SATURday, july 3, 2010 ashar 19, 1417, RAJAB 20, 1431 Hijri

   Leading news  Back Page  Editorial   Analysis  Viewpoints   International   Business/Economy   National   Sports    Back

Leading News

Holland crash Brazil out of World Cup
AFP, Port Elizabeth

Ten-man Brazil crashed out of the World Cup on Friday as Holland came from behind to win 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
Robinho had put the five-time champions ahead but a Felipe Melo own goal and a Wesley Sneijder header gave the Dutch victory.
Twice finalists Holland now play Uruguay or Ghana in Cape Town next Tuesday for a place in the final.
Robinho had an early effort chalked off for offside but scored with a first-time shot after Melo played him in.
But thereafter they lost their shape and the Dutch roared back. Eight minutes after the restart, Sneijder curled over a cross, keeper Julio Cesar missed it and the ball glanced in off Melo's head.
And the Dutch then avenged 1994 and 1998 defeats by the South Americans on 68 minutes when Arjen Robben curled over a corner, Dirk Kuyt headed on and Sneijder headed home. Melo was sent off for a stamp on Robben in the 73rd minute.
There was only one name on the lips of the thousands of Dutch supporters and that was Wesley Sneijder after the Inter Milan star fired Holland into the World Cup semi-finals. Sneijder's second half header in the Netherlands' 2-1 win over Brazil took the playmaker's tally in South Africa to three, after his goals against Slovakia in the last 16 and Japan in the closing group game. Sneijder's preparations for this crunch match against the country that had knocked the Dutch out of the 1994 and 1998 World Cups had been far from smooth.
But the 26-year-old put a reported outburst from teammate Robin van Persie firmly behind him to produce the killer blow just when his country needed it most.
Sneijder and the rest of the team had taken a pre-match stroll along Port Elizabeth's beachfront hours before kick-off, and the sea air evidently did just the trick.
In stark contrast to Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and England's Wayne Rooney, who left their outstanding club form behind in Madrid and Manchester, Sneijder has lit up South Africa just as he had done for Inter Milan in their historic treble-winning season.
His match-winning contribution at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium on a balmy winter's afternoon was textbook stuff, as unmarked he headed home an Arjen Robben corner after a flick on from Dirk Kuyt. A product of Ajax's youth academy he played for the Dutch giants before a spell with Real Madrid, moving to Inter in 2009. He is a regular on the Dutch team after making his international debut in 2003 at the age of 18. Born in Utrecht, Sneijder's pre-match prediction that Friday's clash against the five-time chhampions was winnable proved 100 percent accurate.
Explaining why he believed Brazil could be toppled he had said: "For the first time since the start of the tournament, we're going to play against an opponent that plays an open game and therefore leaves us spaces. It's an advantage.
"The difference between Holland and Brazil is negligible. I really think we can win. We have everything to reach the semi-finals, even though I'm aware we're playing a great team."

 RAJUK to develop two more townships at Gazipur, Savar
BSS, Dhaka

After completion of Purbachal New Town Project, the capital development authority, is going to develop two more townships-one at Gazipur and the other at Savar, on the outskirts of the capital.
The proposed Gazipur Township project will be home to 12 lakh people while the Savar Township project will accommodate over eight lakh people. Gazipur and Savar have been earmarked as part of the prime minister's desire to develop four satellite towns around the metropolitan area, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) chairman, Engineer Md Nurul Huda told BSS.
RAJUK has kept the option in both the projects -Gazipur and Savar - to allocate a significant number of plots and apartments of different sizes for resolving the housing problem of low and middle-income group people, he said.
According to the plans for the new townships, Nurul Huda said, modern civic amenities like schools, colleges, parks, playgrounds, hospitals, graveyards, police stations, IT-based industries and factories would be provided for making these as complete environment-friendly satellite towns.
Ensuring planned urbanization in and around the capital, he said, the government has already approved the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for Dhaka Metropolitan area.
In the 2001 census, RAJUK chief said, the current estimated population under 590 square miles area of DAP is over 10.24 million, which would increase to 18.43 million by 2015, up 4.29 per cent on an average.
On a query, he said, the approved existing DAP for (2009- 2015) would cover a few areas of Gazipur and Savar municipalities and RAJUK is committed to implementing the policy to stop unplanned urbanization for making the capital a good place to live in. The government has already formed a committee to review the existing DAP, the RAJUK chairman said, adding that the committee could recommend by following Section six of the natural water- body protection act, 2000 to update the existing DAP, considering public interest.
Following the field survey, the proposed Gazipur new township project would be earmarked about 4,500 acres and it would be formed incorporating two areas-Bashan and Gachha-along with a portion of Tongi municipal area of the district.
In the Savar new township project, over 2,100 acres of land has been earmarked in Birulia, Ashulia and a portion of Savar municipal area under the upazila. A concept paper has already been submitted in this regard to the housing and public works' ministry for approval.

 AL announces protest programmes
UNB, Dhaka

Ruling Awami League announced two-day protest programmes demanding trial of the BNP and Jamaat activists for "killing, terrorism, bombing and arson, and obstructing the trial of the war criminals."
The programmes include protest in the metropolitan cities and district headquarters on Saturday, while in thana and upazila headquarters on Sunday, said a party press release.
It said that the Awami League Central Working Committee has urged all independence and democracy loving people to make the programme a success through greater participation.
"The identified undemocratic forces, in the guise of politics and democracy, sprayed petrol on a taxi cab the night before June 27 hartal and set fire to it. As a result, Faruk Hossain and Sumon sustained serious burn injuries," the release said. Faruk later succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday night (June 30) at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital while Sumon is still fighting for his life.
The release also mentioned that the "pro-hartal hooligans also seriously injured PWD superintending engineer Abul Kashem in the morning of hartal day (June 27) while he was going to his office."
Meanwhile, Awami League presidium member Obaidul Qader MP Friday heavily came down on the present political leadership, saying that both the ruling party and the opposition must take responsibilities of the excesses done during last Sunday's hartal.
Speaking at a discussion on healthy politics, correct leadership and present perspective at Dhaka Reporters Unity, he said the Prime Minister has instructed to probe the excesses.
Qader said during the BNP sponsored hartal on last Sunday there were two types of excesses - attacks on BNP leader Mirza Abbas' residence and BNP MP Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie at Shahbagh during the hartal as well as the death of Faruk from the burn injuries in pre-hartal violence.
"None of us can shirk our responsibilities," he said.
Calling for changing the mindset of the leaders of the two parties, the AL leader said that if the leaders could change, workers will change and this will also change the people and the country.

    BNP to extend support to any Jamaat programme
UNB, Dhaka

Main opposition BNP will extend support to and join in any programme of movement by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for the release of the party's arrested top leaders.
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said this while talking to reporters after a joint meeting of the party and its front and associate organizations at its Nayapaltan central office on Friday noon.
"We'll extend support to their (Jamaat) programme as the party is a victim of the blueprint of the government's conspiracy as Jamaat extended support to our programme and as it remains with the anti-government movement," Delwar told the reporters.
He further said that BNP will also take programme on its own to this end. The BNP joint meeting, presided over by the party's secretary general, was held to prepare for making the July 7 countrywide human chain a success.
On June 28, from a protest rally at Muktangon, BNP announced the human chain programme to demand release of the leaders and workers of the party and its front and associate organizations who were arrested during the June 27 hartal and withdrawal of the false cases against the arrested.
The BNP secretary general asked the government not to obstruct their July 7 countrywide human chain programme. He cautioned that the consequences of any government obstruction to their human chain programme would not be good as has been proved in the past. The joint-meeting was attended by senior leaders of BNP and presidents and general secretaries of the front and associate organizations of the party. On Thursday night, BNP national standing committee, the party's highest policymaking body, sat in an emergency meeting with Khaleda Zia in the chair.
The standing committee meeting discussed the latest political developments, particularly its strategy over the arrest of its ally Jamaat-e-Islam's three top leaders Matiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid and Delwar Hossain Sayedee. The Jamaat leaders were arrested on Tuesday.

    61 killed by law enforcers, 35 by Indian BSF in last 6 months

UNB, Dhaka

Some 61 people were killed in the hands of law enforcing agencies across the country in the last six months, says Odhikar, a rights group.
In its half-yearly report, Odhikar says among the 61 people, 29 were killed by elite force RAB, 25 by police, 4 by RAB-Police, and the other 3 by RAB-Coast Guard.
Besides, 35 Bangladesh nationals were also killed by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the Bangladesh-India border in between January 1 and June 30.
Odhikar, which compiled the figures based on reports published in different national dailies, also says 26 Bangladesh nationals were injured allegedly by Indian BSF during the period.
It says some 113 people were killed and 8,505 injured across the country in political violence.
Besides, 63 people, including 38 women, were the victims of acid attack while 291 women and children victims of rape - of which 45 were killed after being raped - across the country during the period.
The report further says some 104 women were killed and 50 others tortured in 163 incidents of dowry-related violence across the country between January 1 and June 30.

    Confce to attract investment in power sector in city today
UNB, Dhaka

The Power Ministry organises a day-long conference to attract investment in the country's power sector at the city's Sonargaon Hotel on Saturday.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith will inaugurate the conference, titled 'Investment in power sector of Bangladesh: Opportunities and Challenges', which is likely to be attended by a host of international investors.
Power Division officials said they are organising the conference as a follow-up of the government's road-shows abroad that took place in London, New York and Singapore last year. In the wake of nagging power and gas crisis, the government earlier announced a mega plan to generate an additional 9,426 megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2015 through setting up of power plants, both in private and public sector. This plan include seven base-load combined cycle power plants having generation capacity of 1,650 MW, eight peaking power plants having 700 MW generation capacity, 2,600 MW imported coal-based steam plants, and renewable energy-based 109 MW power plants. A huge number of the plants will be set up on build, own and operate (BOO) basis by next five years under public private partnership (PPP).
"We would project the government's future programmes in power sector before the private sector entrepreneurs at the function," said Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury. He said the programme, which is the first of its kind, would reflect the government's commitment to move forward with the ongoing activities in the power sector. Officials said major global players in power, energy and financial sectors have been invited to attend the conference.
The invited firms include Rolls Royce, Enpower Corporation, Globeleq, AES, Vopak LNG, GCM Resources, Watson Gough, SBM Offshore, Mij International, Brummer and Partners, CDC Group, Seamark Group, EIC, RJI Capital, Centrax, Societe General and BNP Paribas. Besides, development partners, multilateral donor agencies, managing directors of all local and foreign commercial banks, and the Bangladesh Bank Governor have also been invited to join the mega event on investment in the power sector.

Back Page

Flood situation improves in N-region
BSS, Rangpur

The overall flood situation marked huge improvements everywhere as the rate of onrushing waters from the upstream reduced in the northern region during the last 24 hours till 6am on Friday morning, official sources said.
Meanwhile, river waters have entered eight villages in Naogaon partially marooning some 2,000 families and disrupting communications following breaches at four points in the embankments and other devices alongside with the Atari and Chhoto Jamuna rivers.
The major rivers marked significant falls during the past 24 hours in the Brahmaputra basin to flow well below their respective Danger Mark (DM) at most points though the Jamuna was still flowing little above its DM at two points on Friday morning.
However, the situation continues improving everywhere and the flood waters has already receded from most places of the low-lying and char areas of Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Bogra and Sirajganj districts.
The villages of Chapra, Jhunjhuna, Taratiya, Gona, Lakshmipur, Goyna, Tilna and Chakrampur Ghoshpara in three upazilas of Naogaon were partially submerged under waters and communications on the Atrai-Naogaon road were snapped on Thursday night. The situation arose following breaches at the embankments and devices at Baloram Chak Swashan Ghat and Parangarh points in Atrai upazila and Chakrampur Ghoshpara in Manda upazila by the side of the Atrai and Nandaibari point in Raninagar upazila.
"We have started repairing works at these points and intensified monitoring at other points though the Atari and Chhoto Jamuna rivers were flowing below their respective DM in the district," said WDB's Executive Engineer Abdus Salam on Friday afternoon.
The Jamuna marked a fall by 10cm at Sariakandi in Bogra and the Brahmaputra fell by 9cm at Fulchhari in Gaibandha during the period where the rivers were still flowing 17cm and 4cm above their respective DM at 6am on Friday morning, WDB sources said.
The Brahmaputra marked a further fall by 6cm at Chilmari and 9cm at Noonkhawa points in Kurigram during the past 24 hour period where the river was flowing 17cm and 124cm below its respective DM at 6am on Friday morning.
Besides, the Dharla fell further by 6cm to flow only 30cm below its DM at Kurigram, the Ghaghot marked a fall by 7cm at Gaibandha pints during the period where the rivers were flowing 49cm and 42cm below their respective DM at these point on Friday morning.
The Jamuna marked falls by 4cm at Bahadurabad and by 5cm at Sirajganj points during the period and was flowing 3cm and 23cm below its respective DM at these points at 6am on Friday.

    Suicide bombers kill 42 in attack on Lahore shrine
AFP, Lahore

Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore was on high alert Friday after two suicide bombers blew themselves up in an Islamic shrine packed with worshippers, killing 42 people and wounding scores more.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistan has been hit by a wave of attacks carried out by the Taliban and other Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist extremists that have killed more than 3,400 people in the last three years. Television pictures from the scene of the carnage at a shrine dedicated to a Sufi saint showed people crying and beating their chests and heads. Bystanders helped ambulance crews load the wounded into vehicles to take them to hospital.
"The first blast occurred in the basement followed by another one with a deafening sound," said one witness.
"I saw dead bodies and injured people lying on the floor in pools of blood," said another.
Thousands of people were at the shrine in the crowded centre of Lahore dedicated to Sufi saint Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, at the time of the attacks. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the attacks, saying: "Terrorists have no consideration for any religion, faith or belief." "These terrorists neither respect human values nor care for human lives, and their brutal act is manifestation of their evil designs," he said.
The shrine's caretaker said the blasts occurred within minutes, triggering panic and sending people running in different directions.
"A total of 42 people have been martyred," Mazhar Ahmad, a senior rescue official told AFP by telephone. Khusro Pervez, the city's top administration official also confirmed the death toll.
Authorities said they had found the heads of two suicide bombers and were investigating how they had penetrated the area despite strict security measures.
Another senior city police official, Chaudhry Shafiq, confirmed two suicide attacks and said one bomber blew himself up in the complex's courtyard while the second detonated his explosive vest in the basement of the shrine. Hours after the blasts, two firecrackers exploded near the American consulate and Lahore Press club, adding to nervousness in the city.
"Nobody was hurt in these two blasts, these were cracker bombs," Mohammad Faisal Rana, a senior police official told AFP.
Large numbers of police and other security personnel were patrolling all busy and sensitive areas in Lahore, a city of around 10 million people. Security was particularly tight around mosques ahead of weekly Muslim prayers, Rana said. Lahore has increasingly suffered Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence, with around 265 people killed in nine attacks since March last year.

