corinthians, who he also led from the second
division, he won the Brazilian Cup in 2009. Amongst
Menezes's first missions will be the Copa America in
Argentina in 2011 and the London Olympics in 2012. Menezes
will be officially unveiled on Monday, which is also the
deadline for the squad to be announced for the August 10
friendly international against the USA in New Jersey.
Dunga was sacked after five-times champions Brazil were
knocked out of the World Cup in South Africa in the
quarter-finals by the Netherlands. The CBF had drawn up a
three-man shortlist for the job. The other candidate was
understood to be former coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who lef
Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title.
But Scolari, who has also coached Portugal and Chelsea,
ruled himself out saying he intended to honour his
contract with Palmeiras which runs until 2012.
Japan coach Okada elected to JFA board
AFP, Tokyo
Japan's coach Takeshi Okada, who has talked about becoming
a farmer after leaving his job next month, was elected to
the national football association's board Sunday.
He was one of some 25 people elected or re-elected to the
board in a vote which also replaced Japan Football
Association president Motoaki Inukai with FIFA executive
board member Junji Ogura.
"I have recommended Okada for his concern about
environmental problems," Ogura told a news conference
after the elections. "I've told him to tackle
environmental problems for now as an executive."
At last month's World Cup tournament in South Africa,
Okada, 53, piloted the Blue Samurai to the knockout stage
for the first time on foreign soil.
They beat Cameroon and Denmark and narrowly lost to the
Netherlands at the group stage before going down to
Paraguay in a penalty shoot.
Okada, a Zen student who has often mixed his team talks
with lectures on religion, philosophy and history, has
repeatedly said he will leave football after the finals.
His term as Japan coach expires in August.
He told a British football magazine before the World Cup
that he would retire to become a "farmer," reading books
when it rains and working the land when the sun shines, a
lifestyle idealised by intellectual recluses in Japan.
Okada, who also guided Japan to their World Cup debut in
1998, when they lost all three group matches, recently
said he might accept the job of a club coach but never
become national coach again.
"He may be offered a club coach job. I want to keep him as
an executive even after he becomes a club coach," Ogura
said.
Waqar elated as
Pakistan end Australia jinx
AFP, Leeds
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis predicted a bright future for
his young side after they rid themselves of one of the
most unwanted records in cricket by at last winning a Test
match against Australia.
And former captain Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal warned
England to be on their guard when a four-Test series gets
underway at Trent Bridge on Thursday. Pakistan beat
Australia by three wickets in the second Test at
Headingley here on Saturday to level their two-match
series at 1-1.
Victory, which came after several nervy moments, was
Pakis-tan's first Test win over Australia in 15 years and
ended a run of 13 straight defeats at this level by the
Aussies - a record sequence for one country against
another.
"It's fantastic to beat Australia," fast bowling great
Waqar, a member of the last Pakistan team that tasted a
Test victory over Australia, at Sydney in 1995, told AFP.
"I think this is a new beginning for a young team and
let's hope this bunch of youngsters will take Pakistan
cricket a long way," he added. Pakistan dismissed
Australia for a paltry 88 on the first day-Australia's
lowest Test total for 26 years since being skittled out
for 76 by a formidable West Indies pace attack at Perth in
1984.
They then made 258 in reply to establish a first innings
lead of 170 -- an advantage Waqar said was crucial to the
outcome.
"Getting Australia out for 88 and then taking a first
innings lead was the turning point," said Waqar, who took
over as coach after Pak-istan's winless tour of Australia
earlier this year.
Pakistan arrived on a near three-month trip with a
youthful squad after senior batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and
Younus Khan were not selected following fines and bans
imposed after the Australia tour.
Iraq FA
postpones board election indefinitely
AFP, Arbil, Iraq
The Iraqi Football Association on Sunday decided to
postpone elections for its board until further notice amid
divisions which threaten to see Iraq barred from
international competition.
The election, originally set for Saturday, has been held
up because the IFA's governing committee has split into
two camps: one supporting the incumbent president, who has
links to executed dictator Saddam Hussein's former regime,
and another backing a pro-government challenger.
The former group gathered in the northern city of Arbil,
while the latter met in Baghdad. World football governing
body FIFA has threatened to ban Iraq from international
play over "governmental interference in the electoral
process" of the IFA.
Incumbent president Hus-sein Said said at the meeting in
Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region,
that the IFA's 63 committee members had unanimously agreed
to send a letter to FIFA requesting a postponement.
"We authorised representatives of FIFA and the Asian
Football Federation to convey the request of the
committee, and its desire to postpone the election until
further notice," he said.
Ponting philosophical
over future
Cricinfo Online
Ricky Ponting might have played his last Test in England,
but he still hasn't ruled out one final attempt to win the
Ashes on enemy soil. Ponting flew out of London last
September freshly hurt by the loss of the urn and keen to
return in 2013, but a year later he has become more
philosophical about his chances of being part of the next
Ashes battle in England.
The country has been troublesome for Ponting. It has
reduced him to mortal status as a batsman - he averages
41.79 in 20 Tests in England - and Australia have won only
three of their 12 Tests in the British Isles under
Ponting's captaincy. Pakistan's victory at Headingley
levelled the series 1-1, so he has still not won a Test
series in England as leader.
By the time Australia return for an Ashes tour Ponting
will be 38, and he knows that his chances of still being
in the Test side depend not only on his desire but also on
whether he retains his reflexes and ability. On that
front, the signs for Ponting are slightly worrying. In the
past 12 months he has averaged 39.81 in Tests and the
powerful pulls and hooks that have been his trademark have
at times brought his downfall.
Fluminense block Ramalho switch to Brazil hotseat
AFP, Rio De Janeiro
Brazil's hopes of appointing highly-regarded Muricy
Ramalho as the successor to Dunga as national team coach
were shattered on Friday when his Fluminense club refused
to release him.
"We are not interested in releasing Muricy," said Alcides
Antunes, the vice-president of Fluminense, who currently
top the regional championship and have the 54-year-old
under contract until December.
"Ramalho is very happy at Fluminense and he is happy to
continue. There will be other opportunities in the future
for him to coach the national team."
Earlier Friday, Ricardo Teixeira, the head of the
Brazilian Football Confe-deration (CBF), told TV Globo
that he had met Ramalho and was hopeful of having him in
place at the head of the team by Monday. "Now it's up to
him to resolve things, taking into consideration that he
is under contract to Fluminense," said Teixeira. Ramalho
led Sao Paulo to the Brazilian championship in 2006, 2007
and 2008 as well as to the runners-up spot at the Copa
Libertadores.
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