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Leading News
Germany crash Argentina out of
World Cup
New generation spirit helps Germans reach semi finals
AFP, Cape Town
Striker Miroslav Klose celebrated his 100th cap with two
second-half goals to help Germany reach the World Cup
semi-finals with a 4-0 demolition of Diego Maradona's
outclassed Argentina on Saturday.
Germany now face either Spain or Paraguay, who meet later
on Saturday, in Durban next Wednesday with a place in the
final at Johannesburg's Soccer City on July 11 at stake. A
third-minute goal by Thomas Mueller gave Germany a 1-0
lead, before the three-time champions turned the screw
after the interval.
Klose netted in the 68th minute, centre-back Arne
Friedrich scored his first for his country six minutes
later before Klose completed the rout with an 89th-minute
volley which gave him a 14th World Cup goal, just one
behind Ronaldo's record of 15. German coach Joachim Loew
got the better tactically of a bewildered Maradona as the
men in black defended doggedly and attacked in numbers.
World footballer of the year Lionel Messi was tightly
marked by Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger as
Argentina's star-studded side failed to shine. The only
blot on Germany's copybook was Mueller's first-half yellow
card which sees him suspended for the semi-final.
Klose was lucky not to receive a yellow card in the
opening minute, when he fouled Argentina captain Javier
Mascherano, but the Germans were soon in front.
They took the lead after just three minutes when Mueller
headed home a Schweinsteiger free-kick for his fourth goal
of the tournament, the ball deflecting in off goalkeeper
Sergio Romero's leg.
Argentina right-back Nicolas Otamendi earned the first
yellow card of the game on 11 minutes for a foul on
Friedrich.
The South Americans' first sight of goal came when Messi
slid a pass through the German defence to Carlos Tevez,
but goalkeeper Manuel Neuer raced from his line to deal
with the threat. Mueller's bright start then suffered a
setback when he picked up his yellow card for handling the
ball on 35 minutes.
Argentina had an encouraging start to the second-half as
Real Madrid new boy Angel Di Maria fired a long-range shot
which had Neuer at full-stretch on 48 minutes and Per
Mertesacker blocked a shot from Tevez on 54 minutes. But
Germany extended their lead when Podolski found space on
the left flank and passed back inside for Klose to score
on 68 minutes.
Schweinsteiger helped make sure of Germany's place in the
last four when he darted through the Argentinian defence
to give Friedrich a simple tap in on 74 minutes to claim
his first international goal on his 77th appearance.
Argentina's defence crumbled as Klose completed the
demolition with his 52nd goal for Germany as he volleyed
home a cross from Mesut Ozil just before the final
whistle.
Steps
for war crime trial has made BNP restive: PM
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said that the BNP
has become impatient as the government has taken steps to
hold trial of war criminals to meet the people's demand.
"The real face of BNP and its chairperson have been
exposed. They often speak about the liberation war, but in
fact they are busy in protecting the war criminals," she
said at the inaugural function of extended meeting and
workshop of Awami Swechchhasebak League at Ganobhaban.
The working session of the two-day extended meeting was
held at the Engineers Institute.
The Prime Minister alleged that the opposition party wants
to materialize its "evil political purpose by killing
innocent people" in the name of movement and hartal. "They
(opposition) want dead bodies to realize their dirty
political goals," she said. Questioning the rationale of
June 27 hartal, Hasina said organizing movement is a
democratic right of a political party. "But in the name of
hartal, how could they kill innocent people by setting
them on fire?" She also wondered how a Muslim can kill
another Muslim by setting fire. "BNP's ally Jamaat always
speaks about Islam. But can they show where in Islam it
has been said that a Muslim can kill another Muslim so
brutally?" She mentioned the death of Faruk, a youth who
was burnt in pre-hartal violence on Saturday evening
allegedly by the hartal supporters.
On war crimes, she alleged that Khaleda Zia and her party
have become desperate to protect their allies who were
involved in the war crimes during the 1971 liberation war.
Hasina said: "Khaleda Zia can't tolerate such trial as the
war criminals, who committed crimes against humanity, were
rehabilitated by her husband Ziaur Rahman."
Sheikh Hasina Saturday urged opposition leader Khaleda Zia
to leave the disputed Dhaka Cantonment house and reside in
her another allotted house in Gulshan as army officers
currently facing acute accommodation crisis.
"When our army officers are facing acute accommodation
crisis, she (Khaleda Zia) is enjoying a vast land of 180
kathas inside the cantonment. Though she has been allotted
a big house in Gulshan," Hasina said. She said Khaleda Zia
was given only one house by the cabinet at that time and
that is in Gulshan on a 35 kathas of land. "How many
houses does she need to live in?" the Prime Minister
questioned.
Muhith
favours doubling CNG price immediately
UNB, Dhaka
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Saturday said that the
country should come out of the power crisis from mid-2012
as the government has undertaken huge projects to mitigate
power shortage.
Inaugurating a conference on power sector investment at a
city hotel, he said, "This year we may not be able to
overcome the power crisis. The crisis will even persist
next year and also part of the year 2012. But after that
there should be equilibrium between the demand and
supply".
He, however, said the government has taken some
initiatives to manage the situation, particularly to meet
the demand for agriculture. The conference tiled
"Investment in Power Sector of Bangladesh: Opportunities
and Challenges", was organized by Power Division at
Somargaon Hotel.
It was also addressed by Prime Minister's Advisor Dr.
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Chairman of Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Power and Energy Ministry Subid Ali
Bhuiyan, Executive Chairman of Board of Investment (BoI)
Dr. SA Samad, Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Energy
Secretary Mesbahuddin and Power Development Board (PDB)
Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir. State Minister for Power
Enamul Haque presided over the function.
At the function, the finance minister also renewed his
call for increasing the price of compressed natural gas (CNG),
saying that the present CNG price is one-fourth of liquid
fuel.
"This (CNG price) must be considered for doubling from its
present rate immediately," he said directing the
authorities concerned to take a move for raising the
price.
Reiterating the government's commitment for improving the
power supply situation, he said that investment is not a
problem for the sector. But the sustainability and support
of the other sectors must be ensured to overcome its
bottlenecks.
He said 40 percent of the country's power plants are over
20 years old, and not in a position to produce at their
capacity. "The gas shortage is also causing a problem".
He said the government has taken initiatives for setting
up rental power plants which will be very costly. "But
despite that we'll have to provide large subsidy for
power".
Muhith said the government is working on preparing a coal
policy to extract the country's coal resources for power
generation. "We hope, we'll get the policy in hand by the
end of the current year". Emphasing introduction of
regional energy trade, he said this is something that was
introduced globally about 50 years back.
Jamaat accuses
government of torturing its leaders in remand
It announce weeklong programme from today
UNB, Dhaka
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Saturday said the Awami
League-led grand alliance government has created a "black
chapter in country's history by implicating its senior
leaders in false cases and torturing them inhumanly in the
name of remand."
Jamaat, a major partner of BNP-led four-party alliance,
also announced a week-long programme including countrywide
protest rally and human-chain beginning today (Sunday) in
protest against what it said government's repression on
and torture of party leaders and activists. Jamaat's
acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam announced the
programme at a press conference at its central office in
the city on Saturday noon.
Azhar said they will hold countrywide protest rally on
July 4 and 5 (Sunday-Monday), will form human-chair on
July 7 (Wednesday) and will be fasting on July 9 and 20 as
part of the party's first phase movement against
government's "repression and torture."
Replying to a question, he said they have time to go for
tougher action programme like hartal. "There's no
alternative other than united movement against the
government's oppression and torture. We'll continue our
protest peacefully along with countrymen in a systematic
and democratic manner."
The Jamaat leader alleged that three national leaders -
Jamaat ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali
Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and nayeb-e-ameer Delwar Hossain
Sayedee - are being subjected to inhuman torture in remand
cell. "This is a complete violation of human rights," he
said.
Asked whether they have any specific information about
torture of the Jamaat leaders, Azhar said: "Staying in
jail is one kind of mental torture. We've even heard that
they'll (Jamaat leaders) face physical torture in remand."
Earlier, reading out a written statement, he said though
they (three Jamaat leaders) were granted bail a day after
their arrest, the government had hurriedly shown them
arrest in a number of "false cases" and took them on
police remand "apparently to torture them."
"It's clear that they've been shown arrested in false
cases and subsequently placed on a 16-day remand each in a
bid to humiliate them."
Flood situation remains stable
BSS, Rangpur
The overall flood situation remains mostly stable with
improving trends due to ups and downs in the water levels
of the major rivers in the northern region during the last
24 hours till 6am on Saturday morning, official sources
said.
The rate of onrushing waters has been reduced further amid
some sporadic rainfalls in the Brahmaputra basin where the
rivers marked falls at most points and the Jamuna was
flowing only 5cm above its Danger mark (DM) at Sariakandi
in Bogra on Saturday morning.
Despite rises by 14cm at Pankha, 5cm at Rajshahi and 1cm
at the Hardinge Bridge points during the past 24 hours,
the Padma was till flowing 5m to 6.67m below its
respective points on Saturday morning with no flood
situation in the Ganges basin.
The river waters that entered and submerged some Naogaon
villages following breaches at four points in the
embankments and other devices alongside with the Atari and
Chhoto Jamuna rivers on Thursday, have already receded
bringing normalcy there.
Training of judges, lawyers,
investigators needed to ensure justice : Shafique
BSS, Dhaka
Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Barrister Shafique Ahmed on Saturday stressed the need for
regular training for judges, lawyers and investigators to
ensure justice to the litigants.
"Ensuring justice always depends on proper implementation
of law and it is possible only when the concerned persons
play his just role to reveal the truth," he said while
inaugurating a training programme for the newly appointed
assistant judges and judicial magistrates at the Judicial
Administration Training Institute (JATI) in Dhaka.
Elaborating the importance of continuous training for the
judicial officers, lawyers and members of investigation
agencies, he said virtually they are playing the vital
role to implement the provision of the laws.
"So they must keep themselves conversant with the laws by
participating in the training programme," he added.
With director general (DG) of the JATI Justice Md. Hamidul
Haque in the chair, course director Md. Azizul Islam also
addressed the function.
Barrister Shafique Ahmed said the government is actively
considering a mandatory introduction of alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) to dispose of civil and less
important criminal cases.
"Success of ADR is also depends on combined efforts and
adequate knowledge about laws by the judges and lawyers as
they are the concerned parties to make the system
fruitful," he observed.
Back Page
Tk 1,106 cr Mongla Port capacity
building project taken
BSS, Dhaka
The Shipping Ministry has undertaken a plan involving a
Taka 1,106 crore for increasing ship handling facilities
at Mongla Port, the country's second sea port.
The plan includes four mega projects designed for
purchasing cargo handling machinery and capital dredging
on riverbeds so that ships with nine meters drafts can be
anchored at the port, sources in the ministry said.
The projects are: Techno Economic Feasibility Study for
Improvement of Navigability of Mongla Port (TEFSINMP)
worth Taka 882 crore, Dredging at Harbor Channel of Mongla
Port at Taka 100 crore, Outer Bar Dredging on Poshur
Channel of Mongla Port involving Taka 58.46 crore and a
project to purchase cargo handling at a cost of Taka 22.97
crore.
The TEFSINMP was taken after a survey conducted by local
and international navigability experts with a view to
permanently resolving the navigability problems stretching
131 km waterways.
Another project involving Taka 82.93 crore to purchase
cuter section dredger and replace pilot dispatch boat has
already been sent to the Planning Commission, which is
likely to take off shortly, the sources added.
Experts said the above steps were aimed at facilitating
the anticipated regional connectivity as Bangladesh has
agreed to have land, air and waterways connectivity with
South Asian countries, especially to allow India, Nepal
and Bhutan to use Chittgong and Mongla ports.
The cargo handling facilities at the port are on the
gradual rise as goods weighing 10.11 lakh metric tons were
imported through the port while 1.08 lakh metric tons of
exported goods.
Besides, 14,890 TUS container and 1, 04,717 metric tons
containerized cargos were handled from the port at the
same period.
DB official briefs reporters on
Jamaat leaders’ interrogation
UNB, Dhaka
In an unusual move, a senior official of the Detective
Branch (DB) Saturday briefed journalists about the outcome
of the interrogation of Jamaat leaders Ali Ahsan Muhammad
Mujaheed and Delwar Hossain Sayedee, who have been shown
arrested in a number of cases along with Jamaat chief
Matiur Rahman Nizami.
Mujaheed and Sayedee are now being iterrogated with a case
of vandalism and assault on police in Paltan area. Nizami,
who is also shown arrested in this case is likely to be
interrogated from today (Sunday).
Each of the three top Jamaat leaders was brought on 16-day
remand in five cases. In the Paltan case they were put on
three-day remand.
DB Deputy Commissioner (South) Monirul Islam told the
reporters that the investigation officer SI Zillur Rahman
has ascertained that Jamaat and its front wings are
well-organized and all their activities are conducted at
the instruction of the Jamaat high command.
Monirul said out of this finding the investigation officer
has shown the three top Jamaat leaders in the Paltan
vandalism case.
He said in the Paltan vandalism case, three people were
made accused by name and 500 others unnamed. However, the
three accused are now on bail.
In reply to a question, he said currently SI Zillur of
Paltan police station is interrogating the Jamaat leaders
and if assistance from other agencies is required, the
investigation officer can avail help.
Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, secretary
general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and nayeb-e-ameer
Delwar Hossain Sayeede were arrested on 29 June, hours
after a Dhaka magistrate court issued warrants of arrest
in connection with a criminal case over hurting religious
sentiments of Muslims.
They were each put on 16 days' remand in five cases, but
granted bail in the original case of hurting religious
sentiment of Muslims.
Waz
mahfil of Charmonai Pir foiled by police; 4 held in
Dhamrai upazila
UNB, Savar
A waz mahfil organized by the followers of Charmonai Pir
in Dhamrai upazila was foiled by police on Saturday.
Followers of Charmonai Pir Syed Rezaul Karim have been
carrying out publicity for last seven days for holding the
mahfil, which was scheduled to be held at Kalampur Amatun
Nesa High School ground at 3pm on Saturday.
Charmonai Pir Syed Rezaul Karim was scheduled to address
the mahfil.
But police went to the venue and dismantled the podium at
about 1:30pm on Saturday. The law enforcers also held four
people for interrogation.
Helal Uddin, Sub-Inspector of Dhamrai thana, said police
dismantled the podium on a allegation that Jamaat-Shibir
activists in the name of an organization "Islami Andolon"
were attempting to create a different situation.
Meanwhile, local followers of Charmonai Pir condemned the
foiling of the waz mahfil.
Time for free birth registration
extended for one more year : Nanak
BSS, Dhaka
State Minister for LGRD and cooperatives Jahangir Kabir
Nanak on Saturday said the time for free birth
registration for under-18 children has been extended for
one more year to make the universal birth registration
programme for all successful.