   Sahara asks law enforcers to remain alert against sabotage

BSS, Dhaka

Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun on Friday directed the law-enforcement agencies to remain alert and arrest anyone trying to create anarchy and disorder in the country.
Talking to journalists while distributing relief goods among the cyclone-affected people at Uttarkhan union High School ground, she said the people do not want to see the arrested Jamaat leaders free.
"They (Jamaat leaders) have shown disregard to law. They have been arrested for disobeying the court orders," the home minister said.
Local leaders of Awami League, Chhatra League, Juba League and senior police officers were present on the occasion.
Sahara Khatun urged main opposition BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia to return to healthy political course, shunning the way of sabotage and anarchy. The anarchy and disorder created by BNP in the name of hartal cannot be accepted, she said and called on the opposition leader to show respect to law and work for the country and people.
Hartal hampers development and those who call hartal do not want the country's development, the home minister said.
She asserted that none would be allowed to create anarchy and disorder over the arrest of three top leaders of Jamaat-e- Islami. She said the law enforcers have been asked to remain alert against possible sabotage by the Jamaat-Shibir.
Sahara Khatun said the people of this country are vocal in demand for trial of the war criminals and the government is very much respectful to the popular demand.
The trial of the war criminals would be held within the tenure of the present government, he added.

    Cancellation of lease system at Sadarghat Terminal hailed
BSS, Dhaka

Different organizations on Friday congratulated Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan for his bold step to cancel the lease system in the city's Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
In a joint statement, President of Jatiya Ganotantrik League MA Jalil and General Secretary Samir Ranjan Das termed the decision epoch-making and said it will definitely protect the people from repression and harassment of leasees.
President of Bangladesh Nari Mukti Andolan Fatema Khatun and General Secretary Farzana Yasmin Mukta in a separate statement congratulated the shipping minister for cancellation of lease system in the country's premier river port.

    Prices of vegetables go up in city markets
UNB, Dhaka

Prices of vegetables particularly ladies finger, aubergine, bitter gourd, snake gourd, string bean, kakrol, barbal and cucumber have increased over the week in the city markets due to heavy rainfall.
During visits to different city kitchen markets on Friday, it was found that the supply of vegetables from different parts of the county has decreased due to the recent heavy rainfall across the country.
Mohammad Rashid Mia, a vendor of Karwan Bazar kitchen market, said the prices of essentials particularly vegetables have went up over the week as the production of vegetables was being hampered in the rainy season. Moreover, seasonal vegetables will not come to the markets in near future, he said.
At city's biggest kitchen market Karwan Bazar on Friday, cucumber sold at between Tk 30 and Tk 32 per kg compared to Tk 25 last week. Price of Kakrol went up by Tk 4-Tk 8 over last week and sold at Tk 24-Tk 28 per kg.
The price of string bean increased by Tk 4-Tk 6 over last week and sold at Tk 28-Tk 30 per kg while ladies finger was selling at Tk 30 per kg, an increase of Tk 10 over last week. Barbal was selling at Tk 18-Tk 20 per kg while it was sold at Tk 15 per kg last week. The price of aubergine increased by Tk 10-Tk 15 per kg and sold at Tk 40-Tk 45 in the city kitchen markets on Friday.
Bitter gourd was selling at Tk 30-Tk 32 per kg today compared to Tk 24 last week while tomato was selling at Tk 50 per kg as against Tk 38-Tk 45 last week at different city markets. The price of green chilies increased by Tk 10 over the last week and sold at Tk 50 per kg on Friday while potato price remained almost steady at Tk 12 per kg.
Rahmat Ali, a vegetable supplier in city's Karwan Bazar, said the production of vegetables fell abruptly across the country due to heavy downpour. "We can't supply adequate vegetables in the city markets as vegetable production suffered all over the country. This resulted in the price-hike of vegetables in city kitchen markets," he said.
The price of local and imported onion remained more or less stable with locally produced onion selling Tk 20-Tk 22 per kg while the imported onion sold at Tk 18 on Thursday. Local garlic was selling at Tk 100 per kg while imported garlic sold at Tk 130 per kg on Friday at Karwan Bazar kitchen market.

    Call to build up united resistance against stalkers
BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a human chain programme on Friday called for framing a strict law to stop stalking and building up a united resistance against stalkers.
They also urged the people to be respectful to mothers and sisters in and outside the houses. Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote formed the human chain in front of Jatiya Press Club on Friday morning.
The speakers said the incidents of stalking have increased to a great extent in the last few years. As a result, they said, a number of female students were compelled to commit suicide in different parts of the country.
Even fathers, mothers and relatives of girl students are assaulted by stalkers regularly and law enforcers cannot stop the stalking alone, they said, adding every person of society will have to come forward to fight the social menace.
The speakers said mainly derailed boys tease school, college and varsity girls. So, they opined, a social movement will have to be built from the family first.
With Acting General Secretary of Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote Arun Sarkar Rana in the chair, the function was addressed, among others, by leaders of the organization Abdul Haque Sabuj, Sadia Sharmin Tuku, Nasima Aktar Labu, Shahjalal Mukul and Anwar Hossain Majnu and President of Awami Olama League Maulana Md Iliyas Hossain Bin Helali.
The leaders and activists of the organization also recited poems on the occasion.

Editorial

Killings in ‘Crossfire’

According to a report published in a national daily on Friday quoting human rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), some 61 people were killed in "crossfire" incidents in the country in the last six months, The statistics was prepared on the basis of reports published in different national dailies. ASK in its report says of the 61 people killed by law enforcers, 26 were killed by RAB while 13 by police during the January-June period. Some 41 people also died in custody and 22 women died due to stalking across the country during the period, it says.
Another national daily reported on Friday, a businessman named Mizanur Rahman met mysterious death in police custody in the city. Police claimed that he died in 'gunfight' with police while his wife alleged that he was killed by police while in custody. Earlier, on Monday night Babul Gazi, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver died under police custody in Ramna thana. Besides, businessman Zakir Hossain died under Ramna thana police custody on March 9.
Meanwhile, according to a report published in The Bangladesh Today on Friday, 135 people died in extra-judicial killings in 11 months from 1 August 2009 to 1 July 2010. Earlier, RAB DG said recently that 622 people were killed in 'crossfire' since the formation of RAB on 26 March 2004.
The unlawful 'crossfire' killings are being committed despite mounting protests by human rights activists, civil society members and political parties and repeated assurances of the government that such killings would be stopped and actions would be taken against those found responsible. It is unfortunate that the extra-judicial killings are taking place during the present government despite the fact that the Prime Minister had described the practice of controversial extra-judicial killings as a 'culture' and as a 'crime' and pledged to stop these. She told the Parliament on 12 February, 2009 that she had always been against the extra-judicial killings. The Prime Minister had also assured the House that the government would remain alert to stop extra-judicial killings and those found to be involved in such crimes would be brought to justice. But this assurance of the Prime Minister is yet to be materialised.
Criminals and miscreants deserve punishment no doubt, but that must be given through legal process. Until the crime of a man is proved before a court of law, he cannot be punished. Killing a man by law enforcers without legal sanction is simply brutal. So extra-judicial killings through 'crossfire' or 'shootout' must be stopped in the interest of justice and human rights. Unless such killings can be stopped, the pledge to protect human rights will continue to be meaningless.
It may be pointed out here that extra judicial killings which include elimination of arrested suspects in so-called 'crossfire' and deaths in the custody of law enforcers during interrogation to extract confession have been under severe condemnation and criticism at home and abroad. The issue was discussed at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva last year and Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni who led the Bangladesh delegation there made a commitment to ending the extra-judicial killing.
Bangladesh had to make this pledge at the international forum as extra-judicial killings including killings in ' cross-fire' have been taking place in the country almost on regular basis although these are blatant violations of law and human rights. Killing people, even if they are criminals, in this way without proper trial by a court is unlawful and gross violation of human rights. So all such killings must be stopped immediately. Now, everybody hopes that the Prime Minister's assurance will be implemented and extra-judicial killings will soon become a black culture of the past dark days.

 Jute and jute mills

Jute is now a hot issue with the prospect of its regaining the lost glory as the golden fibre being quite bright. There is a lot of enthusiasm among all concerned with jute cultivation, trade, industry and export following rise in its price and demand both at home and abroad. The government is also taking different steps to encourage cultivation of jute, enhance production of jute goods and boost exports.
Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury disclosed on Thursday that her ministry has allocated Tk 30 crore for assistance of 15 lakh farmers under 28 districts to encourage jute cultivation. Jute Minister Abdul Latif Siddique on Wednesday said the government would re-establish the Adamjee Jute Mills by arranging the necessary fund. Earlier, news agency report said that the government has taken steps to reopen five jute mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC). Taka 173 crore was allocated in the budget for this purpose.
However, on the issue of reopening the closed jute mills, Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday said it is not correct that all the closed jute mills would be opened. He said that the Textiles and Jute Ministry has set up a target to run 27 mills citing a reason. "The jute industry moved from one area to another area and it has gone to the private sector because of the problem of the BJMC (Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation)." He termed BJMC a failure and corrupt institution. But it remains a mystery as to why then the government maintains this 'corrupt' institution and also gave Tk 300 crore to it to buy raw jute. Thirteen of the 92 BJMA mills are now closed while many run partially due to fund shortage and power crisis.
There should be coordination between different sections and areas relating to jute cultivation, production, trade, industry and export to revitalise the jute sector. The gover-nment should streamline the policies and steps regarding different aspects of jute, jute mills and jute trade so that the prospect for regaining its lost glory can be utilised fully in view of the favourable situation in the international market.

Analysis

Resumption of dialogue

The meeting appears to have succeeded in achieving its limited purpose, which was to set the agenda for the foreign ministers' meeting scheduled this month.

Tariq Fatemi

It is not often that we see the foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India appear at a joint press conference and actually endorse each other's point of view.
This welcome event occurred when foreign secretaries Salman Bashir and Nirupama Rao told the press in Islamabad last week that they both felt "much more optimistic about a good outcome at the ministerial-level talks and good prospects for the two countries in terms of our relationship".
While Bashir claimed that his meeting with Rao was "marked with a great deal of cordiality, sincerity and earnestness", the latter too, was upbeat, remarking that the two countries had expressed commitment to a "serious, sustained and comprehensive dialogue to re-engage each other".
More importantly, Rao affirmed that India was ready for an uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan, emphasising the need to "jointly work together" towards the goal of resolving outstanding issues and "to deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail the process of improvement of relations between our two countries".
As expected, the Indian foreign secretary emphasised that terrorism remained a major concern for India. She also made clear her opposition to the format known as the composite dialogue process, insisting that nomenclatures meant little, while giving an assurance that India would not oppose the raising of any issue by Pakistan. Rao also said that it was time to look ahead and not get trapped 'in road maps' and 'agendas'.
Bashir rightly pointed out that it was not the government alone that was in favour of a comprehensive dialogue with India but the major political parties too were committed to the normalisation process. In response to a question about whether the military and intelligence favoured this approach, he stressed that "everyone speaks from one page".
The meeting appears to have succeeded in achieving its limited purpose, which was to set the agenda for the foreign ministers' meeting scheduled this month. More importantly, if press comments and body language are reflective of what transpired at the meeting, it confirms the impression of a shift in India's tone. The real test, however, will be the foreign ministers' meeting.
This is because the initial Indian reaction to the Mumbai terror attacks was to suspend the peace talks, demand that Islamabad clamp down on the terrorist networks and bring the perpetrators of the tragedy to justice, while rejecting Pakistan's offer of cooperation. Next, India sought to organise an international campaign to isolate Pakistan and to extract concessions from it.
This confirmed three fundamental flaws in India's approach. One, it underestimated Pakistan's resilience and its ability to resist foreign pressure; two, it overestimated its own influence in the international arena; and three, it failed to appreciate Pakistan 'strength' on account of its strategic linkages with China and its 'indispensability' to the US in its goals in Afghanistan.
India may therefore do well to give greater credence to Pakistan's assurances and intentions, rather than dwell on its past behaviour.
Nor should India ignore the complex nature of Pakistani polity and the interplay of various institutions and interest groups.
As for Pakistan, it is true that after initial hiccups in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, it was able to react with greater skill and intelligence than generally appreciated. For one, the security and intelligence agencies were able to approach the issue with good understanding of what needed to be done, which was to express horror at the Mumbai attacks, while reiterating willingness to share and exchange vital information.
At the same time, national consensus at home enabled the army to undertake massive operations against the militants, while the government kept trying to get the normalisation process back on track.
This led to conflicting reactions in India, as evident from the embarrassment caused to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by his own party colleagues, when he was made to resile from the commitment he gave to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on the dialogue process at Sharm-el-Shaikh.
Nevertheless, the initial impression created by the foreign secretaries' talks needs to be welcomed and built upon. Irrespective of the factors that led to this shift in India's position, Pakistan needs to take advantage of the situation. At the same time, we must recognise that the resumption of the normalisation process does not represent a victory for us, nor should we approach it as a favour to India.
Pakistan's myriad problems are many and fundamentally of our own making. Admittedly, peace with India will not resolve them but would be beneficial for us domestically and in the international community which has come to worry about and be worried by us. At home, the economy is in dire straits, with inflation, particularly relating to food items, soaring. This is underscored by the highly tragic, new phenomenon of family suicides.
Moreover, most domestic observers and international agencies are convinced that both as regards the standard of governance and level of corruption, the government's record gives little cause for either celebration or complacency. Even more worrying are the growing energy shortages, which have virtually crippled industry, sharply impacting our exports, especially at a time when we are demanding greater market access to the US and the EU.
Tragically, not only is the government not doing anything meaningful to resolve the problem but the Americans are so obsessed with punishing the Iranians, rather than assisting Pakistan that they have the temerity to warn Pakistan to stay away from the gas pipeline project with Iran, which many energy experts are convinced, is the only technically feasible and economically viable source of gas supplies.
But the prime minister was initially reported as saying that Pakistan would comply with American sanctions on Iran. Whether it was ignorance or naivety, he appears to have been blissfully unaware of our long-standing policy of not abiding by sanctions imposed by one country. Even though he backtracked the very next day, one never knows if it was a mistake, or a Freudian slip revealing the mental subservience of our rulers to foreign powers.

  Obama’s Vietnamistan

Obama would do himself and America a great favour by getting the coalition out of Afghanistan sooner than later.

