FRIday, june 11, 2010 Jyestha 28, 1417, JAMADIUS SANI 26, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

Tk 1,32,170 cr nat’l budget for 2010-11
Earning Tk 92,847 cr; Non-development Expenditure Tk 93,670 cr; ADP Tk 38,500 cr; deficit Tk 39,323 cr; GDP growth target 6.7pc

TBT Report

Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith placed a Tk. 1,32,170 crore national budget for Fiscal 2010-11 in parliament on Thursday with special emphasis on energy, power, agriculture and education with a view to implementing the ruling grand alliance's election pledge .
Of the total outlay of the budget, the second of this government and the 39th since independence, Tk. 93,670 crore has been earmarked for revenue expenditure and Taka 38,500 crore for the Annual Development Programme (ADP) while the GDP.
The budget proposes revenue earnings of Tk 92,647 crore leaving a record deficit of Tk. 39,323 crore which will be met with foreign assistance of Tk 15643 crore and domestic resources of Tk. 23,680 crore. The budget deficit is estimated At 5 per cent of the GDP.
The Finance Minister presented the budget in absence of the opposition in the Parliament which joined the session on opening day on June 2 and staged walkout twice .
It is after two years that this finance minister presented the budget in the parliament last year. In the previous two years during emergency rule the budgets were announced outside of the House.
The new budget gives special attention to some key issues such as mobilising internal and external resources, promoting agriculture, infrastructure development , education and IT, generating employment, checking inflation, tackling power and energy crisis and alleviating poverty. The Finance Minister assured that loadshedding will go within two years.
The budget for the next fiscal allocates Taka 2000 crore as stimulus. It has proposed increase in CNG price and automobile import price. Tak 74,492 crore will go to agriculture, Taka 17,959 crore to education and Taka 10695 crore to defence sector.
The new budget outlines major reforms in the tax collection machinery to mobilise more internal resources faster than ever by expanding the tax net. For fiscal 2010-11 the revenue through NBR is estimated at Tk. 72,590 crore and revenue receipt from non-NBR sector is estimated at Tk. 3452 crore and from non-tax 1685 crore.
The size of this year's budget is the largest ever and so is the deficit. The new budget proposes expansion of the tax net to mobilize domestic resources. Import duty on motor vehicles and other luxury items have been enhanced to mobilize domestic resources.The budget seeks to mobilize additional revenues through various fiscal measures and restructuring the existing tax net.
BSS Adds: Power sector received the biggest allocation of Taka 6,114 crore as a single sector, 81 per cent higher than Taka 3,786 crore during the current fiscal year ending on June 30.
The business circle in an instant reaction highly appreciated the finance minister for proposing the higher allocation for further developing the power sector.
For the agriculture sector, Muhith proposed Taka 6,738 crore, higher by Taka 42 crore than the current year's allocation. Education and Technology together shared the biggest chunk of total outlay with Taka 18,377 crore, over Taka 16,171 crore for FY 2009-10.
Taka 10,872 crore has been proposed for local government and rural development as a part of this government's strategy for reducing disparity between urban and rural areas.
The finance minister targeted Taka 92,847 crore as revenue income against the revenue expenditure of Taka 93,670 crore, leaving a deficit of Taka 39, 323 crore during the coming fiscal year beginning on July 1.
He, however, expected that the deficit would come down to Taka 34,514 crore with the availability of foreign grants, estimated at Taka 4809 crore, while rest of the amount would be mobilized from internal resources.
The overall budget deficit, however, will remain at 5 per cent, similar to the level of this year, which analysts already commented as reasonable.
Like previous years, VAT (value added tax) will be the major source of revenue income as the finance minister targeted Taka 27,092 crore or 37.3 per cent of the revenue income from this tax tool.
Muhith proposed withdrawal of VAT exemption from some non-essential items when offered VAT exemption to some sectors in the grater interest of the people.

 Road to Vision 2021 is not strewn with roses: Muhith
BSS, Dhaka

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhit on Thursday said the government was striving relentlessly with sincerity and dedication in full under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to implement the vision of taking Bangladesh to the height of prosperity by 2021.
"The lifelong dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was to ensure welfare and prosperity of the people by achieving economic emancipation of the masses and we are heading to achieve that goal," he said while placing the national budget for the fiscal 2010-2011 in the Jatiya Sangsad.
Leader of the House and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her party's all lawmakers as well as those of the Mohajote listened to the budget speech delivered by the Finance Minister. But Leader of the Oppositions Begum Khaleda Zia and her party's lawmakers and also those of her alliances were not present in the House during the budget speech.
Muhith said the government is quite aware that the road to 'Vision 2021' is not strewn with roses. "Thousands of obstacles are persistently impeding our journey towards reaching that aspired vision", he said adding " In spite of all these odds, the government had never deviated from its resolute determination".
Giving details of the performances of the government since its installation in his 118-page budget speech, the finance minister said, "In the last 17 months, we have proved ourselves as an inherently flexible nation". "Though our economy is not strong and robust, its resilience towards meeting the challenges proved to be extraordinary", he observed.
He said we have been moving forward by working out objective solutions to meet our commitments. By triumphing over all the hurdles, we have once again proved that in the interest of the nation we can make the impossible possible, he added.
"Now, our goal is to reach the aspired destination at any cost" he said and adder that in this journey towards this destination, we have with us our people of all strata - who are full of life with endless capacity for hard work, indomitable in the face of calamities, unruffled at the time of crises, inspired by the dreams of taking the country forward.
Muhit expressed his hope that the people's endless faith on them would make the implementation of 'Vision 2021' unhindered and take the nation to that destination where we would find a generation, free from poverty and frustration, and immersed in a relentless pursuit for creating a dignified place for our dear motherland in the comity of nations as a happy, prosperous and responsive Bangladesh.

 PM urges Russia to implement Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant
UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the Russian government to take immediate steps to implement the Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant Project ((RNPP) as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister made the request when a six-member delegation of the Russian Atomic Energy Corporation 'ROSATOM' led by its Director General Sergey V. Kirienko called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganobhaban on Thursday morning.
Bangladesh signed a framework agreement with Russia on cooperation for its maiden nuclear power plant on May 21 this year.
During Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni's visit to Russia last month, State Minister for Science and ICT Yeafesh Osman signed the Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of the Use of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes with the Rosatom Director General in Moscow.
Bangladesh is expected to produce at least 20,000 megawatt electricity by 2010 from two units of the country's maiden nuclear power plant in Pabna.
During the meeting, Sheikh Hasina expressed her hope that the ROSATOM Director General's visit would initiate discussions on the RNPP and facilitate speedy finalization of contract and related agreements, said PM's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad.
She told the ROSATOM DG that RNPP project is a priority for Bangladesh in the context of acute power shortage and for meeting increasing energy demand for the country's industrialization, economic activities and growth. "Nuclear energy is also a favoured option in the climate change and option for clean nuclear energy requirement context," the Prime Minister said. She observed that diversification through nuclear energy is also always a safer option for any resource constrained country.
Hasina further stated that nuclear power plant would also contribute to the realization of the present government's Vision 2021. The implementation of RNPP is an electoral pledge of the present government, she added.

   Prof Wahiduddin says
Large budget raises questions

UNB, Dhaka

Renowned economist Prof. Wahiduddin Mahmud on Thursday said that the proposed large-sized budget for the next fiscal, with 20 percent growth in the overall outlay and 35 percent in development spending, immediately raises a question mark regarding the government's implementation capability.
"What factors have dictated such a large increase in the projected budgetary spending?" he asked in an immediate reaction to UNB about the budget for 2010-11 fiscal. He said that e said thatboosting public spending may be thought to be one way of helping the economy recover from its current slowdown.
Besides, the allocations for politically-mandated projects as well as for the safety-net programmes for the poor may also have contributed to the bloating of the ADP.
"Revenue expenditure is also projected to rise significantly to meet the costs of increased salaries, agricultural and fuel subsidies, and debt servicing." He added.
He said that on the revenue side, the Finance Minister may have gone for optimistic projections encouraged by the fact that the revenue target in the current fiscal has been achieved in spite of stagnation in import trade.

    Curtain rises on first World Cup in Africa today
AFP, Johannesburg

The curtain rises today on the first World Cup staged by Africa with Group A rivals South Africa, Mexico, France and Uruguay in action on the opening day of the month-long tournament.
Bafana Bafana (The Boys) faces Mexico at the 90,000-seat Soccer City stadium in Soweto while France and Uruguay clash later at Cape Town Stadium in the other Group A fixture.
France, Uruguay and Mexico rank among the top 20 football nations in the world with South Africa lagging behind in 83rd place, but they have tradition on their side with no host nation failing to reach the second round.
South Africa is banking on huge home support from a crowd blowing deafening plastic vuvuzela trumpets and the presence of world political icon Nelson Mandela to inspire Aaron Mokoena and his team. Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar apart, South Africa lacks high-profile footballers but training camps in Brazil, Germany and South Africa have reaped reward with the national team unbeaten in 12 warm-up matches. Mexico boasts a mix of youth and experience led by Barcelona veteran Rafael Marquez and would be hot favourites to triumph were the opening match anywhere but South Africa.
Spectators, who will watch an opening ceremony two hours before the 1400GMT kick-off, would not complain if they get a repeat of the 2006 opener goal feast that ended with a 4-2 victory for Germany over Costa Rica.
Germany, given little hope then despite an impressive World Cup pedigree, went on to finish third behind Italy and France, but that seems an unrealistic target for Bafana.
While President Jacob Zuma hopes to hand the trophy to Mokoena on July 11, many South Africans believe surviving the first round would be a wonderful achievement and a quarter-finals place miraculous.

     HC stays operation of govt order proscribing daily Amar Desh

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court on Thursday stayed for three months the operation of the government's action proscribing the daily Amar Desh.
The High Court also stayed the government order setting aside the petition filed by acting editor of Amar Desh Mahmudur Rahman, seeking authority as publisher.
Passing the interim order upon a writ petition filed by Anwar-un-Nabi, acting chairman of the Amar Desh, an HC division bench headed by Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana issued a rule asking the government to explain in four weeks why the decision canceling the declaration of publication of the daily Amar Desh should not be declared illegal.
The district magistrate on June 1 cancelled the declaration of the daily's publication on the ground that the newspaper has no authorized publisher. Emerging from the court, Barrister Abdur Razzaq told reporters that following the day's HC order there is no bar now to resume publication of the daily Amar Desh.
On the contrary, Additional Attorney General MK Rahman said despite HC stay orders there is no scope of resumption of publication of the defunct daily as it has no authorized publisher till date. The original publisher, Hashmat Ali, had resigned long ago, he said.
MK Rahman also said that the government has already filed a petition before the Appellate Division seeking a stay on the High Court stay orders.

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Education gets highest allocation of Tk 17,959 cr
BSS, Dhaka

The education sector has got the highest allocation of Taka 17,959 crore in the proposed budget for fiscal 2010-11.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in his budget speech, amid huge clapping, on Thursday said the allocation is 13.5 percent higher than the revised budget of the current fiscal. He said the government has given top priority to education in terms of allocation of financial resources. Allocation for education under revenue and development budget is being progressively enhanced, he added. The finance minister said the government has always placed highest emphasis on education sector adopting it as one of the core strategies for cutting poverty and development.
With this end in view, Muhith said, the government has already approved the National Education Policy 2010 with 24 targets as a step towards introducing a modern employment- oriented education system.
He said implementation of this education policy would pave the way for introduction of a unified curriculum and syllabus by integrating various systems to establish knowledge-based and technology-dependent Digital Bangladesh.
Muhith said education up to class eight has been made free and compulsory and school-based assessment has been introduced on a pilot basis to improve the quality of education.
Steps are being taken to establish IT-based madr-asas for modernization of this system of education and also to ensure massive expansion of technical education, he added. He said programmes have been undertaken to distribute textbooks for free at the secondary level and all books prescribed for this level have also been posted on website.
"We have been able to fulfill our commitment by distributing textbooks to students up to class nine at the beginning of the year."
After a lapse of a few years, he said a policy has been framed to start inclusion of educational institutions in MPO scheme and some such institutions have already been included.
Muhith said full implementation of the policy would take time and therefore the government could not take forward MPO enlisting agenda keeping consistency with the demand. Besides, the activity for setting up the pledged universities at Barisal, Rangamati and Gopalganj has begun.