For people above 18 years of age, fee would be payable at
a fixed rate, Nanak said at a function on 'Birth
Registration Day' at Osmani Memorial auditorium here.
The Local Government Division organized the function in
observance of the Birth Registration Day at national
level.
Earlier, Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) brought out a
colourful procession from the Nagar Bhaban. After parading
different roads the procession ended on the premises of
Osmani Memorial auditorium.
This year's theme of the day is "Birth Registration a
Right: Responsibility for all to Implement it."
With Secretary of Local Government Division Manzur Hossain
in the chair, the function was addressed, among others, by
State Minister for Science and ICT Ministry Architect
Yeafes Osman, UNICEF Acting Country Representative Dr
lyorlumun Uhaa and Birth and Death Registration Director
AKM Saiful Islam Chowdhury.
Nanak urged all lawmakers under the city corporation to
make the birth registration programme a success.
He said almost cent percent people in 36 districts were
registered under the programme while 90 percent in 16
districts, 80 percent in seven districts and 70 percent in
five districts till March this year.
Nanak laid emphasis on raising mass awareness about the
universal birth registration programme.
Other speakers said, a total of 13,84,31,277 people were
registered under the birth registration programme in the
country till March last.
Later, Jahangir Kabir Nanak distributed certificates among
the winners of essay competition on universal birth
registration programme.
Journalist dies
in police bullet in India
UNB, Hyderabad
A freelance journalist from Delhi, Premchand Pandey, was
shot dead by the police along with Maoist leader Cherukuri
Rajkumar alias Azad arrested on Friday were shot dead in a
fake encounter in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, reports
Rediff News of India on Saturday.
Both of them were taken to Adilabad forest and shot dead
in the forest area in a staged encounter.
Pandey was doing a story on the atrocities on tribal
population in the name of Operation Green Hunt against the
Maoists. On Friday, the police had claimed that Azad and
another unidentified Maoist were killed in an encounter in
Jogapur forest area of Adilabad district. According to the
police, the Maoists and the police personnel exchanged
gunfire for over four hours. But locals residing in nearby
hamlets claimed that they had not heard any sound of
firing, said Rediff News in an investigative report. The
identification of the other victim as a journalist has
only added to the confusion and raised several
uncomfortable questions for the police.
Noted human rights leader Vara Vara Rao has demanded a
judicial inquiry into the entire episode.
Meanwhile, Gudsa Usendi, Communist Party of India (Maoist)
claimed Azad was working on a proposal for a ceasefire
between the left-wing extremists and security forces when
he was nabbed by the police and killed in a fake
encounter.
Five killed in
road crashes
UNB, Gopalganj
Four people were killed when a passenger bus rammed into a
three-wheeler 'Nasimon' at Bahadur Shah Mazar crossing on
Dhaka-Khulna highway in Muksedpur upazila on Saturday
morning.
The deceased were identified as Arun Shah, 45, of
Chandibordi village, driver Mahabur, 19, of Krishnadia
village and Hasib, 15, a class-eight student of a local
high school of the village in Muksedpur upazila and
Mozibur Rahman, 40, of Kamardia village in Nagarkanda
upazila.Police said the accident occurred at 11:30am when
the Gopalganj bound bus of Dola Paribahan from Dhaka
dashed the Nasimon from behind, killing its four
passengers, including the driver, dead on the spot.
Meanwhile, A local leader of Jubo League was killed and 25
others were injured in separate road accidents in Birganj
and Parbattipur upazilas on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Pradip Kumar Saha,
organizing secretary of Birganj thana Jubo League and
resident of Jagdal village in Birganj upazila. Saha, who
was riding a motorcycle, was injured as a goods laden
truck hit his motorbike at Kabiraj Hat in Birganj upazila
on Friday night.
Editorial
Rising prices and
crimes
The
skyrocketing of prices of essentials and the spate of the
incidents of crimes in the country are causing the worst
concern among the people nowadays. Because, the sufferings of
the people continue unabated due mainly to high prices of
essentials and deterioration of the law and order situation.
The prices of essentials specially rice, lentils, sugar,
edible oil, meat, fish, spices and vegetables have shot up
recently and are continuing to rise while incidents of
hijacking, extortion, snatching and murder have increased
marking deterioration of law and order across the country. The
increase in the prices of essentials is causing immense
sufferings to the people belonging to the limited income
groups. The price of coarse rice reportedly soared by Taka 3
per kg in a week which is unbearable for the poor people who
consume this rice. Although the prices of the essential
commodities have shot up, the incomes of the people have not
increased and that is the crux of the problem.
Meanwhile, there has been a deterioration in the law and order
situation causing concern among the public. Incidents of
extortion, snatching, theft, robbery and murder have increased
in the capital itself. However, the government apparently
alive to the alarming situation relating to the high prices of
essentials and the deterioration of the law and order
situation marked by growing incidents of serious crimes is
trying to tackle the situation, but with little effect. The
administration is trying to monitor the situation and bring
the prices of different commodities to a tolerable level. On
the other hand the home ministry has initiated moves to
improve law and order situation.
However, the government should deal with the law and order
situation more seriously and ensure security, peace and
harmony. Stringent measures must be taken against the
offenders irrespective of their party affiliation to reassure
the people that the government is not ready to spare anybody
if found engaged in criminal activities. Above all, the
government should go all out to bring down the prices of the
essentials.
Resisting stalkers
Social
movement against eve-teasing and people's determination to
resist the stalkers are getting momentum with the passing of
time. People belonging to different sections continue to raise
their voices against the unwarranted activities of derailed
youths. On Friday speakers at a human chain programme in the
city called for framing a strict law to stop stalking and
building up a united resistance against stalkers. The speakers
said the incidents of stalking have increased to a great
extent in the last few years. As a result, 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. Law enforcers alone cannot
stop the stalking and every person of society will have to
come forward to fight the social menace, they said.
It is encouraging that the awareness about the need to check
eve-teasing is growing fast among the people while the
government is also trying to act against this scourge.
Education Day programmes were observed across the country in
June with a vow to check the eve- teasing. The theme of the
day was "Security to girl students" to gear up countrywide
anti-eve teasing campaign. One of the major objective of the
observance of the day was to create mass awareness at the
national level against eve teasing.
Addressing a protest rally at Central Shaheed Minar Education
Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said that the government has taken
various initiatives to stop eve -teasing in the country to
ensure congenial atmosphere in the educational institutions.
"The government is now planning to introduce a strict law
against eve- teasing," he said at the rally. He emphasized
waging a strong social movement against eve teasing that has
become a social menace.
It is a very good development that within a short period of
time a strong movement has developed across the country
against eve-teasing and stalking. From the capital Dhaka to
the remote villages of the country processions and
demonstrations are being organized almost every day by
students, teachers, social workers and human rights activists
in an effort to combat eve- teasing and eradicate this menace
from the society.
Unfortunately, in spite of this strong social movement and
arrest of a number of offenders by police eve-teasing by
misguided youths are continuing at different places. According
to a human rights organization, due to the humiliation caused
by eve teasing and stalking, as many as 22 girls and women and
the father of a victim committed suicide at different places
in recent times. Besides, three people were killed and four
others tortured for protesting against stalking by youths.
As stalking and sexual harassment of girls by derailed youths
are on the rise, experts have expressed the opinion that apart
from building resistance to these the offenders should be
boycotted socially and politically. They also stressed the
need for strengthening the social movement against harassment
of girls to ensure a congenial atmosphere in the educational
institutions. Stalking is a social curse and it is urgently
needed to free the society from it to ensure participation of
girls and women in different activities. It is alleged that
the stalkers are often sheltered and protected by politicians
and influential people. They must refrain from doing so.
Massive social awareness against eve -teasing and stalking
should be created and stern action against these must be taken
to get rid of the dangerous social disease. In view of this
the introduction of a strict law against eve-teasing will be a
timely step and therefore welcomed by all as it will hopefully
go a long way in checking the eve-teasing menace. It may be
stressed here that mere enactment of a law will not be enough,
the law will have to be enforced strictly to check eve-teasing
and stalking.
Analysis
The graveyard of empires
The endgame does not seem to be very rosy for
the US and its allies. They have already lost more than 1,000
troops in combat.
Arif Nizami
Afghanistan, "the
graveyard of empires" where no foreign invader since Genghis
Khan has been able to get a foothold, is a lost cause for the
West. The unceremonious exit of the top US commander in
Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal over his acerbic and
unflattering remarks in a magazine interview about President
Obama, Vice President Biden and key members of his Afghanistan
team, is symptomatic of this failure.
The only debatable point left is not if, but when, the US and
Nato troops will leave Afghanistan. Officially, the drawdown
starts in July 2011, before Oabma's re-election for a second
term. But Gen David H Petraeus who replaced McChrystal, in his
confirmation hearings in the US Senate, claimed that the start
of withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan was the
"beginning of the process" and the US commitment to the
country was an "enduring one." Thus, despite immense US
domestic pressure to exit, the war that has become the longest
war the US has fought on foreign soil could last still longer.
The endgame does not seem to be very rosy for the US and its
allies. They have already lost more than 1,000 troops in
combat. However, the goal to win the hearts and minds of
Afghans has eluded the foreign forces. In fact, there is
increasing skepticism even in the US about the COIN
(counterinsurgency) strategy much touted by its author Gen
Petreaus and by his disgraced predecessor Gen McChrystal.
In the meantime, the Pakistani army and its intelligence arm,
the ISI, which have considered Afghanistan as the country's
strategic depth, are pursuing with renewed vigour a peace
mission of their own. According to media reports, belatedly
denied by official military spokesmen but confirmed by US
sources, the chief of the army staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani,
ably assisted by ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha, are busy brokering
a deal between the Afghan president Hamid Karzai and the
Haqqani network headed by Sirajuddin Haqqani.
By most accounts, efforts to broker a Karzai-Taliban coalition
by Pakistan are being pursued with great urgency.
Interestingly, the foreign office in Islamabad is completely
silent about the matter. Nor has the prime minister spoken on
an issue vital to our national security. Afghanistan, as has
been the norm, has either been completely outsourced by our
civilian rulers to the army and the ISI. Or, the ostensible
lack of interest in the matter is a result of a strategic
understanding between the military and the civilian
leadership.
Washington, naturally, is skeptical of these moves. CIA chief
Leon Panetta in a recent interview expressed doubts about such
initiatives succeeding at the present stage. According to him,
unless the Taliban are beaten on the battleground they will
not come to the conference table. President Obama, while
echoing the same sentiments, has termed the talks as "a useful
step."
Unlike George W Bush, who as president prematurely declared
victory in Iraq, no one in the present administration is
talking about "victory" even as a goal. In fact the roadmap
has been scaled down to "progress," meaning that Afghan soil
should no longer be used for terrorist acts against the US.
According to a report in the New York Times, talks being
brokered by Gen Kayani and Gen Pasha are also meant to break
the Taliban-Al Qaeda nexus by persuading Al Qaeda to relocate
elsewhere. There is no guarantee that this is even possible.
Those who express skepticism about Taliban-Karzai talks
succeeding have a valid point. Why should the Taliban concede
anything as long as they are gaining strength on the
battlefield and the enemy is demoralised and divided?
On the flip side, whatever the Pakistani army does to
facilitate a peace deal in Kabul, as long as Al Qaeda has
sanctuaries in what Washington calls "the badlands of
Pakistan," Islamabad is not going to get off the hook.
Pressure on the Pakistani army to launch a putsch in North
Waziristan is bound to increase in the coming months.
Gen Petraeus, unlike his predecessor, will push Gen Kayani
with fresh zeal to "do more." War strategists in Washington
are firm in their perception that Taliban-Al Qaeda sanctuaries
have to be destroyed in the tribal areas of Pakistan to secure
Afghanistan and obviate the possibility of further terrorist
attacks on US soil from the region.
The Central Asian Republics led by Russia have their own axe
to grind in the Afghan imbroglio. Their strategic interests in
northern Afghanistan and proxies in the form of the Northern
Alliance will not easily accept a government in Kabul in which
the Pakhtun-dominated Taliban have a leading role. It is also
not clear how Mullah Omar and Gulbadin Hekmatyar will be
brought on board.
India historically has well entrenched economic and strategic
interests in Afghanistan, which will be hard to ignore by
Kabul. It will be a Herculean task for Islamabad to convince
Kabul to ask New Delhi, which is the second-largest foreign
investor in Afghanistan, to close down its consulates, or even
scale down its presence.
Gen Petraeus, after being unanimously confirmed by the Senate,
is reaching Kabul accompanied by Gen McChrystal's bete noire,
America's ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry. The
"warrior diplomat," as Gen Petraeus is known, made it a point
to also bring Richard Holbrooke on board.
Despite this rare display of unity amongst Obama's Afghanistan
team, there are underlying differences. President Obama's
special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan is disliked in both
the countries. Karzai resents Holbrooke's overbearing and
meddlesome attitude more akin to that of the fictional "ugly
American." He has not forgiven Holbrooke for questioning the
legitimacy of his re-election last year.
Last month, when Holbrooke came on his eleventh visit to
Islamabad, he was made to wait two days before he could meet
Gen Kayani, who naturally feels more comfortable with his
counterparts in the US military. In this backdrop,
speculations that Holbrooke will have to be replaced are not
without foundation. The nomination of presumptive US
ambassador to Islamabad Cameron Hume has also been dropped
owing to his reported terrible temper.
Pakistan's wish list in Afghanistan seems a tall order. Gen
Kayani is due to retire in November this year. If he can pull
off a workable peace deal virtually at the end of his military
career he will certainly make history--both as a general who
successfully led his army to fight the Taliban in Pakistan but
also as one who brokered a peace deal in Afghanistan with the
Taliban. At the present juncture these seem mutually exclusive
goals.
The writer is a former newspaper editor. Email: arifn51@h
otmail.com
Style and
substance
There is no magic formula for peace in South Asia.
Terrorism and extremism, US and Chinese involvement, as
well as India-Pakistan rivalry in Afghanistan, make the
toxic South Asian
cocktail even more poisonous.
Shada Islam
Indian
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is a woman my father would
have described as a "tough cookie", an impressive and
savvy professional who shines in a male-dominated world.
Recently in Pakistan to prepare for ministerial talks
between Pakistan and India, Ms Rao appeared intelligent,
cool, dignified and gracious. Reading her comments and
seeing pictures after her recent meeting in Islamabad with
Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, I felt a sense
of pride in the achievements of a successful South Asian
woman, one who had not risen to the top on the coattails
of a powerful family but through hard work and personal
merit.
As India and Pakistan prepare to hold talks between
foreign ministers, it is reassuring that it's Ms Rao who
is charged with the tough preparatory work. I don't know
if Ms Rao and Mr Bashir can get the Herculean job done -
after all they are civil servants, not politicians.
But if the two governments are serious about normalising
relations then at least the Indian foreign secretary has
repeatedly demonstrated that she has the necessary
qualifications to tackle the difficult task.