Aijaz Zaka Syed

There's something surreal about the rise and fall of General Stanley McChrystal. The dramatic departure of the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan has drawn inevitable parallels with General Douglas MacArthur, arguably World War II's most brilliant commander and America's top commander in yet another forgotten war on a forgotten front.
Like General MacArthur, who defied President Harry S Truman to expand the Korean war into China bringing on his own fall, McChrystal has been brought down by his own hubris. He grew too big for his shoes taking the legends of his own brilliance as a commander and military strategist seriously.
If the success in the World War II and Korean war went to General MacArthur's head, the brutal "success" in Iraq and the subsequent lionisation in Afghanistan seem to have affected General McChrystal excessively.
In a fleeting moment of weakness, the General lost sight of the fact that the real boss and commander in chief is the president. A costly mistake first made by the other Mac in the Korean war-and paid for it dearly.
If Obama had chosen not to act, he would have been seen as a wimp, even a sissy by the gun toting Americans who love their wars and take their commander-in-chief and his job to rule the world rather seriously.
Besides, those tearful tributes in Western media - and even in the Middle East - to General McChrystal are exaggerated and far from justified.
Some Afghan and Pakistani officials have waxed eloquent about McChrystal's "humanitarian concerns" recounting how the General helped bring down civilian casualties. They would do well to visit Kim Sengupta's shocking revelations in the UK's Independent daily this week detailing how the 'hero' of Afghan war played a killer in Iraq.
For five years, the two-star General and his trigger-happy boys sat in a secret command centre and used the banks of television screens and controls to kill at will, blindly and remotely targeting densely populated civilian areas.
No wonder they called it the Death Star or Kill TV because you could "just reach out with a finger and eliminate" somebody. This is how the Special Forces eliminated tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and 'usual suspects'. This is how the toll of civilian casualties crossed over a million in Iraq.
And this is precisely why McChrystal was picked up by General David Petraeus and his bosses in Washington for the top job in Afghanistan. So much for the General's celebrated approach of 'courageous restraint' and peacemaking in the badlands of Afghanistan!
If McChrystal had asked his boys to go easy, as some claim he did, in raining death on unsuspecting people on the ground, it beats me why innocents still continue to get killed in Afghanistan. Just Google and see how many civilians have paid with their lives in the West's directionless, disastrous war.
Between 5,000 to 8,000 civilian deaths have taken place this year alone as a direct result of coalition strikes, as against 4,000 to 6,000 victims of insurgent attacks. ?This June has been particularly disastrous for the coalition as well.
So no matter who leads the Western coalition in Afghanistan, little is going to change on the ground. Let's face it: This is a lost cause, if ever there was one. This war was lost even before it was launched.
A mission impossible, if ever there was one. McChrystal knew this. In fact, as Ray McGovern has argued in a scathing piece, McChrystal might actually have wanted to be fired - and rescued from the current March of Folly in Afghanistan, by shooting off his mouth about "the wimps in the White House."
The sooner Obama confronts this reality the better for him and for everyone concerned. Especially when this mess is not of his making. It beats me why someone who stuck out his neck to courageously oppose the attack on Iraq and even voted against it as a senator should stick to his guns on Afghanistan and is determined to fight a lost war.
In the face of unprecedented euphoria around the world over his historic election, the Nobel Peace laureate president has chosen to go along with the fiction that this is
a "good war."
A war variously promoted as the war on terror to a mission to promote democracy and freedom, depending
on who is spinning the Goebbelsian wheel.
However, nearly a decade on, the coalition is still fighting in the dark and is nowhere near victory or at least a face-saving mission-accomplished kind of withdrawal. A new Newsweek opinion poll survey warns that Afghanistan is fast eating into Obama's popularity ratings.
A huge and disturbing majority - 53 per cent - now disapproves of the way Obama has handled almost every major challenge confronting his administration - a complete reversal from only four months ago.
More important, while a full 50 per cent of Americans approve of his handling of the McChrystal disaster, the controversy and General's views on Afghan mission have raised serious doubts about the war in American minds.
What was once a "good and right war" for much of the US establishment - as against the disaster of Iraq - is now being increasingly questioned at home and around the world. Even worse, no one including the Americans seems to have a clue what this war is all about any more and what the goal posts are, if any, of the Western coalition.
As the Rolling Stone story has reminded the Americans, Afghanistan has now beaten Vietnam to become the longest running US war. Even after pouring trillions of dollars into this bottomless pit, victory eludes the mightiest army on the planet and its powerful allies.
And the longer US and other Western powers refuse to face this reality and the imminent outcome of this war, the greater the cost for both sides. If Obama doesn't act now, Afghanistan is sure to end up as his Vietnam. Perhaps even worse. It's nearly there already.
Why's it so hard to see that General David Petraeus cannot possibly succeed at something the much decorated General McChyrstal failed? Especially when McChrystal is preceded by a long line of failed foreign commanders. Not for nothing Afghanistan is called the Graveyard of Empires.
Obama would do himself and America a great favour by getting the coalition out of Afghanistan sooner than later.
It may be a bitter pill to swallow but the West has no option but reach out to Afghans and engage their real leaders, if it wants to get out without egg on its face. Just a change of command is not going to end America's woes in Afghanistan. It's time to cut and run from Vietnamistan, Mr President. Now!


Aijaz Zaka Syed is Opinion Editor of Khaleej Times. Write to him at aijaz@khaleejtimes.com

Viewpoints

Who will take on Sonia’s gang?

First Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru imposed restraints on himself but his daughter did not.

Meghnad Desai

Ever since the Congress Party lost its hegemonic position in Indian politics in 1989, coalitions are the rule rather than the exceptions. And yet there is a lot of learning to do about how to make coalitions effective. Why, for example, has the Bihar NDA coalition fallen apart? Is it because the senior partner at the national level is a junior partner in Bihar?
Or is it because the Bharatiya Janata Party is so desperate that they wish to use Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to whitewash their pin-up boy Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi?
In any case, the Bihar coalition seems to be un-rescuable. In Jharkhand, a similar disaster seems to have visited the BJP by the wayward behaviour of the local dada, Shibu Soren. Small states were created to improve governance but Jharkhand is a classic refutation of that theory. It is much easier for mining interests and multinationals to corrupt and capture smaller states than larger states.
Of course, along with the end of the Congress hegemony, the Mandal issue has encouraged the fragmentation of parties along narrow caste lines, especially in North India. For a while it looked as if that strategy wouldn't be viable any longer. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati began to form cross jati alliances.
Now Lalu Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan have joined together in a Yadav-Dalit alliance just to avoid a drubbing at the next Bihar elections. In both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the revival of the Congress has destabilised the Yadav-Dalit political fights.
The Congress is ready to resume its pre-1989 position as an umbrella organisation for Muslims, Dalits and any other backward/deprived groups with the leadership firmly in Brahmin hands.
This, to a large extent, is an achievement of Rahul Gandhi. He is the first scion of the Dynasty in three generations who has actually done grassroot work before coming to power. His father never found the time and his uncle Sanjay Gandhi started at the top.
Indira Gandhi also inherited power and a sound Congress machinery (which she tore apart but that is another matter). If Rahul succeeds in capturing UP and Bihar for the Congress, that would redraw the map of Indian politics for the simple reason that it would guarantee a permanent majority for the Congress at the Centre. And since he is only 40, once he has done that, he will get a long lease on office at the top. If that were to happen, it will improve India's governance since unlike UPA II there would be some decisiveness at the top.
The drift of indecision in UPA II is quite alarming and difficult to explain. Yet, one also has to worry about the tendency of the Congress to ride roughshod in matters of legality and accountability when it has a large majority. First Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru imposed restraints on himself but his daughter did not.
The pathetic farce of Bhopal recriminations shows that when it can, the Congress escapes scrutiny and finds scapegoats.
The only antidote to Congress highhandedness is an effective Opposition. Alas, the BJP is still struggling to come to terms with its double defeat and has not found a coherent voice. When a Party (with the RSS as its progenitor) has to lock up its MLAs to 'instruct them on how to vote', as the BJP did in Rajasthan, you know no one is in control.
The usual 'hangama' in Lok Sabha apart, the UPA has faced no serious opposition either from the Left or the Right. It is a pity that the CPM is also unravelling rapidly. It made a wrong move in the US nuclear deal case and got battered in the 2009 elections. It is now about to lose West Bengal and Kerala does not look good either.
But I cheer up when I see lots of Indian politicians in London in the summer. Come here and learn how to make a coalition work.
There is a hefty document produced by the Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties before they formed the government. In its depth of details and a blending of the rival philosophies, this is a worthy document to study. But then joining politics in UK does not make you a crorepati as it does in India. You actually have to serve the people.



Eminent economist Lord Meghnad Desai is a professor emeritus of the London School of Economics © Indian Express

  Russia to rewrite history

Russia’s history in the 20th century was an unmitigated and unnecessary disaster: the first half tragic and very bloody, the second half merely impoverished and oppressive.
 
Gwynne Dyer

The Georgians took down the last statue of Stalin last week. There used to be thousands of such statues all across the old Soviet Union, but the communists themselves tore almost all of them down after the great dictator died in 1953. They left the one in Gori, in northern Georgia, because that's where he was born and the locals were still proud of him.
Even after Georgia got its independence in 1991, the six-metre statue of Stalin continued to stand in Gori. But now, just when you might think that the Georgians would be starting to approve of Stalin, they go and tear his statue down.
They're planning to replace it with a monument to "victims of the Russian aggression" in the 2008 war, so the history they're peddling in Gori will still be based on lies. (It was Georgia that started the war with Russia in 2008.) But the bigger lies will be told in Russia, and they will be told mainly about Stalin.
Two weeks ago, a group of politicians and academics met in Moscow's main library to discuss how to make Russians proud of their history. The answer? Get an upbeat history book into the schools. "(The book) should not be a dreary look at or apology for what was done," explained Prof Leonid Polyakov of the Higher School of Economics.
The politicians were from Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party, and they wanted the academics to come up with a single history textbook for use in all Russian schools. It should downplay the crimes and failures of 74 years of communist rule and concentrate on the glorious epic of the Soviet victory in the Second World War. Which means they must rehabilitate Stalin.
Rewriting the history books is not a Russian monopoly. The Texas Board of Education recently caused a great furore by deciding that its history textbooks should show that the founding fathers of the United States, and the authors of its constitution, intended America to be a Christian nation, not a country committed to the separation of church and state.
Start with the proposition that the Soviet Union played a key role in defeating Hitler (true), and that the war was a heroic victory against great odds (false). This is the first place where you wind up having to give Stalin some credit, because he was definitely the man in command throughout the war.
Then, to justify the terrible cost of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil war, and to slide past the purges and famines of the 1930s, you have to argue that those horrors were what allowed the miracle of high-speed industrialisation that laid the groundwork for a Soviet victory in the war. Once again, Comrade Stalin gets the credit, for the industrialisation happened on his watch.
It's all lies and distortion. The Soviet Union's population was twice that of Nazi Germany, and its industrial power and technology were not significantly inferior. If Stalin had not murdered most of the Red Army's senior officers in the purges of the late 1930s, and if he had not stupidly let himself be surprised by the German invasion, the war would not have lasted so long and killed so many Russians.
As for the alleged miracle of rapid industrialisation, it was only needed because most existing Russian industry was destroyed by the revolution and the civil war: industrial output in 1922 was only 13 per cent of that in 1914. Russia's history in the 20th century was an unmitigated and unnecessary disaster: the first half tragic and very bloody, the second half merely impoverished and oppressive. Even today, Russia has not regained the rank among the developed countries that it held a century ago. What can one do with such a history but deny and rewrite it?
The truth is that Germany's 20th-century history was also terrible. If today's Germans can see their past with clear eyes and still feel pride in their present and hope for their future, why can't the Russians?

  Give cash to the poor

There's a revolution in aid afoot: it's all about giving money straight to the needy, and it started with Bruce Lee.

Aditya Chakrabortty

The most exciting new idea for tackling poverty and feeding billions around the world has got nothing to do with hydroelectric dams or back-slapping summitry. Instead, this one begins with a story about kung-fu movies.
In the mid-90s, Claire Melamed was working in a village in the far north of Mozambique. Nacuca had no electricity, nor running water, and precious few distractions. As the development economist recalls: "Villagers would ask, 'We have to live here, but how come you've chosen to stay?'" Then one day visitors came, bearing entertainment.
They were former soldiers from Mozambique's long civil war and, like the other 90,000 or so demobbed men, they were getting $15 (Dh55) a month from donors, along with some funding to start businesses. This lot had pooled the hand-outs to buy a TV, a video recorder and a generator.
Oh, and a few old Bruce Lee tapes.
The former soldiers toured villages across Mozambique showing copies of Enter the Dragon and Fist of Fury for cash or, failing that, maize and cassava. And they went down a storm in the remote rural yawn of Nacuca, staying for days and playing the same films over and over.
What Melamed saw in Mozambique was one of the first major exercises in what is now among the most talked-about new ideas in aid, called cash transfers - or, as a new book title puts it, Just give money to the poor, as those donors did to the former soldiers. The authors, Joseph Hanlon, Armando Barrientos and David Hulme, count 45 countries that hand cash to more than 110 million families. In Brazil, poor families can collect money from lottery shops. Pickup trucks drive across Namibia, bearing safes with cash machines welded on the front, used by old ladies to take out their monthly pensions.
Self help
It sounds forehead-smackingly obvious: isn't giving cash to the poor what we do every time we shovel change into an envelope, or pledge a donation to a fundraising telethon? But when that money - whether from individuals or governments or big international institutions like the World Bank gets to Africa or Asia, it's typically turned into new roads, schools, even community radio stations. The idea is to give poor people the infrastructure and training they need to lift themselves out of destitution.
Or perhaps I should say that was the idea. Looking back over the last few years, we see in retrospect a brief golden period for aid. It was marked in Britain by turning Clare Short into the new secretary of state for international development, and defined internationally by the 2005 pledge at Gleneagles of the G8 richest countries to give more money to Africa. And it appears to be drawing to a close.
Academics and writers such as Bill Easterly and Dambisa Moyo now gain plaudits for books with titles such as Dead Aid. Recession-hit politicians at events such as last weekend's G20 summit in Toronto avoid even mentioning the Gleneagles promises. And when official money is handed over, it often ends up on the most useless projects.
Against all that, the idea of just handing over a hefty chunk of the world's $100 billion aid money directly to the 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day is pretty attractive. Less funny business from donors, and far less waste. And what makes this most remarkable of all is that while the rich countries squabble over how much money to give and in what form, this initiative has sprung largely from the poor nations - usually under pressure from some of their poorest people.
This is the world of aid turned upside down. A couple of years ago, Oxfam tried the idea out in a few villages in Vietnam. Charity workers gave the equivalent of three years' wages in one go to more than 400 families. When they returned they found that poverty had dropped through the floor, with most of the money spent sensibly on food or fertilisers, seeds and cows.
Findings such as these have led the author Joe Hanlon to call for most of the Gleneagles millions to be shovelled into poor people's pockets. That's going too far: individual donations cannot replace schools or hospitals. But, qualifications aside, the concept is only going to get more popular.



Aditya Chakrabortty is economics leader writer for The Guardian.

  Constant or composite?

Neither subject figures prominently in the Composite Dialogue process structured 13 years ago. They should.
Why shy away from talking?

Mani Shankar Aiyar

The quarrel between the two governments has had the most deleterious consequences for precisely those crores of Indians and Pakistanis who have never had anything but "Aman ki Asha" in their breasts.
It is they who have to suffer endless, tense waits to get visas to visit friends and relatives and participate in family festivities. It is they - really poor people - whom inland security authorities in both countries compel to travel hundreds and often thousands of kilometres and sleep in ditches outside visa offices.
It is they whose innocent kith and kin -fishermen eking out a living, airmen who dropped out of the sky 50 years ago, children whose ball fell on the other side of the dividing line - are locked up in jails in the other country in a grotesque game of inhumanity.
It is they whose ghazal singers and qawwals and Bharatanatyam dancers are cruelly parodied as potential terrorists by visa fatwas (as if Ajmal Kasab and his companions sought visas to sail into Mumbai harbour!). It is they who are banned from consuming TV channels, films and magazines that reflect a commonality of cultural heritage not shared by any two other countries in the world. It is they who are the victims of strategies of one-upmanship that are the staple of diplomacy and, worse, of the "intelligence war" between agencies not famed for that particular quality.
As for anti-Hindu and anti-Indian elements in Pakistan, and anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan elements in India, they have in any case never had any desire to reach out to their fellow human beings across the border.
It is they who stoke the tempers of governments while the innocent well-wishers on either side of the Wagha-Attari divide are excoriated for carrying candles of peace to a midnight vigil on the doleful anniversary of Partition.
The resumption of the India-Pakistan dialogue is, therefore, to be welcomed with a huge sigh of relief by people of goodwill in both countries. Our only apprehension is that the dialogue will soon be disrupted by one of those diurnal disturbances that crop up with metronomic regularity.
Therefore, the key issue at this juncture is to ensure that the dialogue once resumed is so structured as to make it "uninterrupted and uninterruptible".
To this end, we first need to recognize that the 13 year-old Composite Dialogue process has run its course. In the first three years of the UPA government, substantive progress in the open Composite Dialogue combined with secret back-channel contacts between Ambassadors Lambah and Tariq have moved matters so far forward that the Composite Dialogue should be brought to a constructive conclusion by negotiating agreed documents to be signed when the Indian prime minister visits Islamabad.
That should set the stage, in terms of atmospherics, for simultaneous "talks about talks" relating to how to move on to the next stage of ensuring an "uninterrupted and uninterruptible" dialogue. Principal among these "remaining issues" from an Indian perspective is terrorism originating from Pakistani soil and, from a Pakistani point of view, the shrinking waters of the Indus river system.
Neither subject figures prominently in the Composite Dialogue process structured 13 years ago. They should. Why shy away from talking?