   5,77,000 manpower to be exported in FY 2010-11, Expat bank soon

BSS, Dhaka

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Thursday said the target for manpower export has been set at 5, 77,000 in 2010-11 fiscal year over last year's 4,75,000 despite global economic recession.
"The government is attaching the highest priority to the manpower export and we are emphasizing more on exporting skilled manpower as there is no alternative to survival in this highly competitive market," he said in his budget speech at the Jatiya Sangsad here.
Mentioning that the government has made a commitment to establish an Expatriate Welfare Bank in FY 2009-10, the Finance Minister said they have already formulated a draft act in this connection and are expecting to establish a bank very soon.
"Let me mention at the same time that we will establish, in the private sector, at least one Expatriate Bank with expatriate equity and management in the next fiscal," he said.
The Finance Minister in the new budget proposed a total allocation of Taka 398 crore for the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment in the next fiscal year while the allocation in this year's revised budget was made Taka 395.
He informed the house that US$ 10.7 billion was remitted home during the outgoing fiscal year, the highest ever, but manpower export to Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait declined due to global financial crisis. "It is encouraging that our Prime Minister, herself, has taken a host of initiatives and actions to keep manpower export unrestricted and she has already visited Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Malaysia in this regard," he said.

    Govt fixes target to produce 2,323 mmcf gas by 2015
BSS, Dhaka

The government has set a target to supply 2,323 mmcf gas to the national grid by 2015, the Finance Minister told the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday.
"Target has been fixed to increase supply of 2,323 mmcf gas per day to the national grid of which 1,823 mmcf will come from the additional production under short, medium and long term plan and 500 mmcf through importing LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) by this time," Muhith said. The Finance Minister said in the context of overall development of the country, the daily demand for gas has increased to 2,500 million cubic feet.
Petrobangla is now producing around 2,000 million cubic feet gas from 17 out of 23 gas fields in the country while the daily gas demand is about 2,300 million cubic feet. As supply is lower than demand, it is creating low pressure in supply of gas in different parts of the country, he said. Presenting the government's short-term, mid-term and long- term view in energy sector, the Finance Minister apprised the strategy for rapid development of gas distribution system, circumventing the traditional procedures, Petrobangla's Fast Track Program to conclude production enhancing activities.
"Through drilling 12 wells in Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulvibazar gas field in blocks 12, 13 and 14 we plans to increase 700 mmcf production," Muhith said. "As per our commitment made in the previous budget, we set to sign agreements with two companies for gas exploration in 3 off-shore blocks of the country. BAPEX has taken up programs to drill exploration wells at Kapasia, Mobarakpur, Sundalpur," Muhith said.

   Proposed budget is to protect interest of the party men: Delwar

UNB, Dhaka

BNP has said the proposed national budget for 2010-11 fiscal is to protect the interest of the ruling party men, supporters and opportunists.
Secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain giving the party's instant reaction to the budget at a press briefing at the party's central office on Thursday night said it is 'highly ambitious and unimplementable'.
He regretted that not a single suggestion of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was incorporated in the budget. The BNP leader said the government has failed to implement current year's budget and the same fate will be in the case of next year's budget placed in parliament on Thursday by Finance Minister AMA Muhith without the presence of the opposition in the house.
He said there is no mention how and from where the huge revenue will be collected. "It is jugglery of figures, reflecting dream of a golden deer," he added, "It is made to give wrong idea to and bluff the people Delwar said the money of last year's budget was plundered to the benefit of the party men through tender manipulations. The same will happen in case of next year's budget. He cautioned abuse and misuse of the state coffer will earn them public scrutiny and the plunderers will be brought to book. He was critical of not giving due importance to the power and energy sector. Absence electricity causes sufferings of the people and hinders industrial development.

    Power tariff to increase by 20 to 30 pc in next couple of years

BSS, Dhaka

Power Tariff would be incr-eased by 20 to 30 percent in the upcoming 2-3 years as the production cost of power generation from the liquid fuel would be much more than the gas fired one.
During his budget speech, the Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told the Jatiya Sangsad that the per unit production cost of electricity is expected to rise by 20 to 30 percent in next couple of years.
"Due to installation of high cost liquid fuel based peaking plants which are implementable in next 18-24 months we have to increase the power tariff substantially," the finance minister said. He said the BERC (Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Com-mission) may increase power tariff step by step. "PDB need to increase the power tariff by 20 to 25 per cent per year to adjust the loss in purchasing power from the high cost rental and IPPs," a PDB official said. The government has plan to generate 1,000MW-1200MW of electricity from rental power plants to minimise power shortage. A subsidy of about Taka 1,500 crore to Taka 2,000 crore will go to the rental power plants in current fiscal year, according to the PDB.
As the plants will start power generation after nine months, the budget will have the subsidy or increase tariff for the sustainability of the state run power generating company, however, the PDB needs a Taka 7,000 crore subsidy to pay the bill of the proposed rental power plants.
The Finance Minister in his speech said "Power tariff will come down after 2014 as the implementation of gas and coal based power plants will be completed by that time."

    Tk 2,000 cr additional stimulus package proposed in 2010-11 budget

BSS, Dhaka

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday proposed a Taka 2,000 crore stimulus package to face global financial crisis.
"The stimulus package will be continued until such time the export sector stabilizes," the finance minister said in his budget speech at the Jatiya Sangsad here.
He said the government declared a stimulus package of Tk. 3,424 crore in April 2009 to keep the economy buoyant side by side with a number of financial incentives and policy supports were announced in this package. In FY 2009-10, he said, the allocation for cash Incentive or subsidy in export sector was scaled up to Tk. 2,100 crore with an increase of Tk. 300 crore. Muhith said the allocated money has already been released and cash incentives have been given for the development of ship building industry and finished and crust leather industry.
The finance minister said arrangements have been made for additional subsidy on export income related to export of new commodities and export to new markets in textile sector.

    Beijing awaiting Dhaka’s proposal on building deep seaport in Ctg

UNB, Dhaka

China is waiting for a concrete proposal from Bangladesh to build deep seaport in Chitt-agong, Chinese Amba-ssador in Dhaka Zhang Xianyi said here Thursday.
"China is likely to contribute to the development of the deep seaport," he told a press briefing at the embassy ahead of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinpeng's two-day official visit to Ban-gladesh on June 14-15.
Bangladesh sought China's assistance to build the deep seaport during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Beijing on March 17-21. The Ambassador further said that China also has a positive attitude towards connectivity and promoting projects relating to roadway and railway links between the two countries to promote trade and economic cooperation. On Chitt-agong-Kunming highway through Myanmar, Zhang said all the three countries are very positive about building the tri-nation highway. "All the three players will have to come together…It needs time to coordinate the efforts." Asked about the purchase of military hardware from China, he said the defence cooperation between the two militaries is excellent but did not say anything precisely about any purchase deal. "It's a normal trade…We don't have major contract in last few years," he told a correspondent. The Ambassador termed Chinese Vice President Xi Jinpeng's visit to Bangladesh "very important" as it takes place on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Dhaka and Beijing.
He said the bilateral trade and economic cooperation will be high on Xi Jinpeng's agenda alongside strengthening existing friendly relations. This is for the first time a Vice President from China is visiting Bangladesh. The high profile visit takes place within less than three months of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Beijing.

    Tk 19,497 cr proposed for social safety net and empowerment

BSS, Dhaka

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Thursday proposed Taka 19,497 crore for the fiscal year 2010-11 to ensure social security for the poor and their empowerment through employment.
"Continuing with all our social safety net and social empowerment programs, I propose to allocate Taka 19,497 crore which is about 14.8 percent of development and non-development outlays and 2.5 percent of GDP," he said is his budget speech at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban here.
Under the allocation, Taka 5,726.25 crore was proposed for ensuring food security through distributing food grains in various programs such as open market sale of food at low prices, food for work, VGF, VGD, TR (food), GR (food) and food assistance for Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Mentioning that in the current fiscal, Taka 1,176 crore was allocated for the program titled 'Employment Gener-ation for the Hard Core Poor', the Finance Minister said "We have a plan to create employment opportunities for about 17,00,000 people in 64 districts under the programme with allocation of additional Taka 1,000 crore in FY 2010-11."

    Govt mulls joining Trans-Asian Railway network
BSS, Dhaka

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Thursday said the government is actively considering joining Trans- Asian Railway network and its alternative routes.
"I mentioned in my previous budget speech that alongside reforming Bangladesh Railway to turn it into a state-owned corporate entity, we want to integrate it with the Trans-Asian Railway network," he said while presenting the national budget for 2010-2011 in parliament. "To this end, the task of turning Bangladesh Railway into a state-owned corporate entity is moving ahead as part of the reform agenda," the minister said.
Besides, a 20-year Railway Master Plan to identify and solve the problems of the Railway sector is now at the final stage of formulation, Muhith said and added that a master plan for construction of Unde-rground Railway System is also in the offing.
He mentioned about the ongoing implementation of 'Bangladesh Railway Sector Improvement Project' for modernizing the railways at a cost of Taka 3,600 crore.
"As part of this program, roughly Taka 3,000 crore worth of restoration work of 686 kilometer rail line for re-establishing sub-regional railway link and construction of double-line rail- track between Tongi-Bhairab Bazar sections have been undertaken," he said. The finance minister said the construction work of railway track connecting Tarakandi with Bangabandu Bridge will be completed within this fiscal. This railway link will ease communication between the western and other regions of the country, including the greater Mymensingh region.