Almost two years ago in Delhi, I participated in
discussions Ms Rao held on foreign policy priorities with
representatives of European think tanks. I remember
thinking at the time that Ms Rao - like her majestic
refurbished Raj surroundings - was almost too good to be
true.
She walked into the magnificent meeting room at the
foreign office, sari swishing, giving us a warm, welcoming
smile and a firm handshake. She told us somberly that
there had been another attack on the Indian embassy in
Kabul, so she may have to leave earlier than anticipated.
But as we drank tea and ate biscuits, she talked us
patiently through various aspects of India's foreign
policy. Throughout the discussion, Ms Rao was the epitome
of grace under fire.
She spoke at length about cross-border terrorism and the
need for Pakistan to take effective action against
"various groups that take sustenance from the
environment". Not once did she engage in anti-Pakistan
rhetoric or attack Islamabad. Her focus, she said, was on
beginning a counter-terrorism dialogue with Pakistan.
Before the letters of protest come in and I am called
naďve and ingenuous, let's be clear: Ms Rao is certainly
not soft on Pakistan and will defend Indian interests to
the hilt. That's her job and her role. Pakistani officials
are paid to do the same. But Ms Rao is proof that
sometimes tone and style are as important as substance.
Rebuilding relations between India and Pakistan requires
skilled diplomacy, patience and hard work. It means
recognising the burden of history - but reconciling it
with the imperatives of the future. Clearly, it will take
years to tackle the trust deficit between the two
countries, not to mention the time needed to resolve
differences over Kashmir and other issues, including the
dispute over water, that divides the two countries.
There is no magic formula for peace in South Asia.
Terrorism and extremism, US and Chinese involvement, as
well as India-Pakistan rivalry in Afghanistan, make the
toxic South Asian cocktail even more poisonous.
Last week at the European Policy Centre in Brussels, I
chaired a meeting on building a new South Asian security
agenda, in the hope that as former Pakistani ambassador
Khalid Mahmood put it, the "zero sum game" between India
and Pakistan could be replaced by a more constructive
approach.
Mr Mahmood rightly insisted that it was in the common
interest of both countries that the peace process should
become irreversible and that acts of terrorism should not
derail it. He said both countries should tackle terrorism
by treating it as a common threat and cooperate in the
management and conservation of water rather than on
disputes.
A framework should be created for resolving outstanding
issues, based on work already done during the 2004-2007
period.
These are important and constructive proposals that need
to be addressed by both India and Pakistan. Other
imperatives of the 21st century also need to be taken into
account.
India and Pakistan - and the rest of South Asia - must
first and foremost focus on improving the lives of the
millions of people who live in extreme poverty. Countries
in the region should join ranks to try and achieve at
least some of the poverty-slashing Millennium Development
Goals. That should be a common agenda for South Asia.
Second, the region must trade more with each other. Take a
look at the passionate discussions on creating a "regional
architecture" under way in Southeast Asia and it becomes
clear that the new world order is about building ever
stronger regional blocs, closer economic cooperation
between neighbours and breaking down barriers, not the
creation of new ones.
If South Asian nations are to be taken seriously, they
will have to put meat on the bones of Saarc, the South
Asian regional organisation that is hostage to endless
quarrels between its members. More significantly, they
will have to sort out their endless bilateral disputes.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
have shown that Asian countries can sidestep, and look
beyond, longstanding conflicts to engage in building
bridges and alliances. Despite their history of
confrontation and war, the leaders of China, Japan and
South Korea hold regular summits and are working on
forging stronger economic ties.
Historical wounds do not heal immediately, but economic
tie-ups, common business interests and the need to play
catch-up in a rapidly developing world should be as high
on the India-Pakistan agenda as dealing with historically
rooted disputes. It's simple: India is certainly an
important emerging nation but as Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh said recently, it can only achieve its full
potential if it is at peace with its neighbours.
As their Asian neighbours rise to new economic heights,
South Asian countries cannot afford to be left behind,
embroiled in unresolved and seemingly intractable
conflicts which burden their political and economic
landscape.
Clearly, South Asian politicians will have to forge a
long-term strategy for growth and development that their
counterparts in Southeast Asia have espoused with such
success, energy and enthusiasm.
Ms Rao and Mr Bashir may be accomplished bureaucrats used
to dealing with ground realities. But ahead of the
upcoming talks between their foreign ministers, they will
also have to inject some much-needed vision into the
mainly arid India-Pakistan relationship.
The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Brussels.
Viewpoints
UN muscles in on a Third World country
Portrayed by
many in the Arab world as a Western stooge, Moon and his
toothless organization have lost credibility when it comes to
showing impartiality in regional matters that affect us most.
Tariq A. Al-Maeena
Last
month, the Sri Lankan government refused to issue visas to
members of a UN panel selected to look into the possibility of
war crimes in Sri Lanka's war against Tamil Tigers, and turned
down conditions by the European Union for relaxed trade
concessions.
Foreign Minister G.L.Peiris stated bluntly, "We will not issue
visas to the panel. We don't think we need them," adding that
such charges were the malicious fabrications by LTTE
(Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) supporters.
The LTTE, a separatist organization, had been involved in such
a conflict since 1976, with the purpose of creating an
independent homeland for its Tamil members in the north and
east of Sri Lanka. In the course of this conflict, hundreds of
thousands of Tamils, Muslims, Christians and Sinhalese people
had lost their lives or were stripped of their possessions,
displaced and ferreted to refugee camps.
Finally in May 2009, after a fierce battle with the full might
of the Sri Lankan Army, the LTTE was defeated and all talks of
separatism ended. In the aftermath of the event, accusations
were raised against the Sri Lankan government for their heavy
handedness in putting an end to the conflict that had
disrupted this beautiful island for more than 30 years, and
cries of war crimes echoed from several Western countries.
Ban Ki-moon, the South Korean secretary-general of the UN was
obviously not impressed. Portrayed by many in the Arab world
as a Western stooge, Moon and his toothless organization have
lost credibility when it comes to showing impartiality in
regional matters that affect us most.
While Iran and its pursuit of nuclear power seems to occupy
him and members of the Security Council most, very little
merit is given to calls by regional governments to free the
region of all nuclear arsenal, including those held by Israel.
And why should the Sri Lankan government accommodate his
request? Has he or his organization ever demanded a similar
probe against the continuing war crimes being perpetuated by
the Israelis against the people of Palestine? Crimes that are
witnessed by most of the free world on live television, and
yet remain ignored on the agendas of the UN body?
Or are there separate rules for Israel from the rest of the
world? In his eagerness to investigate Sri Lanka, does not
Moon believe that that there are far worse instances of
atrocities that have been carried out in recent memory by the
Israelis, such as Sabra and Shatila massacres spearheaded by
Ariel Sharon, or the indiscriminate bombings and use of
incendiary explosives against the civilians of Lebanon in
2006, or the tortures and theft of land and property in the
occupied Palestinian territories for the past six decades?
Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka can be brought out onto
the carpet and full investigations are demanded at the risk of
sanctions or embargoes. President of Sudan, Omar Bashir is
charged with genocide over the Darfur killings; yet Netanyahu,
Sharon and Olmert and others in the Israeli government, past
and present, escape the tentacles of justice. A rogue country
with the most recorded acts of war crimes in recent history
such as Israel continues to get off with immunity against such
UN sponsored probes.
Bravo, Sri Lanka. Maintain your sovereignty and carry out
independent and impartial probes into such allegations
yourselves. For the thousands of refugees including Tamils who
were displaced from their homes, it is imperative that they
understand that they belong to the island nation of Sri Lanka
and not remain burdened as refugees withering in some squalid
camps and facing an uncertain future. Efforts to provide basic
living amenities such as jobs, housing, electricity, water and
education for children must be accelerated to secure a lasting
peace.
It's time now to heal wounds and move ahead. President Mahinda
Rajapaksa must act swiftly to ensure that participation in the
country's political and economic process by all Sri Lankans
including minorities should be treated as an immediate
priority.
You can’t
build a nation when corruption is endemic
The US has
very little chance of succeeding in Afghanistan,
regardless of who is in charge of the war effort.
Fawaz Turki
If
loose lips sink ships, then in running off at the mouth
General Stanley A. McChrystal has sent his own to the
bottom of the ocean. McChrystal, formerly commander of
Nato forces fighting that grim war in Afghanistan - a war
about to enter its tenth year, which for Americans is the
longest in their history - was dismissed recently by
President Barack Obama. He was fired after his cocky
remarks about the president, the vice-president and the
American ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, with whom
he had been bickering for months over strategy, appeared
in Rolling Stone.
General David H. Petraeus, the man behind the 'surge', and
the 'Sunni awakening movement' that derailed the momentum
of the insurgency in Iraq, was tapped by the president to
take the reins as the new military chief in Afghanistan.
But in the end, it's not really about one general being
given the boot by his commander in chief. In the past,
generals were fired by presidents with impressive ease and
with minimum disruption to the system, from Zachary Taylor
to George Patton to Douglas MacArthur. Rather it is about
the cloud of uncertainty and the sense of drift in that
intractable land, whose culture Americans know less about
than the enigmatic cultures of Vietnam and Iraq, with
which they made fateful contact. It is, moreover, about
the incoherence of the purported goals the US claims to be
pursuing there, goals that appear vague not only to the
American public but to top military commanders as well.
Lingering questions
The old question asked by intellectuals and activists four
decades ago - why are we in Vietnam? - immortalised in
Norman Mailer's book with the same title, may very well be
asked about Afghanistan by these same intellectuals' and
activists' children today. Why is the US in Afghanistan?
Are its goals there nation-building? Conducting a
counterinsurgency? Busting Al Qaida and denying it a
haven? Establishing a central government and a competent
bureaucracy in Kabul backed by a well-trained army and
national police? Another question: Is July 2011, the date
by which Obama promised to start withdrawing American
troopps, an improbable deadline for such a draconian task?
Consider in this regard what a senior adviser to
McChrystal was quoted as saying recently: "I think we know
that we don't know, though it's not for lack of trying".
About as blunt as you can be.
By now, perhaps the question Americans need to ask, after
nine years of conflict, and more than 1,000 dead and 6,000
injured, is not why they are in Afghanistan, but why the
US continues to wage an unwinnable war and to pursue
unrealistic goals, at a time when many of its allies are
heading for the door.
Sure the Taliban are a relentless enemy that have shown
they are capable of matching the US surge for surge. The
major assault launched last week, for example, in the
remote mountainous high ground in Komar, along
Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, aimed at destroying a
growing insurgent haven there, involved 700 US and Afghan
troops pitted against as many as 250 rebel fighters. "The
Taliban know we are bringing our surge of forces," Major
General John Campbell, the senior commander in eastern
Afghanistan, was reported as saying. "They realise that
they can't let that happen, so they are pursuing their own
surge."
Let's resort to metaphor here: When you're desperate for
victory - victory that continues to elude and frustrate
you, year in, year out - your desperation exudes an odour,
as it were, that determined insurgents can "smell". But a
more determined enemy, not dependent on his olfactory
faculties, confronts Americans in Afghanistan today and is
derailing their efforts to transform the country into a
viable nation. That enemy is embodied in the political
culture, or the culture of corruption, which permeates
every subsystem of the social system. It involves rampant
graft by government officials, bureaucrats,
representatives of the ruling class and other elite
Afghans. They have for years openly and brazenly been
moving vast sums of money to overseas accounts, and
building garish villas in the Sharpur district, Kabul's
Beverly Hills. All of this has been made possible by the
enormous influx of US dollars, donor money and, yes, the
opium trade, thus aggravating the class stratification in
a country ranked among the poorest in the world.
Greed and graft
The long and short of it is that you can't build a viable
nation when rulers are more preoccupied with lining their
pockets than with ruling. This is as true of Afghanistan
today as it has been of all those failed states around the
world that we have come to call, in deference to political
correctness, "developing" countries.
All of which is good news for the Taliban.
For Americans in Afghanistan, fighting corruption is a
lost cause, a task more daunting, though clearly less
bloody, than fighting insurgents. Corruption, long encoded
in the country's political culture, will one day be writ
large as the major factor that impeded, indeed blocked,
and finally defeated, the American enterprise of
nation-building and counter-insurgency efforts in
Afghanistan.
Fawaz Turki is a journalist, lecturer and author based
in Washington. He is the author of The Disinherited:
Journal of a
Palestinian Exile.
G-20 and the real economy
Perceptions of social injustice - once seen as mainly a
problem of the developing world - are spreading fast in
many developed countries.
Juan Somavia
On
the eve of the G-20 leaders summit in Toronto this
weekend, we are again at a critical juncture.
Despite a fragile economic recovery, global unemployment
is at its highest level ever, at more than 210 million,
and we will need to create 470 million new jobs in the
next 10 years to absorb new entrants into the labour
markets. Youth unemployment has reached unacceptable
levels. Gains in reducing the number of working poor
living on less than $1.25 per person per day are being
reversed. The informal economy and vulnerable work are
swelling.
Perceptions of social injustice - once seen as mainly a
problem of the developing world - are spreading fast in
many developed countries. Tensions and social unrest are
increasing in the form of public protests against
austerity measures and for jobs.
There is still time to turn this situation around. But we
must make the right choices. Up until eight weeks ago, the
"Pittsburgh Consensus" - decisions taken by the G-20 at
their summit in that city last September - was on track as
the right approach to the crisis: putting quality jobs at
the heart of the recovery and gradually withdrawing
stimulus measures as the economic and jobs recovery took
strong hold.
Suddenly, however, the agreement on this economic and
social approach has come under pressure. Concerns over the
sovereign debt crisis and growing deficits in Europe have
prompted decisions to cut social spending, moves to raise
taxes and the pursuit of significant austerity measures.
History shows that doing this can jeopardise the very
recovery we are trying to achieve. And we also know that
such measures will certainly slow down jobs recovery in
the short run.
These concerns dominated the discussions at the
just-concluded International Labour Conference, the annual
meeting of the ILO. The conference is a unique gathering
of more than 4,000 government, employer and worker
representatives - representatives of the "real economy".
Their voices expressed concern, fear and frustration over
the evolution of the crisis response, and the possibility
that even meager gains made so far in economic recovery
may be lost in terms of creating jobs, sustaining
enterprises and supporting the unemployed.
Their expectations can be summarised in the following
points:
First, we need a balanced policy convergence strategy that
protects and promotes productive investments and job-rich
growth in a fiscally responsible manner.
Second, we need growth that generates decent jobs. That
means building further on the Pittsburgh commitments to
"put quality jobs at the heart of the recovery".
Third, we must make sure that people - especially young
workers - have the necessary skills to fill the jobs that
are created.
Fourth, job creation must be a targeted goal for
governments alongside low inflation, sound fiscal policies
and other macroeconomic objectives.
Fifth, and very importantly, we need a financial system
that works for the real economy, not the other way around.
Global growth is expected to reach around 4 per cent this
year, but what does that matter to a worker who cannot get
a job or has weak social protection in times of crisis?