The writer, a Rajya Sabha MP, was India's consul general in Karachi from 1978 to 1982

International

Nepal’s political crisis sparks concern over peace
AFP, Kathmandu

Nepal's political leaders were locked in talks Friday to try to form a new government amid mounting international concern about the country's faltering peace process.
Major disagreements have emerged between the three biggest political parties over who should succeed outgoing prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, who stepped down on Wednesday under intense pressure from the opposition Maoists.
The former rebels, who fought a 10-year civil war with the state before entering mainstream politics and winning elections in 2008, say that as the largest party in parliament they should lead a power-sharing government.
But just six days before a deadline to form a national consensus government expires, rival parties have ruled out joining any administration led by the Maoists.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement urging the parties to "intensify their efforts towards the formation of a consensus government" and implement commitments made in the 2006 peace agreement.
Four years after the war ended, many parts of the peace deal have still not been fulfilled, notably the integration of thousands of Maoist former fighters into the national army.
The United States said it was "vitally important" to make progress in the peace process and called the prime minister's resignation an opportunity to move the process forward and bring stability to Nepal.
Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav has given political leaders until July 7 to form a power-sharing government.
"We are trying to achieve consensus but it will take time," said Rabindra Adhikari, a senior member of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML), which leads the outgoing government.

   Pakistan on alert after suicide attack on shrine
AFP, Lahore

Pakistani police went on high alert Friday after two suicide bombers blew themselves up among crowds of worshippers at a Islamic shrine in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 42 people.
The carnage at the Sufi shrine on Thursday was caught on camera in dramatic CCTV footage showing the bombers and the blast which sent hundreds of panicked worshippers fleeing in all directions engulfed in clouds of white smoke.
Thousands of people staged protests in Lahore and in several other cities after the attack on the shrine dedicated to Sufi saint Hazrat Syed Ali bin Usman Hajweri, popularly known as Data Ganj Bakhsh.
Pakistan's Taliban, which has been instrumental in a wave of bloody attacks blamed on Islamist militants over the past three years, denied it was involved Thursday's bombings which also left scores injured.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attacks, saying: "The government is committed to eradicate the menace of terrorism at all costs."
Most bazaars and markets remained closed and large numbers of police were on patrol in Lahore, considered a playground for Pakistan's elite and home to many top brass in the military and intelligence community.
More than 5,000 people, mostly followers of the saint, staged a protest rally in Lahore after Muslim Friday prayers and similar demonstrations were held in other cities across the country.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague branded the attacks as a "vicious and inhuman act".
"Britain stands alongside the people and government of Pakistan against those who commit such appalling atrocities," Hague said.
"We will be a firm friend to Pakistan as it works towards a safer and more prosperous future for all its citizens, and will continue our resolute support for efforts to prevent such attacks in the future."
European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said the incident showed the scale of the extremist threat in Pakistan.
More than 3,400 people have been killed in a three-year bombing campaign by Islamist extremists to avenge Pakistani military operations and the government's alliance with the US over the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

  Four dead as Taliban attack US aid group in Afghanistan
AFP, Kunduz

Four people including two foreigners were killed as suicide bombers and gunmen stormed a US aid organisation in Afghanistan Friday in an attack claimed by the Taliban.
Seven other foreigners were injured in the dawn attack, NATO said, while police said at least 20 Afghan civilians and police were hurt.
At least four suicide bombers attacked the premises of Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) in the northern city of Kunduz and two detonated their explosive vests, Mohammad Omar, the governor of Kunduz province, told AFP.
"Two foreigners have been killed who were both working for the organisation," said Kunduz provincial police chief Mohammad Rezaq Yaqobi. "One Afghan guard and one Afghan policeman were also killed. Around 20 people including civilians and policemen are wounded." A US embassy official said one of the dead foreigners was a German security guard. The nationality of the second fatality had not yet been confirmed, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Police said the fighting, which lasted about seven hours, ended around 11:00 am (0630 GMT) after the final two militants inside the building were killed.
"We managed to kill the remaining opposition and police got into the building," said Yaqobi. Smoke billowed from the building, which was surrounded by NATO and Afghan troops after the ambush.
"The first suicide attacker detonated at the entrance, the second detonated inside the premises, killing one foreign national," Omar said, adding that another security guard and a policeman, both of them Afghans, were also killed.
German and US troops are based in Kunduz under NATO's operations to quell a Taliban insurgency which has been intensifying during the nearly nine-year conflict.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as US General David Petraeus prepared to head to Afghanistan in the coming days to take command of the faltering campaign.

  Indian Kashmir curfew hits mosques on day of prayer
AFP, Srinagar

Indian troops enforced a strict curfew across much of Kashmir on Friday, preventing many worshippers attending mosques on the Muslim day of prayer.
The region has been hit by strikes, demonstrations and curfews over the killing of several civilians during the last month by Indian police and paramilitary forces struggling to control separatist rallies.
In Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, police backed by paramilitary soldiers sealed off neighbourhoods with barbed wire and blocked roads with security vehicles.
"A strict curfew is in force in major towns and no one will be allowed to violate the restrictions," senior police officer Farooq Ahmed said.
The Jamia Masjid, the main mosque in Srinagar, was among the many mosques worshippers were unable to attend for Friday prayers.
A general strike has closed shops and offices since Monday.
Separatists have fought a decades-long battle against rule by New Delhi, favouring independence or for Muslim-majority Kashmir to join neighbouring Pakistan.
The insurgency, which New Delhi says is fuelled by Pakistan, has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

  Okinawa city to sue Japan over US base issue
AFP, Tokyo

A Japanese city hosting an unpopular and controversial US military airbase plans to file a lawsuit against the country's government for failing to address the needs of locals, its mayor said Friday.
The issue of where to relocate the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from its current position in a densely populated area in Okinawa strained ties with Washington and helped trigger former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama's downfall.
Anti-base protests have flared in recent months after Hatoyama first pledged to move the contentious Futenma airbase off Okinawa, than reneged on the promise following protests from the United States, enraging locals.
Hatoyama's successor Prime Minister Naoto Kan has pledged to follow an accord reached in May under which the base would be relocated within Okinawa-as first agreed in 2006 -- to the island's coastal Henoko region.
Okinawans have been the reluctant hosts of Japan's largest concentration of US forces for decades and have long complained about noise pollution and potential safety problems from low-flying US military jets near the airbase.
"We were forced to accept an excess burden of hosting the US base and denied even the basic human rights in our everyday lives. Therefore, I decided to question at court the government's policy in providing the Futenma airbase (to the United States)," Ginowan mayor Yoichi Iha said in a news conference.
The mayor plans to file the lawsuit before March 2011, local reports said. The city will argue that the airbase threatens the safety of residents and therefore violates Japan's constitution, reports said.
Futenma and other US bases were established as American forces took the island in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.

  Wave of attacks in Pakistan
AFP, Islamabad

A wave of deadly attacks in Pakistan blamed on Islamist extremists opposed to the government's alliance with the United States, have left more than 3,400 dead in three years.
The following is a list of major attacks since July 2007:
2007--
July 19: Three suicide attacks in the northwest of the country kill 54 people, including more than 20 soldiers and police officers. The attacks bring to almost 200 the number killed in six days by suicide attacks and attacks in tribal zones and in Islamabad.
October 18: Bomb attacks targeting two-time former premier Benazir Bhutto kill at least 139 people in Karachi, just hours after she returns to Pakistan for the first time in eight years. She survives unhurt, but is killed along with around 20 people in another gun and suicide attack on December 27.
December 21: At least 56 are killed in an attack on a mosque in the northwest of the country.
2008-
August 21: Twin suicide attacks kill at least 64 people outside Pakistan's main arms factory in Wah, near Islamabad.
September 20: At least 60 people are killed when a suicide attacker rams a massive truck bomb into the gates of the five-star Marriott hotel in Islamabad.
2009--
October 28: A massive car bomb destroys a Peshawar market crowded with women and children, killing 125 people.
December 7-8: Four attacks, including two almost simultaneous blasts on a market in the eastern city of Lahore, leave at least 66 dead.
2010--
January 1: A suicide bomber blows up a car packed with explosives in the middle of a crowd gathered for a volleyball game in a northwest village, killing at least 101 people.
March 12: Twin suicide attacks seconds apart target the Pakistani military in Lahore, killing 57.
April 5: At least 41 people are killed in a suicide attack at a political rally in the northwestern town of Timargarah. In a separate assault, militants armed with guns and suicide vests target the US consulate in Peshawar. Four attackers are killed, as well as a police officer and another man. The Taliban claim the attack.
April 17: Two suicide bombers dressed in burqas strike a crowd of displaced people collecting aid handouts, killing at least 41 and wounding more than 60 at a camp in northwest Pakistan.
April 19: At least 24 people, including a child and police officials, are killed in bombings hours apart at a high school and a crowded market in Peshawar.
May 28: Gunmen wearing suicide vests storm two mosques belonging to a minority sect in Lahore, bringing carnage to Friday prayers and killing at least 82 people.
July 1: At least 42 people are killed when suicide bombers strike at the tomb of an Islamic saint in Lahore.

  Nine killed in two days of attacks in Thai south
AFP, Narathiwat, Thailand

Nine people, including six military personnel, have been killed in two days of bomb and gun attacks in Thailand's insurgency-plagued southern provinces, police said Friday.
A roadside bomb late Thursday killed three military rangers on patrol in Ruso district in Narathiwat, one of three troubled Muslim-majority provinces near the Malaysian border.
A security volunteer and a deputy village headman travelling with them also died in the attack by suspected Islamist separatists, police said.
The bomb, containing about 20 kilos (45 pounds) of explosives, was buried in a dirt road and detonated by wire. The attackers then opened fire on the vehicle and seized weapons before fleeing the scene. In a separate incident, three soldiers were killed when a bomb blast ripped through their patrol vehicle Friday in neighbouring Yala province, police said.
A 46-year-old Muslim village leader also died on the way to hospital after she was shot Friday in a drive-by shooting in Mayo district in Pattani province, police said. They said her son, a security volunteer, had been shot dead two months ago.
More than 4,100 people-both Buddhists and Muslims-have been killed in the region in six years of attacks led by a shadowy mix of Islamist and separatist militants.
The rebels have targeted both Buddhists and Muslims with shootings, bombings and gruesome methods such as beheadings and crucifixions.
The Muslim-majority region was an autonomous Malay Muslim sultanate until it was annexed in 1902 by mainly Buddhist Thailand and tensions have simmered there ever since, flaring up into the current insurgency in January 2004.

 Obama signs toughest-ever US sanctions on Iran
AFP, Washington

President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law the toughest ever US sanctions on Iran, which he said would strike at Tehran's capacity to finance its nuclear program and deepen its isolation.
The measures, on top of new UN Security Council and European sanctions, aim to choke off Iran's access to imports of refined petroleum products like gasoline and jet fuel and curb its access to the international banking system. "With these sanctions-along with others-we are striking at the heart of the Iranian government's ability to fund and develop its nuclear programs," Obama said at a White House ceremony, before signing the sanctions into law.
"We are showing the Iranian government that its actions have consequences, and if it persists, the pressure will continue to mount, and its isolation will continue to deepen.
"There should be no doubt-the United States and the international community are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons."
The US Senate and House of Representatives approved the legislation-which backers described as the toughest ever unilateral US sanctions against the Islamic republic-by crushing 99-0 and 408-8 margins last week. The United States spent months assembling an international coalition for new United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran, which passed last month. The measures, the fourth such set of UN penalties levied on Iran, are meant to punish Tehran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment work, the most sensitive part of its atomic drive. In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday he would postpone nuclear talks as a "penalty" to world powers as a result of the latest UN sanctions.
The new US sanctions are effectively designed to force foreign firms to chose whether to do business with Iran or the United States. The law shuts US markets to firms that provide Iran with refined petroleum products that the oil-rich nation must import to meet demand because of a weak domestic refining capability. It also takes aim at firms that invest in Iran's energy sector, including non- US companies that provide financing, insurance, or shipping services.

   Turkish jets bomb Kurdish rebel targets in Iraq: Army
AFP, Ankara

Turkish jets bombed Kurdish rebel targets in neighbouring northern Iraq overnight following deadly clashes inside Turkey, the military said Friday.
"The targets were hit successfully," it said in an online statement, without any mention of casualties among the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The warplanes targeted PKK hideouts in the Qandil mountains and the Khakurk region, the statement said, adding that "necessary caution was displayed so that civilian people are not adversely affected."
The PKK, which has dramatically stepped up violence in recent weeks, takes refuge in rear bases in northern Iraq, using them as a launching pad for attacks on Turkish targets across the border.
A PKK spokesman based in northern Iraq said the raid began at 11 pm (2000 GMT) Thursday and lasted an hour and a half. "The attack targeted villages near the borders with Iran and Turkey in the region of Khakurk," Ahmet Denis said. "A house in the village of Qouzina was destroyed, causing no casualties," he added.
The air raid followed clashes inside Turkey on Thursday in which 17 people -- 12 militants and five members of the security forces-were killed, according to the army.
The fighting erupted after PKK rebels, armed with rockets and assault rifles, attacked a military unit in a rural area in Siirt province.
In their bloodiest attack in two years, the PKK killed 12 soldiers last month in an attack on a border guard post at the Iraqi frontier. Also last month, five soldiers and a teenage girl were killed in the bombing of a bus carrying army personnel in Istanbul, which was claimed by the rebels.
The violence surged after jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan said through his lawyers in May that he was abandoning efforts to seek dialogue with Ankara for a peaceful end to the 26-year conflict.

   Anti-war protesters by Big Ben vow to oppose eviction
AFP, London

Anti-war protesters camped outside London's Houses of Parliament vowed Friday they would have to be dragged away from their months-long demonstration as a deadline neared for their eviction.
"They'll have to carry us off," said Chris Knight, 67, a former professor of anthropology who has been camped out under the shadow of the Big Ben clock as part of a protest against Britain's deployment to Afghanistan since May 1.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson won a High Court battle this week to evict the demonstrators, who are living in a make-shift camp comprising about 30 tents on a small patch of grass across from parliament and Westminster Abbey.
The judge said his ruling would not be enforced before Friday, although the protesters lodged several last-minute applications at the Court of Appeal.
Regardless of whether their challenge succeeded, the members of the so-called "Democracy Village", who have been living off charitable food donations, insisted they would not go quietly.
"We will offer no violent resistance, but if we have to be dragged off then we will," said James Welsh, a 50-year-old former army reservist from Glasgow who has been at the camp for the past month.
He took time out from his job as a painter and decorator to protest against an "illegal and unjust war" in Afghanistan, where about 9,500 British troops are deployed. So far 310 soldiers have died-the latest killed on Thursday.
"I'm opposed to the government trying to impose its will on the Afghan people," the father-of-four told AFP.
Although the anti-war protest is the main focus of the peace camp, there were also banners condemning capitalism and bankers, as well as a section dedicated to climate change.
"If I had my way, we would be a bit more organised," said Knight, who helped organise the camp and was also involved in last year's G20 protests here.