Editorial

Expectations from the Budget

We, the citizens of this country, have a lot of expectations from the national budget (2010-2011) placed by the Finance Minister in Parliament yesterday. Our expectations revolve around a good life for the people with a vision leading the country and the people to a future where poverty, illiteracy, insecurity, dependency on other nations, environmental degradation, animal extinction, and other socio-political, religious and legal injustices would be so greatly reduced that our own lives and that of the next generation should be given priority not only in the sense of material betterment but also in terms of spiritual refinement as suited to being a good human being. Of course the economic drive alone is not capable to achieve this but it is indeed a governing force that has deep rooted effects on the people of this country. The budget is a so very central to the nation that almost every citizen's lives shall be effected by the implementation of it's provisions. The Finance Minister being elected as one of the people's representatives to rule and after accepting his office as the Finance Minister is therefore also accountable too to the people and more properly to Almighty Allah for he affects the lives of the people through this act of his Ministry. And with the experience of formulating three previous national budgets he holds no lesser ground in comparison to any body else under the current system of political governance of the country to perform that task with sincerity, dedication and with competence and vision.
The view of development that the government holds and which is channeled economically through the Honorable Minister is the crux of the matter of the national budget of any one time. This view, though in a country where the greater majority of the people are illiterate, of course yet cannot be held in isolation of the global nearness though again the historical, socio-cultural and religious identity of this nation must also play a major part in the provisions of the national budget through the ramifications it has in it being implemented. The view on development therefore is not a view that is held in isolation and therefore income generation, international trade, creation and access to jobs and self-employment, foreign investment must be a priority and must be targeted to improve the national economic life of the people with special provisions to benefit the backward section of the people otherwise the resulting disparity may hold back the nation from desired growth. The view of justice is therefore also related herewith and thus infrastructures of governance from the very grass roots of government should be addressed in terms that go to not only foster development but to eradicate corruption which again remains a very big impediment to proper prosperity of this nation. The agriculture sector too plays no less a part in achieving true selfhood for the nation with the declared goal by the Honorable Prime Minister of self sufficiency in food. Herein with the question of justice in development, the issue of identity is conjoined and overlaps all proper time and any attempt to lay it off may lead to a dissatisfaction of a kind that is outside the purview of economics but matters most to the individual psyche. It is called 'happiness', and the people of Bangladesh ranks high in that unquantifiable scale. Imperative in this equation and of priority by de facto presence is the environmental threat to Bangladesh. In this context it must be mentioned that industrialization must be supported by proper disposal of industrial waste mechanisms otherwise small measures taken to heavily tax cigarettes shall only remain a half-hearted endeavor if the big cities are allowed to be highly polluted.
The most awkward element in the policy of the current government is the Public Private Partnership's zero response. The Honorable Minister should address this issue in econometric incentives, because despite being a brilliant idea for economic growth why has not a single Taka been invested herein? Many big private sector business people see the rule of this Awami League government as 'too business strict' and mostly 'crackdown' focused thus threatening towards them. There exists a business insecurity amongst them which again is a drawback for the nation. Whitening black money is not only a moral issue debated to portray the honesty of its supporters, but must be seen in the context of national corruption and the nature of the economic consequences for the nation in its being allowed existence.
Another aspect demanding crucial and informed attention is the pressure on the capital, Dhaka City. If it is the government's decision not to decentralize and un-pressurize Dhaka, then budget allocation should be made to accommodate such policies as to very efficient and time saving communication systems with suburbs and the outside of Dhaka to facilitate workers to live outside Dhaka yet be working in the capital city. Underground trains or sky trains are best avoided if possible for the threat of major earthquakes along with the current lowly state of high rise buildings thus may be very costly.
We know that the Honorable Finance Minister cannot through the national budget uplift the general people spiritually, but proper allocation for the education sector can contribute greatly in having a healthy prosperous Bangladesh. We thus have a lot of expectations from the budget and hope from a deep reading of the one presented would fulfill our demands on the government, inshAllah.

Analysis

One year after Cairo

Obama's speech stirred hope in the Muslim world, but he needs to deliver.

Nabil Fahmy

A year ago this month, US President Barack Obama declared to an audience at Cairo University that he had "come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world".
In a surprisingly bold speech that quoted the Quran repeatedly and reached out to Arabs and Muslims who had grown increasingly disaffected with American foreign policy, Obama candidly addressed the issues of Iraq, Afghanistan and democracy, and seized the moment by acknowledging both the Palestinian and Israeli historical narratives.
His words were widely judged a success. Four months later, a Gallup poll reported that a majority of the populations of Algeria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Bahrain all said relations with the United States had improved. Even more important, the anger towards America that was so vitriolic during the George W. Bush administration had subsided.
Sustaining this trend, however, requires more than an infatuation with Obama's personal story or relief that Bush is no longer in office. Concrete progress on a number of complex regional issues is imperative, and here the balance sheet is weaker, if not totally in the red.
The determining factor for fundamental change between America and the Muslim world will be the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Unfortunately, it is on this issue that the Obama administration's credibility has lost the most ground since last June, because there were no consequences when Israel subsequently rejected his call for a colony freeze and expanded its incursions into occupied east Jerusalem. Just this week, the administration offered a tepid response to Israel's killing in international waters of at least nine people in the Gaza-bound flotilla.
Credibility at stake
Today, violent attacks against Israelis are at an all-time low, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is establishing efficient instruments of government on the West Bank and PNA President Mahmoud Abbas is committed to a negotiated settlement and nonviolence.
Yet as long as current Israeli policies prevail, the indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks have little, if any, chance of salvaging the two-state solution. If the talks fail, it will further diminish Obama's credibility in the Muslim world.
For all these reasons, it is imperative that Obama take clear, substantive political positions to safeguard the core parameters of the negotiations. He should speak out and publicly express his support for what many people in the region have long known are the obvious outlines of any deal that ultimately will be reached, saying that:
l The pre-1967 line will define the border between Israel and a future Palestinian state, and that any swaps of lands will not significantly change the 1967 demarcations and occur only with mutual agreement.
l Security arrangements should safeguard both parties against attack or the threat of attack by either side, as well as surprise attack from third parties, because security can neither be ignored nor become a justification for continuing occupation.
l Occupied Jerusalem should encompass the capitals of two states, Palestinian and Israeli, each with sovereign rights, but also with special cooperative arrangements with regard to religious sites and, where necessary, municipal services.
l Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem must be "agreed upon" in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194. The resolution calls for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes, but the Arab summit peace initiative of 2002 inserted the words "agreed upon" to open the door for creative compromise solutions between Israelis and Palestinians on this issue.
One year later, Obama has to show that he meant what he said in Cairo. Otherwise, he risks becoming the American president who presided over the demise of the two-state solution and who confirmed the arguments of the naysayers in the region who question America's commitment to justice and freedom.


Nabil Fahmy, the dean of the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at American University in Cairo, served as Egypt's ambassador to the United States from 1999 to 2008.

  Sri Lanka awaits justice

It is difficult to say precisely how many Tamil civilians were killed in these final five months of the 30-year war waged by the Sri Lankan government against the Tamil Tigers.

Louise Arbour

If international criminal justice is ever to be effective, its enforcement cannot be selective. We recently marked the first anniversary of the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, yet the international community - in stark contrast to its approach on other conflicts - still has done nothing to address accountability for war crimes committed in its final months.
The difference between the speedy dispatch last year by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a fact-finding mission to Gaza and the deafening silence of the world while thousands of civilians were becoming victims of illegal methods of warfare in Sri Lanka strikes at the heart the international justice project.
On April 3, 2009, the president of the Human Rights Council established the UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza conflict with the mandate to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in the context of military operations there between Dec. 2008 and January 2009.
At that very moment several hundred thousand people - civilians of all ages, many wounded, weakened and hungry - were crowded in the second "No Fire Zone" established by the Sri Lankan army in the Vanni, awaiting further shelling by government forces while the remaining cadres of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam among them ensured that they would not be allowed to cross over to the government side.
By the end of May 2009, it was all over. It is difficult to say precisely how many Tamil civilians were killed in these final five months of the 30-year war waged by the Sri Lankan government against the Tamil Tigers. A proper investigation would likely set the figure in the tens of thousands.
On Sept. 29, 2009, Justice Richard Goldstone presented its report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, calling for an end to impunity for violations of international law in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The UN mission reported Palestinian casualty figures at between 1,166 and 1,444.
There was never any Goldstone report on Sri Lanka. Rather, on May 27, 2009, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution welcoming the conclusion of hostilities and "the liberation by the government of Sri Lanka of tens of thousands of its citizens ..."
Evidence uncovered since then suggests that the council seriously misapprehended the facts when it failed to call for an investigation of both sides. There is indeed evidence suggesting war crimes by the Tamil Tigers, and despite the best efforts of the government of Sri Lanka to keep the world at bay during the last months of the conflict, there is also a substantial body of credible evidence pointing to the commission of war crimes by government forces including attacks on humanitarian operations, attacks on hospitals and deliberate shelling of civilians enticed by the government to seek protection in the safety of "No Fire Zones."
However, no fair, independent and credible investigation can be undertaken by the government of Sri Lanka, or by an organ created by the government.
An international investigation is required to ensure that Sri Lanka rebuilds itself on the solid foundation of the rule of law including the fundamental principle that no one is above the law. It is also necessary to ensure that the future rests on a truthful acknowledgment of the past and that all the people of Sri Lanka understand what was done, seemingly on their behalf, to their fellow citizens, many of whom were innocent civilians trapped between a terrorist movement and a government unwilling to extend to them the protection to which they were entitled by law.
The nature and the magnitude of the crimes are such that there is no prospect of a real, durable peace without justice.
Such an investigation is also necessary to reaffirm the international community's commitment to the principle of accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian law. This is particularly pressing since the "Sri Lankan option" may otherwise become increasingly attractive to those governments that will find it expedient to disregard the law if they are convinced that they may do so with impunity.


Former UN high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour is president of the International Crisis Group, which recently released the report "War Crimes in Sri Lanka"

  Pawar or power

Quite clearly, Pawar's crass opportunism and unreliability are his biggest political assets in the present context.

Ajay Singh

There is a beautiful parable about an emperor who though naked believes that he is wrapped up in a divine cloth.
The emperor would get angry and bump off anybody who pointed out his nakedness. But the story would have taken a different turn if the emperor started flaunting his nakedness as a divinity-ordained quality. This is exactly what Sharad Pawar has been doing in the IPL bidding case.
There are enough indications to prove his company participated in the bidding. "But so what? He is not involved in it," proclaimed his Nationalist Congress Party's spokesman D P Tripathi. Of course, Pawar owns a mere 16 per cent share in City Corporation that went for bidding. He also owns a minuscule share (priced at around Rs 6 crore) in Vijay Mallya's company that owns Royal Challengers. Despite all these acts of indiscretion, Pawar feigns innocence.
"Neither he nor his family members are involved in the IPL bidding," is the line of the chorus orchestrated by his courtiers as Pawar turns defiant.
In fact, Pawar knows it too well that he is indispensable for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Given the kind of coalition that Manomohan Singh runs, Pawar's indispensability lies in the fact that his party runs the government with the Congress in Maharashtra too. Though the Congress and Pawar share a love-hate relationship, the power equation is such that Pawar always has the upper hand.
Obviously, if push comes to shove, Pawar will find enough friends in the BJP and Shiv Sena who would be more than eager to help him form the government in Maharashtra without the Congress. Since the country's most prosperous state provides economic sustenance to the Congress, it would certainly be wrong politics to corner Pawar beyond a point. Sooner than later, then, the Congress will have to come out in support of the Maratha strong man.
Though there is a strong case against Pawar, the opposition is making only feeble noises. In fact, the BJP and Shiv Sena see him as a potential ally who can join their bandwagon at an opportune moment. They still recall fondly how he had raised the issue of Sonia Gandhi's 'foreign origin' in the CWC meeting after the fall of the NDA government in 1999.
Quite clearly, Pawar's crass opportunism and unreliability are his biggest political assets in the present context. So far as his involvement in the IPL bidding goes, he is all set to brazen it out with his political colleagues cutting across the party lines. Unlike in the parable where the king gets angry if pointed out his nakedness, the modern king would gleefully flaunt to prove his political prowess much to the disgust of people on the streets.


Ajay Singh is a senior Indian journalist

Viewpoints

International Criminal Court is on the up

The US is not a member of the ICC and therefore, like India, Russia and China, has not subjected itself to its jurisdiction. But a change in the American attitude is well underway.