And what about the small enterprises that have difficult
access to credit and cannot benefit from the mild economic
recovery that is under way?
These are questions we should be answering.
The bottom line is that the only sustainable way out of
the crisis is by reactivating the real economy, creating
more jobs and thus increasing government revenues.
At the same time, we certainly have to address the issue
of fiscal deficits and sovereign debt, which requires
medium- and long-term sustainable solutions. But we must
start now. Countries, according to their own
circumstances, can formulate balanced, gradual and
credible exit strategies from the stimulus measures that
rescued the global economy from an ever-deeper recession,
and that have saved or created tens of millions of jobs
since the start of the crisis.
I must express the strong support of ILO constituents for
the responsibilities that the G-20 have decided to take on
and consequently the difficult tasks ahead. The message
coming from them is the importance of political and social
dialogue, nationally and internationally, to find the
right balance of policies to deal with all these issues.
What is at stake is the future of the real economy.
The writer is director-general of the International
Labour Organisation. He contributed this article to The
Jordan Times.
Constant, for sure
Regional openness makes the hawks in Pakistan and India
nervous because they will fast lose their constituency of
hate.
Harris Khalique
Seasoned
Indian diplomat and legislator Mani Shankar Aiyar, in his
column titled "Constant or Composite?" has pleaded for an
uninterrupted and uninterruptible dialogue process between
the two feuding neighbours. Unlike some of his colleagues
who cherish their diatribes when it comes to
Indo-Pakistani relations, Aiyar, who was deputy high
commissioner in Karachi between 1978 and 1982, mostly
speaks in a sombre, conciliatory and humanistic tone.
What else but a humanistic issue does it remain. When
farmers in India and the urban poor in Pakistan are
committing suicides after killing their children,
five-year-olds beg on the streets and seven-year-olds work
in fields and factories, thousands die of curable diseases
every year and half the population is illiterate, what
else but an issue of survival and dignity does it become
for a billion of the world's people.
Partly, it is the neo-liberal economic model blindly
followed in both India and Pakistan, which is making the
rich richer, and fewer, and the poor poorer, and larger in
numbers. But it is also the denial of those opportunities
which can be found within the current economic paradigm in
terms of free mutual trade, cooperation in industrial
growth besides tourism and cultural exchange which would
offer incredible economic benefits to each other's service
industries.
Regional openness makes the hawks in Pakistan and India
nervous because they will fast lose their constituency of
hate.
This has been said here time and again: that the whole
premise of Partition was to bring peace to the Indian
Subcontinent, and not to create a permanent atmosphere of
animosity between the two countries. One is reminded of
the interview the Quaid-e-Azam gave soon after Pakistan
was created. He said he would retire to his house in
Bombay. But things were to change soon. India, more
powerful militarily and diplomatically, took some measures
which made Pakistanis believe that Indians wanted to
subvert their country's existence.
For instance, resource-poor Pakistan's share from the
combined treasury of British India was delayed
deliberately after Partition. Mahatma Gandhi had to
campaign for the release of Pakistan's share. Then, we saw
competing logics followed by the Nehru government in
annexing the native states of Junagadh, Kashmir and
Hyderabad. Junagadh had a Hindu majority and a Muslim
ruler. Kashmir had a Muslim majority and a Hindu ruler.
Hyderabad had announced autonomy. All three are now part
of India, except for a region of the erstwhile state of
Jammu and Kashmir which Pakistan administers.
Nevertheless, there were people on both sides of the
border who wanted sanity to prevail. Very few now remember
that there was a Joint Defence Council between the two
countries where the Kashmir issue was first raised,
probably in November 1947. Earlier, India had also made a
statement in favour of Pakistan's candidature for
membership at the United Nations.
There was a lot of traffic between the two countries until
war broke out in 1965. Films, books, magazines and other
goods had been exchanged regularly. With all its
weaknesses and shortcomings, what the two countries still
follow, and never even breached during the two full-scale
wars, is the Indus Basin Treaty signed in 1960. After wars
or escalation of tensions, there were also political
accords like the Liaquat-Nehru Pact and the Shimla
Agreement. If finally we have to sit across the table and
talk, then why waste time? Better begin a continuous
dialogue process with a seriousness of purpose.
Egotistical elite, civilian and military alike, may think
of the poor for a change.
The writer is a poet and advises national and
international institutions on governance and public policy
issues. Email: harris. khalique@gmail.com
International
Protest strike in
Lahore over Pakistan shrine bombing
AFP, Lahore
Shops and offices were shut across the eastern Pakistani
city of Lahore on Saturday in a protest strike over twin
suicide attacks on an Islamic shrine which killed 43
people.
Police said they have "apprehended" several people in
their investigation into Thursday's bombings, which left a
trail of carnage at a packed Sufi shrine, but have made no
formal arrests.
Raghib Naeemi, a leader of a Sunni Muslim council that
called the strike, said a major rally was being planned on
Saturday evening. "We will continue our protest till the
government takes some concrete actions to curb terrorist
activities," he said.
Angry protesters had taken to the streets in Pakistan on
Friday, burning tyres and blaming Taliban extremists for
the latest bloodshed in the city, a major military,
political and cultural hub.
An AFP reporter said markets were closed on Saturday and
roads deserted in the otherwise bustling city. Schools are
already closed for the summer holidays, while offices also
observe a Saturday-Sunday weekend.
Investigators said they had yet to identify the two
suicide bombers who blew themselves up among crowds of
worshippers at the shrine to Sufi saint Data Ganj Bakhsh
in Lahore, capital of Punjab province.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility and the
Pakistan Taliban, which has been blamed for a wave of
bloody attacks over the past three years, denied it was
involved.
Police also said they had uncovered 20 suicide bombing
vests and two dozen police commando uniforms during a raid
in Lahore late Friday.
Investigators said it may take some time to identify the
bombers, who were caught on camera in dramatic
closed-circuit television footage of the bomb blast and
the carnage and chaos that ensued.
"We quizzed the family of a man, we were suspecting to be
one of the suicide bomber, but he turned out to be one of
the victims. His body has been handed over to the family,"
a senior investigator told AFP.
About 700 people attended the man's funeral Saturday
outside Lahore with mourners insisting on his innocence.
"This gathering condemns terrorism. We are peaceful
people. Terrorists should stop this bloodbath," prayer
leader Asghar Farid said at the funeral mass of
27-year-old Mohammad Rafiq.
Pakistan has been hit by a wave of Islamist militant
attacks over the past three years which many attribute to
Islamabad's alliance with Washington and the US-led war
against the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
In May, gunmen wearing suicide vests storm two mosques
belonging to the minority Ahmadi sect in Lahore, killing
at least 82 people.
India opens ultra-modern airport
terminal
Afp, New Delhi
India inaugurated a multi-billion-dollar airport terminal
in New Delhi on Saturday-a shiny glass-and-steel symbol of
the country's aspirations as an emerging global power.
The state-of-the-art hub, which cost nearly three billion
dollars and can handle 34 million passengers a year, was
showcased at a special ceremony by Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh ahead of its mid-July public opening.
The airport, which will handle international and domestic
travellers, was built in a record 37 months, with similar
projects abroad taking more than 60 months, officials
said.
"This airport terminal establishes new global benchmarks,"
Singh said.
"It also highlights our country's resolve to bridge the
infrastructure deficiencies in our country."
The premier said the project was an "outstanding example"
of public-private partnership-seen as the most viable
financial model for India to execute big infrastructure
projects as it eases the burden on government finances.
Built in time for New Delhi's hosting of the Commonwealth
Games in October, the terminal sprawls over four square
kilometres (1.5 square miles) and boasts more than 90
automated walkways and 78 aerobridges.
"This is a demonstration of what India is truly capable,"
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said at the
inauguration ceremony at Indira Gandhi International
Airport, which was also attended by ruling Congress party
president Sonia Gandhi.
The facility, built by a workforce of 40,000, is India's
third world-class airport after Hyderabad and Bangalore
but dwarfs both.
It is the largest public building constructed in India
since the country's independence from Britain in 1947,
according to the consortium that built it.
"It's an advertisement of India's ability to create
world-class infrastructure," economist D.H. Pai Panandiker,
who heads the RPG Goenka Foundation in New Delhi, an
economic thinktank, told AFP.
As Asia's third-largest economy after China and Japan,
India urgently needs to upgrade its dilapidated transport
infrastructure, including ports and roads, which is seen
as a major hurdle to accelerating economic expansion.
Pakistan PM visits scene of
shrine bombing
AFP, Lahore
Pakistan's prime minister Saturday visited the scene of a
double suicide attack in the eastern city of Lahore as
angry protesters around the country demanded action
against extremism.
Police said they had "apprehended" several people in
Lahore in their investigation into Thursday's bombings,
which killed 43 and left a trail of carnage at a packed
Sufi shrine, but have made no formal arrests.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani visited the shrine and
vowed to defeat extremists, saying he had convened a
special law enforcement meeting to work out a solution.
"We have to be united to defeat terrorism and have
appealed to the international community to help us enhance
the capacity of our law enforcement agencies," Gilani
said.
Shops and offices were closed in a number of cities and
towns on Saturday in a strike protesting against
Thursday's attacks.
Raghib Naeemi, a leader of a Sunni Muslim council that
called the strike, said a major rally was planned for
Saturday evening and urged the government to step up its
efforts against extremism.
"We will continue our protest till the government takes
some concrete actions to curb terrorist activities," he
said.
The council's chief Sahibzada Fazal thanked Pakistanis for
observing the strike and for holding protests.
"Today's successful strike shows that people hate those
who do terrorist acts in the name of religion. People have
completely rejected these hired assassins," Fazal said.
Rallies were held in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and
several other cities on Saturday, with demonstrators
shouting slogans against terrorism and extremism.
"We reject massacre in the name of religion," read one
banner at a rally in the southern port city of Karachi.
Television footage showed enraged protesters burning tyres
and shouting slogans against the government, criticising
it for not improving security.
Maldives extends MPs’ house
arrest as crisis drags
AFP, Colombo
A Maldivian court has extended the house arrest of two key
opposition lawmakers amid a dragging power struggle
between the country's president and parliament, an
official said Saturday.
The High Court agreed late Friday to a government appeal
to keep the two MPs under house arrest for two weeks, the
official said, adding that police were investigating them
for allegedly trying to bribe independent MPs.
MPs Abdulla Yamin and Qasim Ibrahim, leaders of smaller
opposition parties, were arrested by police on Tuesday
shortly after a political crisis erupted when the cabinet
resigned en masse.
President Mohamed Nasheed and the opposition-controlled
parliament are at loggerheads over how to run the atoll
nation of 330,000 Sunni Muslims two years after the Indian
ocean state held its first multi-party elections.
Nasheed's 13-member group of ministers quit on Tuesday,
saying parliament was blocking all its efforts to govern
the country, South Asia's most expensive tourist
destination, and undermining the authority of the
executive.
Officials said Nasheed welcomed a statement from the
European Parliament last week urging all sides to respect
the constitution and promote good governance in the
fledgling democracy.
The European Parliament had asked all sides to take "the
measures which are necessary in order to promote good
governance and allow the country to tackle the challenges
it faces".
New Afghan war commander appeals for
unity
AFP, Kabul
US General David Petraeus appealed Saturday for a united
effort to end almost nine years of war against the Taliban
as he made his public debut as the commander of NATO
forces in Afghanistan.
The four-star general, who arrived in the Afghan capital
on Friday, faces a tough task to bring peace and secure a
face-saving exit for allied troops fighting an
increasingly deadly insurgency by the hardline Islamists.
"This is an effort in which we must achieve unity of
effort and common purpose. Civilian and military, Afghan
and international, we are part of one team with one
mission," Petraeus said at the US embassy in Kabul.
Petraeus, who took over as commander of the 140,000 US and
NATO troops in Afghanistan after the sacking of US General
Stanley McChrystal, has said the war is likely to get
tougher before significant improvements are seen.
"This is a tough mission, there is nothing easy about it.
But working together we can achieve progress and we can
achieve our mutual objective," he told some 1,700 invited
guests at a Fourth of July reception.
Petraeus was due to formally assume his commander role on
Sunday in a ceremony at NATO forces headquarters in
central Kabul.
But the general has already started on the job, leading
Saturday's daily briefing of regional commanders across
the country that takes place each morning, said an aide.
He arrives as the deaths of US and NATO soldiers are
touching record highs in intensified fighting, along with
questions about the wisdom of committing such huge
resources in manpower and money to what could yet be a
lost cause.
Thai ‘Yellow Shirt’ party picks leade
AFP, Bangkok
The political wing of Thailand's pro-royalist "Yellow
Shirt" protest movement appointed a new leader on Saturday
as the party gears up for a general election expected next
year.
The New Politics party backed Somsak Kosaisuk, a former
leader of the powerful Yellow Shirt group, whose protests
helped to topple two governments allied to fugitive former
prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
"We will discuss how to make our party a truly mass party
and our place in Thai politics, as well as to map out our
strategy for the next election," Suriyasai Katasila, the
party's secretary-general told reporters.
Thailand recently saw two months of deadly demonstrations
by the anti-government "Red Shirt" group, whose members
are largely loyal to Thaksin.
Ninety people were killed and nearly 1,900 injured during
the rallies, which ended in a bloody military crackdown in
May.
Somsak was one of the main leaders for the Yellow Shirt
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which helped to
drive Thaksin out of office in 2006.
The group later launched an economically devastating siege
at two airports in late 2008, stranding hundreds of
thousands of tourists and eventually pushing Thaksin's
allies from government.
PAD was backed by the Bangkok-based elite and circles in
the palace, military and bureaucracy who loathed Thaksin.
The group set itself up as a political entity in the guise
of the New Politics party last year, vowing to take votes
from the same support base behind current Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva. Somsak, who was New Politics' first
interim leader, replaces Thaksin's arch enemy Sondhi
Limthongkul, after his resignation in May.
China mudslide toll at 26, with 73
still missing
AFP, Beijing
Twenty-six people have been confirmed dead and 73 others
remained missing in southwestern China after heavy rains
triggered a landslide this week, state media reported
Saturday.
Rescuers were still searching for signs of life in the
massive expanse of mud and rocks that smothered the
village of Dazhai in Guizhou province on Monday, Xinhua
news agency said, but there appeared scant hope of finding
any.
"Although the chances are slim, we have not given up
looking for survivors," Pu Jianjiang, head of search
operations, was quoted as saying.
More than 100,000 cubic metres of mud and rocks, the
equivalent of 40 Olympic-size swimming pools, engulfed 30
buildings and homes in the village, state press reports
have said.
One report had said up to 30 children were among the
missing but local officials would not confirm that to AFP.
Xinhua's latest report gave no further details on the 26
bodies recovered so far.
Much of southern China has been hit by severe rains that
have triggered floods, landslides, dyke breaches and other
related disasters.
200
dead after DR Congo tanker truck explosion : Red Cross
AFP, Kinshasa
At least 200 people died and dozens were injured when a
tanker truck filled with oil exploded and set fire to a
village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Red
Cross said Saturday.