  Kyrgyz constitution backed by 90.55 pct: official results
AFP, Bishkek

Voters in Kyrgyzstan overwhelmingly backed a new constitution in a controversial referendum last week following deadly ethnic clashes in the ex-Soviet state, the final vote tally showed Friday.
In Sunday's referendum, 90.55 percent of voters backed the new charter that would set up Central Asia's first parliamentary democracy, according to the official results released by the election committee.
Just 8.07 percent voted against, on the back of a mass turnout of 72.24 percent, according to the results. But opposition leaders have said the results were impossibly high given the fallout from this month's ethnic violence that left hundreds of people dead in the south of the country. The referendum also paves the way for interim Kyrgyz leader Roza Otunbayeva's to be sworn in as president on Saturday, election committee head Alkybek Sariyev said. "This means the constitution has come into force. Moreover, Roza Otunbayeva is confirmed as president of Kyrgyzstan," Sariyev told reporters. Kyrgyzstan's provisional government-which came to power in a bloody revolt in April and which has struggled to impose order on the ex-Soviet state - - has hoped that the referendum would help legitimise its authority.
The new constitution slashes the powers of the president and sets the stage for parliamentary elections that authorities confirmed Wednesday would be held on October 10 to bring in a permanent government. Otunbayeva will serve as president until 2011 elections.
The impoverished Central Asian state, which saw the violent ouster of its only two post-independence governments, has long been considered the most politically volatile country in the region.

  Medvedev alarmed over falling population in Russia’s east
AFP, Moscow

President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday called the shrinking population in Russia's far east a "dangerous trend" as he visited to promote Russia's economic role in the Asia-Pacific region.
"In the last 20 years, since 1991, the population of the region has fallen by 25 percent. And, without a doubt, this is the most worrying and dangerous trend," Medvedev said in comments released by the Kremlin.
The demographic crisis has exacerbated the region's economic problems after its industrial output was hit by the global slow down, Medvedev added, speaking in the city of Khabarovsk, around 8,500 kilometres (5,300 miles) from Moscow.
"Due to the crisis, all the socio-economic indicators in the Far East region have worsened. Industrial output has fallen. Sadly, one in five residents lives below the poverty line," he said.
Medvedev's comments come despite an influx of foreign migrants to the Russian Far East, particularly from China, amid flourishing trade with the energy-hungry giant and other regional neighbours.
Trade with China grew 50 percent in the first quarter of 2010 on the same period last year, while it rose 80 percent with South Korea, Medvedev said, calling for Russia to bolster cooperation with its trading partners.
"Integration with countries in the Asia-Pacific region-I think everyone understands-is a very serious resource to boost the economy of the Far East and all of Russia," the Kremlin leader said.

  At least seven dead in Colombian discotheque attack
AFP, Bogota

Gunmen opened fire in a discotheque in Envigado, northwestern Colombia, killing at least seven people and wounding nine others in the early morning hours Friday, police said.
The authorities said they had yet to determine a motive for the killing close to Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city some 400 kilometers (249 miles) northwest of the capital Bogota.
Police were hunting down the gunmen, who fled on motorbikes, according to Colonel Edgar Munoz of Antioquia department.
The region is home to battles between criminal bands often linked to drug trafficking and seen as responsible for doubling the number of murders from 2008 (1,066) to 2009 (2,186) in Medellin, which has become one of the most dangerous South American cities. The city sees some 94 murders for every 100,000 inhabitants.
Outgoing President Alvaro Uribe expressed concern over the discotheque "slaughter." "This indicates that we must all do more, starting with the president, the Ministry of Defense, the armed forces, justice," he said in a statement.
"Drug killings are a very, very serious matter that should not be taken in vain."
Colombia is the world's biggest producer of cocaine, although production has consistently dropped, from 600 tonnes in 2007 to 430 tonnes in 2008 and 410 tonnes in 2009.

  Longer blackouts for Gaza, as politicians quarrel
AP, Gaza City

An escalating dispute between the rival Palestinian governments over who should pay Gaza's electricity bill has caused some of the worst power cuts here in years, leaving Gazans stewing in sweltering heat and cursing politicians of all stripes.
Gazans are used to daily blackouts, especially since Israel bombed the territory's power plant four years ago following the capture of an Israeli soldier by Gaza militants. However, the latest wrangling between the strip's Islamic militant Hamas rulers and the Western-backed government in the West Bank has kept Gaza without power for up to 16 hours a day for the past week. The argument highlights the rancor between the adversaries, who have been on a collision course since Hamas wrested Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. It raises questions about whether they can ever reconcile or find enough common ground to work with the international community to get Gaza's borders opened after three years of blockade by Israel and Egypt. "Each government is trying to make the other look bad," said Khalil Shahin, a researcher at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. "The problem is that civilians are paying the cost." The dispute over electricity began in November, when the European Union stopped paying $12 million a month for fuel for Gaza's power plant, which provides about one-third of Gaza's electricity, with most of the rest coming from Israel and a small amount from Egypt. This left Abbas' Palestinian Authority to find a way to cover the fuel costs, since the Israeli suppliers won't deal directly with the internationally shunned Hamas.
The Palestinian Authority receives hundreds of millions in foreign aid each year, but is struggling from month to month to meet expenses, including in Gaza. Even after the Hamas takeover, it continued to pay for Gaza's electricity from Israel and Egypt. Faced with the new fuel bill for the power plant, the Abbas government asked Hamas to chip in since it collects around $4 million a month from Gaza's electricity customers.

Business/Economy

India ‘pulled out’ of IPI because of US pressure, hints Pakistan

AFP, Islamabad

Three months after signing a USD 7.6 billion pact for a gas pipeline with Iran bilaterally, Pakistan has hinted that India had "pulled out" of the trilateral project under US pressure but said it could still join.
"We never stopped India to be part of it (Iran-Pakistan- India gas pipeline project). India, on its own, accord pulled out," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told PTI in an interview here.
He contended that India "pulled out for obvious reasons" but did not elaborate despite being asked repeatedly, saying "you know it". Qureshi was apparently hinting at the US which has been asking India and Pakistan not to go ahead with the project, saying it would benefit economically the Persian country which is under four rounds of United Nations sanctions.
India maintains that it wants to be part of the project but cannot go ahead till its concerns with regard to security and issues related to pricing of gas are addressed.
Negotiations for the IPI project have been going on since 2005 but India has not been participating in the talks since 2007 citing its concerns. Pakistan and Iran signed on March 17 the USD 7.6 billion deal under which a pipeline will be constructed between Iran's South Fars gas field and southern Balochistan and Sindh provinces to bring the natural resource to Pakistan.
Under the deal, 750 million cubic feet of gas will be supplied to Pakistan daily from Iran by mid-2015.
Qureshi said Iran and Pakistan had done their utmost to get India into the negotiations but "when India showed reluctance, bilaterally we went ahead and signed the agreement."
Asked whether India can join later, he said, "Yes, you are welcome, there is provision for that." India and Iran, which has the second-largest known gas reserves in the world after Russia, have held several rounds of talks but the former's concerns could not be addressed. The issue is likely to figure again at the India-Iran Joint Commission meeting to be held in New Delhi next month. India has been boycotting formal talks on the project since 2007 over security concerns. It recently sought to revive the talks and proposed dialogue with Iran to discuss impediments in implementation of the pipeline project.
India wants Iran to be responsible for safe passage of gas through 1,035-km pipeline in Pakistan and would pay for the fuel only when it is delivered at Indian border.
Iran, on the other hand, has suggested a trilateral mechanism, meaning contractual provisions among three countries, to ensure safe delivery of gas to India. Under this system, New Delhi pays for its share of gas even if the supplies were to be disrupted in Pakistan.

 Africa needs investment, not charity: UN chief
AFP, Libreville

Africa needs investment and not charity as its "big cat" economies begin to move and political stability emerges, UN chief Ban Ki-moon told the Gabon parliament Friday.
"Inflation has fallen almost everywhere in Africa, a new private sector is being born. We observe a new political stability. It is a big change," the UN secretary general told the deputies and ministers. "Africa does not need charity, Africa needs investment and partnership," he said.
"This is the hour of Africa. It is time to consider sub-Saharan Africa as one of the biggest emerging economies of the world. Like the economic tigers of Asia of the past, the big cats of Africa are emerging."
The UN chief said the World Cup under way in South Africa was also good for the continent. "I am not a football expert but I already know who is going to win the World Cup. It is the African people," he said to applause.
Ban urged for the same enthusiasm over goals scored in the football event to be shown in meeting the UN's millennium development goals, which include benchmarks on ending poverty and hunger, and promoting education.
The UN chief said Gabon had seem "some progress" on eliminating corruption and bad management, but it needed to ensure its parliamentary elections due next year were honest.
"Elections open to everyone, free, honest and transparent, play a clear role in the maintenance of peace and stability. "Africa has seen too much election fraud, too many unconstitutional changes of government, too much manipulation of the law," he said.
The Gabon opposition does not recognise the 2009 presidential elections-won by Ali Bongo Ondimba, son of strong-arm president Omar Bongo Ondimba who died last June after 41 years in office-alleging they were rigged.

  World Bank posts record aid amid frail global recovery
AFP, Washington

The World Bank said Thursday it had committed a record amount of aid to developing countries in the past 12 months to help them cope with a fitful global economic recovery.
An "unprecedented" level of assistance, 72.2 billion dollars, was extended in the 2010 fiscal year that ends on June 30, "as the world faces a fragile and uneven recovery," the development lender said in a statement.
The commitments, which include loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees, increased 23 percent from the prior fiscal year.
The World Bank said it had supported an estimated 875 projects "to promote economic growth, overcome poverty and promote private enterprise."
All three of the 187-nation institution's division increased their assistance to record levels, it said.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which provides financing risk management products and other financial services to countries, hit a record 44.2 billion dollars, an increase of 34 percent from the previous year's record of 32.9 billion dollars.
Commitments from the International Development Association, the arm that provides interest-free loans and grants to the world's 79 poorest countries, rose to a new record high of 14.5 billion dollars from 14 billion in fiscal 2009.
The International Finance Corporation-the largest provider of multilateral financing for the private sector in developing countries-had almost 18 billion dollars in investments, according to preliminary and unaudited data as of June 29, the Washington-based bank said. IFC investments totaled 14.5 billion dollars in the prior fiscal year.

  JAL asks creditors for further debt waiver
AFP, Tokyo

Struggling Japan Airlines, undergoing a state-backed restructuring, has asked its creditors for another debt waiver as it races to meet a deadline to submit its turnaround plan, reports said Friday.
The airline has asked its creditor banks to waive an additional 50 billion yen (570 million dollars) of debt, the Yomiuri Shimbun and business daily Nikkei said.
If the creditors agree to the proposal, they would be forgiving 90 percent of JAL's debt, including corporate bonds and derivatives, up from 83 percent, the reports said. The carrier said Wednesday that the combined negative net worth of the three JAL core group companies that filed for bankruptcy in January swelled to one trillion yen, 100 billion yen more than earlier estimates of liabilities that exceed assets.
JAL has also asked for a fresh loan of 360 billion yen, the reports said, adding that the negotiations with the creditor banks were likely to proceed with difficulty.
It is due to submit a finalised turnaround plan to the Tokyo District Court at the end of August, and the reports said that the banks were reluctant to provide further support.
A JAL spokesman decl-ined to comment on the reports. "It's hard for us to comment on things that are still at the negotiation table, and the figures could change until the formal agreement is sealed," he said. A spokesman at the state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. fund charged with rehabilitating the carrier also declined to comment.
JAL has already said it will scrap 28 international routes and close 11 international bases, while 50 domestic routes will be terminated, along with eight offices. The company, which posted a two billion dollar loss for the nine months to December, also plans more than 15,000 job cuts.

  Fresh interbank lending pressures normal
AFP, Paris

Banks showed reluctance to lend money among themselves on Friday but analysts said the pressures were a natural reaction to a huge debt reimbursement operation at the European Central Bank.
The three-month euro-denominated interbank lending rate, the Euribor, widened to 0.790 percent from 0.782 percent on Thursday. The three month dollar-based Libor rate edged up to 0.5336 percent on Friday from 0.5333 on Thursday. The Libor and Euribor rates are pivotal indicators of the state of cash circulation within the banking system, of confidence by banks in the balance sheets of whichever bank they are dealing with in a transaction, and of risk aversion in general. During the last three years of financial crisis, the interbank market has been an accurate pointer of problems to come, or of an easing of tensions.
Orlando Green, a bond strategist at Credit Agricole CIB, said the latest movements did not reflect anxiety regarding the financial health of the eurozone banking sector.
"It is rather a normal evolution that can be expected after successive liquidity withdrawals" from the market, he said.
On Thursday more than 1,000 banks were to have reimbursed a total of 442 billion euros (553 billion dollars) they had borrowed from the European Central Bank in July 2009. The ECB said that 78 banks borrowed 111.2 billion euros (136.7 billion dollars) for six days in a special operation on Thursday, just before the 442 billion euros in 12-month loans came up for repayment.

  Belarus, Russia sign long-awaited gas transit deal
AFP, Minsk

Belarus and Russia on Friday signed a gas transit deal expected to end disagreements that led to a cut in Russia's Europe-bound supplies flowing via Belarus last month, officials said.
"The sides have signed the necessary documents," Belarussian state news agency Belta quoted Beltransgaz general director, Vladimir Mayorov, as saying. He said that the Russian gas giant Gazprom agreed to pay 1.88 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres shipped 100 kilometres (60 miles) in transit fees, in line with Belarus's demands.
"Right now the sides are conducting the final verification of the calculations," Mayorov was quoted as saying.
Beltransgaz spokespeople were not immediately available for comment but Belarussian government spokesman, Alexander Timoshenko, told AFP that the "contract has been signed."
Gazprom spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
The signing of the agreement, which is a supplement to a current contract between Belarussian state gas pipeline operator Beltransgaz and Russian gas giant Gazprom, is expected to finally put to rest a convoluted disagreement over gas prices.
The dispute flared on June 21 when Russia reduced gas supplies to Belarus over a debt of nearly 200 million dollars. After an initial cut of 15 percent, Gazprom ram-ped up reductions to 60 percent on June 23.
Following the cut, Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko said he had ordered a shutdown of Russian gas transit deliveries to Europe in retaliation, raising fears in the European Union, where member states Lithuania, Germany and Poland take Russian gas delivered through Belarus.
Lithuania last week reported a 40 percent drop in Russian gas supplies via Belarus. Gazprom then said it had restarted gas supplies after Belarus paid off its debt.
But Lukashenko then said last Friday that Belarus would halt all of Russian supplies-both oil and gas-if Russia did not pay a debt for transit. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said later that day a new gas transit deal would be signed soon without being more specific.
Gazprom last week also paid Belarus 228 million dollars in gas transit fees, but Belarus says the Russian gas firm owes it 260 million dollars.
Belarus's first deputy prime minister Vladimir Semashko said earlier this week that Russia had admitted to owing it 32 million dollars for transit, a claim Gazprom refused to confirm.
In recent months Russia and once-dependable ally Belarus have often been at loggerheads over energy prices and customs duties.
The two countries together with another ex-Soviet nation of Kazakhstan had been in talks to launch a joint customs bloc from July 1 but Minsk had bailed out at the last minute following disagreements with Russia over oil duties.
Russia's first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said this week it would become clear Monday whether Belarus chooses to join the bloc.