Jonathan Power

The International Criminal Court is coming out of its first review conference with its head held high.
Over a 100 nations attended its meeting in Kampala, Uganda. No country - at least public ally - wants to see the back of it, apart from Sudan, whose president is under indictment.
Those African countries - DR Congo, Uganda, the Central African Republic and Kenya - which have asked for the ICC to intervene, help arrest and try alleged war criminals from their countries (in Kenya the ICC is still at the investigation stage) have set an example to show how this new world judicial system can bite with teeth. We should not be surprised.
Africa has been the scene of too many of the world's recent wars and produced leaders whose cruelty has been in the same league as Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot. Almost every God-fearing African who knows about what happened during the 1990s and the early years of this decade has been angry and appalled. However, it should be noted that today's Africa has relatively little of the old-style political violence, apart from Sudan where many African nations, seemingly paradoxically, have not welcomed the ICC intervention on the spurious grounds it will make settling the murderous domestic upheavals there more difficult.
Every delegate in Kampala recognized that the ICC has to rapidly extend its activities outside Africa, otherwise there is a danger that its credibility will be undermined. Indeed, some have gone so far as to say that the US should be investigated for war crimes. The US, albeit belatedly, has arrested and tried or is trying a number of those in Iraq who have tortured and maltreated captives or intentionally killed innocent women and children. It has not, however, arrested those who committed or ordered the torture of Al-Qaeda suspects held in Guantanamo. After an immense amount of pressure the Justice Department is investigating if it should prosecute them.
The US is not a member of the ICC and therefore, like India, Russia and China, has not subjected itself to its jurisdiction. But a change in the American attitude is well underway. Initially, the administration of George W. Bush tried to undermine it, if not to destroy it. Later on it began to see its value. Now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said, "We will end hostility toward the ICC and look for opportunities to encourage effective ICC action in a way that promote US interests by bringing war criminals to justice." According to Harold Hongju Koh, the legal advisor of the State Department, speaking in Kampala, the US is going to try and find ways for its law enforcement agencies to help the ICC with its prosecutions. But Koh made it clear that the US, hypocritically, is in no hurry to ratify the ICC treaty that would make it be held to the same standard as those countries where the US seeks to see prosecutions.
The US also made it clear that it takes issue with what many countries and NGOs are lobbying to have included in the mandate of the ICC - making aggression a war crime.
At the Nuremberg tribunal where Nazi leaders were tried, the president of the court, Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, told the hearing that, "Planning and preparation are essential in the making of war. In the opinion of the tribunal, aggressive war is a crime under international law. "
Thus it doesn't need an amendment to the Rome treaty that created the ICC to bring in the crime of "aggression". Long ago it was accepted in principle if ignored in practice. When Nicaragua brought a case before the International Court for Justice (the World Court) alleging that the US had mined its territorial waters in its main harbor, the US withdrew its membership from the court rather than face what would probably have been a conviction.
In contrast, when President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria was being pressured by his defense minister and a good part of public opinion to go to war with its neighbor, Cameroon, over the long disputed possession of the oil-rich Bakassi peninsular, Obasanjo reversed his country's opposition to Cameroon's decision to refer the dispute to the World Court and acquiesced when the court awarded Bakassi to Cameroon. Aggression was recognized as a crime - and forestalled.
If the delegates in Kampala had voted for "aggression" to be added to the list of ICC crimes it would have been not only unnecessary repetition it would have made it more unlikely that the US, India Russia and China would seek membership. Wisdom prevailed and the ICC will continue to go from strength to strength.
These four countries, surveying the growing worth of the ICC, should now put to one side their reservations and join up.

  For a different Israel

The very foundation of the State of Israel, which would never have survived without American support since its creation in 1948, was predicated on the necessity of terrorism and deception.

Charles Ferndale 

On May 31, an armed Israeli naval force boarded a Turkish vessel in the Mediterranean carrying civilians from over 30 countries. They were carrying aid to the stricken people of Gaza, who the very basic necessities of life and who are effectively imprisoned in that territory by the Israeli blockade. During the struggle that ensued, eight Turks and one American were killed by Israeli gunfire. One estimate puts the number of injured passengers at 26.
The Israeli spin machine has since gone into overdrive trying to persuade the world that Israel was the real victim in the incident. Only this time no one is buying their story.
There are good reasons for the world's scepticism.
What the multinational aid workers were doing was perfectly legal. Israel, on the other hand, was already in breach of international law and the Geneva Conventions in trying to starve a population into submission.
The aid ship was in international waters, 77 miles off the coast of Israel, so the boarding was illegal under international law. For any naval force to board another vessel in international waters, the country must first get permission from the government of the country where the vessel to be boarded is registered and whose flag the ship is flying. In this case Turkey.
Under international law, all vessels in international waters are a territory of the country whose flag they fly. Thus, Israel effectively invaded an unarmed section of Turkish territory with armed military force. This was an unprovoked act of war, since Israel broke international law on several counts: technically invading Turkish territory, seizing a vessel in international waters, kidnapping all its occupants, forcing the to a destination not of the choosing of its owners, holding it without the owners' permission, and expropriating some of its cargo.
Since the United Nations had been established to prevent and punish such unwarranted and illegal aggression actions, it is now its duty to punish Israel.
One appropriate punishment might be the permanent presence of an international naval force off the coast of Gaza, whose function would be to escort aid ships to the people of the territory.
The Israeli action is not only an act of war but, arguably, also of piracy. There is a multinational force in the Gulf of Aden--for the prevention of piracy from Somalia. Unlike the Israeli raiders, however, the Somali pirates have killed no one. In addition, they usually operate within their own country's territorial waters: there the international forces do not have the right to kill the pirates, yet often do.
Another form of punishment would be for the world community to force Israel, by whatever means necessary, to lift its illegal blockade of Gaza.
Let us assume that there is at least some truth in Israel's claim that, on boarding the Turkish vessel, its commandoes met with some resistance. Let us even accept the Israeli claim that the commandoes were fired upon by some passengers on the Turkish vessel even before the raiders boarded it. In the unlikely event that these things actually happened, the passengers aboard the Turkish vessel would have been well within their rights in doing what they are accused of having done, to defend themselves against attack by a rogue force.
The very foundation of the State of Israel, which would never have survived without American support since its creation in 1948, was predicated on the necessity of terrorism and deception. Israel's ultimate justification was that Yahweh had promised the land to the Prophet Moses and his followers. This story has now been shown to be entirely without foundation. Among those who exploded the convenient myth created to justify the conquest and occupation of Palestine is Israeli writer Shlomo Sand, professor of history at Tel Aviv University and author of The Invention of the Jewish People. (Another useful book on the subject is The Evolution of Religion by American writer Robert Wright.)
Many Jews of the world think that Israel was, and is, essential for their future safety. Their anxieties are firmly based in their tragic history, especially that since the mid-1930s in Europe. But what most of them seem not to recognise is that Israel could never have been a safe haven for them--it was doomed from the start. From the Balfour Declaration of 1917 onwards, it was clear that the only way a homeland for the Jews could be established in Palestine would be by violent expropriation of about 75 per cent of the land from its inhabitants.
Since the founding principles of the State of Israel are the very reasons why it cannot work, there are many Jews, inside and outside of Israel, who now recognise the urgent necessity for that state to change its very nature.
There is a minimal condition for Israel's transformation from an unjust state to a semi-just state, but perhaps one that is peaceful. The condition is an American government with the courage to force the Zionists to give back to Palestine's rightful owners just a little of the land that Israel took by force, and continues to hold and expand by force. That will at least enable the Palestinians to live with some degree of dignity, rather than as a permanently persecuted and constantly brutalised people.
By supporting the worst Israelis, the Americans and the Europeans are betraying the best Israelis: Jews with conscience who seek this radical change in Israel, but are ignored by the majority of the population and by Israel's foreign backers.
It was only when Irish Americans ceased to finance the IRA that peace was given a chance in Northern Ireland. Likewise, the only way to defeat Jewish extremists in Israel is to cease financing them.
That support should be switched to those "other" Israeli Jews, such as the enlightened and brave members of the Peace Now movement. For fear of being branded "anti-Semitic"--a convenient label designed to silence the truth about Israel--people in the world are afraid of supporting these true moral heroes who fighting for the interests of the Palestinians, against their own apparent interests.
Did the Israeli settlers think the dispossessed would then simply disappear? Ever since 1948, Israeli Zionists are intent upon trying to make the displaced Palestinians disappear (this is known as genocide), but without success. The only result is that Israel has become a despised nation worldwide. Zionist Israel has been a disaster for the Jews of the world, as well as for the Palestinians and for the rest of us. Something must be done to put a stop to this seemingly endless tragedy in Palestine. The changes should come from within Israel and from without, starting with a change in US foreign policy.


The writer has degrees from the Royal College of Art, Oxford University, and the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London. Email: charlesferndale@yahoo.co.uk

  South Africa set for soccer success

“The World Cup will be remembered as a moment when Africa stood tall and resolutely turned the tide of centuries of poverty and conflict.”

Mark Gevisser

In the visitors' Centre at Cape Town's new Green Point Stadium there is a quote by former president Thabo Mbeki: "The World Cup will be remembered as a moment when Africa stood tall and resolutely turned the tide of centuries of poverty and conflict."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu believes the tournament to be "as important as Obama getting into the White House" for black people; Nelson Mandela has personally selected (we are told) and participated in the recording of a song for the opening ceremony.
The redemptive expectations are huge - as is the optimism, since the Bafana Bafana, the South African team, beat Denmark in a friendly match over the weekend.
A generation ago Mandela's support enabled the South African Springboks to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup in Johannesburg, and in the process, the myth goes, won white South Africans over to his side. If the Rugby World Cup offered political redemption, then, this month's soccer World Cup has been peddled as some form of economic redemption.
But there is, in truth, as little possibility of economic benefit for the host nation as there is of victory for the home team. Certainly, the World Cup gave the country a hedge against the global recession, and has produced a temporary growth spurt. It has prompted a very necessary upgrading of transport infrastructure, and has demonstrated that South Africa has formidable technical capacity.
But what was originally going to cost the South African taxpayer a few million euros now stands to cost anywhere between €3 and €5 billion. The country's short-term returns on its investment will be minimal, and it could well be left with a herd of white elephant stadiums that will sap the economy for decades to come. The last three hosts of the World Cup - Germany, Japan and South Korea - could afford such risk. But can South Africa?
The town of Nelspruit, capital of a corrupt and desperately poor province, now has a stadium that cost €137 million and that will host four unmemorable first-round matches before beginning the inexorable process of tropical rot. If Cape Town had upgraded an existing stadium rather than built a new one, it would have forfeited the ability to host one of the semifinals, but the state could have used money saved to house a quarter of a million people.
In Johannesburg, the cost escalation for the construction of the "African Calabash" to $350 million has meant a radical cutback in capital expenditure in a city that is falling apart.
Why did the South Africa fight so hard, and spend so much, to host this tournament?
The South African government believes the benefit is intangible, and immeasurable - a "Mandela moment" all over again; a jab in the eye of Afro-pessimism; invaluable global coverage; the cementing of national pride and identity.
The country is aglitter with flags, aglow with good feeling. The world is talking about South Africa, and South Africans themselves are using the tournament to imagine the country of their dreams. Can you put a price on that?
"No," says a senior government official who was part of the process. "We could never have bought this market exposure." Still, she admits, "it's a huge risk. If we get it wrong, it could do serious damage to our reputation. When the world's cameras are trained on you, sure they pick up the feel-good stories in this wonderful country, but they also look for trouble - which is not difficult to find in South Africa."
South Africa has an obsession with reputation, manifested by a tendency toward bling: If we look good, we are good. A decade ago, this led the government into an arms procurement deal that cost the state $3 billion. It commissioned unnecessary jet fighters and submarines, which Mbeki defended by saying that South African needed to show the world that it was a global player. The result was a cesspit of corruption and intrigue that played a significant role in bringing Mbeki down and has also severely compromised his successor, Jacob Zuma. Now, with the World Cup, there are indications once more that the huge, rapid expenditure toward a deadline-driven goal has created similar conditions of corruption and intrigue that might fester for years.
Perhaps the country's reputation-anxiety has its roots in the way the African National Congress made the South African liberation struggle the great moral cause of the late 20th century, and then in the way Nelson Mandela became a global icon for forgiveness and reconciliation.
This, coupled with the economic development that the apartheid state was able to attain through the exploitation of its black majority, has enabled South Africa to punch well above its weight.
But much as the redemptive aspirations of the liberation struggle gave South Africans the impetus to build their new society, it has resulted in a manic-depressive political psyche: If we are not the "rainbow nation," the "world's greatest fairytale," then we must be another African basket-case.
Lost in these mood swings is a sober and realistic assessment of social change; one which works incrementally rather than through mega-events such as the World Cup.
In Johannesburg, I am struck by the contrast between the two structures that will be used for the World Cup: the brutalist concrete apartheid-era Ellis Park stadium looming over inner-city decay on the one hand; the spherical and sculptural "African Calabash" of Soccer City on the other.
Johannesburg brands itself as a "World Class African City," and the calabash was built to beam this impression to the world. But it serves another function too: at a time when it seems increasingly difficult to hold the Rainbow Nation together, it provides South Africans with the fantasy of containment within a single shared national identity. At Ellis Park, you cannot but notice the grubby city all around you; at Soccer City, you enter an African dreamscape. And so the distance between them is not just the 20 kilometers on the impressive new Bus Rapid Transit system: it is the distance between a real, messy South Africa and the "Mandela Miracle" fantasy that at times enables, and at time oppresses, the country.
Perhaps it's a journey we South Africans have to travel - at a time when our society is becoming more unequal, such performances of national pride may indeed be priceless.