"So far, the accident has left 200 dead. It is a
provisional toll. We have people on the spot and the
search (for victims) is continuing," the Red Cross
official in charge of Sud-Kivu province, Leonard Zigade
told AFP.
Earlier local officials said at least 100 people had been
killed, while a security source in the United Nations
mission in DR Congo (MONUC) gave a toll of "223 dead and
110 injured."
"What is certain is that the toll will get higher. It
seems that what happened was truly horrible," the source
said on condition of anonymity, adding that the search was
still going on "for more charred bodies."
The accident happened late Friday.
"A tanker truck coming from Tanzania overturned in the
village of Sange. There was a crush (of people) and a
petrol leak, there was an explosion of fuel oil which
spread through the village," regional government spokesman
Vincent Kabanga told AFP.
The village is located around 70 kilometres (40 miles)
south of the Sud-Kivu county town of Bukavu, close to the
border with Burundi.
Dozens of mostly earth and straw constructed homes in
Sange were engulfed in the blaze after the accident, which
a police officer based in Bukavu said had been caused by
the truck's "excessive speed."
The officer, who asked not to be named, added that many of
those who surrounded the vehicle before it exploded were
children.
He said the village was now "in total mourning."
MONUC has made available three helicopters to evacuate
villages and has alerted hospitals at Uvira and Bukavu, a
source in the mission told AFP
Top Republican blames Afghan war on
Obama
AFP, Washington
US Republican party chief Michael Steele drew heavy fire
Friday for confused comments in which he blamed the war in
Afghanistan on President Barack Obama and seemed to label
it a lost cause.
"Keep in mind, again, federal candidates, this was a war
of Obama's choosing. This was not something that the
United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage
in," Steele said in a video at a political fundraiser.
Steele, who chairs the Republican National Committee (RNC),
recalled Obama's campaign message that the Iraq war was a
mistake and that the United States needed to focus its
energies on the conflict in Afghanistan.
"Well, if he's such a student of history, has he not
understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't
do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right?
Because everyone who has tried over a thousand years of
history has failed, and there are reasons for that," said
Steele.
"There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan without
committing US troops," the RNC chief said in the video,
which was circulated by Obama's Democratic allies, drawing
calls among Republicans for Steele's resignation.
And disbelieving Democrats pointed out that the Afghan war
began with the October 2001 invasion under President
George W. Bush in response to the September 11, 2001
terrorist attacks by Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
The embattled party leader released a statement later in
the day in which he did not acknowledge any error but
sought to clarify his remarks, saying Obama had "shifted
his focus" to Afghanistan and "that means this is his
strategy."
"As we have learned throughout history, winning a war in
Afghanistan is a difficult task. We must also remember
that after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, it is also a
necessary one," Steele said in the written statement.
It was unclear whether the new remarks would quiet calls
among conservatives for Steele to step downjust four
months before critical November legislative and
gubernatorial elections.
China transparency
urged year after Xinjiang bloodshed
AFP, Washington
The United States is urging Beijing to be more transparent
in its restive northwestern region of Xinjiang ahead of
the tense anniversary of China's worst ethnic bloodshed in
decades.
Urumqi, the capital of the vast, arid but resource-rich
region, erupted in violence on July 5, 2009, pitting
Xinjiang's predominantly Muslim Uighur people against
China's majority Han community.
"We continue to urge China to handle all detentions and
judicial processes relating to last year's violence in
Urumqi in a transparent manner," State Department
spokesman Mark Toner told AFP.
"We have urged China to ensure that the legal rights of
all Chinese citizens are respected in accordance with
international standards of due process," he said.
Toner said that the United States has discussed its
concerns "repeatedly" to China via its embassy in Beijing.
Chinese authorities say that nearly 200 people were killed
and about 1,700 injured in the unrest, with Han making up
most of the victims in sometimes brutal attacks by Uighurs.
Uighur activists charge that Chinese authorities have
rounded up thousands of suspected government critics since
the unrest, sometimes accusing them vaguely of being part
of "Islamic terrorist" plots.
At least nine people, who appear mostly to be Uighurs,
have been executed over the unrest, according to official
accounts.
Many of Xinjiang's eight million Uighurs are unhappy with
what they say has been decades of repressive communist
rule and an influx of Han settlers that they believe has
marginalized them in their own homeland.
China rejects accusations it mistreats minorities and says
it has worked to bring prosperity to Xinjiang as well as
Tibet.
Poland braces for vote
after president’s death in air crash
AFP, Warsaw
Poland braced Saturday for an election forced by the death
in an air crash of conservative president Lech Kaczynski,
as polls showed a tight race between his twin brother and
the governing liberals' candidate.
Ex-prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and liberal rival
Bronislaw Komorowski pushed to the wire until a campaign
blackout came into force at midnight Friday.
A flurry of final surveys suggested Sunday's contest could
be closer than previously forecast, with floating voters
holding the key.
A range of polls gave Komorowski 45-54 percent, and
Kaczynski 42-45 percent.
Liberals remember only too well how Lech Kaczynski came
from behind to beat their candidate Donald Tusk-now prime
minister-in the 2005 presidential election.
Lech Kaczynski perished on April 10 when his jet crashed
in Smolensk, western Russia as it landed for a World War
II commemoration. A total of 96 people died, among them
his wife, senior politicians and the Polish military's top
brass.
Under the constitution, speaker of parliament Komorowski
became acting president after the crash.
Still reeling, Poland was battered in May and June by the
worst floods in decades which killed 24 and forced
thousands from their homes.
Both disasters overshadowed the campaign.
"This election began with a tragedy. I hope it will end
with a great success for Poland," Jaroslaw Kaczynski said
at a final rally Friday.
Kyrgyzstan inaugurates
Central Asia’s first female president
AFP, Bishkek
Career diplomat Roza Otunbayeva was sworn in as
conflict-torn Kyrgyzstan's president on Saturday, making
her the first female leader in the history of ex-Soviet
Central Asia.
Standing before an audience of more than 1,000 cheering
onlookers in a packed Soviet-era concert hall in the
capital Bishkek, Otunbayeva solemnly took her oath and
promised a new political era for increasingly-unstable
Kyrgyzstan.
"As president, I will spare no effort to create a new
political culture for the country based on a strict
adherence to the rule of law," she told the assembled
crowd.
"I must be principled and consistently make demands on all
branches of government to ensure it. The new policy cannot
be built on fantasies and illusions. It must become real
and effective."
A former foreign minister and ambassador to Britain who
took power on a wave of bloody street riots in April that
ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Otunbayeva takes
office at a delicate moment.
Kyrgyzstan has been wracked by violence and political
instability in recent months, and the inauguration comes
just days after the approval of a new constitution making
Kyrgyzstan the region's first parliamentary democracy.
The new charter, passed overwhelmingly in a referendum
Sunday, slashes the powers of the president and sets the
stage for parliamentary elections that authorities have
scheduled for early October to bring in a permanent
government.
Otunbayeva will serve as the country's caretaker president
until after 2011 presidential elections, a position
granted to her by last week's referendum, under which she
has no right to stand in the next presidential polls. Her
government must also work to ease tensions in the south of
the country, where deadly clashes between ethnic majority
Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in and around the cities of Osh
and Jalalabad may have killed as many as 2,000 people last
month.
Mexico police capture top suspect in
US consular killings
AFP, Mexico City
Mexican police have captured a leader of the Los Aztecas
gang blamed for three US consulate-linked killings and the
slaying of 15 youths at a student party this year,
officials said on Friday.
Jesus Ernesto Chavez, also known as "El Camello," said his
gang had targeted the consular employee because she had
helped members of a rival gang to obtain US visas, Eduardo
Ramon Pequeno, the anti-drugs chief of the Public Security
Ministry, told a news conference.
Lesley Enriquez, the US employee, her American husband
Arthur Redelfs and Jorge Alberto Salcido, the Mexican
husband of another consular employee, were killed in two
daylight attacks in the border city of Ciudad Juarez in
March.
The attacks put Mexico's murder capital under a heightened
glare of US attention only two months after the gruesome
massacre of 15 young people at a party in the same city on
January 31.
Chavez, 41, said the youths had been confused with rivals
from another gang in that attack, according to Pequeno.
The gang member, detained on Thursday in Ciudad Juarez
with five others, had been responsible for logistics for
kidnappings, extortion, car theft and drug trafficking in
the notorious border city across from El Paso, Texas,
Pequeno said.
Kyrgyzstan unrest timeline
AFP, Bishkek
Career diplomat Roza Otunbayeva was on Saturday sworn in
as Central Asia's first female president Saturday,
following widespread unrest last month that left hundreds
dead. Here is a timeline of recent events.
April 7: The government steps down after clashes between
police and opposition supporters leave dozens dead.
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev flees the capital, Bishkek,
and the opposition forms an interim government led by Roza
Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister.
April 9: From his refuge in the southern city of Jalalabad,
Bakiyev says he is prepared to negotiate with the
opposition in order to avoid a civil war, but refuses to
resign.
April 15: Bakiyev leaves for Kazakhstan, where he stands
down after negotiations coordinated by Russia and the
United States, which each have a military base in
Kyrgyzstan.
April 22: The interim government announces a referendum on
a new constitution for June 27, to be followed by
presidential and legislative elections later in the year.
May 14 and 19: Clashes in Jalalabad between supporters and
opponents of the government, in which three are killed and
more than 100 injured. The interim government declares a
state of emergency and curfew, and decrees that Otunbayeva
should stay on as president until December 31, 2011.
June 11-13: Fighting between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in
the southern city of Osh degenerates into street
gunbattles, which continue despite a state of emergency
and curfews.
June 12: The violence spreads to Jalalabad, where a state
of emergency is declared. Security forces are ordered to
shoot to kill and the army is partially mobilised.
June 14: Uzbekistan closes its border to refugees after
having taken in between 75,000 and 100,000 people. The UN
says the clashes appear to be "orchestrated, targeted and
well-planned."
Business/Economy
Bangladesh eyes $500m RMG exports to Latin America
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh could fetch US$450 million from apparel exports
to three Latin American countries-Brazil, Mexico and
Chile-in the next three years.
"The country has potential for taking share of $500
million from the total $4 billion RMG imports of the three
Latin American countries," said Nasir Uddin Chowdhury,
first vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers
and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
He made this disclosure as he led a 12-member Bangladeshi
business delegation, which visited Brazil, Chile and
Mexico from May 22 to June 5. BGMEA Vice President Faruque
Hassan, directors Shahidullah Azim, Reaz Bin Mahmood,
Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, Mohammad Musa, Muhammad Ferhat
Abbas and senior business advisor of German Development
Cooperation (GTZ) Sarwat Ahmad were among the delegation
members.
The main objective of the visit was to assess, explore and
prepare for current and future potentials of Bangladesh's
garment exports to Latin America, said a BGMEA press
release here today.
During the visit, tremendous responses were received from
importers and buyers of those countries, Chowdhury said,
adding that delegations from those countries would soon
visit Bangladesh to assess their import needs. The main
obstacle to raising exports to Latin America is the
absence of Bangladesh missions in those countries,"
Chowdhury said, adding: "If government missions are opened
in those countries, then it would be convenient for
Bangladeshi exporters to catch market there."
Besides these countries, Bangladesh is eyeing opening new
markets for RMG export to Russia, Turkey and Colombia.
The BGMEA leader said, "We can also raise export of RMG to
China and India, as those are very large countries in
terms of population." In order to explore market for
export of readymade garments, the garment makers took the
move to send delegations to the countries, he said.
Brazil's readymade garment import amounted to $ 767.072
million last year, of which $303.631 million knitwear and
$463.441 million woven, while Bangladesh's export to that
country was $50.287 million ($ 33.599 million knitwear and
$16.688 million woven). Mexico's import totalled $1,947.85
million last year, ($982.58 million knitwear and $965.27
million woven), of which Bangladesh shared $114.01 million
($61.76 million knitwear and $52.25 million).
Out of Chile's total RMG import to the tune of $ 1,074.83
million last year ($517.39 million knitwear and $557.44
million woven), Bangladesh took a part of $7.47 million ($
5.26 million knitwear and $2.21 million), Chowdhury said.
BB
initiates setting up 10,000 digital centers
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has taken initiative to set up around
10,000 digital centers in rural areas to reach IT based
banking and insurance services at the grassroots level.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman on Saturday said
the centers would be established under Small and Medium
Enterprise (SME) programme of the government.
Apart from giving bank credit the digital centers would be
used for bill payment of utility services, online care
trading, e-ticketing, e-top- up and payment of land taxes
and insurance premiums, he said.
The Governor said this while addressing a seminar on
'Setting up Digital Centers under SME" at Bang-ladesh Bank
Training Academy (BBTA) at Mirpur. Bangladesh Bank and SME
Foundation jointly organized the seminar.
The Governor urged the private banks and financial
institutions to come forward to establish the digital
centers saying private banks can reach out their services
to rural areas through introducing the electronic system.
Dr Atiur said Bangladesh Bank has initially planned to set
up 10 digital centers in each thana. A group of five
educated youths would be given Taka five lakh loan from
SME fund to establish a center, he said.
However, the Governor said proper implementation of the
plan depends on the good intension of banking and
financial institutions. This technology based project will
reach the banking service to the door step of people, he
noted.
Bangladesh Bank in last September approved the project for
setting up digital centers in rural areas with giving the
task to private organization Digital Technology Ltd.
Chairman of SMNE Foundation Aftab-ul Islam, Managing
Director Syed Rez-wanul Islam, General Manager of SME
Special Programme of the central bank Sukomol Singh
Chowdhury, addressed, among others on the occasion.
Executive Director of BBTA Ebadul Islam was in the chair
while Chief Executive of Digital Technology Ltd. Mozammel
Haque presented a concept paper.
Officials said the activities for setting up of the
digital centers have already been launched in a number of
areas. Sonali Bank intended to be involved with the
project, they added.
Obama gives 2 billion
to solar energy companies
AFP, Washington
US President Barack Obama announced Saturday the awarding
of nearly two billion dollars to two solar energy
companies that have agreed to build new power plants in
the United States, creating thousands of new jobs.
"We're going to keep fighting to advance our recovery,"
Obama said in his weekly radio address. "And we're going
to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and
industries of the future are taking root right here in
America."
One of the companies, Abengoa Solar, has agreed to build
one of the largest solar plants in the world in Arizona,
which will create about 1,600 construction jobs. When
completed, this plant will provide enough clean energy to
power 70,000 homes.
The other company, Abound Solar Manufacturing, is building
two new plants, one in Colorado and one in Indiana.
These projects will create more than 2,000 construction
jobs, and over 1,500 permanent jobs as the plants produce
millions of solar panels each year, according to White
House officials.
"So that's some of what we're doing," Obama said. "But the
truth is, steps like these won't replace all the jobs
we've lost overnight. I know folks are struggling."