  Google buying travel software firm for 700 million dollars
AFP, Washington

Internet titan Google plunged into the online travel market on Thursday, buying ITA Software, a flight information software company, for 700 million dollars in cash.
Google's purchase of the Massachusetts-based ITA raises prospects of a battle over the lucrative sector between the Web search giant and Expedia, Kayak, Orbitz, Microsoft's Bing Travel and other sites.
Google said its acquisition of ITA, which was founded in 1996 by a team of computer scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "will create a new, easier way for users to find better flight information online." "The acquisition will benefit passengers, airlines and online travel agencies by making it easier for users to comparison shop for flights and airfares," the Mountain View, California-based company said in a statement.
"Airline travel and search are a terrific opportunity for more innovation, more investment and more interesting products," Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said in a conference call. "There's clearly more room for competition and innovation here."
Google stressed that it "won't be setting airfare prices and has no plans to sell airline tickets to consumers."

  China revises 2009 growth up to 9.1pc
AFP, Beijing

China said on Friday its red-hot economy had expanded by 9.1 percent in 2009 in an upward revision that narrows the gap even further with the world's number two economy Japan.
The revision by the national statistics bureau from an earlier figure of 8.7 percent came ahead of second-quarter data due this month that is expected to show the world's third-largest economy slowed in the three months to June.
The country's nominal gross domestic product hit 34.0507 trillion yuan in 2009, which based on the central bank's average yuan-dollar exchange rate for the year equals 4.98 trillion dollars.
However even with the revision, Japan retains its place as the world's second-largest economy. It posted nominal GDP of around 5.07 trillion dollars last year, based on the average dollar-yen exchange rate for 2009, according to data released in June.
The new growth figure is a result of an upward revision of contributions by China's secondary and tertiary industries to last year's GDP, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website.
The growth rate was well above the government's target of eight percent for the full year, a level seen as crucial for fostering job creation and staving off social unrest among China's urbanising 1.3-billion-strong population.
China powered out of the global financial crisis last year on the back of a government stimulus package worth four trillion yuan (586 billion dollars), which saw massive investment in highways, bridges and other infrastructure.
"We think the impact of the stimulus package was greater than what was reported," said Erwin Sanft, an economist at BNP Paribas in Hong Kong.
"Therefore an upward revision doesn't surprise us."
Royal Bank of Canada senior analyst Brian Jackson said the new figure would have little impact on this year's growth rate.
"This revision shows China's out-performance last year was even more impressive than it first appeared, but it doesn't have major implications for how fast it will grow this year," Jackson said.
After returning to double-digit growth of 10.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, China's economy accelerated to 11.9 percent in the first quarter of this year, fuelling fears the economy was at risk of overheating.
Worried an explosion in bad debts could derail the economic surge, Beijing announced a series of measures to rein in bank lending and speculative property investment to avoid a real estate bubble.
Most economists think the economy slowed in the second quarter due to these tightening measures and a slowdown in manufacturing activity. Royal Bank of Scotland economist Ben Simpfendorfer has forecast 11.1 percent growth in the second quarter.

  Oil rises amid economic worries
AFP, Singapore

Oil was up in Asian trade Friday, but weak economic data out of the United States and China, the world's number one and two energy users respectively, weighed on investor sentiment, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery, was up five cents at 73.00 dollars in volatile trading.Brent North Sea crude, also for August delivery, climbed six cents to 72.40 dollars.
"The recent bearish economic data out of China and the US have hit crude oil.... The bearish data is overwhelming the oil market," said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz. Figures released Thursday showed China's industrial sector slowing with the HSBC China Manufacturing PMI, or purchasing managers index, falling to 50.4 last month from 52.7 in May.
A Chinese government agency said its PMI fell to 52.1 from 53.9 the previous month.A 50 reading is the break-even point between growth and contraction.
Meanwhile, the US provided a drumbeat of bad indicators that further rattled sentiment.
The US manufacturing sector, which has been driving the almost year-old fragile economic recovery from recession, grew for the 11th straight month in June but more slowly than expected, an industry survey showed.
The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) said its PMI slipped to 56.2 percent from 59.7 percent in May.
New claims for US unemployment benefits jumped more than expected last week, official data showed Thursday on the eve of the key June jobs report.
And pending US home sales plunged 30 percent in May after an April 30 tax-credit deadline expired, more than twice as much as analysts expected.
"All the bad economic news... leads to the perception that petroleum-product demand growth is going to slow down quite a bit in the next couple of months, especially when people were counting on growth in Asia," said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.

  SKorea and Mexico seek to reopen stalled trade talks
AFP, Mexico City

South Korea and Mexico on Thursday agreed to try to reopen stalled talks for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), during a visit by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak to Mexico City.
"The FTA is fundamental to boost the growing commercial exchange between the two countries," Lee said at a joint news conference with President Felipe Calderon.
The Mexican leader said that South Korea was Mexico's sixth business partner and that bilateral trade had tripled in the last decade, representing more than 11.4 billion dollars in 2009.
Talks for a free trade deal broke down two years ago amid concerns from Mexico's business community.
"President Lee and I have agreed to work on reopening negotiations for a free trade treaty," Calderon said on Thursday, without giving a date for when they may start again.
The leaders also signed a string of memorandum of understanding agreements concerning business, energy efficiency, technology and fishing and set up a joint line of credit.
Lee was later due to visit the senate as well as the capital's famous anthropological museum before attending a state dinner at Chapultepec Castle. He was due to leave on Friday.

  Outlook for Austrian economy improving
AFP, Vienna

Prospects for the Austrian economy, which shrank by 3.5 percent in 2009, are looking brighter as the improved global environment helps boost exports, two top think-tanks predicted on Friday.
WIFO, which calculates gross domestic product (GDP) data for the government, said it was pencilling in growth of 1.2 percent for 2010 and 1.6 percent for 2011.
Another institute IHS was slightly more optimistic, predicting growth of 1.5 percent and 1.9 percent this year and next year respectively. "The recovery is being driven by exports," WIFO said in a statement.
"The Austrian economy is benefitting-albeit indirectly and with a small time delay-from the favourable international environment via exports to Germany and other eurozone countries," the institue explained. Austria entered recession in late 2008, but returned to growth in the second half of 2009.
That growth appeared to lose momentum, however, in the first three months of this year, when the economy stagnated. "However, the data for March show a sharp pick-up in exports," IHS said in a statement.
"We are therefore anticipating a sharp acceleration in growth momentum in the second quarter. The growth prospects are therefore slightly more optimistic than in our March forecast," it wrote. In their previous prognosis published in March, WIFO had been forecasting growth of 1.3 percent this year and 1.4 percent next year, while IHS had been pencilling in growth of 1.3 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.

  Toshiba to make batteries for electric vehicles
AFP, Tokyo

Japan's Toshiba said Friday it was working with Mitsubishi Motors to develop batteries for electric vehicles, as the race intensifies among automakers and technology giants to make emission-free cars.
Toshiba, which spans electronic components, appliances and nuclear power plants has developed a fast-charging long life lithium-ion battery called SCiB (Super Charge ion Battery), which it plans to adapt for cars.
The moves comes as the world's automakers ramp up development of electric vehicles, promoting their zero exhaust emissions and betting that consumers will eventually shift from gas guzzlers to greener technologies.
Mitsubishi launched its MiEV (Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) in Japan last year and is working with France's PSA Peugeot Citroen to launch a vehicle based on the technology in Europe. Toshiba recently said it would build electric motors for a new Ford hybrid at its US plant.

  Ford's US sales up 13.3pc in June
AFP, Chicago

Ford Motor posted a weaker than expected 13.3 percent increase in June US sales Thursday as sales slipped from May's stronger incentive-driven performance.
Ford hailed the results which saw retail sales grow by 15 percent - the 20th time in the past 21 months that the number two US automaker posted retail sales growth.
Fleet sales also grew by 15 percent, reflecting increased demand for trucks from commercial customers. "New products continue to drive Ford's success," Ken Czubay, Ford vice president for US sales said in a statement.
"Ford and its dealers continue to offer customers the strongest value proposition - leading fuel economy, quality and resale value on a wide range of vehicles. That's why our business is growing." Total sales rose to 170,900 from 148,153 in June 2009 but were down from the 192,253 vehicles sold in May. Sales for the first half of the year were up 28 percent at 954,745 vehicles.

  Italian public deficit improves
AFP, Milan

The Italian economy showed timid signs of improvement on Friday when official data showed public overspending falling and the unemployment rate appearing to be on a plateau.
A reduction of public spending and stronger tax revenues resulted in a fall of the public deficit in the first three months of the year to 8.7 percent of output from 9.2 percent at the same time last year, the national statistics office ISTAT said.
The unemployment rate, after growing steadily since August 2009 and reaching the highest level since ISTAT began publishing data in 2004, was stable at 8.7 percent for the third month running in May.
On Friday, ISTAT revised down its previous estimates of the unemployment rate in March and April to 8.7 percent from 8.8 in March and 8.9 in April Italy is burdened with one of the world's highest public debts.
The country has acted to correct public finances and has also enabled businesses to use temporary lay-offs as a means of cushioning the effect of the global downturn on employment.
In May, a bid to clean up public finances and reassure the markets, the government approved budget cuts for this year and next of 24.9 billion euros (30 billion dollars).
The measures are expected to bring the deficit down to 2.7 percent of output in 2012 -- within the three percent required by the European Union-from the 5.0 percent it expects in 2010.

  US data casts shadow over wary Asian markets
AFP, Hong Kong

Asia-Pacific markets were sluggish on Friday with Sydney flat despite the easing of a major tax row and Tokyo slightly up, but US worries dampened overall sentiment. Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.13 percent on bargain hunting after a five-day losing streak, with a weakening yen boosting exporters such as Canon and Sony.
"It's not that worries about a strong yen have abated, but current share prices are attractive," Yoshinori Nagano, senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Toyota also rose 0.33 percent despite announcing it would recall 270,000 vehicles worldwide because of an engine fault. In Sydney the S&P/ASX 200 index was up just 0.03 percent following an early rally after Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she had reached a compromise with mining companies to replace her predecessor's proposed mining "super tax". "Obviously the tax backdown is good news," said RBS Head of Sydney Sales Justin Gallagher. "But at the end of the day, it becomes a macro story. If the globe is going down the economic toilet, it's not good for anyone." Singapore closed with the Straits Times Index 0.85 percent higher at 2,844.19, amid modest afternoon trade levels.
Hong Kong shares fell 1.11 percent, or 223.67 points, to end at 19,905.32, dragged down by negative manufacturing data from the mainland this week and global economic worries.
Hong Kong developers out-performed, but mainland blue chips were down, led by Foxconn, the troubled maker of Apple products, and commodity and resource firms such as aluminium giant Chalco.
Shanghai shares reversed early losses to close up 0.38 percent as bargain hunters targeted property developers.
The Shanghai Composite Index was up 9.11 points at 2,382.90, ending a seven-session losing streak-it fell 6.7 percent over the course of the week, the biggest weekly percentage slump since the last week of February 2009.
Liquidity concerns also weighed on shares as Agricultural Bank of China opened subscriptions to domestic institutions for the Shanghai portion of its world-record initial public offering.
Hanging over markets was the likelihood of negative US unemployment data later on Friday, fuelling fears of a "double-dip" recession at the close of a week of bad news.
On Thursday the US Labor Department reported yet more people claimed unemployment benefits last week, when new jobless claims rose to 472,000, an increase of 13,000 from the week before.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.42 percent Thursday, the sixth consecutive day of losses.

  Toyota to recall 270,000 cars over engine fault
AFP, Tokyo

Toyota Motor said Friday it would recall 270,000 vehicles worldwide because of an engine fault affecting cars including its luxury Lexus range and Crown sedans, in the latest blow to its reputation.
Toyota said faulty valve springs in certain engines could potentially lead to affected vehicles stopping while in operation.
It plans to submit a recall notice to Japan's transport ministry on Monday, with the latest action affecting 90,000 units in Japan and 180,000 overseas, the majority of which are in the United States.
"The recall is due to defective parts of valve springs, which may result in abnormal noise or idling. In a worst case, the engine could stop," said Toyota spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi.
Toyota Motor Sales USA said about 137,000 of the 180,000 would be recalled in the United States.
"We sincerely apologise to our customers for any inconvenience and request that they contact their nearest Lexus dealer," said Mark Templin, group vice president and general manager of the US Lexus Division, in a statement.
The world's largest automaker has been hit by a series of safety recalls and has pulled around 10 million vehicles worldwide since late last year, mostly due to acceleration problems.
Toyota's announcement comes as the company looks to improve its recall process following heavy criticism of the way it handled safety issues in the United States that have been blamed for more than 80 deaths.
The company said that the defective 4.6-litre V8 and 3.5-litre V6 engines had been installed in eight top line models including some hybrids-the Lexus GS350, GS450h, GS460, IS350, LS460, LS600h and LS600hL as well as Crown sedans.

National

Rajshahi Shah Mukhdum (R) Airport likely to resume this month

BSS, Rajshahi

The now-defunct Rajshahi Shah Mukhdum ® Airport is going to resume by a private airline operator-Galaxy Flying Academy Limited-on rental basis by this month.
The academy will operate Dhaka-Rajshahi airplane service passengers' aircrafts along with conducting pilot training.
Five ultramodern Cessna airplanes made by the United States of America will be engaged in the passengers carrying service side by side with imparting training to both the home and foreign trainees.
Managing Director of the academy Masudur Rahman revealed this while calling on Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton at latter's office here on Friday morning.
He told the mayor that a 50-seat modern Canadian airplane will carry passengers between the Rajshahi-Dhaka route everyday by December next.
Besides, he informed that an aviation college and a workshop for repairing the airplane spare parts with financial support from Malaysia would be set up here in the next year, thereby job opportunities for around 250-300 educated youths would be created.
Necessary works on construction of hanger were completed while a multistoried building has been hired for the accommodation purposes of the trainee-pilots at local Naodapara, he added.
Speaking on the occasion Mayor Liton lauded the initiatives of the flying academy towards various development sectors of Rajshahi including air communication, socio-economic uplift, education and administration.
The domestic flight operation from the port has remained suspended since February 20, 2007 due to shortage of passengers'.
But, since then no initiative was taken to resume the port despite repeated appeals from different corners during the last three years.
He, however, hoped that the region would be economically benefited upon resumption of the port.
Assuring his all possible cooperation Mayor Liton expected that the technological activities would be further expanded.
He said that resumption of the airport was one of his election pledges.
Director of the academy Asgar Hossain, area manager Serajul Islam and General Secretary of local Road Transport Authority Monzur Rahman Pitar were, among others, present at the meeting.