Mark Gevisser is the author of "A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the future of the South African Dream"?

International

Four million living under Taliban rule in Pakistan: AI
Dawn online, Islamabad

Human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday that nearly four million people are effectively living under Taliban rule in northwest Pakistan and have been abandoned by the government.
The 130-page report entitled "As if Hell Fell on Me: The Human Rights Crisis in Northwest Pakistan" is likely to ruffle Pakistani officials who believe they made great strides last year in regaining ground from the Taliban.
The London-based organisation said there were credible reports that at least 1,300 civilians were killed during fighting in the northwest in 2009.
There has been little official word on civilians hurt in anti-Taliban campaigns.
"Nearly four million people are effectively living under the Taliban in northwest Pakistan without rule of law and effectively abandoned by the Pakistani government," said Amnesty's acting head, Claudio Cordone.
The group called the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) a "human rights free zone" and said more than one million displaced people were "in desperate need of aid".
It urged Pakistan and the Taliban to prevent loss of civilian life and allow unfettered aid workers' access to provide food, shelter and medical supplies to the injured and displaced.
"We have an historic opportunity regarding Fata right now," Amnesty's Asia-Pacific Director Sam Zarifi told AFP.
The international community has put up donor funds and Pakistani troops are operating in an "unprecedented" six of the seven tribal agencies, he said.
"The old tribal order has been hugely disrupted by the Taliban and we have a civilian government in Pakistan that has talked about short and medium-term reform. There is an opportunity to do something about the people of Fata."The British colonial-era law governing Fata denies residents basic rights and protections, including their rights to political representation, judicial appeal and freedom from collective punishment.
"The Pakistani government has to follow through on its promises to bring the region out of this human rights black hole and place the people of Fata under the protection of the law and constitution of Pakistan," said Cordone.
Amnesty, which based its report on nearly 300 interviews with residents in the northwest, accused Pakistan of launching "heavy handed" operations, including "indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks".
It said the Taliban were guilty of systematic abuses, killing those who challenge their authority and imposing their rule through torture and other ill-treatment, targeting women, teachers, aid workers and political activists.
Insurgents increased the likelihood of civilian casualties by dispersing themselves in communities and blocking roads to prevent villagers from escaping "heavy bombardment by government forces".
But a Pakistani security official contacted by AFP challenged Amnesty to visit Swat, where commanders say a decisive battle last year returned much of the northwest valley to relative normality after a two-year uprising.

   Afghan wedding ‘attack’ kills more than 40
AFP, Kandahar

NATO blamed the Taliban on Thursday over an attack on an Afghan wedding that killed more than 40 people in an area US-led troops are massing to dislodge insurgents from their fiefdom.
The cause of the carnage has been unclear, but the government said initial reports indicated that a suicide bomber strapped with explosives had walked into the party reportedly attended by members of an anti-Taliban militia.
The Taliban, which is leading a nearly nine-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the estimated 142,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, denied any responsibility for the deaths.
More than 70 people were wounded when the explosion ripped through the celebrations in Arghandab district, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Kandahar city, a senior official said.
Most of the victims were male as the explosion occurred in an area of the wedding festivities reserved for men, local officials said.
The groom's brother, Mohammad Zanif, told AFP: "My brother was wounded. We don't know what happened. There was an enormous explosion and as a result everyone there was either killed or injured."
Television channels appealed for people to donate blood to help the wounded.
The interior ministry in Kabul said "initial information" indicated that a suicide bomber blew himself up at the party in Nagan village but said investigators had been dispatched to the scene.
"Forty of our countrymen, including children, were killed and more than 70 others were injured," it added.
NATO forces in Afghanistan blamed the Taliban over what it called an "indiscriminate attack" on the wedding party.
"This ruthless violence brought to the Afghan people at what should have been a time for celebration demonstrates the Taliban's sickening and indiscriminate tactics," said Lieutenant General Nick Parker.
Kandahar is the focus of a massive build-up by US-led military forces trying to drive the Taliban from their spiritual homeland and end their nearly nine-year insurgency.
US President Barack Obama has ordered an extra 30,000 troops to Afghanistan as part of his strategy to end the war, pushing the total nationwide NATO deployment to 150,000 by August.Wednesday's explosion came during a particularly bloody week for foreign forces with 23 international soldiers killed, including four US servicemen who died when a NATO helicopter was shot down in neighbouring Helmand province.

  Kandahar operation to go slower than planned: US general
AFP, Brussels

The commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, said on Thursday that a pivotal operation in the southern Kandahar province will move at a slower pace than initially planned.
"I do think it will happen more slowly than we originally anticipated," McChrystal told reporters in Brussels.
His forecast echoed comments by his deputy in southern Afghanistan, indicating that the Kandahar area is presenting a bigger challenge than NATO commanders had expected, amid a shortage of Afghan security forces and skepticism among the local population.
McChrystal said military and political preparations to push back Taliban insurgents were already underway in and around Kandahar.
"But it's my personal assessment that it will be more deliberate than we... thought earlier or communicated."
The four-star US general and other senior officers had previously said operations around Kandahar -- the birthplace of the Taliban -- would climax up this month with an influx of American forces, but have begun scaling back their statements.
The commander said it will "take a number of months for this to play out."
"But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I think it's more important we get it right, than we get it fast."
Brigadier General Ben Hodges, head of US forces in the south, told AFP the offensive in outlying districts of Kandahar city could be delayed by two or three months.

  Japan’s new PM enjoying jolt of support in polls
AP, Tokyo

Japan's new Prime Minister Naoto Kan is enjoying a jolt of public support, with major newspaper polls out Thursday giving him approval ratings of between 60 and 70 percent - good news for his party heading into next month's elections. That's a dramatic turnaround from the dismal support for his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned a week ago with approval ratings falling below 20 percent because of broken campaign promises and perceived weak leadership.
Kan, a grass-roots populist known for standing up to bureaucrats, is drawing support from undecided voters, and "favorable winds" are blowing for the Democratic party, said The Nikkei, Japan's top business newspaper.
The approval rating for Kan's Cabinet, installed Tuesday, came to 68 percent, according to the Nikkei's survey. Support for Kan's ruling Democratic Party of Japan rebounded to 47 percent from 25 percent in a previous survey in May. The Nikkei's survey got responses from 888 people Tuesday and Wednesday through random telephone interviews. A margin of error was not provided, but a poll of that size would generally have a 5 percentage point margin.
Kan retained many of the same figures in his Cabinet, but added several strong advocates for government reform and a finance minister with a reputation for fiscal discipline. Other polls had similar results. A survey by the Yomiuri newspaper, Japan's largest, gave Kan's Cabinet a 64 percent approval rating, while the Asahi newspaper's poll gave him 60 percent support. The sample sizes were slightly larger than the Nikkei poll, giving these surveys margins of error in the four-to-five point range.
The straight-talking Kan, who gained fame 15 years ago for exposing a government cover-up of tainted blood products, appears to be restoring confidence in his party, which came to power in last August's lower house elections amid high hopes for change and more transparency in government.

  British PM visits Afghanistan, rules out more troops
AFP, Kabul

British Prime Minister David Cameron Thursday made his first official visit to Afghanistan, hailing 2010 as vital in efforts to fight the Taliban but ruling out the prospect of sending any extra troops.
Cameron, whose visit was not announced ahead of time for security reasons, held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the heavily guarded palace in Kabul before the two leaders held a joint news conference.
The new British premier declared Afghanistan "the most important foreign policy issue, the most important national security issue for my country".
Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the south, as part of a 46-nation force. It is the second-biggest contributor to the NATO-led mission after the United States.
But Cameron told the news conference: "the issue of more troops is not remotely on the UK agenda".
It is his first visit to Afghanistan since taking power as head of a coalition government involving his centre-right Conservatives and the centre-left Liberal Democrats last month.
Cameron's new government has faced questions over whether it will follow the same strategy as his predecessor Gordon Brown and increasing public support for troops to come home.
An Independent on Sunday/ComRes survey in April found that 77 percent of those questioned now supported a phased withdrawal and the end of operations within a year, up six percent in five months.
A total of 294 British personnel have died in Afghanistan since operations began in the country to topple the Taliban government in October 2001.
British Defence Secretary Liam Fox, who visited Afghanistan shortly after the new government took power last month, caused controversy by telling the Times newspaper that he would like British troops to "come back as soon as possible" and referred to Afghanistan to "a broken 13th century country".
Cameron announced an additional 67 million pounds (98 million dollars) for British forces to counter the threat from improvised bombs, which are the biggest killer of Western soldiers in Afghanistan.

  US, China welcome Aquino’s victory in Philippines
AP, Manila

The leaders of the U.S., China and Japan welcomed Philippine President-elect Benigno Aquino III's rise to power, pledging Thursday to help a leader facing daunting challenges including rebellions, massive poverty and a crippling budget deficit.
The Philippine Congress proclaimed Aquino as the Southeast Asian nation's 15th president Tuesday, formalizing the landslide victory of the son of deeply revered democracy icons. Shortly after the euphoric ceremony, Aquino said his legal team had begun an inventory of the problems he will inherit.
President Barack Obama congratulated Aquino during a telephone conversation, praising the country's first automated elections on May 10 as a "positive testament to the strength and vitality of democracy" in the former U.S. commonwealth. Both "looked forward to bringing our cooperation to a new level and to meeting at a mutually convenient time," the White House said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Filipinos expect Aquino "to carry forward the democratic traditions that his parents did so much to champion."
Chinese President Hu Jintao said his country intends to deepen bilateral ties. "Under new historical circumstances, I would like to work with you to carry forward our traditional friendship, expand our mutually beneficial cooperation," he said. New Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged his country will "do its utmost to cooperate ... in efforts toward further stability and progress."
Aquino, a 50-year-old bachelor from one of the country's wealthiest landowning clans, will take his oath of office on June 30. He will replace Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who won a congressional seat in last month's elections .

 Iran dismisses sanctions
AP, United Nations

The U.S. and its allies scored a long-sought victory Wednesday by pushing through new U.N. sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, punishments Tehran dismissed as "annoying flies, like a used tissue."
The sanctions target Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, ballistic missiles and nuclear-related investments. Oil exports, the lifeblood of Iran's economy, are not affected because targeting them would have cost the U.S. essential support from Russia and China. President Barack Obama said the sanctions are the toughest Iran has ever faced. They required several months of difficult negotiations by the five veto-wielding permanent U.N. Security Council members - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France - and non-member Germany. This is the fourth round of sanctions aimed at getting Iran into serious discussions on its nuclear ambitions. "Actions do have consequences, and today the Iranian government will face some of those consequences," Obama said. He left the door open to diplomacy but said Iran "will find itself more isolated, less prosperous and less secure" unless it meets its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on an official visit in Tajikistan, dismissed the new resolution.
"From right and from left, they adopt sanctions, but for us they are annoying flies, like a used tissue," he said. Tehran insists its program is peaceful and aimed at producing nuclear energy. The U.S. and its allies say Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons; they want Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and start negotiations aimed at ensuring that it uses nuclear technology only for peaceful purposes. The new resolution bans Iran from pursuing "any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons," bars Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining and prohibits Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons including attack helicopters and missiles.
Iran, however, already has most of what it would need to make a weapon. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, warned that "choosing the option of confrontation will bring Iran's resolute response," according to Iran's official news agency. He did not elaborate.
Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee accused the United States, Britain and their allies of abusing the Security Council to attack Iran.
"No amount of pressure and mischief will be able to break our nation's determination to pursue and defend its legal and inalienable rights," Khazaee said.