The president warned that it would "take months, even
years, to dig our way out" of the most recent economic
recession.
The announcement came as the US government reported the US
unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent last month as more
than half a million people abandoned the job hunt, fueling
doubts about the economic recovery. The Labor Department
reported on Friday a net loss of 125,000 jobs last month.
The biggest cause for concern had been the weakness of the
private sector, which created a modest 83,000 jobs in
June, well up from May's revised total of 33,000. Faced
with an uncertain outlook and poor access to credit, US
firms have been reluctant to rehire workers.
India’s
processed food exports may jump over 60 per cent by 2015
PTI, New Delhi
India's processed food exports may jump by over 60 per
cent to USD 25 billion by 2015, provided that an
investment of USD 30 billion is pumped into the sector, an
industry body study said.
During 2009-10, the processed food exports stand at about
USD 15 billion. "India requires over USD 30 billion
investment, including both domestic and foreign funding,
in the next five years to substantially lift up the share
of processed food in the country's total trade," an
Assocham study said.
The sector has attracted about USD four billion
investments till date, it said.
The study said that with an increase in investment levels,
the share of fruits and vegetables would increase to 10
per cent from 2.2 per cent, fisheries to 40 per cent from
26 per cent and poultry to 15 per cent from 6 per cent, in
the next five years. "India's low level of processing is
expected to change significantly in the future, fuelled by
sustained economic growth and steady urbanisation,"
Assocham president Swati Piramal said in a statement.
ITC, Dabur, Britannia, Parle, Amul, Godrej and Venky's are
the major Indian firms, which are present in the food
processing sector, while multinational companies include
Walmart, Nestle, Pepsi, Coke, Kelloggs, Unilever and Glaxo
have their operations in the country.
Gold rides high in Dubai despite slowdown
Gulfnews
Though majority of women in the UAE prefer fashion over
gold jewellery, many are still captivated by the lustre of
the yellow metal.
Despite the bitter winds of global economic crisis, gold
is still raining on Dubai, with retailers reporting rising
sales. Just recently, the government-run luxury hotel,
Emirates Palace, unveiled an ATM machine that dispenses
small gold bars and coins, not paper bills.
According to the World Gold Council, the sentimental value
of gold "sets it apart from the competing purchase
choices, making it more desirable and long lasting" for
many women.
Experts also consider gold an integral part of women's
appearance and of their ability to look and feel good. But
more than anything, it is the investment value of gold
that makes it worth every dirham spent.
"It comes to mind what I said a few years ago: When my
wife buys clothes, she spends money, but when she buys
jewellery she saves money," recalls Rolf Schneebeli, chief
executive officer of Joyalukkas.
That is why for Sharon Pereira, an expat from India,
buying gold jewellery remains on top of her to-buy
list."I'm not a fan of gold jewellery but I would purchase
some while the rate is at its best and maybe at a later
time sell it when the rate goes up. Hence [the choice is]
purely for investment… If the income permits, I would
indulge in different stones such as sapphire, corals and
emeralds as they look absolutely stunning as opposed to
plain yellow gold," she says. Schneebeli says gold has
various aspects that are appealing to women. First, gold
is traditionally viewed as a store of value, a saving tool
that will prove useful during a rainy day. This is the
reason people gift gold on weddings, in the hope of
providing safety to the couple for a long time to come.
"It is also the looks and the image that jewellery
projects. There is nothing like a beautiful piece of
jewellery - gold with diamonds or other stones-to project
an image. It's luxury, wealth, importance and
individualism to the max. No shoe or bag would combine
such an impression to the same extent while keeping value
over time," Schn-eebeli adds.
IMF extends new 20-billion-dollar credit line to
Poland
AFP, Washington
The International Monetary Fund yesterday extended a
"precautionary" 20-billion-dollar credit line for Poland
as the country copes with a fragile global economic
recovery.
The IMF executive board approved a Polish request for a
one- year Flexible Credit Line, the IMF said in a
statement.
"The Polish authorities intend to treat the arrangement as
precautionary and do not intend to draw from the FCL,"
said the 187-nation institution, based in Washington.
Poland had already benefited, between May 2009 and May
2010, from the IMF credit line reserved for countries with
strong track records and "designed for crisis prevention."
After uncertainties about its renewal, at first due to a
disagreement between the central bank and the government
on the matter, then following the death of President Lech
Kaczynski and central bank chief Slawomir Skrzypek in a
plane crash on April 10, the Polish authorities turned
once again to the IMF for credit.
John Lipsky, IMF deputy managing director, pointed out
that Poland was "the only EU economy to avoid recession in
2009" and the government maintained access to
international capital markets "on favorable terms."
"Poland's very strong policy frameworks and economic
fundamentals, together with the additional insurance
provided by the successor arrangement under the FCL, put
Poland in a very strong position to deal with potential
risks and pressures in the event that external conditions
deteriorate," Lipsky said in the statement.
Per capita income in Nepal reaches 575 USD
Xinhua, Kathmandu
The latest economic indicators showed that Nepal improved
a great deal in many ways in the last one year, with the
per capital income increasing to 575 U.S. dollars from
less than 500 dollars last year, local media reported
today.
According to The Rising Nepal daily, the contribution of
revenue in the total gross domestic product (GDP) improved
notably. A year ago, the contribution of revenue was
around 15 percent, which was expected to cross 16 percent
by the end of this fiscal year. Talking to the daily,
revenue secretary at the Ministry of Finance, claimed that
the economic indicators of the country improved even
though the political situation was not much favorable.
He claimed that the inflation would come down to 9.5
percent by the year end. Now it is around 11 percent.
However, the trade balance has increased drastically.
Baskota claimed that the export had also increased
compared to last year.
US sees 125,000 jobs lost in June
BBC Online
There were about 125,000 US jobs lost in June, the Labor
Department has said, the first time jobs were shed on a
month-on-month basis since October.
The overall decline was driven by the departure of 225,000
temporary employees who had been working on the US census
in May.
The private sector created 83,000 jobs, data which
investors will look to for signs of recovery. That was an
improvement on May but below March and April's totals. It
was also less than analysts had hoped for and less than is
needed to keep pace with a growing population.
The US unemployment rate fell to 9.5% in June from 9.7% in
May.
However, that was due to people no longer looking for work
and therefore not officially counted as unemployed.
Reacting to the figures US President Barack Obama said the
economy was heading in the right direction, but not fast
enough.
People had left the work force "because they think there's
nothing out there", said Nigel Gault, chief US economist
at IHS Global Insight. "It could have been worse, but it
wasn't good. It's adding to the evidence that growth has
slowed."
Retail impact
The monthly jobs report is one of the most closely watched
economic indicators in the US. High unemployment remains
one of the biggest obstacles to strong, sustained growth.
US firms have been reluctant to rehire workers given the
uncertain outlook and poor access to credit.
Analysts say that high unemployment has kept consumer
confidence low, preventing retail sales from growing
rapidly.
Given that consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds
of US economic activity, there are concerns that until
more people are in work, the economy will grow only
modestly.
National
13 teachers of DU Business Studies
Faculty receive Dean’s Academic Award
UNB, Dhaka
Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique
on Saturday handed over 'Dean's Academic Award' to 13
teachers of Business Studies Faculty of the university in
recognition of their outstanding contributions in
research.
The award giving ceremony was held at the conference room
of the Business Studies Faculty with Dean Dr M Abbas Ali
Khan in the chair.
The award winning teachers from the article category in
2002 are: Prof Dr M Farid Ahmed of Finance Department,
Associate Professor Dr Mubina Khandaker of Tourism and
Hospitality Department, and Associate Professor Dr Kamal
Uddin of International Business. The award winners from
the monograph category in 2002 are: Prof Dr MA Baki
Khalili of Finance Department, Prof Dr MA Taslim of
Finance Department, and Prof Dr Mahmud Osman Imam and Prof
Salahuddin Ahmed Khan of Finance Department.
The award winners from the article category in 2003 are:
Prof Dr Nazmul Karim Chowdhury and Prof Dr Syed Golam
Mowla of Management Studies Department, and Associate
Professor Dr Majib Uddin Ahmed, Associate Professor Niazur
Rahman and Associate Professor Mohamaad Mushfiq Uddin of
Accounting and Information Department. The award winners
from the article category in 2004 are: Prof Mahmud Osman
Imam and Associate Professor Abu Saleh Muhammad Muntasir
Amin of Finance Department.
Dhaka University Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr Harun Or Rashid
and Treasurer Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman were present at the
function as special guests. Addressing the function, DU VC
Prof Arefin Siddique said that the university was
established to create and disseminate knowledge among the
people of the region to improve their condition. He
mentioned that this objective of setting up the university
has become a success and said the 21st century would be
the century of knowledge.
Prof Arefin Siddique said: "We've to reduce the social
differences through acquiring and disseminating knowledge.
In our quest for knowledge, we've to remain in the path of
truth and must keep in view whether this contributes to
human welfare."
Panchagarh glaring
example in building digital Bangladesh
BSS, Rangpur
In line with the present government's vision to build
Digital Bangladesh, Panchagarh district administration has
set up a glaring example of providing necessary
information to the people by setting up digitalized union
information centres (UICs) in all its 43 unions.
The people of the remotest sub-Himalayan district, about
500 km away from Dhaka, are now getting all information
and services for advancements to build a Digital
Bangladesh as envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The administration has brought all people under
information and communication technology (ICT) facilities
through utilizing only the local resources and without
spending any public money in turning Bangladesh into a
medium income nation.
With the expansion of the ICT facilities in the district,
a huge number of people have been getting offline and
online facilities such as different government forms and
information about agriculture, health, education, legal
aid, human rights and employment.
Besides, services like composing, printing, photo,
scanning, email, internet browsing and multimedia
projector are being provided to the rural people at a
nominal price.
Local people from all strata are now hoping that
Panchagarh will soon attain the total successes in
achieving all planned and envisioned indexes to make the
Vision-2021, Charter of Changes and Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) successful.
Educationists, socio-economic experts, public
representatives, professionals, teachers, students,
community leaders, women activists, housewives and youths
highly lauded the dynamic leadership of the district
administration and suggested replicating the successes as
model in other 63 districts.
They told BSS that the things started changing faster
following various effective motivational activities
planned and conducted by the district administration under
the leadership of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Banomali
Bhowmik.
The DC involved all officials and employees, NGOs, union
parishad chairmen and members, upazila chairmen and vice-
chairmen, journalists, teachers, socio-cultural activists,
religious leaders and elite in the process for bringing a
change in the mindsets first of all.
Several committees were formed at all levels involving
people of all levels for monitoring activities in all
sectors including education, health, agriculture and all
others and ensuring accountability by arranging monthly
meetings of these committees.
The Digital Bangladesh concept got a huge boost when the
DC successfully arranged facilities for observing the
century's last 4-minute long total solar eclipse for over
70,000 people by setting up telescopes on July 22 last
year at local Stadium.
Rita and her children committed
suicide: Post-mortem report
UNB, Dhaka
A senior detective police officer on Saturday said the
viscera and post-mortem reports have confirmed that Rita
and her two children Pabon and Payel committed suicide.
It was also confirmed that the trio committed suicide at
their Jurain house upon 'provocation'. Police recovered
their bodies from the house on June 11.
DB Deputy Commissioner (South) Monirul Islam told
reporters that experts also confirmed that the writings on
the wall in Rita's room were also written by her children
before they committed suicide.
He said accused Shafiqul Kabir confessed to the
investigators that if he could take the responsibility of
his grandchildren and his daughter-in-law, such incident
could be avoided.
Monirul said the suicide took place following provocations
by Shafiqul's family members including his son Rashedul
and his second wife Smrity.
Rashedul and Smrity who are on remand in the case will be
produced before the court tomorrow and fresh remand will
be sought for further interrogation.
Senior journalist Shafiqul Kabir, his wife Noor Banu,
daughters Sukhon and Kabita and son-in-law Delwar Hossain
Patwari who are accused in the triple 'suicide' case, are
now detained in jail.
First ever Bangladesh scientist
becomes DED of ICDDR,B
BSS, Dhaka
Dr Abbas Bhuiya has been appointed as Deputy Executive
Director (DED) of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal
Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B).
He is the first Bangladeshi scientist to get the second
top position of this international institute globally
acclaimed as the center of excellence for health and
population research, ICDDR,B sources told BSS on Saturday.
Bhuiya, a leading public health professional and
researcher, got the appointment at the recent meeting of
the Board of Trustees of ICDDR,B.
Dr Bhuiya has been working at ICDDR, B for the last 30
years in various capacities. Prior to his new assignment,
he was the head of Social and Behavioral Sciences Unit and
Poverty and Health Programme at ICDDR, B.
Dr Bhuiya obtained his BA (Hons) and MA in Statistics from
Chittagong University and MA and Ph.D.in Demography from
the Australian National University.
During his tenure at ICDDR,B, Dr Bhuiya has published over
100 articles in scientific journals and books. He is an
adjunct professor at the BRAC University's James P Grant
School of Public Health.
Dr Bhuiya holds position in numerous high level national
and international committees including the National
Council for Population, the highest level policy body for
population in the country chaired by the Prime Minister.
13 Bangladeshis held in
Benapole
UNB, Benapole
A patrol team of Bangladesh Rifles arrested 13
Bangladeshis when they entered into the country from India
illegally through Ghiba border early hours of Friday.
BDR sources said, with the help of Indian Border Security
Force (BSF) some Indian manpower brokers of Banshghata
border area pushed the Bangladeshis into the country
through the Ghiba border late at night.
Later, on secret information, the border guards raided the
area and arrested them for illegally entering into the
country. They were handed over to Benapole port thana.
The arrestees were identified as Selim Mollah, 42, Abu
Hossain, 65, Sukkur Ali, 48, Abul Kalam Azad, 30, Amir
Sheikh, 25, Monir Hossain, 27 and his son Momin, 6,
Mosharraf Hossain, 22, Mohammad Ali, 60, Muntaz, 65, Miraj,
30, Jafor Mia, 25, and Alal Mridha, 30. They hailed from
different districts of the country.
The arrestees said, they were working in different parts
of India illegally since long but in the face of stringent
police action against the intruders recently they returned
to the country with the help of Indian manpower brokers
and BSF men.
Later, the arrested were sent to Jessore jail.
Contraband items worth
over Tk 35 lakh seized
UNB, Joypurhat
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) seized phensidyl, sex
stimulating tablets, saris and other contraband items
worth Tk 35 lakh in separate drives at Joypurhat and
adjacent Ghoraghat upazila of Dinajpur on Friday.
Sharif Uddin Ahmed, senior ASP of RAB-5 Joypurhat camp
said acting on secret information they raided different
areas of the district town and seized 1.30 lakh tablets,
48 pieces of saris, 58 three-piece dress materials, 158
T-shirts, two bicycles and bangles worth about Tk 7 lakh.
At the same time, another team of RAB seized 177 pieces of
Indian sari worth over Tk 1.50 lakh at Gobindaganj in
Dinajpur. But the smugglers managed to flee the scene.