  RCC implements urban poverty reeducation programme
BSS, Rajshahi

The Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has been implementing a development programme for substantial reduction of slum poverty in the metropolis.
The five-year programme titled "Urban Partnership for Poverty Reduction Project (UPPRP)" is being implemented in the city's slum areas since July 2007 last aimed at bringing out the hardcore poor people particularly the women from the vicious cycle of poverty through empowering them.
UNDP and DFID have been extending financial assistance to implement the programme. According to the officials concerned, around 50,000 slum and marginal families have so far been brought under the programme through formation of 135 Community Development Committees (CDCs) under 11 clusters. By themselves, the community people are managing the CDCs properly and saved Taka 4.04 crore along with disbursing Taka 16.88 crore among 16,640 members for operating various income-generating trades and activities till last month.
Besides, they constructed 8,420 community latrines, 1149 tubewells, 45,479 squire meter footpath and 6,555 meter drains under the infrastructural development fund.
In addition to imparting training on different vocations to 1,261 unemployed youths, the CDCs extended grants to 891 hardcore poor for small business while stipends to 2033 poor students under the socio- economic development fund. Apart from this, the project provides financial help to 127 patients for cataract operation while 1240 persons for homestead garden and poultry and livestock rearing.
Sources said community workshops and training are being arranged on managing money, materials and labour, technical assistance and supervision for construction of infrastructure and other community facilities properly. Similarly, awareness is also being created among the beneficiaries on access to legal clinics, and aid and counseling service among the urban poor especially for the targeted women along with hygienic education, social development, adolescent blooming and community managed waste collection and agriculture activities.
During the current 2010-11 fiscal, Taka 2.14 crore has been earmarked for the socio-economic development fund while Taka 2.49 crore for the infrastructural development fund and 50 more CDC will be formed to bring 12,000 more poor and distressed people under the project.

  Breastfeeding must for maintaining nutrition status of children: Health Expert

BSS, Dhaka

Breastfeeding side by side supplementary cooked calorie density food items must be given to children for maintaining their nutrition status.
Children should be given exclusive breastfeeding up to six months after their birth and it will have to continue till two years along with supplementary food for ensuring normal nutrition status of children under five. Chairperson of Bangladesh Breastfeeding Foundation Dr SK Roy said this while talking to BSS on Friday. Referring to a study under his supervision, he said, "We found that nutrition status was normal and trend of illness was very low among the children who are given exclusive breast- feeding. On the other hand, the children who are out of exclusive breastfeeding were affected by different diseases including diarrhea and pneumonia."
Terming breastfeeding as the safe food for children, Dr Roy said children easily digest it, which helps ensure proper mental and physical growth with reducing the chance of illness.
Lack of knowledge and awareness on breastfeeding and supplementary food lead malnutrition under five children, Dr Roy said adding breastfeeding should be maintained from first hour of children up to two years side by side properly cooking supplementary food for maintaining nutrition status of under five children.
Upazila Manager of Narsingdi Sadar Sadar of Voluntary Association For Rural Development (VARD) Md Mahbubur Rahman said as many as 18,242 children under two years were brought till March 2010 under National Nutrition Programme, which is being implemented by the VARD.
Of them, most of the children are suffering from different magnitude of malnutrition as majority of children are not given exclusive breast-feeding and people do not have adequate knowledge on supplementary food. He said, "We encourage people to feed their children breast- milk avoiding any artificial milk. But many families feed their children artificial milk, which increase the risk of affecting by many diseases." Mahbubur underscored the need for increasing awareness on breastfeeding, food values and clean environment to keep children healthy. Fifteen-month old Sumaiya of Ghoradia village under Narsingdi Sadar upazila is suffering severe malnutrition as her weight is only 6 kg. Sajeda Khatun, mother of Sumaiya said she feed her child artificial milk as sometimes she faces problem to give adequate breast milk. VARD Officials of Goradia centre said Sajeda Khatun is suffering from malnutrition as she does not have enough food. Dr Roy said after delivery, every mother should be given with nutritious food so that they can give adequate breast-milk to her child.
Nutrition of children under five is a comprehensive issue, he said adding, "We can not expect a healthy child without ensuring healthy mother". According to Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2007, 98 percent children are breastfed for a period of time.
Exclusive breastfeeding of children under six months has not improved in the past 15 years; it remained unchanged at around 45 percent between 1993- 94 and 1999-2000, declined to 42 percent in 2004, and remained essentially unchanged, 43 percent, in 2007.

   Honest, patriotic students would build ‘Digital Bangladesh’: Nanak

BSS, Dhaka

State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak on Thursday said honest and patriotic students of the country would build 'Digital Bangladesh' envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He was addressing a discussion meeting on 'Role of educational institution in Building Digital Bangladesh' on the occasion of Orientation Programme Of Mohammadur Central University and College for the students of intermediate, degree and masters degree.
Nanak said the new generation has to learn the great leader of Liberation War and colourful life and works of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as well as the real history of the War of Liberation.
A Taka seven crore project has been undertaken for infrastructure development of Mohammadpur Central University and College, he said.
The state minister urged the teachers, students and guardians to bring the lost glory of the college for ensuring quality education.
With acting principal of the college Jatish Chandra Paul in the chair,the function was also addressed, among others, by members of the governing body of the college Maidul Islam Bhuiyan, Monirul Islam, Prof. Masuda Akhtar Khanum,Dr.ShahJahahan Kamal and Abu Jahid Mohammad Zaglul Basher.

   Jubo League’s extended meeting, political workshop begins today

BSS, Dhaka

A two-day extended meeting and political workshops of Bangladesh Awami Jubo League will begin today.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the programme at Gonobhaban at 11am. General Secretary of the organization Pankaj Debnath announced the programme at a press conference at Bangabandhu Avenue party office.
Acting president of the organization Advocate Mollah Abu Kaousar and vice president Abdul Hannan were present. The second session of the extended meeting will be held at Engineers' Institute auditorium at 3pm where district leaders will submit their organizational reports.
Political workshops will be held on July 4 at Engineers' Institute auditorium. In the morning session, the workshop will be held on "Leadership: Nature, Personality and Quality." The topic of the afternoon session is "Charter of Changes: Features and Requisites for Implementation."

   Poultry farmers stop buying chicks in Barisal protesting its high price

UNB, Barisal

The poultry farm owners of Barisal division stopped purchasing one-day old chicks on Thursday protesting its high price.
They alleged that hatchery owners and poultry feed producers area selling chicks and poultry feed at exorbitant prices by making syndicate. They demanded implementation of government fixed prices for chicks.
S M Doha, president of Barisal poultry farm owners' association, said although government fixed the price of one-day-old chicks at Tk 30 per piece, but the hatchery owners are selling those in a double price. He alleged that the price of per piece chick is being charged at Tk 50-78 although it was Tk 35-45 a week ago and Tk 25-30 in January-February, 2010.
Poultry farm owners informed that Usha and CP Bangladesh Hatchery are selling chicks at the rate of Tk 60-78 while Aftab Hatchery at Tk 52-62 per piece.
But the poultry farm owners have stopped purchasing chicks at such an exorbitant price due to continuous loss in their business. According to the leaders of Barisal poultry owners association, there are more than 4,000 large and small poultry farms in Barisal.
Already half of these farms have been closed due to exorbitant increase in prices of chicks and the poultry feed, leaving over 10,000 people unemployed.
Samaresh Majumdar, Animal Resources Officer of Barisal admitted that due to dishonest motive of syndicates of the hatchery owners and poultry feed producers the price of one-day-old chick has increased abnormally.
He further said he has already informed the matter to the ministry concerned and expressed the hope that the ministry will take necessary action in this regard soon.

   Hundi trader arrested at Ctg Airport with huge foreign currencies

BSS, Chittagong

Customs and security officials of Shah Amanat International Airport arrested an alleged Hundi trader along with huge illegally possessed foreign currencies equivalent to Taka 70 lakh just before flying on Friday morning.
The arrested was identified as Mohammad Ali, 24, son of Korban Ali, of Sadeknagar area of Fatikchhari upazila of the district, customs officials said. He was allegedly involved in Hundi trade and was a passenger of UAE bound Oman Airlines flight, police said.
Based on secret information and suspicion over the luggage he booked for carrying, customs and security officials rechecked his two bags and recovered huge quantity of illegally kept currencies of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Euro.
The customs officials instantly brought him out of the flight and took to Patenga thana for interrogation.
The Oman Airlines flight (No: WY-312) was scheduled to leave the airport at 9.45 am on Friday.
Sources said Mohammad Ali was involved in illegal Hundi trade for a long time and visited UAE frequently.
The detainee, however, claimed that he was a fabric businessman. Police and customs officials have been interrogating Ali.
A case has been filed with Patenga police in this connection.

   Faridpur pourashava accords reception to Mosharraf
BSS, Faridpur

Labour, Employment and Expatriate Welfare Ministrer Engineer Khondoker Mosharraf Hossain said in Faridpur on Friday that the present government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to carry forward its election pledges through implementing various development programmes for the welfare of the people.
Addressing a reception accorded to him on behalf of the citizens by Faridpur Pourashava, Mosharraf stressed the need for the cooperation of the people to ensure uninterrupted progress of the development activities in the country.
The Minister at the demand of the local people assured the largely attended reception meeting that he would do his best to develop all round development of Faridpur.
The reception function was presided over by the acting Mayor Sk Mahatab Ali Methu. The Mayor sought the cooperation and help of the Minister in implementing various development activities.
The Minister also called upon the pourashava authority to take necessary measures to ensure civic facilities of the citizens.
The reception meeting was addressed among others by Deputy Commissioner Helaluddin Ahmed, Police super Md Awlad Ali Fakir, Awami League leader Khondoker Mohtesham Hossain Babar, Pourashava chief executive officer Md Shahjahan Mia, Poura Councillors Mainuddin Ahmed Manu, Hasna Banu, Nazrul Islam Mridha, Awami league acting general secretary Syed Masud Hossain and former vice-chairman of Faridpur pourashava Prof Md Shahjahan.

   Initiatives underway to strengthen IMED; 630 new posts likely to be created

UNB, Dhaka

Initiatives are underway to strengthen the Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation Division (IMED) under the Planning Ministry in a bid to ensure the quality and performance of the development projects.
"If monitoring of the development projects is strengthened, quality will be ensured and this is the main focus of the strengthening initiatives," said IMED Secretary Md Abdul Malek while talking to UNB.
He said that it is not possible to monitor all the development projects with the current logistic support and manpower of IMED, even if they work non-stop for 24 hours.
Citing an example, he said that an IMED official, who will need to go to Sylhet for monitoring a project, face various problems including that of transportation.
The IMED Secretary said that a proposal was sent to the Secretaries Committee on Administration and Development under the Cabinet Division for extension of the IMED offices to seven divisional cities and 21 old districts.
"At present, we are not able to monitor even 20 percent of the projects… there is random sampling in our monitoring process and it becomes hard to maintain continuous monitoring," he said. Malek mentioned that if the IMED offices are extended to division and district level, the overall monitoring will increase and so will the progress in implementation. "The tendency of revised, carry over and overlapping of projects will also come down," he said.
Besides, a proposal has been submitted to the Establishment Ministry for creating 630 new posts in the IMED including 172 first class officers and 458 subordinate staffs, said another high official at the IMED.
At present, some 91 first class officials - 54 from economic cadre, 6 from admin cadre and 31 from non-cadre - are working at the IMED.
"If the proposal for increasing the manpower is approved, the IMED will also be able to monitor implementation of the block allocations made for the pourasavas and local government offices as well as different schemes under the social safety net programmes," the official said.
As per the IMED proposal, there will be short-term, medium-term and long-term outcomes if the Division is strengthened fully.

   Rotary Club of Rangpur celebrates Year Launching Ceremony in Rangpur

BSS, Rangpur

Rotary Club of Rangpur (RCR) and Rotary Club of Rangpur Central (RCRC) observed it's Year Launching Ceremony through various programmes amid festivity in the city on Thursday.
The programmes included colourful rally, tree plantation and distribution of foods among the orphans and a discussion meeting.
President of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) Alhaj ATM Shahnewaz Bablu attended the functions as the chief guest and Rotarian Alhaj Mostafa Ahmed and Ram Krishna Somani were present as the guests of honour.
Newly elected President of RCR Habibur Rahman Raja, its General Secretary Reaz Shahid Shovan, Board members Alhaj Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu (also Vice-president of FBCCI), Alhaj Shahnewaz Bablu, Azizul Islam Mintu, Jahurul Haque Mintu, Khairul Anam Kalam, Ainuzzaman, Partho Bose, Delwar Hossain Litan, were present.

Sports

Spain hopes for historic win in World Cup quarterfinals
AP, Johannesburg

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque believes his players are ready to make history: They can start by winning a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time.
Surprisingly, Spain has never advanced to a semifinal match at a World Cup in four opportunities between 1934 and 2002. Standing in its way at Johannesburg's Ellis Park on Saturday is a resolute Paraguay team that is the most successful ever sent to a World Cup from the South American nation. "We know we're in good shape," del Bosque said Thursday.
"It's been more than 30 days together training as a team and I think these players want to make history."
Spain has once reached the last four at a World Cup, at the quirky 1950 tournament when just 13 teams showed up in Brazil and the four group winners adva-nced to a round-robin pool to decide the honors.
When the World Cup format has used a knockout bracket, Spain has always been stopped at the quarterfinals stage. Spain lost to South Korea on penalties after a goalless draw in a 2002 matchup remembered for disputed referee calls, and Roberto Baggio lifted Italy to a 2-1 victory in 1994. In 1986, Belgium prevailed in a shootout after a 1-1 draw, and 1934 host Italy ousted the Spanish 1-0 in a replay.
Del Bosque would not be drawn to suggest the Euro-pean champion has a golden chance to break the streak, and earn a final four tie against Argentina or Germany.
"If you had to choose one of the other seven who reached the quarterfinals, I don't know which one would be the easiest," he said.
"Paraguay, like all of the South American teams, show so much character, with players who exercise great pressure. They are players who know their trade, with the ball or without and they have a similar style to Chile, who we already know about." Spain won that match 2-1 to top Group H despite losing its opener 1-0 against a Switzerland side that frustrated by defending in depth just like the Paraguayans shape to do Saturday. "We'd all like to play nicely, scoring five goals a game and sometimes that happens," midfielder Andres Iniesta said. "There are good moments and difficult moments but what's important is that we're in the quarterfinals."
Paraguay arrives at this stage on the back of three straight shutouts by its defense, and a perfect five-for-five record in the penalty shootout against Japan when the teams' second-round game was goalless after extra time.
Goalkeeper Justo Villar expects more of the same "hard work and tactics" against Spain.
Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino is still looking for a first goal from his forward line in South Africa.