   Obama calls for new approach on Gaza blockade
AP, Washington

President Barack Obama is advocating sharply limiting Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of the botched Israeli naval raid that is straining U.S. and Israeli relations with allies around the world.
"The situation in Gaza is unsustainable," Obama said Wednesday as he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office. He said the attention of the world is on the problem because of the "tragedy" of the Israeli raid that killed nine people trying to bring in supplies.
Obama said Israel's broad blockade on goods entering Gaza should be narrowed so that arms are kept out, but not items needed for the Palestinians' daily life and economic development. In connection with Abbas' visit, the White House announced a $400 million aid package for Gaza and the West Bank. A State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said the money represented specific allocations that already had been budgeted for the Palestinians, some of it fulfilling a $900 million commitment Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made last year. Projects announced Wednesday included $240 million for mortgage assistance in the West Bank and $10 million to build five new schools in Gaza. Construction goods are among items forbidden for delivery to the Gaza Strip by the Israelis. They contend the Palestinian enclave's militant Hamas leaders would use the supplies for facilities that could strengthen Hamas' military capabilities. "The key here is making sure that Israel's security needs are met, but that the needs of people in Gaza are also met," said Obama.
"So if we can get a new conceptual framework ... it seems to me that we should be able to take what has been a tragedy and turn it into an opportunity to create a situation where lives in Gaza are actually, directly improved."

  Iran-Russia friendship unravels over nuclear crisis
AFP, Moscow

After a surprisingly intimate partnership over two decades, the friendship between Russia and Islamic Iran risks a major rupture amid a crisis in relations over the nuclear standoff, analysts said.
Russia's support of a new round of UN sanctions against Tehran, adopted on Wednesday, and refusal to deliver air defence missiles to Iran has left the Iranian leadership fuming over what they see as betrayal by a trusted ally.
Iran is now cultivating a close alliance with an increasingly confident Islamist-rooted government in Turkey, which some see aimed at replacing its alliance with Russia.
"Never in modern history has there been such an aggravation in relations between Russia and Iran," said Rajab Safarov, director of the Centre for Contemporary Iranian Studies in Moscow.
Iran has been particularly offended by Russia's refusal to give wholehearted backing to a nuclear fuel exchange deal between Iran, Brazil and Turkey aimed at defusing the nuclear standoff.
"Iran expected Russia to be the first to welcome this deal. Now Iran is moving in directions that do not suit Russia," said Safarov.
"Russia's influence on Iran is already waning, the cards that Russia had are no longer there and have gone over to Turkey."
In the early years of the Islamic Republic in the 1980s after the toppling of the shah, chants of "Death to the USSR" were as much as mantra among the Tehran revolutionary faithful as "Death to America".

  Iran will revise UN nuclear watchdog ties - state media
Internet

Iran's parliament is to revise relations with the UN nuclear watchdog, following the latest round of UN sanctions, state media says.
The announcement by National Security and Foreign Policy Committee head Alaeddin Boroujerdi did not specify what action might be taken.
But correspondents say options could include restricting access by UN inspectors to Iranian nuclear sites.
President Ahmadinejad has dismissed the UN sanctions as a "used handkerchief".
Iran insists it wants only atomic energy, but a number of Western countries suspect it of building nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council voted to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Tehran for failing to halt its nuclear enrichment programme.
China said on Thursday it "highly values" its relations with the Islamic republic, after incurring Tehran's anger by voting for the latest measures.
They include tighter financial curbs and an expanded arms embargo, but not the crippling sanctions the US had wanted.
US President Barack Obama said the sanctions sent an unmistakable message about the determination to stop the spread of nuclear arms.
The Security Council voted by 12 votes to two in favour. Brazil and Turkey voted against the sanctions, while Lebanon abstained.
They argued that the sanctions were counter-productive and endangered a diplomatic solution.
Later, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "I gave one of the [world powers] a message that the resolutions you issue are like a used handkerchief which should be thrown in the dustbin. "They are not capable of hurting Iranians," he added.

  China rebuffs US charges of ‘tepid’ response on ship sinking

AFP, Beijing

China on Thursday rebuffed US charges that it was not pressuring North Korea enough over the sinking of a South Korean warship, saying it was working to maintain peace in the region.
The comments by a foreign ministry spokesman came after Admiral Mike Mullen, the top US uniformed military officer, complained of a "tepid" Chinese response to the alleged torpedo attack blamed on China's neighbour and ally Pyongyang.
"In handling this issue ... China's purpose is to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. All that we have done is based on this position," the spokesman, Qin Gang, told reporters.
"So we hope all parties can understand that and cooperate with China to properly deal with this issue."
An international panel of investigators last month blamed North Korea for sinking the Cheonan warship. The March incident claimed 46 lives in one of the deadliest incidents between the two Koreas since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The investigation triggered international condemnation of Pyongyang, but China has merely offered condolences to families of the dead and refused to condemn the North.
Mullen, speaking Wednesday in Washington, said China needed to take a greater role in the matter.
"I've been encouraged by public statements made recently by the Chinese leadership as to the seriousness of this incident and the need for accountability and yet dismayed by a fairly tepid response to calls by the international community for support," Mullen said.
China has refused to offer a judgement on the investigation's findings until it can "assess" them itself, and has said merely that all parties involved should exercise restraint to prevent the dispute from escalating.

  Facebook to promote Internet safety for kids
AP, New York

Facebook is joining forces with a national parent-teachers' association to promote Internet safety through a set of tools and resources for kids, schools and parents.
The world's largest online social network and the National PTA will work together to build a program to provide information and support about such issues as cyberbullying, good online citizenship and Internet security.
Because the partnership is just starting, officials do not have much detail on what kinds of resources they plan to offer through their respective websites and through other means. But Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said the plan is not just to educate kids about being on Facebook, but about being online.
He said "the sooner we can get instilling responsible behavior, the better."
The PTA will reach out to local parent-teacher groups to promote the program, while Facebook plans to do the same on its site.
Anne Collier, co-director of Connectsafely.org, a forum about online safety issues, said the deal combining Facebook's broad reach and the PTA's relationship with schools and parents "makes a lot of sense." "Citizenship online and offline needs to be a part of the child's life," she said. "It needs to be taught at school and at home - it's not just a digital thing." Child safety advocate Parry Aftab also welcomed the program, and said it's important for parents not to be scared of technology but to use it to their advantage to communicate with their kids.

  No lifting of Gaza blockade without soldier visits: Israel
AFP, Jerusalem

Israel will not lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip unless the Islamist Hamas movement allows the Red Cross to visit an Israeli soldier captured in 2006, its foreign minister said on Thursday.
"We must say clearly that the minimal condition for lifting the blockade is for the Red Cross to be allowed to regularly visit Gilad Shalit," Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement, referring to the 23-year-old conscript. "As long as this condition is not fulfilled, there is no reason to change the situation," he added.
Hamas swiftly rejected the remarks, calling Israel's linking of Shalit's fate to the blockade "an attempt to mislead and cover up international efforts to break the siege."
The Islamist movement has said it will only release Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, including several political leaders and top militants responsible for scores of deadly attacks.
Israel has faced a surge of international criticism over the blockade -- which keeps out all but basic goods -- in the wake of its deadly seizure of an activist aid flotilla on May 31.
It first imposed the closures when Shalit was captured by Hamas and other militants in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006 and tightened the sanctions when the Islamist group seized power in Gaza a year later. Israel says the closures are necessary to contain Hamas -- which is pledged to its destruction -- and pressure it to release Shalit, while critics of the closures say they amount to "collective punishment."
The closures have severely hindered rebuilding efforts following Israel's devastating December 2008 war on Gaza, which severely damaged or destroyed thousands of homes in the impoverished territory.

Business/Economy

BD for free trade deal to narrow trade gap with India
BSS, New Delhi

Bangladesh wants to hasten a free trade agreement in order to narrow the huge trade gap it suffers with its larger trade partner India.
"A free trade pact is one of the answers to our most pressing concern-the huge trade imbalance between India and Bangladesh," Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Tariq Ahmad Karim told a delegation of Commonwealth Journalist Association, India chapter at his office recently.
Adding "but it has to be a meaningful FTA, sans devils in the fine print such as non-tariff barriers to trade."
India sells some $ 3.375 billion worth of goods annually to Bangladesh and imports a mere $ 358 million from its smaller neighbour, leading to much heart burning in the poor, but fast growing nation. Bangladesh has often complained trade sops offered by India do not help as non tariff barriers or delays in notifying rule changes hold up Bangladesh exports.
"We know the trade gap cannot be bridged ... but through a FTA we may discover a huge new market, which could negate the need for our exporters to travel across oceans to sell," the envoy, who holds the rank of a state minister to his government, said.
Bangladesh which grew 6.2 per cent last year, exports $15.91 billion worth of goods, mostly to the US, European Union and Japanese markets from where its merchandise benefits from a generalized system of preferences.
However, recent economic downturns in the US and European markets and free trade pacts the EU and US are negotiating with competitors, is forcing Bangladesh to look at other markets.
"We have walked the extra mile in addressing India's concerns," pointed out Karim while militants are concerned.
"Now Bangladesh is looking for something solid ... otherwise there could be a backlash," the high commissioner warned, obliquely referring to domestic political parties which have been campaigning against pacts signed by prime minister Sheikh Hasina offering India use of Mongla and Chittagong ports. Indian officials said they were working on a blueprint for an FTA which could be signed as early as next year, freeing imports of products in which Bangladesh enjoys a cost advantage, such as ready to wear garments, ceramics, tea, marine and farm products besides leather goods.

 Developing countries lead world economy’s recovery
BSS, Washington

The global economic recovery continues to advance, but Europe's debt crisis has created new hurdles on the road to sustainable medium term growth, according to a report released by the World Bank on Wednesday.
Global economy is expected to expand between 2.9 and 3.3 percent in 2010 and 2011, strengthening to between 3.2 and 3.5 percent in 2012, reversing the 2.1 percent decline in 2009, said the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects 2010. Developing economies are expected to grow between 5.7 and 6.2 percent each year from 2010-2012.
High-income countries, however, are projected to grow by between 2.1 and 2.3 percent in 2010, not enough to undo the 3.3 percent contraction in 2009, followed by between 1.9 and 2.4 percent growth in 2011. The United States, the world's biggest economy and the epicenter of the financial crisis that triggered the downturn, would see 3.3 percent growth in 2010 and 2.9 percent in 2011.
Meanwhile, China's economy would expand 9.5 percent this year and 8.5 in 2011, according to the report.
"The better performance of developing countries in today's world of multipolar growth is reassuring," said Justin Yifu Lin, the World Bank's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, Development Economics. "But, for the rebound to endure, high- income countries need to seize opportunities offered by stronger growth in developing countries."
The recovery faces several important headwinds over the medium term, including reduced international capital flows, high unemployment, and spare capacity exceeding 10 percent in many countries. According to the report, while the impact of the European debt crisis has so far been contained, prolonged rising sovereign debt could make credit more expensive and curtail investment and growth in developing countries.
On the upside, world merchandise trade has rebounded sharply and is expected to increase by about 21 percent this year, before growth rates taper down to around 8 percent in 2011-2012. Almost half of the rise in global demand in 2010-2012 will come from developing countries.
The World Bank's projections assume that efforts by the IMF and European institutions will stave off a default or major European sovereign debt restructuring. But even so, developing countries and regions with close trade and financial connections to highly- indebted high-income countries may feel serious ripple effects.