Earlier, RAB members recovered 675 bottles of phensidyl
syrup and other contraband items worth Tk 25 lakh from a
truck.
In another drive, police and BDR conducted a joint drive
at Noor Market in the town and seized 409 kgs of Indian
steel goods worth about Tk 1.50 lakh.
BMDA plants 5900 saplings of drumsticks in northern
districts
BSS, Gaibandha
Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) planted
5900 saplings of drumsticks (Sazna) in five northern
districts under greater Rangpur in the last fiscal at
special initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The aim of the plantation was to meet the growing demand
of vegetables, to help maintain the ecological balance of
the environment and to enhance the beauty of the nature as
well.
Of the total, some 2,800 saplings were planted at the road
sides of Rangpur and Nilphamari districts under Rangpur
region, 1600 in Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts and
1500 in Gaibandha district during the last fiscal year, an
official said.
Project Director of AIBIP while talking to BSS and
superintending engineer of BMDA Rangpur circle M. Monowar
Hossain said more saplings of drumstick than the figure of
the last fiscal would be planted at the roadsides of the
five northern districts during the current season.
Govt to turn each house
into center point of dev to alleviate poverty: Afsarul
BSS, Chittagong
Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr Afsarul Amin said
the government wants to alleviate poverty from the rural
area turning each house to a center point of development
in the country under 'One House One Firm' project.
Considering the socio economic condition of the rural
people, Bangabandhu's daughter and Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina brought the project to change the lot of the people
through giving priority in poverty alleviation programme,
the Minister said.
"I am confident that the lot of the poor people of our
country will change as per goal of the ' Vision 2021'
announced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina because the
Bengali nation has the strength to achieve it," the
Minister said while speaking as chief guest at the
inaugural function of an orientation workshop on " One
House, One Firm" project held at local Circuit House on
Saturday noon.
Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Faiz Ahmed presided over
the function while Abul Kashem Master, MP, Shamsul Hoq
Chowdhury MP, chairmen of all upazilas and union parishads,
UNOs, officials of social welfare ministry among others
attended the workshop.
Speaking at the function, the Minister said, we have to
usher a revolution for economic emancipation of the poor
people to attach the nation with global development race.
"There is no alternative to turn each house into a firm
for achieving the desired economic growth and changing the
scenario of Bangladesh by the year 2021," he said.
District administration sources said a total of 16,800
houses from Chittagong district will be given supply of
cattle, poultry birds and nursery goods after imparting
training them in next month.
Nearly 200 participants, most of whom are public
representatives, participated the workshop.
Call to turn Dhaka University into a centre of excellence
BSS, Dhaka
Speakers at a roundtable on Saturday called for more
budget allocation for research and setting up the second
campus for Dhaka University (DU) to turn it into a center
of excellence.
They also urged the university authorities to immediately
hold DUCSU (Dhaka University Central Students Union)
elections to flourish extra curricular activities like
culture and sports of students of the country's premier
university.
Dhaka University Mass Communication and Journalism Alumni
Association (DUMCJAA) arranged the roundtable on '89th
Years of Tradition and Glory of Dhaka University: Past and
Present Reality' at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate
Bhaban at the university.
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury was the chief
guest at the function chaired by DU Vice-Chancellor
Professor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique.
Former vice-chancellors of the university Professor SMA
Faez and Dr Moniruzzaman Mian, Pro-Vice Chancellor Dr
Harun-Or-Rashid, Professor Emeritus Dr Sirajul Islam
Chowdhury, President of Dhaka University Teachers
Association Dr Bazlul Haque Khondakar, Dr Anwar Hossain,
former vice presidents of DUCSU Professor Mahfuza Khanam
and Mahmudur Rahman Manna and journalist Monwar Hossain
took part in the discussion, among others.
DUMCJAA President Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam presented
the keynote paper and moderated the roundtable, while
DUMCJAA General Secretary Muhammad Shamsul Haque delivered
the welcome address.
Speaking at the function, Matia Chowdhury called upon all
concerned of the university including teachers and
students to play more effective role in maintaining
congenial atmosphere on the campus.
Expressing frustration over the present trend of student
politics, Matia Chowdhury, who was also a renowned student
leader in the 60s, said, "I do not want to involve myself
in such politics."
She also called upon the new generation journalists to
practise healthy and honest journalism in the greater
interest of the profession as well as the nation.
Referring to the innovation of genome sequence in jute,
the agriculture minister said it has been possible due to
sincere efforts of the present government led by Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She lauded the role of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute
(BJRI) and the departments of biochemistry and
biotechnology of Dhaka University side by side with the
concerned scientists in innovating genome sequence of the
jute.
Dr Arefin Siddique urged the teachers and students of the
university to work for changing the lot of the common
people as the public universities are run by their
hard-earned money.
He called upon the students to build themselves as worthy
citizens to maintain the tradition and glory of the
university by following the ideology of their
predecessors.
Prof Faez underscored the need for more budget allocation
for research and framing special salary structure for
teachers of the public universities for further
development of education in the country.
Mentioning the residential problems of students of public
universities, he said many problems of these universities
will be over if their dormitory problems could be solved.
Prof Bazlul Haque Khondakar called upon the authorities to
set up the second campus to accommodate more students in
the university.
Prof Mahfuza Khanam urged the new generation to dedicate
themselves to further development of the country being
inspired with the spirit of the War of Liberation.
At the function, a crest and a bouquet were handed over to
Musa Ibrahim, the first Bangladeshi who conquered the
Everest, the highest mountain of the world.
Ulema urged to create public opinion for war crime trial
BSS, Habiganj
Former law minister Advocate Abdul Matin Khasru has called
upon Islamic scholars to work for creating public opinions
for ensuring trial of war criminals.
Those who committed heinous crimes including killings,
repression on women and children during the Liberation War
in 1971 are not only criminals in the eyes of law but also
on religious point of view, he said in an exclusive
interview with BSS on Friday.
Khasru said the people irrespective of party and opinion
should work in a coordinated manner to bring the war
criminals to book as their (war criminals) trial has now
become a demand of the country's 15 crore people.
Bangladesh's image as a civilized nation would be
brightened further in the world if the trial of war
criminals is held, he said. Otherwise, he said the
country's rule of law will not be ensured.
A vested quarter is opposing the War Crime Act-973, he
said adding that why they did not repeal the act when they
were in power. Instead, he pointed out, the vested quarter
rewarded the war criminals in various periods after 1975.
The former minister said even the war criminals were
awarded with important posts like ministers and the vested
quarter has still been involved in hatching conspiracy to
protect them from the face of trial.
Trial of war criminals must be held at any cost even if it
needs 60 or 80 years to complete, Khasru said adding that
if the trial is not held, it will encourage killing.
A vested quarter is trying to make the people confused
about the government's trial process by spreading
propaganda, he said adding that the government must work
in the process whether the internationally recognized law
is followed.
It must be dealt with meticulously so no innocent people
are harassed in the trial process of war criminals, the
former minister said.
Children need more space in RTI: Seminar
BSS, Dhaka
Special attention should be given to the children in the
Right to Information (RTI) Act, enacted for the first time
in the country last year, to ensure their access to
quality information, a seminar was told on Saturday.
"The RTI Act 2009 is a great step towards protecting the
citizens right to have access to information, but the
rights of the children should protected specifically,"
communication specialist of Save the Children
Sweden-Denmark, Shameem Reza, said at the function held at
city's BIAM auditorium.
Save the Children Sweden-Denmark and the Daily Star
jointly organized the programme with an objective to
discuss about child right issues in the RTI Act and the
government's obligation and commitment to UN Child Rights
Convention (UNCRC).
Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Information Obaidul Quader spoke at the function as the
chief guest, while Commissioner of Information Commission
Sadeka Haleem and Editor of Daily Star Mahfuz Anam spoke
as special guests.
Country Director of Save the Children Sweden-Denmark
Birgit Lundbak also spoke on the occasion, moderated by
Deputy Country Director Shamsul Alam.
Shameem Reza, who presented the keynote paper, said the
children's access to and ownership of pertinent
information that are crucial for their survival,
development, protection and participation should be
specifically protected under the new law.
Under the RTI, the people are supposed to get information
from the government machinery they ask for within 20 days,
and in emergency cases within 24 hours. The act with some
exceptions, however, would not be applicable in case of
eight security and intelligence agencies.
"The children should have privilege to have the
information in a shorter period than the adults," Shameem
Reza observed and made a number of recommendations to
protect the child rights in RTI.
He suggested keeping at least one 'special information
unit' for children at head offices and divisional and
regional offices of the government.
He said there should child-friendly versions of documents
and formats of information so that children can read and
understand it easily.
He also said the provision of 'privacy' and 'reputation'
under the law should be reexamined provided those are
related to violation of child rights or child abuse.
Obaidul Quader acknowledged that the children should be
given special focus in the RTI, one of the present
government's gestures to free flow of information, and
said the parliamentary standing committee would be happy
to consider the recommendations made by Save the Children
Sweden-Denmark.
Crocodile eggs now available in Bangladesh
BSS, Dhaka
Good news for gourmand people as the crocodile eggs are
now available in Bangladesh.
The country's lone crocodile farm has taken the initiative
to sell the croc eggs commercially as there is a demand of
the crocodile eggs in some big hotels in the country.
"Against the backdrop of demand of the crocodile eggs in
some big hotels in the country, we have taken initiative
to sell the croc eggs commercially," Mustaq Ahmed,
Managing Director and CEO of Reptile Farm Ltd (RFL), told
BSS on Saturday.
He claimed that the nutrition value of the crocodile eggs
is almost the same in comparison to the eggs of the
poultry birds.
"We have already sold about 150 such eggs to some hotels
and the foreigners are mainly eating the eggs," he said,
adding the eggs can be bought online (www.cellbazar.com).
Apart from selling croc eggs, Mushtaq said his farm has
also taken initiative to sell baby crocodiles to amusement
parks in the country. "Such baby crocs were sold to Saudia
Park Ltd, an amusement park in Bogra.
Earlier, the RFL exported 67 frozen saltwater crocs to
Germany last month.
Mushtaq said Germany's Heidelberg University imported the
crocodiles for research purposes. "The export of
crocodiles from Bangladesh fetched one lakh euros,
ushering in a hope of croc business in the country," he
said.
He along with Mesbahul Huq, a pharmacist, set up the croc
farm on 15 acres of land at Hatiber village under Bhaluka
upazila in Mymensingh district.
After exporting 67 crocodiles to Germany, there are now
about 700 crocs in the farm, Mushtaq said.
While the project is Mushtaq's brainchild, it was Haque's
investment that helped turn the dream into a reality. The
two entrepreneurs were aided in their maiden venture with
technical assistance from South Asian Enterprise
Development Facility (SEDF) and with financial support
from the Equity and Entrepreneur fund (EEF) unit of
Bangladesh Bank. RFL also received assistance from
Southeast Bank Ltd.
Mushtaq said they set up the farm with an aim to export
over 5,000 pieces of crocodile skin annually and create a
base for earning up to US$ 5 million by 2015.
Different countries, including France, Germany, Italy and
Spain, have shown keen interest in importing croc skins
from their farm, he said, expressing the hope that their
farm would be able to export 500 croc skins by next two or
three years.
He said there is a huge demand for croc skins, meat and
bones in Europe, America and other developed countries
like Australia, Japan, Singapore and China, and charcoal
made from crocodile bones is indispensable to the global
perfume industry.
Crocodiles are being commercially farmed in 40 countries
including China, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia,
and Vietnam.
Sports
Uruguay in World Cup semifinals for
1st time since ’70
AP, Johannesburg
Uruguay reached the World Cup semifinals for the first time
since 1970, beating Ghana 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw
Friday.
The Uruguayans advanced to face the Netherlands in the
semifinals after Sebastian Abreu casually slotted the last
penalty straight down the middle to secure the win. Uruguay
goalkeeper Fernando Muslera saved two shots for the South
Americans.
Asamoah Gyan had a chance to win the match for Ghana with the
final kick of extra time, but he hit the crossbar with a
penalty after Luis Suarez was sent off for handling the ball
on the line. Gyan, who had converted two penalties in earlier
matches, bit his jersey and walked away with his back to the
goal. In regulation, Sulley Muntari gave Ghana the lead with a
35-meter (yard) left-foot strike seconds before halftime at
Soccer City, but Diego Forlan equalized from a free kick in
the 55th minute Ghana, bidding to be the first African country
to reach the World Cup semifinals, picked up the tempo in the
dying stages of extra time and had other chances to win the
match. Kevin-Prince Boateng missed with a header in the 118th
in the midst of three defenders. He sent in a cross from the
left in the next minute which Muslera had to save at the near
post. Suarez was given a direct red card in the last minute of
extra time for batting away Dominic Adiyiah's header with his
arms after he'd already blocked Stephen Appiah's shot on the
line. After Muslera saved the ensuing penalty from Gyan, he
kissed his glove and touched it to the bar, and Suarez ran
into the tunnel pumping his arms and celebrating the reprieve.
Support for Ghana has continued to grow this week as the only
one of six African teams in the tournament to progress past
the group stage.
The 84,017-strong partisan crowd booed loudly when Forlan was
successful with the first penalty of the shootout, and cheered
wildly when Gyan angled his first shot into the top right
corner to make it 1-1.
Ghana captain John Mensah was the first to miss, giving
Uruguay a 3-2 cushion, but the Africans stayed alive when
Maximiliano Pereira missed the next shot and the crowd cheered
again wildly. But when Adiyiah's next kick was saved by
Muslera, Africa's exit was almost sealed. After Abreu secured
the win, Gyan was inconsolable as he left the field in tears.
Dunga
takes rap as Brazil feels pain
AFP, Port Elizabeth
Brazil coach Dunga has accepted the blame for the World Cup
quarter-final defeat by the Netherlands that brought his
four-year reign to a bitterly disappointing end.
The man who captained the Selecao's winning squad in 1994 has
reached the end of his current contract and any hopes he may
have harboured of being asked to stay on until Brazil hosts
the tournament in 2014 were crushed by the Dutch, who came
from behind to claim a 2-1 win on Friday.
"I was contracted for four years and we knew that from the
start," Dunga said. "During the last four years I have been
very happy to coach this Brazilian team and if you look at the
players' faces you would understand how they feel."
He added: "We are all responsible for this situation but I
have the greatest responsibility." Brazil app-eared to be
coasting towa-rds the last four after Robinho gave them an
early lead. But the Dutch turned the match around after the
interval thanks to an own goal from Juventus midfielder Felipe
Melo, who was later sent off for stamping on Arjen Robben, and
a Wesley Sneijder header.
"We are all extremely saddened, we did not expect this," Dunga
added. "We knew it would be a delicate, difficult game. In the
first half we played better than in the second but we were
were not able to maintain the same rhythm.