  Sparks fly ahead of Argentina Vs Germany showdown
AFP,Cape Town

Germany and Argentina have turned up the heat ahead of their eagerly-anticipated World Cup quarter-final on Saturday, with sparks flying as both sides trade barbs.
The two teams have an intense and long rivalry, with the Argentines beating Germany in the 1986 final before losing to them in the 1990 decider.
More recently, they met at the same stage in 2006 with Juergen Klinsmann's side going through 4-2 on penalties after over-cautious counterpart Jose Pekerman left Lionel Messi on the bench.
That shootout ended in a brawl when the South Americans reacted angrily after Germany's Jens Lehmann saved Esteban Cambiasso's spot-kick to confirm victory.
The coaches are different now but the desire of both teams to get their hands on the World Cup again hasn't changed.
Argentina lifted the trophy in 1978 and 1986 while the Germans have won three times, in 1954, 1974, and 1990.
Diego Maradona, who played in the 1986 and 1990 finals, is now coach and made clear revenge is on his mind for the 2006 defeat. "The players are thinking about going onto the pitch, in getting their revenge," the former midfield maestro told Fox Sports Argentina. He added that they were confident of countering the current German threat, despite them being high on confidence after crushing old enemy England 4-1 in the round of 16.
"They are stronger (than round of 16 opponent Mexico), but we will field the right players to beat them," said Maradona, who is seeking to join Franz Beckenbauer as the only man to have skippered and coached a country to World Cup glory.
Argentina though have been hit by concern over the fitness of Messi, who did not train on Thursday. The team insisted he only had a cold and would be fine.
Argentina, along with the Netherlands, are the only countries left with a 100 percent record and Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez said they do not fear Germany, who have not failed to reach the last eight since 1938. "(Germany) won their game and so reached the quarters, but they are not better than Argentina," he said.
The Germans will have Chancellor Angela Merkel in Green Point Stadium watching and coach Joachim Loew is hoping his young team can impress her by riding the wave of beating England.
"There is a very positive feeling in the team. We have gained a lot of confidence from taking a victory against England," said Loew. While Argentina have been unbeatable in South Africa, Loew said he had identified weaknesses, without revealing what they were. Captain Philipp Lahm added fuel to the fire by saying Germany was looking forward to seeing how Argentina cope with losing again.
"We have to focus on the task at hand, we know the Argentinians will be a tough game, we need to be cool and it remains to be seen how the South Americans deal with another defeat on Saturday," he said.
Taming Messi and Tevez
With Messi the fulcrum of an Argentine side that looks unbeatable for pure fire-power and Tevez a live wire capable of scoring from anywhere, Germany have their work cut out. Versatile captain Philipp Lahm will need to be on top of his game, marshalling his defence to snuff out the threat.

   Hodgson calls for time to deliver
AFP, Liverpool

Roy Hodgson has pleaded with Liverpool to give him the time to transform the club's fortunes after admitting he faces a sizeable challenge in turning them into a major force once again. Hodgson has accepted one of the toughest jobs in football after succeeding Rafa Benitez at Anfield on a three-year-deal.
He knows the financial problems won't allow him to wave a magic wand and believes both the club and its supporters must be patient as he sets about the task of turning Liverpool into winners once again.
The former Blackburn and Inter Milan manager said: "It's not the right time to talk about money. "The financial situation is what it is, everyone knows that, but people are much more qualified than me to talk about that.
"I've talked to the owners. We had a conference call. The job is a big challenge. I've had a few, but this ranks alongside Inter when I was there.
"I'm prepared to take the time it takes, hopefully not too long. I'm in this for the long haul, to do the job that needs to be done, which is winning trophies.
"If not this season, then I hope the club has patience with me to put it right the following season. "It's one of the clubs in the world that lives up to its motto. The mantra 'you'll never walk alone' is one of the things that impresses everyone. There is no better time to show your support in the club than when times are not going so well. It's easy to support a successful club. "I have spoken to Gerard Houllier. He tells me it's a fantastic club, the fans back it to the hilt and I hope they do that with me."
Hodgson has been linked with several possible targets at Fulham but he is not allowed to sign anyone from Craven Cottage and he paid tribute to his former employers for allowing him to join Liverpool. He added: "I won't be raiding Fulham. I've made that commitment to the club. They were good enough to let me take this job and I've had magnificent support. from them." Chairman Martin Brou-ghton said: "He brings experience, he has dealt with lots of different players in different scenes.

  Ponting says captaincy on line in Ashes
AFP, London

Ricky Ponting has said a third Ashes defeat is likely to signal the end of his time as Australia captain.
Ponting, skipper of the teams beaten in England in 2005 and 2009, could become the first Australia captain to lose three Ashes campaigns in more than a hundred years if the 'Poms' triumph in Australia during the latest Test series between the old rivals, which starts in November.
And given Australia, unlike England, rarely let a former captain remain in the side, standing down as skipper could signal the end of Ponting's international career.
But he remains a world-class batsman, as he showed with 92 in Australia's 78-run win over England in the fourth one-day international at The Oval on Wednesday.
And with Australia bidding for a fourth straight World Cup title in Asia in February, the 35-year-old Ponting, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, could well have a few more great innings left in him. The Tasmanian added: "I haven't thought about any added pressure on me.
England haven't won a Test series in Australia since 1986 and Ponting said of Australia's prospects: "If we keep working on the little things every day I think you'll see some great performances in the Ashes." Australia avoided a one-day series whitewash at the Oval where Ponting passed 13,000 ODI runs.
But England already had an unbeatable lead and will go into Saturday's finale at Lord's 3-1 up in the five-match series.

  Beckenbauer bemused by criticism of Maradona
AFP, Berlin

German football legend Franz Beck-enbauer expre-ssed his amazement on Friday at the criticism of Argentinian coach Diego Maradona which has emanated mainly from Brazil's three-time World Cup winner Pele. Beck-enbauer - whom Maradona is attempting to emulate in winning the World Cup both as a player and as a coach - said that he disagreed with Pele's claim on Thursday that Maradona's previously troubled private life would affect his squad - who take on Germany in the World Cup quarter-final on Satur-day in Cape Town.
"Above all one must not underestimate him (Maradona)," said Beck-enbauer, who won the 1974 World Cup as a player and the 1990 one - against a Maradona-captained Argentina - as coach.
Beckenbauer, who also 'won' a third World Cup as he was largely responsible for Germany winning the right to host the 2006 edition and headed up the highly successful hosting of it, said that he was also not impr-essed by midfielder Bastia Schweinsteiger's goading of the Argentinians.
Schweinsteiger, who at 26 is amazingly one of the veterans of the German side, had accused the Argentinians of being provocative - something he got first hand in 2006 as the South Americans reacted angrily to losing to the Germans on penalties.

  Zvonareva aims to pass final Wimbledon exam
AFP, London

Vera Zvonareva has had to put her studies on hold for a few days as she prepares for her final exam at Wimbledon.
Wimbledon finalist Zvonareva, the Russian 21st seed, has been spending her spare time studying for a master's degree in international economic relations at the diplomatic academy in Russia and will take her exams when she returns home in a few weeks.
The 25-year-old, who already has a degree in physical education, was keen to keep studying despite the busy nature of her tennis schedule because it gives her something to concentrate on other than the daily grind of life on the women's tour.
But first she will try to upset defending champion Serena Williams in the final at the All England Club on Saturday.
Zvonareva is playing in her first Grand Slam final after 10 years as a professional and she is desperate to make the most of the opportunity.
That means her education has been put on the back burner since her semi-final victory over unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.
Instead of burying her head in text books, Zvon-areva has been burning the midnight oil working on a gameplan to defeat Willi-ams, a three-time Wim-bledon champion and world number one, in the biggest match of her life.
"I need to keep myself busy. I always love studying," Zvonareva said. "It was always very important for me to keep my head busy with something else.

  World Cup greats turn to punditry point-scoring
AFP, Paris

The World Cup's greatest players may not be able to go on playing for ever, but that doesn't stop them seeking to score points from the sidelines.
The current tournament in South Africa has seen legends from yesteryear queueing up to fire barbs in various directions, with Pele, Diego Maradona and Franz Beckenbauer leading the way. Pele and Maradona have long endured a topsy-turvy relationship, helped in no small part by their competing claims to be considered the greatest player the game has ever seen.
The Brazilian great threw the first punch in their latest spat, by claiming his 49-year-old rival had not been motivated by entirely pure considerations when he accepted to coach Argentina.
"Maradona accepted the job as he needed work and needed the money," said Pele, a World Cup winner in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
"I saw how Argentina qualified with difficulty. But it is not Maradona's fault; it is the fault of those who put him in charge." Maradona, who was appointed national boss despite a lack of coaching experience in November 2008, told the 69-year-old he should "go back to the museum".
The controversial character also claimed that a "dark gentleman"-taken to mean Pele-had questioned the ability of the host nation to be the first African country to organise a World Cup.
Pele has not been swayed by Argentina's run to the quarter-finals, where they will face Germany, and returned to the theme of Maradona's coaching credentials, pinpointing his previous battles with weight problems and cocaine addiction as potential negative influences on his players.
"He is not a good coach, because he had a bizarre lifestyle that cannot go down well with his team," Pele told German magazine 11Fr-eunde. Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner as both player (1974) and coach (1990) with Germany, ruffled feathers in England with a critical assessment of Fabio Capello's side. 'Der Kaiser' suggested that England had returned to the dark days of 'kick and rush' football under the Italian, before issuing a retraction on the eve of the last-16 encounter between the countries.
"Maybe it was a reaction because I was disappointed (with England's performances) and maybe in a bad mood," said Beckenbauer, who had the last laugh as Germany inflicted a memorable 4-1 defeat on the English. France hero Zinedine Zidane, star of the 1998 World Cup-winning side, also dipped his toes in the water by criticising national boss Raymond Domenech after Les Bleus' disappointing 0-0 draw with Uruguay in their opening game. "It is necessary to say things," said Zidane, who was sent off for headbutting Italy's Marco Materazzi in the 2006 final in Berlin.
"That is to say he (Dom-enech) is not a coach. I think he selects the players and hopes that at one point they will gel."

  England looked tired, says Germany’s Loew
AFP, Cape Town

German coach Joachim Loew said Friday his young team was still bursting with energy and raring to go, as opposed to a "tired" England who they knocked out of the World Cup
The Germans ran riot against their old enemy in the round of 16, crushing them 4-1 and consigning English hopes to yet another failure.
Loew has a youthful team in South Africa, with their average age under 25, compared to England's golden generation.
Despite a gruelling season, he said he was not sure why England's players should have been so out of touch. "I don't really know what could have made England tired," he said.
"I don't know how they prepared but during the match we felt we were able to add to our speed.
"England players like (Steven) Gerrard and (Frank) Lampard always play fast. But I saw then running around not up to the speed that I'm used to seeing them.
"As for us, we prepared very intensively. The season was long and it might have been difficult for them to take intense training. Maybe our team is just younger and regenerated faster the day after. "We are in top physical shape."
England, who have not won the World Cup since lifting the trophy for the only time in their history on home soil in 1966, were widely expected to reach the quarter-finals at the very least.
But they failed to top a group labelled 'EASY' (England, Algeria, Slovenia and Yanks - the United States) by Britain's biggest-selling Sun newspaper.
They could only draw with the Americans and were held to a goalless stalemate by Algeria before scraping a 1-0 win against the Slovenians.
That meant a last 16 clash against the Germans, who have repeatedly ended England's hopes at major tournaments since a team captained by Bobby Moore beat the then West Germany in the 1966 final.

  Germany to ease past Argentina, predicts Ballack
AFP, Cape Town

Injured German captain Michael Ballack predicted on Friday that Germany would beat Argentina 3-1 in Saturday's World Cup quarter-final.
The 33-year-old midfielder, who was ruled out of the finals after injuring his right ankle in the FA Cup final in May, told Bild that he had no advice to give to the predominantly young side that has produced some electrifying football twice scoring four goals.
"I have no advice to give the team, everything is going really well, what they have achieved so far is fantastic," Ballack told the newspaper on arriving in South Africa. "Under these conditions, we have our chances against Argentina and I predict a 3-1 victory." Ballack, who was released by Chelsea at the end of last season and has joined one of his former clubs Bayer Leverkusen, has flown to South Africa to join-up with his compatriots and in the event of them winning their clash in Cape Town will stay with them in their hotel on the outskirts of Pretoria.

  Scots edge thriller as champs Ireland win WCL opener
AFP, Amsterdam

Scotland defeated hosts the Netherlands by just one wicket with a ball to spare in an opening round First Division match in the International Cricket Cou-ncil (ICC) World Cricket League (WCL).
In Thursday's other matches, defending champions Ireland beat Kenya by seven wickets and Afghanistan enjoyed a six-wicket win over Canada in the leading one-day tournament for teams outside cricket's Test elite.
In Amstelveen, near Amsterdam, Scotland were all but out of the match at 123 for six off 30 overs chasing 235, featuring 87 from Tom Cooper, for victory. But late call-up Moneeb Iqbal's innings of 63 kept Scotland in the game.
Moneeb and Gordon Goudie though fell in the space of three balls to leave Scotland 225 for nine, with all the pressure on captain Gordon Drummond.
A target of 10 off 10 balls became eight off the last over. A frantic finale saw Tom de Grooth drop Drummond off Mark Jonkman's penultimate delivery of the match, with Scotland still requiring three runs for victory.
The batsmen crossed for a single from de Grooth's mistake. Then, with two needed Jonkman, bowling to last man Ross Lyons, delivered a wide to level the scores and with the batsmen running as well Scotland had won.
Drummond, unbeaten on 33, said: "It shows the character of the team. We just never give up and can put on partnerships down the order." Ireland, who competed alongside WCL rivals Afghanistan at this year's World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, proved too strong for Kenya.
Paul Stirling hit a career-best 87 and Alex Cusack chipped in with an unbeaten 59 as they put on 127 runs to help Ireland to a modest target of 164 with more than 10 overs to spare in Rotterdam.
In Voorburg, fifties from captain Nawroz Mangal (70), Mohammad Shahzad (57) and Noor Ali (50) steered Afghanistan to a six-wicket victory over Canada as they reached a target of 258 with eight balls remaining.
Saturday sees Canada up against Scotland, Ireland playing Afgh-anistan and The Neth-erlands facing Kenya. The top two sides from the all-play-all phase will qualify for the Amstelveen final on July 10.

  Hotshot Villa on track to match Raul
AFP, Paris

Should Spain get to the World Cup final, in- form striker David Villa could write a new page in the tournament's history and over-take Raul as his country's all-time top scorer in one match.
Whereas strike partner Fernando Torres has laboured in four scoreless appearances on his return from ankle surgery in April, Villa appears to have the Midas touch.
Virtually everything the Barcelona new boy has touched has been turning to goal, the hiccup of an early loss to Switzerland aside. For a generation, Spanish fans have been weaned on goals from Real Madrid goalscoring machine Raul, but suddenly his 44 goals in 102 games look mundane because 'Maravilla' has already smashed 42, in 40 games less. Despite their stellar midfield and two of the best strikers in the world, Spain have generally been finding goals hard to come by, with just five in four games. But give Villa a half-chance and he tends to snap it up-hence his personal haul of four goals so far, matched only by Argentina's Gonzalo Higuain and Slovakia's Robert Vittek.
With Vittek having departed the tournament, Villa and Higuain are vying for the Golden Boot for top scorer, though the likes of Brazil's Luis Fabiano and German pair Thomas Mueller and Miroslav Klose may have something to say about that.
Villa, 28, has already become the top marksman for Spain in World Cup history with seven goals to date, leaving behind legendary figures such as Emilio Butragueno, Fernando Hierro, Fernando Morientes and Raul himself, who all netted five times at the tournament.
Villa, Barcelona's 40-million-euro capture from Valencia, modestly insists that Torres's very presence and reputation gives him more space in which to operate, to devastating effect. "The only thing you can 'reproach' (Torres) for is not to have scored yet. His desire to be with the team is truly spectacular," Villa told Spanish television.
"We know what state his knee was in a month ago and I do not agree with those people who say that Fernando Torres' performances have been below par." In the round of 16 win over Portugal, Torres gave way to Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao on the hour but Villa insisted that "Torres helped the side a lot against Portugal and Llorente continued that work".
"Torres is not in bad form. He has admirable character and we all know his World Cup moment will arrive-hopefully against Paraguay on Saturday."
At his current rate of a goal a game in South Africa, Villa would draw level with Raul by scoring in that game, then adding another in the semi-finals against either Germany or Argentina.