  Malaysia to launch multi-billion dollar development plan
BSS, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia is set to unveil a multi-billion dollar development plan Thursday, part of the government's scheme to boost growth and propel the economy into high-income status by 2020.
The 2010-2015 Tenth Malaysia Plan is Prime Minister Najib Razak's first since taking office last year and officials say it aims to boost workforce quality and reduce the country's dependence on foreign workers. One of Asia's largest importers of labour, Malaysia has 2.2 million migrant workers who power the country's plantations and manufacturing sectors.
The plan is also expected to tackle a decades-old affirmative action policy for majority Muslim Malays and indigenous groups-collectively known as "bumiputra"-which has been criticised as uncompetitive. "We have to accelerate the pace of economic and government transformation in order to keep Malaysia on track and so that we don't fall behind the other countries in the region," economist Yeah Kim Leng at rating agency RAM Holdings told AFP.
"Although the present economic environment is quite challenging, I think doing otherwise is not an option if we want to achieve a high-income status," he added.
Economists say the new plan will underscore the government's bid to create a private sector-led economy and make domestic demand a major driver of growth by encouraging productivity, competitiveness and innovation in the private sector.
In May, Malaysia's economy leapt 10.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, its highest jump in a decade, and appears on track for six percent full-year growth.
The positive figures came after the economy shrank 1.7 percent last year as crucial export markets dried up during the global downturn.

  EU will go beyond trillion-dollar bailout limit
AFP, Brussels

A near trillion-dollar bailout fund for debt-burdened euro nations will be increased if required, the European Union's appointed president said in an interview published on Thursday.
Herman Van Rompuy, who is in Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel seven days from an EU summit dominated by disputes over how to install new cross-border economic governance, told Belgian business magazine Trends-Tendances that the 750-billion-euro EU-IMF fund of loan guarantees could be extended.
"Is it enough? Today, there is not even the hint of anyone asking to put this rescue plan into action," he told the magazine.
However, "if the plan proves insufficient, my answer is simple: in this case, we will do more."
The sums break down as 440 billion euros of guarantees from the countries which share the euro, 250 billion euros of heavily-conditioned loans from the International Monetary Fund and 60 billion euros in loans raised by the full, 27-nation European Union. The small print was agreed on Monday and the plan is to be in place for three years, and the Washington-based lender of last resort has already said it would go beyond its antici-pated input if required.

  British PM to raise BP oil spill crisis with Obama
AFP, London

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday he intends discussing the US oil spill crisis with President Barack Obama in a telephone call at the weekend, as BP's share price plunged. Cameron's announcement came as fears grew that "anti-British rhetoric" was taking hold in the United States.
Some business leaders voiced fear that attacks on BP and its chief executive Tony Hayward, whom Obama has sharply criticised over the crisis, could start to affect other British companies in the US as well. "I understand the US government's frustration because it is a catastrophe for the environment," said Cameron, referring to the worst man-made environmental disaster in US history during his first visit to Afghanistan. "Obviously everyone wants everything to be done that can be done. Of course that is something I will be discussing with the American president." Meanwhile, London mayor Boris Johnson told BBC radio: "I do think there's something slightly worrying about the anti-British rhetoric that seems to be permeating from America". He added: "I would like to see a bit of cool heads rather than endlessly buck-passing and name-calling.

  Fed sees robust US growth despite euro crisis
AFP, Washington

The US economy is on track to grow 3.5 percent this year as it sees only a "modest" impact from the eurozone debt crisis, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday.
"The economy... appears to be on track to continue to expand through this year and next," Bernanke said in testimony to Congress.
Bernanke said the pace of growth would likely quicken in 2011, driven by rising consumer spending.
"The incoming data suggest that gains in private final demand will sustain the recovery in economic activity," he told a House of Representatives panel. "Consumer spending is likely to increase at a moderate pace going forward, supported by a gradual pickup in employment and income, greater consumer confidence, and some improvement in credit conditions." US consumers, long the drivers of the world's largest economy, are spending around 3.5 percent more today than they were this time last year, Bernanke said. He warned the still-moribund housing market continues to drag on the recovery, as home prices are pushed down by vast numbers of vacant houses and home builders struggle to get credit. "Underlying housing activity appears to have firmed only a little since mid-2009," he said. But continuing his recent upbeat tone, Bernanke said that the spiraling European debt crisis should have only a modest impact on the Untied States.

  China trade surplus soars in May on export boom
AFP, Beijing

China said Thursday its trade surplus soared in May on strong foreign demand for Chinese-made products, which analysts said could increase pressure on Beijing to let its currency strengthen. The surge in exports-up 48.5 percent from a year ago-suggested the eurozone debt crisis had not yet hurt demand for Chinese products, which could ease concerns of a slowdown in the world's third-largest economy.
The data came after US lawmakers on Wednesday vowed to launch legislative action in two weeks to punish China for refusing to revalue the yuan, claiming the currency is undervalued and gives the nation an unfair trade advantage. China posted a trade surplus of 19.53 billion dollars in May, compared with a surplus of 1.68 billion dollars in April and a deficit in March-the first in six years, according to data released by customs authorities. Exports totalled 131.8 billion dollars in May. Imports gained 48.3 percent year-on-year to 112.2 billion dollars.
"Strong export growth and a sharp pick-up in China's trade surplus will not go unnoticed in Washington," said Brian Jackson, a senior analyst at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong. "With US unemployment still close to 10 percent and Chinese exports now growing at a rate of almost 50 percent, it is likely that the rhetoric on this issue coming out of Washington will soon get more heated."

National

Govt. pledge-bound to improve standard of education: RCC Mayor

BSS, Rajshahi

Mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) AHM Khairuzzaman Liton has said the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is committed to improving standard of education to build digital Bangladesh for overall development of the nation. "We have no way but to ensure quality in the institutional academic activities for human resources development," he added in this regard.
Terming the educated people as the driving force of the nation, he underscored the need for brining all people under the education process to take the nation ahead.
He made this observation while according reception to some students who obtained brilliant results in last SSC examination in Sadharan Granthagar conference hall here yesterday evening as the chief guest.
Chaired by Sirajur Rahman Khan, the ceremony was addressed, among others, by RCC Panel Mayor Shariful Islam Babu, Ward Councilor Abdul Hamid Sarker Tekan and local Awami League leader Atiqur Rahman Kalu.
Mayor Liton said the present government has already undertaken various education development programs including distribution of textbooks among the secondary students free of cost for cherished improvement of the nation.
Describing the students as the future leaders, he said they must be educated for building an educated nation.
"We have no alternative to make them competent workforce for the sake of national interest," he said adding that the government is very much positive to ensure a standard educational system aimed at sustainable development of the nation.
To attain the cherished goal, he asserted that the teachers should have to play a vital role, by which, the Bangladesh would be emerged as an educated, happy and prosperous country in the global arena. Liton urged the teachers and the guardians concerned to nurture the students properly side by side with freeing them from all sorts of torture and violence for making them worthy citizens.

  Tk 61.11cr allocation for FFs’ honoraria proposed
BSS, Dhaka

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in his budget speech Thursday proposed increasing the allocation for honoraria to Taka 61.11 crore for the freedom fighters for the 2010-11 fiscal.
He laid emphasis on improving socio-economic conditions of the nation's brave sons as well as preserving the history and memories of the great Liberation War.
"We also made a pledge in the last budget to formulate policy guidelines to provide rationing facilities to the families of martyred freedom fighters who were given awards of honor and to those who were wounded. With great pleasure, let me inform this august house that we have begun distributing rations to 25,816 members upon finalization of this policy," he said.
In the last fiscal year, "we increased the number of insolvent freedom fighters receiving state honoraria from 1, 00,000 to 1, 25,000. In the upcoming fiscal, I propose to raise the number of beneficiaries to 1, 50,000 by adding 25,000 more. At the same time, I am proposing to enhance the rate of honoraria from Tk. 1,500 to Tk. 2,000 per month."
He said scrutiny for identifying the genuine freedom fighters has already commenced to meet our pledge of last budget to bring all living freedom fighters into the fold of regular allowance system within FY 2010-2011.
"On completion of this activity, we will start our declared program by formulating a policy," he said.
The finance minister said apart from the above program, "we are actively considering" the issue of raising the rate of grants made to deceased freedom fighters' families, finalization of a policy guideline to provide overseas medical treatment to wounded freedom fighters of Liberation War, extending VIP facilities to the freedom fighters who have received awards of honor and those wounded in the War and giving all freedom fighters opportunity to travel free on trains, buses and launches as honored citizens.
He said, "We were, are and will always remain highly committed to the cause of preserving the memories of the freedom fighters and the great Liberation War."
Following this commitment, the 1st phase of construction work of the underground museum, plaza, amphitheatre and other structures has been completed as a part of preserving the memories of the great Liberation War at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka. The 2nd phase of construction of Crystal Tower has begun. The construction of the Freedom Fighter Complex building in all districts will begin from FY 2010-11.

  Nutrition, HR gets priority for health in budget
BSS, Dhaka

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Thursday proposed Taka 8,149 crore for health and family welfare for fiscal 2010-11, focusing his government's pledge on cutting malnutrition, ensuring better service at the community level and growing required human resources.
"With a view to providing better health services to the people, recruitment of 6,391 health assistants has been completed during the current year and 14,000 more will be recruited very soon," he said in his budget speech aired live on radio and television.
Muhith said recruitment of 4,133 doctors on an ad hoc basis and 2,627 nurses has also been completed, while opportunities have been created to employ 46,000 people under national nutrition program (NNP) and one health advisor for each of 13,500 community clinics, a facility where 6,000 people are supposed to enjoy health and family welfare services.
The finance minister said the recruitment plans in the health and family welfare sector would help implement government's election pledge to create employment for at least one member of each family across the country.
He said a plan has been taken up to establish a world class drug-testing laboratory in the country as part of the modernization scheme of the Department of Drug Administration. Besides, he said, steps were underway to update the national drug policy 2005.
Muhith said his government would continue efforts to implement its action plans for health sector in the next July- June financial year and focus more on improving the quality of services at the district and upazila levels.

  Call for mainstreaming aboriginal people in society
BSS, Rajshahi

Speakers at a discussion meeting here yesterday underlined the need for a concerted effort to bring the aboriginal people in the mainstream of society for their substantial welfare.
They said importance should be given to protecting the ethnic community people from all sorts of repression and oppression by the surrounding opportunists for their peaceful survival.
Aboriginal Village Society Organization (AVSO) and Center for Capacity Building of Voluntary Organization (CCBVO) organized the meeting at Beldanga AVSO office under Godagari upazila of the district in observance of the 110th death anniversary of Great Birsha Munda, who died in jail custody on June 9, 1900.
A large number of male and female of ethnic communities attended the meeting paying rich tribute to the great aboriginal leader.
Chaired by AVSO leader Mohesh Marandi, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Aboriginal leader Everest Hembrom, former deputy director of social service department Mojammel Haque, CCBVO Secretary Sarwar-E-Kamal and aboriginals Niranjan Kujur, Sudakkhan Toppo, Jharulal Rajwar and Sabina Khalco.
The speakers called for undertaking an effective step to make the aboriginal people competent in all aspects especially literacy and social empowerment so that they could ensure their welfare.
Stressing the need for protecting the rights of the tribal community people, they also said importance should be given to protecting the underprivileged people from all sorts of deceptions by the surrounding privileged and muscle powers.
Besides, they said the cultural heritage of the aboriginal communities must be protected from any aggression. "The culture of the aboriginals is our heritage and integral part of our life, so it is our responsibility to protect it," said Mojammel Haque adding that we were with the aboriginals in the past and we will remain with them in future.
Terming them very hardworking, he said the aboriginal people have been playing a vital role in increasing farm production. So, he said a holistic village-based community development approach has become indispensable for their welfare.