"We could not maintain the same level of concentration. Any
World Cup match is 90 minutes and it is the small details that
count." For the Dutch, Friday's triumph amounted to revenge
for their last-eight defeats at the hands of Brazil in the
1994 and 1998 tournaments.
With a semi-final against Uruguay to come in Cape Town on
Tuesday, Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk also hailed the shock
defeat of Brazil as the perfect response to those who
dismissed his prediction that the Oranje were capable of
lifting the World Cup.
"People mocked me, but if you really want to achieve something
you have to believe in it," the former Feyenoord boss said.
"This is the message I tried to communicate.
Holland were on the rack for most of the opening 45 minutes
and only two superb saves by Maarten Stekelenburg prevented
Kaka and Maicon from adding to Robinho's 10th-minute strike
before the interval. Melo had offered no hint of how badly his
afternoon was to end as he slid a fine pass through the heart
of the Dutch defence for Robinho to run on to before placing a
shot beyond Stekelenburg's left glove.
Centreback Juan then blasted a close-range chance over the bar
before Kaka and Maicon produced two of the saves of the
tournament from the Dutch goalkeeper.
Heartbroken
Ghana star vows to bounce back
AFP, Johannesburg
Striker Asamoah Gyan brushed off his last-minute penalty
heartache and vowed to bounce back after Ghana lost to
Uruguay and failed to become the first World Cup
semi-finalists from Africa.
France-based Gyan had a chance to win a match deadlocked
at 1-1 with the final kick of extra time after Uruguay
striker Luis Suarez handled a Dominic Adiyiah header on
the line to prevent a certain goal.
But Gyan crashed his penalty against the crossbar and
although he netted in the shoot-out, goalkeeper Fernando
Muslera saved two tame kicks and the South Americans won
4-2 to clinch a Tuesday showdown with Netherlands.
"I'll bounce back, I'm strong mentally. I had the courage
to take the penalty, but that's normal as I'm the penalty
taker," said Gyan.
"Now he (Suarez) is the hero in his country. The ball was
going in, he stopped it and I missed the penalty. That's
the way it is."
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez defended Suarez, who was red
carded by the Portuguese referee only to celebrate in the
tunnel after watching Gyan fail to give Africa a first
World Cup semi-finalist.
"It was instinctive, he instinctively put his hand out to
the ball and was red carded and will miss the next game,"
Tabarez said.
"He has paid for the consequences of his actions. He was
not to know that Ghana would miss the resulting penalty.
It is not fair to say that we cheated our way to victory."
Argentina and Germany reignite a great rivalry Saturday
while Spain are expected to overcome Paraguay in the last
quarter-final.
Poorly prepared African sides
suffer at World Cup
AFP, Johannesburg
Cameroon superstar Samuel Eto'o warned that the World Cup
is all about preparation and Africa once again largely
ignored the message as Ghana snat-ched defeat from jaws of
quarter-final glory.
While football followers around the world cried foul as a
deliberate Uruguay handball robbed the Black Stars of a
semi-final spot, the resultant shoot-out exposed a team
ill equipped for the nerve-jangling task.
Dominic Adiyiah could be excused his unconvincing
shoot-out attempt on the grounds of youth, but the failure
by experienced captain John Mensah left much to be
desired.
His awkward two-step run-up and timid shot smacked of
someone who had not spent a lot of time practising the
skill and South African TV analyst and former England and
Liverpool star John Barnes showed little sympathy. "When
you are a defender and not a regular penalty taker you do
not take just two steps before kicking the ball. You make
a longer run up and belt the ball," he explained.
Inter Milan striker Eto'o would nod approval having warned
in an interview that African expectations of winning the
first World Cup staged on the continent were unlikely to
be realised.
The shoot-out loss of Ghana following the
last-kick-of-the-game penalty miss by Asamoah Gyan was a
sad end to a six-team African challenge that once again
floundered at the last-eight stage as did those of
Cameroon and Senegal.
Ghana were the sole contenders to make it past the first
round despite the absence of injured midfield star Michael
Essien with hosts South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory
Coast and Nigeria falling by the wayside.
South Africa held Mexico and beat troubled France, but
were outclassed by Uruguay in between and former star Jomo
Sono felt shortchanged by the first exit of a World Cup
host after the mini-league phase.
Ivory Coast trailed Brazil and Portugal after once again
being the victims of a cruel draw, and holding an England
team they were in awe of was a wonderful consolation for
goal-shy Algeria.
Cameroon and Nigeria proved the biggest flops with Eto'o
and other senior Indomitable Lions not on the same
wavelength as coach Paul le Guen while the Super Eagles
paid for shabby preparations.
A livid government reacted to one point from three matches
by barring the team from international competition for two
years, which placed it on a collision course with world
football rulers FIFA.
Zambian Kalusha Bwa-lya, the 1988 African Footballer of
the Year, said the World Cup had been a massive "wake-up
call" for a continent lagging behind Europe, South America
and Asia.
Beckham chat gets Nadal ready for final push
AFP, London
Rafael Nadal believes a conversation with David Beckham
has provided him with the perfect inspiration ahead of his
Wimbledon final showdown with Tomas Berdych on Sunday.
Nadal had only just finished his ruthless three-set
victory over Andy Murray in Friday's semi-final when he
was asked if he wanted to meet former England captain
Beckham, who watched with his son Brooklyn as the world
number one produced a masterclass on Centre Court.
While Nadal was drained following his efforts against
Murray, the chance to spend a few minutes with Beckham was
too good to turn down. The Spaniard is a big fan of Real
Madrid and grew to admire Beckham's ferocious work-ethic
during the England midfielder's time at the La Liga club.
Beckham's refusal to accept that any cause is lost on the
pitch struck a chord with Nadal, who adopts the same
approach whenever he steps onto a tennis court.
Nadal will need a Beckham-style lung-busting effort to
subdue the powerful Berdych, who has clinched a surprise
final place with hugely impressive victories over Roger
Federer and Novak Djokovic.
After a gruelling clay-court season culminated in victory
at the French Open, Nadal had only 48 hours to rest before
travelling to London to begin his preparations for the
grass-court season and now, a month later, the strain is
starting to tell on his body.
Uruguay coach defends team in ‘cheats’ row
AFP, Johannesburg
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez defended Luis Suarez whose
extra-time, last-minute deliberate handball denied Ghana a
winning goal and a place in the World Cup semi-finals on
Friday.
Suarez was red-carded by Portuguese referee Olegario
Benquerenca for the illegal goal-line clearance which kept
out substitute Dominic Adiyah's header while Ghana were
awarded a penalty. Leading scorer Asamoah Gyan had the
chance to make Ghana the first African team ever to reach
the semi-finals, but he sent his penalty attempt crashing
off the crossbar to give the Uruguayans a reprieve.
The South Americans went on to claim their first World Cup
semi-final appearance since 1970 when they prevailed 4-2
in the penalty shoot-out which followed. Tabarez, whose
side had battled from a goal down to draw 1-1 at the end
of regulation time, defended Suarez's desperate act.
"It was instinctive, he instinctively put his hand out to
the ball and was red-carded and will miss the next game,"
Tabarez said.
"He has paid for the consequences of his actions. He
wasn't to know that Ghana would miss the resulting
penalty. It is not fair to say that we cheated our way to
victory."
Two-time champions Uruguay will now play the Netherlands
in the semi-finals in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Man-of-the-match Diego Forlan, whose equalising free kick
kept Uruguay in the match, said: "It's a pity (for Suarez
that he will miss the semi), he made a good save today,
we'll try to do our best.
"He played his part. He didn't score a goal but he saved
one and now we go to the semi-final." Tabarez said now
that his team were in the semi-finals, where they face the
Dutch who knocked out Brazil earlier Friday, they can be
considered as one of the four best sides in the world. "We
didn't play good football tonight but we fought very
hard," he said. "We are amongst the four best teams at
this World Cup. This is something we would never have
imagined before coming to South Africa.
"My players are very united. I don't know how far we can
go in the tournament. The Netherlands have some great
players, but we cannot betray this group of players.
"If there is a glimmer of hope we must hang on. We will
certainly not throw in the towel before playing that
match." Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, who saved
skipper John Mensah and Adiyiah's attempts in the penalty
shootout, said he felt calm while making those
match-winning saves.
Kingson looks past agony to reflect on successes
AFP, Johannesburg
It was not all doom and gloom in the Ghana camp after
their agonising penalty shoot-out defeat to Uru-guay in
the World Cup quarter-finals.
Ghana may have missed the chance to make African history
by becoming the first team from their continent to reach
the last four due to striker Asamoah Gyan's last gasp
extra-time penalty miss, but there have been many
positives.
Several players, Gyan chief amongst them, have put
themselves in the shop window and could attract the
attentions of some of Europe's biggest clubs.
No coach could have failed to have been impressed with
Rennes forward Gyan's nerve in taking, and scoring,
Ghana's first shoot-out spot-kick just minutes after his
crushing miss with the last kick of the regular game.
Other young players such as Rose-nborg's Anthony Annan and
Andre Ayew of newly-promoted French First Division side
Arles-Avignon have also shone during the tournament. But
perhaps the most sought-after Black Star will be
goalkeeper Richard Kingson of Wigan Athletic.
Kingson is no spring chicken at 32 and has already earnt
his move to one of Europe's big leagues, but he has hardly
had a look in during his three years in the Premier
League.
After nine years and six clubs in Turkey, Kingson was
brought to Birmingham City by then manager Steve Bruce.
When the club were relegated, then co-chairman David
Sullivan branded Kingson a "complete waste of space" but
Bruce saw enough talent there to bring the Ghanaian to his
new club Wigan.
Although Kingson has only made a handful of appearances in
England, being stuck behind Chris Kirkland in the pecking
order at the Latics, his appearances here in South Africa
will have caught the eye of many coaches.
He put in a match-winning display in the second round 2-1
victory against USA, making crucial stops from Robbie
Findley and Benny Feilhaber while he was also instrumental
in Ghana's 1-0 opening group victory against Serbia.
Again on Friday night he made some vital stops during the
game, although he did have an embarrassing moment when he
let a back pass roll under his foot, luckily giving away
only a corner rather than anything worse.
And while many might think that Ghana's players would have
been shattered after the cruel manner of their defeat in
that match, Kingson was surprisingly upbeat.
Ghana media mourns heart-breaking loss to Uruguay
AFP, Accra
Ghana's painful penalty shootout quarter finals loss to
Uruguay was plastered across the country's media on
Saturday which described it as heart-breaking.
The country's biggest selling and state funded newspaper
the Daily Graphic had as its frontpage headline "Uruguay
end Stars dream" after the two-time champions had beaten
the 'Black Stars' 4-2 on penalties after the game ended
1-1 after extra-time.
However, the Ghanaians had a golden opportunity to prevent
penalties and win it at the death when Luis Suarez was
sent-off for punching the ball away from crossing the line
only for Asamoah Gyan to hit the crossbar with the
resulting penalty. The Daily Graphic dedicated its
editorial to the performance of the Black Stars saying
that although they were "gallant losers", it was just a
"heart-breaking" experience as the only remaining title
hopes for the African continent was shattered by the
penalties defeat. The Ghanaian Times, another government
owned daily had for its banner headline "History slips
from the Stars".
"It has been a painful exit. Throughout the world,
everybody with African blood in his or her veins was
upbeat about the chances of the Black Stars," it said.
"The prayer of this paper is that there would be no
finger-pointing. Let there be no blame game. Our boys have
gone to a battle and acquitted themselves creditably," the
paper said.
West African rivals Nigeria had a woeful World Cup -
exiting at the first stage and now have been slapped with
a two year ban by President Goodluck Jonathan though FIFA
have told him to revoke it - and their press all but
ignored the Ghanaians bad luck.
Only one the Saturday Sun of around a dozen main dailies
devoted a frontpage headline "Ghana dashes Africa's hope"
but carried the actual story on page 13.
ThisDay, merged the story with a FIFA threat to ban
Nigeria over a presidential decision to pull out of all
international encounters for the two years.
Ballack will be back
for Germany: Schweinsteiger
AFP, Cape Town
Just hours before his side's quarter-final against
Argentina, Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger
insisted injured captain Michael Ballack will return to
the German team after the World Cup.
Having injured his ankle in last month's FA Cup final
playing for his former club Chelsea, Ballack will be in
the stands here on Saturday at Green Point Stadium when
Germany play Diego Maradona's Argentina with a semi-final
at stake next Wednesday in Durban. With an average age of
just under 25, Germany have been impressive so far at this
World Cup, but Schweinsteiger says the experience of
33-year-old Ballack has been missed.
"Obviously, he will come back," said the Bayern Munich's
Schweinsteiger. "It may well be that we could play much
better with him in the side. "You will notice that here
and there, we have lacked a bit of experience."
Schweinsteiger used the example of this year's Champions
League, won by Jose Mourinho-coached Inter Milan against
Bayern in May's Madrid final, to highlight the benefit of
experience.
"I saw it in the Champions League with Bayern, teams like
Chelsea, Barcelona and Bayern are playing better than
Milan, but Inter brought a lot of experience to win the
trophy." Under coach Joachim Loew, Germany have unearthed
a wealth of young talent at this World Cup with
20-year-old Thomas Mueller scoring twice in the 4-1 rout
of England in the round of 16.
Modi probe panel named
by India chiefs
AFP, Mumbai
India's cricket chiefs on Saturday named the disciplinary
committee that will decide the fate of Lalit Modi, the
suspended boss of the scandal-hit Indian Premier League.
Junior federal minister Jyotiraditya Scindia will sit
alongside politician-lawyer Arun Jaitley and businessman
Chirayu Amin in the three-man committee, the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced.
Scindia, 39, replaced BCCI president Shashank Manohar, who
opted to step down from the panel after Modi-who faces
allegations of corruption, indiscipline and
money-laundering-accused him of bias.
Modi's lawyer Mehmood Abdi had written to the BCCI
demanding that Manohar leave the committee because he had
"reasons to believe there was some bias or prejudice
against Modi".
Jaitley and Amin are both vice-presidents of the BCCI,
while Scindia, son of former Indian cricket chief
Madhavrao Scindia, heads the Madhya Pradesh Cricket
Association.
"The disciplinary committee will decide what action must
be taken against Modi," Manohar told reporters, without
specifying the time-frame by which a decision must be
made.
The BCCI, owner of the hugely popular IPL, suspended Modi
after the third edition of the tournament ended in April
following the raft of allegations against him, which also
sparked a government investigation.
Modi, 46, has submitted written replies to the charges
that include rigging bids, holding proxy stakes in teams
and receiving kickbacks in return for broadcasting deals.
He is also accused of planning an IPL-style league in
England without the knowledge of the BCCI or the England
and Wales Cricket Board.
Modi has also been suspended as one of the five
vice-presidents of the BCCI and removed as chairman of the
T20 Champions League, a separate club tournament organised
jointly by India, Australia and South Africa.
Modi's troubles began in April when he revealed the
ownership details of a new franchise set to join the
tournament in 2011.
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