  Sahara for expanding IOM’s programs on counter-trafficking activities

UNB, Dhaka

Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun Thursday urged the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for further expansion of their programs to facilitate counter-trafficking activities at district levels.
"Presently the IMO is covering 22 districts in the country…I believe IOM will be the appropriate agency for carrying out such activities," she said at the launching ceremony of training manual for building capacity on care and support for the victims of trafficking at Hotel Sonargaon.
The training manual has been developed under the IOM project Prevention and Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking in Bangladesh with the support from the Norwegian and the Danish Governments.
This will develop capacity of the government officers on providing support to victims and survivors of trafficking.
The Home Minister said the government will provide more support to IMO's future endeavors to improve the current scenario of combating trafficking in Bangladesh as well as to promote safe migration.
Sahara said the government, with the support of international agencies and NGOs, has already taken a number of steps to combat trafficking in the recent past.

Sports

Ashraful gets recall for Asia Cup
AFP, Dhaka

Bangladesh on Thursday recalled seasoned middle-order batsman Mohammad Ashraful for the four-nation Asia Cup starting in Sri Lanka next week, an official said.
Bangladesh Cric-ket Board (BCB) chief selector Rafiqul Alam said the 25-year-old, who was dropped for the home one-day series against England in March, was back in form.
"He batted well in the World Twenty20 and made a fine half century against Pakistan. He also looked in good touch in the practice matches in England," Alam told AFP.
Middle-order batsman Jahurul Islam, who played in the recent Test series in England, finds a place in the one-day squad, while injury-plagued Syed Rasel was back after an absence of six months.
"Jahurul was the highest scorer in the local league this year," said Alam. "We are confident he'll play well."
India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the other teams in the limited overs tournament to be played in the central Sri Lankan town of Dambulla from June 15 to 24. Each team plays the other once in the league with the top two advancing to the final.
Bangladesh's squad:
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Jahurul Islam, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Mash-rafe Mortaza, Naeem Islam, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Suhrawadi Shuvo.
Coach: Jamie Siddons (AUS)

  South Africa begins World Cup party
AFP, Johannesburg

South Africa brimmed with pride and anticipation Thursday on the eve of the first World Cup on African soil as the nation's icon Nelson Mandela said the tournament would bridge racial divides.
While the last of the 32 competing teams flew in, the Rainbow Nation was caught up in a wave of euphoria not seen since the demise of the whites-only apartheid regime and Mandela's election 16 years ago.
As blasts of the ear-splitting vuvuzela horns echoed around town, flag sellers who set up stalls by traffic lights struggled to keep pace with demand and even police officers wore jackets in South Africa's national colours.
After tens of thousands took to the streets of Johannesburg Wednesday to cheer on the Bafana Bafana (the Boys) national side in an open-top bus, it was the turn of Cape Town to join the party with a street festival in the city centre.
The front-page of the Citizen proclaimed "Bafana Mania!" while an editorial in the same paper said the outbreak of patriotism in a country which is still struggling to bridge a racial divide can only be a force for good. "For one brief shining moment we can forget the problems that beset the country and hopefully build on the enthusiasm and patriotism sweeping the land," it said. In the Star newspaper even the cookery pages were caught up in the excitement, including a recipe for chocolate brownies with tequila sauce in a nod to South Africa's challengers on Friday.
"South Africans are late believers but once they believe, they are fanatical believers," said Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the local organising committee, at a final pre-tournament session with reporters.
As international artists such as Shakira, the Black Eyed Peas and Alicia Keyes prepared to take to the stage at the historic Orlando stadium in Soweto, the township's most famous ex-resident welcomed a new chance to combat prejudice.
"The 2010 World Cup is more than just a simple game," Mandela, the country's first black president, said in a message to football's governing body FIFA.
"It symbolises the power of football to bring people together regardless of their language, colour of their skin, their politics or religion." Ever since it became the first African nation to win the right to stage the tournament six years ago, South Africa has had to fend off claims that its high crime rate, lack of infrastructure and rudimentary public transport system rendered it an unsuitable choice.
Work at all the 10 host stadiums has been completed on time while a series of signature World Cup infrastructure projects are also up and running, including Africa's first high-speed rail link. But the spectre of crime continued to stalk visitors, with a Chinese television crew among the latest victims to be robbed at gunpoint.
"We appeal to citizens and visitors to also exercise care of their personal safety and those around them," government spokesman Themba Maseko said in a statement. Some 300,000 foreign fans are expected in South Africa during the tournament. Organisers said that the VIP guests including US Vice President Joe Biden, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Mexican President Felipe Calderon would be among the crowds at Friday's opener. Thursday night's concert at Orlando stadium begins at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), with tens of millions of people expected to watch on television.
The venue is home to the Orlando Pirates, one of the oldest South African football teams who became a sporting symbol of the fight against apartheid.
One of the bloodiest episodes of the 1976 Soweto uprising came when police opened fire at a crowd of thousands who were marching towards the stadium in protest at a new law enforcing local schoolchildren to learn Afrikaans.

   Nepalese World Cup fans pray for rain
AFP, Kathmandu

Football fans in Nepal are praying for a good monsoon to ease a crippling national power shortage that threatens to prevent them watching World Cup matches.
Nepal depends almost entirely on hydropower, and the country's 28 million people face up to 18 hours of power cuts a day until the onset of the monsoon in June brings enough water to meet the demand for electricity.
Fans have appealed to the authorities to leave the power on during key matches, but their pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
"It will simply not be possible to reduce the power cuts during the World Cup because we cannot meet demand," said Sher Singh Bhat, an official with the Nepal Electricity Authority.
"We will only be able to do so when the monsoon arrives." Football has become hugely popular in impoverished Nepal in recent years as television viewing has taken off. Some wealthier Kathmandu neighbourhoods have clubbed together to buy generators for the World Cup, but many fans fear missing the games altogether, and blame the government for their predicament.
"I have been waiting four years for this and now it looks like the power cuts will ruin my plans," 21-year-old student Prakash Sapkota told AFP.
"I hold the government responsible for this unfortunate situation."

  Sri Lanka drops Jayasuriya, Mendis for Asia Cup
AFP, Colombo

Sri Lanka's new cricket selection panel on Thursday left veteran batsman Sanath Jayasuriya out of the 15-man squad for next week's Asia Cup.
Selectors also dropped spinner Ajantha Mendis and included fast bowling all-rounder Farveez Maharoof for the four-nation limited-overs tournament against India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in Sri Lanka from June 15 to 24.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath returns after playing his last limited-overs game in 2004 to join specialists spinners Muttiah Muralitharan, 38, and newcomer Suraj Randiv.
Muralitharan, the world's leading Test and One-Day wicket-taker, returns to the squad after recovering from a groin injury picked up during the Caribbean World Cup. Jayasuriya, at 40 the world's oldest player in the international arena, continues to show poor form in the national side. He scored an average 3.75 runs in six matches during the Caribbean World Twenty20 in April.
Jayasuriya, who was rested for the just concluded tri-nation Zimbabwe tour, had been left out of the national squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh earlier this year. The team management dropped him as a specialist opener and moved him down to the middle-order in the limited-overs game last year.
Sri Lankan sports minister Chandrasiri Bandara last month sacked the national selectors and appointed a fresh panel under batting great Aravinda de Silva.
Sri Lankan Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (captain and wicket keeper), Muttiah Muralitharan (vice-captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Sama-raweera, Angelo Mathews, Farveez Maharoof, Chamara Kapugedara, Nuwan Kulas-ekara, Chanaka Weleg-edara, Lasith Malinga, Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Thilina Kandamby.

  Brazil ready to dig for victory
AFP, Johannesburg

Brazil coach Dunga may believe substance rather than a slavish devotion to style can deliver the World Cup, but his 1994 title-winning teammate Branco worries about the team's cutting edge in South Africa.
"From midfield back to the defence this is the best team in the world," says Branco, even if there are many who see a defensively-sound 'Selecao' as not very Brazilian.
Branco does harbour doubts, however, up front.
"I am a little worried about creativity up front as that can decide a game's outcome given that everyone plays a little bunched against Brazil." Dunga is determined to mould the team in his own tough image based on defensive solidity at least as much as attacking flair as he seeks to emulate Franz Beckenbauer in landing the World Cup as both player and coach.
Twelve years ago Dunga held aloft the trophy as skipper of a side which squeezed home in a dour final after a penalty shootout against Italy.
In 1994, the Brazilian defence conceded just three goals in the entire event and now Dunga is determined that, once again, opposing attackers shall not pass - even if that has the supporters of the "jogo bonito" (beautiful game) fuming.
The midfield looks creative with Kaka saying he is ready to take the tournament by the throat despite a poor first season with Real Madrid.
And if Robinho is let off the leash that will also give opposing defences cause for concern.
Yet under Dunga's system, Robinho will also have to track back - almost unimaginable for a samba star playing in as far advanced a position.
Dunga will also look to shield the back four with defensive midfielders Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva, who was talking tough on Wednesday in language which would appeal to Dunga himself.
"We are not here to have a good time - our message is we want to be champions," said the Panathinaikos veteran and former Arsenal man.

  Messi set to star as Maradona looks to rebuff critics
AFP, Johannesburg

Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona confront divergent challenges as Argentina starts its World Cup campaign against African hope Nigeria at Ellis Park Stadium tomorrow.
Messi is widely anticipated to be the star of South Africa 2010, but Maradona, one of the greatest players of all time, is under scrutiny after enduring a turbulent qualifying campaign with the two-time world champions.
Currently the world's best player, Messi already has an Olympic gold medal, an European Champions League title and Spanish league and cup double honours with Barcelona.
All that eludes him is winning the World Cup and over the coming month, starting with the clash against the Super Eagles this weekend, Messi looks set to make a huge impact on the greatest stage in world football.
And to put all those achievements into context, he does not turn 23 until June 24, two days after Argentina complete their group stage matches.
Maradona has been down the road before that beckons for Messi. He may be a veritable living football legend as a player - mainly for his exploits as the inspirational captain of Argentina's 1986 World Cup-winning side - but as national team manager he has his vociferous critics. Osvaldo Ardiles, 1978 world champion and his former international teammate, does not mince his words in a withering assessment of Maradona's stewardship of the national side.
"Diego was the greatest player in the history of the game, but so far he has clearly not been successful as a manager. We qualified for these World Cup finals by the skin of our teeth, and with plenty of luck," Ardiles said. The Argentine media have scorned Maradona for calling up over 100 players since he took charge in November 2008. So the heat is on the 49-year-old to fully mesh the talents of Messi, captain Javier Mascherano, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez, among others.
As ever Maradona is defiant and unwavering in his self-belief. "I tell my players that 30 days of sacrifice for the chance to kiss the World Cup is nothing in the life of a man," he said. "An achievement like that is like touching the sky. I played in World Cups and I reached two finals. I know what it takes." Argentina have beaten Nigeria twice at the World Cup -- 1-0 in 2002 and 2-1 in 1994 -- and will be favoured to do so again.
Nigeria are not the force that captivated the world at the 1998 tournament in France, when Jay-Jay Okocha and Sunday Oliseh starred as they reached the second round.
But in Everton's Joseph Yobo they possess a solid defensive anchor and Wolfsburg's Obafemi Martins gives them an attacking thrust, although injury has deprived them of the skill of Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel.
Nigeria's Swedish coach Lars Lagerback is far from daunted by the Argentine challenge.
"We have a great chance to do well in the World Cup," he said. "I think there is a realistic chance for Nigeria to go a long way in the World Cup."
Veteran skipper Nwankwo Kanu is set for his third and final World Cup and is the most decorated player in African football history. "It is every player's dream to be playing in South Africa and being part of such a historic event," the 33-year-old Portsmouth striker said.
"For me I want to score goals and if I can do that then we can do well."